Opinion
Friday, February 8, 1991
The Battalion Opinion Page Editor Jennifer Jeffus 845-331
Mail Call
Th« BattaBwi Is Interested In hearing from Its readers and welcomes a!S letters to the editor. Please Include name, ckmtflcatian. sdWmss and phone number on afi tetters. The
editor reserves the right to edit tetters for style and length. Because of limited space, shorter letters have a better chance of appearing. There Is, however, no guarantee letters *r
appear Letters- maybe brought to 216 Reed Mcttonafd or sent to Campus Mail Stop 111!.
- - — ■
Proud to be an American
EDITOR:
Howdy! My name is Cpl. James M. Young, and I am
currently serving with the Marine Corps in Operation
Desert Storm. I have been in the theater of operation for
six months now and have not regretted a day of it.
I was a student at Texas A&M for two and a half years.
Although my love and loyalty for A&M and the Corps of
Cadets is strong, I had to leave for personal reasons. I do
hope to return to A&M one day.
I have received several letters from Aggies, past and
present, while over here and it has been a real morale
boost. My reason for writing to yaTl is to let you know
that myself and other Aggies are doing great over here
and y out Undying loyalty and support has been’greatly
appreciated.
— Our Scud alarm just went off. I am now writing to
you from inside my bunker. I pray I can get this letter off
to you. —
This war has been going on for a few days now, and it
is very real.
This morning, I heard on the radio that some Ameri
cans are holding sit-ins and protesting our involvement
over here. This strikes me as very odd, since every coun
try over here in the Middle East is united either for or
against us.
I find it really sad that some of my own countrymen are
acting this way. I must believe that they are misinformed;
so please allow me to inform some of you who don't
know why we are over here.
We are not over here fighting for oil. We are over here
fighting for liberty and freedom! — We are out of our
bunker now and everybody is OK — Liberty and free
dom that the Kuwaiti people are now deprived of.
I believe some Americans are spoiled and take their
many rights that our fathers and forefathers fought and
died for for granted. If I am hurting your feelings, that's
just too bad, because you need to grow up and look
around at the rest of the world and see how they live.
Some live in fear and some in a depressed society.
Some people say that freedom is free. IT IS NOT! There is
a price for freedom that must be paid, not only in Amer
ica but all over the world.
One man never should be allowed to control, take over
and harass others at his whim. I call upon you, all Ag
gies, to unite and pass these words on to others across
the nation.
In conclusion, let me say that I am proud to be an
American, where at least I know I'm free. I am proud to
be a Marine, and I am proud to be an Aggie. Gig 'em!
Beat the hell outta Iraq!-
Semper Fi,
James M. Young '90
P.S. Howdy Jocks
Discontinue animal-based diets
EDITOR:
Timothy Truesdale's assessment of animal testing was
right on the mark. The New England Anti-Vivisection So
ciety reports that experiments on animals have yet to give
the human race a single cure in the fight against heart
disease. He left out an important point though.
Many of the diseases which afflict humankind can be
prevented much more easily than they will ever be cured
or treated by needless and cruel testing on animals.
The prevention method is simply to discontinue un
healthy diets based on eating animals and animal prod
ucts, which would stop the inhumane factory farming
techniques necessary for financially viable animal prod
ucts industries. This action in and of itself will greatly re
duce animal suffering.
Treating diseases caused by animal-based diets with
animal-tested cures is a self-perpetuating cycle of animal
suffering that solves nothing and creates many other en
vironmental and social problems.
Michael C. Worsham
graduate student
Wake up, see the real world
EDITOR:
I'd like to start out by saying that I am a very open-
minded person. During the course of this semester, I
have noticed a few individuals who need to open their
minds a little.
One particular focus is all of the letters pouring in de
scribing distaste for Nito's "the itch." I find the strip hila
rious, especially the Jan. 31 issue, above which was an
other letter of disgust.
I can't believe you are condemning this guy because of
his comic strip. What's going to happen to you people
when you get into the real world and have to deal with
people that act the way Nito satirizes?
We all go to a conservative university and don't get too
much exposure to people like that, but they're out there.
Just before Thanksgiving, I was in Austin. If you think
"the itch" is bad, try some of the articles there. In the Da
ily Texan, they ran a particular cartoon that would make
you people wretch.
A homosexual cartoon with very explicit insinuations
was run. Upon asking my friend, he responded that it's
like that every day.
If you frail people can't cope with "the itch," then so
ciety is headed for a downfall when you get out into it be
cause there are worse things out there than "sick" hu
mor.
