The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 08, 1996, Image 5

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    :h 8, 1996
ISt
:t fall and
The Battalion
Friday
March 8, 1996
Opinion
Page 5
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Jason
J!
Glen
Columnist /
■
Y ou are five to 50 years of
age. Your spouse is caus
ing problems in your
marriage. You smoke, eat, pop
pills or see a counselor all the
time because your life is too
stressful. Your boss is unrea
sonable. You pay too much in
taxes. Your kids are running
away or doing drugs. Your local
and national government rep
resentatives don’t do their job.
God is very unfair to you, and
you can’t understand why.
What are you?
A Whiner, and unfortunately
only one of many in this coun
try. If this does not apply to you
then don’t take offense, but it
does apply to too many people
in our society. Within the last
few decades our country has be
come a haven for crybabies. We
are living in a society that is los
ing its responsibility and losing
it quickly. It may sound funny,
but nothing is anyone's fault
anymore. It is either someone
else's fault or some kind of nat
ural phenomenon.
This lack-of-responsibility
trend is destroying our nation.
It slows down the learning
process of children and limits
what we as a society can at
tain. Many people blame their
problems on others when it is
usually their own fault.
This explains why there are
so many lawyers in our coun
try. It also explains why it is so
hard for our government to get
anything done. As soon as our
government decides to stand
its ground on something, we
get rid of it and elect someone
new who will be the next to be
abused. People manipulate
politicians and government of
ficials more than politicians
manipulate the people. We
whine and groan about what is
going on up on Capitol Hill and
about what they have or
haven't done for us; yet there
are lots of us out there they
can't read, write or point out
all the states on a map. These
people have no right to com
plain about our government
when they don’t even try to
comprehend our political and
economical system, let alone
our written language.
Another example of this lack
of responsibility is our judicial
system and the jurors who
make the decisions. People are
literally getting away with mur
der because they were raised
wrong or they had a bad day.
Life isn’t fair sometimes and we
need to realize that blaming
problems on others or variables
only delays the recovery they
could attain if they would only
get off their rears and use some
motivation, heart, responsibility
and intelligence to better their
lives. Temporarily having your
feelings hurt or not being able
to attain some position in life
that you want is no excuse to
start cursing out the president
or Congress, or go out and harm
someone mentally or physically.
Rich people say that poor
people drag down our society.
Poor people say that rich people
are greedy and keep all the
money in this country for them
selves. Minorities complain that
majorities hold them down. Ma
jorities complain that minorities
hold them back. Parents com
plain that their children don’t
obey. Teenagers complain that
their parents are too strict.
The list goes on. If you actu
ally look at it all together, it is
a pretty sickening sight to be
hold. All of these corrupted
thoughts could be remedied by
personal responsibility.
Imagine a world where all
people were responsible for
their own actions. It would be
an awesome place to live. It
would not be a sinless place
with a perfect government, but
at least we would cut our bu
reaucracy to a minimum and
we wouldn’t have to endure any
more of those horrid talk shows.
So quit whining and suck it up.
Jason T. Glen is a sophomore
political science major
New Internet rules stand in the way of reason
Jeff
Nolen
A ttention computer
users. You can now
rest at ease. Your
government has taken
steps to make sure that you
don’t have to go through
the arduous task of think
ing for yourselves.
The intellectual training
wheels appear in the form of
the Telecommunications Re
form Act, which Congress recently passed
by an overwhelming margin. Much of the
act deals with the deregulation of the
broadcast media, but another section of the
the act is slightly more interesting. That
part has to do with the regulation of what
is or is not “obscene” material.
Television stations have long been re
stricted by law concerning the material and
language that they are able to broadcast
into our homes. Now, television manufac
turers are required to include a V-chip, en
abling individuals to filter what subject
matter is allowed to be displayed on the
screen. The V-chip is a good idea. It allows
an individual to control the ideas and im
ages to which that person is exposed.
The legislation crosses the line, howev
er, when it expands the umbrella of censor
ship to the Internet.
By treating the Internet in the same
manner as the broadcast media, the act
makes it illegal to say any of seven “bad”
words online, to discuss abortion openly
and to discuss certain parts and functions
of the human body in any but the most
clinical of terms.
