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Wednesday, October 13,1993
The Battalion Editorial Board
CHRIS WHITLEY, editor in chief
)ULI PHILLIPS, managing editor MARK EVANS, city editor \
DAVE THOMAS, night new^- editor ANAS BEN-MUSA, Aggielife editor
BELINDA BLANCARTE, night news editor MICHAEL PLUMER, sports editor
MACK HARRISON, opinion editor WILLIAM HARRISON, sports editor
KYLE BURNETT, photo editor
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EDITORIAL
TV can't baby-sit
Don't blame 'Beavis' for arson
s love each
iff the field
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tg once and
is a Battle-
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rr Ron Lupet
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A Do, Run-
The mother of a child who set
fatal fire said the cartoon
Beavis and Butt-head" caused
her 5-year-old to ignite the blaze
that killed his sister.
One question that has yet to
be answered — or even asked —
by those calling for the show's
cancellation is: Where were this
hild's parents when this hap
pened and why did they allow
this child to watch a show that
has been under a barrage of crit-
cism since its inception in June?
More importantly, why did
bey allow matches within this
hild's reach?
Once again, a child does
something wrong and his parent
blames an outside influence.
This alarming trend continues
:ogrow in America. It seems that
it some unknown time, for some
unknown reason the responsibili-
y of child rearing moved from
larents to television.
And at that same unknown
oint in time, the burden of
eaching youth the difference
letween the very subjective and
imbiguous definitions of right
and wrong became the job of
artists and musicians.
So, when a boy set fire to his
mom's trailer home and killed
his 2-year-old sister, their moth
er instinctively pointed the fin
ger of guilt at MTV.
When two Utah teenagers
under the influence of drugs
and alcohol attempted suicide,
their parents blamed heavy
metal music.
When a Houston gang mem
ber murdered a state trooper, he
defended himself by claiming
rap music made him do it.
The logic- behind these attacks
on pop culture is the same "at
tack the weed, but ignore the
root" philosophy that has proven
ineffective time and again.
Why do parents place the
blame for their children's acts of
stupidity on someone or some
thing else? Whatever happened
to individuals taking responsi
bility for the actions of them
selves and their children?
Whether "Beavis and Butt-
head" has any socially redeem
ing values is irrelevant. There is
no point in calling for banning
or censoring the cartoon.
Parents and other concerned
individuals should concentrate
on giving the next generation
the guidance it needs — in
stead of blaming society for
failing to do so.
Opinion
The Battalion
Page 7
ATF warms up for Waco raid in Idaho
Federal agency has history of assaulting 'fringe' religions
R ecently the ATF
and FBI ended
their siege of a re
mote compound that
held members of a
fringe religion. The
siege — initiated by the
ATP based on technical
weapons charges —
would be the ultimate
fruition of over a year
of surveillance and
plotting by the ATF
and in its totality result
ed in the deaths of sev
eral innocent people as
well as ATF agents.
Waco, right? Wrong.
This particular siege
occurred Aug. 30,1992 in Naples, Idaho in
what many experts are referring to as the pre
lude to Waco. The similarities in the case are
so amazing, they seem to indicate a develop
ing pattern in ATF policy.
In January 1983, Vicki and Randy Weaver
left their home state of Iowa and moved to
northern Idaho, in what their friends called an
attempt to get away from the rat race and find
a place where they could raise their children
apart from the immorality of American soci
ety. It was established that Randy and Vicki
were loosely affiliated with, or at least sympa
thetic to, the Christian Identity movement.
Christian Identity' believers are, for the most
part, white separatists — meaning that unlike
white supremacists, they would like simply to
live apart from other races as opposed to
wanting to persecute or subjugate them.
: Weavers led a quiet life in I
The Weavers led a quief
Idaho on a
20-acre plot of land in the back mountains of
Naples. Randy would occasionally take odd
jobs to pay for things that required cash. They
taught their children their unusual religious
beliefs, but weren't particularly active in the
Christian Identity movement.
The Weavers attended a few Aryan Nation
meetings where, in October 1989, Randy was
introduced to "Gus Magisono," really Ken
Fadley, an undercover ATF informant in the
Aryan Nation, who asked Randy to sell him
two shotguns with the barrels sawed off and
even showed him where to cut. Some of the
more strict interpreters of our country's penal
code would call this entrapment.
Although Randy was at first reluctant, he
was strapped for cash. He finally sold "Gus"
the guns tor $300.
By December 1990, Randy Weaver was in
dicted for manufacturing, selling and posses
sion of illegal firearms On Jan. 17,1991, Randy
was arrested and released on bond, his trial set
for Feb. 20,1991. But the letter Randy received
from his probation officer said to appear in
court March 20.
