A
The Battalion
OPINION
Wednesday, October 3,1990
Welcome new Aggies
from Japan campus
T he opening of Texas A&M’s branch campus in Koriyama, Ja
pan, was an important milestone for the University. As markets
and communications become increasingly international, recogni
tion of our role in a global economy and culture is vital.
This week’s arrival of 50 students from the A&M Koriyama
branch brings the message close to home. Though they live
across the world, these visitors are our fellow students.
The students from Koriyama are making history for A&M.
We should be happy and proud to welcome them to Aggieland.
The Battalion Editorial Board
Souter’s nomination starts
age of un-Bork on court
Soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice
David H. Souter has been called many
things in the last few weeks. He has
often been called the Stealth judge,
flying past inquisitors relatively
unnoticed and unscathed. A more
appropriate title might be the un-Bork,
a title which must surely make George
Bush smile with glee.
Judge Bork was an oft-published,
garrulous, outspoken jurist who had
been responsible for a number of legal
precedents. His public views and
numerous published works were
ultimately his downbringing.
Souter, on the other hand, is
reserved, stoic and monastic — an
unknown commodity. His friends call
him a ty pical stubborn Yankee, and his
speech shows the typical New England
attitude that all significant work is done
by people who shovel snow nine months
out of the year.
This unknown commodity’s
nomination was approved last week on a
13-1 vote by the Senate J udiciary
Committee, with only (suprise!) Sen.
Ted Kennedy in opposition.
Surprisingly smooth sailing for a man
with so many question marks.
It seems that question marks would
give our chief executive an irritating
rash after some of his predecessor’s
picks are examined.
President Eisenhower was proud of
his Supreme Court nominee, Warren
Burger. Eisenhower later called this
century’s most notable liberal “a big
mistake.” Byron White was also a
surprise to President Kennedy.
Justice Blackmun made an
inexcusably unethical mistake when he
went on camera f ollowing Judge
Souter’s nomination to blast him and
suggest his chances of confirmation
were negligible. This proclamation by
one of the Court’s doddering old fossils
only serves to reiterate the need to
inf use new blood into the Court in
order to replace several walking
cadavers.
Souter’s blood was targeted by Senate
leftists and militant women’s groups due
to his suspected anti-abortion, anti
affirmative action stance. Many of the
questions served only to show the
ignorance of the questioners, namely
Howard Metzenbaum and Ted
Kennedy, while shedding little light on
the nominee’s views.
Soon after Souter’s nomination, Sen.
Metzenbaum attempted to alienate
conservatives from him by saying that
important information about the judge
will “come out of the closet,” a blatant
inference of homosexuality which was
brought on by his bachelorhood.
This was almost as sleazy as the
investigation into Judge Bork’s VCR
Larry
Cox
M
Columnist
\ 1
k
usage, which was investigated in the
hope of uncovering X-rated rentals.
Both attempts were unsuccessful.
Later in the hearings, Metzenbaum
suggested that Souter was unfit to sit on
the Court because he came from an area
with few minorities and thus could not
be sensitive to their interests.
Must all f uture justices be from the
Bronx or Washington D.C.? I hope not.
It was also suggested that Souter’s
single lif estyle and lack of a family
prevented him from being in touch with
values which must be considered in
many cases. '
If this were the case, Justice Scalia,
with his many children, would be chief
justice. Besides, the mere thought of
Ted Kennedy questioning someone on
family values should be enough to have
the entire country rolling in the aisles.
The un-Bork nominee had abortion
rights activists and the NOW gang
squealing in outrage about his supposed
intent to overturn the Roe vs. Wade
decision legalizing abortion. If Roe vs.
Wade is unfortunately overturned, it
won’t be because David Souter was
confirmed.
The right to privacy, which Sarah
Weddington so eloquently used to
uphold, has suf f ered a number of legal
setbacks, most notably the Court’s 1986
decision to uphold Georgia’s sodomy
law. Souter’s opposition to abortion is
far from clear anyway.
Souter’s lack of a paper trail —
pertinent publications and precedents
— make any concerted opposition to his
nomination in the name of abortion
rights akin to playing with a Ouija
board. He is being opposed strictly
because he appears to be conservative.
Appearances, however, can be
deceptive.
With Souter’s confirmation by the full
Senate this week, President Bush can
find comfort (for now) that the un-Bork
strategy worked. Liberals will do well to
realize that the sacrificial slaughter of
Judge Bork means we’ll never again
have an open book Supreme Court
nominee.
