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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 1997)
er 24,19i lid the eh; i on the er has lifestyles of the rich and famous l Wednesday • September 24, 1997 O The Battalion PINION playing lid. Tvem plat Mar v Albert’s celebrity status should not interfere with moral system of justice p Mandy Cater assistant opinion editor with|T n ancient Greece befu! I and Rome, com- becaj Lmoners looked wjj o the gods in awe. fret liey were seen as man xamples and beivj deals, even if their senid lehavior was not al- h j. rays exemplary. To- schot we attach the realh ame sort of status to yyj o celebrities, where to mocktr ds, perhaps, even what he (h sss warranted, hopefullylj Marv Albert at- ained great success and fame in the ports arena. His familiar play-by-plays in- lude trademark lines such as, “Rejected,” Downtown,” and “He could go all the ray." Albert’s distinct voice and over-the- now and I® 0 P enthusiasm have made him a house- ig I couldtc l0 ^ name > one of the most recognized tmerican sportscasters. Albert’s recent visits to the media t could 4 ave been less favorable to say the least, he man with the voice now faces barges of forcible sodomy and assault, he Associated Press reports that “a 42- ear-old woman with whom Albert had 10-year sexual relationship alleges he it her as many as 15 times and forced erto perform oral sex on him on Feb. 2.” Some accounts claim Albert ex- ected three-way sex with the woman nd another man. Naturally, Albert is denying any rongdoing in the suit, which means it iping this s can lookh be able to! linema; p my teait lopefullyl and not out schedule anc ny longer! tment at: A/!!! ' users only ■s to fi illlion dolla: ion. We still ■> available, ble comput exible enoiilbasically a case of his word against tat of the alleged victim. In cases of axual assault without witnesses, the vo parties involved have the responsi- ility of creating a case based on evi- ence and their credentials. Herein lies the problem for the ac- aser. Albert’s celebrity status gives him an automatic upper hand where creden tials are concerned. Americans know Al bert, which makes for a difficult jury selection for the prosecution. Al bert’s affiliation with entities such as NBC and the National Basketball Association give him friends in some pret ty high places, which could potentially turn into a power play against the alleged victim. Albert has tak en that ever-impor tant first step in as suring his innocence: hiring an attorney with a good track record. Roy Black has taken the helm of Albert’s defense team. Black is perhaps best known for winning anoth er high-profile sexual as sault case — that ofWilliam Kennedy Smith. Albert’s attorneys are al ready hard at work trying to turn the tables of blame. As is unfor tunately common in most rape cas es, the defense is opting for a “put the victim on trial” at tack. The defense is ex pected to pursue theo ries that the woman exaggerated in her alle gations or that she is try ing to get revenge on Al bert for some yet-unspecified reason. Black and his boys are even going so far as to peti tion to limit the content of Al bert’s sex life that is admissible in court, usually a right reserved to the alleged victim. If Black and Albert succeed in the aforementioned ploy, it will wreak hav oc on advances made by women in the area of sexual assault law. Any society that hampers a woman’s ability to prosecute against sexual violence obvi ously does not value women very much. A return to la beling women as sluts who “asked for it” sends women the message their sexuality does not belong to them, that it is viewed by society as worthless. This is not to say that sexu al assault cases should be treated differently from other cases; defendants should have the same opportunities to contend their inno cence as they would in other crimes. However, “innocent until proven guilty” only should ap ply to the defendant. The victim should not be on trial. Sexual assault is per haps the great est violation against anoth er human be ing. It surpass es the physical attack; it is a psychological invasion as well. The repercussions are long-last ing, and even a conviction will not take away the pain. Accusations of sexual assault should be horrifying, not so commonplace that people simply brush them aside. When these cases arise, every avenue of the justice system should be employed to assure an accu rate decision. Sexual assault should make Americans angry, not cause them to be come misogynists jumping on the “slut- hunt” bandwagon. In Albert’s case, preliminary evidence already links him to the female in ques tion. Virginia State Police tests have found traces of Albert’s DNA on the skin and clothing of the woman. If further testing links Albert to the at tack, juries and judges should not let the man’s public persona influence their de cisions. Too often in American society we project role-model status on celebrities simply for the sake of their celebrity. This unfortunately has the