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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1999)
*00^ L viei 1 rea cU 1 ^rytimeii t I did ' 'own; ic Battalion O PINION Page 5 • Friday, March 12, 1999 hder where? alvin Klein's use of underwear-clad youngsters not in same class as child pornography Mm i sligly 5.” ) Sandi ■ i' req geitin:. lend der; n. Luo j- rei labe | oth d gives y sittinc reiafc snipp; ■; n-agai:- leinfa::' •Spee: 1 would:- the ban II myfe rremr Lisa FOOX A n adver tise- ment runs in a na tional month ly magazine. The picture shows two lit tle boys, maybe seven or eight years old, in their underwear, playing on a couch. They are very cute little guys and they look like they are having a great time. The ad vertisement is for boys’ under wear. First reaction: “Oh my goodness, child pornography?” Or “Oh my goodness, these little kids are so cute?” If the underwear line belongs to Calvin Klein, the first thing people cry is “child pornogra phy.” But in this case, these ads are not pornographic (in any sense) for a variety of reasons. The first issue to address is what child pornography is. Ac cording to the Justice Depart ment’s guidelines, a picture needs to meet five criteria to be considered child pornography. It must “focus on the genital area, show unnatural poses, de pict children as sex objects, im ply that the children are willing to engage in sex, and have a sug gestive setting.” Now, these ads do not focus on the genital area. They are ad vertising underwear and to show underwear, the models need to be wearing it, sure, but there are no close-ups or specific camera angles that zoom in on inappro priate places. Further, if all the people crying foul really thought about these criteria, they would realize that children arm-wrestling on a couch is not in an unnatural pose. Most Americans, when they were chil dren, have run around in their homes in their underwear. Be cause they are children and be cause there is no social stigma at tached to children being comfortable in less clothing than adults, there is something cute about these little kids. Nor do the ads imply that these children are sex objects or willing to engage in sex. The idea that children need to be used to sell children’s underwear appears to be merely common sense. Without a child model, what could be used? Animals? Adults? The best way to sell something is to show beautiful people — children or adults — using the product. The final criterion to think about is the idea that these ad vertisements place the children in a suggestive setting. Ah yes, the suggestiveness of jumping on the couch, when a child is seven years old. How strange, how sexy. Merely because Calvin Klein designs an ad does not necessar ily make it food for contention. To claim that these ads are child pornography devalues the horror of real child pornography. Child pornography portrays children as engaging or being forced to engage in sex for a camera.This is obviously a dis gusting, perverted and immoral idea. But Calvin Klein is not doing this. He is not exploiting these children for the sake of showing children as sexual beings. He is merely trying to sell his clothing. Lisa Foox is a senior journalism major. ROBERT HYNECEK/Thk Battalion artmouth making mistake in banning Greek organizations j ecently the Board of uSm JL VTrustees at mdb Dartmouth Universi- rc hic;ty released an initia- ti\ e that would over- •— hciul student life on jnse J the campus. Is jeat; imaxi aweA The Board intends Brandon to build residence halls and social MULLEN spaces and wants to improve the dining ween | facilities. While this would be appreci- I ated by the student body, one point of the plan has the majority of students ^’oftfej outraged. I Ultimately the Board of Trustees w inni:i wants to make all residential and social esW iit; organizations coeducational. This s hoot it would mean that the university that was the inspiration for the classic >a thesfl movie Animal House would no longer tiallys: have same-sex Greek organizations. All gen’s fraternities and sororities would be forced to integrate their houses. Bluto f r oni Blutarski could be living in the same livers cf nigh- 01 ; •alsettoi All house as Babs Jansen. The majority of the trustees’ goals are reasonable, but integrating the Greek system is like taking an entire bottle of aspirin for a common headache. One of the reasons the Board is pushing for a coeducational social sys tem is it would decrease the problems the campus has with alcohol. This is not an uncommon problem. Most colleges are concerned with alco hol abuse. But running same-sex Greek houses off campus is not a healthy so lution. Dartmouth should consider oth er alternatives, such as working with the national organizations to control al cohol abuse. Representatives from the national or ganizations of the fraternities met to discuss alternatives to the initiative. In a report in The Dartmouth, one of the representatives stated the national or ganizations would openly work with the university to improve the alcohol problems. The representatives said this type of open discussion would be beneficial to every one involved: the university, the Greek students, the non-Greek students and the national organizations. The representatives also stated the trustees’ current plan to integrate the Greek system would “ultimately drive away the resources and support of the national organizations.” But, the board is determined to rede fine the social atmosphere on campus by making the Greek system coeduca tional. The trustees want a social sys tem that is coeducational to make it more like real life. They do not agree with social separation on the basis of sex. The national organizations are strongly opposed to the integration of fraternities and sororities and are will ing to fight it. The university would be making a big mistake if they alienated these national organizations and their alumni. Another story in The Dartmouth, re- MAIL CALL ported that a significant number of alumni have revoked donations in re sponse to the initiative. The university has stated that it plans to spend as much money as is necessary to make these changes work. But if the announcement has already caused alumni reaction, the actually implementation could cause a further drain of expected funds. In addition to facing the heat of alumni, the university could face the fire of lawsuits from national organiza tion who refuse to integrate. The groups could argue their point using a Congressional resolution that protects freedom of speech and free