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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 1996)
Page It J» '"V The Battalion Opinion ast differences put aside to defeat Clinton Columnist Sean McAllister Senior accounting and finance major ^et this one d, because s Bob Dole stood at" ables semifisItA the head of the with parijl litepublican Party, enshurg. Tift had a decision to tiled "not beldiake. i be late, hen | The decision was oecause hen lot about pride and 1 at 5:41 p.m #lfish ambitions: it lour rest, HbjJasabout victory, ed i|l Across the battlefield >burg, but iijijere lay a self-claimed * beaten by ffleeding conservative," 4 team, Ma:lepioneer of ' egraf and iwaganomics. His name, :h, 5-7, 6-4,‘fi:kKemp. gainst the rl Dole and Kemp have been far from -ging Novoilends in the past, sharing some choice No. 16 Hirlrds. everything^:! The two have disagreed on just about every- ; winners filing from their personal lives to economics, baseline, dil In March, Kemp even backed Steve l cute, deft Irbes, Dole’s opponent in the race for the , whackingolpublican nomination, ds from the fl Kemp didn’t want to let go of Forbes’ pro- lawth agenda, a wing Dole had not yet nts were on Ached. brilliant swel Amazingly enough, the two former ene- rge from the lilies, Kemp and Dole, will pool their collec- o love-40 in fie strengths as running mates in their ening break, quest for the White House, ik neartheenl It is obvious that Dole dislikes his part- t that \1rt ai r’s theories on supply-side economics. In tch. hi' own words, “There was a certain football •eded it, shei player who forgot his helmet and then start- assing shot oi ed talking supply-side theory.’’ ■ i And how about Kemp on Dole’s balanced Midget approaches: “He never met a tax he ildn't hike.” 'I So can the two find a common ground to Ireeon? It appears that Dole will likely take an improve) Kemp's plan to heart and incorporate lower taxes across the board in a desperate at- y Dingwall empt to catch up to Clinton, days a role iti|| Although Dole and Kemp have their dif- ■■ences, they are bound by a common de- icouragemenifie to end the Clinton era. 1 said. “It is ic| Dole’s unexpected choice of Kemp shows ■ry approachalft reasoning exceeds conventional wisdom, n work thinplfButwho is the real leader of the party? Novotna, ac rprised by Hi i net. Officially it is Dole, but Kemp’s optimism, ambition and leadership ability might bring the party full-circle. These attributes could prove to be the legs on which the Republican platform stands. Despite all the past negativity between these two, they compliment each other quite well. For example, Kemp, a native Californian, may be the perfect choice to help erase Dole’s 25-point deficit in California polls. Quite popular with a large contingent of the Republican Party, Kemp uses his charis ma to extend his merits even further. The GOP has also shown a weak following among women and minorities, a situation which will surely improve with Kemp’s sup port for immigration, affirmative action and school and housing vouchers. Though many would have avoided con troversy by choosing a partner with similar theories, Dole did not. His decision to choose someone despite past differences shows two things: Dole has the courage to make peace with the past and he has the vision to know what sacrifices it will take to win the presidency. Dole chose a man who will mirror himself and his views and will assuredly broaden the scope of the party. It is almost ironic that two men, seeming ly enemies, may be the perfect compliment to one another. The way to victory, in a country of in creasing diversity, is to appeal to the broad est sector of the public. In a game of opposites attract, the Repub licans have done just that by broadening the appeal of their convictions. Page 17 Thursday • September 5, 1996 The Battalion Friitnrial* Rnarri Established in 1893 Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the editorials board members. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other Bat talion 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. Michael Landauer Editor in Chief Amy Collier Executive Editor Gretchen Perrenot Executive Editor Heather Pace Opinion Editor Paltry Parking Parking permit cut-off benefits those) who already purchased permits While scouring the crowded parking lots, many Texas A&M students have found that their $75 parking permits don’t neces sarily guarantee them a space. In an effort to ease this prob lem and avoid selling more park ing permits than there are spaces, Parking, Traffic and Transporta tion Services put a two-week hold on the sale of commuter, resident and park-and-ride parking passes on