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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1994)
I Vi! 13, l|| Opinion IPPKj Wednesday, April 13, 1994 The Battalion Page 7 Hit BiWalim S du rim 3osition is confidem ^equentl) jacksoo »n when I it day." lards he is s that his ability to t 4 inches that if he at an op- lainst 30(11 y have to "Playinj j ‘ the (of ! : that his at defen- continue effective- around. •ong sea- itay low- The Battalion Editorial Board \ JULI PHILLIPS, Editor in chief | 1ICHAEL PLUMER, Managing editor KYLE BURNETT, Aggielife editor 3EUNDA BLANCARTE, Night news editor DENA DIZDAR, Aggielife editor HEATHER WINCH, Night News editor SEAN FRERKING, Sports editor frONI GARRARD CLAY, Opinion editor WILLIAM HARRISON, Photo editor JENNIFER SMITH, City editor Urgent words recall horrors of past Holocaust survivor leaves message for future generations TU£ MEDIA EXPLAINS UeALTU CAGE TUE CUNTON TUE COOPER PLANT The train qussdcn seems to be, what Is it going to PLAN 1 Moynihan on board? / Critics call it 'unrealistic! / fteving wen the symbolic power of the 'centrist' label, the plan Is new gathering political momentum- y Birr wuat DO TUE FLANS CO? Many remain confused over what the plans actually offer The big questav Ucw will that confusion affect Repub lican media strategy? ■hsii iClass evaluations Students should see results ind third, key Fere; Buchmtii by throw it off the : to Buch- 1 ggi es ex attempt. • tM pi* *} Buchman L a'throw ome bad oing, and er that.” I With registration comes the Stress and fear of signing up for (a class taught by a professor |ou would rather avoid like the plague. By the time you find put the prof doesn’t relate well to students or just reads straight From the book, it’s too late to llework your schedule.- T Students should demand to know more about the profes sors who will be teaching em, and teacher evaluations (could be just the tool students need to find pertinent informa tion about their future profes sors, The Texas A&M system, ihowever, will not allow it. The evaluations we fill out at the end of every semester go directly to the department and then to the teacher some time during the next semester. Stu dents are never given a chance to see their peers’ evaluations of a course. The only information the A&M system allows a student to obtain on a professor is past grade distributions. Once found in the YMCA Building, this in formation can now be found at Henderson Hall. Grade distribution is an im portant criterion for many stu dents when choosing a profes sor, but it certainly is not the most responsible and accurate indication of a teacher’s capa bilities. Students should be able to find out about the in structor’s teaching philosophy, amount of class discussion and lecture quality. By reading other students’ evaluations, or even a summary of them, registering students can have a better idea of what exactly they are getting into. Students should know not only what kind of grade they’re likely to receive, but also they need to try to find out how much they will learn in their classes. Releasing past evaluations to students would be a great way to meet this need. I was 14 years old when the Nazis marched into my village. It was 1939 when the Nazis came to Kenyen, Poland,” Mike Jacobs said. “The first thing the soldiers did was throw the prayer books and scrolls out of the synagogue into the streets. They closed the synagogue and it was made into a horse stable.” His Polish accent was heavy, making the words that much more urgent. He is now an old man who remembers vividly those hor rors of 50 years past; yet the faces of his dead family have faded from his mind. “I went to the big square to watch a con cert one evening. When I got there, the Nazis had taken two hostages, one Jew and one non- Jew. They were put up to a wall and shot.” It was the first time he saw someone mur dered. It wouldn’t be the last. “I remember going into the buildings and hearing the babies crying and wondering why the mothers were leaving them behind. Sgt. Holtz [a German soldier] told us to take the babies to the large building. I can still feel the warmth of the babies in my arms. I can still feel the crying,” Jacobs said as he held out his arms as if carrying a baby. “I was happy because I thought that these babies were going to live, that they would be taken to Germany to grow up and never know their parents or what happened to them.” Jacobs and other boys took the infants into a room. Soon after, he saw a soldier standing in a window throwing out dolls as soldiers on the ground shot at them like clay pigeons. “But I realized that it wasn’t dolls they were shooting out of the air. It was the ba bies. Every shot and silenced scream marked ROY L. CLAY Columnist the shot of an expert marksman.” Later they found a young child crying on a corner. As Holtz reached for his pistol, Ja cobs said he stood in front of the child and begged Holtz not to do it. The soldier told him if he didn’t get out of the way then he would suffer the same fate, but it didn’t mat ter to him. He had to do something to stop it. But his effort was in vain. “Holtz fired six rounds into the little child, but the child did not die. So, he picked the baby up by the foot and dashed its head against