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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1996)
h 19,1996 The Battalion bile ise - Japanese in reliabili- merican ve- le gap, Con- >nday. l, the luxu- nd Nissan, l the fewest ay owners, aturn and g American BMW were ■opeans. ss creates a lat’s pretty ihe board," o runs the isting pro rate some- lity’ — cars stall, have oday’s cars ly well.” puttering, arting that e cars and lisappeared vehicles, computers ollution. r area where ned out the aid anti-lock ‘it has made sn more rou- s’ auto issue, arch 26, ana- :rs have had ir and truck es the data imer Reports -ange from a ies to an en- ■ Reports sur- s of American problems per s of Japanese an 50. attention to eports says 3 because for i annual auto Me. View e istrict TUESDAY March 19, 1996 Opinion Native Americans still face struggles T he streets of Santa Fe, N.M., were decorated with tourists on Satur day. They walked in and out of shops, cash and credit cards in hand, all in search of some small piece of the Southwest to carry home with them. If they had lifted their eyes to meet the eyes of the sellers, they would have come face- to-face with the lega cy of a shameful side of American history. Looking up from the silver jewelry and the pottery, a tourist would have seen the red face of a Navajo Indian relegated by over three centuries of bad government policies to peddling traces of their culture as a means of existence. But none of the tourists looked up. None but me. What I saw was not a people of bravery and independence. I saw a shadow of a once-great culture now reduced to total de pendence on the fascination of tourists and government handouts for their livelihood. They sat in front of the oldest public build ing in the United States with their work laid out in front of them on blankets. And they waited, ironically hoping that tourists would find their work valuable enough to hand them green pieces of paper adorned with the faces of past American presidents who stole their lands away from them. Worse than having been stripped of their dignity is that they have been stripped of any means to regain it. In 1990, the American In dian population was 1,937,391, of which 225,298 were Navajo. Forty-eight percent of Navajo Indians live below the poverty level, compared with 12.3 percent of the general population, 9.4 percent of whites, 31.3 per cent of blacks and 27.3 per cent of Hispanics. Although the Navajo’s poverty rate is greater than that of many other Indian tribes, all have poverty rates well above the rest of the population. Gone are the great white men like An drew Jackson and others whom we could blame for the destruction of American Indi an culture. They have been replaced by gen erations of government bureaucrats whose policies have been to place Band-Aids on the mortal wounds of a dying culture. America has cleaned its guilty conscience by naming professional sports teams Braves, Indians and Chiefs. And America has turned a deaf ear to the pleas of Native Americans because they have been given a slice of the great gambling industry. Ignoring color in.the people less fortunate than us is not an isolated occurrence. Right here at A&M we choose to ignore the color of the persons in poverty around us. We ignore the color of the people that clean our dorm rooms and serve our food. The racial inequalities of our com unity escape our notice because we are accustomed to them. It is a sad fact, however, that we carry the ability to ignore injustices with us when we travel, even when We are unfamil iar with their nature. By ignoring the plight of the Navajo Indi ans of Santa Fe, tourists concede to the idea that there is nothing left to be done. While there may be no easy solutions to some so cial problems, however, this is no reason to turn our backs on those who suffer while we enjoy the luxury of a vacation. Elaine Mejia is a senior political science major Powell deserves better than sidekick status T he race for the Republi can presi- . dential nomina tion is all but over, with Sen. Bob Dole tri umphing over the evil forces of Pat Buchanan and Steve Forbes. Seems appropriate enough, considering Dole was one of the signers of the Constitution. But before Dole can even sa vor his victory, the next chal lenged looming large in the dis tance: the choice for his vice psidential running mate. Possible candidates include a trio of governors — John Engler from Michigan, Tommy Thomp son from Wisconsin and George Voinovich from Ohio. But all eyes turn to the one man who could catapult Dole ahead of Bill Clinton. Dole can’t win without Gen. Colin Powell. The only problem is, Powell doesn’t want it. And why should he? Clearly, Powell can hold his own when it comes to sparking the nation’s inter est. He has never run for any politi cal office, but be cause of his im pressive military career he was seen as the front runner to chal lenge Clinton in November. But Powell chose to walk away from the spotlight. Well, he tried to