Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 1995)
Thursday • April 6, 1995 The Battalion • Page 11 :' : ' • ■: ■■ ■&S&? ¥c^T«<p ... ^ . -. : Clinton lacks expertise in foreign policy David Taylor Columnist I hear tell our President wants to write a book. Of course, in the hyper-compet itive political book market our Presi dent should come up with a catchy title. He should choose: “How To Hurt Your Friends,” by William Jefferson Clinton — it’s cooler to use your full name for these political books. Here’s a likely plot line. Let’s take a country that’s been the U.S.’ best friend through thick and thin and find a way to make it mad. For many years the Irish Republican Army has tried to force Great Britain into making Northern Ireland part of Ireland, against the wishes of the majority of the Northern Irish. The I.R.A. has used such universally appreciated techniques as random car bombs in London, which have killed thou sands of innocent civilians. The I.R.A. has a political wing called Sinn Fein and is headed by Gerry Adams. The I.R.A has steadfastly refused to re nounce terror as a weapon in all the years of it’s existence. You might say that Sinn Fein is not a very popular organization in England. Guess who was issued an unre stricted visa and invited to a state dinner by William Jefferson Clinton? I know how he can make it better, though. If I remember right, 1995 is the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. Okay, not really an excuse to party, but definitely worthy of remembrance. William Jefferson Clinton has received an invitation from Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, to attend a reception com memorating the allied victory over Hitler. The United States and Great Britain fought side-by-side like no two nations had ever fought before. Many Americans gave their lives in the defense of England and the retaking of France. So William Jefferson Clinton will spend the week in Moscow. ( I am sure that Clinton will want to in- cludej a chapter on where he gained his vast expertise in foreign policy. Whenever William Jefferson Clinton needs advice on, say, how to handle dicta tors from the strategically situated sub continent of Haiti, he picks up the phone and dials 1-800-CALL-JIMMY. Yes, now you too can receive bril liant strategic insights on how to give $1 billion to Communist dictators in North Korea in order to secure a promise of, well ... nothing. Of course, William Jefferson Clinton has a lot of experience with the James Earle Carter technique of foreign policy. It was simple, actually. All he had to do was go all over the world telling people how ashamed he was of his country. I am not making this part up. Jimmy Carter told Raul Cedras that he was “ashamed of my country’s poli cy towards Haiti.” He then proceeded to invite Cedras to teach his Sunday School class. Sunday School, of course, being a traditional training ground for budding despots. William Jefferson Clinton spent most of his college years traveling the world, making sure the world knew how ashamed he was of our foreign policies. This, of course, coming from a person whose actual foreign policy experience consisted of ordering French crepes at the i International House of Pancakes. Now it’s time for the chapter on William Jefferson Clinton’s crowning achievements, also known as “How to take credit for what someone else did.” Clinton should take great pride in his ability to sign his name. He did that very well when he signed for the U.S. on the treaty between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel. Clinton did a wonderful job of not screwing-up what his predecessors had worked on for a decade. Good on ya’! Our aspiring writer may want to leave out that chapter on Somalia. You know, the one where the local mil itary commander pleads for tanks, but Clinton and his Defense Secretary decide they know better. Clinton may also want to forget about the two-dozen young men who died the following week in crossfire because they have no armored support. Clinton may want to forget it, but I won’t. The final chapter is called “Whatever you do, don’t offend Japan.” This is where Clinton relates how he was able to keep the Japanese Prime Minister out of trouble by scaling-back the ceremonies at Pearl Harbor. Hey, Clinton feels your pain. On second thought, maybe this book thing isn’t such a good idea. Right now no one has realized all the dubious achieve ments of William Jefferson Clinton. If he ever does actually write a book about his foreign policy, Clinton could do wonders for I.H.O.P. I can see it now: “Rooty Tooty Fresh N’ Fruity,” by William Jefferson Clinton. Kinda’ has a nice ring to it... David Taylor is a senior management major Tragic accident leaves unanswered questions I trembled fiercely as I stared at the badly man gled body hooked up to a life support system. He was completely motionless. All I could ask myself was, “Is this really my brother?” My older brother, who I had always looked up to, had broken his neck, back, facial bones, leg and had badly damaged both of his eyes. He was covered with scars and had knocked out a few