The Battalion
Page 9
Tuesday • April 1, 1997
afe and sound or full of hot air?
irbags and other car safety devices cause injuries / need improvement
ndrA P r *' F 0 °P S Uay has arrived,
but when it comes to car
samH-^safety, there is no room for
I Jiter — especially when an
vidual becomes trapped be-
' d his/her steering wheel by
pressure of an air bag.
ith the invention of the first
duction” automobile, the
ise iryeain 1896, technological
W; lances in transportation have
I lome a world within them-
|ri s. Along with the industry’s
Jiving need to develop and
ianufacture cars with comfort-
seats, sun-roof tops, automatic state
ping and those which accelerate
;kly, automobile companies realize the
gers of driving. As a precaution, they
e equipped cars with various safety de-
s to protect drivers and passengers,
ut problems arise when these protec-
measures cause more trouble than the
iJldents they are intended to prevent.
■Vccording to the University of Michi-
an in an Associated Press report, “near-
, In Ivo-thirds of drivers in crashes of air
[-equipped cars were injured by the
iloying bag.”
n die 540-crash study, the university’s
archers found most of the injuries
r tinged from minor scrapes and bruises to
< ill jjjercent of the drivers suffering from
'ay token bones in their forearms or hands.
lobflOne of the leading researchers, Donald
Sit’Ike, said in a telephone interview, “In
■lost all the cases, the driver recovered
l 01i tom the injury and there were no long-
. «m effects.”
kab|
ko|
Asst. Opinion Editor
James Francis
Sophomore
English major
However, it was deduced from
“five cases of air bag injuries treat
ed at the University of California,
Los Angeles, ophthalmology trau
ma center” that air bags can be ex
tremely harmful to the eyes of
those involved in car accidents.
“In one case, a woman be
came legally blind in one eye,”
the AP report said. “In another
case, a woman’s contact lenses
broke and she needed surgery
to repair a detached retina in
her right eye and a torn retina
in her left eye.”
With such evidence collected, it seems
drivers need not worry as much about
drunk drivers swerving across double
white lines as they should about the
chance of their air bags releasing and
causing bodily harm.
But air bags are not the only concern
for drivers who have “safe” cars. Seat belts,
a car’s first staple of safety, also have been
known to injure drivers. These canvas-
strapped protectors with metal fasteners
have proven to be troublesome over the
past decade.
Each year, cases of car accidents involv
ing seat belt afflictions are reported across
the nation. Individuals whose cars flip over
have a high chance for their seat belts to
lock or become jammed, entrapping them
within the confines of their cars. In many
circumstances, such incidents can lead to
paralyzation or even death.
Furthermore, no one wants to imagine
a situation where a car has flipped over,
the driver has been killed and an infant
remains entangled in its car-
seat. The shock of what can
happen when a car accident
involves seat belts is almost
as bad as the accident itself.
Amid these iristances,
the numerous campaign
advertisements, slogans
and bumper stickers pro
claiming “Buckle up, it’s
the law” seem to lose rel
evance. To be safe, per
haps the best thing dri
vers can do is to not
wear seat belts.
But then again, no
one wants to pay extrav
agant ticket prices for
not wearing a seat belt.
Remember, it is against
the law to drive or trav
el in a motor vehicle
without seat belt pro
tection, although it
is ultimately a dou
ble-edged sword
decision for indi-
viduals — either
be protected
with a seat belt,
or risk falling
victim to a car
accident and be
coming perma
nently snared to
the seat.
For now, peo
ple will have to set
tle for air bags and
seat belts as safety mea
sures against car acci
dent injury. While
both of these devices
have proven to be
effective in vehicu
lar mishaps, air
bags and seat belts
could use much
improvement.
As the automo
bile industry contin
ues to grow and pros
per, each year the
public will be deliv
ered with new tinker
toys, such as voice-acti
vated cruise control,
power-door locking
once the engine is start
ed and seats that adjust
to body formation when
ever a new driver enters
the car. Still, manufac-
turing companies need
to take a closer look at
the basics.