When Weaver didn't appear in February,
Assistant U*S. Attorney Ron Howard, know
ing Weaver had been sent the erroneous letter,
got another indictment for failure to appear in
court. Fearing he would be sent to prison
without a chance to defend himself. Weaver
spent the next year or so hiding from the gov
ernment in his remote cabin.
In response, the ATF began an elaborate 16-
month surveillance project. They paid neigh
bors to record the comings and goings of visi
tors and to take down license numbers. They
placed agents around the property, usually in
full camouflage gear. Agents scouted sniper
positions and discussed plans ranging from
tear gassing the occupants to kidnapping their
16-year-old daughter.
tire agents later testified that they never
considered simply' knocking on the door and
serving the arrest warrant — this was a mili
tary-style operation from the outset.
All this preparation for an armed assault
came to a head on Aug. 21,1992. Sammy
Weaver, Randy's 14-year-old son and Kevin
Harris, a close friend of the family, followed
their dog down the hill hoping to find a deer.
Unfortunately, all they found were several
well-armed ATF agents.
The exact turn of events is hard to pin
down. A gun fight erupted leaving Sammy,
the dog and one ATF agent dead. Kevin got
safely’ back in the house before he was wound
ed by a sniper that killed an unarmed Vicki
Weaver as she stood at the door of her house.
The survivors, including Randy, were even
tually talked out without further gunplay. The
case went to court earlier this year and Randy
was found innocent of any wrongdoing.
The ATF outlived its usefulness many years
ago. I was glad to see Clinton nut the agency
under control of the FT?! after the Waco
episode, but if the ATF's largest priority is the
continual harassment of American citizens
with fringe religious beliefs, why do we con
tinue to fund it? Most experts agree that the li
censing and regulatory capacity of the ATF
could easily be absorbed by another agency.
We must dissolve this scourge on our civil
rights before it gets out of hand. How long be
fore they find your beliefs are on the fringe?
E/iof Williams is a sophomore electrical
engineering major
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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, guest columns,
cartoons and letters express
the opinions of the authors.
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Jordan: Hero will be with us long,after last buzzer sounds
Jim to the
er hands off
t the line but
:kle. He's at
he's at 50,
ge direction
,one. Touch
): You know
o tnke "The
Road" to
s gun out)
There It Is!
There It Is!
A inerica is in
desperate
XjLneed of a
hero, someone who
accomplishes what
others only dream
of doing. When our
parents grew up,
young boys and
girls dreamed of be-
ng the President,
the pinnacle of po
litical success in our
country.
Today, we sell T-
shirts with slogans
blasting the presi
dent. In some of
the more desperate areas of inner cities,
children may not know anyone who ad
vanced to a professional career.
Even cartoons are devoid of heroes. Car
toons ten or fifteen years ago starred the
superheros who fought for "truth, justice
and the American way." HBO is currently
running a commercial that flashes a cell
from Ren and Stimpy while the voice over
mentions children's programming. Can a
MELISSA
MEGLIOLA
Columnist
Chihuahua known for flatulating replace
the Wonder Twins?
And of course, with the breakdown of
the American family. Dad, the old stand
by, no longer exists in many households.
Last Tuesday, one of the last remaining
heroes announced he is stepping down.
Over the last nine years, Jordan has un
doubtedly risen to the level of chief hero.
During the commercial featuring children
playing basketball on the playground, we
hear, "Sometimes I dream that he is me."
The picture then switches to Jordan
soaring through the air to effortlessly place
a basketball through a metal rim. On the
court he is magical. He defies gravity while
exuding the grace of a learned gymnast.
To "be like Mike," is more than a bla
tantly associative advertising slogan, but a
dream held by children across the country.
Around the globe.
In Chicago Stadium, Bob Greene, author
of "Hangtime: Days and Dreams with
Michael Jordan," notices parents "pointing
to Jordan as a parent might point to the Eif
fel Tower or Venus de Milo."
Outside the stadium, the streets of one
of Chicago's roughest neighborhoods are
lined with fathers and sons braving the
winter weather to catch a glimpse of their
hero driving by. The fathers, although few
will admit to it, are as excited as their chil
dren by the thought of seeing Jordan.
Jordan, the hero, is also a legend. He
was the boy who sat alone on the bus be
cause the girls preferred to sit next to the
athletes. He was the teenager who, during
It's not Jordan's ability on
the court that makes him a
hero. Jordan stops after
every home game to talk to
four boys who live near the
stadium.
his sophomore year in high school, was cut
from the basketball team. He is, at 30, the
best player to have ever played the game.
