T A M U
Wednesday
October 11, 1995
^The Battalion
Opinion
13
The Battalion
Editorials Board
Established in 1893
Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views
of the editorials board. They dp 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.
Rob Clark
Editor in Chief
Sterling Hayman
Managing Editor
Kyle Littlefield
Opinion Editor
Elizabeth Preston
Assistant Opinion Editor
Let Them Know
Students should utilize the new
accessibility of A&M student leaders.
With the drastic increase in
the general use fee this semes
ter, many students now are
questioning the strength of their
voice at this University. Some
student leaders, however, are
now attempting to change that.
Student Government has re
cently put great emphasis on
opening the lines of communi
cation between students and
their representatives.
Unfortunately, like real
world politics, A&M politics
usually reflect the more-vocal
groups on campus. Therefore,
Student Government should
find ways to gauge the opinion
of the entire student body
rather than just the outspoken
students on campus.
One way the Student Gov
ernment intends to better repre
sent the opinion of the students
is through an event called “Con
stituency Days.” Through the
program, the student senators
would be more accessible to stu
dents to answer questions and
listen to comments.
With an informal environ
ment, students will be more in
clined to inject their opinions.
The leaders are definitely
taking a step in the right direc-
tion by making themselves
more available to student in
put. However, responsibility
also lies with the students to
become and remain informed
on pertinent issues and to par
ticipate in the decisions made
on campus. Ideally, students
should voice their concerns to
their student leaders.
A number of ways already
exist in which students can ex
press their opinions to their
campus representatives.
Student leaders encourage
contact either by phone, leaving
a message in the Student Sen
ate Office or via e-mail on the
Student Government’s home
page on the World Wide Web.
Student leaders also encour
age students to attend Senate
forums and round table discus
sions to stay informed of propos
als and discussions.
With increased student in
put, student leaders can better
assess the needs and concerns
of the students and, in turn, cre
ate a truly representative
democracy here at A&M .
Anti-homosexual ad
offensive to many
The advertisements placed by
campus-related Christian groups
in recent editions of The Battal
ion are highly offensive and in
sensitive to campus gay and les
bian groups, as well as to people
of other religious backgrounds.
If this propaganda tactic is to
combat Coming Out Week, then it
is a poor strategy.
The continual intolerance di
rected toward minorities,
gay/lesbian groups and foreign
students on this campus is high
ly frustrating.
The type of sentiment as ex
pressed in the advertisement
perpetuates a narrow-minded
ness that detracts from Texas
A&M’s efforts to be considered
“world class.”
Georgia Fox
Graduate Student
Coming Out Week
not for everyone
I would like to point out that
just as Pamela Benson, in her
column concerning Allies, has
classified gays as mistreated
here at A&M, she classifies
'non-gays’ as the “mistreaters.”
Don’t worry. I’m not pleading
reverse discrimination. I can
handle it, as usual.
I don’t take a whole lot of
pride in this week. It has noth
ing to do with me. I guess since
I’m not an “Ally,” then I am a
joke-telling, homophobic, food
throwing, disrespectful Aggie.
Sarah Lewis
Class of’98
Dispose of inserts in
campus trash cans
Having opposable thumbs is a
Wonderful thing. It concerns me
that some Aggies are unable to
take advantage of this versatile
feature of the human anatomy.
For example, the hand mus-
Mail
cles of some Aggies are so weak
that they are unable to grasp a
copy of The Battalion firmly
enough to prevent the insert
from falling out.
Trash cans have been placed
by some newsstands to spare
these disadvantaged Aggies
embarrassment.
Perhaps the University could
also offer a kinesiology course fo
cused on the development of the
hand. It is a shame that atro
phied hand muscles are forcing
Ags to litter their own campus.
Sara Lloyd
Class of ’98
More ideas for
culture requirement
For once, I agree with Chris
Stidvent. He proposed the need
to expand the “multicultural”
curriculum. However, we “con
servative white people” would
like a fair hearing.
Simply adding more classes
doesn’t qualify as fairness, but
adding classes that promoted
the opposite view would be truly
open-minded.