I don’t want to sound paranoid, but
doesn’t this whole scenario seem the slight
est bit Orwellian to anyone?
And besides, isn’t abortion legal? I
looked it up; it is. Coincidentally, sex is also
legal, and as I’ve been told from time to
time, somewhat enjoyable. Now I defy any
one to tell me why people shouldn’t be able
to discuss perfectly legal
activities over the Inter-
f. net. Ironically, no one has
ever attempted to prevent
people from discussing il
legal activities such as
drug use and murder.
I have surfed the In
ternet often, and for vari
ous reasons. Never, in all
my experience, have I
come across an image or page that I had
not personally chosen to expose myself
to. The Net works on the same principle
as our fine campus library: There is in
formation available, but you have to
know what you want to be able to find
it. Even then, you might not be able to
find it.
Simply put, no one is being shown
material who has not explicitly at
tempted to find that material.
Despite the irrationality of
the new law, it fails an
even greater test. The
act doesn’t recog
nize the rights
guaranteed to
American citizens
by a rather ob
scure legal docu
ment written by
James Madison —
the Bill of Rights.
The willingness of
Congress and the
president to ignore
these rights is a
slap in the face to
any intelligent
American.
The greatest
paradox of the
Telecommunications
Act is that it was borne of a legislature that
claims to be fighting tooth and nail to keep
the government out of our lives. Granted,
the act received wide, bipartisan support,
but its passage shows the true colors of our
fair Congress and its conservative leader
ship. The people who passed the act are not
in favor of less government. They are in fa
vor of a government that is allowed to con
trol the information to which its citizens
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can be exposed.
For a group of people who find abor
tion so offensive, I find it interesting that
they do not flinch at such a miscarriage
of justice.
The Telecommunication Reform Act
does not enable common people to think for
themselves. Rather, it selectively deletes
ideas and images from our collective con
sciousness to ensure that no one adopts
values that are “wrong.”
Now that is what I call obscene.
Jeff Nolen is a senior psychology major
ISs
Affiliations left behind at the polls
E ddie Mur
phy usually
isn’t re
garded as a mas
ter political
strategist. But he
did express some
words of wisdom
in 1992 during
the presidential
race between
George Bush and Bill Clinton.
“Well, I’m gonna have some
body’s foot up my ass,” Mur
phy said, “so I might as well
vote for whoever has the
smallest foot.”
This seems to be the prob
lem for most of voting Ameri
ca. Once you get past the
diehard Democrats and Repub
licans, the voting population
seems to be stuck between the
lesser of two
evils, or whoev
er has the
smallest foot.
This uncer
tainty is to be
expected. De
spite what can
didates like to
believe, it is difficult for regu
lar citizens to identify with
wealthy politicians.
This is what makes the
diehards so unusual. Regard
less of the issue, some auto
matically vote in the direction
of their favored party. Any
politician who tiptoes too close
to the opposing border is sure
to be shot down. When was the
last time a major Republican
candidate came
out as pro-
choice? And for
that matter, a
Democrat who
wanted to jack
up military
spending?
These ideas
are clearly
marked in the
“don’t cross this line” mentality
of American politics. What par
ty leaders say becomes the
rule, which trickles down into
the stream of party supporters.
But the arguments of Democ
rat vs. Republican and liberal
vs. conservative are more con
cerned with labels than with is
sues. This begins the dangerous
practice of stereotypes, a prac
tice that seems to have grown.
"Well, I'm gonna have somebody's
foot up my ass, so I might as well vote
for the person with the smallest foot."
— Eddie Murphy
comedian
For example, I grew up as
an Army brat (the child of a
military parent). I was bom
barded with conservatism for
18 years, so I pretty much
thought of myself as a Repub
lican. Although I didn’t pay
much attention to politics, I
knew who I was supposed to
support. Ronald Reagan was a
king; Walter Mondale was a
moron. George Bush was a
leader; Michael Dukakis was a
loser.
The Democrats were a mys
tery to me, until I finally fig
ured out the main differences
between the two parties. That,
plus the freedom of college,
forced me to examine my naive
political beliefs.