Wednesday. Students waiting in line to pur chase permits were annoyed to learn they would not be allowed to do so, and many voiced their complaints belligerently. The sparks that flew were simply a re sult of bad planning and a lack of communication between PTTS and students. Students who knew they would need a parking space should have bought a permit weeks ago in stead of waiting. Unexpected changes such as this are one of the drawbacks of procrastination. Students should try to under stand that PTTS is trying to pre vent the oversale of the permits that has caused past frustration. The people at PTTS should have realized that halting the sale of permits this soon would only cause complaints. PTTS should have provided some kind of advance warning that it intended to do this. Students should not be expected to quietly obey PTTS’ every whim. Fortunately, there is an alter native — even though it will in convenience students and cost them even more money. Students turned down for a parking permit can buy bus passes and leave their cars off campus. Now that permits are no longer being sold, buses are the best so lution. Busing alleviates on-cam pus congestion — especially since construction has led to the clo sure of many streets. Because a major part of PTTS’ job is ticketing illegally parked cars, many students have devel oped quite a hatred for the orga nization and its officers. Students should understand that this latest conflict was only caused by PTTS’ efforts to correct its past mistakes. o light a fireur| ennis backgn in’t know a c* u .S. bullying continues in Iraq Columnist D 3 e-mail, ionships. Jeremy Valdez Senior chemical engineering major A ir defense facili- ties in south- L xem Iraq were bliterated by 44 American cruise Issiles early in the reek. I The warheads estroyed not only le enemy targets, iut the notion that United States s any diplomatic |ndle on the aessy aftermath of he Gulf War. Sadly, the scarce ontrol we do have pours from he barrel of a gun. Iraq’s part in seating the present conflict is ivious. [ The Iraqi military has made p animals of the Kurdish people [testing chemical weapons on ieir villages. I Iraq has invaded Kuwait in an (tempt to control disputed terri- Tyand its rich oil reserves. | After losing the Gulf War, Iraqi impliance with the terms of the se fire has been spotty at best. Iraq has detained and ether ise hindered United Nations estigators. And now, Iraq has allied itself h a Kurdish faction so that it ght have an excuse to enter Kur- h territory in violation of the IfWar cease-fire agreement. But the United States has -worked hard over the past five years to set the stage for the foreign policy fiasco we see before us. By using the U.N. to try to legitimize our mili tary response to the inva sion of Kuwait, we made a mockery of it, turning it into a tool of U.S. foreign policy. In the past, both the Bush and Clinton admin- istrations have acted shocked and confused by Saddam Hussein’s arrogant defi ance of the terms of the U.N. peace agreement. But no one ever stopped to ask if we would obey the com mands of an organization that was so clearly the hand puppet of a foreign power. What makes our manipula tion of the U.N. ridiculous is the fact that our maneuvering was so unnecessary. Our actions were justified purely from the fact that we are dependent on Middle Eastern oil reserves. But now the latest missile at tacks have been billed as a pun ishment for Iraqi violation of the Kurdish safe area surrounding the northern city of Irbil. The Kurdish people are an ethnic minority inhabiting a mountainous area that crosses Mail mers. ity irian ch 1URCH (U.S.A -7700 iail.myriad.net innation AMU does not Aggie make A few years ago, West Texas ite University was adopted by e Texas A&M University System d became West Texas A&M Uni- sity (WTAMU). This seems to ive led to a misunderstanding Hong some of the students who itend WTAMU. pk recent incident occurred then my girlfriend and I attend- !a play in the Texas Panhandle, teiore the play, one of the hosts anie on stage to welcome those Rending and asked how many lies were in the audience. My- Ifand a few others responded by whooping. After the play was over, I no ticed this gentleman’s picture was from WTAMU in Canyon. I have also experienced an other scenario related to this misunderstanding. When I tell friends and ac quaintances that I am a student at- Texas A&M, they always assume that I mean West Texas A&M. I always have to clarify this by adding the words “in College Station.” I have also been told that a couple of years ago, representa tives from WTAMU asked the As sociation of Former Students if Aggie Rings could be made available for WTAMU students. the borders between northern Iraq, northwestern Iran and Turkey. Of the nearly 20 million Kurds living in the zone, just over three million are within the Iraqi political border. After the GulfWar, the U.S.