om Page
Wednesday • October 15, 1997
O The Battalion
PINION
elcome to Hicktown, U.S.A.
Mick-o-phobia displays insensitivity toward diversified cultures, belief systems
John
Lemons
columnist
Iver Cliff
or the secom 1
Colorado
!5 for the fits;
Buffaloes Ik:
:onsecutive
Mebraska.
ach RickNi
n is in dire
iw as wefiaitlk fter Scholas-
since I amvdL\ tic Proba-
tisel said. TL JLtion, Cultur
ing to begla:il Insensitivity is
■ are goingtojafcily the last
out of it.’’ ihrase many Ag-
1 Is want to hear,
icky Willitvlany Texas A&:M
reshmannii|tU(lents are sim-
iams rushetDly fed up with the
ng theRedMubject. Yet, try as
7. Williams hey may, Aggies
st lOO-yard^an not go on ig-
hroughwhaoring the cultural
lyhawksdefitensions that persist on campus,
no relation:®nterestingly, one of campus’
lliams) is digest cultural insensitivity prob-
in theBigl.ems also happens to be its least rec-
carries,a!)gmzed problem. Amazingly, Aggies
average, ail to recognize the persistent prob-
em of hick-o-phobia at Texas A&M.
e Week "or those readers who may be unfa-
kM (5-0,2(niliar with the term hick-o-phobia, it
te (4-1,1-1)4 [ear, prejudice or insensitivity per-
aining to hicks.
e the biggestlio better understand the problem
leAggiesibfhick-o-phobia, however, it will be
16thinthe:4seful to examine the perspective of a
ies’ newfoiraick-o-phobe.
^nd Michael ®Consider Mitch, a typical Aggie.
Icats’athles VIitch attends classes, makes good
give the 'Wiflrades and does not consider himself
moon. Sensitive. Mitch does not dislike
Wildcats caiiks, but sometimes he is uncomfort-
in a thrileiible around them. After all, he might
ting K-State nistakenly say something offensive
id, theAggiejr(bund a hick. For example, Mitch
ted secondlaiight say something disparaging
nt of64,15oibput professional wrestling or breech
M trailing! thick stereotype, like the myth that all
t theKSlh-iubks can drive a combine,
lute remaiiEjlOne day Mitch is reading The Bat-
nndon Steralfion before class. Mitch reads a Mail-
cross the miiall letter from a student who is corn-
yard line J plaining about insensitive remarks he
breakfreefcaehrd about hicks around campus.
11 was strippclMitch thinks to himself, “Oh, get
ildcats retwpver it. Why do hicks have to be so
michy about every little comment
nade about them. You can’t even tell a
2-1) atCoteoke about hicks anymore.”
som Field jMitch does know a couple of funny
could maM
i for Colcrij
the polls lot
years after
es to Big 12 c;
oes are i
e duringboit A merica has become a
is just two if. j ZA nation which feels,
I-A opponec JL Arather than thinks, and
[ualify fora! compassion is now the driving
r games - force behind society. With vot-
s, Missouri ! ers dumbed down by daytime
esent the talk shows, amoral pop cul-
egitimatest cure and an intellectually hol-
year. Thef ow media more concerned
ason at Kate about Cher’s new boyfriend
st the natior than life-affecting legislation,
l Cornhuslf fact and logic are swept aside
; not a cuptt when emotion and sensation-
ayhawks® alism are injected into debate.
12 and 1# While the Democratic Party’s 1996 “MediScare”
al defense,fi campaign is a good example of emotion being put
ado offense ahead of fact, California’s Proposition 215, the “med-
ill. Pcinal marijuana” initiative, may be the consum
mate example of bitter legislation sugar-coated with
hick jokes, but he would never say
them in front of an actual hick. Mitch
sits and thinks about the letter, and it
annoys him.
He wonders why hicks can’t be
more like normal students, which
Mitch considers himself to be. Hicks
always seem to be wearing cowboy
hats and boots. Sometimes the glare
from their oversized belt-buckles is so
bright, Mitch has trouble telling one
hick from another.
Mitch does not stop to think what it
might be like for hicks who often find
themselves being the only hick in a
class. He fails to consider that it might
be alienating for a hick to be the only
person in a lecture who raises chickens
and chews tobacco.
