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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 1999)
( Opinion Page 7 • Tuesday, March 30, 1999 oad hazards port utility vehicles, light trucks pose afety hazard to passenger cars, themselves hey are intimidating, deadly and are the fastest growing class of vehicles America. Fatalities are more ely when this kind of vehicle [involved in a crash. They are is cats ^ \ heavier and ride higher than the 5he«ec775-5755 a\ erage car, making them mo- 1, CFA ragistefW Tib le killers. And most people >93-0239 M-j ve them because they seem C registered Rian fe;3f0 > ” call Shawn at 776-t-; Manisha PAREKH ESTATE They are light trucks and sports utility vehicles. Based on a report released by the National & i„v»stos"highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in .•« man9<* r* Ji ne 1998, these seemingly “safe” vehicles are canAndrsws-c f or everyone on the road. ■■■Hjll Passengers of cars involved in side-impact dMATES ^ as hes with sport utility vehicles and other light wied to<m»iirsKiSucks suffer more injuries than car-car crashes. ■vafd $33o.»>: every seven deaths caused by car-car collision 3( car drivers died after being struck by a light Apartmens mm.’ fr,,,.], e ton summef smssfi ^ , . . , ... , . , | Furthermore, drivers of sport utility vehicles are R- y AAMT-wui just as likely to die in crashes as passenger car dri- a inspiratws Pot ^, rs due to roll overs. In fact, according to indus- ——By consultants Athan Malliaris and Kenneth ^is^^ ligges, sport utility vehicles are four times a's like- ;ei summecy;":- 'v t0 r °ll over ' n f ata ^ crashes as passenger cars. o- 764-«»t I; So why are these vehicles allowed on the roads? 99 anuw fa-sow>^hy aren’t automobile manufacturers taking steps ^6^9oT t0 correct these safety problems? ——-r—1? The answer is money. -nd onelof FreAlmH - . . . , 7 , . , , ■ Light trucks — a class that includes trucks, woodtxook cm;:- sport utility vehicles and mini vans — are the MinguMw csM-, fastest growing class of vehicles in America. Ac cording to the Automotive News Data Center, over JD percent of the vehicles sold in 1997 were in the 1 ght-truck class. iiowhouMContowf However, despite the proliferation of these vehi- ales, automobile manufacturers are still slow in - working on making them safer for everyone on the rbdd. $192 50/mo, ♦!' wtr/ht MikeTtO-" ith houSA, C.Si Of unities 76MW The problem with light trucks lies in design, hey were designed for heavy work or off-road 3bdrm®«tr •- Conditions, not for daily passenger use. As such, amu 764 s. SUgy are heavier stiffer and ride higher than pas- VICES senger cars, which leads to disastrous results, fj I When a light truck impacts a passenger car, i discount frT more energy is transferred to the smaller car than i-8pm) HrirS' ■m-i' 1 ••• ■ . Nations* «WYf' ’ nk! *' v ’ rv m i price ' ' " ' ' wo * ' ' ' is absorbed by the larger truck. Also, since many light trucks have bumpers that are much higher than other vehi cles’ bumpers, the impact of the colli sion can be hardest in areas that are not reinforced for collisions — areas such as door windows. Further, because sport utility vehicles ride so high, their center of gravity is also higher, which leads to roll overs. Unfortunately, the automakers are not in a hurry to modify the trucks’ designs in order to make them safer. As of March 1998, automakers still did not have the correct test dummies to run test crashes. Also, in order to make sport utility vehicles safer and less likely to roll over, automakers would have to lower the ve hicles — which might lead to fewer buyers. The features that make light trucks appealing — heavier materials, higher road clearance — are the same ones that pose the safety problems. And based on remarks by Barry Felrice of the American Automobile Manufactur ers Association, it would appear that money is more important than lives. “... Not a lot can be done. You can’t repeal the laws of physics,” Felrice said in an ABC news report. Felrice added that consumers buy light trucks for a reason. Apparently, safety should not be one of those reasons. Despite Felrice’s pessimism about changing light trucks’ safety record, Eu ropean automakers have taken steps to ward making them safer. Mercedes- Benz is working on producing sport utility vehicles that have a second, low er bumper designed to absorb more col lision energy. Apparently, some automakers are willing to spend the money that can make light trucks safer. Now it is up to the con sumer to make sure other automakers do not brush the issue under the rug. Consumers need to voice their concerns using the language manufacturers best understand — money. Consumers should not settle for second best. They need to lobby for higher safety stan dards for light trucks and buy cars from automak ers who are willing to spend money on making light trucks safer. If the automakers are willing to sacrifice lives in MARK MCPHERSON/Thii Battalion order to have a strong bottom line, consumers must be willing to sacrifice “style” in order to have a safe bottom line. Manisha Parekh is a junior psychology and journalism major. -qiades. Yokj£ j: rnipany. MW® ^ ilc.? CPIeasectW nelree! 