as sociation on public and private schools that receive federal money. Regardless of the legal and monetary reasons not to change the Greek sys tem, the trustees should look at the stu dents. Only 35 percent of the students to Dartmouth are part of the Greek sys tem and 83 percent of the students are in opposition to the initiative to make the Greek system co-educational. The trustees should realize that the current system is acceptable to the students. If the university wants to make the social environment like real life, it should be kept the way it is. In the real world, everyone chooses who they want to socialize with. People decide who they want to be friends with and who they do not. To change the current system would go against reality and tradition. The Greek system at Dartmouth has been around for 150 years. To make such a drastic change would do more damage than potential good. The goal to reduce the amount of al cohol abuse is valid, but the current plan is not the answer. The university should take the Greek system off of “double-secret proba tion,” and look for a more realistic so lution. Brandon Mullen is a senior history and English major. ne bt^ : Marines more than the? ie b) trained fighters , ' In response to Chris Bollinger’s W0 tar. 9 mail call. ,U0t IED iirtc 5LE /E ^ I Two years ago there was a shooting in Redford and an 18- year-old boy was killed; however the information in Chris Bollinger’s letter was misleading. 1 To say that Marines and all active duty military for that mat ter are not trained in anything, but the operations of war is even more of an ignorant statement. If that were the case, why was an entire battalion sent to Flori- d; i to build and run a tent city for ^^tle American citizens who had list everything in Hurricane An drew? 1 The United States Army along r ,|Jiith other servicemen went to ur ^ f Panama to stop the smuggling of 5pr illegal drugs into the United States. M Just last year young Marines were sen t 0 n their first mission rg raCl to Kenya to bring home the bod- 3b slte ies of Americans killed in the embassy bombing. In order to complete these domestic as well as foreign missions successful- ly, our troops are well trained in many areas. In fact, the average officer or enlisted Marine will tell you that their training has equipped them with the skills that go beyond war tactics. The list of positive, peace keeping missions our services have completed goes on and on, and because so many men and women continue to sacrifice themselves and their families the list will continue to go on. As a civilian I am grateful. It amazes me when people sarcastically talk about the lack of training that our military en dures, yet when a catastrophe strikes of any kind, we all expect the military personnel to leave their own families to serve other Americans. And without fail, they always do, after all, they have been trained to do so. I am forever indebted to all men and women who have served me as well as my family in all international and domestic missions. The Marines sent to Kosovo did not request the mis sion, they have just executed it. They are simply following the orders of their superiors and by doing so, they display an incredi ble amount of respect and hon or. In their training they were taught to do this, and these qualities will benefit them far be yond their military days. I would like to thank ail service person nel as well as their spouses. I cannot even begin to imagine what this country would be like without the sacrifices you have made. Jiulie Weber Class of ’01 Kosovo involvement not appropriate In response to Luke Saugier’s Mar. 5 opinion column. The ultimate decision to em ploy U.S. forces overseas in volves more than the mentality of, “America has the right to go around trying to solve the prob lems of other nations.” One has to consider the nu merous constraints and appropri ate uses of the military instru ment. Therefore, U. S. interventionism cannot be based on morals of: is it the right or wrong thing to do. Who in this country does not ■believe, "America’s success as a nation proves that the American way of life is the best?” But Americans tend to view conflicts in the world through conventional lenses and mind sets shaped by the American ex perience and by American norms and values. Thus, the idea can not provide justifiable grounds for intervention. Your column also portrayed United States Marines as homici dal maniacs. Marines do not en list to “kill people and break things.” They enlist to defend the homeland of the United States and protects its national inter ests, whatever they may be. Furthermore, Richard Marcinko is not a credible source. And your citation of this figure makes your column even more idiotic. The military is not asked “when,” “where,” “why,” “what,” of employing the military instru ment. They are only asked “how” to bring the instrument of power to bear on the situation. There fore, your source is not applica ble. According to your column, this would make “good practice?” I would like you to explain to a sol dier’s family that their son died in a ridiculous, unconventional conflict, but it was good practice. In conclusion, your column was the most incoherent and ab surd article I have ever read. Stick to petroleum and not poli tics, Luke. Elliott Crawford Confederate flag not racist symbol In response to Christian Rob bins’ Mar 4. opinion column. Robbins cites the same unen lightened rationale for discarding the Confederate battle flag given by all opponents by stating it “epitomizes ignorance and ha tred." She suggests that Southern ers discontinue use of the flag because it is offensive to some. Well, I am not about to throw my heritage, purchased with my ancestor’s blood, in the trash be cause of the misguided opinions of a few ignorant dissenters. In addition, the hate groups that display this flag do not speak for the vast majority of Southerners and their irrespon sible, inappropriate use of the flag does not change what it ac tually symbolizes. Lastly, slavery is an appalling institution and I am personally relieved it was eradicated in this country; however, as a white An glo-Saxon Protestant male, I steadfastly refuse to spend the rest of life apologizing or feeling guilty for it. The time has come for the black community to stop focus ing on a past they cannot change and direct their efforts to build ing a better tomorrow. Clay Trant Class of ’00 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: 11.11 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: batt@tamvml.tamu.edu