Relative anonymity and a hundred
question marks will surround Justice
Souter and any future justice picks until
they make their indelible stamp on
America. The Age of the un-Bork is
here to stay. Don’t be surprised if a few
politicos get burned in the process —
even as they try to keep up the heat.
Larry Cox is a graduate student in
range science.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Cindy McMillian,
Editor
Timm Doolen, Managing Editor
Ellen Hobbs, Opinion Page Editor
Holly Becka, City Editor
Kathy Cox,
Kristin North,
News Editors
Nadja Sabawala,
Sports Editor
Eric Roalson, Art Director
Lisa Ann Robertson,
Lifestyles Editor
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Opinion Page Editor Ellen Hobbs 8452
U.S., stop fueling insurgencie
President George Bush seems to have
an overabundance of spare time — he
even finds time to play golf as the
country creeps toward war.
But between holes, Mr. Bush can’t
seem to find enough time to end a few
wars that the United States is currently
fighting, specifically three insurgencies
that we’re fueling in foreign countries.
I speak of the insurgencies in
Cambodia, Angola and Afghanistan. In
these insurgencies, U.S. military aid is
given to rebel groups fighting to
overthrow their country’s governments,
which are supported directly or
indirectly by the Soviet Union.
In each of these insurgencies, the
rebel groups are violent-minded
organizations that would not promote
democracy if they were to win militarily.
In addition, since the Cold War has
thawed, peace and free and fair
elections are within reach in each
country. The Soviets have made moves
in each of the wars to pressure the
government to work for a peaceful,
negotiated solution. On the other hand,
the U.S. has barely acknowledged that
the wars continue and that civilians
continue to suffer and die.
Although the United States has
participated in the peace talks of each
country, it has not made any serious
moves to pressure the rebel groups that
it supports to use the negotiating table
and the economic leverage that the U.S.
can offer as their tools, rather than guns
and missiles.
In Cambodia, where 64,000 have
been killed since 1978, the United States
continues to support the rebel coalition
that is led by the Khmer Rouge. The
Khmer Rouge, led by the murderous
Pol Pot, killed over one million people
when it ruled Cambodia from 1975-
1978.
The United States has been working
in tandem with the Chinese government
in supplying the rebel coalition, and
because of the support of two
superpowers, the Khmer Rouge has
made great military and political
advances recently. If the Khmer Rouge
were to regain power in Cambodia; the
country may experience the killing
fields once again.
Nevertheless, the United States has
not pressured the rebel coalition to fight
its battles at the negotiating table rather
than in thejungles and villages. And the
negotiating table has proven to be a
potent form of conflict resolution in
Cambodia.
Both the Vietnam-supported
government and the rebel coalition have
agreed to a basic peace plan that would
lead up to free and fair elections. Only
the details remain to be hammered out.
The largest detail — deciding who
would chair the Supreme National
Council (the somewhat impotent
organization that would represent
Cambodia during an interim
government) — is not worth shooting
bullets over. But, unsurprisingly, the
Khmer Rouge continues to fight; and,
unsurprisingly, the United States
continues to send the rebel coalition
arms.
America’s first priority in Cambodia
should be to stop the fighting. America
should pressure the rebels to stop their
attacks on the government and the
people. Then, with a little
communication with the Soviets (who
support the Cambodian government via
Vietnam), a cease-fire can be quickly
negotiated.
Above all, the United States should
cease its arms shipments to the rebel
coalition. According to some experts,
the Khmer Rouge has accumulated
enough arms from the United States
and China to keep fighting for months,
maybe years, even if the shipments were
to stop today.
This means that if the Khmer Rouge
were to disagree with the results of a
Irwin
Tang
Columnist
i 1 k
Cambodian election, they could dig into
possible hidden arms caches in the
jungle and continue their fight even
without superpower support.
In Angola, 341,000 people have been
killed since the insurgency began in
1975. Of these victims of war, 320,000
were civilians.
The U.S. supplies the National Union
for the Total Independence of Angola
(UNITA), the anti-government group
led by Jonas Savimbi. Savimbi has been
notorious for his human rights abuses.
Because of his brutal style, Congress
is considering reducing his funding. But
simply giving UNITA a few million
dollars less is not enough. The U.S.
must work quickly with the Soviet Union
(who supports the Angolan
government) to work out a cease-fire.
