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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1996)
sday • October], reds Battalion Page 11 Tuesday • October 1, 1996 VI People is ty of state; tlie mail, oon as motori I was out tsville’s Cox, a* ;adfly who sui ns have I the powerless. ; people on the s® Wherever 1 wear h me.” L'xibility helped il ociationfortheA tiolored ;ople at 36 east. Louisiana, the distributed 10( forms in almosi s, hoping to del pro-gambling hi ;sed, but theO new voters ive candidates for national office * chairman Salt dell, many Repuh II opposed the ilnited States shoots itself in the foot Bryan Goodwin inior English major ere very much a! ere going to used ity to pass mud she said, li lat around am fit.” y reco voted againstths have created run by the Nation id American ipposedtoi le i mi is o or of local schi , not a n i rales’ teachers' voted against the include a n schools because it i 1 said ally declined todt e( j due to scheduling ging Gramm to a quick survey of the evening news will reveal to anyone .what most Americans al- dy know: Violence in the Unit- States is at an all-time high, ir local anchorperson won’t much to say about knife- fings or deadly fistfights, be- e guns are the source of our violence epidemic. Guns an nually claim an average of 35,000 lives in the United States. Thanks to the tireless work of groups such as the Na- ral Rifle Association to keep guns available, thousands of U.S. are dying needless deaths. Despite the best efforts of those ofavor stricter gun control leg- don, guns may still be pur- gjftsed easily and fairly quickly. Ihe right to own a gun comes, Jo most of the tenets of our so- ty,from English common law. uaranfees “that the subjects ... ivhave Arms for their Defence table to their Condition and al- ied by law.” So the right to bear arms in the ed States descended from . In the process, it an exact translation into rican law. e Second Amendment has n interpreted as guaranteeing yate citizens the right to own ns. Not so: The Second Amend- itwas written to keep guns in ihands of militiamen, so they Id defend the state from for- attack, and defend the peo- ifrom the state, should the arise. However, the contro- [jj zens; .With a fiJLff’Wss /THAT 1 The Battalion 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. Editorials Board Michael Landauer Editor in Chief Amy Collier Executive Editor Gretchen Perrenot Executive Editor Heather Pace Opinion Editor gland. icolb The lationalsi proviv nclude ‘busted did versy today lies in the balance be tween self-defense and the om nipresence of guns. For the uninitiated, the Second Amendment reads, “A well regulat ed militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Clearly this amendment applies only to minutemen. Since militias have evolved into the National Guard and the Reserves, one might. assume this antiquated piece of leg islation has been quietly neglected for quite some time. This hasn’t happened, though safety-minded organizations like the NRA have . conveniently relieved us of half the wording. All they ever quote is, “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Let’s pretend for a moment that really is the law. It could be BANK re nonprofit, the lowest in ustries.* Tfiat *e it should invate pension Is under man- SO billion in million people IS SENSE. "advice" to find at as a member in unity, your Jecause when •etirement, our spare change. / TIAA-CREF e, call our 1888. rwiihuilty by reason of I ON; ook at the mug shot that accompa nies this column. Can you tell strictly Jfrom appearance whether I’m a red- or a two percenter? Okay, lucky guess. I don’t have OF Army ooed across my back. But a correct prognostication like that y reinforces the assumption that you |igroup people by some common fac- -be it appearance, age or back- und — and from that grouping predict erson’s behavior. Such predictions, if made often enough, ytum into self-fulfilling prophecies. How would this happen? Take teen curfews for instance. The shouts of t'em off the streets” imply that all young peo- turninto satan-worshippers after 11 p.m., with 'eral results. Those determined to get into trouble have such a istricted schedule they’re now forced to skip lool to accomplish their daily objectives. Also, the multitude of good kids get the notion lyin life that society expects them to misbehave Jthat they have no capacity for self-regulation. Paranoia takes root. But if troublemakers choose to skip school, at |st they won’t have to wear the school uniforms thave become all the rage lately. Apparently sim- edress codes weren’t enough for school adminis- tors to control the thoughts and stifle the creativi- today’s youth. Enter the uniform. Proponents say uniforms will save parents iney because they don’t have to keep up with thing trends. These supporters obviously forgot about inings and weekends — though curfews have nea long way toward reducing the former. They also say it will cut down on kids being killed their shoes (shoe jacked). Although the instances this happening were disgusting and tragic, they ire also rare and overemphasized by a fear-mon- Columnist Mason