Editorials
Editorials expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial board and do not nec
essarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of
Regents.
St. Paul law falls under
Supreme Court scrutiny
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to review a St. Paul,
Minn, law forbidding the display of offensive symbols, such as
Nazi swastikas or burning crosses, once again brings into question
the extent of First Amendment rights.
Although we do not condone those symbols that represent ha
tred and violence in our society, the Constitution makes clear that
freedom of expression should not be abridged. A restraint such as
this is a clear violation of the First Amendment, and upholding a
law banning offensive symbols will only cultivate the opressive so
ciety which the law in St. Paul seeks to prevent.
Anything printed, broadcast or displayed has the potential to
offend some members of society, be it a swastika. Confederate flag
or Catcher In the Rye. Forcing the removal of offensive material
does not solve the problem, it only denies its existence.
The Battalion in no way supports or condones the ideas ex
pressed by such symbols, but cannot accept censorship such as the
law in St. Paul promotes.
The Battalion Editorial Board
It's my statement on harassment and
discrimination, and it will say what I
want it to, because I’m the president.
It's mine, all mine.
UT bans smoking on campus;
maintains tobacco investment
Last week the University of Texas
System Board of Regents made a bold
move, passing an immediate ban on
smoking at all of its 15 campuses,
including its open air football stadium.
The ban is probably the most
comprehensive smoking ban for a system
of UT's size, 140,000 students.
Unfortunately, the UT regents only
went halfway though, as a 4-4 split killed
a measure to require the system to divest
its $70 million in tobacco stocks.
One of the reasons some UT regents
voted against divestment appears to be
the sharing of invested funds with Texas
A&M University, whose regents have
voiced opposition to divestment.
Unbelievably, A&M and UT regents
still need to be reminded of the
staggering death toll of tobacco, which
Dr. Charles LeMaistre, president of UT's
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, told UT
regents is "the most common addicting
substance with a strength of addiction
greater than heroin."
Despite significant decreases in
cigarette consumption in the U.S, well
over 400, (XX) Americans will die
prematurely this year from tobacco-
induced diseases.
However, this heavy toll is only a
smoldering ember in the hellish fires of
death which will scorch humanity if the
U.S.-based transnational tobacco pushers
continue to get their way in Asia and less-
developed nations.
The Seventh World Conference on
Tobacco and Health held in Perth
Australia in April 1989 issued an
astounding report. It predicted: "Without
large reductions in early smoking (starts)
or smoking persistence, there will be over
ten million deaths per year during the
second quarter (2025-2049) of the next
century.
This would mean that over 200 million
of today's children and teenagers will be
killed by tobacco, as will a comparable
number of today's adults." These
numbers equate to nearly one-tenth of
the world's population crying - 500
million babies, children, and adults.
This gloomy predicition is the direct
result of persistent lobbying by U.S.
tobacco companies, as well as its high-
placed political supporters, U.S. Senator
s
Jesse Helms, R-N.C., and the Reagan and
Bush Administrations.
Dan Quayle told a group of North
Carolina Republicans last July rather
bluntly that "Tobacco exports should be
expanded agressively because Americans
are smoking less."
Reagan and Bush used Section 301 of
the Trade Act of 1974 to force the
governments of Thailand, Japan, Taiwan,
and South Korea to open up their doors
to American cigarettes.
The results were startling. Young Thais
put Thai cigarettes in Marlboro boxes to
gain social prestige. Airtime on Japanese
television for cigarette commercials
zoomed from 40th to second place.
R.J. Reynolds arranged a concert for
teenagers in Taiwan (cancelled due to
protests) whose only accepted admission
"ticket" was to be five empty packs of
Winstons.
South Korean anti-smoking leaders
told the American Public Health
Association in 1988 that far more toxic tar
and addictive nicotine was showing up in
U.S. cigarettes than in Korean cigarettes.
The Thai and Taiwanese examples are
art of the tobacco giants aggressive and
eartless campaigns all over the world to
attract children smokers.
A Kenyan physician told the American
Cancer Society in January 1990 that in
East Africa from 1979 to 1989, the
percentage of primary-school children
smoking rose from 10 percent to 40
percent.
In May 1990, Dr. Prakit Vateesatokil,
leader of the Thai anti-smoking
campaign, displayed a children's kite
bearing the Winston logo to a hearing
held by Senator Edward Kennedy.
In the U.S., tobacco companies target
youths through movie theaters, which
are frequented more by teenagers than
adults, through on-screen product
placement.
R.J. Reynolds pays for slick
publications like Moviegoer and Movies
USA, which are distributed for free in
thousands of theatres, and sometimes
contain ads only for cigarettes.
By not divesting, A&M and UT are
winking at the tobacco companies, who
stand to lose little from a ban effecting
older and better educated people in the
U.S.
