Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 1997)
-T 5, 1997 uccess >ugh to not be 7S story, it was e chance to on Strike,” friday • September 5, 1997 O The Battalion PINION 011 Brutal law enforcement Police actions bring notion of‘protect and serve' to unethical standards General Franklin columnist Hie police have the important taskofmain- eamsters loot lining public order ummertime , ^protecting society nuch as busi- tom criminals. This :orporate gi- I [ityhas been com- tomised by recent loffa’s son, but ccurrences of police er. Not only rutality, which employees -lakes it difficult to a great public-l scem I* 10 criminals is in a positive 7° m P°li ce - . t gtime. I The public, as well / acting in j 5 " 1051 * aw enforcement officials, were jurey's action PP^hed by the brutal assault on a Haitian big business, and the subhuman treatment ^re are needs f^mates at die Brazoria County deten- ly shares. . ta , center J j concert ! ^ ese inci dents reveal not only the rieht time ^'ty of the officers involved, but also tlv centered in” kearro & ant notion dial police are above - i iclaw. ‘d time f In a brazen act of barbarity, private , st ■ f ‘ son °d' lcers filmed the assault of sever- lungt., u- idefenseless inmates on September ost in t e 61996. During the video, the guards re- . ' 10 ' :ndessl y attac k inmates with batons, te ^ address js ersan( j guard dogs. nt life m the Although prison officials must main- , linstrict order, they crossed the bound- be just the m jybetween restraint and brutality. Dur- : should rally. t jgtjig course of the now infamous volvement, training" tape, there was no evidence of fectively plan,jnmate provocation that would justify ction to help {ucha belligerent attack on men unable ;ss in makingloprotect themselves, ith bite. j The Brazoria county sheriff's depart- nd Carey is pent claimed the video was made for e it belongs ,pining purposes. It is baffling how an in flow the trend ident so brutal could have any educa- ity once again, onal value. Clearly, the video indicates icerns and fieextreme malice these officers had for ,ke inmates. The video also suggests the inmates are Without human rights, as they endured vi- history major jience and cruelty which would not be . iterated had it occurred to an animal. ! How can society justify jailing offend- jtiswhen the violence is perpetrated by 1 f* O tee entrusted to guard society from it? LI JL V*/V What occurred on the video and in the ill Precinct of New York City represents ^ another is to adark moment for humanity as the po- ferent. The 'iced demonstrated a capacity for wicked- i organiza- sssthat is unconscionable, them appeal- le. Not every' ather mem- body. With a kM, there is a s to have a dif- ;s themselves. ?k organiza- Bonfire. that incidents ik occur at a es itself on its e. Northsiders nany in- Jed ofdiffer- but it is nec- ple to be ;h other. ■ee on many U have a level flhers’ indi- tution as student soci- complex as )olitan area, he citizens of hbors the ual life, liber- Disgust and contempt are the only suitable reactions to the sodomy and de filement experienced by Haitian immi grant Abner Louima on August 9. Follow ing his questionable arrest outside a nightclub, Louima was subjected to hours of abuse, which reached a zenith when he was sodomized with a plunger handle. Officers Justin Volpe, Charles Schwarz and Thomas Wiese have been charged with the assault which caused Louima to experience severe internal injuries, bro ken teeth and broken ribs. Volpe and the other officers implicated in this act of depravity have dismissed the charges of sodomy by claiming that Louima’s rectal injuries were due to ho mosexual activity prior to arrest. Not only is this statement offensive for its homophobic overtones, it is also im probable, because evidence points to a different reason for the injury. No evi dence of anal bleeding was found in the squad car which transported Louima to jail. This fact suggest the sodomy oc curred after he was placed into police custody. The sodomy is not of a sexual nature given the extreme damage to Louima’s bladder. The extent of his injuries is not consistent with damage caused by penile penetration, rather they are consistent with the damage caused by the ramming of a hard, foreign object in the rectum. Not surprisingly, Louima has hired Sanford Rubinstein to pursue litigation against the City of New York. This action is justified because both the assailants and those officers present at the precinct bear culpability for this atroc ity. More frightening than the crime com mitted by these police officers was the sheer indifference displayed by those offi cers present in the station during the hor rific torture of Louima. It is inexplicable how a human could ignore and even conceal such degrada tion, in the name of loyalty to fellow offi cers. Both incidents of brutality are tran scendent of police abuse because they il lustrate a perverse loyalty which allows people to overlook the bounds of morality and integrity to protect their own. This loyalty is manifested in the refusal of po lice officers to step forth and report the grave injustices which occur daily in America. These weak cowards are just as reprehensible as the thugs who commit the abuse. Their silence perpetuates fu ture brutality by insuring that culprits are not brought to justice. Until police understand that the bonds of decency and humanity are more im portant than the bonds within police units, Americans and minorities in partic ular will take their chances with the crimi nals before trusting the police. This mistrust of law