ook bans often serve
protect young readers
DAVID
JOHNSTON
Wednesc;
7979
this weekend
marks the
beginning of
red Books
|k, and for a
Idays schools
llibraries will
av! to endure
ssment as
ley carry out the
usiness of caring
I America’s children.
T press release from the Amer-
an Library Association, one of
il event’s sponsors, said restric-
ons, challenges or bans on
■ <s lead to an atmosphere of
ip session. This fascist portrayal
iaok banning is sensational
nd off target. There are times
I n public libraries or schools
ill t, in the best interest of their
I ors, remove or restrict books.
$ere is no sinister conspiracy,
terely an attempt to better serve
ifi public.
I anned Books Week is a regular
rent designed to raise awareness
(iook bans, when a book is actu-
lly removed from store or library
es, and book challenges,
i a complaint is raised and a
ban is considered.
Dponents of book banning
i to believe bans infringe the
titutional rights of American
iens, but such a notion is for-
to our governing documents,
the government were pro-
ing the publication of litera-
or if the state was encourag-
azi-style book burnings,
would be a problem. This,
ever, is not the case. The
ities discussed in Banned
Week literature are mostly
is of schools debating the re
al of books from their li
es, and such a decision could
ffend American freedoms.
Imericans are not guaranteed
| le right to free books. For that
er, there is no right to a gov-
ent-underwritten education,
right to free speech does not
ire schools or public libraries
ock everything available,
is the responsibility of librari-
— especially school librarians
choose material appropriate
heir visitors. There is nothing
ig with parents, school board
:ials or organizations encour-
ig librarians not to shelve
is considered inappropriate
e library’s readers,
hen a newsstand does not
tabloids, it is not called cen-
ip. When a grade school li-
does not shelve the law li-
it is not an attack on
deans’ freedoms. Similarly
are times when a book’s con-
means it should be removed
a library or its access should
onitored.
hen libraries refuse to carry
|ks, the rights of free speech
free press live on. Interested
ers can still visit their local
k seller or even order the re
ted literature on-line in the
acy of their own homes.
iVhen books are banned from
|)rary, it usually means the
e-subsidized school or some-
I as the city-subsidized public
ary opts to use taxpayer
funds on reading material con
sidered more appropriate, more
educational or sometimes less
controversial.
Even the Banned Books Week
literature admits books are usual
ly challenged with good inten
tions. People challenge books try
ing to protect young people from
being exposed to writing either
offensive or inappropriate.
Most Americans understand
the power of writing. Harriet
Beecher Stowe’s novel. Unde
Tom’s Cabin, sparked the Civil
War, Salmon Rushdie had been in
hiding for years after writing The
Satanic Verses and Kenneth Starr’s
“Referral to Congress” has excited
all of America.
Writing influences people.
Books are able to help people
form ideas, affect their motiva
tions or drive them to action. So
of course some people are con
cerned about what America’s
young people may be reading.
It is the role of a caring parent
to discourage their seven year old
from perusing the Starr Report or
the Unabomber’s manifesto. Un
fortunately, many schools are
making available literature just as
problematic. The Color Purple by
Alice Walker won a Pulitzer Prize,
but still contains scenes that
might make Monica Lewinski
blush. No one should be required
to read such material, especially
impressionable teenagers.
Here is the central debate over
book banning. Banning oppo
nents argue removing a book
from library shelves harms educa
tion and tramples freedom.
But there is a difference be
tween government neutrality and
government subsidy. American
% liberties do grant the freedom of
speech, but no one has to listen.
No matter how poor a citizen’s
literary skills, they can still type
up a manuscript and try to get it
published. Further, they can walk
to the local copy store and print
their own books.
There is no guarantee, howev
er, anyone will ever read the fin
ished copy. There is certainly no
guarantee the taxpayers will pur
chase a few copies for their
schools and public libraries.
Challenging or banning a book
is truly harmless. In fact it is a
form of capitalistic boycotting.
A concerned parent who chal
lenges a book simply believes
the subject matter is somehow
harmful to their child at this par
ticular level of development.
Banned book opponents are con
cerned that this practice will
lead to empty libraries, fearing
no book will be acceptable to
everyone. This is an extreme
view and an unlikely scenario.