I have a few propositions of
my own. Classes such as: HIST
700: Scientific Evidence for the
Existence of God; Religious Stud
ies 489: Biblical Reliability; or
POLS 412: Conservatism: Com
mon Sense and Fact.
Most Ags are not interested in
only learning about cultures like
their own. I know that other cul
tures are worthy of my attention
and study time. But let me choose
those cultures that I study.
Dustin J. Roberts
Class of ’99
The Battalion encourages letters to the
editor and will print as many as space al
lows. 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 and accuracy. Letters may be
submitted in person at 013 Reed McDon
ald. A valid student ID is required. Letters
may also be mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald Fax:
Texas A&M University (409) 845-2647
College Station, TX E-mail:
77843-111 1 Batt@tamvm1 .tamu.edu
Media fueled flames of O.J. trial
The camera eye of the media turned the O.J. trial into a ridiculous circus
A merica’s fa
vorite specta
tor sport” has
just ended. Sadly
enough, it occurred
shortly after we
learned the rules and
jargon of the game.
Judge Lance Ito
had even imple
mented a two-minute warning for those of
us who had to make a quick potty break or
raid the fridge.
On the up side, rumor has it that O.J.
Simpson will be a special guest analyst for
the Menendez Brothers’ new trial, scheduled
to air later this fall.
The sad reality is that we as a nation
watched a tragic event unfold in front of
our eyes.
But the truly disturbing idea is that we
loved it.
Many of us sat on our butts day after day
with our remote controls surgically implanted
in the palm of our hand and watched whatev
er the media fed us about the trial.
We learned Judge Ito’s favorite color is
green, and that he drinks a warm glass of
milk each night to help him relax.
We learned from Defense Attorney F. Lee
Bailey that excessive drinking may impede
an individual’s ability to perform a simple
task, such as questioning a witness.
Unfortunately, the media forgot to con
sistently remind us of the real victims: The
children who lost their mother, the family
who lost a son and the two people who lost
their lives.
Instead, each day we were assaulted and
saturated by race-segregated polls and devi
ously constructed racial tensions.
The media as a whole never seemed to
care about the substance of the trial.
Rather, it hungered for the conflict the tri
al could produce.
Like deprived vultures, reporters cir
cled the attorneys, the judge and even
the families of jurors to pick at fallen
scraps of anything resembling a story.
The media quickly converted a horrif
ic event into entertainment.
I am truly surprised a soundtrack has
not yet been released for the trial. After
all it was essentially equal to a TV ver
sion of Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers.
The news people created an atmos
phere portraying the black community
as supporting Mr. Simpson as
a martyr ar he
white comma, dty
condemning him
as a murde -er.
Was this a
fair trial?
Were the facts
reported equally?
The answer to
both of these
questions is un
equivocally “no.”
The media’s
persistent de
mands for the spectacular created a con
stant atmosphere of animosity.
The prosecution was out to humiliate the
defendant, the defense was out to humiliate
the Los Angeles Police Department, and
Judge Ito was forced to preside over a court
room melodrama.
We lost our dignity and our faith in a
quickly fading justice system. All of this
thanks to the relentless media.
Had the media not hyped this trial to
the extent it did, the verdict would have
been presented, and life for those involved
would have moved forward without any
further adieu.
However, the news people had an end
less and unnecessary urge to pull out their
microscopes and further antagonize a diffi
cult situation.
I am not saying the media should ignore
events, however, the media should be re
sponsible and sensitive in situations such
as this trial.
So many lives were affected, from the vic
tims to the jury members, and the press fol
lowed them all.
As an individual I firmly believe in the
ideology of a free press.
However, I strongly disapprove
of cameras in the court
rooms of America.
I tend to agree
with an audience
.member from the
ABC program View
point who stated
quite simply, “the
courtroom is not
the amphitheater.”
It is a morbid sit
uation that an esti
mated 90 percent of
Americans watched
the trial of the cen
tury’s verdict.
This is especially startling and sad when
compared to the number of Americans who
vote in presidential elections — less than
50 percent.
Even our grand old University was
sucked into the media circus.
On campus the day the verdict was to be
announced, one could hear students and fac
ulty asking each other if they were going to
watch the reading of the verdict.
