The Battalion
OPINION
Wedne?
Wednesday, October 31,1990
Opinion Page Editor Ellen Hobbs 845-33 ;
Earth First! shouldn’t be allowed at Texas A&M
Dc
If the PLO wanted to start a
student chapter here on campus,
would they be allowed to do so? If the
KKK attempted to gain official
recognition in order to recruit
members and hand out literature,
would they be sanctioned by the
University?
If you answered, “No, of course
not,” to these two questions, ask
yourself a third: Why is the group
Earth First! allowed on campus? The
answer certainly eludes me.
Earth First!, like the KKK and the
PLO, is listed as a terrorist
organization by the FBI. Unlike the
others, Earth First! holds meetings
on our campus. While the KKK
destroys churches and NAACP
offices to promote white supremacy,
Earth First! destroys equipment and
commits acts of sabotage to promote
radical environmentalism. Where the
PLO kills and bombs in the name of
Allah and the Palestinian cause,
Earth First! maims and vandalizes in
the name of Mother Earth.
A little background information
on the group is in order. Earth First!
was founded by Dave Foreman, Mike
Roselle and Howie Wolke in 1980.
These founding fathers gave Earth
First! an obligatory exclamation point
and a motto: “No Compromise in
Defense of Mother Earth.”
They, along with their fledgling
group, perfected the concept of
ecotage/ecological sabotage. Almost.
Foreman was arrested by the FBI in
1986 and jailed for conspiring to cut
power lines around nuclear power
plants in three Western states. Wolke
was arrested and jailed in 1985 for
committing acts of sabotage in
Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National
Forest. His response? “I did it and
I’m damn proud.”
Other Earth First! members
responded in kind, and continue to
do so. Across the country incidents of
ecotage, or “monkeywrenching” as
they call it, are reported by grazing,
mining, timber and energy
operations with alarming frequency.
Equipment and buildings owned by
these companies are destroyed, sugar
is poured into gas tanks, electrical
lines are cut, or property is simply set
afire.
In 1987 the Forest Service
commissioned a special agent to carry
out a nationwide survey of Forest
Service personnel in order to get
some idea of the amount of ecotage
being carried out. Good estimates
range from $20-25 million a year. An
Earth First! member arrested in
Oregon in 1985 commented, “I
figure I’ve done about a million
dollars worth of damage in the last
two years. They can sue me — I don’t
care, I don’t have any money!”
Money can’t replace some of what
they’ve taken away, by any means.
Their practice of spiking trees which
are about to be cut — hammering
nails and spikes into the trunks of
trees at the height of cutting — has
resulted in several loggers and
lumber workers being maimed by
disintegrating saws.
Turnabout is, however, fair play.
Two Earth First! operatives in
California were critically wounded
this past spring when homemade
bombs which they were carrying in
their auto accidentally detonated.
With typical radical fervor the group
blamed the explosion on the FBI —
an alleged assassination attempt.
These radical terrorist tactics have
earned Earth First! the derision and
condemnation of mainstream
environmental groups. Jay Hair,
president of the National Wildlife
Federation, has denounced Earth
First! as a terrorist organization,
saying he sees “no difference
between destroying a river and
destroying a bulldozer.”
Barbara Dugleby, a Texas Earth
First! member, says, “It doesn’t even
bother me whether people call us
terrorists ... in the end I think people
will realize that the terrorists are
really the people we have been
fighting, the destroyers of the Earth.”
Earth Firstfs zealous disregard for
the law has apparently proven useful
for some mainstrea. i groups.
“Frankly, it makes us look moderate,”
says Bob Hattoy of the Sierra Club. “I
can turn to a congressman and say,
‘Look, we’re the voice of reason.’ ”
Money can’t replace some
of what they’ve taken
away, by any means.
Their practice of
hammering nails and
spikes into the trunks of
trees at the height of
cutting has resulted in
several loggers and
lumber workers being
maimed by disintegrating
saws.
A voice of reason is needed on our
campus, to ask why an organization
with this sordid background is
allowed to exist within the confines of
Texas A&M University.
While speaking to the “Rally for
Unity” two weeks ago on our campus,
Earth First! members read a “Student
Declaration of Environmental
Rights.” Among them was “the right
to break the law if it conflicts with the
principles of justice.” I don’t recall
reading that one in the Bill of Righii,
Of course they have the rightto
f reedom of speech, but ponderthis:
are we so wrapped up in the concept
of a “world class university” thatwe
embrace and officially sanctiona
group which includes lawlessnessas
one of its basic tenets?
Malcolm Forbes said that
“education’s purpose is to repiaceaii
empty mind with an open one.”
University sanction of a group whicl
condones criminal activities is not
open minded — it’s foolish.
There are numerous
environmental groups on campus
which work within the framewoiiof
the law. The Texas Environmental
Action Coalition, the Sierra Club,tlit
Audobon Society and numerous
other groups work to make thepuH
environmentally aware through
education and lawful protests.
Any group which is on the FBI's
list of terrorist groups belongs off
campus. Or in jail. Period. I hope
that Student Services will take that
into consideration next year when
Earth First! reapplies for recognitiot
and reject that application.
Until then, 1 urge everyone to
condemn Earth First! and all groups
which flagrantly ignore our nation's
laws.
I’m sure Mother Earth would
concur.
Larry Cox is a graduate studentin
range science.
Straight ticket voting characteristic of ignorance
On Nov. 6, we will exercise one of our
most important rights we have been
given as Americans — the right to elect
the most qualified candidates to our
national, state and local offices.
As educated Americans, it is not only
our duty to vote, but also to become
educated about the candidates in all
races before we enter the voting booth.
Being a fifth-year senior at Texas
A&M and an active participant in the
political process, I have become all too
familiar with the Aggie style of voting.