Americans have been educated
for generations without reading
graphic sexual descriptions and
hate-filled literature.
School children should be pro
tected from some material. Schools
have the responsibility to make
sure students are not exposed to lit
erature beyond their maturity.
Dave Johnston is a senior
mathematics major.
inion
Page 11 •Thursday, September24, 1998
Beauty or Beast?
Disney’s public image masks
several unethical practices
STEVEN
GYESZLY
A pparently, it is easy to
hate the wonderful world
of Disney. It may be the
Magic Kingdom, but a quick
search of the Internet reveals
numerous Web pages devoted
to leading a boycott against the
Walt Disney Company or one of
its subsidiaries.
Many of these boycotts re
volve around truly laughable
claims. Some organizations accuse Disney of
eroding family values with subtle gestures
such as the supposed phallic symbol on the
cover of The Little Mermaid video or the hid
den messages in Aladdin.
These accusations are easy to dismiss. Un
fortunately, extravagant allegations only serve
to hide the real ethical problems with Disney,
problems Disney tries to hide under a veneer
of moral righteousness.
One of the hidden undersides of the Walt
Disney Company is its exploitation of human
labor in underdeveloped nations.
Last December, The Columbus Free Press re
ported that the Haitian subsidiary producing
Disney-licensed Mickey Mouse and Pocahon
tas pajamas paid its workers 28 cents an hour,
less than the country’s minimum wage. It is a
dubious honor for any company to be so
cheap that the Haitian government looks like
Santa Claus by comparison.
Even more criminal is the fact that in 1996,
according to the National Labor Committee,
Michael Eisner, Disney CEO, awarded himself a
salary equivalent to $6,700 per hour, and that
does not even include his hundreds of million
of dollars in accumulated stock options.
This is not an isolated incident. A “Dateline
NBC” investigation found widespread use of
underpaid workers in Disney-licensed facto- ,
ries around the world.
Factories workers in China and Indonesia
are paid between 10 and 25 cents an hour, a
daily wage that is less then what it costs to
buy minimum dietary requirements.
Until public pressure forced them to end
the partnership in 1997, Disney had a licens
ing agreement with a factory in Burma that
was 45 percent owned by the ruling military
dictatorship. This is the same dictatorship that
the United Nations has denounced due to its
repressive rule.
When other western companies originally
considered investing in Burma, Nobel Peace
Prize Winner Aung San
Suu Kyi, who inciden
tally is under house ar
rest for attempting to form
an opposition political par
ty, said “companies that in
vest in Burma only serve to
prolong the agony of my
country by encouraging the
present regime to preserve its
atrocities. ”
This
blunt
state
ment
stopped many
other international
corporations, but not Disney. Ap
parently, it is a small world after all.
Other ethical problems that Disney
faces are much closer to home. In the last
several years, Disney has hit a trifecta of al
leged racial discrimination. Recently, Disney
faced a lawsuit alleging discrimination in its hir
ing of African-Americans, a boycott sponsored
by the National Hispanic Media Coalition due to
Disney’s lack of Hispanics in upper-level man
agement positions and protests by the Arab
League because of Disney’s stereotypical por
trayal of Arabs in the company’s animated
films. Offending one culture is easy, but insult
ing three different cultures is a record even
David Duke could be proud of.
Disney faces such intense scrutiny by soci
ety because it professes to be such an icon of
American family fun. Unfortunately, Disney
uses its idealistic pretensions to its own ad
vantage. Beneath the kindly, gentle image it
attempts to portray to the world, Disney is a
corporation that conceals its own major ethi
cal flaws.
So take a closer look at good ol’ Mickey
Mouse — sometimes it is hard to tell if those
are giant ears or merely horns.
Steven Gyeszley is a senior finance major.
MAIL CALL
New bill threatens
technology jobs
The House of Representatives
is about to vote on a bill which
could have a major, long-term im
pact on your future. The proposed
legislation will dramatically in
crease the number of foreign en
gineers and computer program
mers allowed into the United
States to work in high tech indus
tries over the next five years un
der the H-1B visa program.