The tobacco companies will continue to
reap financial rewards from other
countries forced to knuckle under to the
warped trading agendas of Republican
U.S. Administrations.
The new UT policy includes programs
focusing on primary and secondary
schools, and the development of
curriculum to enhance tne health
education teaching abilities of graduates
of UT System teacher-preparation
programs.
UT Chancellor Hans Mark claims the
new policy is sufficient enough, and
divestiture is unwarranted, stating
"We're using our educational resources
to hit tobacco companies where it hurts -
in the marketplace."
However, by financing educational
resources for anti-smoking efforts with
tobacco profits, UT is running
contradictory laps around a very deadly
circle.
Any A&M regent similarly defending
the tobacco portfolio (return on the stock :
is roughly three times the market
average) would also be talking with their
foot in their mouth.
A bizarre development involving one
of these cancer kings, Philip Morris, was
reported two weeks ago in the San
Francisco Chronicle.
Philip Morris supports the political
campaigns of Jesse Helms, well-known
for speaking out aggressively against
homosexuality.
Pressured by a boycott from
homosexual rights groups angry over this
support, Philip Morris announced a
specific program to donate money ($3
million is speculated) to homosexual
rights advocacy groups.
Now consider the position this puts the I
A&M an UT regents in. By keeping the
tobacco stocks, the systems they
represent will profit from companies
responsible in whole or part for the
annual death of over 400,000 Americans -
and 2.5 million people worldwide, and
ultimately up to one tenth of the entire
world's population. :
In addition to these preventable
deaths, the systems will be in bed, so to ;
speak, with a company which financially -
supports homosexual rights groups, a
position a giant step ahead of the recently
reworded A&M policy which simply
rohibits discrimination against
omosexuals.
This situation ought to get Aggies from ;
all political stripes to demand A&M's
divestment. The A&M regents ought to
listen. The 4-4 UT vote suggests that a
little push for divestment from A&M is all
that's needed to rid both educational
systems completely of these dirty dealers
of death.
If this does not convince the A&M
regents to divest, then maybe the calling I
to make A&M "World Class" will be.
Harvard University, first class by any
standards, has divested.
Well, A&M regents, show us your
stripes.
Michael Worsham is a graduate student
in environmental engineering.
Mail Call
The Battalion is interested in hearing from its readers and welcomes all letters to the editor.
Please indude name, classification, address and phone number on all letters. The editor reserves
the right to edit letters for style and length. Because of limited space, shorter letters have a better
chance of appearing. There is, however, no guarantee letters will appear. Letters may be brought
to 216 Reed McDonald or sent to Campus Mail Stop 1111.
World Class defined improperly
EDITOR:
This letter is in reply to Tim Truesdale's recent article regarding Texas A&M's
"World Class Status".
In his article, Mr. Truesdale suggests that the notion of World Class Status
lacks a clear definition and tends to be a vulnerable topic of anyone or group crit
ical of A&M's various policies.
Truesdale continued to imply in a somewhat confused manner that such per
sons or organizations are equating a perfect university with "World Class Status".
A perfect university according to Truesdale being one free of every "racist" and
one definitely with "toilet paper" in the sixth floor library restrooms. Truesdale
closed his article with the suggestion that what those critic of A&M's status want
is a truly "liberal" institution, whatever that might imply?
With this in mind, three very important factors need to be pointed out in re
gard to Truesdale's commentary.
First and foremost, it is Texas A&M that presents to this nation and the world
as a "World Class Institution," not necessarily the persons or organizations within
it. Surely this is a fact evident to anyone that has chosen to attend this University
and one clearly reflected in the pamphlets and rhetoric A&M provides the public.
Second, within the realm of institutions of "higher education," the goal is
hopefully that of offering resources and faculty of the highest quality in order to
more fully emancipate both the human mind and spirit. This however neces
sitates an accepting attitude regarding personal and professional ideological di
versity both among the faculty and the student body they will instruct. I feel it is
also safe to state that universities who purport themselves of "World Class Stat
us" recognize this goal and responsibility but I do not imply that all pursue it. It
also should be stated that diversity among faculty and students is another thing
that Texas A&M states that it is proud of and encourages.
Finally it is not clear why Mr. Truesdale wants to equate what I would like to
label "open mindedness" with his somewhat ambiguous use of the term "liberal."
The use of this term I have come to realize is evidently another one of the tradi
tions at A&M and proves to be a handy way of not addressing a problem.
In closing, I encourage Truesdale not to conclude that the scarcity of a concise
definition or model or what a "World Class Status" is by no means suggests that it
lacks any measure. To do so would be similar to concluding that if one can't give a
simple definition of what racism is then no such thing exists.
