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Opinion
Tuesday, March 2,1993
The Battalion
Editorials
Tragedy in New York
Precautions could 7 ve saved lives
Perhaps the greatest tragedy in
Friday's explosion of the World
Trade Center is that at least some of
the five deaths and more than 1,000
injuries could have been avoided.
As early as six years ago, the Port
Authority of New York and New Jer
sey was warned by its terrorism task
force that it needed to take steps to
protect the World Trade Center from
a car bomb explosion. The task force
report not only warned of the poten
tial for bomb blasts, but issued sever
al recommendations to guard against
such tragedies as well.
Unfortunately, only one of the rec
ommendations was implemented —
and that involved beefing up security
on the 67th floor, where the executive
director's office is located and where
the board members meet.
Sadly, the other recommendations
- which were rather easy and rela
tively inexpensive to implement —
were never enacted. These sugges
tions included: removing public
parking from the center's garage,
moving the main and back-up elec
trical systems farther apart so one
blast could not knock out both power
supplies, moving the police station
and emergency command center far
ther apart, and installing battery-
powered emergency lighting in the
stairwells of the 110-story buildings.
When compared to the grave con
sequences of Friday's explosion, the
security measures that building ad
ministrators failed to implement
were not that costly. In fact, such
measures could have saved lives and
reduced injury to those involved.
Granted, building administrators
do not have control over bomb
threats and explosions, but they do
have control over precautionary
measures designed to guard against
such tragedy. Although it would not
be feasible to stop and search every
car entering the parking garage of
the World Trade Center, at least some
of these task force recommendations
are more feasible indeed.
The fact that the administrators
failed to implement these relatively
simple and inexpensive recommen
dations, however, is both incompre
hensible and unexcusable. Compared
to other countries, the United States
has been very fortunate for the most
part by managing to avoid terrorist
attacks in the past. However, as evi
denced by Friday's explosion, this
country is not immune to terrorism.
These simple recommendations
must be implemented in government
buildings and major international fa
cilities throughout the country not
only to improve building security,
but more importantly, to save lives.
It's off the record
Now you see it, now you don't
On Friday, the Houston Chronicle
reported that state Rep. Harold Dut
ton, D-Houston, has introduced a bill
enabling for the erasure of probation
from court records. Under this pro
posal, cases where the charges had
been dismissed or the accused had
been acquitted would be wiped from
court records. However, the possible
result of changing the way Texas
deals with court records make this
proposal a bad idea.
Current state laws contain strict
guidelines for the erasure of acquit
tals and dismissals from court
records. The procedure involves pe
titioning the court to have the arrest
record or acquittal removed from the
record. If Dutton's bill passes, such
records would be cleared automati
cally.
Officials in the Harris County dis
trict attorney's office criticized the
proposal, saying that erasures would
make it very difficult to track repeat
offenders when dealing with such
common crimes as drunken driving
and theft. The officials characterized
the bill as an attempt to “rewrite his
tory," and noted that it would take
important events off of public record.
The general counsel for the district
attorney's office. Bill Delmore, point
ed out that record erasure would al
low offenders receiving probation for
their first offense to escape more se
vere penalties with subsequent
crimes. Delmore raised the prospect
of a criminal committing several of
fenses, such as drunken driving, and
never graduating beyond probation
as a punishment.
In Rep. Dutton's own case, the
particulars of the bill raise suspicion.
Dutton has been charged with reck
less conduct, which is a Class B mis
demeanor. The charge involves a
1992 incident in which Dutton's wife
accused him of threatening her with
a gun.
If his bill passes, Dutton's case
could be affected in several ways. If
he were to receive probation, which
the district attorney has already of
fered, and the term of the probation
is extended beyond Sept. 1, all
records would be erased. If his case
were to be dismissed, the record
would be deleted automatically.
Whether Dutton will gain person
ally from this legislation, the auto
matic deletion of court records is a
bad idea. The state already has
strong rules concerning the erasure
of acquittals and dismissals.
The precedent of erasing proba
tion records is extremely dangerous,
because criminals that would other
wise be incarcerated might be al
lowed to walk free. The current
criminal justice system certainly has
its flaws, but expanding the ability to
erase public records won't help fix
them.
Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the editorial board only They do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of other Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M student body, regents, administration, faculty or staff.
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 Mall Call section. Letters
must be 300 words or less and indude the author's name, class, and phone number.
Due to space restnctions, guest columns will not be accepted unless the author contacts the opinion page for prior
approval before submitting columns.
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
Page 7
Good news can be so sickening
Town's attempt to remove racial barriers not genuine
JULIE
POLSTON
Asst. Opinion
Editor
They say hey little boy you can' t go
Where the others go
'Cause you don't look like they do
Said hey old man how can you stand
To think that way
Did you really think about it
Before you made the rules?
That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
But don't you believe them
- Bruce Hornsby, "The Way It Is"
P erhaps there is nothing more
ironic than the sick-to-your-
stomach feeling you get from
certain kinds of good news. Ever
have one of those feelings?
As I sat here in The Battalion
newsroom reading the Sunday paper, I came across an
article that left me with mixed emotions. As I read, it
happened: My stomach began to turn as this cruel twist of
irony surrounding what is essentially good news took off
down a windy path.
