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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 1992)
/ , February 12 Opinion ednesday, February 12, 1992 The Battalion Page 9 y, U.s. 4 ns need, JGTON (AP) and Turkish | i ley man DemiJ jreed that expJ| d to guide thel|| former Sovietlj mocracy and I nentalist influer.; eaders did notjl ific proposal,! importance of M ;y in the newt in the face of r influence, offil (—* The Battalion Editorial Board DQUGLAS PILS, Editor-in-Chief T BRIDGET HARROW, Managing Editor 1 MACK HARRISON, City Editor BRIAN BONEV, Opinion Editor 9 KARL STOLLEIS, Photo Editor I he JASON MORRIS, Night News Editor 1 SCOTT WUDEL, Sports Editor MORGAN JUDAY, Night News Editor | ROB NEWBERRY, Lifestyles Editor Battalion The following opinions are a consensus of The Battalion opinion staff and senior editors. TCA complaints Cable company cannot ignore customers seek new watil r friends secure! e and moveij lly to establish:! t," Bush said aftf:} met in the OvalJ lunch, rkey, ai icratic govenJ «s with the Uni] odel to others,e lewly indepenc] entral Asia. In!] ing tides, it ent| stability." istration intendsl rkey on confc] and technical a said David Gd National Sect:] ir on European;! s. io dollar amo.f :ided, the k with Turkey' us a program:J ncy assistance,! sustained I ) those republic; I s following Bus:! emirel. o take states!. : or decades t dan rule and "ii o our values, ot ehavior, intern;; he role of goverf iciety, the role ( a societ'i ands Many students who live on and off campus subscribe to cable televi- ! sion each semester through the city's cable franchise, TCA Cable. For consumers, usually little thought is given to the matter of cable tele vision other than the amount required to write a check for the bill. But lately this has not been the case in Bryan and College Station. After Thursday's Bryan-College Station joint city council meeting, attended by more than 100 people, stu dents and members of the community alike have had their eyes opened to the present tactics used by the cable com pany. The meeting, which was held to determine whether the cable franchise should be renewed, ended in public criticism of TCA's hookup fees and their lack of promotion of cable options. Like Bryan resident Don Rice who handed the city councils with a letter signed by more than 100 subscribers. Members of the community argued that TCA Cable had not given them information on all available cable options which the company offers. In failing to properly promote all of its options, TCA is automatically limiting students' freedom of choice. The cost of cable ser vice is not an insignifi cant expense for college students. The more options and cheaper prices TCA Cable can provide, the better the company can service its customers. And with more than 42,000 stu dents, the A&M cus tomer is one the compa ny cannot ignore. It is important the company offer a greater number of more economical options to students. The sheer number of people who attended the council meeting should make the company realize that. It should listen. A company that attempts to use its position as a franchise to manipulate and control people's freedom to choose while making a profit for itself is detrimental to our competitive eco nomic system and to our individual rights as citizens of the United States. The council members of Bryan and College Station need to listen to these recent complaints and force TCA Cable to reform its policies'and pric ing. If the management is unwilling to make the necessary changes, the city councils should discontinue the fran chise and hand over the business to someone else who will give customers the service they desire. Castrating convicts Proposed sentence by rapist misses point ;IETY: Genera ier. Call Travis gG CULTURE i: Applications nee, Program' le in 1481 Feb. 20. Is at 845-‘ SCHOOL AO' shmen/sopho- itry to medical so be offered p.m. and 2:30 nita Moore at i DRIVE Blood Drive nmons Lobby :o The Battalion, usiness days be- Battalion service omissions are rtin no guarantee an 3313. er rope irine to E 's and stra maintain • after his bf out. ctions in h fs are expect is whose joh soldiers, hair here fd ; the day tbf shuffled ii s nervous, ■15 minutes him a mirre K?' He sail le gave me: to keep tbf Conviction in a rape case usually amounts to a set number of years in prison for the guilty aggressor, hut in Houston one man is opting for castration rather than imprison ment. Steven Butler, 28, who was convicted for raping a 13-year-old and has a previous his tory of molesting young girls, has opted for a form of castration rather than a prison sentence. His judge. State District Judge Mike McSpadden, assured Butler if he went through with the castration procedure, he would receive 10 years probation. But the punishment misses the point. Rape is not an act of sex, it is an act of violence. To castrate Butler may keep him from forcing intercourse upon women, but it would not halt other violent acts. Though the castration punishment is used in some parts of the world, it is not widely used in the United States. Though Butler possibly will not be the first to undergo