teeth. Fortunately, these were all injuries that would almost completely heal with time. What would never heal was the severe head injury he received. The doctors said his brain had been thrown around inside his skull and was now severely swollen and bruised. The swelling was being monitored by a bolt inserted in his skull. The doctors had no idea what he would be like once the swelling went down, if it ever did. All we could do was wait. While we waited I had mixed feelings about my brother’s accident. I felt sorry and scared for him be cause he would probably never have a normal life again, if he ever woke up. But I was also extremely an gry with him because I felt like the condition he was in was his fault. He had been riding his bike at eight o’clock in the morning, after a night of partying with alcohol and drugs. He did not realize was that his judgment was still impaired, because he was under the influence of al cohol and marijuana. His poor judgment caused him to pull out in front of a car going 55 mph. Because the car was going so fast, my brother was thrown over 300 feet. The ambulance arrived, only to find an unidentified body struggling to live. He died twice on the scene. It was a miracle that they finally stabilized him after an hour of work. Because of the severity of his injuries, my brother was flown in a medical helicopter to a hos pital. He spent hours in surgery and finally slipped into a coma. We just waited to see if he would continue to live. I wanted my brother back. I did not want to watch him die. After many long days of waiting and praying, the swelling of his brain subsided and my brother finally opened his eyes. He could barely speak and was now mentally retarded. He didn’t even know who his own family was. As I starred at his bewildered face, I realized that al though he was awake, this was not the same brother I used to have. I took over the role of being the oldest child in my family. We would have to teach him how to do basic things such as walking and talking that we had always taken for granted. After months of being strapped to a bed in the inten sive care unit, my brother was moved to a rehabilita tion center. Each and every day, his condition improved as he went through painful sessions of physical and oc cupational therapy. He began to speak coherent sen tences and could walk slowly with a limp. We thought he would recover completely, but physi cal and mental scars from the accident still remained. The doctors said his brain would never heal because in addition to it being severely bruised, the drugs and alcohol that were in his bloodstream at the time of the accident made it a million times worse. He would never have clear thoughts again. My brother began to have daily hallucinations of traveling to different countries such as France and England. He even dreamed that an atomic bomb had exploded and ended the world. He couldn’t tell what was real and what was an illusion. He felt so frustrated when he told stories of his daily adventures, and he heard responses like, “Are you crazy?” What was frustrating to the rest of us was that he had lost his short-term memory. In addition to not re membering over half of his life, he would forget what someone had just told him. After many long months of rehabilitation, my broth er finally learned how to do basic things to live. Howev er, he will never be able to live without supervision. Today, four years after the accident, my 24-year-old brother hangs out with eighth graders. People his own age do not speak to him because he has a personality disorder. His IQ is 85, he is almost completely blind and barely knows how to read. Basically, he is a social outcast. His scarred body in timidates people; his personality makes people think he’s insane. Drugs ruined my brother’s life. He will never lead a normal life because of one night of what he considered fun. He will never leave home, he will never get an edu cation and he will never even have a family. Last year, the government labeled my brother “per manently disabled” when they decided to give him dis ability checks the rest of his life. He will never be nor mal again. Whenever I look at my brother’s face, I want to ask him, “Was doing drugs worth losing your life? How could you be so stupid?” Drugs are not worth the trouble they cause. Do we know anyone who has benefited from drugs? Is it worth the risk of ending up like my brother? We all hear the stories of rock stars, actors and ath letes dying from drug overdoses. Some of us don’t real ize how damaging drugs are until someone close to us is killed or is permanently disabled. Do tragedies have to strike each one of us before peo ple stop doing drugs? If people decide to have fun with drugs, they should think about the pain they could cause themselves and others. They should recognize that they have a problem and get help before they lose their future. No one wants to end up like my brother. Amy Collier is a sophomore journalism major Mail Call Selena — ambassador of Latin culture, music The immense talent, charisma, and personality of the music star Selena Quintanilla will be sorely