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Opinion
Wednesday, February 23,1994
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
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EDITORIAL
No more excuses
Victims can still break the law
cingatmt
bly g ue5i
no expert
; a really
ut when
In the "Dragnet" days of law
enforcement, people were told
to stick to the facts. But things
have changed in our legal sys
tem.
We are supposed to feel sor
ry for criminals when they say
they have been victims of
abuse. But the consequences of
a criminal act should not be
discarded because the offender
has had a hard life, a bad rela
tionship or a
crummy child
hood.
If the prosecu
tion can show
motive and
means and prove
beyond a reason
able doubt that
the accused is guilty, then the
case should be clttsed and the
criminal behind bars. But re
cent history has shown that
while confessions can be help
ful in determining actual
events, they are not as helpful
in convicting the guilty.
The Menendez brothers and
Lorena Bobbitt are two exam
ples of these misguided ideas
about justice. When two broth
ers brutally murder their very
rich parents without being in
volved in a physical conflict
and then later confess to it, the
case should be a no-brainer for
jurors. Whether John Bobbitt
was a bad husband does not
have anything to do with the
fact that his wife cut off his pe
nis.
Society as a whole is show
ing an alarming tendency to
ward dismissing unacceptable
behavior as "understandable."
Something has to be done.
Criminals
\ should not be
allowed to con
tinue manipu
lating juries of
their peers into
believing they
are victims of
the crime they
committed.
When a criminal has a histo
ry of abuse, it is as unfortunate
for that person as it is for any
human being. And while an
abusive history can and should
be used to shed light on the mo
tivation of the criminal, it
should not be used as an excuse.
There are more constructive
ways to deal with abuse than to
resort to a criminal act. Our le
gal system needs to return to
the basics. It must learn to stick
to the facts.
Lewd behavior not confined to students
Some university employees engage in verbal harassment
I
'anet wanted to
take a break from
studying. Research
Park seemed to be
the perfect place to go
on a warm spring af
ternoon. Almost every
student at A&M has
gone there to sun
bathe and watch peo-
g le play catch, throw
is bees or walk dogs.
She figured she would
catch a little sun and
read up on some
school work in the
comfort of a school
park.
She found a spot a short distance from
the road where she spread her towel out on
the grass and put on some tanning lotion.
Then she heard a loud rough voice say, "Oh
baby!”
Startled by the comment, Janet turned to
see two men dressed in university uniforms
. inside a Texas A&M pickup sitting there and
staring at her.
"Take it all off!" shouted one of them.
She watched as the men drove away. Her
much needed break from school was spoiled
by a couple of men whose salary she helps
pay.
Jennifer has similar experiences to re
count. As a student-employee at the Univer
sity Center last year, she received derogato
ry remarks from workers on her way to
work.
"I get it everywhere I go on campus.
Everyday I went to work [last year] the
workers would stare at me and call me
'huerra' and say a lot of stuff in Spanish.
They thought I didn't know what they were
saying/' said Jennifer, who speaks Spanish.
"But I just turned it off as soon as I heard
them start."
"Huerra" in Spanish means "blonde" or
" white-skinned girl" which is used by men
of Hispanic origin to denote sexual interest
in a woman. Basically, it is a come-on line.
Another female student, who asked not to
be identified, said she too has received this
sort of harassment by University employees.
Yet another says she has been followed
by men in university trucks. Once the men
pulled up beside her and one said, "Now
that's a healthy girl, a damn healthy girl."
That Janet, Jennifer and others have to lis
ten to such a lewd comments is simply not
acceptable under any circumstances. Sexual
harassment is a crime no matter who en
gages in, whether the offender is a young
handsome college student or an unattractive
old man makes no difference. Harassment
can happen at a bar, a swimming pool, a
Sunday social, anywhere. But the fact that
these comments came from University em
ployees on school grounds is uncon
scionable.
The harassment is said to come from a va
riety of sources, including men in the little
Daihatsus seen so frequently around cam
pus. A couple of the women said that there
are certain places on campus where the ha
rassment occurs more often.
"Try going out to the little road behind
the [northside] parking garage and watch
the guys that sit out there. That's where a lot
of that sort of stuff goes on," Janet said.