"I used to say that Michael Jordan is the
Babe Ruth of basketball," says Jerry Reins-
dorf, owner of the Bulls. "Not anymore.
Now I say Babe Ruth was the Michael Jor
dan of baseball."
It's not Jordan's ability on the court that
makes him a hero. Greene, who spent a
year with Jordan researching his book, was
more amazed by what Jordan chose not to
tell than by what he did. Only after verify
ing a rumor did Greene discover that Jor
dan stopped after every home game to talk
to four boys who live near the stadium,
caring enough to take interest in their
grades and offer tutors if they fall behind.
"What does it cost me?" Jordan asked.
"If I were to go home or go out to dinner
knowing that they were waiting for me, it
would ruin my evening."
Neither Carmen Villafane nor Darnel
Spikes, two more of Jordan's most loyal
fans, ever seemed to miss a game during
the 1990 season. They both had courtside
seats, the kind reserved for Chicago's
wealthy and influential. Yet neither were
rich or powerful, but instead inflicted by
crippling disease. Each had met Jordan by
chance, and each had a standing invitation
to the stadium. They arrived well before
the start of each game.
"If either of them was a few minutes
tardy bevond the time they usually got
there — Jordan would check it out,"
Greene observed.
He masked his concern by constantly
joking around, but towards the end of
Spike's life, Jordan spent many a night in
his hospital room.
These are stories Jordan never offered to
the man writing his biography. During a
time when Jordan's private life often came
under attack, it was stories like these he
withheld from the press.
The career of Jordan the basketball play
er is over, at least for now. America is not
happy. The news is being treated much
like the death of Elvis.
"Chicago is in mourning," said one se
nior at the University of Illinois. "I think
they are going to drape the city in black."
We feel as if our hero is gone. Our win
ter nights will no longer seem less gloomy
as Jordan enters our living rooms. Tickets
to see the Bulls no longer have the same
value. The NBA is different.
But Jordan the hero, Jordan the person,
will be with us for a long time. .
Melissa Mcgliola is a senior industrial
engineering major
; a&m
dent Center
is Committee
:00
ENTRiC,
;e of fun.”
UNNY!"
m
MAIL CALL
Limiting graduation
seats alienates Aggies
This letter is to express my amazement
and honest disappointment in the decision
to once again limit graduation ceremony
attendance.
It was quite clear that limiting atten
dance at previous ceremonies was a pub
lic relations nightmare with families and
alumni of our institution. Texas A&M
officials even admitted openly this was
not a viable solution and would most
probably add an additional ceremony for
future exercises.
The families of our students have spent
thousands of dollars to send their children
to this university 7 , not to mention the fact
that their tax dollars pay the salaries of the
emplovees at A&M as well. It is quite puz
zling to me, after the administration clear
ly stated this most likely would not hap
pen again, that December graduation is
limited in attendance.
I hope administration officials can live
with the fact that grandparents, aunts and
uncles will have to be told they cannot at
tend the graduation ceremony of someone
they love because adequate facilities are
not available.
My question is this, "Why can't A&M
add additional ceremonies to accommo
date this problem?"
It may mean more work for the Univer
sity, but are we not here for our students?
I sincerely hope there is a reasonable ex
planation for this action. I also hope that
administration officials are not purpose
fully avoiding this problem to illustrate
A&M's need for a more adequate facility
(to the State) at the expense of the students
and their families.
Be advised, this limiting of attendance
to A&M graduation ceremonies could
alienate students from supporting this in
stitution after they have gone. What could
possibly justify allowing students and
families to have a bad impression of A&M
at graduation? The saying "you learn
from your mistakes" should be heeded
here. A&M admitted making this mistake
once ... why do it again?
Darrell R. Pickard
Agent, Class of '85
Pedestrians shouldn't
second-guess bikers
I was riding my bike north on Houston
Street. As I was approaching the Post Of
fice, a girl looked straight at me and then
walked out in front of me from the right. I
thought nothing of it and corrected my
course to pass behind her.
A moment later, she looked up in hor
ror and stopped in my new line of travel.
It was too late to do anything but lessen
the impact. My handlebar caught her el
bow and I was pitched headlong into the
street (luckily, not in front of any cars).
The damage was minor. I got a few
scrapes, a bruised foot and a torn bike seat
(a mere $30). She may have a bruise on her
elbow.
The point of the story is this: Don't try
to second guess a biker. We generally
know what we're doing. If she hadn't pan
icked, that little mishap would not have
occurred. She showed all the composure
of a rabbit that gets killed on the highway
because he freezes in your headlights, af
ter you've already committed to that
swerve that would've missed him.
One more bike means one less car.
Eric Holbrook
Class of ‘96