1 ! AnyM 1 /'' lay only, allns|rt7 s ' ORS speakei requiieiltl business atwmv Church's recent action against homosexual arriages will follow historical precedents n EDITORIAL Aaron MEIER t’s against na ture,” “It’s against God’s law,” fThey will burn in hell for these acts! ” These are all validations for what was a terrible con- T LOSS iloversy less than 50 /vamed S ' ye , ars a S° - Interracial ecommended.iii'ij relationships. The idea of 1279-9899, ^ m j x i n g of two races ■■■■wiMnniMBrmii! ———-d Was deemed inexcusable to many religions ise energy 30*1 and even today the issue still touches a nerve Ji society. At the turn of the millennium is. Enjoy sunlit however, religion has a new abomination de -ergy booster-sii i- j our — homosexual relationships. i 3 c 0 ash 9 cCsCF f In the past week, the leaders of the Methodist faith have found themselves y 4®r"Aii naiT" forced to examine the issue of homosexuals ted Fteecow* in Christian religions with two cases. I Last week, the head of the California- . i".-' Nevada United Methodist Conference filed a mplaint against 69 pastors who participat- in the “holy union ceremony” of a lesbian uple that had been together for 15 years. The other case, just yesterday found an plinois pastor guilty of performing a holy nion ceremony for two men, one of which the son of a Methodist minister. Now facing the punishment phase of the led, Christiii .waiting a fc re, and spoil notionally sec 3th of us ate U. Stay-at-fiC Dad. Lovinf- /aiting thisc .shlee toll-fo 35-8307, pin 1 -' -xpen,., Resurrection Week equals intolerance “Resurrection Week” has be rime so much a part of Aggie tra- litions that it could easily be mis- ^ken for an official event. But piile the Protestant majority at sxas A&M University makes joy- preparations to celebrate the Insurrection of its savior, the dark Tide of Resurrection Week is the religious intolerance for which it Stands. Resurrection Week is the cele- jration of a single, particular and limited doctrine. So far from being Tiiversal, triumphant, and eternal }uth, it is not even believed by nany Christians—to say nothing §f non-Christians. Yet for the next Iw days the doctrine behind Res- ijrrection Week will not merely be najority opinion on campus but like a bullhorn, it will drown out Tvery other voice. The right to be different will evaporate into the widespread unthinking assump- trial which could result in the revocation of Rev. Greg Dell’s credentials. Dell, the minis ter who performed the ceremony, said, “I didn’t feel I was being disobedient to the or der and discipline of the United Methodist Church. On the contrary, I felt the only way I could be obedient was to conduct that ser vice. ” Why is it so difficult for religion to accept the homosexual community? What is that you say? The Bible? Ah yes, the eternal an swer to this perplexing question. However, after over four years on this campus, I have yet have anyone be able to quote me the ex act chapter and verse where this abomina tion of nature lies. Commonly cited answers include, “I think it’s why Sodom and Gomor rah fell, but I’m not sure,” or “It’s in Leviti cus somewhere, my minister told me so” and finally the ever-impressive response “It’s just there, allright, that’s all that counts. ” In the case of the of the Methodist mar riage ceremonies, one third of Dell’s congre gation is gay or lesbian. Whether it be through God, or Buddha or the Great Pump kin, just as interracial marriages are now considered commonplace and socially ac ceptable, a time will come when homosexual marriages will be considered worth nothing more than a double take. MAIL CALL Not only are homosexuals trying to fight for their right to celebrate the love in their re lationships, but also the clergy of not only the Methodist religion, but other religions across the world support gay relationships. The 69 ministers and even the bishop who filed the complaint oppose the Methodist church’s ban on recognized homosexual re lationships. The bishop called the ban an “act of injustice” and said he filed the com plaint with “sorrow and regret.” Over the past year, a Shinto shrine in Japan has performed what is thought to be the first marriage of two men. An American Catholic priest has been performing “friendly blessings” of homosexual couples, the Angli can church of Canada has embarked on a two year study of gay marriages and a dio cese of New York Presbyterians has voted to allow ministers to perform “holy union cere monies” as long as they are not confused with marriage ceremonies. It is just a matter of time before homosex ual couples from Ellen and Anne to the gay couple down the hall are accepted and then where will religion turn for their new abomi nation de jour. Aaron Meier is a senior political science major. The Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the editorials board members. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M student body, regents, ad ministration, faculty or staff. Columns, guest columns, cartoons and letters express the opinions of the authors. Editorials Board AARON MEIER Editor in Chief KASIE BYERS Managing Editor MANISHA PAREKH Opinion Editor BETH MILLER City Editor More than beer nuts Proposal to force Northgate bars to install kitchen facilities misdirected, ineffective tion that everyone on campus be lieves fundamentally the same. Or ought to! Not only for Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists and Jews, but for Catholics, Mormons and black and “liberal" Protes tants, Resurrection Week repre sents little more than the reli gious majority’s celebration of its majority status. The doctrine behind Resurrec tion Week is that of Christian supersessionism. Also called dis placement theology, this is the view that God rejected the Jews because they rejected Christ. As a consequence, God nullified the covenant with the people of Israel and made Christians the sole and rightful heirs to his promises. Al though the Jews have suffered most from this teaching of con tempt, anyone at all who dis agrees is, according to the doc trine of supersessionism, not merely mistaken but eternally damned. Fortunately, the supersession- ist logic of convert-or-burn is not shared universally among Chris tians. Under John Paul II, the Ro man Catholic Church has aban doned displacement theology. Rome has dedicated itself to pur suing what the Pope has de scribed as his own “communal feelings about the Jews.” It should surprise no admirer of this Pope that Rome now considers supersessionism a variety of the Marcionite heresy. Some Protestants have also begun to distance themselves from the myth of displacement. The evangelical theologian Hal Lindsey has warned that supers essionism is (in his phrase) “the road to Holocaust.” When a celebration of religious sameness overrides and con ceals the plain fact of religious pluralism on this campus — when it is arrogantly assumed that God listens with favor only to one’s own confession and con demns everyone who believes dif ferently— then religious intoler ance has replaced the quiet sincerity of faith. One of my Catholic students described Res urrection Week as “that time when Protestants start rejoicing about the risen Christ while the Catholics are in the deepest mourning over the events leading up to the Crucifixion.” And no wonder. For as I understand them, those were events of reli gious intolerance. David G. Myers Associate Professor, English. 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: 111.1 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: batt@tamvml.tamu.edu As a part of recent efforts to limit the harmful effects of alcohol on Texas A&M University students, the A&M administration is working with the City of College Station in requiring that bars earn a certain percentage of income from non-al coholic products. More accurately. President Dr. Ray M. Bowen said, at the Jan. 26 Student Leader Advisory Board (SLAB) meeting, the administra tion would request that Northgate area businesses that serve alcohol also serve food as well. In implementing this plan, the administration is placing its faith solely in statistics that show pa trons of establishments that serve food as well as alcohol are in volved in fewer drinking-and-dri- ving-related deaths. What the administration fails to recognize in relying on these sta tistics is that not all Northgate es tablishments are setup to support kitchen facilities. The shot bars Coupe de Ville’s and Dry Bean are cramped quar ters as it is. Forcing them to install kitchen facilities would most likely cause these businesses to shut down — a result that is not only unwanted but unfair as well. Furthermore,the administration is naive in thinking that simply be cause the option of eating while consuming alcoholic beverages is available to students, the effects of alcohol will be less severe. Regardless of whether food is available or not, students who are at the bar to drink and socialize will not eat if they do not want to. Also, in targeting only North- gate area establishments, the ad ministration is overlooking an even larger negative effect of alco hol— drinking and driving. For many students, Northgate is a sim ple jaunt across campus and drink ing and driving is never really an issue. However, there are many more bars and nightclubs in Bryan-College Station that require students to drive home from after a night out. If the administration wishes to work with the city to reduce the harmful effects of alcohol, then maybe the students would be bet ter served if it pushed for the es tablishment of a designated driver program in the area. While the effort of the adminis tration is well intended, it simply is neither a business-friendly or feasible one. If the administration truly wish es to decrease the harmful effects of alcohol on A&M students, the resources that have been devoted to this plan could be better utilized by focusing on a broader scope of prevention — alcohol awareness and education.