The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 30, 1995, Image 11

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    Thursday • March 30, 1993
Opinion
The Battalion • Page 11
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Cast educated
votes or do
not vote at all
I t’s election time again. Each year, we
are inundated with messages and slo
gans demanding that we exercise our
right to vote.
Editorials encourage us to participate
in the political process. Candidates say
their main goal — besides winning — is
to get people out to vote.
While we should cherish the right
to vote as the most important right
that we enjoy as citizens of a free soci
ety, we should forego casting votes on
issues about which we are apathetic or
uninformed.
Ideally, of course, we should show an
interest in the issues that affect our lives
and attempt to stay well informed about
them. If the people are to remain sover
eign, we must have a say over those ac
tions of government which will influence
our job security, financial well-being and
political freedom.
Our popularly-elected public represen
tatives and the laws which they craft
must ultimately be held accountable to
the public. In order for us to do this, we
have to know what they are up to.
However, many of us do not take the
time to keep up with the affairs of govern
ment. They often seem irrelevant to our
day to day lives. We can get though the
day just fine without knowing what hap
pened in Washington or Austin.
From one perspective, this is good be
cause it means that affairs of government
do not unduly influence us. We are free to
go about our own business without too
much interference from the state. Even
though we may perceive government as
too big and an interference, which in fact
it may be, proper perspective shows that
we are a long way away from any sort of
socialist or totalitarian regime.
We retain the right to influence how
government treats us. If it is getting
too big, the voting public has the pow
er to reduce it.
In order to retain this influence over
our government, we must have the right
to decide matters of importance to us via
the democratic process, i.e., the right to
vote. However, the process does not need
full participation to work.
We as Americans, particularly Gen
eration Xers, have been criticized as
apathetic and lazy when it comes to
political affairs. Voter turnout for
presidential elections rarely exceeds
50 percent. Even fewer bother to cast
a ballot for state and local elections.
For student elections at Texas A&M,
19 percent is an all time turnout high.
Our apathy stems from the fact that
government does not seem to influence
our day to day lives. No matter who holds
office, we still get up in the morning, go to
school or work, accomplish our tasks and
goals, talk to our friends and sleep well,
knowing that the government is not likely
to barge into our homes and arrest us
without just cause.
We can pursue our own dreams and
freely exercise whatever religious, po
litical or moral beliefs that we hold, as
long as they do not infringe on the
rights of others.
This apathy does not threaten the
democratic process. As long as we re
tain the option of expressing our opin
ion at the voting booth, our rights and
freedoms are safe.
In addition, we should not feel com
pelled to cast a vote on an issue about
which we are uninformed. While we
should make a reasonable effort to re
main informed on issues of importance,
it is better to cast no vote at all than an
uninformed one.
Uninformed ballots dilute the voting
power of those who truly do care and have
a stake in the outcome of a particular
election. More importantly, however, vot
ing with a limited understanding of the
issues and basing decisions on sound bites
or name recognition is more harmful to
democracy than not voting at all.
It allows unqualified candidates to get
elected. It discourages critical analysis of
the issues and satisfies our short atten
tion spans. It breeds demagogues.
The same principles apply to the
student government elections on cam
pus this week.
We should make an effort to become
familiar with the candidates and vote
based on who will best serve the interests
of Texas A&M. We should not base our
votes solely on who has the biggest plac
ard in front of Sbisa.
If you are indifferent towards who
wins the election, then don’t vote at all.
We should not vote simply out of some
sense of civic duty if our opinion is not in
formed by any more than the candidate’s
picture in the paper.
If you truly support somebody, vote for
them. If you want somebody to lose, vote
against them. But if it doesn’t matter to
you, it is best to avoid voting at all.
Simply guessing at the ballot box is
more damaging than silence.
Jim Pawlikowski is a junior
chemical engineering major
\iWMi TMT 7 MO'.M! tM
Smoking burns out young lives
Elizabeth
Preston
Columnist
T his year Beth has
found the perfect time
to smoke. She sits out
side between her classes
with the friends she walks
with and has just enough
time to smoke one, if not
two, cigarettes. She always
sits downwind of her
friends, and they use the
time to catch up with each other’s lives.
Recently she defended her smoking habit by saying,“If I
have to die two weeks early because of smoking, I don’t
want to live those two weeks anyway.”
Nancy Flowers was the leader of a youth group at my
church while I was in high school.
She taught journalism and English at a Houston high
school and had two children she was raising as a single
parent. She also smoked.
She was kind, loving and willing to do anything for those
she loved.
Except quit smoking.
After my third semester at Texas A&M, I went home to
attend her funeral. The church was packed with current
and former students, friends and colleagues, all mourning
the loss of a beautiful and much-loved women.
Lung cancer had won its short battle with her.
Her son is now a freshman at the University of Texas,
and her daughter attends a local high school. They live
with their uncle.
This is when people who smoke die.
