er
ie Battalion
O
PINION
Page 11 • Tuesday, February 23, 1999
V blast from the past?
deposed laws against underage,
rresponsible alcohol use
eminiscent of Prohibition
Zach
HALL
jnderaged drinking is an issue that is not
jforeign to College Station. The recent death
Jbf a Texas A&M student is just one example
whai can happen when inexperienced drinkers
(e drinking too far.
Many students have been to parties that have
en busted by the police in which minor in pos-
ssion (MIP) citations were given. In fact Col-
;e Station police issued 1,075 MIP citations in
98.
City ordinances involving drinking are abun-
nt in Bryan and College Station; and in Dallas, police authorities
d Mothers Against Drunk Driving are questioning the validity of
xas laws that allow minors to drink with the consent of their par
ts. They cite a recent example of parents in Lubbock who sup-
ed brer to their teens for a party; two people were killed after a
?n left the party drunk and had a wreck.
However, the answer to preventing unneeded deaths is not an-
ner Prohibition.
Alcohol can adversely affect anyone who misuses it, but instead
^■ishing everyone to combat a problem caused by a few, city
mikew d University authorities need to focus on those who are truly re
ds theteam • ons ' l ^ e -
i. Shehas3' : t * ie case Barry Joseph Vail II who fell from the third floor of
opfjve mdo.:- )ar ^^ n § 8 ara § e > authorities were actively pursuing the students
to hosted the party that Vail and his friends visited and the con-
nience store that he bought alcohol from.
If the convenience store or students knowingly and recklessly
ovided Vail and his friends with alcohol then they should be pros-
uted for those charges, not because he died. There seems to be a
. aat need to place ultimate blame in this case.
But (he individual who had absolute and final responsibility for
sown actions was also the one affected by those actions. Further-
are, in cases in which parents supply alcohol to minors, who in
rn are involved in accidents, the parents should be prosecuted.
That is where the responsibility and fault lies. Texas laws do not
^ed to be changed because a few people are too stupid to follow
fisting laws or to control their own actions.
More laws only punish those who are responsible drinkers. Col-
=;e Station already has enough ordinances involving alcohol as it
Whether it requires bars to stop serving alcohol at 1 a.m. or per
ils one from drinking in his own front yard after 1 a.m. Increasing
ie number of laws and city ordinances is not the way to prevent
nderage or irresponsible drinking.
Many students can relate to being at parties where underage
inkers were not present but that were busted by the police any-
ay simply because they were looking for underaged drinkers.
In an Bryan-College Station Eagle article on underaged drinking, one
ficer was quoted as saying that they will target parties knowing that
fNCE
MOW!
-larch 3.10
5:45
■8:15
n
tor info!!
k ere ti e usually one or two minors present who are drinking.
But regardless of whether there are minors present or not, the
SENI0R! ir,y Is usually busted. Furthermore, there is no room to argue with
e authorities in these situations.
Still other students can relate to having been given public intoxi-
tion citations for walking from Northgate to their homes or
Was the better solution to have driven home? Why is there
M
this double standard within laws and ordinances within the city?
Underage and reckless drinking are problems that every commu
nity must deal with, but the answer is not to pass reckless, irre
sponsible ordinances and laws.
As Prohibition showed in the ’20s and ’30s, drinking will go on
regardless of the number of laws, ordinances or scare tactics used.
The answers and solutions to keeping these problems under control
RUBEN DELUNA/Tmk Battalion
must come from holding those who are ultimately responsible ac
countable for their actions.
Over-reaching laws and ordinances only create an apathetic stu
dent and community population and punish those who are respon
sible and accountable to their own actions.
Zach Hall is a senior philosophy major.
- Stsrael should not protect spy lest
>nn unique dev < 0 j #
:.; :Ainerican support disappears
\ ccording to Webster’s New
World Dictionary, a traitor
.is “a person who betrays
jii s or her country, cause,
malized Grady*
gielandprintin^
aian • Colleg*
8:30-5:30
Jark
friends, etc.”
Despite t
his protests
and those of
the current
Israeli Gov
ernment,
Johnathan
Pollard fits
WATERS this definition
S Inc rdblv also prototypical reminder
-ThpM the United States should
ICCcSS lllvGver consider itself as having
tnyoneCa«tf n fcests. ies ' only perma '
Pollard worked for the Depart-
. Fast, Easy Indent of Defense before he was
lo Dialing In/NoP e l ed in 1985 for espionage.
Phone Lind- ,hat was the na tion for which
-No I
? committed his treason? The
• Always! ate ot - j srae p supposedly one of
cr Than A Reeul merica’s staunchest allies.
Israel claimed it was looking
r weaknesses in regional foes,
N„w 4 Dilfcrt hich registers as pure garbage
To Suit Your Spence no nation in the Middle
„ Prims YouC^ Jst uses the encryption systems
e United States uses to code its
essages. No excuse can hide
For A I -' - ie fact Israel was looking for
Pay Only Dssible weaknesses in the Unit-
ActivationA# 1 States military.
First Two lil' Pollard was sentenced to life
;e Absolut i prison without the possibility
: parole. To this day, Pollard
aims he committed his treaso-
Suhst# Dusfacts because he is a Jew
c @ble.Pf”' he wanted to protect his
^^opje. Protect them from whom
Israel’s number one subsidiz-
B who doles out $2 billion
rfortp of aid yearly?
p OV vereo v . p 0 ]| arc }’ s claims have appar-
693- (F itly tugged at the heartstrings
Service /
of many Israelis, including Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli leader wants Pollard
freed, saying that he did a patri
otic duty for the Jewish state.
