Opinion
Tuesday, April 6,1993 The Battalion Page 9
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The Battalion Editorial Board
The Battalion
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Steve O'Brien, editor in chief
Jason Loughman, managing editor Kyle Burnett, news editor
Todd Stone, city editor Dave Thomas, news editor
Stacy Feducia, opinion page editor Don Norwood, sports editor
100 years at
Susan Owen, lifestyles editor Darrin Hill, photo editor
Texas A&M
Editorial
Protect personal rights
Allowing the terminally ill to die
The Texas Legislature is consider
ing a bill that would legalize physi
cian-assisted suicide for the terminal
ly ill. In recognition of the right-to-
die, this bill is a positive step toward
the advancement of personal rights.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Gonza-
lo Barrientos, D-Austin, would allow
terminally ill, rational patients to go
to court to obtain permission to have
a doctor assist them An eommittine
suicide. -l*‘.
Before the judge can grant the or
der, at least two physicians must cer
tify that the patient is terminally ill,
and the patient must be judged men
tally competent to make the suicide
decision. Two adults are also re
quired to witness the assisted sui
cide. Following the suicide, the as
sisting physician is immune from all
civil and criminal prosecution or pro
fessional discipline.
The Battalion does not advocate
suicide as a means to escape depres
sion or hardship; however, we do
recognize the patient's right to assist
ed suicide in order to avoid unneces
sary pain and suffering.
Although many choose to extend
life as long as possible, the terminally
ill should have the right to make
their own choices with as little state
interference as possible. This bill is a
step in that direction.
Even though assisted suicide
should be a personal matter, some
state control is necessary to prevent
death-with-dignity laws from being
abused by overzealous physicians.
In the same fashion, a required
courtroom appearance is also an in
trusion on a private decision; howev
er, it may be necessary to prevent the
kind of legal complications that have
become so prevalent today. Protect
ing the physician from prosecution
or discipline is similarly a good idea.
Legalizing doctor-assisted suicide
in Texas could prevent cases like that
of Janet Adkins, who flew 2,000 miles
to Michigan to commit suicide in
1990. She died on a cot in Tack
Kevorkian's 1968 Volkswagen van.
Bioethicists were alarmed at this in
stance because there were no proce
dural protections to guard Adkins'
interests.
Such a bill would ensure that ter
minally ill patients who have decid
ed to end their lives have a humane
way of doing so. In fact, the pro
posed legislation was actually draft
ed by one of Barrientos' constituents
after a neighbor used a shotgun to
commit suicide. Barrientos has
agreed to introduce the bill to the
Legislature even though he has not
promised he will support it.
However, Barrientos is demon
strating vision in introducing the bill
and sparking public debate. And be
cause the bill is limited to the termi
nally ill and follows strict guidelines,
there is also a greater chance that the
Senate will pass it.
From such a start, the Legislature
can further investigate the legality of
assisted suicide for more question
able cases such as quadriplegics, the
comatose and the brain-damaged.
Until then, this bill is a big step in al
lowing individuals greater control
over their lives - and deaths.
Bad days are bad for a good reason
Humor, optimism are key to coping with stress
Y ou can learn a lot from stress. Af
ter having my car towed for ille
gally parking in a northside
apartment complex, receiving the first
of what I'm sure will be many rejection
letters from personnel offices across
America, and discovering that I have
the pleasure of redoing six photojour
nalism projects, the tendency for me to
become a basket case seemed to be at
an all time high.
But I prevailed. For the first time in
a long time, I stared stress straight in
the face and laughed. And it was good.
And I learned that you can learn a lot
about yourself and the type of person
that you are by your ability, or lack
thereof, to cope with stress.
I suppose my newfound optimism
concerning stress came to the forefront last Tuesday when I
discovered that I needed to redo my last six photojournalism
projects because the pictures were all out of focus.
Stress began to rear its ugly head. But I couldn't very well
get mad. After all, it is my grade. Besides, the photos were
out of focus because of my sheer disregard to wear my glasses
when I shot the pictures.
Talk about feeling blonde. Talk about feeling stressed.
