The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, July 11, 1994, Image 5

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    July 11, 1994
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Editorial Board
_ in The Battalion reflect
the editorial board. They do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of other
Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M
s, administration, faculty
Mark Evans, Editor in chief
William Harrison, Managing editor
Jay Robbins, Opinion editor
on
Contact the opinion editor for information
iSISi
Access to abortion
Women in B-CS need local facility
Take a look at politicians 5 attitudes
Voters should think about Richards, Bush from down-home perspective
r oo many times we tend to look at
politicians according to their
political allegiances, instead of
what kind of people they are. The
upcoming race for governor of Texas
seems to hold more of the same. Every
time Republicans want to talk about
Gov. Ann Richards, they always
comment on “that liberal woman down
in Austin.” The Democrats also seem
to lack the ability of analytical
thinking, claiming that George W.
Bush seems to be a spoiled kid who
cannot do anything but use his
daddy’s name to enter politics.
Let us, as college students, use our
wonderful and expansive minds to
analyze these two individuals in a more
down-home manner.
Lets say that you were asked to
have either George W. Bush or Ann
Richards as a living companion for a
few days. Whom would you prefer?
After all, when you vote for one of
these people, you are basically voting
to live with these people throughout
their terms in office-. -
Bush is pretty conservative. He, like
his father, attended an Ivy League
school, served as a pilot in the military,
jot involved in the Texas oil industry
while also helping the former FYesident
along in politics and bought a
partnership in the Texas Rangers
baseball team.
On the personal side, Bush seems
th highly motivated and extremely
religious. He promotes school prayer
and traditional families and lifestyles,
fou kind of get the feeling that Bush
would be up at 6 o’clock every morning,
drinking orange juice and reading The
iVall Street Journal.
Let’s say that you liked to sleep late.
Bush would probably give you this talk
about how important it is to seize the
day, to go out there and make
JOSEF
ELCHANAN
Columnist
something of yourself. He would
consider going out all night to have fun
inappropriate, when you could hit the
sack early and catch a rousing golf-
game business meeting the next
morning, right after you go to church.
No doubt that Bush is a tough man, a
man that gets things done.
Let’s say that your car broke down,
and you were telling him about it. He
would probably pick up the phone and
call a pal of his who would tow the car
Instead of looking at what
our politicians promise us,
which will never be deliv
ered the way we want it, all
of us should maybe consid
er their attitudes more.
for you and repair it for free. He would
remind you, however, that you should
take care of your car better and that it
was probably not too bright of you to
have bought that kind of car anyway -
but since your a friend of his, he’ll help
you out of your predicament.
On the other hand, there is our
governor, Ann Richards. Richards is a
woman who came up the hard way,
fighting male egos and state barkers at
the same time. Yes, she admittedly did
have a drinking problem, but I think
that anyone who deals with Texas
politics long enough must have had one
at some time. She takes on big projects,
like insurance regulation, and is able to
make hard decisions.
If Richards had to stay with you for a
couple of weeks, she would probably call
you up, complaining about the damned
hotel rates, and ask if you would mind
if she stayed over. She would drive up
on a Harley and take the couch, because
she wouldn’t want to disturb you. You
would probably find that the gas cans in
your garage, which are considered a fire
hazard, would be picked up and put
away, but besides that, she would stay
out of your business. She would be way
too busy tinkering with her bike or
going hunting to have time to bother
you. Plus, she would probably always
have some witty story to tell, something
interesting to say about her
experiences. Sometimes, however, she
would be mad as hell, yelling about the
stupidity of certain public officials.
..Texas is full of people who differ on
what they feel comfortable with.
Instead of looking at what our
politicians promise us, which will never
be delivered the way we want it, all of
us should maybe consider their
attitudes more.
Should we care whether Ann
Richards, the person, or George W.
Bush, the person, ever did drugs or had
dirty dealings, or affairs, or ... ? What
may be more important is how they
handle the problems they have had. Do
they cover them up or do they do the
same things repeatedly? By recognizing
these candidates as just people, instead
of political icons, maybe we all can
make the right decision in November.
Bryan-College Station is without a
facility that performs abortions. The
majority of women and virtually all fe
male students in this communi
ty are of childbearing age
and need access to a lo- J
cal clinic that pro
vides the facilities
for reproductive
choice.
