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Page 11 • Wednesday, October 21, 1998
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ELIZABETH
STRAIT
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lion.
s the environment
diminishes, steps
anust be take to pre-
ve the ecosystem.
The best place to start is
i young people. Envi-
Imental education
[uld be a required part
curriculum at public
lools. Young children
]l, in turn, bring that in
flation home to their parents, and that
help begin a cycle of environmental
reness and concern,
ost people like the idea of helping
the planet, and young children are es-
ally open to new concepts and ideas,
lents and teachers need to reinforce in
dren the idea they are the guardians of
planet and the future of the earth is in
r hands.
dany children have been taught the im-
ance of recycling and the preservation
ature, but not in a way that offers them
real meaning or value,
hildren should be given the opportuni-
o participate in activities with a visible
.come. It would be a lot more meaning-
■for a group of students to go out and
icipate in cleaning up a park or a play-
iund than it would to sit in a classroom
|1 listen to a teacher lecture about how
environment needs to be preserved,
ot only would they learn an important
on in preserving the environment, but
Idents would also have the opportunity
xperience what something as simple as
[King a tree can do to improve the quali-
flife in an area.
’oday, many young people lack a sense
irection, and they are willing to take
gerous measures to feel they belong to
Inething. When young people are in-
ipjved in positive activities like sports and
school clubs, they experience a feeling of
unity and have improved self esteem.
By getting young people involved in pre
serving the environment, not only are they
participating in a very important cause, but
they are also getting the opportunity to be
a part of something positive.
One example of a great program involv
ing public school students and real envi
ronmental issues is at Canby High School
in Oregon.
Canby High School is located in a farm
ing community 20 miles southeast of the
Portland metropolitan area. The school will
now be the air quality monitoring station
for a regional air quality project directed by
Portland State University and underwritten
by the National Science Foundation.
The school is an ideal monitoring sta
tion because it is believed the worst effects
of the region’s air quality problem can be
experienced by rural communities down
wind from metropolitan areas.
Grants are available to public schools
that offer funding for comprehensive en
vironmental education. Such programs
will give children the opportunity to par
ticipate in activities like monitoring Port
land’s air quality.
If the current attitude of disrespect for
the environment continues, there will not
be an earth left for generations to come.
Many people, young and old, believe
one little gum wrapper thrown on the
ground is not going to hurt anything. They
are wrong.
This is why people need to build experi
ences that will allow them to see the fruits
of their pro-environment labors.
Once people see the results of their ef
forts toward improving the environment,
they will be more motivated to lend a help
ing hand. Most people are not going to par
ticipate in something they consider a lost
cause and that is exactly how many people
view the state of our environment.
Right now there are not environmental
education programs in all schools, but par
ents and teachers can take steps that will
make preserving our earth second nature
to young people.
Through simple programs like recycling
efforts at school or home or activities like
BRAD GRAEBER/Thk Battalion
planting trees and gardens, young people
can constantly be reminded of their role in
saving the planet.
As fellow inhabitants of this planet, people
must constantly remind each other nothing is
permanent, especially not the environment.
Elizabeth Strait is a junior
journalism major.
ractices, tolerances
xpose society’s nature
MAIL CALL
The world is
full of tra-
ditions^
t>skv#« good and
(ie bad.
n each cul-
je and each
Jion, tradi-
s can be
nd that im-
ve the quality
MANISHA
PAREKH
jffice.
V
ti* 5
He. However, there are also
se traditions that take away
person’s quality of life.
[Slavery, for example, is a tradi-
still spreading its shadow on
dern civilization.
[The images and stories of hor-
still pervade the collective
sciousness of mankind. What
|rted as a way of subjugating
quered nations became the
uliar institution that devastat-
families and cultures, leading
(centuries of grief.
The tradition of slavery — of
black man’s “inferiority” — is
|e of the greatest blights of hu-
nity’s soul.
jin India, there is a peculiar tra-
ion that literally kills — sati. It
he practice in which a widow
breed to burn herself alive on a
eral pyre after the death of her
sband. This grim tradition led
the death of thousands of
)men in villages across India.
In Africa, there is another tra-
ion that targets women and de-
?ases their quality of life. It is
male circumcision. The inhu-
ane — and often fatal — proce-
re involves cutting off the cli-
ris and sewing up the vaginal
lening. For those girls who sur-
ve the cruel practice, years of
lin await them.
Here at Texas A&M, Aggies
ive their own distinctive tradi-
5ns, some good and some bad.