the wall,” Jacobs said. After the cold, starvation and torture of the Polish ghettos, the Jews were separated and sent to other ghettos or concentration camps that littered Europe. Most of Jacobs’ family were taken to the hell known as Tre- blinka, where they were exterminated. Jacobs ultimately arrived at Auschwitz- Birkenau. He remembers thinking how won derful this new place was. It had a huge bak ery that burned all night. He told his com panions that if the Nazis asked, he would tell them that he was a baker. The camp also had its own doctor who wore a spotless white medical coat and inspected, the ranks of new arrivals as they stepped off the train. He later found out that the clean white coat belonged to Dr. Josef Mengele, the ’’An gel of Death,” who selected those sent to “special treatment.” The “bakery” was a cre matorium that processed the bodies of men, women and children after they choked for 30 minutes in the gas chambers and died. But there was a purpose to the killing at Auschwitz. People’s bones could be made into fertilizer. Their hair, shaved off before entering the chamber, was made into rugs and mattress stuffing. Human fat was made into soap. Jacobs survived Auschwitz. He lived through the fate that took the lives of his en tire family. Why does he speak of these terri ble accounts of human degradation and evil? Because we have to remember. There are people who would have the world believe that the Holocaust never happened, that six million Jews and five million non-Jews sim ply vanished into thin air, and in 30 years there will be no living witnesses to refute their claims or tell of the atrocities of Nazi Third Reich. “Your children and your grandchildren won’t have the opportunity to listen to a Holocaust survivor,” Jacobs said. “You will have to teach them. You have to say, ‘This is what one person can do to another if you don’t speak out.’” It is our duty to humanity to remember and to teach. If we don’t, the same thing may happen again — and that would be an unfor givable sin. Roy L. Clay is a senior history major MASSACRE iN MOSSCIE,,, 006 ATTACK 0V HAMAS LaJhatS wrong with this Picture?^ 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 State budget ranks criminals over law-abiding citizens kend! ;t r | Ahe Texas prison system is eating the I state’s budget for lunch. If some- X. thing isn’t done to alleviate the prob- em of paying to house, feed and entertain a monstrous number of prisoners, the meal will be over before the law-abiding citizens :an get to the table. One could argue that things like the state’s education, welfare and even trans portation systems should come first in line tor budgetary allowances. However, in the wake of the success of the 1992 Ruiz prison-reform lawsuit, the prison reform movement has mushroomed from a cry igainst prison overcrowding to a growing list of grunts and moans about being de prived of cable television and being served 'inedible” food. And the state, crippled by its fear of the growing number of prison rights lawsuits, has placed itself in a head- lock trying to provide “the lawful caliber of facilities” to too many prisoners and no way to pay for them. i To begin with, the idea that prisoners have rights is an oxymoron. When people commit crimes, they relinquish their rights L in the moment that they violate the law. Tes, we live in America, where everyone JENNY MAGEE Columnist has rights, but shouldn’t we at least spend our money on programs that benefit the citizens wno obey the law, instead of those who break it? Why should law-abiding cit izens, especially the state’s children, handi capped and elderly stand in line behind E risoners on the state’s financial priority st? What kind of message are we sending to the people of this state anyway? It would be interesting if the state had to explain its prison funding decisions to a child. Perhaps the explanation would go something like this: ‘ We’re sorry, sweet heart. We know your school needs better equipment and your teacher should have a better salary. We are going to spend your mommy and daddy’s tax dollars to buy comfortable beds and television sets for all the thieves, murders and rapists. We hope you don’t mind.” And if this child was particularly naive, maybe legislators and bureaucrats could ap pease him with the promise that the thieves, murders and rapists would now be safely off the streets for a good six months. However, if the state tried to explain to this same child some of the findings from a year-long audit of the Texas Department of CriminaTjustice by Comptroller John Sharp, they might become a little more tongue- tiea. According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, Sharp’s report made 224 recom mendations to alter the current wasteful practices that could save taxpayers $740 million dollars during the next five years. Some of the problems cited in Sharp’s report are as follows (let’s see how the state explains these to a child): • An average of one prisoner every two months is paroled accidentally because of faulty record keeping. “Hey kid, change that promise of keep ing criminals off the streets for six months to two months.” • 43 percent of inmates released are back behind bars within three years. “Hey kid , if you never go back out on the