Although the seat
belt and air bag
were originally in
vented to protect
individuals from
injury or death,
their design, de
velopment and
usage must ad
vance if they are
to continue
functioning as
safety devices.
iggies react harshly to critical comments, fail to deal with problems
lor years I have been aware of
1 the arrogance that has crip
pled Texas A&M, but have
‘ lUSt recently realized how intoler-
r ant Aggies are of a little criticism,
h ^Take for example Jamie
Teh’s Feb. 20 column. Burch
My stated why he believed
fiA&M basketball turnout is
sthan par. He suggested the
I kof excitement during the
lies could be caused by the
^ agging meticulous tempo” of
gei itching music, saying that
ybe a more upbeat selection
unes could bring some life back into the
6 dium. He even complemented the band
their performance and accompaniment
he football team.
Guest Columnist
Dave House
Senior environmental
design major
Unfortunately the Aggie
Band felt it was appropriate to
respond to this constructive
criticism in a childish and un
professional manner.
The Aggie Band reacted harsh
ly, and failed to live up to the repu
tation of excellence they claim to
uphold. During a basketball game,
a group of band members ap
proached Burch, harassing him in
a way that compelled a reporter
from The Austin American States
man to mention the incident in his
story on the game.
But what the heck, it’s free exposure, and
leave it to the “keepers of the spirit” to find any
way possible to get A&M’s name in the papers.
This isn’t the only example of people’s
harsh reactions to criticism of A&M in publi
cations like The Battalion, or Texas Monthly. It
seems that instead of doing what they can to
correct the situation, everyone would rather
kill the messenger.
It appears that A&M has a reputation that
nobody can criticize. This is not because
A&M is above the rest and is perfect, as all
would love to believe. It is simply because
people are afraid. There is a perceived stan
dard that every student at A&M must act,
dress, and think the same way. If anyone has a
belief that is in violation of this standard, then
the A&M Gestapo will come and whisk them
away, never to be seen again.
Imagine how great this world would be if
every independent thought was immediately
countered with an intense beating. People all
over the world might mindlessly wander the
streets, their eyes glazed over, jabbering phras
es like “howdy” and “see ya when it bums,”
Then everyone could promptly proceed to cut
down every tree in sight and bum them in a
field as an excuse to drink beer and “express
our burning desire” to live in mediocrity.
It is sad that a university once loved and
revered is actually run by robots who con
stantly feel the need to inform all non-con
formist free thinkers that “Highway 6 runs
both ways,” and tyrants in camouflage patrol
the campus in attempts to stifle the efforts of
people who actually seek change.
A&M is not perfect by any means, and nei
ther are the students or faculty. Our fearless
leader we all follow with admiration and
faithfulness is a epileptic dog, and we all
stand at football games honoring some guy
who once stood and was thus thought to be
cool and "spirited.”
Let’s face it, A&M is not the University it
used to be. It is ever-changing and should
be able to adapt with these changes. No
longer is A&M an all-white, all-male and all
military school. It is now a university that ■
“prides itself in diversity,” and it cannot be
run by 3,000 cadets who feel it is their re
sponsibility to dictate the feelings and atti
tudes toward the rest of their fellow students.
Surely there is a little room for change
and criticism. Maybe the University that
prides itself in “diversity” should stray from
the path and see what else is out there, in
stead of continuously droning on blindly,
desperately trying to protect its conserva
tive reputation. The University should tack
le its problems, not someone who simply
points them out.
acist conversations, hiring practices shock Northern student
y i
lie'
base
Ut
\W ^ew people in this
his#H town seem to
think that racism
hotistshere, but in the
prei ) months I’ve lived
p e, I’ve seen more
11" 4 ism than I ever saw
ny six years in Min-
p 1 ipolis. That’s not to
there isn’t racism
Minneapolis or in
i North — there’s
^ Inty, and it’s disturb-
^ |. But the racism I’ve
Inessed at Texas
|iM is even more frightening
icause of its seemingly wide
ly / itead acceptance.
[At a dinner party, the conversa
Guest Columnist
Brian Vastag
journalism
graduate student
tion turned to stories
about the “bad parts”
of Houston. When I
asked where they are
and why they’re bad,
someone said that
“crime is high.” Anoth
er person said, “The
people are scary.” Then
someone said the “bad
parts” were primarily
black neighborhoods.