Sure, it can happen that a smoker lives until they are
107 years old, telling people that all they do everyday is
smoke and drink alcohol. But this is incredibly rare. The
majority of people who smoke die too young.
While their children are in school. Before they have
their wills made out. And before they live even half of
their dreams.When the tragedy is extreme.
500,000 people die each year in America from breathing
their own smoke. This is approximately twelve Texas A&M
campuses filled with students — each year.
83 percent of all lung cancer victims are a direct result
of the effects of cigarette smoke.
Lung cancer has just passed breast cancer as the num
ber one killer of women — making it the most deadly can
cer for men and women.
More than 70 percent of all particulate matter remains
in the lungs of cigarette smokers who inhale. .
That is way too much crap to have floating around in
your lungs.
30 percent of all cancer deaths are related to smoking.
Not just lung, but throat, mouth and almost all heart dis
eases are affected and encouraged by smoking.
What is worse is the news for young users like Beth.
The lung cancer mortality risk for people that start smok
ing between the ages of 15 and 19 is twice that of those
that start between 20 and 24, and five times that of the
people who start smoking after they turn 25.
Smoking was introduced to the Europeans by Christo
pher Columbus who discovered it in the Americas. Though
the reaction against it from the medical community began
almost immediately, it still spread worldwide and peaked
in popularity in the 1970’s, with almost half of all Ameri
cans lighting up.
There is something appealing about the idea of smoking.
The pictures that come to mind are James Dean and his
smoldering sexuality, or Kate Moss with her unaffected
and anorexic beauty.
The pictures that should come to mind are very differ
ent portraits.
The picture of Nancy Flowers emaciated in a hospital
bed wracked with a painful cough. The picture of her
children who have lost their mother when they are too
young to have to be alone.
The picture of the pain and agony that go hand-in-
hand with painful, drawn out deaths.
The reality is that smoking stinks and makes all of the
people around the smoker stink. Not only that, but it is ex
pensive — tobacco companies earn about 50 billion dollars
annually in sales.
And it makes it a pain in the rear end to eat out in
restaurants or go to movies, since so many non-smoking
policies are being implemented lately.
Smoking is an incredible addiction. An article published
in the February 1995 issue of JAMA (Journal of the Ameri
can Medical Association) stated that fully 70 percent of all
smokers would like to quit but are unable to.
It must be incredibly painful to feel a uncontrollable
need for something that is recognized as one of the greatest
killers of modern society.
It is even worse to feel the pain of the loss of a loved one,
long before they should have died. If a smoker is lucky,
they will only lose two weeks of their life and a whole heck
of a lot of money.
If not, they will die before they have had the chance to
finish anything they started.
Elizabeth Preston is a junior English major
Mail
Call
A&M Rugby team
deserves coverage
Over the weekend of March 25 and
26, I came to Texas A&M to watch the
Texas Collegiate Rugby Champi
onships. Upon my arrival, I checked
the previous week’s Battalion for the
time and place of the games.
To my amazement, the only thing I
found on rugby was a picture with a
caption under it. No article about Ag
gie rugby, no comment on the Aggies
undefeated tournament. Nothing.
In 1975, I was a member of the Ag
gie team that won the National Colle
giate Rugby Championship.
This being the 25th anniversary of
that accomplishment, I thought you
would have generated some enthusi
asm through your paper.
In 1975, we had the articles in the
Batt every week, extolling our ex
ploits on the field, helping us to get
fired up for the next game and get
ting out spectators.
As it was, we barely had a handful
of Aggie spectators, other than the
team. Rice had a large contingent of
parents and well-wishers to urge
them on. The final outcome was a
tough loss for the Ags.
What did we learn from this?
I hope The Battalion will get
back to covering school events like
the Texas Collegiate Rugby Cham
pionship. This is a major event in
the lives of those students who par
ticipated.
I hope they will go back to covering
a winning tradition, like A&M Rugby.
I know I spilled a lot of blood on
my maroon and white jersey, and I
was disappointed to see how you
have forgotten about all the other
Aggies like me who gave a large part
of themselves to establish a winning
tradition before the football team fi
nally did.
Robert Moorman
Class of ’75
Affirmative action
does not help country
I am writing in response to Amy
Uptmor’s column on March 27.
I am really surprised to find that
Uptmor does not feel the least bit in
sulted by affirmative action. The pro
gram projects the message that women
are unable to compete with men with
out being given an artificial advantage.
How insulting. I really don’t see how
she, as a woman, should support such a
program which not only is an insult to
her intelligence and ability, but denies
her the right to compete with men on a
truly equal basis.
Affirmative action is part of the dis
crimination problem, and not the cure.
I venture to say that many men will
continue to resent women in the work
place as long as they believe that these
women may have been placed there not
because they were the most qualified,
but because of some quota requirement.
The way to stop these negative atti
tudes toward women is to end affirma
tive action, so that there may be no
question as to a woman’s ability.
Mick Nichols
Class of’97
Complaints arise from
irresponsible spending
When a young child says some
thing cute while attempting to tack
le a deep subject, I smile and shake
my head.
