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larch 9,1
Opinion
Monday, March 9, 1992
The Battalion
Page 9
The Battalion Editorial Board
DOUGLAS PILS, Editor-in-Chief
The
Battalion
BRIDGET HARROW, Managing Editor
BRIAN BONEY, Opinion Editor
JASON MORRIS, Night News Editor
MORGAN JUDAY, Night News Editor
MACK HARRISON, City Editor
KARL STOLLEIS, Photo Editor
SCOTT WUDEL, Sports Editor
ROB NEWBERRY, Lifestyles Editor
The following opinions are a consensus of The Battalion opinion staff and senior editors.
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Bush
President has experience for future
The clear choice for Republicans in
tomorrow's presidential Super
Tuesday primary is George Bush. He
has a clear agenda and marked stance
for the next four years, unlike his
Republicans rivals Pat Buchanan and
David Duke.
Some have criticized Bush for
spending too much time in foreign
policy, but the world of March 8, 1992,
is very different from that of March,
1989. From the Gulf War to the crisis in
the old Soviet Union, the president has
represented our nation forcefully,
keeping our interests in the limelight.
As Europe unites into one economic
power, the Middle East grows more
unstable and the new republics form in
the place of the Soviet Union, the
isolationist stances of Duke and
Buchanan are an anachronism more
fitting the world of 100 years ago.
As the Cold War ends, the president
has proposed a $50 billion cut in
defense spending. He still supports the
Strategic Defense Initiative. Perhaps
the most important are his calls for
disarmament of much of the U.S.
nuclear arsenal, as well as calling on
other nations to do the same.
On the issue of the United States
economy, Bush shares both the credit
and the blame for where we have been
and where we are going. Bush's
messages of fair trade, open markets
and tax breaks, incentives and
increases make sense, while Buchanan
and Duke have offered few
alternatives. His ideas of reducing the
capita] gains tax, increasing personal
tax exemptions and the promotion of
research and development tax breaks
have the promise of spurring an
already upward-moving economy.
The president wants the United
States to pursue more oil and natural
gas exploration to reduce our
dependency on foreign oil. At the same
time, he wants the nation to spend
more research dollars on alternative
energy sources, such as solar and
nuclear.
It may be tempting for some to vote
for Duke or Buchanan as a kind of
message of dissatisfaction to Bush,
while still wanting Bush to win. But it
is important to vote for the candidate
who has the best interests of all people
in mind. Both David Duke and Pat
Buchanan have backgrounds of
intolerant and reactionary views. Their
views promise to not only divide the
Republican party, but the nation as a
whole if they are nominated.
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Bill Clinton
Innovation, leadership make for top choice
As governor of Arkansas for the
past 11 years. Bill Clinton has earned a
reputation as an innovator in the fields
of education, economics and the
environment. He needs the
opportunity to bring those efforts to
the entire country.
He deserves Texans' votes in
tomorrow's Democratic primary.
Few politicians can beat Clinton in
the area of education. The National
Council of Governors last year named
him the best governor for education.
He has won strong endorsements from
the National Education Agency and
the Texas State Teacher's Association.
While other candidates talk of
investing in business, Clinton speaks
of investing in people. He wants to
create a national trust fund that would
allow every student to go to college.
For those who do not pay the money
back, they can work off their debt
doing public service as a drug
counselor, police officer or teacher. He
would set up an apprenticeship
program for those who do not attend a
university. He would also offer a job
re-training program, to help
Americans who need to move into a
different line of work.
His economic policies offer a solid
blend of pro-business and pro
employee incentives. Among others,
he would give tax breaks to reduce the
cost of investing in business, but only
if those businesses remain here at
home. As governor, his state's growth
rate in new businesses was 10 times
that of the nation.
But his vision in other areas
surpasses that of his opponents. He is
the only candidate committed to
promoting natural gas as an
alternative fossil fuel. He also would
work to create an international fund to
protect rain forests and wetlands.
Clinton has the personal presence
and ability to motivate others to
support his causes. That is an often-
overlooked quality in a candidate.
That ability showed when he faced
baseless accusations early in his
campaign. But the controversies that
surrounded his campaign proved to be
either minor or based in little fact.
The issues are what count. And
when the issues are counted, Clinton's
innovative and sensible ideas show he
is the best of the Democratic Party.
Don't vote
Citizens should stick to sitcoms, leave voting up to an elite few
D uring the past few days, we've
all been hearing about the
need for us to vote. We've
heard how poor a voting record
college students have, and we've
heard incessantly how it is our civic
duty to go to the polls to pick our
leaders. So by now, we're all
supposed to be really fired up to
punch those ballots, right? We're all
planning to head out and vote.
Well don't.
For those of
you who plan to
watch soap
operas and
"Cosby Show"
reruns tomorrow
instead of voting,'
stop reading now.
You've already
done the right
thing and have
allowed me to
help decide our
future leaders. I
don't need to change your mind.
But for those of you who have
spent all this time picking the proper
candidate and who plan to be in line
when the polls open at 7 a.m.
tomorrow, listen up.
Don't vote. You may make the
wrong choice. Instead, leave the
decisions up to me.
I know what's best for you. I have
a lot of experience in elections,
especially for a college student.
I have a bachelor's degree in
political science from the University
of North Texas (you know, that funky
liberal school north of Dallas) and
I've worked for newspapers since
1988. I'm a news junky, so I know all
the candidates' positions, including
the people running for Court of
Criminal Appeals. I have the
experience and the training to
correctly decide the future politicians
of this country.
