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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1997)
Page 11 Wednesday • March 5, 1997 Alex Walters Senior journalism major Phk Baitauo! y motive Jubhouse I, injured Americans eft in cold U government of, by and for the [1 people is forever chained to lihe task of providing for those locannot provide for themselves. [Unfortunately, there are people in Jscountry who have no families, no me and no jobs; a tragic minority Mare doomed to dependency— iplewhose only crime is being mtally or terminally ill. (inPontiac, Mich., the state is closing one Opinion Editor the country’s K most suc cessful and largest men tal health fa cilities be cause of a lack of funds. The patients who currently live there will be left out in the cold. Most of those patients will be left without families to care for much less private mental alth professionals. Michigan corrections officials are jy warming )nceme[ j that without proper guid- st Saturday. ] C ethese unstable individuals will i D j tc i iec j|lie illy be transferred from one state- e side down iodized organization, a health fa- Ity, to another—a prison. -k so hard to How truly sad it is to see that, al- Ipvran’rheto »ugh the government can certainly "But no one M to spend billions upon billions ndefense spending, it fails to de- , j indits people from mental disease, aSC h in ’Olationand, ultimately, starvation. lS h ,S ' n Dallas, a man from Honduras is nissip tealonein his one-room apartment, in 8 e d' 0 ^zing at the American flag and cm- ed andpia) jjxonthewall that serve as his only 3 P u t^’ lecorations. His wonders when and rnorefocus ^^snextmeal will come. This man is a legal citizen of the /as molt flfafredstates. He followed his child- ood dream and studied hard to iam the language, history and cus- omsofthis country. Compared to Smith said is native country, the United States thePromised Land. Here, no one i torture a man, leaving him for NCAAs. ead,justbecause he voices an acusedttiis pinion different from those in pow- and thered [.Unfortunately, he didn’t evacuate d qualify® taduras in time. >he is anfi- When his torturers left him, they she has# deed thought he was dead. But, he g jumperil irvived and followed his heart to ■eUnited States because America potential ti cckons to all the world, “Give me re A&MAl Wrtired, your poor, your huddled s been satis asses yearning to breathe free.” nts thusfai These words are not as true as /ear woul lay once were. This man from year with °nduras who loves his new coun- he truthis ycannot work because he never his Univei waived proper medical attention i all of ffi tthe injuries he received in Hon- tras.To answer his cries, and the iesofthe thousands of people like " tn, all his government can say is, Ve’re sorry, we can’t afford to train m to do a job that you are capable now, because we have to 'and our money on $ 1000-per- ate meals to discuss the forma- >nof a committee to discuss the filiation of a special committee atwill discuss the possibilities of gislation that will help you.” “Of course, in reality we’re never >ingto get around to doing the re- 'onsible thing — the right thing— id spend money where it needs to : spent.” last year, the state of Texas closed 'a Austin State School (a facility milar to the one in Michigan) be- Hise the legislature could not justi- spending money to support men- ^ lly retarded individuals. This move also left thousands mental patients in the same 'at as those in Michigan. Fortunately for the residents of the tin State School, they are mostly miles, thus forcing the government find some way to provide for them, la patients in Michigan, however, 'tit receive the same treatment. These people aren’t criminals. 'air faces are not carved with jail- tattoos and ice-pick scars. Their are kind and soft, full of curiosity ti eagerness. Their faces are sweet d gentle. Their faces are scared. All they have is the kindness of gers and whatever blessings chooses to give. As for men and women like the lasite with only a flag to remind of his struggle, all that remains lr most is waiting. lesus said, “whatever you do to the t of these, so you do unto me.” What a shame that message gets Tin the hallowed halls of justice. ireat ireak, fifo...) Two heads not better than one Cloning should be limited to science fiction / not science fact T o clone or not to clone, that is the question, and the answer is a simple “no.” To the even more con troversial question, whether humans should be cloned, the answer is a definitive and resounding “no.” Unfortunately, cloning successes have already been made which could lead to more de structive scientific breakthroughs. No one dreamed it possible; cloning was not expected by most accredited scientists to be come a reality until late in the new millennia. However, scientists at the Roslin Institute in Scotland shocked the world and sent oth er scientists into a frenzy when they announced their successful genetic experiment, and Dolly was introduced to the world. Dolly appears to be a normal Welsh Mountain Sheep, but upon further scientific investi gation, it becomes clear she is an exact genetic duplicate of her mother. Joel Achenbach, Washington Post staff writer, satirized the issue best. “First they clone a sheep, and then, before you know it, we’re surrounded by hordes of identi cal little jug-eared, crewcut twangy-voiced boys with an ex tremely eerie resemblance to Ross Perot,” he said. Cloning can be compared to the harnessing of the atom; not every country and scientist is ready to take on such a tremen dous responsibility. The nuclear bomb ended the world’s last major conflict, but has spawned numerous other problems and controversies. Like the bomb, cloning has been touted as a cure for many world prob lems. It has been praised for its possi bilities in breeding and hailed as an an swer to world hunger, but the costs are un known at present. Cloning on a large scale will cause an end to natural selec tion. No longer will animqls be allowed to evolve and adapt to new environmental. With scien tists determining what traits are passed along, beneficial genes may possibly be lost. Without the ability to adapt, species af ter species will be faced with extinction. Another problem arises as copies are made from copies. We have all seen what happens when you get a copy of a copy of a copy of a pro fessor’s old test — it’s barely read able. When you clone a clone, which is in turn cloned again, the DNA structure will break down and what be comes of it is a defect rather than a clone. When these imperfections creep into the genetic coding, the species could cause its own