The primary ra
tionalization for
this lack within
the Bryan-College
Station health-care
system is the conserv
ative attitudes of the
community and doc
tors’ right to choose
whether to per-
ropolitan areas in the United States
do not offer women the option of ob
taining a safe legal abortion.
Bryan-College Station is
a part of these sta
tistics.
form abortions as
part of their
medical practice.
Regardless, it
is not the commu
nity’s responsibility to
judge a woman’s choice
to have an abortion.
Doctors should not be
required to provide this
service, but there
should be access to
abortion procedures in
this community.
According to the Na
tional Abortion Rights
Action League, 93 percent of non-met
ropolitan areas and 51 percent of met-
Although few
patients have
voiced com
plaints about
having to go to
Houston or Dal
las to have this
procedure done,
the community is
turning its back on
women who live in the
area by not ensuring
they have such ac
cess.
Considering the
prominent scientific
and medical stature
of the University, it
is illogical that the
local community cannot objec
tively provide this common med
ical procedure.
The women in Bryan-College
Station should not have the
choice to have a baby made for
them by the hardship of travel
ing 100 miles each way for prop
er medical abortions.
Allowing this medical lack to
continue is not a reflection of the
community’s conservatism. It reflects
the community’s irresponsibility.
Josef Elchanan is a senior
business management major
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Public forgets tragedy of Simpson, Goldman’s deaths
L ike a blockbuster
summer movie, the
O.J. Simpson saga
has invaded the national
psyche.
Media star O.J.
Simpson, accused of
murdering his ex-wife and
MACK
HARRISON
Guest Columnist
300
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van’s crew
repair the
k onto the
her friend, has been the nation’s top news story
for weeks now.
As the good citizens of this country crowded
around their televisions watching the real-life
version of “Speed” unfold on the Los Angeles
freeways, they forgot the most important aspect
of the story: the victims — two real people, with
loved ones of their own.
As people crowded the freeways to shout
encouragement or even just to get a glimpse of a
celebrity gone bad, the entire nation looked on —
electronic voyeurs — forgetting about the deaths
of two individuals and what their family and
Meads were going through.
I share an office with one of those friends.
“Mike” started working with me just a few
Weeks ago. He came to College Station in
January from California. One of his friends out
there was Ron Goldman.
Mike and I were eating lunch the Monday
after the freeway chase when he first read the
newspaper account of the events. Goldman’s
death hit him hard.
“I can’t believe it, man,” he said. “This is my
friend they’re talking about.”
“You knew Ron Goldman?” I asked.
“Man ... I used to party with the guy,” he
replied. “You were just sitting in the same seat
he rode in.”
Like 95 million other Americans, I was glued
to the screen as Simpson led law enforcement
agents on a low-speed chase across Los Angeles.
“I hope Simpson’s OK,” I said as the drama
unfolded. “I hope he doesn’t do anything stupid.”
I was so wrapped up in the larger-than-life
drama that I had forgotten something that
mattered more than any suicide letter, freeway
chase or courtroom dramatics.
Ron Goldman and Nicole Simpson are dead.
It may be impossible to find anyone in the
country who hasn’t heard the story. Everybody
seems to have formed an opinion.
Mike says he’s pretty sure Simpson murdered
his ex-wife, Nicole, and Ron Goldman. He says
although there is a possibility that Simpson
might be innocent, the evidence is pretty much
stacked against the former football star.
“Maybe there’s a chance he didn’t do it,” Mike
said. “But it looks pretty clear that he did.”
Whoever did it, the brutality of the crime is
shocking. Mike’s voice filled with emotion as he
looked at me over the newspaper.
“It says he was stabbed 22 times,” Mike said.
“Why did he have to do it that many times?”
The story mentioned that Goldman fought back
against his attacker. Mike looked at me with a
sense of pride as read that paragraph to me.
“At least he threw down,” Mike said. “But I
wouldn’t want to go up against O.J.”
Mike was in shock as he read the rest of the story.
“I can’t believe this,” he said. “I used to play
volleyball with this guy. I would go over to his
apartment and we’d watch Cowboys games.”
Mike and Ron and used to hang out with some
mutual friends, living the typical California life.