But rather than rant and rave, I decided there must be a les
son to learn in this photo fiasco. Other than the obvious
"wear your glasses when you take pictures" lesson, the
greater truth is that sometimes the "noble" way out is best.
I mean. I'm a graduating senior with a bad case of seniori-
tis. And it would be very easy to simply turn in my less than
Pulitzer-prize winning photos and take a "C" in the class. But
I just couldn't do it. I've come too far and worked too hard to
simply take "C" in a class when I know that I can at least try
and do something about it. And this is when I began to learn
about the benefits of stress. Rule #1: Never give up.
With my photo paraphernalia tucked safely in my back
pack, I set out to find my car after a long day on campus.
When I arrived at my "No Parking" parking space, I discov
ered that my Toyota hatchback — affectionately coined "the
Putz" for its unique ability to go from zero to 40 in 10 seconds
— was, in fact, nowhere to be found. Imagine that.
The tow truck car-napping mongers of Bryan-College Sta
tion beat me at my own game, and rightfully so. Regardless
of whether parking illegally was the result of a desperate at
tempt to make it to class after legal parking on campus was
clearly out of the question, I was wrong to engage in such
costly behavior, and I deserved to be towed. So I laughed.
Now, laughing about having my car towed may not sound
like such a great accomplishment, but for those who don't
know me, suffice it to say that laughter is a 180 degree turn
around for me. Rather than scream, shout, and jump up and
down while inventing four-letter words, I laughed.
"Progress," I thought as I discovered another benefit of
stress. Rule #2: Stress monitors just how far you've come.
After rescuing the Putz from the napper's untidy pen for
the low, low price of $85,1 cruised home — carefully monitor
ing my speed in order to avoid another fine — and made the
mistake of checking my mail.
As I flipped through the "dear resident" ads and mailouts,
I saw it: A letter from the Houston Chronicle. "I'm going to
think positive about this," I remember telling myself as I tore
open the envelope containing the words that would altar my
fate as a journalist in Houston.
But given the course of the day's events, the power of posi
tive thinking seemed to be in vain as I received my very first
"I'm sorry, but we have no openings at this time," letter.
At this point, I could sense that stress was trying once
again to rear its ugly little head into my otherwise eventful
day. And in all fairness, it is stressful when you realize that
you are going to graduate in exactly 38 days with absolutely
no means of future income. After all, loans, grants and mon
ey from mom and dad only go so far.
So what's a graduating senior to do? I mean, within a mat
ter of hours, I had managed to check out all of the photo
equipment my professor had in store and fork out just enough
plastic money to be reunited with the Putz, only to discover
that the odds of landing a job to help pay for the additional 20
rolls of film and towing fiasco could be pretty bleak.
Perhaps some of you have experienced a similar hell, in
which case. I'm not alone. And that's when I realized a final
benefit of stress. Rule #3: We're all in this together.
And because we're all in this together, we can help one an
other. Or at least, we can be a little more understanding of
one another whenever potential stress events occur — and the
key word here is "potential."
Like it or not, stress follows us everywhere we go. But just
because stress follows us doesn't mean it has to haunt us.
Stress is inevitable, so we might as well learn to cope with it --
or we will literally die trying to fend it off. Besides, a little bit
of humor and optimism goes a long way in learning from the
"stressful" events of everyday life.
Think about it.
Polston is a senior journalism and political science major.
JULIE
POLSTON
Asst. Opinion
Editor
Battalion blunders
with April Fools joke
• A stench emitted from the April 1st
issue of the Battalion. I must admit to not
being much of a fan of Elvis, but I
thought the humor, or lack thereof, to be
self-defeating. Is not the Battalion editor
ial board sufficiently clever to treat the
readers on April Fools with something
other than lengthy, crude and aimless
prose full of sexual innuendo? Perhaps
the title, "The Buttalion," was appropri
ate. We all know what products exude
from the orifice.