I have observed a presidential
election, a governor’s election and
numerous local elections at Texas A&M
and have been shocked each time. I was
told that college, especially one of
A&M’s caliber, was composed of
politically aware students who
questioned the people they voted for
instead of succumbing to the “easy way
out” syndrome and voting a straight
ticket, a characteristic of an uneducated
public.
On more than one occasion, I have
seen experienced incumbents ousted
from office by unqualified candidates
who rode in on the coattails of their
national and state-wide counterparts.
The deciding factor has been the
student vote, though most of the
students could not have listed one fact
about any candidate past the first two or
three races.
This straight-ticket, ignorant
mentality should not exist on the A&M
campus, an institution that “educated”
people supposedly attend.
Students often tell me this occurs
because A&M is a conservative campus.
This, however, is no excuse for
ignorance.
I also have been told by students that
local elections do not affect them in the
short stay in the Brazos Valley. This is a
cop out and an excuse for not taking the
time to become educated about the
If you are one of the students
possessing this skewed mentality,
remind yourself of this next time you
complain about a burglary and car theft
on the A&M campus or want a campus
rapist brought to justice. Remember
that you will help elect the judges that
will rule on these cases.
If you vote for unsatisfactory
candidates out of apathy, you will
receive unsatisfactory results.
Experience, fairness and a good record
are what makes a difference, and party
affiliation does not play a role in a
person’s ability to make a good decision
on the bench.
Bill Vance, Class of ’61, is an excellent
choice for justice of the Tenth Court of
Appeals. He served as county judge of
Brazos County for 12 years. He also is a
past prosecutor and former director of
the State Bar of Texas. In addition to
his professional accomplishments, Bill
Vance has been an active civic leader in
the Brazos Valley, serving as president
of the Bryan—College Station Chamber
of Commerce.
Judge W.T. (Tom) McDonald is the
most qualified for the 85th District
Court judge. He is an incumbent with
12 years experience as district judge and
over 11 years of experience as a
prosecutor. During his tenure as judge,
he has had one-fifth of one percent of
his rulings reversed, and he was named
Outstanding Jurist of the Year by the
Criminal Justice Section of the State Bar
of Texas. Tom McDonald has sentenced
over 800 criminals to over 10,500 years
and has sent to jail over half of all the
capital murderers sentenced in Brazos
County. He is a bipartisan judge who
has been appointed to state-wide
Straight party voting makes government efficient
As a recent great president used to
say, “There you go again.”
Last Friday the editorial staff
wrote a condemnation of straight
party voting. Local Democrats must
have been delighted. Aggies tend to
vote Republican, but if they don’t
down the ballot then area old-timer
Democrats who haven’t voted
Republican since McKinley can carry
the party in all the lower races.
There are several reasons why
Aggies should ignore The Bait’s
editorial and support the party of
their choice.
First, every candidate from
governor to county clerk has made a
choice of which party he or she will
support.
Some feel comfortable in the same
party with Michael Dukakis, Walter
Mondale and Ted Kennedy. Others,
many of them former Democrats,
support the party of George Bush,
Ronald Reagan and Phil Gramm.
This choice tells you a great deal
about the candidates philosophy of
big vs. limited government, judicial
activism vs. judicial restraint and
criminal’s rights vs. the rights of the
victim.
Second, the recent debacle in
Congress should show something
very clearly. A government that is
radically divided in its ideals cannot
govern effectively. The United States
supported the ideals of George Bush
in 1988, but because he has a hostile
Congress he has not been able to
carry out these ideals.
The question in 1990 is if you
support the ideals of Clayton
Williams why elect legislators, judges
and bureaucrats who have the ideals
of Ann Richards? This will only lead
to the same inpasse in Austin as we
have in Washington.
Finally, we have a very unique
situation here in Texas. Not so long
ago you could not run for office
except as a Democrat. Thankfully,
times have changed and now we are
getting a two-party system.
But many of those Democrats are
still in office. They represent the
good-old-boy, back-scratching system
that ruled this state for so long.
Republicans represent change from
people outside the system on howto
move forward and solve old and ne«
problems.
In other words, if you like the wat
things have alw r ays been done in
Texas government then add a whole
lot more spending and then the
Democrats are your choice for 1991).
If you want change, vote Republican
No race better illustrates this point
than the race for lieutenant govemoi
where a bright young Republican
named Rob Mosbacher faces an old
timer in Bob Bullock who has been
Austin since Cod created dirt.
In short, if The Ban meant todo
the Democrats a favor by its editorial
on Friday then it certainly succeeded
But if it meant to make a valid point
about our political system then it
failed miserably. The party of a
candidate does matter. And if Aggies
remember that on election day, there
are going to be some great changes®
Brazos County and in Texas.
Scot Kibbe is president of the Tm
A&M College Republicans.
leadership positions by two chief justices
of the Texas Supreme Court — one
Republican and one Democrat.
Voters also should not overlook
Sarah Ryan for County Court at Law
judge, a past professor of civil law at
Texas A&M. Mary Ann Ward, a
candidate for county clerk, is a 17-year
veteran of the office and by far the most
qualified candidate.
Jim James, class of’76, is an
intelligent, experienced attorney in the
area and the only pro-choice candidate
in the race for Texas state
representative.
As you can see, there are many
qualified candidates running for office
in the Brazos Valley. It is important that
Aggies take time to research the
candidates and vote for the most
qualified people for office.
We owe it to ourselves to vote for
bipartisan candidates who represent!
interests. As educated students,!
challenge you to take the time to
research candidates before you votes
our forefathers would have wanted®
to. You’ll see just how many qualified,
excellent candidates there really areott
there.
Stacy Allen is a senior journalism
major.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
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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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