this type of punish ment in the United States, he will become the first sex offender in Texas, to avoid a prison sentence. Though the procedure is described as more of a chemical castration, the exact procedure that will be used is unknown. Dr. Michael Cox, who is a dinical psychologist who is nationally known for research in sexual abuse. explained that the chemical procedure is used to lower or elimi nate the male sex hor mone testosterone, which is responsible for sex drive and and male sexual characteristics such as facial hair. Cox did not agree with the castration choice because "the level of testosterone doesn't correlate with child abuse." He did not feel that the procedure would greatly reduce Butler's impulse to commit child abuse because the crime is driven by the need for power and control. "You can change chemistry, but you can't change attitudes." Cox said about the procedure. TTie choice of castration by the con victed Butler can be seen as a possible attempt to beat the burden of going to prison. By being castrated chemically or physically, Butler will retain his freedom to walk about and possibly molest other children, thus the court will have solved nothing. In this case, those that make the laws and interpret them, have misread them. If Butler chooses castration, let him be castrat ed. But put him in jail, also. Rape is a violent crime, not a sexual one; its motivation is caused by the need for authority and dominance, not sex. Violent criminals should be put in prison. Butler belongs there, too. DO UcfTlb /tyjfJS'Ty 0u n SCT vje cptJikot- "Tfe \JB Vr-RTiFiL. Is THIS The Outer Limits^ bJctpc, TCA Ca&\JE AP. Learning to trust Nature experience offers more for birthday than simple party T his past Saturday I celebrated my 21st birthday, an important milestone in anyone's life. You're finally of legal age to buy alco hol, and it's a time to party and get plastered. I had looked forward to this day for as long as I can remember. I used to imagine how I would spend the day; sleeping until noon, order ing a beer at a restaurant and entire day and night. But, as is often the case, reality rarely matches fantasy. And sometimes, it even surpasses it. Instead of sleeping late and then going out, I found myself standing in a wooded clearing at 8:30 a.m. on a cold Saturday morning, spending my birthday climbing trees and walking across wires suspended high off the ground. I took part in an all-day workshop put on by the Outdoor Education Department which trained students how to work the Texas A&M ROPES course(a ROPES course, for those of you who aren't familiar with one, is a type of challenge course which teach es participants self-confidence and communication skills by having indi viduals and groups confront obstacles such as crossing a swinging log or lift ing a tire over a 20-foot pole). As the instructors led us through the course, teaching us how to lead others through, 1 started thinking of all the things this course and its keepers have taught me. I remember the first time I saw the course. It was about this time last year with my V.D.(Venture Dynamics, not Venereal Disease) class. We assem bled in the same clearing which I had stood in last weekend, and it was cold. I knew practically no one in the class. But that soon changed. Our instructor saw to that. By the end of class time, I knew everyone of the stu dents by name. As the semester passed, V.D. quick ly became my favorite class. I looked forward to every Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. when we met. And I can say without hesitation that everyone else in the class will say the same. The pri mary goal of the class, as our instruc tor put it, was to have fun. We all did. And along the way we learned a few things about each other and ourselves. From my own perspective, I learned about trusting and working with others. In one of the first classes of the semester, I had to climb a plat form, close my eyes, and fall back ing them to catch me, which they did. I quickly learned to trust the people in my class. Trust became paramount when I found myself walking across a catwalk situated 20 feet off the ground, with only a rope tied to one of my classmates below to protect me from hurting myself if I fell. In one of our final classes of the semester, my class ran the Marine obstacle course. It was tough and muddy. At the end of it all, the entire class sat down for a few minutes to take a break. We were quite a sight, literally coated with mud from head to toe. Mosquitoes and flies swarmed around us. It was humid. But no one seemed to care. We were all having too much fun. I still have a picture of the class, taken at the end of that day. Every so often, I pull it out and laugh at how horrible we all looked. I never did get the mud stains out of my shirt. That was it for most of the class, but a few of us continued on into V.D. II last fall. The same instructor taught both of the classes. Except for two friends from my V.D. I class, V.D. II had a whole new set of people and a whole new set of challenges. We spent more of our time on the high elements, such as crawling on all fours across two wires suspended