-led allies pooled their influence to force the U.N. to establish a safe area for the Kurds. These new havens have been protected by the formation of no- fly zones that are clearly an af front to Iraqi sovereignty. During the GulfWar, Presi dent Bush and the U.S.-led coalition enjoyed some support from Arab league members who didn’t want to be next on Hus sein’s invasion list. Now Clinton’s latest action gets quiet support only from Britain and Germany. This is because the Arab world sees the Kurdish conflict as an in ternal problem for Iraq. How hypocritical does the world find our actions? We claim to crusade for the Kurds in the historical shadow of the con quest of our own Native Ameri can peoples. The only reason for us to strike against Iraq is to maintain a steady flow of oil from the Middle East. Protection of the Kurds is a noble goal, but it is not our fight, it is theirs. Although some students from WTAMU might consider them selves Aggies, they are not. Al though WTAMU is part of the Texas A&M system, they are still a separate entity. I feel privileged to be a Texas Aggie because of the spirit and traditions unique to Texas A&M University. Unfortunately, WTA MU students do not have this privilege. Gene Medlock Class of‘96 The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the author’s name, class, and phone number. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit let ters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mail: 111.1 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu For more details on letter policy, please call 845- 3313 and direct your question to the opinion editor. Congress avoids real answers with minimum wage increase E veryone has been asked, “What did you do over the summer break?” If only I could say that I was the guy who dressed up as a giant cigarette, followed Bob Dole around the country and heckled him at every cam paign stop. Or that I declared my back yard a sover eign nation and de fended my borders against foreign aggressors. Instead, I tell the truth and ad mit I stayed home to work at a theme park for minimum wage. Minimum wage jobs are im portant — if only they fulfilled a higher purpose than schlepping stuffed animals to bratty kids. Unfortunately, if such jobs ex panded our knowledge of the uni verse, everyone would want one, and then who would be left to op press the underpaid? The skill level of my job (non-ex istent) afforded my co-workers and me with much free time to ponder life’s perplexities — mostly why the supervisors were such jerks, why the guests were so stu Patrick Smiley Sophomore zoology major pid and why anyone would want to work there in the first place. One day, a hint of ex citement filled the air ... Congress was raising the minimum wage by al most a dollar. At that point I real ized one of the classic truisms of the United States: Americans hate to work, but they love money; therefore, they must work. To balance the need for money and work, Americans look to the classic art of complaining. And kids who work at theme parks for minimum wage are aw fully good at complaining. But no one griped that day, so I took it upon myself to enlighten my co-workers, trying to explain to them that the government was pulling a fast one. Democrats in Congress backed the increase because they wanted to champion the lower class, while Republicans went along with it for similar reasons, con trary to their customary role as protectors of business interests. Congress and businesses alike know that inflation will eventually negate increases in the minimum wage. Most people earning mini mum wage fail to see the increase for what it was: an election-year ploy to draw more support from the untapped pool of lower-class, under-educated voters. My co-workers were merely happy with more money and told me to shut up. Congress rediscovered some thing my bosses have yet to figure out: The way to shut up whiny workers is to give them more money. Initially, minimum wage earners will find an increase in their buying power. But as the demand for goods increases, price increases usually follow. Congress would get greater returns from its efforts by imple menting job training programs and providing greater educa tional opportunities. This would provide benefits far above those created by increasing wages for those toiling away at minimum wage jobs. These problems will continue to plague us into the next milleni- um as long as quick-fix solutions are all the government is willing to produce.