The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, November 16, 1998, Image 9

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JTORCYCU
“a^anty, helmet slk • i ^ Battalion
“ 696-2870. ’
•at shape, 4K. Chet
pinion
Page 9 • Monday, November 16, 1998
ERSONAL
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CALEB
McDaniel
ere we go again.
Baghdad will not
, , back down again.
u: (619)645 8434 wkee Doodle is going to
to\ n again, riding on a
■rship. And U.S. offi-
■ls, with typical bom-
Ist, are insisting in their
Kst grown-up voices,
■e started it.”
^T^^Jneja vu, anyone? Dis-
ated very afte Jsted, anyone?
If not, think logically.
Saddam Hussein probably refuses to
[operate with inspectors because he has
■mething he does not want inspected,
■mething such as a weapon of mass de
duction. Or at least one in developmen
tal stages.
9 However, if this secret weapon is the
-duse of Hussein’s recalcitrance, provoking
an tied conflict is the scariest thing the
Ur ted States can do.
■■Militarizing the standoff with Hussein
.jnay trigger him to use whatever it is he
has under wraps. And although it is ex-
(dmely unlikely Iraq is capable of threat-
eiing the United States, it is extremely like-
dthe county is able to rain brimstone on
neighboring countries such as Israel. No
ds masks are being distributed in Wash-
for spnng 2bdr : "feton, D.C. But they abound in Jerusalem,
so : TTimes such as these prove old-school
brinkmanship is a hazardous course of ac
tion in the New World Order. In the good
' D t c i J „ an ' of I days, madmen with a couple of armies
: e . 696-6259 could be brought to their senses by a few
lor spring. The Mkh i well-placed aircraft carriers. Nowadays,
Jpadmen with loose cannons must be treat-
more delicately. Does anyone know for
dire Hussein will not use a weapon of
dass destruction if pressed into conflict?
d Suppose President Clinton does know.
He knows one of three things.
M He might know more than we have been
■told. Perhaps weapons inspectors have con-
drned Hussein does not have any especially
dangerous weapons. If this is the case, why
spring. 4M^ ? If Saddam Hussein has no weapons of
all Pamela @764-789/ |
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mass destruction and we know it, then the
sense of urgent last resort being propagated
by the administration seems misplaced.
Why stomp on a ladybug?
Scenario numero dos: Clinton knows
Hussein has a weapon, but he also knows
it only has short-range capabilities. With
such knowledge, military action would
seem not only unadvisable, but ethically
dubious. Why gamble with the lives of
Arab children?
The third possibility is scariest of all.
Perhaps Hussein has a weapon of mass de
struction hidden somewhere up his sleeve.
If he has such a weapon, it is safe to as
sume he is not afraid to use it. And if he is
not afraid to use it, it would be wise to as
sume he would unleash it in reaction to
American military strikes. Why not let
sleeping madmen lie?
Clinton’s implication that action in the
Persian Gulf is the only option left is
ridiculous. Not only is it not the only op
tion, it is perhaps the least advisable.
Either Saddam has something to
hide or he does not.
If he does, then it is best
to assume he will use it
And any 10-year-old
boy can tell you not
to throw rocks at a
rabid dog.
If he does not have
something to hide,
then a little more delay,
a little more stalemate,
certainjy could not hurt.
At least, it will not hurt
as much as a weapon of
mass destruction.
Therefore, whether Saddam
has a scary weapon or not, the United
States ought not consider military action
in the Gulf.
It seems in recent months, American offi
cials have converted en masse to a cult of air
strike admirers. They are eager to demon
strate such strikes on Iraq would be justified.
But they forget one thing: to prove mil
itary action against Saddam would be jus
tified does not to prove it is the right
thing to do. Proving it permissible does
not prove it prudent.
And prudent it is not.
In the words of our very own Benjamin
Franklin, “There has never been a good
war or a bad peace,” even if there might
BRAD GRAEBER/Thu Battalion
have been justified wars and uncon
scionable peaces.
And when it comes to the situation in
Iraq, in the words of our very own Han
Solo, “I have a bad feeling about this.”
Caleb McDaniel is a sophomore
history major.
bdm./2ba. duplex,
js 1/3-bills. Call69Mj|
bile home available Id
)/mo. +1/3utilities. M"
MAIL CALL
7/ ■ • Slacker bill limits
O/mo. plus bills. 696-2.'
students’ options
response to Andrew Baley’s
'ov. 12 column:
found Andrew Baley’s sup-
3-'99. 2WmTlMi
47/mo. Aaron,
Spring. 2Miro*"J
>/mo.+l/2utilil«s ■ . ..I,-,, ,' ,
poit of the slacker bill unfortu-
It seems he has not only
d for Spring. New -
I pus. $265/mo. ti: "nate
Jforgotten one of the primary pur-
derests and talents lie. Many
students do not know what they
fish to do with their, lives when
ley enter college. The early col-
years allow the student to
■or 4bdrm/2bafcs tposes 0 f undergraduate study,
. $300/mo.+1/4bfc ! j. , . . . , .