anyway. In a recent survey by the Wall Street Journal, Powell was the only person who could defeat Clinton in a hypothetical elec tion, defeating the incumbent by 47 percent to 38 percent. By comparison, Clinton trounced ' Dole 53 percent to 34. This logic, of course, is not without its flaws. By never enter ing the race, Powell escaped cer tain scrutiny, an intense exami nation into his character that would have tested his political pa tience. His escape will be short lived, however, if he throws his hat in the ring for vice president. And despite the wooing efforts of Dole, and apparently former FYesident George Bush, Powell isn’t interested, and not all party leaders ^re ready for a Dole- Powell ticket. Leading the Powell witch hunt is Buchanan, who has gone so far as to threaten defection from the party if Powell is cho sen. Much of this is because of Powell’s un-Republican pro- choice stance on abortion. The idea that one issue can define a political party affiliation is ridiculous, but then, that pretty much goes with the territory when it comes to Buchanan. But he does have a point in that Powell is not a typical politician. Instead of wallowing in political gibberish, he has spent his life defending his coun try. But most impressive is his demeanor. Powell simply con ducts himself with dignity and maturity at all times. Candi dates do more trash talking than basketball players these days, and political bashing seems to be more important than the issues. Somehow, Powell seems to transcend the babble. Granted, he hasn’t been thrown into the fires of a Republican debate, and he hasn’t had to deal with tbe rhetoric and accusations from other candidates. Some say Pow ell might have withered under such scrutiny. But even if he had run and not won the nomination, Powell would have remained a class act. The verbal jabbing that Buchanan, Dole and Forbes have thrived on would have been lost on Powell. But in the role of vice presi dent, Powell would have to take a back seat to a man who seems shaky on his own vision. Dole’s at traction to Powell is obvious, but there’s not much in it for Powell. Powell has even said reports of him running are “irritating.” The savior of the Republican party has got better things to do. And playing second fiddle just won’t do. Rob Clark is a senior journalism major fou liave reached the office of Colin Powell ... If ^/our call is about my nmimic for vice president, press 1... If your call is about another Campaign role for me, press 2.~ If your call is about iny plans for the presidential race four years from now, press 3... A j ii the pew Newtek JmMaryQaolam Mail Qaii. Disabled Aggies run rampant on campus At this time, it seems appro priate to congratulate Dr. Bowen and the registrar’s of fice for their new admittance Policy on disabled and handi capped students. It seems that the percentage of disabled and handicapped stu dents must be at an all-time high because as I walk around cam pus, it seems that every handi capped parking spot is being uti lized, and even some disabled drivers must park in other re served lots. It is great to see that the University is diversifying and reaching out to all people. If you have not noticed this phenomenon, just look for all the handicapped parking hang- tags that are being used daily on campus. They are every where. Just wait outside Block er or Wehner to see the handi capped spots fill up with cars, and their drivers run into their classes just before it is too late. On some campuses, handi capped parking may be a prob lem, but not here in Aggieland. I am glad to see that opportu nities opening for the disabled and am also glad to see the good Aggies of A&M are not abusing the handicapped park ing system. David Minor Graduate Student 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 Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: Batt@tamvm1.tamu.edu Page 11 The Battalion Established in 1893 Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the editorials 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. Editorials Board Sterling Hayman Editor in Chiej Stacy Stanton Managing Editor Michael Landauer Opinion Editor Jason Brown Assistant Opinion Editor Altered Access RTFS should warn the disabled of changes in parking and ramp access. Parking, Transit and Traf fic Services threw a road block into the daily lives of disabled students recently when it shuffled parking lot spaces in parking area 23, near the Sterling C. Evans Library, which cost the dis abled students several gener al-use handicap spaces. Although the switch can be viewed as a necessary evil, the manner in which PTTS carried it out cannot. Taking away parking spots from students, espe cially the spots of disabled students, without notice shows a certain disregard for those students’ well-being. The shuffling has already caused at least one conflict between PTTS and a student on crutches. This conflict, and any oth ers that may have occurred, could have been avoided if PTTS would ha e