I had escaped the rigid en
vironment that screamed “con
servative!” — military men
and women everywhere, bark
ing out orders to their troops.
But stereotyping runs ram
pant everywhere. When people
hear I come from a military
family, I’m immediately
thrown into the Republican
circle. When people hear I am
pro-choice, I am stuck with the
Democrat label.
Which political party people
choose to affiliate themselves
with should not be determined
by a particular belief in one is
sue. Adopting the creed of a po
litical party over individualism
begets assimilation.
With the Republicans bat
tling it out for positioning in
the presidential race, voters
who make their decisions
based on character, not party,
have little to hope for. There
are the extreme racist views of
Pat Buchanan, and the severe
ly out-of-date beliefs of Sen.
Bob Dole.
To borrow from Murphy,
they’ve both got big-ass feet.
Rob Clark is a senior
journalism major
Mail
Student Advisory
Board wants input
The PITS Student Advisory
Board would like the student
body to know that there is a
way to voice your concerns and
ideas to PTTS. This committee
was created last semester to
solicit input and advise PTTS
on meeting the needs of the
student body. If you have input
concerning parking our shuttle
bus issues, please feel free to e-
mail us at:
kaml624.acs.tamu.edu.
PTTS Student Advisory
Board is a University commit
tee, and anyone wishing to serve
on the committee can pick up an
application in the Student Gov
ernment Office in Koldus, the
Student FYograms Office in the
MSC, or Multicultural Services
in the MSC. Applications are
due April 10.
To specifically address the
Rec Sports parking issue, PTTS
is handling the situation as re
quested of it by the Rec Center.
Finally, we want to point out
that PTTS is making an effort
to serve the student body bet
ter. Their participation in this
committee is one example.
PTTS has also made an effort
to inform students in advance
of changes in parking condi
tions by placing ads in the Bat
talion. Last semester, Bus Op
erations provided shuttle ser
vice for the t.u. game as a re
sponse to student input. The
service ran smoothly and pro
vided effective. PTTS hopes to
provide the service for all home
games next year.
We hope this letter has
demonstrated the proactive effort
PTTS has made this year.
Kim Matthews
Class of ’95
Accompanied by 3 signatures
Aggie conservatives
on the right track
As always, Chris Stidvent’s
argument is cute and consis
tent. Or better, thoughtfully
worded like a smart criminal
careful not to leave tracks.
Don’t get me wrong, I hear what
you’re saying, Chris, but your
validity is shaky in my eyes.
Saying that “true conserva
tives” simply want to “be left
alone to make more money”
and refuse to acknowledge
“poor people and social respon
sibility” is as foolish a general
ization as saying that liberals
are all too weak and ignorant
to stand up for what is right
and instead take the lesser
route by supporting everything.
I analogize this to any dishon
est campaign, political or per
sonal, where becoming a
chameleon is the safest bet for
success.
The “social conscience” of
conservatives is just as wrong
for supporting old values and
tradition as the liberals'
thoughtless view that these
things are a waste of time. Of
ficially voiced “good reasons” to
support a good thing (that has
been more than consistently
supported for years) is not nec
essary to prove it true. Unless,
of course, the one questioning
is unable to accept the ideas of
someone else he accepts as his
own. Do I smell a contradic
tion? But if you need a pacifier
that badly, here are some “good
reasons” to support tradition:
The knowledge the past gives
us about the present and fu
ture, the growth and equality
generated by celebrating them,
and the years of statistics and
incomparable support of Texas
A&M to prove it.
Perhaps the more one lacks
of their own integrity and di
rection, the more he will shift
the blame and question to
those who do have these quali
ties—the “right” ones, if you
will. Including racism: Yes it
exists and is wrong, but it is
equally wrong to say racism is
more prevalent among conserv
ative Aggies than anywhere
else. Just like other problems,
it is recognized and should be
dealt with, but I argue that Ag
gies are smart for focusing on
the positive issues—after all,
the positives are the bigger is
sues around here anyway.
What good does it ever do to
stare back at your mistakes?
Aggie conservatives aren’t
about avoiding and rationaliz
ing — WE THINK!
Marissa Anne Agosta
Class of ’9 7
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may also be mailed to:
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