iy • July 6,1994
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Foxboro, July 5
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Washington, July 2
J Switzerland
J Mexico
E. Rutherford, July 5
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J Germany
Chicago, July 2
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Wednesday • July 6, 1994
The Battalion
Editorial Board
Mark Evans, Editor in chief
William Harrison, Managing editor
Jay Robbins, Opinion editor
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.
Contact the opinion editor for information
on submitting guest columns.
Needle exchanges
IPrograms for drug users switch death for life
Programs that provide clean nee-
iles to drug addicts are proving suc-
tessful in several communities across
the United States in stopping the
spread of HIV and AIDS. Unfortunate
ly, similar programs have not been im
plemented in Texas because of mis
placed public fears that free syringes
might somehow encourage drug use.
Strong evidence suggests that these
ji'ears are unfounded and a needle ex
change program would be successful.
In New Haven, Conn., drug addicts
tan exchange dirty syringes for clean
ones courtesy of the city’s health de
partment. Outreach workers also hand
out food, clothes, condoms and infor
mation about needle disposal.
Since the program was started in
1990, AIDS cases have declined by 33
percent in New Haven. They have also
referred 20 percent of their clients to
drug treatment programs.
Initially, opponents of the program
Oftentimes it s not ‘only a game 5
Sports zealots lose sight of recreation, entertainment in competitions
FRANK
STANFORD
Columnist
were more concerned about the effect
of the program on drug abuse rates
than on the spread of HIV. In most
parts of the country, in fact, needle ex
change programs are too often dis
missed because of the perception that
they promote drug use.
This perception is false and is pre
venting the implementation of such
programs where they might be very
helping in slowing the spread of HIV.
In San Francisco, Calif., education and
drug treatment plans coupled with
needle exchange programs have
proven quite effective in reducing both
HIV infection rates and the number of
intravenous drug users.
The people whom these needle ex
change programs serve are going to use
drugs whether they have clean needles
or not. We should not be content with
allowing these addicts to kill themselves
when their deaths might be prevented
with a cheap disposable syringe.
T his week has been a particularly
fun and exciting for most
countries of the globe. The World
Cup Soccer tournament has been
providing good, clean entertainment -
not to mention national cohesiveness -
for many countries who are otherwise
out of the limelight regarding world
sports events. It’s a big chance for these
countries to feel like real contenders in
a major world event, and is taken
almost as seriously as a war. But competitive sports are
kind of a war anyway.
Most Americans, including me, don’t give a flying
doughnut about this game the rest of the world calls
“football.” However, when I turn on the TV and see footage
of ethnic Americans hanging out in sports bars to cheer on
the motherland’s team, I understand just how serious some
people get over the outcome of a game. Many of these
contests are treated as mock battles.
In the 1980s the US Olympic Hockey Team finally beat
the Soviet Union. There was no doubt that the game
represented a true battle between the two “nuclear
nervous” nations. A loss to “the West” was a far greater
blow for “the Russkies” than if they’d lost to Finland or
Greenland. Likewise, important games mean much more to
the public if a centuries-old mortal enemy is the opponent.
Ireland is far more interested in beating England than
anyone else. The Israelis versus the Syrians or the Greeks
against the Turks would create
exciting matches. Soccer could be a
great method for settling national
disputes. War without violence.
Unfortunately, “football” and
violence seem to go hand in hand for
many countries. Violent,
over-zealous British soccer fans
known as “hooligans” have been
responsible for a number of deaths
over the years and countless injuries.
Much to the world’s dismay, a
Colombian player was recently shot
to death upon return to his homeland
after he kicked a black and white ball the wrong way.
Except for the minuscule link to the team by virtue of
living in the same country, fans have no part in these
games whatsoever. In fact, the teams would enjoy playing
each other whether or not the fans showed up.
Many players would even play for free. Unlike the fans,
players have a life on the field and off, and have usually
learned to distinguish between the two. So why must fans
get so out of control over a game? Where did they learn to
take what is supposed to be recreation and blow it out of
proportion?
Well, speaking as an American male who’s been exposed
to and subjected to high-powered sports zealots, I’m not
surprised by many fans’ behavior or attitudes at all.
Just look around you. Right here on our academic
campus football rules the world. The stadium is one of the
most prominent buildings we have. The
athletic dorms and training centers are
far more elaborate than necessary, and
if that’s not enough we’re spending
millions to build more sports facilities
across the tracks. The library is still
the same, however, and many classes
are still overcrowded.
In addition to suffering from such
skewed budget priorities, many
universities fall victim to themselves
by violating NCAA laws pertaining to illegal recruiting and
compensation. Coaches are paid enormous salaries and are
the darlings of the school until they lose a few games, then
it’s “see ya later coach.” But we are all to blame; our fervor
over football creates these problems. The only marginally
innocent people are the players, who are pimped by
universities and alumni all over America.
But it didn’t start in universities. It didn’t even start in
high schools like Permian High in Odessa or Judson High
in Converse, where football IS the king of the community.
It’s parents — usually fathers who instill in their sons that
winning is everything, to lose is to die ... even in Little
League.
Although my parents taught me, “It’s a game, just have
fun,” I knew many peers who learned differently. I’ve seen
8-year-olds cursed and even spanked for dropping a
fly-ball or fumbling on the 10-yard line. Oftentimes praise
pales in intensity to punishment because perfection and
winning are expected. At this
point the child learns that
winning his game is the only
accepted way to play and
eventually attaches that
sentiment to teams he’s not
playing on. Screaming at the
TV and domestic violence rise
significantly during football
season.
Most of you either know, or
feel effects of these attitudes, or
you may even agree with them.
But there are only two
outcomes to this way of thinking: A champion athlete who
has never had to learn how to lose at anything, or the
capable contender in life who is afraid to play for fear of
defeat. We occasionally hear of rich, powerful and
sometimes famous “winners” who find it very difficult to
cope when they “lose” at some aspect of their lives. A
number of successful celebrities have fallen victim to this
syndrome and have perished in popularity and even life as
a result. On the other hand, students who have made a few
‘C’s in their life are more likely to handle getting one than
a senior with a 4.0.
Either development can be avoided by some simple
thinking about what’s really important in life, and passing
that to your children.
Frank Stanford is a graduate philosophy student
Although my parents taught me, "It's
a game, just have fun," I knew many
peers who learned differently. I've
seen 8-year-olds cursed and even
spanked for dropping a fly-ball or
fumbling on the 10-yard line. Win
ning is the only accepted way to play.
Jane Fonda, Oliver North match in un-American behavior
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M ost of us weren’t
around for the 1960s,
but all of us are very
familiar with the story of
Jane Fonda. A rich, famous
actress, Jane fell in with
radical organizations galore,
spending such of her time
learning revolutionary
slogans and punishing the
American public through her displays of
ignorance concerning historical and political
issues. While Fonda did attempt to help minority
groups and those in poverty, she had one issue
that became identified with her for the rest of
her life.
The Vietnam conflict heated up in the late
’60s, and radical Hollywood insiders attempted
to use their name recognition and money to stop
the war. Fonda joined organizations that
promoted dishonorable activities of soldiers,
including groups that assisted draft dodgers and
the sabotaging of military activities.
These activities certainly bordered on what
one could call un-American activities, but
nothing that could not be forgiven. Then Fonda
went too far. During July, 1972, she went to
North Vietnam to celebrate its “victory” over
American imperialism. She talked to North
Vietnamese soldiers and promoted their cause as
I just. She came back to the United States and
said that prisoners of war who claimed to have
been brutalized by their captors were “liars and
hypocrites.” Later, she admitted that it probably
happened, but, “what could they expect?”
Many people still believe Jane Fonda is a
traitor to her country. Confused, “Hanoi Jane”
had allowed herself to be used against her own
people, and will have to live with her mistake
forever.
There is another story to be told about a
traitor. This individual is not much smarter than
the previous one, just luckier. He was a pawn in
the international power game, and was almost
crushed by the machinery of the system. Lt. Col.
Oliver North made it because he was too small a
fish for Congress to fry. He was naive and
outspoken, a defused threat to the country who
could testify against bigger men.
North admitted to having
organized the Iran-Contra
arms sales, of having lied to
former Congressional
inquiries and of trying to
sidestep and eventually
break the laws of the United
States, specifically the
Boland Amendment, which
stated that all government
assistance to the Contras should end. Since then.
North has made multiple speeches about how
proud he is of himself for those actions.
