The Battalion
OPINION
Tuesday, February 6,1990
Mail Call
Metcalf v. Crow feud over
EDITOR:
The feud between John David Crow and Shelby Metcalf has finally ended.
In typical A&M fashion, the last battle between these two classy individuals
was a messy one. Both parties were to blame. Crow should have kept his
mouth shut during the NCAA Convention in Dallas. However, Metcalf fueled
the fire by attempting to win public support with his emotional news confer
ence following the Arkansas game. His comments only antagonized his boss,
John David Crow.
I truly believe Crow would have waited until the end of the season before
firing Metcalf if the dirt-seeking media was not dragged into the situation.
The resulting negative press left Crow no choice but to act quickly. One only
has to look to the Houston Oilers to see what can happen to a team when the
issue is allowed to linger.
Despite my support of Crow’s decision, 1 am saddened by the realization
that the Shelby Metcalf era has come to an end. For 27 years this campus was
graced by the presence of the “Dean of the Southwest Conference.” He will
always be a proud symbol of Texas A&M University.
However, we must look to the future. I am sure John David Crow will
work hard to find the right coach who can recruit the top players in the coun
try. (Please, not another Jackie Sherill.) Also, a new basketball facility is man
datory. I think the construction of the Shelby Metcalf Coliseum would be a
nice gesture on the part of Crow.
Finally, the basketball program desperately needs increased fan support.
At G. Rollie White Coliseum, it appears that less people attend a game than
are in line for football tickets. Come on Aggies! With our spirit and tradition
we should have the most intimidating home court in the country. This would
be our first step toward gaining the exposure of a national powerhouse.
In closing, I would just like to wish Shelby Metcalf success in his f uture en
deavors. He gave his life to Texas A&M and that should not be forgotten.
Thanks, Shelby.
Jeff Reina ’93
Want a scholarship? Apply!
EDITOR:
Mr, Babin, so what if you graduated in the top 20 percent of your class of
600? So what if your family is struggling financially? I graduated in the top 8
percent of my class of 860 at a predominately white high school. The minori
ties at my school ammounted to 1.5 percent of the entire school. Most of the
students (if not all) at Texas A&M graduated in the top 20 percent of their
classes or they would not be here.
Furthermore, whose parents are not financially struggling? I, along with
other minorities and whites on scholarship, work. Last semester I worked two
jobs and still maintained my scholarship and academic standing. There are
many minorities who are not on scholarship.
You have no basis to say that scholarships were given to people below you
in ranking or less deserving. In ranking, I ranked above you and worked hard
for my scholarship. I have many minority friends who have non-minority
based scholarships. So, they too ranked above you and are more deserving.
. Evidently you are not more deserving and you are bitter. If you and your
sister are so deserving, then you must prove yourself just as we minorities
must do. There are many scholarships, loans and grants available if you would
look and apply for them. Nothing is or will be-given to you on a silver platter if
you don’t ask for it or apply.
If you would like to be a minority and receive a scholarship, you should
first try being admitted to Prairie View A&M University, Texas Southern Uni
versity, Howard University or any predominately black institution. Then, if
you are accepted, you can apply for minority scholarships too.
Risa R. Smith ’91
A&M needs coliseum, not library
EDITOR:
We have heard so much talk about the Bush library. The Board of Re
gents is trying anything and everything to get the president to locate his li
brary here at Texas A&M University. This includes naming a street after him
— what an honor.
Now, let us think about something A&M needs a little more than another
library: an events coliseum. An all-events center, similar to the Summit in
Houston, is badly needed. Rudder Theater does not hold enough and G.
Rollie White is a little out of date. So why don’t we expand and build a new all
purpose events center? Well, the regents first objection will be that there
aren’t sufficient funds. Hey, why don’t we allocate some of the parking ticket
revenue toward the new coliseum? Everyone knows that the new parking ga
rage was paid for entirely by that revenue alone.
Also, there is always some wealthy alumni who would make a hefty contri
bution just to see his name on the side of the coliseum. The regents will also
say that there is no land for the location of this coliseum. Well, that’s the neat
part of this plan. What about the land put aside for the Bush library? Since we
will not be trying to have it here anymore, that land will surely be free for the
taking.
