The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, February 03, 1994, Image 9

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    Opinion
Thursday, February 3,1994
The Battalion Editorial Board
JULI PHILLIPS, Editor in chief
MICHAEL PLUMER, Managing editor KYLE BURNETT, Aggielife editor
BELINDA BLANCARTE, Night news editor DENA DIZDAR, Aggielife editor
HEATHER WINCH, Night News editor SEAN FRERKING, Sports editor
TONI GARRARD CLAY, Opinion editor WILLIAM HARRISON, Photo editor
JENNIFER SMITH, City editor
The Battalion
Page 9
EDITORIAL
Prison problems
More facilities not the solution
There are times in life when
we can afford to accept the mis-
takes we make and move on.
Unfortunately, when you're talk
ing about capital offenders who
are paroled before serving their
entire sentence and without any
kind of rehabilitative treatment,
one mistake can mean a life.
Society should not allow vio
lent criminals, especially mur
derers or rapists, to move about
freely in society.
Proponents of the early-re-
lease program cite overcrowding
as a reason for the number of
parolees being released. We
would not deny that overcrowd-
* ing is a problem; however, mur
derers, rapists, child abusers,
and other violent offenders
should not be released early.
The examples of Kenneth Mc-
Duff and Raul Meza speak for
themselves. McDuff was sen
tenced to death in 1966 for mur
dering two teenage boys. After
being paroled twice, McDuff
was convicted in 1992 for killing
a Waco convenience store clerk.
Meza was released from
prison after being convicted of
raping and murdering 8-year-
| old Kendra Page. After being
run out of several Texas towns,
he is now living in Austin. For
once we should be thrilled that
Austin has something — besides
UT — which College Station
does not.
These are not isolated exam
ples of the parole system gone
awry; they are just two of the
cases that have made their way
into the news. Every year, new
bills are proposed to build new
er, stronger and bigger prisons
to keep the streets safe for law
abiding citizens everywhere.
No one seems to realize that
putting criminals in jail and leav
ing them there a while isn't help
ing. It's more like an extended
convention for convicts to come
together and share tricks of the
trade. What we end up with is a
smarter, more dangerous crimi
nal.
It's time for voters to start
supporting bills that mandate re-
habilftative programs and psy
chological testing for all violent
criminals, instead of blindly call
ing for more cells. The Texas
prison system, among others,
has made steps to improve ca
pacity, but the problem is much
more than that of space. Let's try
to build new lives instead of new
prison cells.
World population: billions and billions
Birth control key to controlling growth of human race
B
i e fruitful and mul-
jtipiy-
This message from
the Old Testament has
probably been accepted
and followed more
than any other. Initial
ly, it may very well be
the most pleasurable
directive in the Bible;
but as your own par
ents will tell you, it's
also the most difficult.
Although parenting,
with its joys and pains,
is certainly a rich topic,
my not being a parent
makes me underqualified to comment. How
ever, the whole "parenting thing" needs to be
looked at from an all-encompassing, global
perspective.
The real problem with "Be fruitful and mul
tiply" is that the entire world seems to have
taken it too far. The human race has been more
fruitful than the Napa Valley and is currently
multiplying itself into a dangerous position.
The present population of the Earth is
around five billion people (give or take a few
races), with the U.S. harboring only about 250
million of them. What's alarming is that the
rate of growth is 1.9 percent per year, com
pounded. Those statistics mean that each day,
after accounting for all the births and deaths in
the world, some 300,000 extra people are left
over and added to the population. Don't forget
that the number of extra people continues to
grow also.
The 57 million square miles of habitable
earth seemingly could support as many hu
mans as we can manufacture. However, with a
few calculations, we can figure that if the pop
ulation continues to grow at this rate, the num
ber of people will reach 10 billion in just 37
years. That's over 200 people on every square
mile of land. Now, before everyone runs off to
invest in real-estate in anticipation of a hous
ing shortage, it's difficult to say exactly what
impact the population doubling will have on
the U.S.
We can assume that there will be more
starving and homeless people, more criminals,
more newspaper salesmen, etc. in America. But
the impact still will pale in comparison to
Third World countries that are already grossly
overpopulated. Those of you who have spent
any time in Manhattan know what it is like to
be within ten feet of another person at all
times. Well, in just a few generations the liv
able areas of the world may be like one big
Manhattan. (I like New York, but I've always
been able to leave).
Countries like India, China and Japan are al
ready taking steps to slow their population
growth, but with very sad side effects. Govern
ments that sanction in favor of single offspring
families tend to increase the female infant mur
der rate because of a cultural desire for males.