enforcement is un fortunate, because the overwhelming ma jority of police officers are dedicated men and women who risk their lives for the betterment of society. However, the notorious “blue wall of si lence” tarnishes these dedicated people as abuses become legitimized by those whose compassion is compromised by fear and inaction. Also, the brutal treatment of criminals by correction officers leads to more hostile criminals who emerge from jail as even more menacing predators on society. The affect of this abuse weakens the authority of the law. It creates an under current of hostility between the public and police which can erupt. The tumultuous repercussions of the Rodney King case demonstrate the anar chy and terror that can result when public order is perceived by many as public tyranny. General Franklin is a junior history major. Instances of A&M stupidity mar community credibility “I < - - John Lemons columnist one is a junior nomics major fURE: 9 am so smart, I am so smart, s-m-r-t, I mean s-m-a-r-t.” Homer Simpson’s ironic boast may soon become the motto of Texas A&M Univer sity after Aggies read one of Fortune magazine’s recent installments. In its Aug. 18 edition, Fortune ranked Bryan-College Station as the fourth- smartest communi ty in the country. This is not a misprint. Fortune really called the same community that is spending umpteen million dollars to make Northgate (that wretched hive of scum and vil lainy) look like a park, the fourth-smartest com munity in the entire United States. The magazine based cities’ intelligence on the percentage of the population who hold a four-year college de gree — a dubious criteria considering some of the Ph.D’s on campus have difficulty tying their shoes, much less presenting a coherent lecture. A whopping 17.2 percent of Bryan-College Sta tion residents hold at least a Bachelor’s degree. This area’s newly-discovered intelligence is a fac tor which many will attribute to A&M. In an interview with the Bryan-College Sta tion Eagle, Gary Basinger, the Bryan-College Sta tion Chamber of Commerce’s business develop ment manager, said, "With Texas A&M here, we’re naturally high on the list.” Ironically, however, while A&M may place Bryan-College Station on the list of intelligent cities, it is A&M itself which prevents the cities from being number one. A lot of dumb things hap pen at A&M, and these stupid occurrences always will relegate this community to second place or worse. If Bryan-College Station ever expects to be the smartest community in the nation, stupidity must be stamped out of A&M. Contrary to what the brochures may say, A&M does not attract the brightest lot of students. As evi dence, just note the number of young men walking around campus who have been duped into shav ing letters into their head because it is red ass. The silliness which permeates A&M is not limited to the freshman class—i t is institution alized. Consider the campus’ sprinkler system. It serves the University well, keeping A&M lawns green. Texas Monthly went so far as to call A&M “Texas’ prettiest campus from the ankle down.” The system, however, is terribly inefficient. While it does manage to quench the grass’ thirst, it also drenches sidewalks. In fact, A&M seems obsessed with watering its sidewalks. Rarely does a day go by without this school’s sidewalks receiving a bath. While the sprinkler system does manage to keep all of campus’ concrete well watered, it does man age to avoid sprinkling the graves of Reveilles I-IV. The move of the dead Reveilles to make room for the expansion of Kyle Field has been an issue of contention for many Aggies who wonder how the Reveilles will be able to see the field’s score- board. One doubtful rumor which circulated around campus claimed the University was go ing to remedy the situation by building a mini scoreboard by the dead Reveilles’ graves so they could follow football game scores. Hopefully, at this point, the reader has no ticed the flawed logic of this situation — dead dogs do not see anything, much less score- boards. Additionally, the dead Reveilles are buried under six feet of dirt, headstones and sprinkler systems, which should be an obstacle to even the sharpest-eyed collie. A lot of stupidity seems to localize around Kyle Field. Observant Aggies might notice that the poorly-named eternal flame sometimes burns just outside of the stadium. The primary definition of eternal is forever — an adjective which does not describe the burning duration of the so-called eternal flame. Perhaps A&M would be better served if the eternal flame was re named the sporadic flame. Yet, the dumbest thing to hit A&M in recent years is the design of this year’s campus parking tags. The phrase “Aggies Lead By Example” adorns the tags in large block letters. It is a slo gan which probably took about ten minutes to create. This clever slogan barely beat out com peting slogans like “Aggies don’t lie, cheat, steal or create slush funds for their football players” and “Aggies don’t park on the MSC grass.” What is worse, though, is the absurdity of the phrase. While most Aggies do lead by example, many prominent Aggies choose to do the oppo site. Scandals surrounding Aggies like Ross Mar graves, Warren Gilbert, Greg Hill and the Fish Drill Team have only brought shame to this university. Until some of this ridiculous behavior is recti fied, Bryan-College Station will have to be satis fied with signs proclaiming “We’re number four!” at their borders. Ranking cities on their intelli gence is a futile exercise. After all, residents can not exactly include the tidbit on