To make his point, Netanyahu
refused to sign the Wye Accords
for two days, until President
Clinton promised to review the
case.
What Netanyahu and other Is
raelis are neglecting to mention
is the concept of Pollard’s patrio
tism is an absolute farce. Pollard
was American, not Israeli (he
was made an Israeli citizen in
1995 to increase his chances of
release).
This makes him a traitor to
his nation, not some kind of
hero.
Pollard sold out his nation for
money. He was paid a sum in
the upper six figures for his be
trayal, which shoots holes in his
argument that he did his dirty
work on behalf of his religion.
This man has far more in
common with Benedict Arnold
than some Old Testament figure.
The actions of the Israeli Gov
ernment on this issue should be
noted by Americans. The Israelis
are acting with a mix of immatu
rity and arrogance.
Netanyahu had the audacity
to halt action on the Wye Ac
cords because of the Pollard is
sue, when the accords had noth
ing to do with the United States
and Israel.
The Israelis are acting like a
spoiled child who has been
caught with his hand in the
cookie jar, and wants to eat the
cookie.
The United States has worked
unceasingly through four admin
istrations to help better Israel’s
relations with its neighbors, and
these actions are the thanks it re
ceives.
There has to be a limit, and
Jonathan Pollard should be it.
If Clinton has one ounce of
courage, he will take the advice
of his CIA director and leave Pol
lard in jail.
Indeed, if it were possible, it
would be better if Pollard were
executed. This is the traditional
fashion in which traitors are
dealt with and it would quickly
end this debate. It would also
serve the dual purpose of send
ing a firm message to other peo
ple who are considering spying
on their country, and remind Is
rael that their relationship with
the United States requires some
give and take.
Pollard should be doing a slow
dance with a long rope, not danc
ing in front of the Wailing Wall.
The Jonathan Pollard episode
is a large black spot on the
American-Israeli relationship.
America needs to realize that
any nation is capable in acting in
a manner contrary to United
States interests, while Israel
should remember their very exis
tence is imperiled by an es
trangement with America.
The special relationship be
tween the United States and Is
rael has been one of the major
reasons Israel has remained in
existence.
Israel would be wise to bring
up issues that strengthen its se
curity and cultivate its relation
ship with the United States, and
not revisit ones that could frag
ment it.
Mark Passwaters is a graduate
electrical engineering student.
Big record companies should I
■
embrace MP3 format, not fight it
Luke
SAUGIER
T he mu
sic in
dustry
claims it is
losing a large
amount of
profits be
cause of MP3s
which stands
for MPEG lay
er 3, a type of
compressed data file used to
record music. The files most
commonly hold music in digital
form.
Like most other file types,
they can be freely copied and
distributed over the Internet or a
computer network.
The music industry loses
money because it is possible to
convert music to the MP3 format
and then distribute the contents
of the CD for free.
And of course, no one who
can get all the songs on a CD off
of the Internet is going to want
to buy that same CD.
In an effort to stem the rising
tide of MP3 files available to
people, five major record compa
nies, including Sony and Warner
Music, sponsored an IBM project
code-named “Madison” to create
a compressed file type to replace
MP3s.
This new type of file cannot
be copied, thus making it safe
for record companies to distrib
ute music via the Internet.
People are expected to use
these new files instead of MP3s
because they will sound better.
The major recording labels
plan to maintain a huge online
database of these files so peo
ple can pay for them first and
then download them to their
computers.
While the record companies
see this as the wisest course of
action, it will, in fact, be detri
mental to the growth of online
distribution and the record com
panies’ profits.
The point record companies
have obviously missed is that
while people would appreciate
higher quality sound files, they
appreciate the price of the slight
ly lower quality MP3’s much
more.
By creating this new uncopy-
able file type, the record compa
nies have set themselves up as
the bad guy who wants to cash
in on what is currently enjoyable
and free.
Because of the anti-authority
nature of the Internet communi
ty, one of two things are likely to
happen: the new file type may
be entirely ignored, which is the
best thing the record companies
can hope for, or someone will
come up with a way to copy the
files.
The record companies will
then have merely helped the
spread of “illicit music” by fund
ing the development of a higher-
quality file type and providing
an easy way to obtain the new
files.
Instead of trying to fight
what has already become too
big to kill, record companies
should embrace MP3s as a way
to distribute the music of new
artists, which currently costs
the companies the most mon
ey.
Distributing singles on MP3 is
a controversial topic in the
recording industry; many com
panies see it as a wonderful
idea, while others (usually the -
larger labels) see it as the begin-;
ning of the end of profitable mu
sic promotion.
This is largely a case of fear- *
ing the unknown. By spending
less money on the promotion of;
new artists, record companies -
would more than recoup the ;
small losses caused by people
who download music without ;
buying the CD.
Releasing singles on MP3 is
an extremely effective way to
promote a new band. According
to MP3.com, the vast majority of
the people who download MP3s
end up buying the CD the MP3
can be found on.
In the future, bands may pro- 1
mote themselves by releasing !
their music on the Internet in ;
MP3 format, and only sign with
record companies when there is
great demand for their music.
This would reduce promotion
costs for new bands, and the
record companies would be
guaranteed music that would
sell. Because the companies
would not have to promote the
new artists, that savings would
be passed along to the con
sumer.
By making singles available
on MP3, the record companies
would bypass radio and video
broadcasting companies, who
may or may not play their new
song.
In addition, this method of
distribution would provide their
potential market with an easy
and risk-free way to sample new
music.
Luke Saugier is a sophomore
petroleum engineering majof.