Third World countries like those in Africa,
Central and South America experience death
as a direct result of overpopulation, and that's
just at the current level. Production of food is a
tremendous problem for these nations which
depend on the donations and hard work of
countries like ours to keep as many people
alive as possible. Just like a pain pill won't cure
an infection, continuing to feed hungry nations
that are populated with five times the number
of people that their food supply can bear is
merely treating the symptom without provid
ing a cure.
So what can we do to alleviate or at least
slow this growing problem? Tm not suggesting
that we cut off food supplies to needy areas;
we are human and thereby humane (theoreti
cally, anyway). But there needs to be mass
re-education about family size for the societies
of the world.
For cultural reasons, some countries encour
age men to father as many children as possible.
It's like a virile, macho, fruit-of-my-loins tiling.
Unfortunately, feeding them apparently is of
secondary concern.
Some prevailing ideologies blatantly en
courage overpopulation. Many poor peoples
strongly uphold these principles, which means
that in areas where there is far too little food
for the number of mouths to feed, families are
still not utilizing effective methods of birth
control.
The reason for this, as I understand it, is the
belief that procreation is a gift from God and
that believers shouldn't prevent the exercise of
that gift with birth control. However, a child's
painful death through malnutrition and life in
a tragically overpopulated country would not
seem to be the intended result of such a gift.
Educating the world on the methods of
birth control is certainly the first, most power
ful step toward a more manageable world pop
ulation and a hunger-free humanity.
Frank Stanford is a graduate philosophy student
t\s i tmwbbf A
ft* m umi, ik liki to
F&luuiUC,
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.
The Battalion encourages
letters to the editor and will print
as many as space allows. Letters
must be 300 words or less and
include the author's name, class,
and phdne number.
We reserve the right to edit
letters and guest columns.for
length, style, and accuracy.
Contact the opinion editor for
information on submitting guest
columns.
Address letters to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Mail stop 1111
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843
Fax: (409) 845-2647
Creation of one-world state an U.N.-American pursuit
'The ideals of
the U.N. Charter
are in line with the
ideals of Lenin." —
U Thant, former
U.N. Secretary
General.
The pursuit of a
one-world super
state is as old as the
biblical Tower of
Babel, which
sought to reach
Heaven. Today, the
agenda of the
stealthy interna
tionalist Council on
Foreign Relations
(CFR), has brought the possibility of a one-
world state frighteningly close to reality.
The formation of the CFR began in 1921
with the financial backing of J.P. Morgan
and Co. During this era of economically
subversive trusts and holding companies,
the one-world elites laid plans which some
believe were aimed at gaining control of
America's mass media. State Department
and economic policy.
Consider that in 1945, America was the
ANTHONY C.
LoBaido
Guest columnist
world's largest creditor nation, had three-
times as much gold on hand as the rest of
the world combined, and ranked among
the elite in all technologies and industry. By
1975, Uncle Sam was crawling out of Viet
nam, burdened with economic decline and
moral decay — an unprecedented national
collapse worthy of careful introspection.
Why have "capitalists" like Rockefeller,
in association with the International Mone
tary Fund and World Bank, constantly
made loans to prop up insolvent commu
nist regimes? Why were Mao and Castro
presented by the establishment media as
pro-Western reformers? A 1940's U.S. War
Department study concluded that Rocke
feller's financing of I.B. Farben, Germany's
top producer of munitions and petrochemi
cals, was the pillar of the Nazi War effort.
Why did American soldiers participate
in the April 3,1952, U.N. "invasion" of
Lampasas, Texas, which saw the U.S. flag
and Constitution replaced by the U.N. flag
and Constitution? Why did Reagan sud
denly embrace Gorbachev and the "Empire
of Evil" in 1988 while Christians were be
ing executed in Romania? Wiry was the
KAL 007 shot down after being trailed for
over two hours by Russian MiGs? Was it
because U.S. Congressman Lawrence Mc
Donald, the most ardent anti-U.N. conserv
ative on Capital Hill, just happened to be
on board?
Of course nothing has done more to aid
the CFR than their "establishment media."
For example, in 1976 the Khmer Rouge
communists slaughtered one million peo
ple in Cambodia — the New York Times
carried a total of four stories on Cambodia
The agenda of the stealthy
internationalist Council on
Foreign Relations has
brought the possibility of a
one-world state frighten
ingly close to reality.
all of that year. Yet the Times and Wash
ington Post ran no less than 415 stories on
the Republic of South Africa between May
and June of 1986 alone, even though there
were only minimal casualties.
