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Opinion
Page 8
The Battalion
Wednesday, March 24,!
Wed
The Battalion
The Battalion
Editorial Board
Steve O'Brien, editor in chief
100 years at
Texas A&M
Jason Loughman, managing editor
Todd Stone, city editor
Stacy Feducia, opinion page editor
Susan Owen, lifestyles editor
Kyle Burnett, news editor
Dave Thomas, news editor
Don Norwood, sports editor
Darrin Hill, photo editor
Marijuana: legalize it
Society can benefit from its use
The time has come to legalize the
use of marijuana in the United States
because unlike other illegal drugs,
marijuana has many societal benefits.
The medical community already
has established that marijuana helps
in the treatment of glaucoma - an eye
disease that can lead to blindness.
Marijuana can provide relief for those
cancer victims who are suffering from
the side effeets-of radiation treatment.
Marijuana has also been used to treat
nausea and multiple sclerosis.
Enforcing the illegali
ty of a rather minor
drug also costs taxpay
ers money because it re
quires more police time,
ties up the court system
and contributes to the
over-crowding of pris
ons. The U.S. govern
ment's war on drugs
could focus resources
on those illegal sub
stances which are truly
enemies to society.
When compared to the dangers of
abusing prescription drugs such as
valium or powerful and unsafe drugs
such as heroine, crack or LSD, keep
ing marijuana illegal seems silly be
cause these substances have the po
tential to kill immediately.
Marijuana is no more physically
addictive than alcohol or tobacco.
Any user is not in immediate danger
unless they drive or operate heavy
machinery. Of course, there are ap
propriate concerns about the recre
ational use of the drug. Like alcohol,
marijuana impairs judgment and like
tobacco, the drug can cause heart dis
ease and lung cancer.
We are not advocating that U.S. so
ciety become a mirror of Cheech and
Chong movies in which the main
characters live in a drug-induced fog
by smoking marijuana.
Legalizing marijuana does not
have to be an open invitation for
everyone to get "stoned." A prereq
uisite to legalizing the drug would
have to'be proper education.
As our government and other or
ganizations such as Mothers Against
Drunk Driving already
educate the public on
the dangers of legal
drugs such as alcohol
and nicotine, the same
effort to educate should
be pursued for potential
users of marijuana.
Moderation and respon
sible use of the drug
would have to be en
couraged. "Don't drink
or smoke and drive."
Still, there are concerns which law
makers and the populace should be
aware of if legalization is pursued.
Police officers are concerned about
more citizens driving under the influ
ence of marijuana as well as alcohol,
and drug counselors have rightly
pointed out that drug addiction can
be psychological as well as physical.
Again, proper education is the key.
Despite these concerns, legalizing
marijuana has positive benefits in
medicine, the drug war and efficient
use of tax revenues. It is time to ex
lore all the benefits of marijuana as a
egal drug.
Helping people live with death
The student guide to coping with the inevitable
L ast Sunday I found myself once
again skimming the wedding an
nouncement pages looking for
anyone I might know. It occurred to
me that this is one of the true marks of
adulthood.
While I continued flipping through
the paper, I pondered this new revela
tion, suddenly stopping on the obitu
ary page. Something truly remarkable
occurred to me at this point. In the
past few months. I've known more
people that have died than have been
married. A very close friend of mine
passed away in December, another
friend had a brother who recently died,
one of my great-uncles just died, and
last week the mother of one of my
friends passed away after a long battle with cancer.
Since I have only recently begun emerging from that
"teenage immortality" stage, I was quite shocked to realize
how close to death I am and how involved I have been with it.
And, of course, since most college students have more impor
tant things to worry about, I decided to worry enough for
everyone. We are all entering into an age in which we will be
confronted more frequently with the deaths of those around
us. The little boy scout in me started chanting "Be Prepared,"
so here is your chance to learn what I, as the employee of a fu
neral home, know about the rituals of death.