Oliver North had fanatically attempted to
destroy every piece of evidence that would lead
the investigators to discover what had occurred.
He never produced any original information, but
would only support findings that the
Congressmen already knew about. North had
sworn an allegiance to defend the Constitution,
and discussed this subject in Congressional
Committee hearings. He failed miserably.
Instead of protecting the American people and
their Constitution, North backed the Iranians,
the Contras and his own superiors.
This same man, having supported such
harmful activities, is now attempting to run for
the U.S. Senate in Virginia. It is much easier to
condemn Jane Fonda as a ic 1 who runs
around in hippie clothin s to criticize a
decorated Naval Acade graduate who
promotes mainstream religious and moral
values. It is much easier for people to forget that
Oliver North admitted that, “... I misled the
Congress,” because he told those supposedly
lousy Congressmen what they should do with
themselves.
North did have some points in his favor. He
did want to support what he and his superiors
thought were America’s objectives, and he did
claim to have been very proud of his actions. Yet
Jane Fonda, upon returning from Vietnam, also
claimed that she had supported what she
believed were important American objectives,
such as peace in Southeast Asia, and that she
was very proud to have seen past what she
considered criminal activities by the Nixon
administration.
Defining un-American activities seems to be a
very politicized task. If you are a liberal, you
tend to believe that Jane Fonda simply exercised
her right to free speech and did a service to the
United States by helping to stop an immoral
war. If you are a conservative, the winner of a
silver star in the Vietnam conflict, who
supposedly saved America from itself through
his illegal activities, can be seen only as a hero
as well.
I guess if someone has always approved of
Jane Fonda’s actions or is considering voting for
Oliver North, maybe they should read Sen.
Daniel Inouye’s closing remarks concerning the
Oliver North hearings. Inouye, a Distinguished
Service Cross winner, pleads with America to
look at our heroes for who they really are and to
remember that,’’Our government is not a
government of men. It is still a government of
laws.”
Oliver North broke our highest laws and
made our government lie to the world. If you
think Jane Fonda is a traitor, then Oliver North
certainly has to be one as well.
Josef Elchanan is a senior
business management major
JOSEF
ELCHANAN
Columnist
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Bandwagon mentality
accepts invalid ideas
I was deeply saddened by the col
umn entitled “No rules define ‘good’
Parenting” in the June 29 Battalion.
Frank Stanford begins with a simple
piece on who has a right to be a par
ent, but it quickly devolves into a fa
talistic look at America, with Chris
tians once again to blame.
Stanford seems to purport that
since our societal values and stan
dards are declining we should give in
and go with the flow of said change.
Of course, the “Traditional” household
(read “Christian”) is holding back such
“evolution.” I would consider such a
flippant attitude regarding life a devo
lution for our society, which has ac
crued a vast sea of ideas and beliefs.
Just because America is a heteroge
nous nation does not mean that all its
varied viewpoints are valid or vera
cious. Ideas such as these can be toler
ated, but if we so easily abandon our
own teachings, as Stanford would have
us do, truth really would be relative.
Whatever the trend of the day, we
would be like puppets jumping on the
bandwagon of popular culture.
How sad it truly is that such ideas
are tolerated in a way that puts chil
dren at risk. Stanford offers no evi
dence to the contrary. He simply offers
attacks on his cited research from
Walter Barbee, which turns into at
tacks on Christian beliefs. Stanford
portrays Christians as ignorant, intol
erant, and abusive. The new bandwag
on mentality, exemplified in the arti
cle, reveals the key problem with to
day’s culture. The general populace
wishes to live in a world free from ab
solutes. This lack of accountability is
the reason this same-sex parenting
topic has become an issue. It is also
the same reason that Christians are so
often chosen as the fall guys, the
scapegoats for society’s problems. No
one likes to be told that they are
wrong. That is why it is easiest to as
sume such a careless attitude regard
ing what we hold as truth.
Contrary to Stanford’s column, our
country is not predominantly Christ
ian. That’s the reason that such a
practice of abandoning any sense of
culpability for our actions has become
an ever-increasing and ever-frighten
ing reality.
The Battalion encour
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and wilt print as many as
space allows. Letters
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thor's name, class, and
phone number.
We reserve the right
to edit letters for length.
Craig McKenney
Class of ‘96
style, and accuracy.
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