They would play volleyball, go to clubs, chase
women. Ron even appeared on the television
show “Studs.”
“I watched the videotape of the show with him
at his apartment,” Mike told me.
Mike had heard, of course, that Nicole
Simpson and a friend had been murdered outside
her home. He hadn’t, however, paid close
attention until the Friday of The Chase. That’s
when the news hit home.
“I was at a party when my friend Troy called
me from California,” Mike told me. “They were
showing the chase on TV when he rings up and
says, ‘Man, that’s Ron they’re talking about.’”
Until then, the O.J. Simpson case was just
another news story to Mike. Now, he deals with
the fact that his friend is dead — gone forever —
and the man accused of murdering him has
become a tragic hero.
“I called up my old roommate, Josh, back in
California,” Mike said. “We were in disbelief of it
all.”
Television cameras can carry us along as the
police pursue a fugitive, place us in the
courtroom as prosecutors describe every piece of
evidence found at the crime scene and give us
the sordid details of the suspect’s past.
They can’t, however, convey the sense of loss
the friends and family of Nicole Simpson and
Ron Goldman are going through.
It takes a voice to do that.
The voice of a friend.
i 'V'-v- mm i ' i ' : ' * h ! -
Mack Harrison is a 1993
agricultural journalism graduate
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Winston
Killary Clinton's critics
motivated by politics
It is very convenient for Elizabeth Pre
ston to Lame criticism of Hillary Clinton
it sexist firms (The Battalion, July 7). In
doing so sh» is employing a time-honored
liberal tactic.
My criticism of Hillary Clinton has
absolutely nothing to do with her sex.
The only reason I’d prefer her to bake
cookies is that she would then have lit
tle time to socialize the U.S. health-care
system, along with whatever else she
can. As a matter of fact, I’d prefer Bill
Clinton to stay in the kitchen too -
which I suppose proves that I am an
equal-opportunity sexist.
My objection to Hillary Clinton centers
around our different views of govern
ment’s role. While she favors an in
creased role for the central government
along collectivisl/socialist lines (similar to
Germany, France, and yes, the former
Soviet* Union), I believe that this is dan
gerous. I am not in favor of effectively
transferring one-seventh of the gross do
mestic product to the public sector to
serve what is in reality a much smaller
problem involving how to cover more of
the uninsured. The effect of the Clinton
plan would be to increase, unnecessarily,
the dependence of U.S. citizens on the na
tional government. The lowest classes are
already very dependent and their votes
usually go to the those in favor of extend
ing more benefits. Could Clinton-style
health care be a way to extend this form
of indebtedness to the middle class, effec
tively buying their vote too? I believe this
is a valid and rational criticism of Hillary
Clinton’s ideas.
As for Clinton’s active role, my objec
tion is her lack of accountability. While
Preston calls the idea that we did not
elect her “ridiculous” - citing the fact that
we haven’t elected Stephanopolous,
Schwarzkopf and Bentsen - she is miss
ing the point. All three of these people
have had accountability in proportion to
their duties. For example, Lloyd Bentsen
was confirmed by the Senate before join
ing the cabinet. Hillary Clinton has as
sumed the task of overhauling health
care with no explicit accountability. This
serves her well in that she can and does
retreat to the traditional role of “cookie
baking” First Lady when criticism gets
too high.
Please do not label critics of Hillary
Clinton as being sexist. There is hardly
a conservative out there who wouldn’t
love to vote for a strong woman such as
Margaret Thatcher or Jean Kirkpatrick,
given the opportunity. If Preston hasn’t
noticed, voters have recently elected
two strong, conservative women: Chris
tine Todd-Whitman as New Jersey gov
ernor and Kay Bailey-Hutchison as
Texas senator.
If Preston is serious about women be
ing equal, she had better stop exempting
them from ideological scrutiny simply be
cause of their sex.
John L. ThaxtonJr.
Class of ’93
The Battalion encour
ages letters to the editor
and will prim as many as
space allows. Letters
must be 300 words or
less and include the au
thor's name, class, and
phone number.
We reserve the right
to edit letters for length,
style, and accuracy.
Address letters to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
CoBege Station, TX
77843-1111
Fax: (409) 845-2647
Page3
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