adequately notified the student body, or at least those students af fected, in advance. PTTS could have simply posted fliers around the parking area and the library, or called Support Services for Students with Disabilities to inquire about the best way to notify the students. Instead, disabled students found out the hard way when they drove to parking area 23 and discovered that the spaces had been moved. PTTS justifies the move, saying a total of three gener al-use handicap spaces were lost as a result of the shuf fling, and that Texas A&M still has more spaces than the Americans with Disabili ties Act requires. Nevertheless, those three spaces will impact disabled students needing access to the library. PTTS could have made a positive move by re locating three reserved facul ty spaces for a short time and replacing them with gen eral-use handicap spaces. Instead, PTTS opted for an easy way out, making it more difficult for students to find a way in. Southwest customers get what they pay for back. Af- spending a week in various places across Texas and the United States, Aggies are back in Ag gieland, dealing with the pressures of tests, bills and a campus inundated with campaign signs. But I have to be honest with you. I am glad to be back. And I’ll give you two words why: Southwest Airlines. It all seemed simple enough when I saw the advertisement for my flight two months ago. I think it was the unbelievably low fares for a round trip from Houston to Baltimore that sold me. As I made the reservation and paid for the flight, I thought I was get ting the deal of the century. But in reality, I was setting myself up for the flight from hell. My first mistake was missing my 7 a.m. flight on Saturday morning because of the lingering effects of a fun night with some friends of mine in Houston. Hav ing to fly stand-by on any airline is a big pain in the rear; having to fly stand-by on Southwest is worse than poking your eyeball out with a big wooden spoon (well, maybe not that bad, but at least as bad as stabbing your pinky finger with a “spork” from Taco Bell). Southwest does not have re served seating. As a result, lines that are probably half a mile long form at various gates throughout the airport, snaking around seats, trash cans and various other stationary objects as people desperately seek a green plastic pass that enables them to board the plane. Each plastic pass has a number on it. At boarding time, after helping the screaming kids, confused el derly and other passengers “needing assistance” onto the plane, the person behind the gate gets on the P.A. and says, “Numbers one through 30 can board at this time.” I approached a huge mass of people, pushing and shoving their way toward the boarding ramp with no regard for their fel low passengers. Men were push ing women, women were clawing at men, and youngsters were kicking adults in the shins as they all jockeyed for position to get a good seat. I finally strug gled to the ramp, noticing that most of the people had numbers that were much higher than 30. Upon boarding the plane, I real ized the struggle had not yet ceased. Now I had to fight for room in the overhead comp artm ents. Following 10 minutes of strug gling with my backpack, I suc cessfully squeezed it in a hole the size of a grapefruit. I began to realize what women must go through during childbirth. Then I sat down in an aisle seat and prepared to take off. However, my preparations proved premature when I heard a flight attendant get on the air plane P.A. “Folks, we have unfortunately booked more seats on this flight than we have room. If anyone would like to give up his or her seat, Southwest will refund the value of your ticket and give you . a travel voucher worth $200,” she said. 1 No one moved. The attendant made another attempt. “Please ... if there is anyone out there who will help us out, we’d really appreciate it. And don’t forget that we’ll give you a voucher worth $200 for another flight on Southwest Airlines.” Still no one made a move. The attendant became desperate. “OK everyone, we’re begging now. We’ll take you to dinner and a movie if you give up your seat... Anyone?... We’ll put your eldest child through college ... Please!” I felt sorry for the poor gal, but then I realized it was Southwest’s fault for overbooking its flights. Someone finally stood up and gave up his seat, so we were able; to take off. By the way, Southwest does not offer any meals on any of their flights. However, it does give out peanuts, and it gives each passen ger three packages. I noticed hun dreds of packages of superfluous peanuts on the ground when I got off the plane, which was another terrible struggle. For those who have flown Southwest before, this column will probably bring back some repressed memories of your par ticular experience. For those who have not, remember my sto ry, and don’t let the cheap rates suck you into the hellacious ex perience known as Southwest Airlines. r l ; Chris Miller is a sophomore English major
