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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1992)
campus. at | 1 1 that I y carryii ^pus'is 0 Visit QK; * ln g at 115 '’aytosip 'sting Hi clc to t\f ; ampus, choice;;. 1 is side v activit; y the t ce; it'sfe alston,ti;- asure" at; 'ee expie all me & er isinfe must git; run fores 'the: tfa :tle licks t i! Now,; a Houste: hehelloci paper, fe 'vid Print! 'lass of ighf e ad private ual Afo y actual); tation,afr a single thus Ian rere sue .uringde- they we;t ite the faf abnormal iv friend: deceived, /ine then •eedoma nselorsii ms in to »of "con children, amine our Ve would based not they do. Koctnotti [flssojy 4 RIC£! RATED UN. oNtr PG13 15:00!^ PG13 (07:109:*I ■PG13 •R (57:05$ •PG 10705$ •PG 9:30 Kid 9:35 •R 9:40 •PG13 9:45 ; ensed richly of the lished ■ mefli fteen StPso CO Opinion Friday, October 16,1992 The Battalion Page 7 Editorials Misplaced priorities Drug war efforts badly directed The Drug Enforcement Agency's recent brainchild. Operation Red River, seeks to attack America's marijuana problem with comman do-like raids headed by DEA agents and supported by specially trained National Guard Units. Recent raids conducted in Okla homa and Texas resulted in the con fiscation of over 39,000 marijuana plants. Similar raids in Kentucky de stroyed more than 800,000 plants — some of which were 25 feet tall. While applauding anti-drug ef forts of the DEA-National Guard units, we question the funneling of time, energy and manpower into raiding marijuana fields when drug lords and street gangs continue to terrorize city streets with crack co caine and similar, more deadly drugs. Tne cold, hard truth is that more deadly drugs than marijuana can still be found on every street corner. When a significant number of in ner-city youth know the exact amount of crack cocaine necessary to induce a miscarriage, efforts at combating marijuana — a relatively harmless substance — reveal a set of slightly misplaced priorities. The highly publicized marijuana raids appear to be a bit of DEA grandstanding at a time when local police forces call for increased per- sonel support in the fight against crack cocaine. Burning marijuana fields is a step in the right direction, but it won't stop drugs from killing our chil dren, draining our economy and threatening the very fabric our our nation. The manpower and money di rected at curbing the cultivation of marijuana should be channeled into more DEA operations focused on crack cocaine and the other more deadly narcotics circulating on city streets. Forgive, forget, donate United Way worth our trust After hearing of the extravagant perks accorded top executives at the United Way, some donors who once gladly contributed to the non-profit organization now express their re luctance to continue giving. Instead of helping the homeless or feeding the hungry, would-be givers envisioned their United Way donations buying executive tickets for the next flight to London on the Concorde. The United Wd^ of Brazos Coun ty expressed those same concerns and blocked all area contributions from progressing to the United Way of America, the parent organization where the mismanagement was dis covered. Subsequently, the United Way of America scrambled to mend its ways as more and more local branches witheld their dues. The chapter dues witheld amount to one percent of donations given to the United Way at the community level. The remaining 99 percent of United Way donations remain in the community where they were given. The national organization, how ever, implemented many changes to ensure that such abuse of donated funds can never happen again. The director of the Peace Corps replaced the former president of the United Way, and the president's salary will be reduced. The national staff of 265 members has been re duced £o 185 in order to streamline and reduce excess. The operating budget for management, which was $29 million, has been reduced to nearly half that amount. Such changes have proven so ef fective that the United Way of Bra zos County has decided to resume dues payments. The one percent dues payment helps the United Way secure national advertising, the costs of which exceed the budgets of local chapters. The remaining 99 percent continues to aid local Unit ed Way chapters which continue to serve communities and which con tinue to deserve the donations of charitable individuals, despite past indiscretions of the national office. Giving to the United Way is not a luxury, but a necessity. Gay-bashing won't happen here Aggies will respect most basic of all humans' rights I t has been another one of those days. I logged onto the computer net to catch up on some world news and was frightened to read about the intense rise in anti-gay vio lence in Oregon and Kentucky. In a few days, the citizens of Ore gon will be voting on Proposition Nine, which will in effect strip homo sexuals of any and all rights. They will have no grounds for legal re course in instances of discrimination. Needless to say, numerous groups in the Oregon area have formed to fight the passage of the bill. This means a rise in gay and lesbian "visibility". Sadly, this also means a rise in hate crimes. This rise peaked when four avowed skinheads lobbed a Molotov cocktail through a window of a house where several homosexuals were staying. One gay male and one lesbian were killed in the flames. Murdered. Similar incidents have been occurring in Kentucky. The Kentucky Supreme Court recently ruled the state's anti sodomy law. unconstitutional. Kentucky, now one of the 26 "free states," has seen a marked increase in hate crimes. One gay couple in Russelville had their ranch encircled by violent protesters who proceeded to hang and then burn dummies of them in effigy. This senseless harassment stems from the ignorance and intolerance of people who are incapable of understanding diversity and its importance in a heterogeneous culture. As I read about these events, George Michael's song, "Praying For Time" came on and I began to believe his words. "It's hard to love, there's so much to hate ... there is no hope to speak of..." Then my fears turned homeward. This week is the Gay and Lesbian Student Services Awareness Week. This means there will be an increase in gay and lesbian visibility. Will there also be an increase in local violence and harassment? I began to get quite wor ried. But then my eternal hope kicked in and I realized that I have never felt any form of discrimination here at Texas A&M. I discussed this with my boyfriend, telling him how all my family, all my friends, all my co-workers, and most of my professors know I'm gay. I even have a pink triangle on my car and occasionally wear my "Nobody Knows I'm Gay" T-shirt on campus. Yet, aside from the open-mouthed stares and rare point ing finger (index, that is), I have never witnessed any dis crimination. My boyfriend said that I was the exception, but I don't believe that. I won't believe that. It is the spirit of human nature that is alive here at Ag- gieland that is exceptional. Many people may not understand what homosexuality is all about and some people may even find it distasteful and disgusting, but the main difference is that, here in the Brazos Valley, I know that none of them would resort to vi olence. They may degrade themselves by illustrating their intol erance with childish, annoying phone calls, but they would never go so low as to physically harm somebody, much less kill a person. I kriow that although my basic human nature may not be understood by everyone, those who don't understand will at least recognize my basic humanity and treat me with the same respect due to all humans, no matter what ethnici ty, religion, age, sex, physical impairment, political belief, or sexual orientation. Scroggs is a senior English and philosophy major GUEST COLUMNIST JOHN M. SCROGGS Cartoon insensitive to disabled people I am writing in response to the car toon that appeared in the Battalion on Oct. 9, which satirized the budget ex penses recently proposed by the leaders holding a basketful of what was im plied to be wasteful expenses. Among those "wasteful" expenses was electric door openers. I am physically challenged with a birth defect and I usually walk with crutches. I recently suffered a broken leg, and I am consequently using a wheelchair. My recent experiences have caused me to appreciate the problems that a wheelchair-bound person faces, one of those being the problem of opening doors from a wheelchair. If the artist of the aforementioned cartoon were to use a wheelchair for any period of time, maybe he would also learn to appreci ate this problem. I would ask that he be more sensitive to the needs of the hand icapped in the future. I certainly do not consider making the campus more ac cessible to the physically challenged a wasteful budget expense. Derek Veazey Class of '94 ''Victories' in Indian Wars not so great This letter is in response to the col umn by Anthony Lobaido (Is it appro priate to celebrate Columbus Day as a holiday? Battalion, Oct. 12) concerning the mistreatment of Native Americans. Many Americans feel that apartheid is a very unjust system, but what has taken place in the United States is much worse. Over the past centuries Native Americans have had their land taken away, been systematically separated, and slowly but surely exterminated. The people that once ruled this land now make up less than one percent of the population. We have all been brought up to be lieve that Columbus and many other "great" figures were so heroic. As we all know, the conquerors get to write history; therefore, we never hear about the massacres and other atrocities. As Lobaido stated, "The quadeentennial celebration was ushered in on the heels of the Wounded Knee victory." If Lobaido considers the murder of 180 unarmed men, women and children a victory, would he also think that the Holocaust of World War II were a great deed if the Nazis had been able to write history? Jim Ballezv Class of'93 Bush also open to character questions This letter is in response to the letter by Karl Krueger. First, it is important not to take Clinton's stand on the Viet nam War out of perspective. A vast majority of the U.S. population were up-in-arms against the war. This does not make them traitors. They were merely expressing their dissatisfaction with their government's involvement in foreign affairs. Second, you mentioned that the Soviet*? were the ones supply ing the North Vietnamese with many weapons that were killing U.S. soldiers. However, if you recall, it was partly with U.S. weapons (supplied by Bush) that Iraq was fighting us and other na tions with. Many innocent people are also being killed with these weapons. You were also quick to call Clinton a coward. Why won't President Bush take responsibility for his knowledge of the Iran-Contra Scandal? It is utterly ridiculous to think that neither the pres ident nor the vice president had knowl edge of the largest arms deal (turned scandal) under Reagan-Bush. One final point. President Bush showed a lot of integrity in upholding his many promises, such as raising tax es. Jerome Valadez Class of ’96 Some Aggies not so accepting of others I would like to express my support for Tiffany McEachern, Class of '96 (AAAAAAAAYY), and my disgust re garding the fact that even in this time of "diversity acceptance" people are looked down upon for their clothing, hair, values, etc. This is a sad commen tary on us Aggies, and the whole aura of "friendliness" on campus. I thought that a university would be different than my high school, where the closed- minded pigheads referred to me and my friends as "Nazis" for wearing Doc Martens, listening to punk, and uphold ing the Straight Edge way of life: no drugs, no alcohol, and no smoking. I am not surprised about this inci dent. I guess the stereotypes I heard back home in New Jersey were right. Some of you Texans are too ignorant and intolerant for your own good. This is further shown to us through the par ody of slave hunting at the Sigma Al pha Epsilon party. Ignorance is no longer an excuse. It doesn't matter what color, creed, views, or sexual preferences one embraces — people are people. If you think you're better, you've got one coming, because the victims of your ignorance may just hit back. Steve Chriss Class of '96 Candidate Riggs an honorable person "Aggies do not lie, cheat, or steal, nor do they tolerate those who do." Bobby Riggs, Democratic candidate for sheriff of Brazos County, is a man who definitely lives both his personal and professional life by the Aggie Code of Honor. I know Bobby Riggs to be a man of the highest character with in tegrity that the citizens of Brazos Coun ty would be proud of. He is an exem plary law enforcement professional with the administrative, supervisory, and investigative experience that is crit ical for the job of sheriff. I must remind Aggies who are Re publicans that in an election at the county level, the party affiliation of the candidate is irrelevant. I am a Republican who will be vot ing for Bobby Riggs. It is a vote for the individual, not the party. I want to ap peal to my Republican friends not to evaluate the candidates solely on a par tisan basis. Not only does Bobby Riggs have the credentials to be a great sheriff, the cold, hard fact is that Bobby Riggs is the only candidate running for sheriff of Brazos County who has not been indict ed by a grand jury and convicted of a crime. Randy Schanb Class of'95 Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the opinion page staff and editor in chief only. They do not represent, in any way, the opinions of reporters, staff, or editors of other sections of the newspaper. Columns, guest columns, and Mail Call items express the opinions of the authors only. The Battalion encourages letters to the editor and will print as many as space allows in the Mail Call section. Letters must be 300 words or less and include author’s name, Social Security number, class, and phone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters should be addressed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald /Mail stop 1111 Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843