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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 1998)
' *. . : ■ 5® )mel) ( igs I by confere, i r M, Missouri li tiday • July 27,1998 The Battalion PINION I happened if irren Chiave r it what wear :k this year: ealthy choice f egetarianism offers ecologically responsible lifestyle alternative I the map a r; Hit down that chicken wing, ings andget -Hfegetarianism is a nutrition- Hliy, ethically and ecologically is the playe;;ipriMblo lifestyle. It is an alter- re, the road N diet nefits laris, ani- sand iet Earth. :ky it maybe. f a winning- g, and you ji lts of winn, Pre ^ nl N : ethe ingrecH 20 ' 1111 ' ling. W ,1Cn " ',encedfirs,^ a ' VVes - . nans, ,toe ‘ lrn '" .roving ir granted ||, th that Alison Lackey columnist 1 Page 3 Vegetarianism often is seen as a ason ticket ,Hp' ari lifestyle that robs eaters son, the mo B’d-tasting meals. This simply )ol, William jot true. One can find informa- inder pressi na f ld tast y recipes through or- ■ations, via the Internet, book- doitfB and libraries - oiversitvofl So ' vh >' 8° Ve 8g ie? he right wav;- frerica's growing concern with ■k ityand health improvement ams' return t produced numerous healthy heart 5 anc j ^ t . is. Perhaps one of the most im- his: rtant heart smarts has been the in- ■>e said. "1 set | c,: ' on anc l development of vege- hev sav the. ■ i' sni i n OLir scxhety. A diet ards this ve; ^ £t ' n 8 °f no animal products is a lesolution to improving health. Every day, 4,000 Americans suffer peart attacks because of high terol levels. Moo, cluck and re heavily laced with choles- and therefore outstanding sup- of heart attacks, heart disease ncer among other illnesses, ant foods, unlike animal prod- contain no cholesterol. How- Ichili-dogs and cheeseburgers bowl co”' lave S 0 ! 35 of fat, concentrated pro big run, ns will foil ey take the ams said he ae burden- -ing season ic 1 ! r close the eep on joins teins and other harmful ingredi ents. When picking up that triple cheeseburger with extra bacon, one is consuming more agricultural chemicals, industrial pollutants, antibiotics and hormones than a vegetarian likely will be eating. The People for the Ethical Treat ment of Animals (PETA) fact sheet reports that consumption of these chemicals can result in pneumonia, childhood meningitis, gonorrhea and salmonella. Salmonella is a frightful word that millions of Americans know far too much about because of continual call-backs of meat from grocery stores and fast food chains. This means that salmonella could be kickin' it at a nearby fast food store. The PETA Eating for Life Inter net site reports approximately 9,000 Americans die annually from food-borne illness. On the same note. The United States Depart ment of Agriculture estimates that up to 40 percent of poultry sold in the U.S. is infected with salmonel la. Chicken, anyone? In 1990, Dr. Dean Ornish con ducted a study on 30 patients with advanced heart disease. Ornish re ported after putting patients on a completely vegetarian diet, chest pains subsided and cholesterol lev els substantially dropped. According to PETA, patients' cholesterol levels dropped at a rate comparable to that of patients tak ing cholesterol-lowering drugs, without side effects. Also, the Jour nal of the American Medical Asso ciation reports that a vegetarian diet can prevent 97 percent of coro nary occlusions. Many people adopt vegetarian diets for ethical or religious rea sons. Bryan Pease, author of Re sponsible Veganism, argues that liv ing life without consumption of an imal products gives individuals "a clear mind, a vigorous body and an indomitable spirit." "Vegans," by the way, are strict vegetarians who eat no dairy products or anything else even remotely connected to animals. In this day and age of modern farming techniques and mass pro duction, animals often are inhu manely confined and restricted. These days, the idea is to mass-pro duce as quick and as cheap as pos sible with little regard for the suf fering of the animals. For example, in PETA's article, "Factory Farming: Mechanized Madness," it is reported cattle are castrated, dehorned and branded without anesthetics. Another example, is the cruel punishment of calves killed for veal. They are taken from their mothers immediately after birth and denied their mother's milk. Then, they are placed in small wooden crates, about 22 inches tall, where their growth is inhibited as they endure severe pain. All of this is done to make their flesh tender for the humans that consume them. The United Animal Defenders, Inc. reports that one out of every 10 calves dies in such a confinement. For many, an important reward of a vegetarian diet is the commit ment to reduce animal confine ment by not eating meat. This com mitment, in combination with health benefits and responsible ethics allows eaters to help them selves and help others. Allison Lackey is a senior English major. rs, which®® 1 looking!( es againslfe State along g only three ago adds ii t that (probi' ’egor said, ‘all. There an happen, W s football sen IVE SEEN IT ALREADY. ViteLucrti y-" 1 PONT TELL N\E V\|HAT happens.. J he 12 th ok the a series leaders,«' ted the edge, allowed hits with hngs. a career-hi' Tuts and ght for theS; game, inert’- al to 159, wed 27 earn' a ings, encoi and one rd’ as bidding : San straight sn 1. saved ; ing his th in the •ned from ” recoveri t groin ■ur runs an ngs. a, Hampfl 'ned runsi res haven I ; against (I when thf .. While hi* afield prai cher Clj antage off to hit gd afield wil i catching 'res' Tonfl r-60 slide econd tinrf larr Hod rcord uiif n 1985. MAIL CALL ircus story eglects facts 'espouse to Brandon Bollom's July l( . \front page story, "Taking a Stand": [Well, The Battalion has done it tin. It was nice to finally see ntion of the brutality and ani- 1 abuse brought to the Texas M campus by the Ringling is. and Barnum & Bailey Circus the front page of Thursday's