An uncomfortable si
lence ensued. Nobody
wanted to talk about it.
When a friend of mine moved
to town, her real estate agent told
her that College Station was a
much better place to live than
Bryan. When my friend asked why,
the agent explained there were
problems at Bryan High School.
Puzzled, my friend asked around
and received 15 evasive responses
before someone told her, “Most of
the black people live in Bryan.”
An acquaintance of mine
worked in the Student Affairs Of
fice last year. Upon returning from
a lunch date with an African-
American, a co-worker told her, “If
you want anyone to talk to you in
this office, don’t date black guys.”
At the Employee Benefits Of
fice, I counted 10 black office
workers and one white worker. At
Blocker Hall, I saw six Hispanic or
African-American custodians and
one white custodian. At the Wehn-
er Building there’s a similar ratio.
Food service workers also tend to
be black or Hispanic. Either the
Caucasian janitors and hash-
slingers are hiding, or minorities
dominate A&M’s low-wage jobs.
During the first week of classes
I couldn’t shake the feeling that
driving 1,200 miles South was the
equivalent to driving backwards
40 years, arriving in Texas when
the “separate but equal” doctrine
seemed like a good idea.
Then, on a drive to Houston
(don’t worry, I wasn’t going into
the black neighborhoods — I had
been warned about them), I dis
covered Prairie View A&M. Upon
stopping to ask directions, I no
ticed virtually all students were
black. Back in College Station, vir
tually all of the students are white.
The registrar’s office confirmed
the random sampling. In College
Station, 3 percent of students are
black (compared to 12 percent for
the United States as a whole). At
Prairie View, the black population
is 86 percent.
The registrar said Prairie View
was formed as “the black universi
ty” two years after A&M was
founded, back when “separate but
equal” wasn’t just a catchy phrase.
When I asked the registrar
why the campuses are still seg
regated, she said it is tradition. It
may be tradition, but this is also
institutional racism and sanc
tioned segregation.
Institutional racism is much
subtler than cross-burnings and
hangings, but it’s still real, and it’s
still wrong. Institutional racism
promotes separate societies and
unequal treatment. But because
there isn’t one racist or some out
rageous act to point to, it’s harder
to see and easier to ignore.
See the racial disparities
around you and ask why they ex
ist. If it makes you uncomfortable,
good — you’re on the right track.
Stop walking around with blinders
and realize racism is alive and well
at Texas A&M.
ktlrJwh KTUKm
THE ONE OH
TVfc right,
officer-
Mail
Negro anthem fails
to earn respect
It seems that every year at least
one person is upset that the “Negro
National Anthem” is not recognized,
or given as much respect, as the “Star-
Spangled Banner”.
Mosadi Porter was “slightly offend
ed” when several people failed to re
move their caps for the anthem.
Porter went on to say the “Negro Na
tional Anthem” deserves as much re
spect as our national anthem. What
Porter needs to realize is that the “Ne
gro National Anthem” does not mean
anything to a lot of people, including
myself, so we are not going to show re
spect , much less the respect given to
our national anthem.
So, in the future, Porter should
show the “Negro National Anthem” as
much respect as he wants, but do not
expect everyone else to do the same.
Brendan O’Reilly
Class of'99
UT fan offers views
on Aggie hospitality
I made my yearly trip down to the
A&M campus when our Lady Long
horns beat your Lady Aggies by 21
points. I believe the series now
stands at 45-7 for us.
There were, however, several
things which make me wonder about
what is taught at your institution.
1. When Aggies come to the Irwin
Center, they get seats near the floor
level. At G. Rollie White Colesium,
Longhorn fans need oxygen masks.
2. Longhorn fans wearing game
jerseys were consistently served only
after Aggies were, regardless of where
we were in line. Isn’t our money the
same color?
3. Does your mascot have her ra
bies and distemper shots? What is
that mangy mutt doing biting one
of our players during the game?
Maybe next year we should have
Bevo stomp a player when we score
a touchdown. Remember, in the
real world, dogs are put to sleep for
biting people. At least you could
buy a muzzle.
Pete Schloss
University of Texas student
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