Jackson Senior marketing major Selling short The University should take another look at on-campus vending policies. taken one of two ways: Either the government may not have a say in telling citizens what arms to keep, or citizens may have only some arms, as the government sees fit. Under the first rationale, you could install your very own nuclear missile silo in your background, and tell the government where to go when they get nervous. That clearly is not legal, though a nuke is the mother of all arms. So it must be the second possibility: The gov ernment decides what weapons are acceptable for our ownership. They could legalize nothing more threatening than Swiss Army Knives. This would be great for our personal safety — if it had been done in the first place. America’s dilemma is that guns are already here. Do we outlaw handguns, saving the lives of children whose parents MA&SVUBS we e&sw tmm&f www. appearance gering media. The issue at hand is that some people think the way a person dresses goes a long way toward determining their be havior, as exhibited last week when the undergraduate business lemmings got dressed up in suits to convince recruiters they were dependable and driven. But just because a kid wears his pants with a sag, in the style of the original gangster-plumbers, does that mean he is more likely to get into trouble? No. But many people think so. They look over their shoulders. And the per son who’s being looked at now has a chip on their already paranoid shoulder. In a good attempt to make matters worse, Gov ernor Bush (Jeb’s brother) has proposed that we institute “random” frisks. If police with nothing better to do see someone they deem suspicious, they can detain him or her, find out who he or she is and run a check to see if that person has had any run-ins with the law. If so, the detainee can then be frisked to “make sure as to how they ain’t up to no trouble.” Ignoring the fact that this sounds like a police state, it is troublesome to think about those who are detained, but have no record. What made them look suspicious? Was it color? Maybe. Was it hair length? Yes, for me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been ap proached by narcs doing a bad impression of Sean Penn from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and I don’t think it was because of my charming personality. So if you fall into a suspicious grouping, watch out — society is convinced you’re going to screw up and that they’ll be there to catch you. Obviously you’ve got to prove them wrong. There are two options. Either don’t misbehave, or don’t get caught. Unfortunately, in a paranoid society, “Big Brother is watching” isn’t a deterrent, it’s a challenge. would no longer have guns with which their kids could shoot themselves and their friends? Or do we pass more concealed handgun legislation, keeping law-abiding citizens empowered against the criminal element? The answer is that if we want to curb and hopefully end this epi demic, we must attack it on both fronts. Legislation can only do so much in preventing people from obtain ing guns. Criminals often get their weapons from the black market. If we outlaw handguns, we must crack down on the dealers with far greater determination than we show in fighting the war on drugs. Until we do come at the prob lem in an all-or-nothing manner, arming oneself will remain the choice of millions of Americans. And the vicious circle continues. Students are being sold out. Re cent policy changes seem to have an adverse effect on every campus organization with the curious ex ception of the Barnes and Noble’s MSC Bookstore. Recent changes to the conces sions policy restricts the kind of re lationships student organizations can have with independent ven dors. Today the University Conces sions Committee will hear final ap peals in objection to the revisions. Before the changes, student or ganizations made healthy profits by joining forces with vendors. The alliances served as fund-raising ef forts for the organizations and pro vided the MSC Bookstore with some much-needed competition. But the committee’s decision ends these benefits, squelching stu dents’ fund-raising efforts and pur chasing freedom with one blow. University officials say the changes are justified. Dennis Busch, a member of the commit tee, said, “In a fair market sense, [the competition from vendors] was not right.” Not exactly. A fair market means the free, ungoverned competition of vendors. The committee’s deci sion does not defend the fair mar ket; it crushes it. It preserves Barnes and Noble’s monopoly and exploits students’ already strained wallets. The MSC Bookstore’s prices are legendarily stratospheric. For years, .outside vendors and student organizations offered comparable products at a convenient location for a much better value. Now, stu dents will have to buy the hyperin- flated products from Barnes and Noble or shop off campus. The ruling also says that only students may be present at vend ing tables. In the past, representa tives of the vending company have been allowed at the tables to serve as mentors for students. Now, stu dents trying to learn about