I know many of you probably will
disagree with my choice for
president, but don't worry. I know
what's best for you. it's not even
important for you to know for whom
I will vote. Just rest assured that I
have everyone's best interest at heart.
For many of you, letting me choose
for you won't be too big a change.
You've freely given up you're right to
vote by staying home in the past.
So why change this year? Why put
yourself through all the hassle of
finding your registration card,
driving all the way to the polling
place and going through tedious
process of voting.
It's just not worth it. Remember, if
you miss one day of the soap operas,
it's hard to catch up. Stay homg.
Let's face it. You have many more
problems to worry about. You're
right in the middle of mid-term tests.
You have to finalize those spring
break plans. You have bank accounts
to balance and credit cards to pay off.
So let me relieve you from the
burden of voting. No, no. Don't thank
me. We Aggies have to help each
other out in times of need. And since
I attended a different university, let
me make up for the past four years I
wasn't here to contribute.
Of course by now, many of you
wonder where I get off deciding for
you. You say my views may not
correspond with your views; what I
think is important may be totally
opposite of what you think is
important. You're saying your
opinion is every bit as relevant as
mine, no matter what my
background is, and that it may be in
your best interest to cancel out might
vote with your vote.
If that's what you're thinking, then
you have articulated my point
perfectly.
Like I said before, you may not
vote the right way. If that happens,
my vote will not count as much. My
people may not be elected. I won't get
my way.
It's you consistent voters who
cause all my problems. Those who
choose not to participate in our
democracy make it easy. They opt out
of all the decision making. They just
want to retreat into their own worlds
and not let any of those complicated
decisions ruin their day. They've
accepted my offer to think for them in
these matters, and their lives are
much less complex. I have, in my
small way, relieved from them the
worry of decision. They can go about
their daily lives, secure in the
knowledge that I'm making their
decisions for them.
But you other troublemakers make
the whole process much more time-
consuming. The candidates must
challenge each other on national
debates and with advertising so that
every one has an opportunity to see
their views.
The whole system would be much
simpler if the candidates would talk
to just a few enlightened individuals,
such as myself, and then we would
decide for everyone else.
But because we have to abide by
our silly little Constitution, this
streamlined system won't come
about for a while. So in the meantime,
the easiest way for you to bring about
change for the better is to not vote.
To those of you I have convinced, I
thank you. To those of you who
never planned to vote in the first
place, keep up the good work. To
those of you who plan to be at the
polls tomorrow, just say no.
I know what I'm doing.
Boney is a senior education
certification major
Smell the scent
of watch-dog group
Dear Mr. Keetch, Why is it that your group, the
Young Conservatives, is so self-centered as to
believe that what you take as truth should
determine what the rest of society should take as
truth.
I quote, "Education should be a search for
truth, not a search for political bias." and " All
that we are doing is looking for honesty in the
curriculum." You are absolutely right that
education is the search for truth, but that truth
should be determined by the individuals
themselves, not some self-appointed "watch-dog"
group that will determine the truth for the rest of
the student body.
It seems to me that a few of your group has
had their precious beliefs called into question.
Maybe even a few received poor grades, not
because of their political inclination, but because
they failed to support their political inclination
with sound reason. I have taken classes in which
the professor and I have been diametrically
opposed in ideology. I support my beliefs
reasonably and logically. The grades I received
reflected my ability to do so. Wake up and smell
the coffee!! You might have to try a little harder if
the person you are attempting to convince is not
sympathetic to your ideology (that is truth). You
can't just claim that Reagan was the greatest man
that ever lived without some support of that
claim.
What will be the result of this compilation of
data? Will various professors be labeled as
"clean" and "unclean" according to their
ideologies? Let's hope you can only label with
the ever-so-vague right, left and middle.
Leland B. Franke
Class of'87
Middle East debate
from bad to worst
During the past week I've been reading
Palestinians BAD, Israelis GOOD. I see it another
way, Palestinians BAD, Israelis WORSE,
American government WORST.
The Palestinians are bad for calling terrorism
"furthering their cause." I call it murder. The
Israelis are worse for calling the use of assault
rifles to put down demonstrations and the killing
of suspected terrorists in Lebanon "self
preservation." I call it murder. The American
government is worst for ignoring the Palestinian
plight by labeling them as "terrorists" and for
funding Israel's "self preservation" and calling it
"foreign policy." I call it murder.
Before anybody starts labeling me with one
name or another. I'll save them the trouble. I am
just a person who thinks killing one's fellow man
is wrong.
Mike Morris
Class of'93
Current candidates
offer drunken ideas
I am writing in response to Stacy Feducia's
latest column. 1 must stay that it should be rather
obvious that all of our candidates for president
are beer drinkers. In fact, I would go so far as to
say that not a day must pass that each of them
doesn't at the very least catch a slight buzz.
How do you think Reagan became Ronald "I
don't remember" Reagan? George Bush, in his
state of the union address said that "Americans
don't like gimmicks", in reference to the
economy. He then proceeded to offer us some.
Pat Buchanan thinks that AIDS is retribution
against the homosexual population. And David
Duke, well I guess we can just say that he's had a
few too many.
Some of you may have noticed that I've failed
to mention any of the democratic candidates.
Well, since when have they been worth
mentioning anyway?
Joe Bingham
Class of'94
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