Page 6 • The Battalion
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Friday
September 16,I|
Sunshine state darkens Texas
California's pro-business
campaign wastes millions
A s stories of
gruesome
crimes,
ridiculous political
scandals and pro
files of wacky
celebrity lifestyles
fill the front pages
daily, it has become
almost impossible
MELISSA
MEGLIOLA
Columnist
for anything in the paper to shock us.
We expect the tabloids to expose two-headed aliens.
We know that, for this week, Oprah Winfrey is doomed
to die a spinster.
And, sure - Elvis is alive.
Yet, while reading the San Jose Mercury News one
morning late this summer, I almost choked on my Cheerios
A bold black headline read “Why Texas is telling tall
Stales about California.” Immediately, I racked my brain
and tried to think about comments I might have heard
about the great Sunshine state while I was working in
Houston over the summer. Someone probably mentioned
that California will indeed fall into the ocean one of these
days and that the smog in Los Angeles is thick enough to
swim in. But, nothing new
seemed to be circulating.
I read on. The ad cited
Texas officials’ efforts to lure
away California businesses.
Then it made a few unsettling
accusations about our beloved
Lone Star state.
“What [Texans] don’t men
tion,” said the blurb - referring
■to us honest, tell-it-like-it-is
But outright, vicious rivalry between
states is weird. Does the California
state legislature convene with a
"Beat the Hell Outta Texas" yell?
folks - “is their own sub-zero weather, alternating with three-
shower-a-day humidity, along with hurricanes, tornadoes,
floods and mosquitoes thht require runways to land.”
> I wanted to shout back at the paper in defense of my
state. I have never witnessed sub-zero weather, been vic
tim of a hurricane or had to take shelter from a tornado
while living in Texas. As far as the humidity and mosqui
toes ... well, the ad had a point.
Just before I could shake my fists and call the advertis
ing department to price a counter ad touting our clear
skies, stable soil and friendly people, I started laughing al
most uncontrollably.
^ Gov. Ann Richards had the same reaction.
“I think the ads are the silliest thing I’ve ever read,” she
said in press conference denouncing the campaign and Cali
fornia Gov. Pete Wilson’s association with it.
“I can’t imagine any governor... telling their constituen
cy, T just spent 12 million bucks name-calling all the other
states that companies chose over us.’”
We’re used to rivalry between universities. We believe
that the initials of the small secular college in Austin
should never ever be capitalized. The Sooners deserved to
be humiliated on Kyle Field.
But, outright, vicious rivalry between states is weird.
Does the California state legislature convene with a “ Beat
the Hell Outta Texas” yell?
After a little investigative research, I discovered that the
“Mosquito Ad,” as I have come to call it, is part of a 17-
month, $13.9 million promotional campaign to keep busi
nesses based in California.
The ads t^iam not only Texas, but also condemn Arizona
and Oregon. Television and radio commercials, billboards
and magazine ads are all being employed to convince busi
nesses that they like where they are. “California, the cli
mate’s right,” the slogan assures them.
What happened to the days where Californians bragged
about their state without needing the coercion of a business,
government and education alliance like the Joint Venture:
the Silicon Valley Network who manages the campaign.
Where are the self-righteous, vegetarian tree-huggers?
Where are the surfing hippies? And what about the
glamourous Beverly Hills types? David Lee Roth cut “Cali
fornia Girls” just before it was too late.
Texas is definitely drawing many businesses away from
California, especially in the Silicon Valley. Next year, Ap
plied Micro Devices will open its fourth plant in Austin.
Motorola will open its third. In 1993, Texas surpassed Cal
ifornia as the largest computer chip
manufacturer in the United States.
According to Angelos Angelou, vice
president and chief economist for the
Greater Austin Chamber of Com
merce, Austin has 120 computer chip
companies with 24,000 employees, up
from 14,000 in 1991. He expects em
ployment in the computer chip indus
try to increase about 10 percent per
year in the future.
The Battalion
Editorial Board
Belinda Blancarte, Editor in chief
Mark Evans, Managing editor
jay Robbins, Opinion editor
Jenny Magee, Assistant opinion editor
Editorials appearing in The Battali
reflect the views of the editorial board.H
do not necessarily reflect the opinions
other ifattaiion staff members, theT*,,
A&M student body, regents, administrati
faculty or staff.
Columns, guest columns, cartoons*
letters express the opinions of the authors.
Contact the opinion editor for'
on submitting guest columns.
EDITORIAL
America must ac
Haiti problem requires military interventi
vowec
spirit
ver the
ll’ve bee
ing a “t
lore times th
These ac
3m the fact
number oj
lie attended
yfears on one 1
not particular
(Ilthough 1 di
■me — whoof
■ So, there it
The moves are coming as companies are granted incentives
such as property tax breaks and expedited manufacturing per
mits. Our steady water supply and earthquake-free terrain
eliminate concerns that are part of business in California.
Employees are thrilled with our lack of a state income
tax and amazed at our real-estate prices. A nice three bed
room home almost anywhere in Texas costs about the same
as a one bedroom flat downtown in San Francisco.
For students, the trend of businesses moving to Texas is
great news. Jobs should be opening up for us soon, espe
cially those positions requiring technical degrees. The
economy in general around Austin is booming. If this caus
es California to spend millions of dollars of private money
to attack us, we should sit back and enjoy it.
I think I’ll call and remind them of our roaches.
Melissa Megliola is a senior industrial engineering major
The planned military invasion of
Haiti deserves the support of the
American people and all branches of
the U.S. government.
After months of futile negotiations
asking the junta in control of Haiti to es
tablish peace and democracy in the coun
try, inaction is no longer a viable choice.
Last night, President Clinton told
Haitian military leaders: “Your time is
up. Leave now or we will force
you from power.” The
American public
should follow the
example of deter
mination and
strength in
the presiden
t’s statement.
As Clinton
said, “We
have ex
hausted diplo
macy.” The
continuing vio
lations of human
rights and terrible
living conditions in
Haiti demand positive ac
tion, not more wasted words.
The U.S. public should be alarmed
that the president ever had to make such
a humbling request for its support. One
of America’s most vital principles is the
preservation and extension of democracy
and human rights. The mere fact that
Congress and other agencies and individ
uals oppose those efforts, especially con
sidering the small scale of the invasion
and the proximity of Haiti to the am ^ ■
States, illustrates the appallingnatir* I ta ^ e Silvi
apathy toward the Haitians’ plight. Buster very s
The Clinton administration has *■ And I ve ne
gled for months with the dilein®»ated walkin
choosing a course of action on the Bearing a hat
issue. The United States, dependeriB But above ;
ever on its superpower role in worli ken the Aggie
fairs, must carry out its threat of j'|| ou ^ now ” ^
vention if it intends to maintain itsiBiat says “Ag
matic and military credit cheat or steal
* if * If
How can the Ua
States make demE
of other nations
cannot even
tie unrest;
just outsit;
borders?
Stan!
Schraf
spokesi
for the
embasst
Haiti,
CNN yesl
day: “Thefi|
in Haiti is!
fight for the got]
the Haitian people.'
Gene Zdzis
tudent Life i
.ggie Code of
usly also.
Zdziarsky 1
lany student
™ . . Jended from
That summation contain; | ven f or fj rst
core of arguments for invasion. 'n»U|
ed States is the only power that can
in to stop the inhumanity in Haiti.’;!
politicians have sworn to solve they
lem. America must act if it intend;
continue playing the role of superporcj
Every effort thus far to influence
ditions in Haiti has failed.
Military' action is the only option is:
a
Last year t
s of lying (us
iding false ii
ases of cheat
f stealing Zd
our of these
elled and si>
Although t
ery few offer
f 40,000 stuc
lot when yo
DO WOMEN HAVE A HUMAN
offenders are
And aren’t
to be above st
RIGHT TO ABORTION?
LAURA
Jr ^
FRNKA
I 35 *
—
Columnist
■
aJiJlPt
When I think of the term international hu
man rights, I think about the basic necessi
ties for survival - clothing, food, water and
shelter. Never did I think that the term
“abortion” would fit into this category, but the
leaders at the recent United NatioN. Popula
tion Conference battled over the issue for days.
