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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1994)
Tnier goes J jun Opinion Wednesday, March 23, 1994 MictJ ye. who ' alle ?aiio| ■e pari of| fore a led for J 3J ck doe; I 'aphersi:| Jacksonl s P°kesDiJ •os Angf! : | nvestijiat{ -le left,;! T durijr! s, but hi feme of J ontendtc.| sex-afej i20 mifc s fathet • at tort: I ere was: The Battalion Page 11 The Battalion Editorial Board JULI PHILLIPS, Editor in chief MICHAEL PLUMER, Managing editor KYLE BURNETT, Aggielife editoi BELINDA BLANCARTE, Night news editor DENA DIZDAR, Aggielife editor HEAIHER WINCH, Night News editor SEAN FRERKINC, Sports editor TONI GARRARD CLAY, Opinion editor WILLIAM HARRISON, Photo editc JENNIFER SMITH, City editor Journalism and the art of story selling Paying for news sets dangerous precedent for profession TUiS €do^TY DoeofT VaUJe &//££>/Q£}V aNYAtoRe/ ytxJ WcW\eN WbGLP eamee. PURGUe a CeLFiSU Gd/3£20e TUaN gray Uov\e wnu y^eje. Kiog/ TUiG g^cier/ DoeoNY VaUJe kOP/C aNYMPCe 7 Yo/J W^LFaRe AVmkecg mujlp RarUeR gray UcMe mu VtXlR KiPS TWalM g^t a lyas* ' JENNY MAGEE Columnist I'estigati action, et Feb. )- ckson aii| ion’s o irge, wk| in’s sistel :S Cottlli- iny frorj le. It hi Mario: appeait; itrict Gt cts tht| ted no: aring ti| ossessio: ter want! whicl es lasf thei: Avoid mail fraud A&M student list used in scams Texas A&M keeps a list of per sonal information on students that can end up easily in the wrong hands. Although grades cannot be released to the public, state law requires that lists of other person- al information must be made available for purchase. Students’ phone numbers and mailing ad dresses are handed out without students’ consent — usually to le gitimate businesses, but not al ways. There is nothing the University can do to protect students against phone or mail fraud under the current law. Therefore, it is up to students to be careful when reply ing to any sweepstakes, scholar ship offers or advertisements that request the student to send in p money. C c m Students may also have their a Sant' J names removed from those mail- Fing lists in a very simple process perio F at Heaton Hall. Any information was tc about a Texas A&M student can be hearir/ sealed off from the public if the student fills out one simple form. If the University is forced to make it so easy for scam artists to get our personal information, then we should take advantage of how easy it is to have that infor- ns will St muni 1 ) nee oi during d tli« ( 1. T« urenct al civil prison to 1," sail iresenn Jr. Housf ation .lissi 111 of il* raisd ily'^ mation removed from those lists. It is a bad feeling to come away from checking your mailbox without any mail. Even junk mail is sometimes more comforting than finding an empty box. But it’s a far worse feeling to fall vic tim to mail fraud. When students receive mail from scam artists, odds are good that the scam artist got the student’s address from a list purchased from A&M. Students can check out any business by calling the Better Business Bureau and seeing if any complaints have been filed against the company. They should also be sure to re port any complaints about possi ble mail fraud to consumer advo cate groups and the proper au thorities to help keep other stu dents from becoming a victim to the same scam. Without the help of the law, which requires the University to give out student information, all students must act to have their names removed from these public mailing lists in order to slam the door on possible mail fraud. Even if this means missing out on the coveted junk mail that keeps our mailboxes from being empty. T he professionals of today are setting prece dents for the professionals of tomorrow. Whether they realize it or not, the doctors, lawyers, politicians and countless other members of the many diverse professions who are working in their fields right now are the role models to which students turn for an example to emulate. Whether or not today’s professionals are wor thy to serve as role models for future generations is only one concern. The actions and choices that are made today have the potential to completely change these fields tomorrow. Recently a Houston Chronicle article reported on the debate which has ensued concerning the practice of “checkbook journalism.” Severau prominent journalists have expressed differing opinions about the acceptability of television net works paying for information. Bill O’Reilly, the anchor of “Inside Edition,” fueled the debate when he admitted that his show and other syndicated magazines do occasionally pay for information. O’Reilly defended the prac tice of checkbook journalism by blaming the in tense inter-industry competition for ratings and stories. “Big money has changed die news and infor mation industry just as it has changed professional sports,” O’Reilly said. “Few journalists like it but there is nothing we can do about it.” As a future journalist, my first instinct was to defend the industry by placing the blame on the audience. After all, its not our fault people care more about tabloid-style escapades than hard news. It is easy to blame other people and rationalize, but it is not easy to recover the lost respect that re sults from such unethical practices. Professionals have to think about the lasting effects of their ac tions. Writing a check to get an interview with Tonya Harding may have seemed like a pretty good investment during die scandal. However, these small invasions on the foundation of journal istic honesty and truth will scar the entire indus- try. Journalists like O Reilly are selling themselves and the industry short. But, luckily, riot all of to day’s journalists support the practice of paying for stories. Dan Rather, co-anchor of “CBS Evening News” and Walter Cronkite, a former CBS anchor, both have denounced the use of checkbook jour nalism. Cronkite even urged action by the Nadon- al