/ednesday • February 18, 1998
The Battalion
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TATE OF THE UNION
arry a big stick
nited States involvement in Iraq stands as example of American ego at work \
Ifobvi
|iL'
Caleb
McDaniel
columnist
trengthening diplomacy
with the threat of force is not
new to America’s foreign-
| licy establishment. Almost a
fury ago, Teddy Roosevelt re
vet! the tension between threat
i negotiation with a peculiar
nd of both. When dealing with
eign countries, he suggested
United States “speak softly
Icarrya big stick.”
The Clinton administration
116,8 ms to believe the New World
* ei j ! ier demands a new “ Big Stick
m ilomacy.” It goes something like this: “Since we car-
he biggest stick, we can speak as loudly as we want.”
So far, this pompous policy has guided our postur-
| in the Persian Gulf. Rather than presenting solid
[uments for a military strike on Iraq, the Clinton
ministration is clumsily wielding a big stick and de-
ring a sound whack to all those who dare to dis-
eewith them.
To be sure, the United States has made it clear a
ilomatic solution to Iraqi mischief is preferable to a
litary strike. According to Clinton, the choice between
iciliation and conflict is up to Saddam Hussein.
But without even blinking an eye, notice we self-
hteously have given ourselves the prerogative to
tide the fate of the Persian Gulf. We assume our
inion about international relations is the most
portant and our solution to the Iraqi crisis the
ly option.
Thus, we have cast the crisis in Iraq as a situation
honly two possible resolutions: either Saddam
ooses to back down, or we give him a sound beating.
But supposedly the decision is up to us only. You
:,ifyou carry the biggest stick, then you can ig-
LONE STAR LOWDOWN
nore other points of view. Note the
United States does not believe the
choice is up to France or Russia, who
are opposed to military engagement
in the Gulf.
It is not for Israel to decide, even
though an American blun
der could trigger an Iraqi
assault on Jerusalem. The
choice does not belong to
the Iraqi population, who
will suffer the most if
Clinton decides to rain
missiles on Baghdad. In
other words, the Unit
ed States has pre
sumptuously decid
ed that if we do act in
Iraq, it will be in spite of
the vociferous objections
of a good deal of the in
ternational community.
In many ways, these con
scientious objectors to “Op
eration Desert Storm: The
Second Coming” ask some
rather important
questions. While
no one doubts
Saddam Hussein
is a poor excuse
for a human be
ing, counter
population war
fare is a
questionable
means of re-
spending to his evil villainy.
Before the missiles start to fly, we must
think long and hard about whether there
are satisfactory answers to the following
questions.
First of all, why does the United States get
to keep its nukes if it is so opposed to
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Will
the only country that has ever actually
used a weapon of mass destruction please
stand up?
Military strikes might not even accom
plish our goals. What would happen,
Mr. President, if Saddam Hus
sein retaliated to American
aggression by making
Jerusalem glow with radia
tion? Indirectly abetting a
nuclear exchange between
Israel and Iraq is definitely not
becoming of a nominee for
the Nobel Peace Prize.
Or suppose an American
missile hits a chemical
weapons factory, releasing
poisonous agents into the
Middle Eastern atmosphere.
What about the innocent
i- i people who will inevitably
| J be killed if the bombings are
1 I imprecise?
Europe wonders why it
should support an American
assault on Iraq when the
United States was so hesitant
to commit troops in Bosnia.
Does our country’s super
power status give us the license to make decisions like
this without the approval of our global neighbors?
In short, what right does the United States have to
bomb Baghdad?
In the face of these clearly significant queries, the si
lence from along the banks of the Potomac is deafen
ing. Instead of answering these questions, Congress
continues to hastily beat the drums of war while Clin
ton’s press conferences continue to make asinine as
surances about hopes for a diplomatic solution.
Before we make a mistake in the Middle East, it
would be wise for the United States to spend some
time in profound reflection on the current status of
international relations.
In many ways, the United States still labors un
der a Cold War mentality when formulating our for
eign policy. When the Soviet Union was the common
global enemy, countries were more resigned to
American leadership and more readily granted
diplomatic assistance.
But the Russian bear no longer stalks the interna
tional landscape, and there is no longer a clearly de
fined enemy for Uncle Sam to beat up on. Rogue na
tions and lone dictators are the villains of the day, but
these targets are not as universally hated or clearly
identifiable as former Soviet adversaries.
So when the United States sets out on a self-pro
claimed mission of righteousness, it is more likely for
there to be dissenting views, and America is more
likely to be viewed as a bully.
And no one likes bullies. If the United States can cre
ate a solid moral high ground from which to pounce on
Saddam Hussein, then its citizens and its allies should
applaud its efforts. Until then, President Clinton, give
up the big stick and speak a little bit more softly
Caleb McDaniel is a freshman history major.
