Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 1991)
Opinion Wednesday, July 10,1991 r The Battalion mm Page 5 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. White-supremacist camp is abominable The grand wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan has a dream, or should we say a nightmare. The Rev. Thom Robb, leader of the KKK splinter group, the Knights, founded by David Duke, wants to build a camp resort near Zinc, Ark. Robb wants to create a national headquar ters for the organization and to revitalize the Klan. He plans to use this camp as a recruiting tool and as a vehicle to integrate children into his movement. Robb plans to nestle his camp in 40 acres of scenic wilder ness. A beautiful setting, however, cannot hide the ugly bigotry and prejudice associated with his organization. In an age in which international harmony is the focus, such prejudicial, racial hatred is as abominable and as despicable as it could ever be. We at The Battalion hope that with the rise of multiculturalism, the small-minded, racist attitudes of the few will be overshadowed by the accepting and loving attitudes of the majority. The Battalion Editorial Board Thomas places Left in uneasy position V w ith all of the recent news coverage concerning President Bush's nomination of Clarence Thomas to replace Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, it should come as no surprise that a multitude of opinion columns have appeared on this issue. And following in this genre, I submit the following prediction: Clarence Thomas will be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice by the Senate . How can I make this public announcement so far in advance of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings? I make this claim-based on several assumptions. First, Judge Thomas's skin color will reduce the amount of criticism that other conservative nominees would likely encounter. Think about it. Do you really think that a group of rich, white senators are going to pub licly denounce a black judge who grew up as a poor sharecropper and paid his way through school? And do you hon estly think that white liberal senators, like Edward Kennedy and Joe Biden, are going to criticize a black man's opinions on affirmative action or group reparations? That would be tan tamount to them telling Judge Thomas how to be black. Second, regardless of the concerns that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has about Thomas's ideology, the NAACP will support Thomas's nomination. The NAACP will most likely respond in this manner because a rejection of Thomas by the Senate could prompt Bush to nominate a Hispanic judge (Ricardo Hinojosa and Emilio Garza have already been mentioned), thereby eliminating the only opportunity to replace Marshall with someone who is black. Additionally, polls reported by Black Entertainment Television indi cate that 54 percent of blacks approve of Bush's nomination, even though the majority think Clarence Thomas's views sometimes differ from those of other blacks. To go against the confir mation of Thomas would, therefore, be going against the opinion of the people the NAACP represents. Trey Jacobon Columnist Third, the opposition of the National Organization of Women to Clarence Thomas's nomination proba bly won't make that big of a difference in the confirmation process. NOW, which has already spoken against Bush's choice for the Supreme Court, strongly believes that Thomas's Catholic upbringing would influence his opinion when confronting abor tion-rights cases. They probably are correct in this belief. However, there is an emerging view among some Washington pundits that Thomas's appearance on the bench would not make much of a difference on these decisions. They contend that the Court is already poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, and that Thomas might only help hammer the last nail in the coffin for this historic and controversial case. If the senators are in agreement with the political know-it-alls, then NOW's pleas could go unanswered. And finally. Bush has demonstrat ed that he intends to fill the Supreme Court with judges of conservative, or original interpretation, ideology. If Clarence Thomas is rejected by the democratically chaired Judiciary Committee, then another judge with similar viewpoints would be likely to get the second nomination. With a rejection, the Democrats risk not only offending blacks who approve of the current appeals court judge, but also risk the possibility of having to oppose another minority nominee with even more conservative values than Thomas. With these facts in mind, it becomes easy to see that Bush has pro vided us with a political masterstroke. Not only will he place a conservative black on the Supreme Court, but he will do it in a way that makes the Democrats look inept and befuddled. Trey Jacobson is a graduate student in public administration. On-campus cable is the answer EDITOR: For all those A&M students mourning the loss of MTV, hey business is business, as they say. However, since that notion works both ways, it might behoove those stu dents interested in taking a pro-active position on this issue to check with the Student Government Association about the possibility of having an independent on-campus cable system. During the last 5-7 years there have been numerous overtures oy national cable companies regard ing on-campus cable system for A&M that could compete with the local cable company. Obviously, for the 30,000 off-campus students, such a system would not address the concerns of MTV viewers. However, with a base of 7,000 - 10,000 on-campus sub scribers, it would not be unreasonable to see a competitor give TCA Cable a run for its money in other areas, such as large, student-oriented apartment complexes. Asserting the buying power of the A&M student body in such a manner might also remind everyone in Bryan/College Station of the fact that although A&M stu dents may not be permanent residents, their importance as consumers in the community has, on occasion, been taken for granted. Just ask TCA Cable what would happen if 7,000 subscribers suddenly discontinued their service when classes begin in September. Altogether now, can you say, "I want my MTV?" Just a few thoughts from a former student who has always enjoyed a good competition. Jay Hays '88 TCA should have polled B/CS EDITOR: As early as December 15,1791, the citizens of the United States have been concerned about certain inherent rights that need to be protected. The First Amendment to the Constitution seems to have been overlooked. It reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. This law protects our right to choose what we see, say, read and, yes, even what we watch. It gives no right to Congress, much less TCA Cable to make these decisions for us. TCA is based in Tyler, and other than hooking up our cable and collecting bills, this is not where they live. Unfortunately, there were no subscriber surveys of any type to determine public opinion. Realistically, why should they have? They are the only cable company in this area. TCA has stated that the content of MTV was no longer suitable for the general public's viewing. Of course, had MTV agreed to become a pay channel as TCA had asked, TCA could have forgotten about the content for a few extra dollars. They sure don't mind showing HBO. The real issue at hand is not whether "I want my MTV" or you don't want MTV, but censorship. Censorship starts as an insignificant issue, but if given the chance to snowball, it will. I am not asking you to like MTV, but I am asking for you to respect the right our founding fathers fought so hard to protect, or next time it may be something you like that is censored. Who has the right to dictate morality for Bryan-College Station? It seems obvi ous to me, "WE THE PEOPLE." Rolin C. McPhee '91 A&M overemphasizes sports EDITOR: So ... A&M wants to be a world-class University? As far as I can tell, it appears the University is doing everything to prevent this from happening. I am writing regarding the front page article on the proposed recreational facmty. I am sure there are many students who will benefit from an improved recreation facility; however, there are many who probably don't give a damn about it — me, for one. How dare the University try to slip this $50-per-semester-per-student fee by on us. The article states that staff and faculty will be charged a fee based on use. Why does this not apply to students as well? Why are we being forced to pay for something some of us will never use. This ENRAGES me! Many students will pay this service without opposition; however, being a student who is paying my way through college, I feel an unnecessary additional fee like this is nothing less than theft. If I wanted to pay for a rec facility I would pay to join a health club. I refuse to be forced to pay for it. I do not care about athletics, and I feel the University places far too much emphasis on it. I think being athletic and participating in sports is a very good thing, but not a "world-class University" does it make. I don't doubt that we need an improved facility, but really, does it have to be the biggest and best and if so, then why should I have to pay for someone elses ego problem? This University is not what I thought it was. It seems that the leaders are more interested in the school's image as a "world-class athletic university" than a scholastic one. What about the horrendous shape of our library? Having to haul students to the University of Texas to use its library. A new library would be a far better way to spend our $50 per semester. Laura Trotter '92 Post-apartheid activists should attack censorship at home Tim Tmesdale Columnist D ear Aggies Against Apartheid, CONGRATULATIONS! Apartheid is dying in South Africa, and your group deserves much of the credit. Your efforts have affected great change in a country that lies halfway around the globe. What amazes me most about your accomplishment is the impact you had even though so few of you had actually seen this com plex problem first-hand. I don't want to be a party pooper. But some time after your victory party hangovers have faded. I'm sure you'll be looking for another cause to embrace. I realize that the Mongolian yak drivers union movement will be attractive. And the Kuwaiti belly dancer's Right-to-Work movement could certainly benefit from your newly found international clout. But at the risk of sounding utterly mundane, might I suggest finding some small freedom issue closer to home that you could nurture along? I could go into my normal tirade about illiteracy, drug addiction and hunger right here in our backyards. But I know your group enjoys more con frontational situations than those vol unteer options might offer. So, how about forming a new group called "Aggies Against Fascism in College Station?" Other than a peculiar local fetish for military boots and run ning in formation, what around here even comes close to fascism? We reject Communism because it sacrifices freedom to the state's inter ests. Fascism also sacrifices freedom, but not to conservative causes per se, as many liberals would have us believe. Fascism is the subjugation of freedom to capitalist interests. Time to cut the meandering and get to the point: shopping malls (such as Post Oak Mall) are fascist establish ments. Shopping malls act like public places. They set up benches and plants oetween shops. They have "public" rest rooms and telephones. There is no admission fee. Malls are set up to look like climate-controlled main streets of yesteryear. But according to a 1990 article in Urbanism magazine, malls are public only as long as the shoppers advance the mall's captitalistic purpose. In 1984, a Madison, Wisconsin dance troupe called Nu Parable performed an act with an anti-nuclear message. After performing in a public park, the rotunda of the state capital and a U.S. Post Office, the group went on to the East Towne Shopping Center. The group had received a restrain ing order forbidding them to enter the mall except as shoppers. Nu Parable broke the restraining order and per formed anyway. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lloyd Corp. v. Tanner was used against them. That decision had announced that "prohibitions on polit ical speech in nongovemmentally owned shopping malls do not not vio late the First Amendment as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment." In the Nu Parable decision, the court permanently forbade the group "from performing in any way upon plaintiffs property." So the question remains, exactly what is a shopping mall? A shopping mall is a privately owned place which tries to give the illusion ofbeing a pub lic place. The moment we enter the pseudo-Main Street atmosphere of the mall, we leave our rights to free expression at the door. Some of us aren't troubled by this fact. But some of us weren't troubled by totally private companies discrimi nating in employment practices, or flat out refusing service to people with too much pigment in their skin. If the government can interfere with hiring practices of private firms, then why doesn't it expand guarantees of free speech to shopping mall courts which attempt to give the illusion of being public places? The answer is self-evident. Shopping mall represen tatives would claim that actual free dom "would be bad for business." (If this argument sounds vaguely famil iar, it should. Some businessmen used the very same argument against deseg regating restaurants and retail stores.) In paraphrased form, "freedoms must be subjugated to capitalist inter ests." And that certainly sounds like fascism to me! So, are you former Aggies Against Apartheid up for a domestic battle like this one? Or are you resigned to feel ing good about calling for the death of already fatally wounded monsters halfway around the globe? Tim Truesdale is a graduate student in urban planning.