They should surrender and give up the idea entirely. Abortion should not be consid
ered a fundamental human right — period.
Vice President A1 Gore stated that the issue of abortion should remain and will re
main up to the individual countries. I agree with Gore, because some countries lack the
medical technology to provide healthy, safe abortions. As a result of inadequate tech
nology, many women die from complications. It is estimated that about 500,000 women,
99 percent of whom are from underdeveloped countries, die of pregnancy-related
causes each year.
While the population explosion is a real problem, encouraging in
ternational availability of abortions is not the answer. Why
not put more time, money and energy into providing
health care, education and family management?
Instead of killing unwanted babies, we could be
creating better families.
People in some parts of the world have no idea
how to practice “safe sex.” More than likely they
have never even heard of it. It only seems natur
al that the reproductive rate of underdeveloped
countries is so much higher than America’s, it’s
because their citizens don’t know any better.
But is the answer in advocating abortion? No.
The answer to this problem is education. Put
plain and simple, some people just lack knowledge
and need to be taught about contraceptives and birth
control. Perhaps if they were introduced to
these methods, the number of unwanted children
would go down, and there would be no misperceived “need” for an
international abortion right.
Besides, abortion was not one of the main issues of the conference.
The leaders should have addressed the objectives for which
the conference was originally designed: basic health care
for women, family planning and AIDS prevention.
I strongly do not believe that abortions were
meant to be considered human rights. I under
stand the circumstantial need for an abortion -
for instance if a woman is raped - but I don’t
think women should have the “right” to go
around and destroy lives that haven’t even been
given a chance.
Leaders in population monitoring should stop
harping on these side issues and take a long
look at the real problem — ignorance. Educate
people and encourage precaution and preven
tion. Simply adding abortion to the list of
human rights will not result in a solution —
it would just add to a problem that’s already
complex enough.
Abortion is an international human right that should be
recognized worldwide. At the recent U.N. Population Confer
ence, the Vatican and a handful of Muslim countries were al
lowed to paralyze the talks over the question of abortion. As
soon as they voiced their objections, the United States, repre
sented by Vice President A1 Gore, fell all over itself apologiz-
ELIZABETH
PRESTON
COLUMNIST
ing and explaining that we were NOT supporting international abortion rights.
Abortion is not an issue that should be allowed to be swept under the rug, or apologized for
America is the most powerful country in the world, and we regularly use our influence to
pressure countries worldwide into acting out our various whims. In spite of that, America
wimped out on possibly the most important issue of
the day and allowed the tiniest state in the
Laura Frnka is a sophomore
journalism major
to control the outcome of the issue.
Women worldwide deserve, need and insist
upon the right to abortion. No legislator,
president, dictator or prime minister should have
the power to control a woman’s body. This is the
only statement needed, and the only defense I
that should be offered. However, because of
the passionate debate on this topic, I will list
more arguments for my point.
The entire point of this conference was
to discuss the problem of overpopulation. There
are children everywhere in the world
starving to death, crying out desperately for s
home. In spite of this, anti-abortion activists
constantly argue that all the children bom
would be adopted. Women would be forced to
endure nine months of pregnancy, facing
discrimination and suffering, then the
children would hopefully be placed in a
loving home, Meanwhile, millions of perfect
children would be dying of hunger.
The Vatican is notorious for sticking its nose
into secular business. Its policies are saturated
with sexist practices, and many American
Catholics do not support some of the church’s
most intrusive requirements. In spite of this
weakness, the Catholic Church holds a position o>
incredible power in world politics; but that
influence does not mean that America should run
hide when it makes threats.
Like it or not, American law allows abortions.
The American people stand behind it, and it has
become an integral part of our rights. If a few countries
attempted to block the passage of an internationally
supported statement condemning drunk
driving, the United States would wield its
mighty power and stop it instantly. The
basic tenets and laws of our society,® 0
matter how hotly debated, must be
treated equally.
America should have fought tooth ai^
nail to get abortion recognized as the international
right that it is, instead of whimpering in the face of close-
minded demands.
©CjMPad
—nw-
Mwmmm
Elizabeth Preston junior English m# ,r