This system has been exploit
ed by companies to provide
cheap, indentured labor and to re
duce salaries and job security for
engineers and computer profes
sionals in general.
Technology leaders are telling
Congress there is a grave short
age of engineers and computer
scientists, despite the fact hun
dreds of thousands of layoffs
have occurred in the last year.
Industry representatives are
lobbying and giving large cam
paign contributions to congres
sional representatives who sup
port their position. President
Clinton has threatened to veto
this bill, but Congress seems to
care more about the flood of cam
paign cash.
Anyone with a future in engi
neering or computer science
should contact their congressman
and tell them to vote “no” on H.R.
3736. Let your representatives
know you do not appreciate this
attempt to manipulate the job
market and destroy your career
prospects.
Mark A. Mendlovitz, Ph.D.
Class of ’86
Police protection
deserves praise
In response to Josh Maskow’s
Sept. 18 column:
In the real world, people die
every day due to violent crime, po
lice officers, both local and federal,
face young urban gang members
armed to the teeth with semi-auto
matic pistols and AK-47 machine
guns and, people are shot in the
back for a pair of tennis shoes.
Now I realize in Aggieland things
are usually calm and peaceful, but
try walking around at night in South
Central Los Angeles. You might be
pleased to see a police cruiser dri
ving down the street.
The midnight SWAT raids you
were speaking of are on drug hous
es that poison citizens everyday.
I am personally proud of our
law enforcement personnel. If I
were you, I would not slap the
face of the person that watches
over me as I sleep at night.
Ladd Laird
Class or '98
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Freshman elections rarely deliver
MANISHA
PAREKH
W ell, it is
that
time
again, freshman
elections. Excuse
the upper-class-
men as they try
to contain their
enthusiasm.
Yes, maybe
everyone is sim
ply jaded after their many years
on campus, and maybe the new
Class of ’02 makes them feel old.
But there is something nostalgic
about seeing the eager faces go
ing to class, chatting about yell
practice dates and doing the
freshman wildcat.
However, nothing but sympa
thy is evoked by the posters and
handouts from freshman candi
dates touting their ideas for mak
ing this campus a better place.
Poor things. They simply do
not know the truth.
They do not realize they are
wasting hundreds of dollars on
campaigns that will amount to
very little. They do not realize that
the trees, from which their flyers
were made, have died in vain.
But they will.
Every Aggie, at one time.
thought the Student Government
Association actually did things.
Most good Ags actually voted
during freshman elections and
were excited about the things that
could be accomplished.
Then reality set in. After the
results were announced and the
campaign flyers were covered
with Freudian Slip posters, very
little happened.
It is time to let the Class of
2002 in on a little-publicized tradi
tion here at A&M: your candidates
probably will not end up doing
too much once they are elected.
Since most freshman candidates
claim to be “red-ass,” chances are
very small that once elected, they
would be willing to break such a
long-standing tradition.
This is not to say student elec
tions are worthless. The class
councils actually do quite a bit for
their constituents, like organizing
Ring Dance and the Junior and Se
nior E-Walks. Oh, wait, only the
Junior and Senior Class Councils
are in charge of those events.
Well, the freshman and sopho
more class councils do sell some
pretty snazzy T-shirts. Also fresh
man get to have Fish Ball, or a
pseudo-Fish Ball if that is what the
council decides. And they do begin
the process of raising money for
the class gift. So, class councils do
accomplish something. But what
about Student Senate?
According to the Elections Of
fice, freshman senators are sup
posed to represent the freshman
class. But what exactly does rep
resentation mean at A&M? For
those freshmen who do not know
the answer, go ask a fifth-year se
nior about the yell leader runoff
referendum. Ask them why Stu
dent Government did not allow
the runoffs to go into effect until a
second referendum was passed.
Or, better yet, ask a student sena
tor. You might learn something.
Class of 2002, there are many
traditions you have yet to experi
ence. Luckily, you do not have
to endure the lovely sandwich
board gardens that usually
spring up during elections. How
ever, unless your elected council
and senators actually set their
minds to doing more than
padding their resumes, the Class
of 2002 will be forced to endure
yet another Aggie tradition.
Monisha Parekh is a junior
psychology and journalism major.