While he is on the subject, Mitch
wonders why so many hicks insist on
being called Country-Americans.
Mitch thinks everyone should consider
themselves Americans, first and fore
most — anything else is unpatriotic.
He refuses to understand the fact that
some people believe their heritage is
as important as their nationality.
In his mind, though, Mitch justifies
his annoyance with hicks by convinc
ing himself he isn’t prejudiced. After
all, Mitch has a hick friend, Jethro.
Well, Jethro is actually more of an ac
quaintance, but Mitch went over to his
house once.
Mitch saw the rusting car mounted
on cinder-blocks in Jethro’s front yard.
He even played fetch with Flash,
Jethro’s three-legged hound dog. Later,
Mitch rode home in Jethro’s John Deer
Green pick-up truck complete with
gun rack and National Rifle Associa
tion bumper sticker.
Mitch does feel a little guilty, be
cause he does not know more hicks.
Nonetheless, he thinks it is under
standable because he has little in com
mon with hicks. Hicks seem to love
their infernal country music, and
Mitch can’t fathom the idea of enjoying
line dancing. Moreover, Mitch has
never lived on a farm, milked a cow or
artificially inseminated a bull.
Besides, Mitch already believes he
knows what most hicks are like, as he
has seen them on TV. Mitch watches
his fair share of “The Dukes of Haz
ard,” and knows that like Cooler,
most hicks are friendly and pretty
good car mechanics.
Well, it is time for class to start, and
Mitch does not have the luxury of
thinking about hicks all day long. Any
way, he has already made up his mind
on the subject. Although, Mitch wishes
that relations between hicks and other
students could be better, he believes
there is nothing he can do about it.
Tragically, hick-o-phobia persists
because like Mitch, many students
have made up their minds, and refuse
to consider any perspective other than
their own. When students begin to sin
cerely make attempts to understand
cultures that are different than there
own, only then will the ugly problem of
hick-o-phobia will be defeated.
After all, nobody is born a hick-o-
phobe.
John Lemons is an electrical
engineering graduate student.
marijuana proves bad political manipulations
Donny
Ferguson
columnist
? Burch ism manufactured compassion.
lunicatioM After weeks of bombardment by TV images of
eary-eyed cancer patients and weeping senior citi-
LJTIFUl* Izens and accusations by stoners that opponents
TEM * EG wanted to “throw sick and dying people in prison,”
‘alifornia voter’s reacted to the $1 million pro-pot
ampaign (funded, not by concerned citizens, but
y sympathetic tycoons on the advice of “spiritual
eader” Baba Ram Dass) by passing Proposition 215.
Fortunately, the Clinton Administration, in a rare
isplay of decisiveness and action, blocked the im-
lementation of Proposition 215 and a similar Ari
zona initiative. The House of Representative’s Judi
ciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitu
tion recently hear testimony on medicinal marijua
na and government action is expected soon.
Were California voters convinced by mountains
of scientific evidence proving pot’s positive medici
nal effects? Were they swayed by endorsement from
doctor’s groups and health organizations? Hardly.
Marijuana’s positive health effects, if any, have yet
to be proven by a major health organization and the
legalization of pot for medicinal purposes is op
posed by every major doctor’s organization, law en
forcement association and drug education group.
When asked why he supported Proposition 215,
San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallman's
response mirrored that of California voters, emo
tionally-provoked and intellectually empty. “I don’t
want to send cancer patients to jail for using mari
juana.” Despite the hype, sensationalism and phony
compassion generated by pro-pot advocates, legal
ized marijuana is bad medicine.
Marijuana’s active ingredient, tetrahydracannibol
or THC, is already legally available in a synthetic pill
form. Marinol alleviates the pain of a crippling ill
ness and helps the seriously ill deal with disease.
“For some people, it makes them feel better. It re
lieves some of the effects of the disease or
chemotherapy, “ cancer specialist Rex Greene said. If
Marinol is not effective enough, doctors can pre
scribe, other, more powerful, drugs such as codeine
or morphine.
The National Institute of Health conducted an ex
tensive 1992 study into marijuana’s medicinal use
and concluded that smoking pot is not a safe or
more effective treatment than Marinol or other
FDA-approved drugs.
With THC and other drugs already legally avail
able, the legalization of pot for “medicinal” use is
unnecessary and dangerous. The American Cancer
Society firmly states, “(We) see no reason to support
the legalization of marijuana for medical use,” and it
“does not believe that the results of clinical investi
gation warrant legislation decontrolling marijuana."
According to the National Cancer Institute, “inhaling
marijuana smoke is a health hazard,” due to “more
than 400 cancer causing agents.”
No major doctor’s group, law enforcement
agency and drug education organization backs mar
ijuana’s medicinal use and the American Medical
Association, the American Cancer Society, the Na
tional Multiple Sclerosis Society and the American
Glaucoma Society all oppose smoking weed for
medical purposes. Clearly, “medicinal marijuana” is
unnecessary and dangerous.
Under medicinal marijuana legislation like
Proposition 215, marijuana’s medicinal use would
be unregulated and virtually unchecked. There are
no regulation as to the quality, purity and strength
of the drugs, no written prescription is needed, just
a doctor’s “oral recommendation,” As Proposition
215 notes, marijuana could be used for “any other
illness for which marijuana provides relief,” mean
ing marijuana could be used for a headache, “de
pression” caused by boredom, a upset stomach or
just about anything.
Under this legislation, pot could be smoked in
public, in the workplace, at church or in schools.
Even children could legally grow, possess and smoke
marijuana. Proposition 215’s intentionally vague
wording opens the door for widespread marijuana
abuse and eventual legalization. As pro-pot groups
like NORML (National Organization For the Reform
of Marijuana Laws) proclaims, the passage of medi
cinal marijuana is the first step in their campaign to
legalize illegal and dangerous drugs.
Swayed by emotionally charged, well-funded TV
ads, California voters approved bad legislation.
THC is legally available, pot smoking has no posi
tive health effects and its legalization for “medici
nal” use sends the wrong message to children that
marijuana is safe.
The pro-marijuana legalization crowd, unable to
impose their will through our democratic govern
ment, have manipulated the initiative-and referen
dum system to sneak a stealth pot-legalization plan
past California voters. The “Legalize It!” fringe
shamelessly exploited the sick and dying in their
quest to legalize marijuana. Medicinal marijuana is
bad medicine and is simply a symptom of a much
larger drug legalization disease.
Donny Ferguson is a junior political
science major.
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UB3WIN6 MIR EXPERIMENTS
Nlail Call
Election campaigns
reflect Aggie spirit
In response to Eric Dickens’ Oct. 8
Mail Call letter:
The campaigns of candidates
running for freshman class office
reflect only the motivation and
enthusiasm that they have for
leading the Fightin’ Texas Aggie
Class of’01.
The energy, time and financial
commitment necessary to run for
class office is tremendous.
Those who made commitment
to participate as candidates show
their Aggie spirit in an aspiring
manner. Guidelines designed to
keep campaigning fair often limit
the candidates’ methods of in
forming voters.
Section Vl-b of the Election
Regulations states, “No demons
trations, gatherings or other form
of campaigning which interferes
with the natural flow of either
pedestrian or vehicular traffic
shall be permitted.”
Furthermore, door-to-door
campaigning is limited to only a
few hours. A candidate can only
hope that out of the 40 or 50 voters
he or she speaks to in that time pe
riod, 20 will vote and perhaps five
will remember his or her name.
Organizations are hesitant to
allow candidates to speak at
meetings where freshman are
only a small percentage of their
memberships.
Even freshman organizations
do not want their first meetings
consumed by candidate presen
tations. It is not the place nor the
responsibility of the freshman
class officers to deal with Univer
sity-wide problems. This does not
leave much of a platform for can
didates to stand on.
The two main goals of class
council are to promote class spirit
and raise funds. Any platform not
pertaining to these goals would
only show ignorance on the part of
the candidates.
These are just a few reasons
candidates failed to communi
cate their platforms and relied
primarily on name recognition
during the recent election.
We must congratulate all can
didates for their selfless display of
class spirit and their steps toward
getting involved on campus, not
condemn them for circumstances
they could not control.
Good Bull candidates!
Liz Hagan
Class of ’01
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