high off the ground without falling. The instructor placed more emphasis on communication and working together as a group. We also learned more about the running of a ROPES course, setting up and taking down obstacles. I had a great time. I was walking on wires from tree to tree without giv ing it a second thought, something I would have never imagined I could do. I even made some new friends. I had come a long way since that cold Wednesday morning last winter. When the time finally came for me to face the Pamper Pole(believe me, the name is misleading), I felt ready. I had heard a lot about this element and its difficulty. Basically, the partic ipant must jump from the top of a 15- foot telephone pole out to a trapeze, hanging several feet in front. It's scary. When my turn came, 1 climbed looked(big mistake). Fear rushed up through my body, but I jumped any way, choosing to ignore my fears. As recent as a year ago, I couldn't have done it. I would have simply melted into the crowd, pretending to have already taken my turn. Times have changed. I have changed. The semester ended with a dinner invitation from our instructor, one last chance for all of us to get together before finals kicked in. We sat around at his house talking and laughing as if we'd known each other for years, when in reality it had only been a few months. There are certain points in every one's life when they take a moment to look back at how far they have come. For me, my 21st birthday was one. I see many qualities which didn't used to be there. I have more confidence in myself and my abilities. I no longer shy away from risks. And I have fewer problems dealing with others. Maybe it's part of growing up. I don't know. But one thing's for cer tain. I learned a lot more from those V.D. classes than just how to have fun. I enjoyed my birthday this year because I learned how to share with others the things which that ROPES course shared with me. In my opin ion, that was time well spent. And by the way, I still had the opportunity to properly celebrate my 21st birthday later on Saturday evening. Evans is a junior biology major Friends failed to stop rapist Earlier this week while walking on campus I had the opportunity to hear two guys talking about a man who had been raped by another male. One of the men said, "God, I couldn't think of anything worse!" I said, in a fairly audible voice "How about the rape of a woman." This brings me to the subject I want to discuss. This week I had heard vaguely about the rape of a female student. I did not catch all the infor mation. However, after reading Tanya Sasser's report about the event, I couldn't help but think what a pathetic world we live in. A world, where it is OK for people to protect their "friends" when they possibly suspect them of serious wrongdo- ing. This situation confronts us with questions of legality and morality, two things which seem to be ignored to large extent these days. The victim said that the assailant was accom panied by several others. I am assuming that these men were all friends. I find it very hard to believe that these men who were with the attacker haven't put two and two together and suspect this so-called "friend" of having committed this crime. Are these men suffering under the apprehen sion that by keeping silent they are doing the right thing? Is it more important to be a "true" friend and withhold information in a criminal investigation, thereby obstructing justice? Haven't these men considered that they are essen tially accessories to the crime? Perhaps, their buddy boasted about it to them. That, I think makes them accessories after the fact. These men aren't doing anyone any favors by remaining silent, especially themselves. These men who possibly know or suspect their "friend" of committing this crime had the oppor tunity to prevent the crime. They could've said. like some men might: "Come on man, let's just g°-" However, they didn't. They made a decision that night. They could have stopped it from hap pening. These men still have an opportunity to right a serious wrong. Give any and all informa tion to the police. If you can't bring yourself to reveal your name at least make an anonymous phone call. Remember, the victim must forever live with the thought that she should've been able to pre vent being raped. That if only she had stayed at the club she would've been allright. Or maybe she even blames herself for being attractive or having dressed a particular way. I don't know how she feels. I don't even know her. But I do know that I might feel all those things and more. Mary E. O'Connel Class of '91 Have an opinion? Express it! The Battalion is interested in hearing from its readers. All letters are welcome. Letters must be signed and must include classification, address and a day time phone number for verification purpos es. They should be 250 words or less. Anonymous letters will not be published. The Battalion reserves the right to edit all letters for length, style and accuracy. There is no guarantee the letters will appear. Letters may be brought to 013 Reed McDonald, sent to Campus Mail Stop 1111 or can be faxed to 845-5408.