David P. Emstes
Class of '92
• As chairman of the publicity com
mittee for the 1993 Cattlemen's Ball, one
of my responsibility was to place adver
tisements in the Battalion, issues dated
March 31 and April 1, 1993. I am fully
I aware that this $30.00/ day ad, which was
[ paid for by the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences Council, did not bring
your newspaper the revenue that full-
page advertisement would have. Howev
er, I was appalled to read your April
Fool's Day "Buttsling" pages.
The entire concept was overdone.
Surely your staff has the ability to be hu
morous without being vulgar. Your refer
ences to pedophilia and masturbation
were truly disgusting. And when did
"sonofabitch" become listed in the Asso
ciated Press Style Manual —the book no
self-respecting journalist would be with
out? As an advertiser, I was offended
that advertising dollars placed under my
supervision were abused in such a man
ner. As an agricultural journalism major,
I was embarrassed that my fellow jour
nalism students could knowingly commit
such a breach of ethics.
Finally, as an Aggie, I am ashamed
that the newspaper which represents
Texas A&M University would display
such gross vulgarity. Just think, to a
stranger or a prospective student reading
the Battalion, this is the image of Texas
A&M you have presented. I understand
the need for an April Fool's joke, but it is
very difficult to change a first impression.
D'Lyn Lloyd
Class of '93
Women are not girls,
hostess ad offends
I read something in the Battalion a few
days ago that offended me. While scan
ning the pages for something interesting,
I came across and as that read something
to the effect of "All girls interested in
joining Aggie Hostesses meet at..." It
continued to list the date and time of an
information meeting for the organization.
The part of this ad that bothers me is
the use of the word "girl." According to
the law, "girl" refers to any female under
the age of eighteen. It also has connota-
tive meanings — the words juvenile, de
pendent and simple come to mind. We
were all, male and female, that way once
as a consequence of youth. But the quali
ty of being female doesn't make one so
permanently. And I don't think the ad
was targeted only at young women un
der eighteen. The purpose of this letter is
for me to publicly voice my disapproval
of the way some members of society still
views women as subordinate. I know I
must seem really picky to some people
for saying anything about something so
subtle. That's part of the problem.
Women deserve to be treated as women,
not as girls, and to be spoken of as such.
No exceptions. Imagine opening the Bat
talion to an ad that read "All boys inter
ested in joining the Corps of Cadets..."
Not only would this come across as
strange. I'm sure more than a few people
would find it offensive. Times have
changed. I just wish people would think
before they act, especially if they plan to
put it in writing.
Terri Boatman Kimmel
Class of'93
PTTS payment mess
is one big headache
I've just been billed (again) for some
one else's $30 parking ticket. I guess I
should know by now not to get upset
when I receive that bill in the mail, that
it's probably just another ticket I inherit
ed from someone A&M can't get to any
more, like my brother, sister-in-law, or
neighbor's second cousin. PTTS and at
the Student's Attorney's office. I learned
that this practice is probably illegal, but
that it's okay to treat your students like
second-class citizens as long as you can
get away with it. I recommend, however,
that you stop consoling students by sug
gesting they contact their parents to see
that the bill gets paid since this isn't an
option for most of us. To the shrewd Bar
ney Fife(s) in charge of this scam: don't
you think I resent being billed like this?
Don't you realize I'll one day be an alum
nus of this institution with memories of
this injustice? Finally, to anyone who re
ceives similar tickets: please go by PTTS
and fill out a complaint form. Apparent
ly, no one at PTTS will discuss the issue
personally with students. PTTS justifies
using personal information to pass along
tickets to catch those few students using
non-student cars. However, no universi
ty I know of holds its students in such
contempt that it would consider threaten
ing to bar them for others' offenses. For
most students, it's not as simple as mak
ing a (long distance) phone call to get
someone to pay for their own ticket.
PTTS doesn't seem to appreciate this fact.
Tim Wilson
Graduate Student
Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the
editorial board. They do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of other Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M
student body, regents, administration, faculty or staff.
Columns, quest columns, and Mail Call items express the
opinions ot the authors.
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 the author's name,
class, and phone number.
Due to space restrictions, 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 Coll
Of 3 Reed McDonald /Mail stop fill
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843