— <bu; he has also neglected to
artment^wfflwiwWnsider a large number of stu-
• 24-hppr copies; Merits here at A&M. The bill has
e-rm Rent $345 Some ser j 0|js f| aws _
s.a.p.n ciose'to^l An undergraduate education
can Paige tor#*is an opportunity for a student
--.to discover where his or her in-
'drm/lbath with too® 1
nings.
lies. Share
i 10-acres. Good to !
ormation- (409)589-!f
(VICES
Driving Loisroi* ex P |ore man V possible courses
isurance discount Study.
) Fri(6P |n"fd P e" 1, Nat^l The slacker 13111 als ° f ails t°
cash. Lowestpree |consider transfer students who
:e.2i7. 846-6117. -fiake up a large portion of the
student body. I attended a
IAVEL icommunity college in California,
EAMBOAT-woKLofyhere | received an associate’s
-e nightlife-c^iegree, before transferring to
-888-ski-this". over qq semester
TORS fredit hours. Unfortunately,
' „ „ ^ Pany of the courses did not ap-
ath, Science, BioW-L, , .. . _ , _ . n . „ ,
nd Spanish. Byrffiyto anything at Texas A&M. I
pad over 40 hours of music, film
^production and even math cours-
her native languages (jjjj not; f u |fj|| requlre-
ents here at A&M.
I will be graduating in May. If I
ecide to take an internship, I
leave A&M with over 200
Jredit hours. I have spent 15
ars trying to earn this degree,
javing to leave work and take
[are of my two children on sever-
occasions. I hardly consider
yself a “slacker."
Derrick Nelson
Class of ’99
dditional classes
roaden education
o It r res P° nse t0 Andrew Baley’s
^ "Wvjiov. 12 column:
f It appears Andrew Baley has
f'TtZCil lined the ranks of those who
HIT LOSS
leases &
-etireds!
ave bought into society’s plan for
our life.
In my experience, kids are told
***** rom high school on they should
“rincess, ioto college merely to land a bet-
*in: $19.99 er iob and make more money. As
.**#* * nany people out of college al-
(fcid 1 eacj y know - a higher-paying job
vtoisL. | oes no t bring happiness or con-
entment to your life.
Yet, if you wish to stay in
school and take advantage of all
he opportunities offered by a
miversity, the state of Texas
eels obliged, to make you pay
= ***!(:
s: $4.99!
****
?D’ S TBB’
tum Cow
260-C0tfi
out-of-state tuition. Does that
sound right?
Take a stand. Do not let a
piece of paper (your degree plan)
tell you not to take 27 hours of
humanities. Broaden your mind.
Do not let the state limit your edu
cation and throw you out into the
business world to bring more
money in for them. It is your edu
cation, not the state’s.
i understand the general princi
ple of the bill, but I oppose it be
cause it will hurt those who are at
school to learn all they can and
broaden their minds.
So if you want to take your re
quired classes and leave, then do
it. But do not let man-made capi
talist rules of society tell you
when your education should end.
Take a stand. Take more classes.
Ben Brennan
Class of ’00
Local businessman
helps students
I would like to thank the owner
of T.J.’s Laser Tag for helping out
some Aggies.
My accounting group is working
on a project that requires us to
make a video about various inter
national accounting issues. We
decided that T.J.’s Laser Tag
would be a perfect place to shoot
some scenes.
We walked in unannounced, fig
uring we might have to pay a fee
for renting the place, but none of
us bothered to ask if it would even
be OK for us to come in.
To our surprise, the owner not
only let us use the facility, he gave
us suggestions on how to make
our video better, and did not
charge us a dime.
We were there for well over an
hour, and he let us use it for free.
This letter was sent to show
our appreciation to the owner of
T.J.’s Laser Tag (and the employee
who tolerated us for all that time).
We appreciate your generosity. It
made our video great.
Jonathan Anderson
Class of ’99
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
New millennium computer concerns
promise challenge, not catastrophe
DAVID
JOHNSTON
F rankly, the
whole sce
nario
sounds like a bad
science fiction
plot. Or maybe
the ramblings of
a cult fanatic.
One second
after midnight on
Dec. 31, 1999,
the world will end — for all prac
tical purposes. Stock portfolios
will vanish, refrigerators will quit
working and the paper boy will
forget he already collected last
week. Of course, these are all ran
dom guesses.
Americans should pause and
consider this century’s amazing
accomplishments — before those
achievements are swallowed by a
computer glitch.
Around the world, people are
realizing how important comput
ers are in their daily lives. Elec
tronic machinery plays essential
roles in fields from manufacturing
to television. Computers operate
with such precision that even a
minor problem, such as part of a
date, can bring entire systems
crashing to the ground.