Finally, the regents will complain about the lost revenue from tourism that
the presidential library would have brought in. Well, if we don’t get the li
brary, then we will have lost the tourism already. Also, if the right “Big Name”
performers and some of the SWG basketball are brought here, then the col
iseum would bring in a lot more revenue than the library would. All I have to
say is what better way for the regents to bring in a big name basketball coach
than to offer him a bigger and better coliseum complex.
Terence M. Krolczyk ’91
accompanied by 13 signatures
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Reed McDonald, or sent to Campus Mail Stop 1111.
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Managing Editor
Ellen Hobbs, Opinion Page Editor
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News Editors
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Fredrick D. Joe, Art Director
Mary-Lynne Rice, Lifestyles Editor
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Opinion Page Editor Ellen Hobbs
Cruel, unusual death penalt
should be ended, not debate
Capital punishment is an issue that is
the subject of many heated debates.
And while I usually “lean towards the
right” on issues ranging from economic
policy to abortion, capital punishment
shoves me the opposite direction.
On July 2, 1976, the United States
Supreme Court reinstated capital
punishment in Gregg v. Georgia and
four other cases announced that day.
On this day, the government took it
upon itself to take the lives of many
human beings, the very action for which
the convicted capital offender is
punished.
Since the capital of fender has been
convicted, then he is guilty “beyond a
shadow of a doubt,” right? Have
improvements in the criminal justice
system and the many levels of appellate
review available to captial defendants
ensured that innocent people are not
executed? An intensive study of the
death penalty by Michael Radelet and
Hugo Adam Bedau, experts in the
study of capital punishment, researched
cases of factual innocence which led to
erroneous conviction. They discovered
compelling evidence that since 1900, as
many as 23 innocent people could have
been executed, and 2 1 other cases in
which a defendant (who was later
exonerated) came within 72 hours of his
death. Are we sure that everyone who
sits in that chair or takes that injection
has Committed the crime they have been
convicted of?
Most Americans who support the
death penalty seem to like the idea of
punishing those people who commit
violent crimes. Their attitudes toward
capital punishment are, at best, a symbol
of this desire. There is nothing wrong
with this desire. But for a society which
places so much emphasis on the value of
the individual and his life to advocate
death as a form of punishment is purely
hypocritical.
Much of the debate about capital
punishment is over whether or not it is
actually “cruel and unusual”
Constitutionally. Where is the dividing
line between punishment and torture?
Damon
Arhos
Asst. Opinion
Page Editor
Inmates on death row are submitted to
what amounts to a “living death.” In his
book, “Condemned to Die,” Robert
Johnson says that inmates on death row
are confined to stark, empty cells,
isolated from any other human beings.
There is, according to Johnson, massive
deprivation of the medical,
Life imprisonment should be
mandatory for all convicted capital
offenders. And I don’t mean
spending 20 years in jail and then
getting out on good behavior. Life
imprisonment should mean life
imprisonment without parole.
Capital offenders should spend
the rest of their lives repaying
their debt to society, thinking
about their crime.
psychololgical and spirit ual needs that
are basic to human existence.
And the executions themselves, are
they “cruel and unusual?” Although
authorities have attempted to
modernize the execution process, there
have been several accounts of prisoners
suffering intense and prolonged pain.
Amnesty International reported the
following three in 1987: (1) a 1983
gasing in Mississippi during which the
prisoner had convulsions for eight
minutes and struck his head repeatedly
on the pole behind him; (2) a 1983
electrocution in Alabama during which
the prisoner died after 14 minutes and
three charges of 1900 volts, the second
of which caused smoke and tlameij
erupt from his lef t temple and leg;!
(3) a 1984 lethal injection in Texas 1
during which the prisoner moved,
and streamed in pain foratleastll
minutes.
But don’t these murderersdese;
this type of punishment for allt
harm that they have done? Wha
the vic tim? Don’t the\ deservesomt
retribution?