University employees have the right to
be their own persons. However, there is a
certain code of conduct that any employee
should follow on company time. For exam
ple, if you had a business and someone who
worked for you whistled at clients, how long
would it be before that employee was sent
packing? The fact that it would hurt your
business financially is only half of the prob
lem. If your employee offended someone
while on the job, that action would reflect
poorly on you, the employer.
The same scenario applies here. These
women axe students at this institution. They
and their parents pay a lot of money to this
school for an education, and the last thing
they should have to deal with is sexual ha
rassment from school employees. This sort
of behavior is not only offensive to women
but it is bad for the University's image —
and A&M's reputation doesn't need any
more tarnishing.
So what can women do who experience
such abuse? First, they should try to get the
vehicle number or the offending person's
name. Then call Janet Winniford's office at
Student Services. Inform them of the inci
dent even if you don't have identification.
They might be able to draw out information
from your memory. Just let someone know
that sexual harassment is happening. Your
actions may keep others from being subject
ed to this unwanted garbage.
Sexual harassment is a crime — just be
cause it is not violent doesn't mean a person
is not violated when it occurs.
Roy L. Clay is a senior history major
H—
Proven/
pip y^u
To TA I'cE.
inn H
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,
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The Battalion encourages
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Contact the opinion editor for
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columns.
Address letters to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
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Mail stop 1111
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Fax: (409) 845-2647
Eye can see clearly now, the pain is gone ... no thanks to Doc
F I there is no - ine bombs and machinery during the tial to the good oT alphabet eve charts. mv eves as wide as possible. Then with- room.
here is no
faint smell of
alcohol, no
contagious sick
)t ski
sume
led is
person coughing in
■ your direction or
old issues of Peo
ple magazine with
the second page of
— 1 the feature story
: missing. But don't
| be fooled by the
flashy displays of
^eyeglasses decorat-
CLUB |fing the walls like
I ornaments. This is
1-a doctor's office
| just the same.
£ Optometrists are a funny hybrid of the
Hmedical variety — they are not real doc-
-CTEfl! t° rs ' but they are not real people either.
SOI® With every trip that I make to my op-
| tometrist, I am more amazed at the tech
nological advancement made in optical
..^equipment. I am beginning to think that
) Y0UKI, a ij p e0 pi e w ho were employed mak-
AVWtf
JENNY
MAGEE
Columnist
ing bombs and machinery during the
Cold War are now creating torture de
vices for the optometrists of the world.
Dr. Rudgee (the name has been
changed to protect the guilty) walks out
into the lobby with a postcard-sized grin
and motions me into the chamber ... I
mean, examining room. The walls are
covered with various eye parts magnified
to outrageous proportions. The only evi
dence of semi-humanness is a picture of
Dr. Rudgee, with the same postcard-sized
grin, holding a chain with six dead fish
hanging from it. This brings to mind an
image of my grandfather sticking hooks
through minnows' eyes when he baits my
line.
Suddenly, the room is getting smaller.
It is closing in on me like a dilating pupil.
It is dark now, but I can see two shield-
like flaps moving toward my face.
The cold metal catches the end of my
nose, just as Dr. Rudgee gives me a small
control panel with video game-like but
tons to push every time I see a red flash of
light. Old fashioned or not, I am still par
tial to the good oT alphabet eye charts.
The first time this same man decided that
I needed glasses, all he did was ask me to
read a bunch of letters off of a chart.
When I couldn't get past the big E, he de
termined, with all the scientific exactness
of this highly technical procedure, that I
couldn't see past the end of my nose.
After I finishing the video game. Dr.
At the first machine, I'm
told to open my eyes as
wide as possible. Then
without any warning, a
quick, hard burst of air is
shot into my eye ball.
Rudgee takes me into the new edition of
the examining room. In this separate
room, machines of all different shapes
and sizes are lined up like an obstacle
course.
At the first machine, I am told to open
my eyes as wide as possible. Then with
out the least bit of a warning, a quick,
hard burst of air is shot into my eye ball.
This of course makes my eyes produce 10
minutes worth of uncontrollable tears.