Wake up and see the world for what it is — diverse.
Not everyone can be happy with everything.
Maybe in the future, you should try to tolerate the
things you don't like instead of condemning the individ
uals for those things.
Remember: life isn't always a bed of roses.
Eric Pierson '92
Editorials
Editorials expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial board and do not necessarily represent the
opinions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents.
Don't let Persian Gulf Crisis
heighten racism against Arabs
During a time at Texas A&M when we have been struggling
to improve our multicultural environment, ill feelings againsi
Arabs could be particularly damaging to lives and student rela
tions.
The Persian Gulf conflict is historically unique because it is
the first time the United States has fought an Arab enemy, and
many Americans already are concerned about the possibilities of
terrorism and threats to American lives and property here at
home.
Also, the misunderstanding of another culture might have
unfortunate consequences, such as discrimination and racist at
tacks on the United States' Arab-American population and Arab
nationals working or studying in the United States.
We are disturbed by reports of racially motivated violence
from across the country. Civil rights violations have occurred as
close as Houston, where Arab-Americans have faced verbal
threats and assaults.
The possibility exists that this situation can worsen the al
ready poor image of Arabs in this country.
As Americans and Aggies, let's not let this conflict between
nations and governments heighten racism against Arab-Ameri
cans, especially Arab students and staff members who share this
campus.
The Battalion Editorial Board
Gulf crisis advocates
go overboard in support
JL here has been a lot of
discussion concerning the Persian Gulf
War and the way Americans are
reacting to it. Some criticize anti-war
rallies with the argument they injure
the morale of our soldiers in Saudi
Arabia; the war protesters (who
presently are in the minority) counter
that they're showing their support for
U.S. troops by demanding they come
home alive.
No doubt, almost every American
has opinions about the war and the
reactions it has received in the United
States. As of now, support for
President Bush and his actions in the
gulf is quite high. Even Americans
hesitant about the war believe that if
we must send troops into battle, we
had better support them.
Yet there seems to be a segment of
that majority that is a little too
supportive of the war, and this
segment is alive at Texas A&M. You
know to whom I am referring — the
small group of students who seem to
be actually enjoying the involvement of
U.S. troops in Kuwait and Iraq.
You've seen them on campus.
They're the ones proudly wearing the
"Give Force a Chance" T-shirts and
foaming at the mouths like pit bulls at a
dog fight. These are the same people
who buy the "Wipe out Saddam
Hussein" toilet paper and then shake
their heads at the "crazy Arabs" who
burn the American flag.
Sure, support for the President and
the troops is essential for the Bush
Administration to achieve its objectives
in the Middle East. Yet some people
seem gleeful that the situation has
turned out the way it has. These
individuals seem to be caught in a time
warp, as if it was 1980 and the U.S.
hockey team just defeated the Soviets
for the Gold Medal.
They have surpassed cheering for
our troops and a quick victory, and
their rhetoric seems to be supporting
the war, not U.S. troops in the gulf.
We, as bystanders to the war, must
ensure our support for our troops does
not spill over and begin to resemble
something like the "One Minute Hate'
in George Orwell's "1984."
If you didn't know any better, you
would think these warmongers were
sent here by the Ministry of Truth to
drum up support for our latest militan
campaign. Even Bush, the hero of the
hour, said in his State of the Union
address, "This nation has never found
glory in war."
The irony of the situation is that
these same hawks who seem to get off
on this war are safe here in the United
States. It's easy for these militant
simpletons to be blissful about thewai
— all they have to do to forget about
the Persian Gulf is turn off CNN. Not
even the troops in Saudi Arabia areas
hawkish as some of our own students;
troop members seem to view their job
as solemn duties required by the
American public.
But then again, who am I to criticize!
It's your prerogative if you want to
cruise the streets of Bryan-College
Station with a "Defend Firearms,
Defeat Dukakis" bumper sticker while
the Lee Greenwood song, "I'm proud
to be an American" blasts from the
speakers and brings a lump to your
throat.
Patrick Nolan is a senior political
science major.
The Battalion
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Southwest Journalism Conference
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Lisa Ann Robertson,
Editor
Kathy Cox, Managing Editor
Jennifer Jeffus,
Opinion Page Editor
Chris Vaughn, City Editor
Keith Sartin,
Richard Tijerina,
News Editors
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Fredrick D. Joe, Art Director
Kristin North,
Life Style Editor
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