The article discussed the racial tensions and problems
that still exist in the small Texas town of Vidor. And
despite this town's snail-paced efforts to make some
positive changes, most people tend to remember the Vidor
of old — and with good reason.
Vidor is, or at least was, a Klan town infamous for its
hostility towards African-Americans — it is even rumored
that a sign is posted warning African-Americans not to let
the sun set down on them in Vidor.
Last week, the first African-American resident moved to
Vidor as a result of a federal court's integration order. His
name is John DecQuir, and he is a brave man.
Though it is wonderful that Vidor is trying to change its
ways, I think it is pitiful that this town is being forced to do
so. And here's where the confusion and the ironic sick-to-
my-stomach feeling began to set in.
Am I supposed to feel glad that Vidor is finally
attempting to integrate, or am I supposed to feel just a tad
disheartened that it took a federal court order to do so?
Frankly, I'm feeling quite a bit of both. Naturally, I think
it is great — and long past due — that this Texas town
infamous for its pride in racial tensions and KKK rallies is,
ever-so-slowly, being pulled into the real world where
whites really aren't any better than anybody else.
On the other hand, I am very disappointed to learn that
nearly 30 years after the official "Civil Rights Movement,"
Vidor is being forced to take such "noble" action.
When I read that this integration was the result of a
court order, my mind immediately shot back to 1963, when
President Kennedy had to call on the national guard to
escort two African-American college ^tudents to the
University of Alabama.
I mean, is this 1963 or 1993? I thought all of that
"separate but equal" nonsense was supposed to have
ended in the late '60s. In theory apparently, but that's all.
The fact that this country still needs a federal court
order nearly 30 years after such an intense, long overdue
movement is pathetic, to say the least. It was pathetic then,
and it's pathetic now. In fact, it's pitiful that this country
had such a segregated society that it even needed a Civil
Rights Movement in the first place.
As I continued to read the article, the knots in my
stomach began to tighten.
I was pleasantly surprised, however, to learn that the
lone man boldly going where no African-American has
gone before feels that he doesn't "have anything to be
afraid of."
But if this is true, why are there two Vidor policemen
keeping post at the 74-unit housing project where DecQuir
is now permitted to reside?
More irony, and once again I am confused as the knots
in my stomach grew stronger. Granted, I'm happy for this
man and am glad that he is finally able to live in the town's
public housing project. But at the same time, I think it is a
shame that policemen must be on guard in order to ensure
DecQuir survives in his new hometown.
After all, why should he — or anyone for that matter —
be afraid to live anywhere? This is America, and in theory,
we are supposed to be able to live, work, study, eat, shop
and so forth anywhere we want — regardless of one's race,
gender, ethnicity, religion, or anything else you can think
of.
We are supposed to be able to do these things without
being afraid. We are supposed to be able to do these things
without needing "permission."
Sadly, that isn't the case. And apparently, this country
has quite a ways to go on the roller coaster ride to racial
equality. I hope you can stomach the ride.
Polston is a senior journalism and political science major.
i0 »
Tax hike, budget cuts
needed to slash deficit
This letter is in response to Gary
Gaither's letter printed in Feb. 22
edition of the Battalion. In this letter
he stated that President Clinton's
supporters have "fallen victim" to his
"smooth talking" and now will be
forced to pay higher taxes due to the
unkept promises he made in the 1992
campaign. He feels we now have
fallen victim to Democratic "tax-and-
spend" schemes in an economy that
appears to be improving.
I agree that President Clinton has
gone back on his word by proposing
to tax the middle-class through
broad-based energy taxes, but I
believe this is necessary in order to
start reducing the skyrocketing
deficit. He also wants to tax the rich
who did not pay their fair share
during twelve years of trickle-down
economics that tended not to trickle.
At the same the new administration
plans to make large budget cuts in
the military and cut the government
bureaucracy through attrition.
As far as spending the President
wants to provide jobs by improving
infrastructure and retrain displaced
defense workers while investing in
education. It is true the economy is
improving but at a very slow rate.
Hopefully, this plan will provide jobs
while giving and added boost to the
economy.
The sheer fact is something must
be done towards reducing the deficit
and improving the economy at a
faster pace. Something other than
bickering over what will be done. It
will take "sacrifice," as Ross Perot
says, "shared sacrifice," so that our
children and grand-children will not
bear the total burden.
Unfortunately, with Democrats in
control, the steps taken to do this will
not make Republicans or Rush
Limbaugh fans very happy.
Charles Ewings
Class of'93
Bad bus system leaves
student frustrated
Because I needed to get to school
early Thursday morning, I was at my
stop at 6:50 a.m. I was surprised to
watch the first bus skip my stop
altogether. By the time the second one
arrived it was already 7:10 a.m. I could
not believe what happened next. When
this bus reached the "outermost point,"
the driver just stopped and waited. He
claimed to have left early, and said he
needed to wait to get back on schedule.
When he finally decided to go to
school, I noticed two other Elephant
Walk busses were ahead of us. This
means that even though I was at the
stop before 7:00 a.m., I was riding the
"fourth" bus of the day. It was after
7:30 a.m. when we arrived in front of
the MSC! This is not an isolated
incident - only the most outrageous...so
far!
JeffNoblin
Class of '93