missed not only in Texas, but throughout the United States, and many parts of the world. I do not believe the article on April 3 illustrated this artist’s various accomplishments and their impact on a great number of people, especially the global Hispanic populations The vigil held in Corpus Christi for the fatally murdered woman lasted 12 hours, and was attended by many Texans, as well as fans from Miami, California, New York and Mexico. Se lena’s influence was not limited to the South Texas community, as her fame continued to grow to an international level. This 23 year-old achieved more in her short lifetime than many could begin to imagine. Perhaps most importantly, Quin tanilla was an example for many young people, actively promoting both a vigorous mind and a strong body through campaigns for education and abstinence from drugs. Selena embodied the manner in which success could be achieved through perseverance and used her position to positively influence youths in dire need of a role model. Selena also made great headway in achieving Hispanic representation in the music, movie, and television in dustries. In 1994, the artist won a Grammy for Best Mexican-American Album, Selena Live, and was nomi nated for another in 1995 for Amor Prohibido. Though her work was labeled Te- jano, this dynamic artist combined rock, salsa, and cumbia influences in her music. Her vivacious talent knew no limits, as she had concert perfor mances pending in Argentina, Spain and Fherto Rico. Recently appearing in the movie “Don Juan de Marco,” to be released April 7, starring Marlon Brandon and Faye Dunaway, and also recording a song with Bryan Adams, this spirited woman integrated Latin talent and the Hispanic culture into many insti tutions. Selena also had a minor role in a highly popular telenovela, Dos Mu- jeres Un Camino, aired on the global ly number one rated Hispanic pre miere network, Univision. Univision enjoyed especially high rating during the time in which she appeared on the show. Her personality and flare were an instant attraction to Hispanics, es pecially in Texas, and westward to California, and brought her increased fame with fans in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. In her short-lived career, this ab stemious Coca-Cola spokesperson was already worth over $5 million. Howev er, the influence she had on those who admired her, and the Mexican-Ameri can representation she achieved by crossing cultural frontiers is immea surable. I do hope the remarkable Selena Quintanilla will be remembered for her outstanding achievements as a multi-talented Mexican-American artist and a gifted representative of the global Hispanic community. Her death is a great loss to those who would follow her example and learn from her many talents. Catherine Pacheco Class of ’97 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 sub mitted in person at 013 Reed McDonald. A valid student I.D. is required. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call Fax: (409) 845-2647 01 3 Reed McDonald E-mail: Texas A&M University Batt@tamvm1.tamu.edu College Station, TX 77843-1111 LA/‘\y\y\r\r\S The Battalion Established in 1893 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. EDITORIAL BOARD Mark Smith Editor in chid Jay Robbins Heather Winch Senior Managing Managing editor editor for Business Sterling Hayman Opinion editor Erin Hill Asst, opinion editor EDITORIAL Aggie Buck Access The Texas Legislature should pass the bill allowing the expanded use of Aggie Bucks. The bill which now is under consid eration by the Texas House of Repre sentatives to expand the Aggie Bucks debit card system off-campus should be passed. This expansion would bene fit not only students, but the Universi ty and community as well. Currently, Aggie Bucks can only be used for on-campus services and mer chandise. This system limits students to the number of places they are able to spend their money. For many students, the price of textbooks is a major burden each se mester. The current system forces those students purchasing books with Aggie Bucks to shop at the MSC book store. This creates a monopoly and does not allow these students the op tion of comparing prices and, in turn, saving money. * By expanding the debit card system to off-campus establishments, stu dents would have more flexibility in deciding how to spend their Aggie Bucks. This could not only help lessen the financial burden on students, but could also help stimulate the growth of the local economy. Furthermore, the Texas Banking Commission is now questioning the le gality of the Aggie Bucks system. Con cerns have been raised about whether the Aggie Bucks system is in direct vi olation of the Texas Banking Code. Certainly, no one wants the Aggie Bucks system to be abolished. However, the structure of the system should be reorganized so that it is in complete compliance with the Texas Banking Commission and so that it increases benefits to the students of Texas A&M. While expanding the debit card sys tem to off-campus would be beneficial, certain limits must be defined. Stu dents only should be allowed to spend Aggie Bucks