Along with the 12th Man and
IverTaps, Aggies also have
irmful traditions, the ones whis-
red about in the dining halls
id at late night meetings.
One tradition involves taking
lung men out into the middle of
e woods and beating them with
;e handles. Should the young
an cry out in pain, the small
gn of human suffering is re-
arded with yet another blow.
A variation on this particular
[j! adition involves taking a young
lan into the woods and aban-
oning him there.
Another tradition involves the
irnishing of alcohol to minors
nd forcing them to drink ob-
cene amounts in very little time,
ot only is this tradition illegal,
ut potentially fatal.
Other traditions include pub
ic humiliation, degradation of
emales and the gratuitous use
if obscenities.
Societies are often judged
upon the types of activities they
permit and encourage. People to
day look back on those who en
gaged in slavery and view them
as cruel, ignorant people whose
society was based on inequality
and injustice.
Foreigners look on the prac
tice of sati as an extreme form of
barbarism, a relic of the primi
tive social structure in which
women held little value outside
of a marriage. Human rights
groups around the world have
spoken out in protest of this tra
ditional practice.
Female circumcision has be
come the newest topic of contro
versy for human rights activists.
Groups decry the practice as a
symptom of a primitive, paternal
istic society that deprives women
of their rights.
Texas A&M is viewed, thanks
to its more notorious traditions,
as a backward university that
serves as a breeding ground for
the masochistic and uneducated.
It is a place where hazing is not
just a word — it is a way of life.
However, since it is easier to
judge a group less harshly for
their mistakes if measures are tak
en to correct them, some of the
previous views must be revised.
The view of societies that once
allowed slavery is softened by the
heroic efforts of many people
who worked to put an end to
slavery or to free individuals from
their bondage.
The view of Indian society is
softened by the steps the Indian
people and government have tak
en to try and educate and abolish
the practice of sati.
The view of nations where fe
male circumcision is practiced is
softened by number of native cru
saders who are working towards
abolishing the practice.
But what can be said about
A&M’s more infamous traditions?
To the student body’s credit,
many traditions have fallen by the
wayside and others are no longer
ignored. Students have expressed
their outrage at actions that were
merely accepted for years.
Unfortunately, there are oth
er practices that continue to
evade a critical eye. Rather, they
continue year after year, under
the noses of campus leaders
and administrators. Sometimes,
it is even the campus leaders
who are involved in carrying
out the tradition.
If the world judges societies
and groups by their actions and
inactions, how does Jhe world
judge Texas A&M?
Manisha Parekh is a junior
psychology and journalism major.
Success requires
more than skills
In response to Caleb McDaniel’s
Oct. 20 column:
I find McDaniel’s column
about technology’s influence
misleading. While I agree the im
poverished would benefit from
computer training, he fails to
consider some factors.
I doubt many people, given the
choice of financial assistance or
computer training, would choose
the training.
Training does not assure suc
cess. As McDaniel points out, ex
tensive knowledge is required to
enter technology fields, and little
short of a college degree will pro
vide access to those fields.
Additionally, motivation is as
important as opportunity in realiz
ing one’s potential.
For example, we as Aggies
have free access to extensive
technological resources, yet often
we fail to utilize them.
Opportunity can not only be de
nied to individuals, it can also be
squandered. Perhaps training to
motivate individuals would help
alleviate some oppression.
Court Sansom
Class of ’99
Core curriculum
develops students
In response to Andrew Baley’s
Oct. 19 column:
Many students see the core
curriculum as an obstacle to grad
uating. However, there are also
many who think the core curricu
lum is a useful requirement.
VoUlL BE wm .
TO KNOW i Dotfr
CW3KE NV(
Coach AHNNyaRE-
V_
We cannot hold the University
responsible for requiring a core
curriculum.
Baley quotes the undergraduate
catalog, which says the core cur
riculum serves to “enrich and
broaden the University’s tradition of
providing thorough preparation in
each student’s academic major.”
If we took these words at face
value, then the core curriculum
would seem extraneous.
I find the University’s explana
tion of its purpose accurate. A
major is just your primary focus in
your studies, not the only reason
why you are here.
It is the depth of knowledge we
receive from our other academic
pursuits that gives us the edge
over those who attended a two-
year program.
We will eventually leave A&M
and pursue jobs. A prospective
employer does not want an em
ployee who is single-minded and
can only handle a limited number
of tasks.
Justin Darling
Class of 'CO
Course variety
benefits Aggies
In response to Andrew Baley’s
Oct. 19 column:
The purpose of any university
is to broaden a student’s prepa
ration and create a well-rounded
individual.
