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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1996)
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Irinks) tin how ffl® eep havinp ole whole jet into k its, and oti r actions, intake o(s lying out i your hot ;aid. “Dos you have-' 9.” the pe r 'er soffit ifferefl 1 ling, a 1 be dif aid. “S° 3e it as an.” te ^ool THURSDAY August 1, 1 996 OPINION Page 5 Sex offenders need help, not humiliation M aybe it’s just because I’m a wimp, but when I go running at one in the morning, I spend half the time looking behind me to make sure I’m not be ing followed. Recently, one of my friends was research ing sex offenders for a speech class. After sharing her re search with me, I was even more con vinced there was some sick-minded indi vidual hiding behind every bush I passed. Many parents have the same fears for their children, especially when convicted pedophiles return to their hometowns af ter serving jail time. After being released from jail, Roger Bourgeois lived in Edmonton, Alberta, until the media and the police warned the community of his new residency. The community responded with protests until Bourgeois moved to the small town of Elkford. Parents in Elkford reacted by pa trolling the schoolyards and picketing Bourgeois’ house. In the United States, a law requiring citizens to be informed when a convicted sex offender moves into the community was upheld by the New Jersey Supreme Court last year. “Megan’s Law” is named in memory of a 7-year-old girl, Megan Kanka, who was raped and murdered in the home of a man who was twice convicted of sexually assaulting young girls. The reasoning behind the law is if Megan’s parents had only known a sex offender was living in their neighbor hood, Megan would still be alive. Although this might be true, the fact is that if Megan’s parents had taught her not to go into the houses of strangers, she might also be alive. The problem with Megan’s Law is that the community’s typical reaction upon Learning a sex offender is moving into the community is to chase the sex offender out of town. In 1993, residents of a small Califor nia town burned the a sex offender’s home to the ground after they were noti fied of his new residency. While this may have caused him to leave town, he had to move somewhere. There is no secluded island where we can ship all of our sex offenders, and the cost of locking them away for ever is prohibitive. The issue for released sex offenders is whether justice has been served or if citi zens have a right to take justice into their own hands, which is exactly what happens when a community learns of a sex offender’s relocation. On the other hand, about 25 percent of child molesters recommit crimes. There fore, there is obviously something wrong with the system, which goes way beyond Megan’s Law. It would be easy to say the best pre vention for repeated sex offenses is in creased punishment, but there is more to a sex offense than to an average crime, especially if it is viewed as a mental illness. Remedies such as group therapy, drugs and even chemical castration can help to keep sex offenders from recom mitting crimes. One clinic found that fewer than 10 percent of 626 patients committed sexual offenses after being treated with a combi nation of group and drug therapy. However, justice must be served. In 1992, rapists spent an average of five measly years in prison, and 43 per cent of all felons convicted of sex offenses received non-prison sentences. Today, prison time is increasing; un fortunately, treatment in jail is decreas ing, which means that those who really do need help aren’t getting it. There must be a balance between lock ing away pedophiles for the rest of their lives and giving them a chance to prove they are ready to move on, and not just to a different community. Heather Pace is a Class of ’99 English major HEATHER PACE Columnist 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 Stacy Stanton Editor in Chief Dave Winder Managing Editor Jason Brown Opinion Editor David Taylor City Editor Degree Planning The discussion on encouraging early graduation should move forward carefully. At the Board of Regents meeting last Thursday, Texas A&M administra tors and regents recognized something many students already know: It takes a long time to graduate from A&M. The vast majority of undergraduate students spend more than the tradi tional four years completing their de grees. Regents and administrators are rightly studying ways to decrease the time students spend at the University. However, A&M policy-makers should approach this sensitive subject carefully. Many students have good reasons for taking longer to graduate, and some proposed incentives could have negative impacts on them. For example, Texas A&M President Ray Bowen floated the idea of mandato ry summer school. Yet summer is an im portant time for students to earn money and gain valuable work experience through internships and other jobs. Regent Robert Allen suggested full time student status be raised from 12 to 15 hours. But some students, even those taking as many as 17 hours, could be placed in a difficult situation if they want to drop a course. Dropping a course could knock them below full-time status and jeopardize financial aid and scholarships for the following semester. There are other possible incentives, however, that deserve consideration. Increasing and focusing financial aid on the first four years of college would diminish the need for some students to hold jobs while attending school. This would allow them to carry a larger course load and enable them to gradu ate earlier. Also, administrators and depart ments could increase the flexibility of curriculum requirements so that when students change majors, more credits will count toward the new major. Although the discussion on encourag ing earlier graduation is just beginning, it holds promise. It is an important sub ject and deserves careful consideration. UlSIbtTo frLUSTbo VlAftf You To po vfHAT ylfv«T 'KIMiMAli.esS •Y WAN THE much. They taieY SAYT--i &ercRC wrfsM Jewish divorce law clashes with Constitution JEREMY VALDEZ Columnist T oby Yeager spent more than three years of her life as an agunah. In Orthodox Judaism, a marriage cannot be dissolved unless the husband grants his wife a religious divorce, or get. An abandoned wife who is not given a get is an agunah, or chained woman. Sadly, this curious precept of rabbinical law sometimes becomes a weapon in the hands of vengeful or sadistic husbands. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of American Jewish women like Yeager have discovered this firsthand. But the plight of American agunot is not likely to change anytime soon, because their situation is a vi cious but necessary consequence of our nation’s separation of church and state. Too often, the get is used as a bargaining chip in a cruel sort of divorce negotiation. Husbands of agunot attempt to extort money, child custody or lopsided property settlements in ex change for a get. Yeager told Jewish Monthly Magazine that she could not even try to meet her husband’s demands since they were con stantly changing. “The get for him was a means of psychological control,” she said. Women are not the only ones injured when abandonment oc curs. The children of chained women are illegitimate mamzerim (a Hebrew term which carries all the sting that the gentile word “bastard” has lost in the modem day). The denial of a get can permanently spoil a Jewish bloodline because mamzerim can only marry those who are similarly tainted. The offspring of such unions are also con sidered illegitimate. At first glance, it appears American agunot suffer because of Jewish divorce law. The law seems designed to oppress women. But a closer look at the rabbinical codes reveals something very different. Jewish divorce law actually has many safe guards created to protect women from extortion. The real crux of the problem is that the Constitution pre vents agunot in America from taking advantage of the recourse Jewish law could provide them. In Israel, only rabbinical courts have jurisdiction over Jew ish marriages and divorces. This is different from American marriage law, where even religious marriages must be sanc tioned and, if necessary, canceled by state governments. Not only do rabbinical courts have considerable jurisdiction, they have the power to impose civil punishments on Jews who violate religious law. In Israel, recalcitrant husbands who refuse to surrender a get can have their driver licenses revoked, be fined or even incarcerated. These punitive mechanisms are unequivocally prohibited by our present interpretation of the Fir^t Amendment. States cannot force synagogues td recognize a civil divorce. As a result, observant Jews are stuck in a situation where American custom tells them they are divorced, but their reli gious heritage speaks differently. Ironically, the need for religious freedom is what facilitates the enslavement of the agunot. Jewish women in the United States are not entirely without recourse. Especially in metropolitan areas, the Jewish commu nity often rallies around the women brave enough to publicly acknowledge their chains. An organization called Agunah Inc. even coordinates efforts to harass and publicly shame recalcitrant husbands. Toby Yea ger’s husband finally granted her a get when he feared that such publicity might harm his career. Those who judge Jewish marital law to be backward and oppressive fail to recognize that the law in its entirety is not meant to punish women. Also, millions of Jews — including the agunot — have lived voluntarily under the Orthodox system for centuries. Ultimately, in a culture that must keep church and state separate, the gentile opinion of Jewish law means very lit tle. No one should expect the rabbinical laws that have stood for thousands of years to fold under the weight of American law and custom. Even the majority of agunot do not want that. Jeremy Valdez is a Class of’96 chemical engineering major Changing pageant is no excuse for bashing As a former contestant, producer and volunteer in the Miss America pageants system, I must correct Shan non Halbrook’s erroneous concepts in his July 25 column. First of all, the “viewer voting” is an other ploy to capture attention to the telecast, similar to last year’s “swimsuit controversy.” Who really believes that in two hours, the entire United States de cided whether to maintain the swimsuit competition? After all, when someone tried to call, the line was out-of-order or busy (no doubt this will occur again). Second, if Halbrook had actually seen a Miss America pageant lately, he would realize “drill team” make-up and “walk ing-chandelier” (overly sequined) dresses are so far outdated, they are buried with parachute pants. Miss America is not a walking Barbie doll that is picture-per fect 24-7. Miss America winners (local and national) actively work for causes ranging from surviving incest to AIDS educatipn. She aims to make a difference in individual lives, not necessarily the lives of the masses. Last, Miss America is not a perfect, virginal girl free of embarrassing mo ments. In fact, many have a tremendous number of trials (and not just about whether to eat cookies or carrots) from Mail Call which they have overcome. These women are outstanding because of the ability to surpass obstacles and pursue their edu cational dreams of becoming doctors, lawyers, astronauts and congress women with the scholarships obtained through the pageant. In short, the “viewer-voting” is news worthy but won’t alter the scope of the pageant. However, using this news item as an opportunity to slam the pageant, which provides a large amount of schol arships to America women, is not an in telligent move for someone who obviously knows little to nothing about the system and the women involved. Devon Geiszler Class of ’98 Atlanta Olympics will be remembered for triumphs No, Marcus Goodyear. You are out of control. Yes, there have been busing and com puter problems, but that is certainly not why these 1996 Olympic Games will be remembered. Atlanta won’t be remem bered for fascism, racism or anti-Semi tism either. Not even a good, old-fash ioned boycott for the history books. These games have enjoyed a refreshing and un familiar apolitical atmosphere. Four years of anticipation will gener ate some hype, especially at an Ameri can-hosted Olympics that are the largest ever, according to my Honey Nut Chee- rios box. But even Goodyear cannot sepa rate himself form the media-generated hype he condemns by sensationalizing the Atkins incident and the tragic Cen tennial Park Bombing. The maniacal, gun-toting, knife-wielding, 55-year-old psychopath was removed from the open ing ceremonies before injuring anyone. And Goodyear’s insinuation that Atlanta security was doing something other than the best it could in the few minutes be fore the Centennial Park bombing is ab solutely disgraceful. Unfortunately, Goodyear’s deadline did not allow him to participate in the equally disturbing public persecution of Richard Jewel — the already guilty bomber who, as of yet, has not been ar rested, charged, indicted or convicted. Maybe he has been supplying Irish swimmers with steroids, too. These Centennial Olympics have al ready given us great moments that will overshadow any media hype. Kerri Strug’s strength, Carl Lewis’s last gold, new Slavic nations. It’s no longer capital ism vs. communism, but simply terrific international competition. Stephen Charles Stout 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, and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed McDonald. 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