Textbooks adopted by Texas spread liberal propaganda
Donny
Ferguson
columnist
\ A 7 ith the
\/\/ c °^ a P se
V V of the So-
r iet Union, the
tnminent demise
if Castro’s regime
nCuba and the
McDonald-iza-
ion" of China’s
conomy, the war
in communism is
leing won on the
;lobal front. The
lomestic situa-
ion is a different story. Those who won-
iered why Karl Marx made repeated de-
nands for public education in The
Communist Manifesto need only look at
oday’s textbooks. Today’s “Evil Empire”
iperates, not out of Moscow, but out of
’exas’ schoolhouses by means of bi-
ised, dogmatic schoolbooks.
Schoolchildren are under intellectual
issault. Instead of teaching kids about the
American way of life, modern textbooks
ittack it. Radical feminism, socialism,
Marxism, environmentalism and moral
elativism infest the pages of today’s
chool texts.
The economic system responsible for
America’s stature as a global superpow
er, its high standard of living and, ironi
cally, the ability to publish these text
books is portrayed as an elitist system of
feudal oppression.
Allyn & Bacon’s A Global History of
Man reads, “Marxism turns people to
ward a future of unlimited promise, an
escalator to the stars.” In reality Marxism
massacred 90 million people and forged
one of history’s most cruel totalitarian
states, the Soviet Union. The public-edu
cation bureaucracy would prefer to gloss
over the widespread brutality and fulfill
Marx and Engel’s vision of a proletariat,
revolutionary state, with innocent school-
children as pawns.
The teacher’s edition of Follett Publish
ing's World Geography claims, “Many
people feel China’s economic progress is
worth their sacrifice of individual free
dom.” They refer to the Communist na
tion’s practice of using slave labor to
manufacture goods as part of their com
mand economy. The message to kids is it
okay to imprison Christians and pro
democracy activists in pursuit of a social
ist state. Merrill Publishing’s American
Government: Principles and Practices tells
students to, “Point out that a free market
economy works well in the United States,
but that other countries my find social
ism or communism more suited to their
needs...”
Freedom is a universal right, and no
race or nation can justifiably deny the ba
sic human liberties of life and liberty on
account of political philosophy. Edu-crats
have simply broken down the teachings
of Marx and Stalin and infused them into
public education in a disgusting attempt
to impose their anti-freedom, anti-Amer
ican agendas on innocent children.
One history book told children to
have sympathy for colonial traitor Bene
dict Arnold. According to the text,
Arnold’s treason was permissible be
cause the blood money offered by the
British could have been used to buy food
for his children. Instead of learning
American history, they are learning to
put a price on their freedom.
The State Board of Education (SBOE)
recently adopted an especially noxious
work, Addison-Wesley’s Secondary Math:
An Integrated Approach, better known as
“Rain Forest Algebra.” What is supposed
to be a math text dedicates much of its
space to recycling tips, Indian religions
and glowing praises of Bill Clinton. Far-
left social dogma has left the confines of
Greenpeace rallies and infested children’s
math books.
According to Dr. Richard Neill, Texas
State Board of Education member, what
is supposed to be a math book is instead
filled with Maya Angelou’s poetry, numer
ous photographs of Bill Clinton, Mali
woodcarvings, lectures on endangered
species, a three-language feature on the
radical leftist United Nations Declaration
of Human Rights and countless pieces of
environmentalist propaganda.
It also spends valuable math class time
describing the African Dogons and
Prossana Rao, an Indian man who spends
hours making shadow puppets, a large ar
ticle on the life of science fiction writer Is-
sac Asimov and a full-page criticism of
the Vietnam War (with politically correct
feminist rants about the fact women were
not drafted).
“Rain Forest Algebra” finally does get
around to defining an algebraic expres
sion, on page 107. The Pythagorean Theo
rem is reserved for page 502, after the lib
eral indoctrination on environmentalism
and feminism. What should be a valuable
arithmetic lesson for children is instead a
propaganda field day for radical leftists.
While the State Board of Education
does have some say in textbook adoption,
it usually just rubber-stamps the Texas
Education Agency’s decisions. Local
school boards have final say, but “Rain
Forest Algebra” and other leftist propa
ganda manage to slip through.
The only way to ensure academic puri
ty in textbooks is for parents to either take
an active part on their local school board,
or top opt for private or home schooling.
Some of today’s textbooks do more to
harm children than to teach them and
the results are apparent. Children no
longer look forward to the Fourth of July
or Veteran’s Day
“Rain Forest Algebra” and other so
cialist, feminist and environmentalist
propaganda should be thrown out of our
schools and children taught the truth.
Capitalism is the best economic system
on Earth, Marxism is synonymous with
failure and the United States is home to
the most liberated, free, prosperous and
economically mobile people in the
world. It is about time Texas’ textbooks
read the same.
Donny Ferguson is a junior political
science major.