extinction by genetically de-evolving. The ramifications of playing God in the animal world won’t be told for decades and possibly centuries. It is not scientists’ job to play God and decide who or what should be reproduced and by what means they procreate. The human soul, the identity which makes us all individuals, cannot be cloned. The 13th century philosopher Thomas Aquinas believed the soul was placed in a child by God upon conception. This belief, currently held by Christians, would deter the cloning of human beings. Aquinas wrote, “Without soul, flesh and bone are not truly flesh and bone.” The by-products of human cloning would be no more than empty vessels of flesh and blood. If, by some twist of fate, cloning became an accepted practice, the effects could be devastating. Armies of perfect soldiers could be made and used to wage war on countries without the ability to clone. Rulers of the past could be brought back to reign again. Racial genocide could be carried out genetically. The world saw the demise of such inherently evil humans as Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and numerous others for a reason. However, in the event that a figure from the past was brought back, some scientists claim the clone would not act or develop in the same manner as the original. Cloning a human being is closer to reality than one might imagine; scientists in Oregon have already achieved embry onic cloning in monkeys. Human cloning has already been banned in Britain, and President Clinton barred feder al funds from being used for such ex periments. Do not rush head long into something which is be yond com prehension. Just because something is possible does not mean it should be done. Columnist Steve May economics graduate student Lucky dime leads to introspection, productivity A s busy college students, Aggies rarely pay atten tion to life’s small plea sures. We find ourselves focus ing on the big things — lawsuits, increasing fees and fountains that don’t work. But last week, I had a day that re minded me of the importance of details. It all started one morning when, as I left my room, Can- dice Bergen tossed me a dime. Suddenly everything started go ing my way. The rain stopped when I stepped out side, leaving me dry and happy. At Sbisa, my student ID card worked the first time it was swiped through the card- reader, and breakfast was just like Parents’ Weekend — complete with ice sculptures and strawberries dipped in chocolate. I then wandered to my 8 a.m. class. I didn’t have a single encounter with an out-of-control bicyclist or an over-anx ious campus driver. Class was empty as usual, but when my professor saw the poor attendance, he gave all the attend ing students two extra points on the day’s homework. I thought, “This is some dime!” After class, I walked to the computer lab in Blocker, where I was able to choose from a row of computers with working keyboards and mice. Netscape loaded in less than five minutes, and during my Internet session I never saw a “file not found” message. The bus showed up just as I left the lab, and on the way to West Campus, there was not a train in sight. These incidents affected my entire at titude. Soon I was smiling, saying “Howdy!” and making others smile too. This was shaping up to be a great day. The Battalion had more good news to offer. The front page reported that Stu dent Government had been dissolved, and the Student Service Fee Allocation Board lowered next year’s fee. The whiny columnists were still at it, but some things never change. I tested my good luck and went to Evans Library to do some research. The elevator arrived at the same time I did, and every book I looked for was on the shelf where it belonged. I found every thing I needed and had exact change for the copier. I walked back to my room, and I fi nally came up with the perfect answer ing machine message. Afterwards, I napped for two hours while the rock- star wannabe player next door didn’t make a sound. When I woke up, I remembered some errands I needed to run. Climbing in my car, I was delighted to see it was still full of gas and had eluded blackbird deposits. No one was in front of me at the Wal-Mart checkout line, and on my way out of the store a friendly Girl Scout sold me the last box of thin mints in central Texas. I drove back to campus and a friendly PTTS officer directed me to a prime parking space beside my dorm, saving me a 15-minute walk from Fish Lot. When I dropped off my groceries in my room, I discovered an old friend had called. He complimented my answering machine message and invited me over for a home-cooked dinner. Now in a euphoric state, I ambled over toward Rudder Tower to study for a few hours. On the second floor, my fa vorite couch was vacant, and I was able to study in bliss. I opened my textbook and fluid dynamics suddenly began to make sense. As I left campus, I tossed the dime to one of the untenured professors. Who knows, maybe next time university offi cials increase the General Use Fee, someone besides top administrators will see a salary increase. This was a day I will always remem ber. Not because I won $10 million from Ed McMahon, but because the day was free of annoyances. Even so, it all even tually came to an end, and the rest of the week plagued me with small irritations like long lines and term papers. Most days are punctuated with prob lems - computers crash, alarm clocks don’t go off and cash machines break down. I suppose anyone who places too much focus on circumstances, big or small, will always find reasons to be a grouch. Even so, I hope I find another dime like that when I sell my books back. Columnist David Johnston junior mathematics major Mail Fish Camp honors Beutel employee I have recently been named a Fish Camp namesake for Fish- camp ‘97 and needless to say, I am very honored and proud. To me, Fish Camp is one of the strongest, most positive and en dearing traditions Aggieland holds near and dear. I will cherish this event forev er. A special thanks to Jamie Straughn and Roseanne Petruica for nominating me, and to Libby Edwards and Jason Jaynes for be ing my camp’s co-chairs. I grew up roaming the halls of the Chemistry Department (my father is a retired Professor Emer itus of Chemistry here) and watched as my twin brother gradu ated from the charter class of Texas A&M Medical School. Now I have something to be proud of, too. Mimi Sicilio Physical Therapist A.P. Beutel Health Center The Battalion encourages letters to the ed itor. 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 Mc Donald 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: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu