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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1998)
iferen level ie Battalion pinion Page 9 • Wednesday, November 11, 1998 hmaiihis space for rent manda smitn he Battalion Commercial licensing programs overshadow University's role in education fter the football game against the University of Ne- ska brought out a sea The Zone advertise- Jents on both Maroon Out shirts and 12th Man CHRIS HUFFINES i&M University! the recruitment it of freshmanlej the idea b on FmiL Organizations P welSj a ! ld after the will provide $!» eaIT1 of P re -8 ame com - universities thei ercials 011 the Jumbotron •stablishing fij irin g ever y football rganizations B me ’ a disturbing fact has emerged. Pinson, a co-ej Although Texas A&M University is adept COFLO and afl renting out various items and traditions, enpinpprino -■ ere are many areas that need to be fur- d . For example, Reveille is grossly under- ed in this respect. She has been used to a innll extent for recruitment and for little ings like pictures. However, the First Lady ations than Texas and aero! s. r research, M • freshman leai is than other: on said, n groups ai ;ie Fish Club, Student Acti lers of Tomi Pi Aggieland is seen on national television, ross the country, and draws the eyes of Pudents and faculty across campus. Her po- Intial has yet to be fully tapped. I What Reveille needs is a new cape to ■ear at all her official functions. Instead of le rather traditional, plain maroon and h th M- Jhite she currently wears, the idea should . Fish iff more NASCAR driver. Cover the thing bv ' the Stiff^ P atc h es an d logos. The bidding be- Association ff ^'P. 0 a " d Cra 7 alone “ uld H : p .jMnd scholarships or build a new office . h building. With all the other patches and lo- gis that could be crammed on, the Univer- hl the COFLC sty cou ^ ra ^ e in tbe cash. • f ff Another underused area is lectures. By i )r ^ ( | ie C011 |'|ature, college students attend their lec- orkshops toilK 5 “ *"?« numbers. The University frnm iir I 1061 - 15 to let companies sponsor lectures. , -.aprehjn orff Student could 8° from his AT&T EHgi- 1 ^ ff er ' n .g class to his Classics 351 class ?Qn m;invfreJT lassical Mythology), sponsored by “The .f.ffdventures of Hercules” and “Xena: War- ' p ° nn wifi 'ff or Pfmcess-” The true beauty of this vn l personalitiiip lethod is that A&M can easil y easil y ad ' shops will pff on recruitiogP’l imen, training planning meel leadership unding a fresi janization and liques. In response to Nov. 8 mail call: ody wanted ku | am sure the majority of the zero to esro student body was appalled and an leadershipffsgusted to learn of the crimes a some hard that Nathan Howard, a fellow Pinson said. Aggie, allegedly committed. just its rates according to class size. A 300-member lecture could demand, and receive, higher rates than a little 25-mem- ber honors course. A quick commercial announcement takes all of 30 seconds, which is no time at all. Not even real estate should be kept sa cred. Along road medians and lawns, there is plenty of valuable land where billboards should be erected. Like highway billboards, these would break up the monotony of walking on a beautiful day past architecturally beautiful buildings. And the money would keep rolling in. A final area the University just does not properly utilize is the statues on campus. James Earl Rudder looks good standing where he is, but he would look that much better in a complimentary Ar mani suit. And E. King Gill. Between The Gap, Structure, billiards and every other men’s clothing store in town, he too could be stylishly clothed and bring ing in the green. Of course, Lawrence Sullivan Ross, as the patron founder of A&M and our very own soldier, statesman and knightly gen tleman, would have to let go of his coat for forty ounces of Colt 45. Actually, Shiner would work, too. Who ever paid more. A&M has already sold out football games, the spirit of the 12th Man and the student body. The University needs to con tinue what is fast becoming a new tradi tion. Raising money is important, and A&M needs to step forward to continue this recent trend and crest the wave of the new, as colleges cave in to commercial de mands and put education where it belongs: behind the almighty dollar. Chris Huffines is a junior speech communication major. gfF Details reveal problem’s breadth MAIL CALL COFLO: )etween' However, The Battalion’s disclo- Jure of his personal information across the l including the fact he was a vol- articularly coi unteer at Grace Bible Church as, Oklahoma and was involved with youth ers includedE programs and Bible studies is and univet: far from k e j n g unprofessional > at least one and irresponsible, p organization | This information, informs the pder of how far-reaching the problem of child abuse is. Who refiwould have thought this seeming- vorkshops n on mentoriif activities, heduled nplications aK 3 by 5 p.m. ir ties office ot izational stm® | religious and intelligent person ‘ ould commit such an act? Including the information in arms the reader of the scope of re problem, of how no matter how rtuous one may seem, it does not ismiss them from being able to °romit this sort of crime. 3apti holh David Lee Class of ’01 tikhs |1\00H\N6 US om Short helps x *J Allege students |h response to Chris Huffines ■ 0V - 6 column: \P) — A I would like to know what point upset wit git any) was made by bashing Tom 1 Convention on homosexm Tuesday sC . anization aP on. ,. I •, more m 0 ® s- Conventional! | mal meeting orge R- Bl nter, ab 011 '. ifptfstCM'J t convent!® 1 moup, call e(1 ts ofTexa 5 . e got to get of getting a " word,” ident °t s of Texas, ? here?” R native dir zahom a L cause we nain A 0 ? t apology 3aptist.” in the » , are Soutn' he'n Baptg i as a subg , n for y ea !l ; : aeen a ho® ative churon Short. I do not understand why peo ple (who pretend not to care if they are going to hell) would waste time or energy with Short. It is illogical. It is obvious to me something within these people is convicted by the truth Short preach es. Otherwise, they would walk by and maybe even feel pity for Tom. To say he had no measurable ef fect on the lives of students here at A&M is absurd and extremely lack ing in research. Tell your opinion to one of the many who by hearing Short, were led to Christ or recom mitted their lives to him. Short has had more of a positive effect on students than any person to ever walk on our campus. I saw Tom preach for the first time last year. Then, I was a lukewarm Christ ian sitting on the fence. He forced me to evaluate my beliefs and eventually jump off the fence and into the spiritual fight. I thank A&M for allowing him to be here and and God for bringing him. Tim Austin Class of ’99 OU fan’s actions annoy Aggies I am writing to let first deck foot ball fans know what happened at Saturday’s game. The huge cup of bourbon and Coke that flew through the air was not thrown by an Aggie, but by a “Sooner.” Some Aggie brought his OU buddies to the game and got drunk with them. When one of his buddies threw the cup into the crowd below, no ac tion was taken. The drunken Soon er was told not to do it again. About two minutes later, the entire party left and people seated in front of the people began cheering. To the Aggie who brought these people, think again before bringing them back. That type of behavior is not appreciated in Aggieland. To all Aggies, getting drunk and obnox ious at a football game is not cool. If it were, we would probably serve alcohol at the concession stands. To those people who were drenched, just know it was not an Aggie that did that to you. Ags, Keep the Good Bull tradi tions alive and Beat the Hell Outta Missouri. Jimmy Davis Class of‘97 Accompanied by 26 signatures Newly-designed $20 bill reflects current attitudes A JOHN LEMONS The Battalion encourages letters to the ed itor. Letters must be 300 words or less and in clude 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 Mc Donald with a valid student ID. Letters 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 s every body .knows, there is always time for money. But, is there mon ey for our time? According to the U.S. Depart ment of the Trea- ________ sury, there is. Within the last month, those sly dogs at the Department of the Treasury have slipped a new $20 bill into circulation. And this new bill has a real ’90s flavor to it. The new bill speaks volumes about the generation that created it. See, while money may be the root of all evil, it is also a mirror of the people who spend it. The next generation of $20 bills has retained some its pre decessor’s characteristics. It still features a portrait of Andrew Jackson, but the Jackson pic ture is now larger, and offset from the center of the bill. ■ Jackson’s huge head domi nates the bill. Now that con 1 sumers can get a good look at “Old Hickory’s” mug, they will realize that Jackson is a man with big hair. He looks like a refugee from an ’80s hard-rock band. The similarities, however, end there. Overall, the new bill is plainer than its frilly prede cessor. The complete effect is a bill that looks more like it origi nated from Monopoly game set rather than the Bureau of En graving and Printing. Despite its lack of aesthetics, the new $20 note is a bill for the ’90s. Like this decade, the bill is high tech. In fact, the treasury de partment designed tl\e bill with several high-tech features in an attempt to foil counterfeiters. The United States is firmly en trenched in the digital age, and the new bill shows it. According to the treasury department, in 1997, a to tal of $136,205,241 in counterfeit U.S. currency appeared world wide, and the $20 bill gets coun terfeited more than any other bill. So to combat the legions of scanners, photocopiers and com puters waiting to reproduce the note, the Jackson portrait is print ed with color-shifting ink. When viewed at different angles, the “20” on the lower right hand cor ner of the bill shifts from green to black. TYy reproducing that. Additionally, the bill .has an embedded polymer strip that glows green under ultraviolet light. Vety eerie. Along the oval surrounding Jackson’s mega-head, the phrase, “The United States of America” is printed in extremely fine print. “USA 20” is also mi- croprinted on the bill. These phrases are too small to be repro duced by most photocopiers. Perhaps the most telling sign of when the bill was created this decade, though, is the enlarged “20” appearing in the lower right- hand corner on the back of the note. The large number appears so visually impaired people can more easily identify the bill. Alas, the treasury department has made an inclusive, politically cor rect bill. This is somewhat ironic considering Andrew Jackson was not one of this country’s most