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li tiday • July 27,1998
The Battalion
PINION
I happened if
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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-
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ethe ingrecH 20 ' 1111 '
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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.
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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