Imagine trying to register for
class, only to hear that ominous
voice say, “Registration for spring
term 1900 is not available at this
time. Enter an action code now.”
Computers are everywhere.
However, while everyone else
is swept up in panic, trying to fig
ure out whether their coffeemak-
er is Y2K compliant, take a mo
ment to appreciate how far
America has progressed since the
turn of the century.
Consider for a moment how
different life would be if the
world misread its digital watch
and reverted 100 years. For
starters, most Texas A&M stu
dents would not be able to vote.
If the Constitution were not
year 2000 compatible, the voting
age would be 21, women would
not be able to cast ballots and
everyone else would be subject to
poll taxes. Of course, on the
bright side, there would no such
thing as a federal income tax.
Texas A&M University would
still be around, but it would be
all-male, all-Corps and all differ
ent. At least students would not
have to worry about missing the
bus to the Bush School — though
William McKinley might be look
ing for a site to build his presiden
tial library.
America has seen unparalleled
progress in the last century, and
not just politically or socially. The
country has witnessed economic
growth, advances in literature
and art and increases in land and
population.
In general, the decades have
been good. Technology has grown
by leaps and bounds. Now the
pessimists say it will all disappear
when the clock strikes midnight.
Technology — and depen
dence upon it — has created the
millennium scare. However, the
ability of innovators to create that
technology means there does not
need to be a scare.
People got along fine without
computers, then a handful of cre
ative geniuses — starting with
nothing — sparked the technolog
ical revolution.
Even if a catastrophe (like a
new millennium) crippled the
world’s computers, humankind
would overcome. The inconve
niences would be only temporary
until new creative geniuses re
solved the problem.
If the country manages to sur
vive the impending 4-digit crisis,
there is no telling what the next
100 years will bring. Then again,
those next 100 years may be spent
upgrading software.
Dave Johnston is a senior
mathematics major.
The Bible
offers readers
literary value
M etaphors,
aner-
dotes,
prose, poetry.
The Bible is full
of interesting and
well-written liter
ary techniques.
Needless to
say, the book de
serves to be stud
ied as a literary work and not
merely taken at face value.
Inside the Bible lie some of
the most interesting and enter
taining stories ever read. How
ever, that does not mean these
stories are complete by them
selves. If one just reads the
words that are written, it is pos
sible to miss some of the more
insightful points.
For example, when the Bible
speaks of God getting angry (in
the original Hebrew translation),
it says that God was so angry, he
snorted fire from his nostrils. That
description is perhaps one of the
most vivid and beautiful, and it
makes its point extremely well.
However, readers of the Bible
are not meant to take this descrip
tion literally. It is a metaphor to
express a concept and should be
studied as such.
People who want to become
good writers should use the Bible
as their handbook. Although the
Old Testament (or Torah) is .
sometimes a little lacking in plot,
the stories take an argument and
follow it through a variety of gen
erations. It follows the story of
Adam and Eve and their relation
ship with God all the way
through to the choosing of the
Jews and their relationship with
God. The simplicity and accurate
word choice throughout the sto
ries can only be beneficial to a
beginning writer who has a ten
dency to confuse readers.
The New Testament offers a
different form of literary criticism
that is also beneficial to younger
generations and English students.
It follows the story of one person
and his relationship with God
from a variety of different angles.
This creates a form of irony for
the reader, where the audience
knows what is happening, yet Je
sus does not.
It is important to note here the
Bible should not be studied as a
literal interpretation. If one stud
ies it as such, the deeper mean
ings in all the stories are lost. .
For example, the story of
Sodom and Gomorrah is not
meant to be a historical chronicle
of a wicked city. Although it
could represent a truthful hap
pening, the point it is trying to
make is if members of society be
have wrongly, they will be pun
ished. It is also a story that illus
trates the mercy of God, because
for 10 good men, the city would
have been saved.
But a more important lesson
to gain from this story is it is OK
to disagree with God — if the
disagreement is for a valid pur
pose. Abraham argued with God
in an attempt to save the city.
This is OK.
Now realize, all the points
that were mentioned could not
have been gleaned from a casu
al, factual reading. That is
where literary criticism becomes
important. It allows readers to
form their own opinions based
on deeper levels and subtexts in
the Bible.
The New Testament also is not
meant to be read on a factual lev
el. Inherently, when 12 disciples
witness an event, and four of
them write varying accounts of
the event, the story is not meant
to be taken without analysis.
The contradictions between the
writers Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John should in themselves lend a
strong argument for literary cri
tique of the Bible.
It is necessary for English stu
dents to be taught to look for the
meanings inside the Bible because
it can only lead to better thinkers
for the future.
If students are taught to find
their own meanings, each as im
portant and perhaps more valid
than a strict, factual reading, they
will be better able to find the real
meanings in other events in their
lives and in other situations.
LISA
FOOX
Lisa Foox is a senior
journalism major.