po- litically-correct presidents. Although making the “20” easier to read for people with visual problems is admirable, it is also typical. It is surprising that the forces of political cor rectness did not go all the way and demand that Jackson be re placed with Betsy Ross, Clara Barton or Mary Lou Retton. Oh wait, they did. Feminists need not worry. Next year, the U.S. Mint will release a $1 coin bearing the likeness of Saca- gawea, the American Indian teenager who helped guide Lewis and Clark to the Pacific. Although probably not inten tional, the back of the new bill fea tures an image of the north side of the White House, as opposed to the previous incarnation’s view of the building’s south side. Presum ably, this is intended to keep citi zens from seeing any indecent ac tivities in the Oval Office, viewable form the south lawn. The $20 note does possess one decidedly “un-’90s” feature — it still proclaims “In God We TTust.” It is shocking to think the Supreme Court has not ruled this govern ment promotion of religion. Thankfully, the bill does not bear the phrase, “In some higher power or force or vague feeling we kind of trust, as long as that does not of fend you — and it means that there is still no prayer in school. ” The new $20 bill will likely be around for a long time. The last design hung around for 70 years. One wonders if this in carnation will be quite so time less. Regardless, the bill uncan nily describes the time in which it was first minted. It seems mirrors turn up in the most unexpected places. John Lemons is an electrical engineering graduate student. JENNIFER JONES Internet filters often threaten free speech T he First Amend ment is un der attack again. Only this time no one is protest ing a Ku Klux Klan rally or flag burning, but in stead jumping into the virtual world of cyberspace. Today the Anti-Defamation League is releasing a new filter software product called ADL Hate- Filter. The filter provides users the option of screening out hate sites available on the World Wide Web. Sites filtered include groups “that in ADL’s judgment advocate hatred, bigotry or even violence toward Jews or other groups on the basis of their religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other immutable characteristics.” The Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations and White Pride Network are in cluded on this list. Although this may appear to be a noble mission, filtering informa tion from the Internet attacks the right to free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment and allows impersonal organizations to define acceptable public information. Dr. David P. Bell, regional chair of ADL, said in a press release, “Bigots are seducing our children with on-line messages presented in full-color animation with music and video, all designed to mask the hideous face of hate and at tract and influence young people. As the enormous power of the In ternet expands, so does this dark side of technology. ” Although many groups attempt to promote their message of hate through colorfully disguised methods, screening out what one organization deems unacceptable sets an unnerving precedent for other institutions to judge what is appropriate for people to-see, read or hear about. In the case of the HateFilter, ADL decided groups promoting anti-Semitic or racist ideas should not be allowed into homes where children surfing the Internet could find themselves at a Web page de picting stereotypes or giving a skewed portrait of members of a particular race or religion. Children are impressionable, granted, but this wide censorship seems extreme. It is better to have a responsible parent at home to explore the Internet with his or her child than to restrict what can and cannot be accessed. In addition to the filter, ADL provides a link where users can obtain information about individ uals who espouse “dangerous and divisive views on the Internet. ” This ability to access informa tion about people who are partici pants in hate groups is frightening ly similar to extremist pro-life groups that publish personal infor mation about abortion doctors and then hint or state outright the indi viduals should be harmed for what they believe. A company that distributes in formation about individuals who are associated with hate groups while barring people from ac cessing information from that group is no better than fhe hate group that distributes pointed propaganda filled with false hoods and gross generalizations. There is a trend in software to provide filtering services. But who decides what is objection able? If a filtering product is de signed by a Christian organiza tion, does it consider information that contradicts the Bible objec tionable and therefore unaccept able for viewing on the Web? Similarly, if a company views information about sex inappropri ate, does information about sexual reproduction and birth-control de vices get blocked along with pornography? The decision about what is appropriate is difficult, and consumers who take advantage of software filters may get tighter re straints than they expected. Individuals who spew messages of hate and intolerance should not be lauded or held in high esteem. But to restrict access to ideas, no matter how misguided, tramples on the right of individuals to have access to all ideas and then make their own judgments accordingly. Jennifer Jones is a senior psychology major.