sales manship will lose the mentors’ valuable instruction. The Battalion Editorials Board challenges the committee or Dr. Southerland, who accepted the committee’s recomendations, to defend this policy change in a let ter to Mail Call. If there is some thing in these changes that will benefit students — anything at all — it should be included. But as the revisions stand, it seems that A&M is looking out more for the profits of Barnes and Noble than the interests of students. Tragedy shouldn’t end tradition L ast Wednesday I did something no college student should have to do — I I attended the funeral of my friend and fellow Aggie. Greg White died Sept. 22 as a result of a truck accident while returning from Bon fire cut site, a place he loved. Some have suggested Bonfire be can celed because of the tragedy that occurred. Not only is this a bad idea, it is a dishonor to those involved in the accident. Greg was a quiet young man, but when I got to know him, I realized he was the type of person who placed others above his own interests. Moreover, Greg was one of the most gung-ho Bon fire advocates I encountered in my dorm. He was al ways helping in any way he could to build Bonfire. And he would never want us to cancel the tra dition he loved. What the Bonfire accident should teach us is that life is not always fair. Sometimes terrible things happen to those who least deserve it. However, life must go on. Retreating into our shells and wallowing in our sorrow will only make things worse. Bonfire must and will go on. A special characteristic of Texas A&M Uni versity is the sense of unity and family that all Aggies feel toward each other. This feeling is fostered through traditions such as Silver Taps, Muster and Bonfire. To cancel the tradition of Bonfire because of this accident would not help us recover from the tragedy. It would only hurt us. We must all come together and support each other as we build the hell outta Bonfire this year. By doing so, we will strengthen not only the tradition but the ties that bind all Aggies together. Columnist Jon Apgar Sophomore journalism major Only an idiot would think that Bonfire cut is without danger. Both the long drive to and from cut site and the fact that a large number of people are chopping trees in close proximity to each other makes it an accident waiting to happen. We all recognize these dangers and do our best to be as safe as possible. But our best is sometimes not enough to prevent the unthinkable from occurring. Although accidents of any sort are nei ther expected nor welcome, they should not destroy our spirit and motivation. If any activity that resulted in a tragedy were discontinued, there would be no air planes, automobiles, swimming pools, football games or yell practice. Greg’s death should teach every one of us to enjoy the present, work hard at those things we wish to ac complish, and live life to the fullest, as an individual and as an Aggie. This year’s Bonfire will be a testament to our strength and courage. More importantly, it will be built in memory of Greg and the others injured in the accident. Bonfire will show that none of the victims is for gotten. On the night Bon fire burns, we should all feel proud at the task we Although acci dents of any kind are neither expected nor welcome, they should not de stroy our spirit and motivation. have managed to accomplish through our pain and sorrow. And I am certain that when Bonfire burns this year, Greg will be watching, and he will be proud of us as well. Mail Fitzgerald ignores the real problems Regarding Erin Fitzgerald’s Sept. 30 column, "Bad bicyclists should-hit the road:’’ I am neither a moron, a nuisance nor a hazard on this campus. I wish your column had dis cussed the dangers of using the bike lanes on campus that, despite the no parking signs, are constantly blocked by vehicles, forcing me to ride on the sidewalk for safety rea sons. Pedestrians must also take re sponsibility for stepping off of the curb in front of a bicyclist where there is no crosswalk in sight. Deal with the real issue — designate bike paths that are maintained for bicy clists only—and the rest of the problems will disappear. Gregory Salata Ph.D. Candidate College expands ignorance Regarding Thomas Meriwether’s Sept. 24 Mail Call, “Homosexuals don’t deserve equality:’’ I was dismayed to see another Aggie fighting diligently to make A&M the most homogeneous cam pus in the nation. Every time people express an opinion that contrasts the popular majority, they are fed the highly-revered cliche, “Highway 6 runs both ways.” Since Meri wether just joined us at this fine University, maybe he doesn’t realize that some of the best lessons he will learn will be outside the classroom. Tonya Lee Class of ’98 The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 300 words or fewer and include the author’s name, class, and phone number. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Let ters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mail: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu For more details on letter policy, please calj 845-3313 and direct your question to the opinion editor.