streets again, you might be safe.” To begin with, the idea that prisoners have rights is an oxymoron. When people commit crimes, they relinquish their rights in the moment that they violate the law. • The prison system pays $ 3 a gallon for gas sold at its own gas pumps. Some prison units have more cars available than employ ees to drive them. “Hey kid, maybe if we had had better schools 40 years ago, we would have learned math better.” • Senior managers live in free housing maintained by white-coated inmate ser vants who cook, clean and baby sit. “Hey kid, you know the prisoners aren’t the only ones who have rights.” • In some central shower areas, all 30 to 60 shower heads are turned on simultane ously even if only one inmate is showering. “Hey kid, well, uh,.. uh...” • More than $3 million in inventory is missing. “Hey kid, listen. If you don’t tell any body about all this, maybe we could take you to a baseball game, okay?” First of all, we question die importance that the state places on housing criminals. Next, we should question the fact that the agency in charge of these criminals, which employs 28,000 people and receives $4 bil lion in state funds during the next two years, is not far from being criminal itself. And, while we’re at it, we might as well get to the root of the problem and question the whole Texas prison system itself! For a state that has more criminaJs than many small countries, we can logically deduce that we are putting far too many people in prison, and once we get them there, we treat them far too well. Jenny Magee is a sophomore English and journalism major 51 tth ts. Equality, education Women’s Week goals • The first Women’s Week (March 27 through April 1) was an unqualified suc cess, and the planning committee thanks all those who helped organize events, provid ed financial or moral support, or took part in this historic week. We’re grateful for the strong support from the University admin istration, the Faculty Senate, community organizations, and local and state officials. This support was especially evidenced by the diversity of the groups who partici pated in the week’s events. We were par ticularly honored that Gov. Ann Richards officially proclaimed Texas A&M’s wom en’s week, noting that “Texas women have left an indelible imprint on ... politics, re ligion, education, business, sports, and civic involvement. Our goal for this first ever women’s week was to celebrate women’s accom plishments, not to emphasize gender dif ferences. There was no intent to isolate ourselves; rather we sought to strengthen our connection based on shared interests, information and ideas, enjoy our success es, and look ahead to future challenges. It was good to see a number of men at our events, and we are particularly grateful for the assistance and encouragement we re ceived from President E. Dean Gage. As we plan Women’s Week 1995, we hope that at some point we’ll be “out of business.” Gender, racial and ethnic equali ty is a goal sought by all of us at Texas A&M — women and men, students and faculty, professional and support staff. But it’s go ing to take us a while to get there. In the meantime, we beheve celebrating women’s accomplishments encourages women to greater achievements, educates everyone about women’s contributions to the institu tion, and builds relationships that advance the cause of equality. Gail Brooks Chair, Campus Climate Task Force, Status of Women Subcommittee Texas A&M Faculty Senate • In response to Aaron Tutde and James Staley’s letters to The Battalion, we would like to educate the public about the pur pose of Texas A&M’s Women’s Week and the platform of the National Organization for Women (NOW). First of all, women have always been suppressed. We are a minority, if not by members, then by lack of equality. For ex ample, if you have taken at least one history class you would know that women were denied the right to vote until the early part of this century while white males took this privilege for granted. Second, the purpose of Women’s Week at Texas A&M University was to educate females and males about wom en’s issues that are not addressed or rec ognized as often as they should be. To receive a broader understanding of a topic, you must educate yourself on its full spectrum. Finally, to redefine the misconcep tions written in the letters, the purpose of NOW is to take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all the privileges and respon sibilities thereof in truly equal partner ship with men. Our main objective is not to redefine the act of sex, nor to conquer men. Just equality. In the past there was no civil rights movement to speak for women as there has been for African-Americans and other victims of discrimination. NOW serves this purpose and is dedicated to the proposition that women are human beings, who, like all other people in our society, must have the chance to develop their fullest human potential. We be lieve that women can achieve such equality only by accepting to the full the challenges and responsibilities they share with all other people in our soci ety, as part of the decision-making mainstream of American political, eco nomic and social life. Paula Fedirchuk Graduate Student Shari Hunt Vice President, Texas A&M NOW Class of ‘93