potential to be come a mechanism for an individual to rise above the law. Albert’s case is important because it causes Americans to reevaluate persons honored with the title of role model. If evidence indeed proves Albert’s guilt, he should be treated the same as any other sex offender. In a perfect world, this would be an au tomatic. The woman could plead her case free from character attacks. She could be free from “how dare she” attitudes from the press and the public. The justice sys tem could be counted on to bring down an honest verdict considering all evidence and arguments. Money would not be a de ciding factor. And in a perfect world, a guilty verdict (if one emerged) would mean the woman could count on one more thing regaxding Maiw Albert: that he could go all the way — to jail. Mandy Cater is a senior psychology major. emocradc bumblings hinder frame of political parties Donny Ferguson columnist f bipartisanship is die theme ofthe 105th Congress, it cer- tainly did not apply to Au- Jsfls Congressional Softball e.The Republican National mmittee hammered the De- iocratic National Committee in 26-0 five inning massacre that ided under the “mercy rule.” As if liberals did not have lough problems, the double- igit drubbing symbolized their ich to political obscurity. Stu- ents looking to set their ideo- gical bearings at Texas A&M can rule out liberalism, ;cause the Democratic Party holds all the promise Dr. Kevorkian’s waiting room. Any party is a bummer if no one shows up. At last Hint, over 255 elected Democratic officials had vitched parties since 1992, the largest realignment nee the demise of the Whigs in the early 1800s. One ample of the Democrats’ doldrums comes from innsylvania, where the House Democratic Cam- lign Committee ran classified ads searching for ate legislature candidates. "Are you a Democrat who would like to make a de alt salary while doing some good for your commu- ity?Then you should run for state legislature,” the ad said. Of the few who responded, none could collect the necessary 300 signatures. Even more humorous than the Democrats’ sparse quantity is their poor quality. Texas Congressman Nick Lampson didn’t wait long to flaunt his intellectu al shortcomings. Then-tax collector Lampson ap peared on talk radio with voters, who soon found out why he was labeled “Candidate Clueless.” Returning from a commercial break, Lampson was asked about taxpayer-funded abortion, an issue all candidates should have firm opinions on. Lampson’s bungled response was a less-than-inspiring, “Tax- funded abortion? (long pause) Uh. (longer pause) Uh. (even longer pause) Can we take a commercial break?” Nick probably spent his August recess in a vain quest to find Waldo. Amazingly, Democrats do get dumber. When asked what he would do to fight the national debt, U.S. Sen ate candidate Victor Morales said, “I don’t know.” The perpetually perplexed politician went on to confess, “I’m weak in business issues,” and said plans to save Medicare and Social Security “don’t exist in this brain of mine.” Obviously, nothing does. Lampson and Morales’ brain-dead bumblings are the least of the Democrats’ problems. Louisiana State Rep. Louis Guzzardo was picked up in an FBI gam bling sting. U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey, a South Florida prosecutor, resigned after it was revealed he bit a stripper at the “Lipstik Adult Entertainment Club.” Predictably, the Marv Albert wannabe was ap pointed by none other than Philanderer-In-Chief Bill Clinton. South Carolina State Rep. Chris Pracht re signed after a 1994 drug smuggling conviction, only to run again in 1996. And of course, former U.S. House Ways and Means chair Congressman Dan Rostenkowski was sent to prison for bouncing checks and cashing in his postage stamps. Under rules passed by the old Democratic Congress, the Chicago liberal still re ceives his $98,900 pension (that’s 309,063 first- class stamps.) Drug dealing and stripper nibbling aside, most of the Democrats’ public relations problems stem from their out-of-touch platform. Democrats bitterly op posed a Republican-proposed term-limits bill sup ported by 80 percent of the American people. Democrats fought the balanced budget amend ment and welfare reform, two Republican proposals also supported by 80 percent of Americans. They also launched an all-out assault against a Republican oil! to make politicians live under the laws they pass, even though an overwhelming 90 percent of Ameri cans sided with the G.O.P. Continued attacks against tax cuts for working families, deficit reduction, lawsuit reform and Repub lican measures to abolish congressional perks such as free haircuts illustrate just how out of touch the De mocratic Party is with America. The 1996 race for Vermont’s Congressional seat il lustrates just how liberal the Democratic Party has become. The day before Democrat lack Long an nounced he would oppose Congressman Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed Socialist, he got a phone call from Rob Engel