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
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