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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