Funeral services always differ according to the individual's
personal beliefs and religion. Learn to respect these differ
ences. Catholics usually have a rosary the evening before the
funeral and then have a mass for the actual service. Jews have
traditionally been known to have the funeral as soon as possi
ble, usually within the day. Some Protestant religions close
the casket at the beginning of the service and do not re-open it
at the graveside service. This means that if you want to see
the body one last time, you had better do it sooner than later.
Some individuals prefer cremation without ever having a final
viewing. The main point to realize is that every funeral ser
vice is different. Don't expect any one particular thing to hap
pen. I know that one of the most interesting services I have
witnessed was an oriental funeral in which everyone wore
white, their color of mourning.
Speaking of which, black, the traditional color of mourning
for western cultures, is slowly fading out. Within the last
decade or so, people have started wearing blues, reds and
purples. As long as the outfit is tasteful, it isn't necessary that
it be black. This will save many from rushing out the day be
fore a funeral and buying that perfect black dress or black suit.
Another thipg to consider at the time of someone's death is
what to send to the services. Tradition dictates flowers, but
people have begun to break from tradition and send live
plants. The reasoning behind this is that cut flowers fade and
die within a week. This display sometimes draws more atten
tion to the loss. Potted plants, on the other hand, are fresh and
vibrant and seem to celebrate life. Some critics of the new
trend say that an overflow of plants to a household that is
void of a green thumb can cause quite a few problems. If after
a funeral the bereaved feels overcome with plants that they
don't know how to care for, they should give them away.
There are numerous retirement homes and hospitals that are
more than happy to receive plants as gifts.
When dealing with the bereaved, many people get nervous
and don't know exactly how to act or what to say. For some
people, this can be a very touchy subject. In my experience,
I've found it most useful to be as clear and specific as possible
when speaking to mourners. The trite, "If there's anything I
can do, just call me," leaves something to be desired. Remem
ber, no one is going to say, "Oh, I'm lonely and need to cry.
Let's do lunch next week." Be specific when you offer help
and then be prepared to follow through with your offer. Re
member, what the mourners may need most is to stay busy.
Offer to take them to a movie, out to dinner or just out fora
walk. Always give them plenty of time to talk about what's
on their minds, but don't force them to discuss the recent
death.
Food is another biggie during the time surrounding a
death. Everyone and their dog brings the family some sort of
covered dish. If you do this, remember to mark your bowl,
tray or pot with your name to make it easier on the family in
returning your stuff. Also, take into consideration that for the
first three or four days, many people will have the same idea
you have had. Don't over-supply the mourners with so much
food that it runs the risk of spoiling. Wait a week or even a
month before you send food.
Also, consider this one last thing. Some grief counselors es
timate that it takes on average nine years for someone to com
pletely go through the grief cycle. NINE years. That's quite a
while. The times that support is most needed is during spe
cial events like birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries. Make
sure you check up on mourners during these times. Offer
them your condolences on these days and offer to sit and talk
with them about the situation.
The death of someone close to you can be one of the most
traumatic and stressful events in your life. Dealing with the
tiny details of what to do just adds to the stress. Hopefully
this little preview will help you deal just a bit better with such
an awful, yet inevitable situation. It's just a thought.
Scroggs is an English and philosophy major.
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With Mail Call, we should listen more and complain less
I t is just like an
elementary
school argument
on a college level:
"My daddy can
beat up your dad
dy!" "Well, my
mommy can beat
up your mommy."
Every day it's "My
party's better than
yours!" "No it's
not. Your party
sucks." Sometimes
they say, "The
Corps is great!"
"What! The Corps
should be disband
ed." Other times it's "My God's better
than yours." "No he's not, mine's better!’
MIKE
MORRIS
Guest Columnist
'Oh yea, I don't believe in God, but if I
did, she would be better than both of
yours." And who can forget, "Multicul-
turalism should be made more visible."
"Yuck, I've had it up to here with multi-
culturalism." You might be wondering
what I'm talking about. Well, it's Mail
Call in The Battalion and now it is my
turn. It's my column, I can say what I
want to.