Employers are looking for peo
ple with broad perspectives and
knowledge about a multitude of
subjects. Competition in the job
market is only getting stiffer; the
more a person brings to the table,
the better.
Baley said history majors do
not benefit from science courses.
This implies chemistry majors do
not benefit from history, and that
each major is independent of the
others. This is false.
For those who believe they are
wasting time by not taking only
classes in their major, I recom
mend they do some serious ana
lytical thinking. It has been said
a jack of all. trades is a master of
none, but a master of one (trade)
is-unmarketable.
Derrick W. Wolter
Wildlife and fisheries sciences
graduate student
Campus cyclists
face obstacles
Lt. Kretzschmar’s comments
regarding the bicycle “crackdown”
on campus brings up a problem.
His contention that cyclists
are responsible for remaining in
designated bicycle lanes is
laughable. Anyone who has tried
to cycle through campus knows
this is impossible.
We have no bike lanes. What
Kretzschmar is referring to as a
“bike lane” is a shoulder —
used more as a temporary park
ing area for students, delivery
trucks, campus buses, mainte
nance vehicles and even cam
pus police cruisers — probably
on stake out, hoping to capture
rogue bicyclists who stray from
their designated bike lane.
Douglas J. Claycomb
Geography graduate student
DAVE
JOHNSTON
sends signal
T wenty-five
years after
his military
coup and nine
years after the re
turn of free elec
tions to his coun
try, Chilean
Senator Augusto
Pinochet proba- _____________
bly thought he
was safe traveling to Britain.
Unfortunately for him, the
Britons have long memories.
Pinochet was arrested in Lon
don last week while he was recov
ering from back surgery. The
British police have detained him
is response to an extradition re
quest by a national court in Spain.
It seems a pair of Spanish
judges are investigating allega
tions of human rights violations
during Pinochet’s rule, and they
would like to question the for
mer military commander.
Too bad there is no statute of
limitations on genocide.
Actually, Pinochet will be lucky
if he only faces charges from a
Spanish court. Before the dust set
tles, he may find himself standing
before an international tribunal.
The British arrest, while it may
annoy a minority of Chileans,
sends a strong message.
The arrest of a foreign leader
— who may or may not have the
right to diplomatic immunity, de
pending on which nation you be
lieve — certainly has some seri
ous implications. However,
Spain’s investigation concerning
Pinochet’s alleged involvement in
the mistreatment of Spanish citi
zens seems to give the country
the right to question him — as
long as Spain is willing to endure
the ire of the Chilean government.
In fact, Pinochet’s alleged
crimes could easily qualify as se
vere violations of human rights.
Such cases can be heard by inter
national courts held anywhere.
Spain’s allegations regarding
Spanish citizens may be the tip of
the iceberg.
The foreign arrest certainly rais
es issues of national sovereignty,
but it is the only way the allega
tions will ever receive a hearing.
Pinochet is protected from
prosecution in Chile. As a sena
tor in the Chilean government,
he is protected from legal pro
ceedings. However, Pinochet’s
current position is the result of
the same strong-arm tactics that
put his army in control of the
capital in 1973.
When Chile returned to
democracy, Pinochet’s regime
drafted the new constitution. It
included a provision making the
former despot a senator for life
upon his retirement from the
military, an option he exercised
in March. This title not only en
sured Pinochet’s continued influ
ence in politics, but guaranteed
legal immunity.
That immunity has already
been heavily tested. Aside from
the heavy casualties incurred
when his military forces installed
him as national leader, over 4,000
Chileans were killed or missing
during the 16 years of military
rule. The families of those
Chileans have filed a stack of law
suits, but no action is expected.
Britain considers Chile an ally,
but London officials consider this
matter important enough to risk
straining diplomatic ties.
Even many Chileans applaud
the Anglo-Spanish action. In fact,
demonstrators in the capital of
Santiago were literally dancing in
the streets this week, celebrating
the foreign detention of their po
litical leader.
Not all Chileans hold Pinochet
in contempt, however. He '
brought broad economic reforms
to the country, including a priva
tized social security system. Yet,
even free market reforms do not
erase more than a decade of vio
lent bloodshed.
The message is clear. The
world will not ignore policies of
widespread murder and torture of
innocent people.
There are likely to be ramifica
tions. Chile may take diplomatic re
venge. Any British dictators should
avoid travel to South America, and
if Clinton sexually harassed any
Chileans he might want to re-exam
ine his travel plans.
Dave Johnston is a senior
mathematics major.