Unfortunately, the media created a circus
with this trial — and we were the clowns.
Juan Hernandez is a senior
psychology major
Animal rights should start at home
College students often adopt pets for all the wrong reasons, then ignore them
u A nimals are
/\ not toys.
JLJLThey are
sentient beings who,
like us, require
proper care to flour
ish,” says People for
the Ethical Treat
ment of Animals, in
one of their Internet
fact sheets.
Take a look around, however, and you’ll see
animals don’t always get the care they need.
In recent years, animal rights awareness
has grown, thanks to high-visibility groups
like PETA and celebrity supporters of animal
rights, including Paul and Linda McCartney,
Kim Basinger, Brigitte Bardot and k.d. lang.
More protest about animal testing resulted
in a huge boom in eco-marketing, with compa
nies like Bath & Body Works and The Body
Shop pledging to the consumer that none of
their products had been tested on animals.
Aretha Franklin’s fur coat-wearing fiasco
at Clinton’s inauguration — she wore one,
and shouldn’t have — showed how hot under
the collar our society could get about minks
and other exotic creatures exploited for their
pelts when given the opportunity.
But despite the heightened awareness
about animals in the corporate captivity of
cosmetic companies or fur coat manufactur
ers. there is still a group of animals that is
abused and exploited with nary a thought.
Examine some living conditions of the
pets in your apartment complex, for starters,
and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Growing up in a college town, I learned early
on that one of the particularly odd, yet fairly
typical college student behaviors was having
- pets but not taking proper care of them.
My college student neighbors had a
big black Labrador who would constant
ly lope over to the edge of the yard and
I* stick his nose through the fence, looking
for attention on our front lawn. Appar
ently, his side of the fence was a pretty
gH^ depressing place. All of his playmates
lllll were either in studying or out partying.
Some students get pets for fun. This is
the “I’ve been kinda bored lately. I think I’m
going to get a puppy” school of thought.
Perhaps the nurturing maternal or pater
nal instinct kicks in, and a pet seems the
easiest way to satisfy it.
Too few students think about the animal’s
needs when they decide a new companion
would be fun. While this new puppy, or kitten,
or fish or bird may be delightful, a pet owner
may grow tired of the daily care required.
The pet becomes a nuisance. The pet be
comes neglected. The pet ends up at places
like the Humane Society which are filled be
yond capacity with animals nobody w r ants.
An animal is not merely an addition to the
entertainment center in the living room. No
matter how cute, an animal is a dependent.
Pets, especially babies, need round-the-
clock care. They must be thought of just like
their human counterparts: Helpless without
the care of a mother.
If you are out of your apartment more
hours then you are in it, you probably don’t
have the time needed to care for a small ani
mal. Ask yourself this: If something hap
pened during the day, and you weren’t re
turning until hours later, after studying and
hanging out with friends, who would take
care of your pet?
Before adopting, PETA suggests asking
yourself the following questions to gauge
your appropriateness as a pet owner:
• Will someone have the time and patience
to exercise and housebreak the animal?
• Is someone prepared to pay for food, ac
cessories and inoculations?
• Is someone prepared to pay for veteri
nary treatment including spaying and neu
tering or emergencies?
An animal is not merely an ad
dition to the entertainment cen
ter in the living room. No mat
ter how cute, it is a dependent.
As PETA says, “Adopting an animal is
like adopting a child in that it means mak
ing a lifelong commitment to care for and
spend time wdth the animal and to provide
for him or her in case of one s absence.”
Pets are not good presents. Pets should not
be ‘learning experiences’ for children. Pets are
not for your entertainment or comfort.
Considering the lifestyles typical to stu
dents at this University (late nights, exces
sive time spent in a library carol, all-night
study sessions at The Kettle, infrequent gro
cery shopping), it seems unlikely that many
of us who have pets are really capable of giv
ing them the care needed.
Everyone may be well aware of the abuse
that takes place inside laboratories. Just don’t
forget what could go on at home, too, if pet
owners don’t take appropriate responsibility
for the life that’s been entrusted to them.
Erin Hill is a graduate pursuing
a teaching certificate
j
* MM S