’ERSPECTIVES
Vmerican indulgences permeate society
David
Johnston
columnist
M'S-
n discussed
president’s
est scandal,
parents
vered their
ildren’s ears
dthe public
bated who
inton lied to
d how
iich they
red, few people asked the most
iking question. The biting
ery first came from a morning
show where the hostess
Iced, “How can a man so intelli-
ntbe a slave to his hormones?”
It's a good question. It could be
ised to most Americans — not
st select politicians.
It seems Americans have given
emselves over to their lusts and
sires. Indulgences from
ereating to affairs are either ig-
ired or receive a forgiving wink,
an earlier time, citizens held
emselves to a higher standard.
Philosophers held self-denial as
the highest cause. Those days are
gone, and the nation appears
worse for the absence.
The selfish indulgences occur at
all levels. Some students, instead of
selecting classes according to their
value or ability to improve career
prospects, will only choose cours
es they expect to enjoy, and even
then must make sure they don’t
start before 10 a.m. Aggies almost
always leap at the chance to sleep
until late afternoon or skip classes.
Instead of seeing the value of
learning course material and the
physical advantages of a regular
sleep schedule, students yield to a
few moments of pleasure.
Of course, there’s hardly anything
wrong with goofing off once in a while
or indulging an a little extra sleep, but
a habit of similar indulgences can be
a problem. There is value in taking
control of one’s desires instead of be
ing controlled by them.
The indulgent lifestyle is begin
ning to permeate society. John Gr
isham has recently taken up this
cause, pointing out that executives
making hundreds of thousands of
dollars often give small pittances to
charity, instead adding to their ex
travagant lifestyle. Even practicing
Christians who once tithed their
gross earnings are holding their
purse strings a little tighter. Many
non-profit groups are worried
about their financial prospects as
baby-boomers’ parents retire.
America has begun to excuse a
wide variety of behaviors. Instead
of mastering themselves they
shrug and say, “I couldn’t help it.”
Shortcoming from severe obesity
to laziness and perhaps someday
philandering are attributed to ge
netics or environment.
Sure, everyone faces different
struggles and some people have
harder battles in some areas, but
this should present a challenge, not
an excuse.
For some reason, discipline has
become a undesirable term. In
stead of learning to do without po
tentially harmful desires, Ameri
cans tend to give in to pleasures.
The results can be devastating.
Unchecked desires can lead to
physical problems (high choles
terol, fatigue, etc.) or can hurt oth
ers emotionally (inability to keep
commitments or be punctual).
Students should realize there is
worth in self-denial. Scholars and
philosophers once considered it the
highest goal. More recently, however,
Americans seem to believe their ex
periences are unique, their struggles
more difficult than anyone else’s. For
years, people have functioned under
circumstances that now require
medication or counseling. Although
counseling or medication can help
make burdens lighter, the underlying
syndrome should not excuse unac
ceptable behavior.
Americans from Aggies to Bill
Clinton should stop giving in to
their human nature and begin striv
ing to better themselves and those
around them. If millions of Ameri
cans can conquer their hormones,
their environment or their flawed
genes, then everyone else has little
excuse.
David Johnston is a senior
mathematics major.
MAIL CALL
Air conditioning cannot
kill strong traditions
Even though he doesn’t say so, it
is obvious Donny Ferguson must live
in Walton Hall. He makes Walton Hall
sound like heaven on earth, Hart Hall
sound like a rubble-heap waiting to
happen and Residence Life sound
like the anti-Christ.
What I can’t figure out is why resi
dents ofWalton think installation of
window air conditioners is going to
be the end of tradition and their
close-knit community. The last time
I looked, Walton Hall rooms have
two windows. If you want to contin
ue living in a sweat box, turn off the
air conditioner and open the other
window. If you want to maintain a
close-knit community and tradition,
you can still open your door. No
one’s stopping you. Plus you’ll be air-
conditioning the stairwell. Commu
nity and tradition are determined by
the residents ofWalton Hall. Having an
air conditioner and slighdy higher rent
have absolutely nothing to do with it.
Hart Hall is upset because they
want to introduce women into the
equation. What’s the matter, guys,
afraid a few women are going to see
you in your skivvies?
Women deserve just as much right
to a lower-rent facility as you do. As far
as maintaining Hart Hall tradition, no
woman is going to want to be in Hart
Hall that doesn’t want to maintain
that environment. Hart Hall can only
benefit by having women in it.
Residence Life isn’t trying to
“screw” anybody. A&M is a business
as well as a University Businesses
have to look out for themselves from
time to time or they are not going to
be a business for very long. Not every
one is going to like it. Businesses have
to be looking to the wanting cheaper
housing, then things have to change.
Raising rent to $935 per semester is
not that high. If you don’t believe me,
take a look at what other universities
charge for room rent. I think you'll
find you are a getting a pretty fair deal.
My advice to both Hart and Walton
residents is to get used to change.
When it happens, make the most of it.
Don’t run away and don’t whine and
moan, but instead make it into the
community that you know it can be.
John Green
Class of’00