Association of Broadcasters and the Radio-Tele vision News Directors Association. “Pressure from these groups could have impor tant impact,” Cronkite said. “A firm stand by peer groups would be likely to strengthen the hand of legitimate news organizations, notably the net works, in resisting this disturbing trend.” Cronkite realizes that the acceptabdity of pay ing for stories could destroy the integrity of the journalism industry. And he should be commend ed for having the foresight to care about how the industry is perceived. Journalists have the responsibility to inform the world of current events in an unbiased, objective manner. That duty, as is the case with every pro fessional duty, should transcend potential mone tary gain. Trends within professional fields are imitated faster than a popular movie star’s fashion prefer ences. And trends, whether good or bad, have the potential to change the field forever. Doctors used to make house visits. And a check-up used to cost two dozen eggs and a homemade apple pie, not $65. The average trial used to take two weeks not two months, and there wasn’t C-SPAN to provide complete coverage of the trial for people at home. The examples of changes in professional fields over the years are endless. Some were conscious, some were unconscious. Some were a result of changing technology, some were a result of changing attitudes. Some were good, some were bad. Change may be necessary, but certain types of change are not. Every major decision and new practice must be monitored. Too much is at stake. There are too many students diligendy studying in universities for the present professionals to ruin the fields with bad or inappropriate choices. The impact of professionals is greater than their small circle of colleagues. Journalists affect their audiences; doctors affect their patients; lawyers af fect their clients; and so on. These positions of au thority demand ethical behavior, sensitivity and the utmost integrity. And when a member or several members of a profession step out of line, it is the duty of their colleagues to intervene and challenge their actions. We shouldn’t shape the future of our profes sions with the "carefreeness” of a child playing with Play-Doh, but with the scrutiny and precision of a sculptor working on a masterpiece. Jenny Mugee is a sophomore English and journalism major 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 phone 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 Halls of education sow seeds of students’ political apathy FRANK STANFORD Columnist H ow many or you out there know any thing about the Texas candidates run- ning for governor or senator? Did you know when the primaries were, or even what the primaries do? Did you vote? Do you care? There’s really nothing so embarrassing about shirking die answers to these questions — the«e days anyway — because political ap athy is sort of an “in ’ thing. What is scary, red b however, is how much of our country is con trolled by the very individuals we ignore. Al though aemocracy is synonymous with polit ical freedom the world over and America is a visible symbol of liberty, Americans, the teepers of liberty, are woefully indifferent re garding their own elections and policies. Why? Do we really not care, or do we just think it doesn’t matter? It seems as though we just don’t care — but even if someone thinks they couldn’t care less about politics, I would wager that a 50 percent tax rate on everybody’s paycheck would change some minds. Ignorance. Maybe people don’t know what makes Amer ica tick politically. If they did, surely they would vote. This would be a good excuse. Nope. Not for us, anyway. By this point in our academic careers, we all hopefully are well aware of our government’s basic work ings, the importance of voting, and other po litical responsibilities. In addition, as college students we represent part of the educated elite, and are supposedly more principled re garding such responsibilities than the average citizen. So, in order to discover why someone would be so apathetic about politics — someone who had no excuse — I asked somebody who fit that description (and then some). Me. Even growing up with a politically con cerned family, I developed a cynical, uninter ested attitude towards policy and politicians as I approached the voting age. On the occa sion that I did vote, a straight Republican ticket was always an easy choice and required litde thought. Ronald Reagan was the only fa miliar name, and quite frankly, I couldn’t get excited about choosing some railroad com missioner. I thought I just didn’t care who held such offices. I came up with a very unscientific theory of political apathy based on conjecture, em pirical evidence and my own jaded perspec tive. My theory states that there are two main reasons why manv Americans (college stu dents primarily) don’t seem to care about elections and such. School. We learn apathy for politics as ear ly as junior high, and certainly through col lege. I’m not referring to the academic type oiTeaming in eighth grade government class. We learned apathy without beiiog aware of it. In high school if you or a close friend weren’t running for a student government position, did you really give a damn who won? Was die electee going to change the school any? Three hour lunch shifts maybe? Recess for I 2th graders? Of course not. The position just Every spring campus is loaded with campaign signs: “Whoop! I’m Bob/Betty (photo attached) and I’d like to be your Secretary of Sidewalk Maintenance!” needed to be filled. I really don’t think colleges are much dif ferent. Every spring the A&M campus is loaded with campaign signs of every design possible, from giant “Gig ‘Ems” to Reveille cut-outs, all brighdy painted. Aldiough I rather enjoy these signs for their artistic mer its, they all say the same things: “Whoop! I’m Bob/Betty (photo attached) and I’d like to be your Class