on similar services and merchandise that is currently avail able on-campus. Without some re straints, the debit card system would become uncontrollable and could re sult in unnecessary hassles. If the Aggie Buck system is expand ed to other areas, students, the Uni versity and the city could all benefit as a result. The Texas Legislature should end the current monopoly by passing the bill that would allow the use of Ag gie Bucks to be expanded to off-cam- pus establishments. Operation Rescue re-evaluates ‘'neighborly love’ T he biggest problem the anti-abortion movement has is the people in it. Every movement has its obnoxious, banner-waving, screaming in-your-face group. The homosexual popu lation is represented by ACT- UP, the group infamous for “outing” closeted homosexuals whether they want to be outed or not. The animal rights activists have PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), who occasionally throw blood on people wearing furs. Environmentalists have Greenpeace, with its ex treme actions and their members’ willingness to die in the fight to save the environment. These groups do serve some purpose — bringing at tention to their respective causes and occasionally making people sit up and take notice. However, the anti-abortion group goes too far, too often. Operation Rescue is headed by Rev. Flip Benham, and is known and hated nationwide for its policy of heckling, taunting and terrorizing women as they ap proach abortion clinics. It also blockades abortion clin ics at every opportunity. Operation Rescue and its tactics have been a major inspiration to lawmakers, and several laws have been passed to prevent it from bullying and harassing women exercising their legitimate legal rights. Yet once again, it has crossed all reasonable bound aries. This time, even an Aggie is involved. Warren Gilbert, our favorite Texas A&M Scandal King, is once again making national headlines. The problem begins in an abortion clinic in Dallas. “Roe” in Roe v. Wade — Norma McCorvey — is the marketing director for this clinic, so it is fairly well-known. The building in which they lease an office is owned by Gilbert’s company and is man aged by none other than Warren Gilbert himself. According to an April 1 story published in The Houston Post, Gilbert’s company claims that the real estate broker representing the A Choice for Women clinic — back in 1991 — did not make it clear what type of company would be leasing the office space. Apparently, it took them four years to notice. Well, notice it they have, and now their horrible war against the clinic has officially begun. McCorvey has received a letter nearly doubling the clinic’s rent. It specifically stated that it was because their insurance company “substantially increased our annual premium.” This is where Operation Rescue comes in with its dastardly and disgusting ways. They have just leased the office next door — only separated by a wall — to the A Choice for Women clinic and moved in. The laws that define how far hecklers must be from the door to the abortion clinic do not apply in this case because Operation Rescue is actually leasing the prop erty. What a fortuitous and astounding coincidence for the abortion foes. On the first day Benham yelled obnoxious taunts at McCorvey, attempted to stop women going into the clinic and truly showed himself to be an all- around jerk. “We did not orchestrate this. We are not smart enough or shrewd enough. It was almighty God,” Ben ham said. Well, the first part is certainly true. The second is certainly doubtful. On a side note, Gilbert is in trouble with the Depart ment of Housing and Urban Development for money they claim he has misappropriated for federal housing projects — something to the tune of $900,000. Chump change for a rich man like him, right? Too bad about those poor people who needed the housing ... This is also the same Aggie who paid for mainte nance fees on some federally subsidized apartment for football players in 1993. Maybe it is time someone gives him a call and re minds him about the Aggie Code of Honor. And about human decency? He seems to have lost touch with both of these ideas. Maybe these concepts are a little too ab stract for him since they do not deal directly with cash. But Gilbert, has not acted alone in these despica ble actions. Operation Rescue must also shoulder some blame for their offensive, out of line and rep rehensible actions in this horrific tale. In the Bryan-College Station Eagle story, Benham said that it was a coincidence. These coincidences are just so amazing — sort of like when students get ‘deathly ill’ on the day of a test they have not studied for. Abortion is not a decision any woman takes lightly. It is not a decision that can be made by anyone except the woman carrying the fetus. And once that incredibly painful decision is reached, no woman deserves to be put through the trial of deal ing with the rabid people of Operation Rescue. For the women at A Choice For Women clinic, peace and dignity during a tragic choice is no longer an option. Elizabeth Preston Columnist Elizabeth Preston is a junior English major