Let's talk about the Democrats vs. the
Republicans
It's two months after inauguration,
and the dust hasn't settled yet. Democ
rats are still acting like the savior has
come while Republicans are swearing the
end of the world is near, and the saga is
being played out every day in Mail Call.
I voted for Clinton, and I say neither hap
pened. The Republicans are screaming
about all the broken promises. It is true
that Clinton has done more turnarounds
in his first 100 days than any president in
recent history, but then I say what presi
dent hasn't broken promises before? The
only way I'll believe Bush didn't break
any promises is if he says he was mis
quoted: "Read my lips, KNOW new tax
es." The Republicans are slamming Clin
ton's economic policy while the head of
the federal reserve, a Republican ap
pointee, is saying it is a good plan. The
Republicans whined about the "liberal"
media calling it a "lynch mob." Well I've
got three words for you: Lena Guerrero,
Democrat.
On the other hand, the interest, unem
ployment and inflation rates have
dropped under the last two Republican
presidents while the Democratic Con
gress raised their salaries and ran for their
seats one more time because they had one
more kid to put through college. I say we
vote like Richard Pryor did in "Brewster's
Millions": "None of the above."
And then there's the Corps vs. the
Non-Regs.
The Aggie Corps of Cadets is the back
bone of what A&M was and is, but with
39,000-plus non-regs compared to rough
ly 2,000 cadets, non-regs are going to play,
a big part in the future of A&M. Both
groups are made up of Aggies and should
get along, but for some reason, these
groups are at each others' throats. When
allegations of sexual harassment started
circulating, there were calls from some
non-regs to disband the Corps. When
sexual assault charges were filed by one
Corps member against another Corps
member, people said, "Forget disbanding.
Get a rope!" The Corps is not the only
guilty party though. When two different
fraternities had problems, there were calls
to not only kick the frats out, but some
cadets were mumbling about kicking all
of the non-regs out.\ I say we should all
get along. Things could be worse; we
could be at t.u. where the frats drink
themselves to death and the ROTC mem
bers pronounce the "s" in Corps.
And who can forget religion vs. reli
gion.
Two of America's most basic freedoms,
freedom of speech and religion, have be
come the biggest name calling free-for-all
I've ever seen on this campus. I've seen
less mudslinging at a mud wrestling
match. All this friction revolves around
one thing - morals. Who's is right? No
body and everybody. In one sense, no
body is right because everyone else
thinks theyYe right. The way I see it, no
religion is wrong. When you look past
the rituals and superficial beliefs, every
religion is basically the same. How could
any faith be wrong that condemns mur
der and stealing and stresses being kind
to your fellow man?
Finally there is the great Multicultural-
ism vs. Americanism debate.
Interest in multiculturalism is growing
fast at A&M. With the recent racial inci
dents, the large numbers of international
students and the growing numbers of mi
norities in Texas, this is not surprising.
What is also rising is the disinterest in
multiculturalism. Many Aggies wonder
why we need multicultural awareness at
Texas A&M. I say, "We're quite aware of
the redneck element. Give somebody else
a turn in the spotlight." Some Aggies
complain, "Why aren't people happy just
being Americans?" They don't under
stand why others call themselves Mexi-
can-Americans or African-Americans.
They don't understand why it is neces
sary to celebrate Juneteenth or Cinco de
Mayo. I have one word for them-Thanks-
giving. The only difference between any
group of Americans is the size of the
body of water they crossed if they crossed
one at all, when they crossed it, and
whether they came by freedom of choice
or they came in chains. America is truly
the melting pot and all the ethnic groups
add the necessary spices, so kick bacV
open a beer and enjoy the stew.
Mail Call is a place to express your
opinions and should not be used for
name calling and mudslinging. Save that
for the politicians on the campaign. Next
time you read something you don't like
and you feel the urge to start name call
ing, take a nap, have some milk and cook
ies and sit quietly until the urge goes
away.
Morris is a senior biology major.