ofthe Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Engel informed Long that the DCCC would not support him and would instead campaign for the Marxist Sanders. “If there is a way I can hurt you, I will,” Engel said. When asked why the DCCC dumped Long, Engel said the Democrats “embrace Mr. Sanders’ socialist principles.” No wonder the Democ ratic Party platform bears so much resemblance to the Communist Manifesto. Cranially challenged candidates, ethically inade quate officeholders and a left-wing party platform di rectly opposing the American people have turned a once-powerful coalition party into a quickly fading rabble of ideologically empty, warmed-over Marxists. Liberalism is dead and the Democratic Party is out of touch, out of ideas and out of breath — not to men tion they stink at softball. Donny Ferguson is a junior political science major. Yearbook plans help illustrate lear picture for Class of ’98 I Anna Foster columnist N o individual pictures of freshmen, sopho mores or juniors will be included in the 1998Ag- gieland. This will help make the nation’s largest yearbook one of the best, as well. Almost everything at Texas A&M is centered around students’ class years. Wildcats, Elephant Walk, Aggie rings and other traditions highlight class years, and students always refer to their original graduating class, no mat ter when or if they actually cross the stage at commencement. It only makes sense, then, to have the yearbook be class-centered. When the Class of ’98 yearbook is issued, it will have the Class of ’98 in it, with their senior E-walk, their Ring Dance, and their |graduation as the main focuses. It is better to give expanded coverage of one class, the seniors, than to spread coverage thinly over all four classes. Future classes of Texas A&M [students can look forward to the same treatment. Amber Benson, editor of the Aggieland, said eliminating the underclassman pictures will give her more room to cover A&M and events happen ing this year. “It is not my intention to exclude anyone. I want to make the book more represen tative of the student body,” she said. Currently, one-fourth of the book is devoted to 10 percent of the student body. Any one purchas er of the Aggieland will know' only a small fraction [ofthe people who have their picture taken. If more space is spent on the things all Aggies have in common, such as Muster, Bonfire and student organizations, the book will give a better picture of the student body than individual pic tures of students. A former student looking through the book ten or twenty years from now will remember the events, places and organizations of the University more than individual people. This is a landmark year for the University. The opening of the Bush School, the completion of Reed Arena and the continual construction around campus will stand out in the history of the school more than the few students who bother to get their picture taken. Underclassmen are not being left out of the book altogether. The same red-ass students who got their pictures taken are the same red-ass stu dents who are going to be in the club pictures and who will buy the book. Many people wait until their senior year to get their picture taken, and many wait until their se nior year to buy the yearbook. It is good business sense to capitalize on those facts, not only to streamline the production of the book, but also to increase sales as well. Other award-winning yearbooks at similar sized schools have been doing this for years. It is about time A&M caught up. Incidentally, Amber Benson is a junior. Even her picture will not be in the Aggieland. It does not bother her, though, because the next Ag gieland will be all about her class — the people, places and events that marked her senior year. Anna Foster is a junior journalism major. Mail Call Ethnicity knowledge enhances diversity The key to breaking down the walls of ignorance is to first ex plore the facts. Ethnic minority groups always have encouraged excellence in education. In the present, according to the National Education Goals Panel, African-American high- school students attend school at higher rates than other groups. If one would research the Hopwood case, he or she would understand nearly 40 percent of the minority students enrolled in the University of Texas Law School had scores higher than Cheryl Hopwood. The final clarification is that Texas A&M and UT are not losing minority students because of their low performances; they are losing these students because of their high performances and the universities’ inability to compete financially. Remarks by people such as Lino Graglia are not warranted because they do not cite factual information as a basis for their generalizations. These types of remarks make diversity training more impor tant. The only way to combat psychological conformity to stereotypical images and nega tive perceptions of any ethnic group is to study that group and learn for yourself. Martin L.K. Hodges Class of’98 £TLillx&. FDK l£NS, THICK, like WWE.yoU NEED THE CONDITIONER I