After I finally manage to compose my
self, I am lead through more machines,
where I have to pick between clear and
unclear images. My head is beginning to
ache; the room is beginning to spin, and I
can still see that damn red flashing light
from the video game.
Dr. Rudgee puts two squirts of some
sort of stinging liquid into each of my
eyes. I am told to blink rapidly for a cou
ple of seconds — he wants to make cer
tain that my entire eyeball gets to feel an
equal amount of pain. Then It happens. I
am lead to the monster of optical torture
devices — the camera.
Dr. Rudgee prides himself on the fact
that he has a photo of every left and right
eye of each of his patients for every visit
they ever have made to his office. I am
certain that Dr. Rudgee has piles of photo
albums stored somewhere in a back
room.
As I sit in front of the large machine,
my body begins to shake. Finally, Dr.
Rudgee finishes messing with the numer
ous buttons on the side of the large metal
contraption.
Click. Suddenly the world is a giant
yellow ball. I stumble back into the main
examining room. Dr. Rudgee is standing
in the doorway, taking a last look at the
machines like a child in front of a Christ
mas tree.
"Well, everything seems to be just fine,
Jennifer," he says. "You're contacts are
retarding your nearsighted condition just
fine."
Somehow the fact that my condition is
being "retarded" doesn't sound like such
a great thing to me. As I hobble out of the
office into the much too bright sunshine, I
realize that I can't focus enough to drive
home.
Jenny Magee is a sophomore English and
journalism major
pril-
hod
Alpha Phi Alpha
benefits community
I am writing to express my opinion
over the recent controversy about Al
pha Phi Alpha Fraternity and their
guest speaker, Quanell X. I am not
qualified to give opinions on the
speaker as I was not present at the oc
casion in question, but I would like to
say something which I feel has been
overlooked.
I have attended some of the other
activities which they have prepared
and sponsored, including some of the
presentations at their "Go-To-High-
School, Go-To-College" 1993, their cel
ebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
and their Miss Black and Gold pageant.
Though I am neither male nor
African-American, I enjoyed each of
these events tremendously. Each was
well-organized and professionally
done. Though it was important to me
that I felt welcomed and included in
these events, more importantly I
learned something not just about race
relations but about life as a whole.
I am writing to encourage people to
attend such programs. I wish that I
could have heard Quanell X speak — I
would not have agreed with what I feel
were prejudiced statements, but my be
liefs would have been challenged, and
I would have learned something more
about myself and the world in which I
live.
Finally, I would like to encourage
people not to condemn Alpha Phi Al
pha Fraternity as an organization. They
do many things to benefit the commu
nity and to encourage personal respon
sibility and commitment to improving
not only oneself or African-Americans
but ultimately the whole society in
which one lives.
Personally, I would like to thank
them for their contributions to Texas
A&M.
Christi Sahl
Class of '95
On youth violence
and the seventies
In response to Friday's pro-con. I'd
like to say to Robert Vasquez: if you
are old enough to do the crime, you are
old enough to do the time — even if it
is the death penalty.
The juvenile justice system was set
up when youth violence was uncom
mon. Today we are dealing with mur
derers and rapists, not just the kids
who take cars for joy rides or throw
eggs at houses.
One of your arguments is that juve
niles can't vote or they can't drive cars
when they're under 16 years old, and
therefore they shouldn't be treated as
adults.
If you let a juvenile off with a slap
on the wrist instead of punishing him
or her as an adult, that juvenile now
thinks there is no punishment and will
commit more crimes later. Criminals
of all ages need to be dealt with harsh
ly to discourage repeat offenses, since
they will also be dealt with harshly.
If a youth is convicted of a capital
crime, that youth should be sentenced
to death or life in prison just like an
adult. They are old enough to know
right from wrong.
And in response to Dena Dizdar's
column on the '70s: We need a good
dose of the '70s? A good dose of bad
music, bad fashion and bad interior
decorating? A good dose of the highest
inflation rates in the last 40 years? A
good dose of mile-long gas lines and
oil shortages? A good dose of higher
unemployment than we have now?
No. Thanks, I'm doing better in the
'90s.
David R. Webb
Class of '93