Mark George
Graduate Student
Veteran defends Operation Desert Storm
This letter is in reply to the column by
Michael Worsham tnat appeared in the
June 4th Battalion. Mike, in this column
you accused President Bush and Gen.
Schwartzkopf of deceiving the American
people about the Gulf War. As a recently
returned veteran of that war, I cannot let
your comments and gross
misrepresentation of the facts go
unanswered.
I was deployed to Saudi Arabia in
October of 90 and returned in April of
this year. During my deployment, I
served as an Army Ammunition Warrant
Officer and was never more than 30 miles
from the front, so I believe that I can
speak with some authority about what
went on there.
Mike, you implied that the U.S. started
the war, set fire to the oil wells and
caused the oil spill. You seem to forget
that Iraq invaded Kuwait and Hussein
announced his policy of environmental
terrorism far in advance of the start of the
war. As for the oil wells, I certainly tell
ou that very few, if any, were hit by our
ombs. I was on the Kuwait border when
the bombing started. When the ground
offensive began, I moved 300 miles west
to a position on the Iraqi border. During
that time, there was no smoke in the day
or glow at night in the direction of
Kuwait. There were some isolated fires,
but nothing compared to what you could
see once the ground war began -even
from 300 miles away. In any case, if we
did start the fires, our smart bombs must
have been much smarter than I ever
imagined. We must have used bombs
that can hit without leaving a crater,
strap an explosive charge to the well
head and then dispense and bury anti
personnel mines around the well. Oh
yes, they can also make a map of the
mine locations and give that to the senior
Iraqi engineer in the area. As an
ammunition technician, I have never
seen any of these bombs, but if you know
where I can find some I'd like to see one.
You then stated, probably correctly,
that a Landsat photo showed no tanks on
the Saudi border on Aug. 2. I didn't have
time to check, but I'm sure the resolution
John C. McCoy
Reader’s Opinion
of the Landsat is not as clear as the KH
series the military uses. Also, the Iraqis
are superb at desert camouflage. If it
weren't for infrared imaging and
C owerful radars, which I don't think the
t andsat has, we wouldn't have found
many of their positions. Even so, we
were surprised at the number of bunker
complexes we never saw until the war
began. In any case, the pictures we
showed to King Fahad were sufficient to
convince him he needed help to defend
Saudi Arabia.
Then you took aim at the Patriot
missile and smart bombs saying they
didn't work. Didn't you do any research
at all before you wrote this column? The
Patriot has a very small warhead
designed to shoot down planes, but it
was found that its guidance system could
intercept slow missiles like the Scud.
Since the Scud are quite large, the
Patriots normally hit the fuel tanks and
knock off the warhead, which is
equipped with a PD (point detonating)
fuse and will explode when it hits the
ground. Since Saudi Arabia is mostly
empty desert, it is quite sufficient to hit
the Scud far enough away from its target
so the warhead falls short.
Unfortunately, that is not the case in
Isreal so the Patriot was not nearly as
effective. I had quite a few friends in
Dhahranan who where very thankful the
Patriot was there. As for the smart
bombs. I'd like to know where you got
your information for the failure rate. I
think you're quoting the mission failure
rate overall, including those missions
that had to turn around due to weather
and mechanical failures.
You also made several comments
about the present situation in Kuwait
and Iraq. You conveniently forget that
40,000 civilians disappeared from Kuwait
during the occupation, along with most
of the infrastructure. You also seem to
ignore the conduct of the Iraqi soldiers
during the occupation.
Now, it's payback time as far as the
Kuwaitis are concerned. Would you do
any less if you were in their shoes? In this
same light, you accuse the United States
of not allowing humanitarian aid to get
through to Iraq, so you want to lift all
sanctions. Don't you know that the
sanctions will allow aid, but only under
Red Cross or Red Crescent supervision,
which the Iraqi government has refused
to allow?
Don't you realize that Hussein would
set about re-arming as soon a possible if
the sanctions were lifted? He would then
be free, once again, to act with the same
brutality he has already demonstrated
against his own people as well as his
neighbors.
You then ask that the United States
lead the effort to put out the oil well fires.
Aren't you aware that the vast majority
of the world's oil field fire fighting
equipment is already deployed there and
the fires are being put out? Mike, you
need to read the papers you're so good at
quoting.
In closing, it is obvious to me that you
have a lot to learn about the world we
live in. You cannot pick and choose to
only believe or accept those ideas that
you agree with, nor can you take isolated
"facts" out of context and tout them as
the whole story.
The Middle East is one of the most
complicated areas in the world and our
involvement there is one of the most
difficult foreign policy affairs in our
history. In the future, I hope you take the
time to look at all points and develop an
objective view of the world. By the way,
if people like you supported nuclear
power we wouldn't need to depend on
foreign oil or fight wars to protect it.
John C. McCoy is a senior.