Secretary of Sidewalk Mainte nance!” Can you or anyone you know actually name the occupants of all these "important” student government positions? How many Aggies know who the class president is, or are sweating over whether that person is up diere making those gut wrenching decisions which will affect us all? I would guess that it’s an appalling few. We have simply learned that things will go on as usual regardless of who’s in office. It just doesn’t matter. The second major factor for political apa thy moves beyond college and concludes that a sickeningly enormous percentage of elected officials are unscrupulous at best. It seems like every day the media reports some new gov ernment scandal. Mistresses, bad checks, kick- backs, lying, harassment — the list is endless. You’ve got to wonder why candidates will spend millions of their own dollars — not to mention ours — to get elected. It just can’t be because they’re so in love with the con stituents and waiit to help them. My guess is that getting elected has much more to do with power, personal achievement, prestige and business connections than true concern for the public. There’s just nothing we can do to change this aspect of human nature. I figure we’re more or less going the way of the Roman Empire anyway. Frank Stanford is a graduate philosophy student Liberal’ label not for 11 Aggie Democrats I have chosen to allocate my time to rite this letter in order to address a point which I feel deserves clarification. This par ticular topic is the description of the Demo- patic party as “liberal,” a word which leems synonymous with Satan in these parts. I am a member of the Aggie Democrats, the chapter of the College Democrats (yes, we do exist) here on the Texas A&M cam pus. Conuary to popular belief, most of die lembers of the Aggie Democrats do not fit Jhe description of a liberal. We have mem- fpers who favor strong use of the death Aenalty, minimizing federal government spending, a strong military, die ending of the welfare system as we know it and so forth. Also, believe it or not, we have members who oppose President Clinton’s health care plan. Sounds pretty “conservative” doesn’t it Ags? We members of the Aggie Democ rats tend not to think of ourselves as “liber al” or “conservative” Democrats, but rather as rational Americans. The common thread that unites the Ag gie Democrats is that we have an open mind when dealing with issues concerning the United States. The purpose of the Aggie De mocrats is to provide an organization for those students who wish to participate in the political process in an objective manner, by analyzing the costs and benefits of ac tions by local, state and die federal govern ment. We feel that a straight-party vote is a wasted vote, that people should be more objective when voting. While the Aggie Democrats are attempt ing to deal with current issues that are im portant in a rational manner, the chapter of the College Republicans on this campus seems content to call people names, and at tempt rather pathetic attacks on political fig ures. The purpose of the student organizations on this campus is to provide students with an “other education.” Education is objective in its manner and content, without regard to whatever views are said to be “popular.” I believe that the Aggie Democrats are doing their part in providing an objective “other education” to the students here at Texas A&M University. I suppose the College Re publicans will continue to provide the stu dent body with the subjective view of the workings of the local, state and federal gov ernments. Well Ags, if to be “liberal” means to view issues in a rational manner, then the Aggie Democrats can be described by such term. I invite those members of the student body who think of themselves as “indepen dent” to come to an Aggie Democrats meet ing and see what we are about. Trust me, we aren’t as “evil” as we have been por trayed to be. Matt M. Murphy Class of ‘96 Tenure column much needed, well-reasoned I want to commend and thank Prof. Den nis A. Berthold for his extremely well-writ ten and reasoned article on tenure in The Battalion. Such a scholarly presentation of what tenure is, how it came about, and what it is intended to accomplish is particu larly needed in the current time and envi ronment at Texas A&M University. I appre ciate the efforts and intent! Robert A. Kennedy Vice President for Research and Associate Provost for Graduate Studies Students find little wisdom in words Pearls of Wisdom? Barbara Bush’s discus sion on the “changing roles of the First Lady” was patheticaBy lacking substance. In fact, the former First Lady failed to discuss any role change whatsoever. Rather, she dwelled on the wonderful world of tradi tional family values, going as far as to offer a personal analysis of the happiness of the Clinton marriage and the mothering abili ties of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mrs. Bush offered her view of the first lady’s responsi bilities as that of a supporter and spokesper son of the president’s thoughts, regardless of her personal or perhaps even conflicting opinions. Come on Barbara — stop perpet uating the myth that an educated, career oriented woman is a poor mother and wife because she can think for herself. When questioned about her choice of lit eracy as her personal philanthropy, Mrs. Bush responded by saying that when George began seeking higher office in 1978, she realized she needed to become involved in a cause. Unfortunately, Barbara did not understand just how callous her remark sounded to the attentive ear. American family values place an importance on helping others. Was Mrs. Bush’s motivation to free America from illiteracy truly noble or mere ly another campaign vehicle to get her hus band elected? Barbara, your Pearls of Wis dom seemed as “faux” as the pearls around your neck! Katherine McCalmon Class of ‘95 Kingsley Ross Class of '95 ill!