pa- And'F' However, the opening para- aph is incorrect and reflects that ?reporter failed to do his job and per the whole story. [A] small protest" did not begin the second night of the circus. In fact, I was present with ap proximately 20 others on Tuesday night, from 6:30 p.m. until the storm broke after 7 p.m. The group of concerned people included A&M students, faculty, area high school students and community members, gathered together to help publicize the horrible condi tions that the circus forces upon wild animals, the training methods used and the inexcusable death of animals forced to perform unnatur al acts for cheap entertainment. On Wednesday night, another similar-sized group was present by 7 p.m. Given the size of B-CS and the spin presented by circus spokespeople such as Joel Heidt- man, this was quite a large number of people. I applaud John Ridenour's ef forts, but, despite what Ringling Bros, and naive members of the Bryan-College Station community would like to think, he was hardly alone in protesting the brutal treat ment of circus animals. Perhaps if The Battalion had stuck around the site, instead of leaving an hour before the circus was scheduled to begin, it would have had a clearer idea of the strength and conviction behind the protest. Instead of running count less articles on the glamour and "family fun" of the circus, the newspaper might have covered the protest after the first night, alerting ticket-holders to what really goes on under the big top. Beth M. Russell Instructor The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 300 words or less and include 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 McDonald with a valid student ID. Let ters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mail: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: batt@unix.tamu.edu Conservative A&M campus shelters students from reality T exas A&M, a long-time bas tion of conservatism and good ol' Southern values, is an institu tion that breeds stu dents with moral char acter. This is the most im portant con tribution that A&M makes as a university, but also the most limit ing in terms of preparing students for the real world. Since many students come from small towns or from solidly conservative suburbs of Houston, Dallas or San Antonio, the indoc trination into the world of A&M, (including the strong religious presence and the typical small town Texas feel of Bryan-College Station) often is not difficult. For others, though, the homo geneous nature of A&M can lead to the feeling of living in a shel tered environment that does not include the same problems as most other universities, or for that matter, the world outside of B-CS. This could be called "the bubble." The bubble is at once the best and worst thing about A&M. The bubble prevents students from facing the challenge of being exposed to people who do not all profess the same ideology, or come from different backgrounds. Aggies tend to be personally, spiritually and morally more con servative than most other college students. In fact, the Christian atmos phere rivals that of many private colleges. Local churches overflow with students, and many are in the process of building or have built additions to their facilities to accommodate this influx of wor shippers. Breakaway, an inter-denomina tional Praise&Worship/Bible Study packs in 2,000 students every Tuesday night during the academic year. The conservative Christianity that is on fire at A&M is a genuine phenomenon. It would be difficult to argue that young people embracing Christian principles is a bad thing. Many consider it a true blessing that such faith is alive and well at a public state univer sity. Indeed, it is something to be lauded. However, when personal faith becomes the reasoning behind not respecting others beliefs, this con servative nature reveals its ugly side — narrow-mindedness. Along with Christians, Muslims and Jews are also a part of the stu dent body and deserve respect for their beliefs. Many students whose faiths have never been questioned or tested, because of the normalcy of fervent Christianity and the pro tection of the bubble, may experi ence a bit of culture shock wlien exposed to the workplace, or an other environment that is not nec essarily welcoming of open ex pression of religious faith. The conservatism does not end with moral values, though. Politi cally, there seems to be one ac ceptable train of thought. "Liber al," "Democrat" and "feminist" are practically bad words here. Anything outside of the main stream norm is considered radi cal. Student protests almost are nonexistent. At many universities, protests almost are rites of pas sage into college life. Take the ruling on the Hopwood case, which forbade Texas univer sities from admitting students or offering scholarships on the basis of race. At the University of Texas, Jesse Jackson showed up to aid in the student protest of the ruling. Granted, the Hopzvood case be gan at the University of Texas, and that university is known to champion the most liberal of causes. But in all honesty, would Jackson ever set foot on this cam pus to join in a protest? That rul ing affects A&M's admissions just as much as U.T.'s, but no substan tial protest ensued here after the ruling came down. At the same time, however, at least A&M does not have to deal with the kind of senseless protests that can occur. At Pennsylvania State several weeks ago, a riot in volving thousands of students, apparently for no other reason than to get drunk and have a good time, caused $150,000 worth of damage. A&M does not have to deal with students participating in that kind of senseless behavior. Overall, though, A&M is the place to be if a student wants to develop his or her moral charac ter. What is important to keep in mind, though, is that the real world does not always count moral character as the top priori ty- Meredith Might is a junior journalism major. 'A