their resumes. Perhaps cities should root their civic pride in more tangible qualities, like schools, churches and community service organizations. It is insti tutions like the Big Event, the Brazos Valley Food Pantry and Phoebe's Home, where residents give back to the community, that make Bryan-Col lege Station admirable. These are the areas that truly make a commu nity number one. Jo/m Lemons is an electrical engineering graduate student. V) w c \ BRAD GRAEBER/The Battalion Eli is an indication of Aggieland greatness. One has to wonder, however, how the average intelli gence quotient of the Brazos val ley survived when averaging in ’ the administration. For such a smart place, there sure are some dumb people running it. Take PTTS. This group has ex- and most of all, the traditions. When it first came out that Texas A&M was rated one of the best schools in the nation, I was over joyed. Now I’m beginning to re think the whole situation. Since then, I’ve begun to notice tradition after tradition slowly be ing destroved. We can all recognize M AI L C AL L Honor Code graphic degrades the Corps In response to Joshua Hill’s Sept. 3 column: I find it very disturbing that Hill’s column on the Aggie Code of Honor was accompanied by an ob vious caricature of a uniformed member of the Corps with a flam ing piece of paper that read “Aggie Code of Honor.” The only specific mention of the Corps in his article can only be found in a redundant introduction. First of all, it is no secret that the Corps represents a minority of the student body with an approximate membership of 2,000 cadets. This in no way ties into the broad statis tics reported in the column. Had he done more homework, Hill probably would have found the Corps residence halls to be among the safest on campus. This is primarily because the Corps has its own honor board to investigate and punish honor vio lations in a system of “accountabil ity to one another” which Hill seems to long for. Finally, fresh man cadets are required to memo rize, word for word, the Aggie Code of Honor along with five separate articles defining each principle in the code. As a junior, I can still re cite them. It sounds like the unity sought by Flill could be found in the Corps as well. I do not claim that the Corps is completely free of honor viola tions, no matter how much I would like to. I only ask that Hill choose his illustrations more cau tiously to summarize his work. Tase Bailey Class of’99 Intelligence ranking lowered by actions The recent ranking of the Bryan-College Station area as the fourth most educated community perienced long lines of students picking up new permits at the be ginning of every year. In the group’s combined intel ligence, has it ever thought of set ting up a few cashiers to take care of the lines? The MSC Bookstore sets up extra buyback stations and cashiers to alleviate heavy lines and waiting. Why can’t PTTS do the same? Instead of spending $50,000 on a parking booth (which is half of what a nice three-bedroom brick house costs), hire some more cashiers for the first week. Take the athletic department. People in this department know that they have thousands of stu dents waiting to pick up sports passes every year. So what is their solution? They set up a few card-readers and student workers to serve a couple thousand students — this is not smart. More examples come from our local government. From the city that brings you signal lights, syn chronized to turn green only when you are speeding, it also brings you the Texas Avenue con struction. Why did the city wait all sum mer long until the first week of school to close down two lanes of Texas Avenue? This is not smart. What is the city going to do for bonfire or graduation weekend — tear up the intersection of Texas Avenue and University Drive? It’s about the only thing the city could do to top its idiocy. As Henry Ford once said, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.” Stephen Moore Graduate Student Standards of A&M need to be upheld There is nothing I hold more dear than Texas A&M University. I love it for the people, the attitude the moving of the Reveille graves, which has angered many old Ags across the nation. This act is symbolic of the end of A&M as we know it. Certain people are looking at many of the traditions that we know and love (i.e., All U-Night, Ag gie Bonfire and the Fish Drill Team) as institutions that are detrimental to our education. It seems that they are forgetting the “other education” that our great school prides itself on. They are for getting what made this school the best school in the nation, and they are forgetting what it means to be an Aggie. If this trend continues, in less than 20 years A&M will be another PC school like every other Universi ty in Texas. Students will no longer be Ag gies who share a bond that no oth er school can understand. Instead, they will just be A&M students. The Corps will become like a high school ROTC class, Bonfire will be built by contractors and cheerleaders will replace the Yell Leaders who we love. There is a reason why Aggie graduates across the world never forget the love for their school; I only wish we could. JejfFlinn Class of’00 The Battalion encourages letters to the ed itor. Letters must be 300 words or less and In clude 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 - Mall 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 call 845-3313 and direct your question to the opinion editor. The linebacker sam it was aim- mars wnen i leamea rootoan was amaior ivnice nanKwitz saia none conmnute as one memner or a cess.