I am not refuting the fact thattli
people convicted of a capital offenst
should be punished, fheysho
punished to the fullest extent of lift
Where 1 draw the line is life
imprisonment. Life imprisonment
should be mandatory for all eonvia
capital of f enders. And I don't mean
spending 20 years in jail and then
getting out on good behavior. Life
imprisonment should mean life
imprisonment without parole.Capi
offenders should spend the test of
lives repaving their debt to society,
thinking about their crime. It mayl
expensive, but the value of a huniai
outweighs the cost of murdering tin
murderer. And if evidence surface
acquits the defendant, at leastheui
be alive.
In his book, Johnson offersaqup
f rom Bvron Eshelmann, formerda
row chaplain f or San Quentin I’m
“Onlv the ritual of an execution
makes it possible to endure. W’/fk
the condemned could not give the
expected measure of cooperation;
etiquette of dying. Without it, wet
must preside at their deaths could
f ace the morning of each new exec
day.
a t,
“Nor could you.
“No matter how you think you
ab< >ut capital punishment,noma
how you imagine vou would face
legal giving or taking of life, you
meet the reality of it by holdingtigli
to the crutch of ritual.” I
Damon ArhosJs a seniorjournal|
major.
Abortion fighting could end
if compromise was accepted
In the past couple of weeks there
have been an abundance of letters
discussing an issue that is much more
controversial than it should be:
abortion.
Abortion is not a very pretty word.
(This seems f itting considering the
action.) There have been numerous
letters both for and against it. We have
read all about the issue from all points
of view except one: the practical,
scientific point of view.
I realize that some people believe that
life begins at conception and that all
aboritons are murder. Some people
believe that women should have
complete control over their bodies and
should be allowed to have abortions at
any time during their pregnancy. I
believe that the truth lies somewhere
between these two views and if everyone
would look at the facts, maybe we could
reach a compromise.
I am not a biology student or a
medical student, but I do read a lot. Last
semester I read an article by Joan Beck
of the Chicago Tribune which brought
up a point that no one else has bothered
to raise. I’m not sure why it has been
ignored, but my guess is that it points
out some problems with the beliefs of
both the pro-life and pro-choice groups
— so neither side wants to bring up the
subject.
In the article, Beck stated a medical
fact that a fetus develops both a
heartbeat and brainwaves somewhere
around the eighth week of pregnancy.
Since these are the two main indicators
that are used to determine when a
person is dead, it seems like a
reasonable and practical way to
determine when life begins in a fetus. If
the fetus has a heartbeat and
brainwaves, (which are as easy to detect
in a fetus as in a person), then it should
be considered alive. If it does not have
them then it is not alive.
I would like to point out that the fetus
is made up of living tissue from the
moment it is fertilized, but it is not alive
in the same sense that a new-born baby
is alive (or even a seven-month-old
fetus). It can’t think, and it certainly
can’t feel anything until it develops a
nervous system (also around eight
weeks). It is alive like your liver is alive
(except that your liver probably has
more sensation).
My suggestion: Allow complete access
to abortions for any womanasl
the fetus does not have both a heart
and brainwaves. I f the fetus has
brainwaves and a heartbeat, confl
alive. This would give the pregnant!
woman eight weeks to determine™
she is pregnant and decide whetl
not to keep the baby. (Actuallyshe
would really have somewherel)eM<
four to seven weeks after missingal
period to lake a pregnancy test ai
make bet decision.)
I hope that any person thatisgo
engage in sexual intercourse willb
intelligent enough to use some fon
birth control. 1 lowever, no
contraceptive is 100 percent effeclil
preventing unwanted pregnancy,!
have no problem (morally, ethicallij
any other way) with a woman havinfl
abortion after a contraceptive hasfl
In a perfect world, no one shouldluj
to have an abortion, but we don’t
a perfect world, we live in the real
world.
In the real world, people havesesj
In the real world, women get
pregnant.
In the real world, people have
different opinions.
In the real world, intelligentpeo||
make compromises.
Jesse Spears is a graduate studeit
electrical engineering.
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