This is significant as it illustrates the uni
form CFR methods: First, accuse a nation's
security forces of human rights abuses.
Second, focus media attention on those
abuses — which are sometimes exaggerat
ed or even fabricated — while ignoring
abuses elsewhere. Third, back the rebels.
Fourth, call for U.N. sanctions. Fifth, send
in U.N. "Peacekeepers." Sixth, install pro-
U.N. puppets to power.
China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, Chile,
Katanga, Rhodesia, Namibia and South
Africa head the list of CFR casualties. The
daily newspapers point to the next victims:
Israel (forced to comply with the terrorist
PLO), Serbia (NATO airstrikes), Russia
(Clinton's Directive 13 allowing U.S. troops
in the Russian Republics under the U.N.),
North Korea (Patriot missiles) and Haiti
(U.N. embargo to accept the deposed Aris
tide).
Not all of the above-mentioned nations
will go quietly. South Africa's anti-U.N.
coalition of 13 million Zulus and Afrikan
ers stated in the Dec. 19,1991, South
African Star: "We reject the political ToWer
of Babel as demanded by the United Na
tions. We will fight until we achieve victo
ry, or die in the attempt."
Casting off restraint, the Afrikaners
spear-head an international right-wing
movement which has targeted all CFR
members and their progeny for termination
with extreme prejudice feeling their liberty
is under U.N./CFR assault.
Here's what all liberty-loving Ameri
cans of all races can do to stop the
U.N./CFR's war on our national sovereign
ty. First, student organizations must call for
a public debate on the facts outlined in the
books "Tire Shadows of Power" by James
Perloff and "Global Tyranny ... Step by
Step" by William Jasper. Second, our politi
cal candidates must adopt a platform re
jecting the U.N./CFR. Third, let's unmask
the U.N. Constitution as a document which
clearly states all of man's rights come from
the government and are not the endow
ments of the Creator God, as the U.S. Con
stitution recognizes.
Finally, let's get the message out loud
and clear — CFR and U.N., get the hell
out of this country! We'll never worship
at the throne of your latter-day Tower of
Babel.
Anthony C. LoBaido is a College Station-based
journalist and filmmaker
^S^1994^^
Cowboys shine as
America's team
I am writing in response to the opinion
of one Battalion writer that the cowboys
are NOT America's Team. Personally, I
think this writer needs a large glass of re
ality juice.
We may not have the past greats, but
the names must change. Tom Landry is
one of the greatest coaches in football his
tory, but he was ultra-conservative. Jerry
Jones thought it was time for a change to
rekindle the America's Team fire. Fake
punts, fake filed goals ... the man has guts.
That is what puts an owner, coach and a
team on the map.
I offer this to the opinionated writer
who feels that the Cowboys are not Amer
ica's Team: why do the Cowboys play
nine home games during the regular sea
son? Because the Cowboys are nationally
recognized as a a great team that has an
overwhelming crowd base of Cowboy
backers. Why is it that the Cowboys are
the #1 merchandising team in the world?
They just surpassed the Raiders, who you
have to admit, get a large amount of sup
port from the gang population. The Dallas
Cowboys are indeed America's Team.
"How 'bout them Cowboys?!"
/. Forrest Orr
Class of'96
Society should not
endorse gay rights
How can gay students complain about
the Court's sodomy ruling? When you vi
olate society's code of values, you can't ex
pect sympathy. The question of gay rights
is not a simple question of rights. It is a
question of morality and health (physi
cal and societal).
It is very important to understand
that when one goes against God and/or
nature (as in sodomy and homosexuali
ty) there are certain consequences (like
higher risk of AIDS and other physical
problems). These consequences don't
just apply to one part of society; they
apply to anyone who chooses to engage
in the activity. Another major point to
understand is that sodomy, homosexu
ality, and sex out of marriage is a sin;
not by my decision but by God's. Right
and wrong are defined ultimately by
God and under no circumstances can
we change that; we can simply try to
understand it.
I am not saying I am holier than cer
tain people. However, I am certain that
what homosexuals stand for and the ac
tivities they engage in are morally and
spiritually wrong, not to mention
harmful. I am not against "sinners" — I
am an unwilling member of that group
myself. However, the difference is that
I do my best to correct my flaws and
don't just whine for acceptance.
I am against those who make excus
es and justifications for an unhealthy,
abnormal, immoral lifestyle. In fact, I
will do my part as an ethical. God-fear
ing Christian to stop the fight for rights
encouraging immorality, and I encour
age others like myself to do the same
because it is the only way that our com
munity, nation and world will improve.
John D. Brown
Class of'97