The Soviets have shown that they art-
eager to negotiate rather than fight;
they helped to pressure Cuba to begin
withdrawing its troops from Angola in
1988. The table has been set for
negotiating. And the time is crucial; if a
cease-fire cannot be achieved soon,
Angola could suffer from intense
famine.
The United States has already
allowed one cease-fire to slip through its
fingers. In 1988, Bush withdrew U.S.
diplomats from the mediating process at
a crucial moment. Some say Bush has
not put peace talks in Angola near the
top of his agenda to keep the support of
conservative hawks (Curran History,
May, 1990). Whatever the reason,
Angolan peace should be a high
presidential priority. Peace is ripe for
the picking.
Finally, Afghanistan is still being torn
apart by war. Almost two years since the
Soviet Union withdrew its forces, the
American-backed “mujahideen” and
the Soviet-supported Afghan
government at e still fighting.
, Mail
Gorbachev has proposed a ceasei;
and free and fair elections as momtc
by the two superpowers. But, once
again, the United States refused to
accept victory. The United States
ref usal shows that it is more concern:
wit It military victory than-with
democratic goals. In fact, the Bush
Administration demonstrated its
extreme desire for military bravado!
breaking the t ules of the Geneva
Accord of April 1988.
The accord stipulated that the Uij
States cease its military supportoftk
mujahideen after the Soviet forcesIj
withdrawn.
The mujahideen are not thekindt
rebels that should be supportedintlf
first place. Drug dealers and religion
fanatics dominate the various faction
the mujahideen.
Last year, rebel-controlled areas
exported 700 tons of opium. Theopi
exports translate into one thirdoftin
heroin sold in America (NT. Times
Mag., Feb. 4, 1990.).
In addition, the rebels continueto
fight among each other and bombciit
killing civilians. Their continued
bombing has shifted supporttowardi
present Afghan government.
To be sure, the governments that!
Soviet Union supports in eachofthes
conflicts do not have good
humanitarian records, either.
I he point is, democracy and hums
rights can arise from each of these
hideous wars. The Soviet Unionisra
to work for it. They have pressuredii
Vietnamese to withdraw from
Cambodia. They have pressuredthe
Cubans to withdraw their forcesfroii
Angola. And they have withdrawn tin
own forces in Afghanistan. Theyhan
pressured their proxy governments!)
give up crucial concessions, such as
allowing the Khmer Rouge to
participate in an interim government
1 he United States must match the
Sov iet Union’s efforts in serious talk
for peace. The President should ti
directly to Gorbachev about ending
wars that serve no purpose assoonas
possible. 1 he wars may beproxywi)
hut the people are real.
Irwin Tang is a junior politicalm
major.
Call
Grad school tuition hike ludicrous
EDITOR:
In reference to the article on the front page of the October 1, 1990 Battal
ion:
Does the business school only think in terms of money? I heir suggestion
that raising tuition — doubling it — for graduate students in order to drop
their enrollment is ludicrous! If the business school has too many qualifiedap
plicants then raise the standards for qualification, don’t penalize the students
who are qualified by raising tuition. Why don’t they try raising the average
CRE entrance score criterion?
A tennent of the 1 exas A&M University system and every educational in-
stitution in Texas is to offer a quality education to the public regardless of li
nancial status. This is discrimination against the poor!
Graduate students are the workhorses or slaves of this research institution
already. If Texas A&M University wants to be a front-line research institution
it should remember that most of that research is being done by graduate stu
dents. We teach your laboratories, we grade your papers and we do there
search which has published the papers on which this university prides itself.
Our tuition is being compared to the University of Texas systems grad
uate tuition — well lets look at what U I graduate students get for that higher
tuition: FREE medical insurance, FREE campus parking, and FREEcitybus
passes. All of these expensive items graduate students at A&M have to pay out
of their own pockets. Most of the UT graduate students also are on a
fellowship or other waiver system such that they don’t pay tuition anyway
Their departments waive it. A&M departments do not. A&M graduate stu
dents are a lot less well off than the students at UT and now you wantusto
pay even more to go to school. This in a year when inflation is increasingbui
our stipends haven’t been raised to even accommodate the cost of living in
creases.
In the vernacular of Aggies: This is very BAD BULL!
Marsha Lambregts,graduate student
accompanied by 11 signatures
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