I had this same response to Jenny
Magee’s March 29 column on why we
should shut up and just pay our in
come taxes. Very few people would
"refute the logic behind the federal
government collecting taxes.
I think that most of us are bright
enough to know that our government
needs a budget to operate.
Where do we draw the fine through?
What we are complaining about is
the inflated amount we pay, and how
it is just thrown around like it grows
on trees. Magee manages to compare
paying taxes to paying a member
ship fee at a health club.
If the government was a health
club it would be out of business, the
managers would be in prison, and we
would all be obese.
It would be hard to imagine that
the majority, if not all, of the patrons
would voice their disappointment.
I don’t mind paying taxes, but un
til there is a little accountability for
how it is spent, I will complain.
Phillip Slaughter
Class of ’95
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 for length, style, clarity and accuracy. Letters
may be submitted in person at 01 3 Reed McDon
ald. A valid student I.D. is required. Letters may
also be mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call Fax: (409) 845-2647
013 Reed McDonald E-mail:
Texas A&M University Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu
College Station, TX 77843-1111
True heroes
come in all
shapes, sizes
David
Taylor
Columnist
S ome words get overused. For exam
ple, have you noticed how every
thing these days is a “crisis?”
We have the health care crisis, the
crime crisis, the deficit crisis and, most
importantly, my G.P.R. crisis.
Another overused word is “hero.”
Over the semester, I have learned
about many people genuinely deserving
of the word “hero.”
I spend a lot of time bashing Congress.
In fact, if it weren’t for Congress I would
probably have to get a real job, because I
would very quickly run out of hypocritical
and dumb ideas to bring to your atten
tion. Some members are different.
Sam Johnson, who represents my
home district, is different.
Johnson spent 29 years in the U.S. Air
Force. In 1966, Johnson was shot down
over North Vietnam. He spent the next
seven years as a P.O.W. — including
three years in solitary confinement. This
episode can aptly be described as a “char
acter-building experience.”
Johnson credits his faith with getting
him through the ordeal. He tells a story
about a turning point in his time as a
P.O.W. During one three-month stretch,
Johnson was placed in leg stocks while in
solitary confinement. A typhoon hit
Hanoi, and Johnson’s cell began to flood.
He had nowhere to turn except to God ...
and God was there.
Needless to say, faith remains a priori
ty in Sam Johnson’s life.
Our families often provide the best
examples of heroes. My grandfather
certainly does.
My great-grandfather immigrated to
the United States from Russia before the
Russian Revolution in 1912. My grandfa
ther was born in 1920. Thinking back to
that required history class, you may re
call that things got pretty rough in this
country about 10 years later.
My great-grandfather worked as a
cobbler in Detroit while his family lived
in a cramped apartment above the shop.
When my grandfather was 12 years old,
he began working as a paperboy to help
support his family. He has not stopped
working since.
My grandfather put himself through
college — not a particularly easy task in
the 1930’s. He earned a degree in Aero
space Engineering from Wayne State
University in Michigan. He was then
hired by an aircraft manufacturer and
transferred to Dallas. My grandfather
began as an engineer and worked his
way to president of the then 20,000-em
ployee company.
He retired in 1975 ... sort of. His “re
tirement” consisted of consulting for vari
ous aerospace-related companies all over
the country.
I spent a summer working at his for
mer company a few years back. Every
time I mentioned his name, there was al
ways a story. Normally, it went along the
lines of “there was a problem ...” and it
ended with, "... and his suit was covered
with grease and was ruined.”
My grandfather has never walked
away from work and has never done less
than his best. If I come close to accom
plishing what my grandfather has
achieved, I will consider myself an un
qualified success.
Other heroes are among us, and they
often go unrecognized.
I used my first Q-drop last week — no,
not very heroic. Before I did, I went to
talk to my adviser about my options.
With many advisers, it is a simple
process: “Sign here,” followed by, “Have a
nice day,” and, “by the way, you only
have two Q-drops left.”
Again, some are different.
This person took some extra time to
see what was going on in my life and if
there was anything he could do to help. I
was having a tough week, and his taking
the time to talk to me helped a lot.
It’s not necessary to fight a war to be a
“hero.” You don’t even have to come as
far as my grandfather did. All you have
to do is be willing to make a difference.
I remember reading, “To whom much
is given, much is expected.”
Just by virtue of our being here at
Texas A&M, we have and we will have
opportunities that many will never re
ceive. With those opportunities, we will
also have the chance to make a difference
in many peoples’ lives.
Let’s be realistic. Life is becoming
more and more hectic, and time comes at
a premium. Sometimes, however, a long
term commitment isn’t necessary — as a
male, I appreciate that.
As a person, however, I appreciate the
impact these acts — both large and small
— have had on my life.
“Duty” is a word that doesn’t get
enough use. If we could only practice
“duty” little more and “give me” a little
less, this world’s hero population would
increase.
Something to think about.
David Taylor is a senior
management major