■ ■Battalion o PINION Page 9 • Monday, April 5, 1999 -ro fi him aver fees in ad). This rate u get an additr luted to endtoc, ^5 ites. Muzzy, gatage Wisconsin students justified m fighting for their say n allocation of student funds 100 Shadow ! ^ wri " Bhe United States Msupreme Court is 822^46■ preparing to hear C777^ :ast ‘ involving the c«ii 822-5387 live rsity of Wiscon- 'ERSONAi ® lloca ! ion « f stu - mt ees after three ■tudents at the 11&. S«iv-l Jvirsity sued the Branixtn MULLEN PETS ms CFA 'W ' 693*0239 jjBl because their om v was supporting Hizations they disagreed with. Hott Southworth, one of the students solved in the lawsuit, said in the Wis- nsin newspaper.The Badger Herald, “If or inization is getting student money -,d no one is willing to support them Ueil^-iOfflbut segregated fees then it is good if Al FSTAftlf 1 , ' 1 ' ni_ -■uthworth is fully justified in his argu- jaena i invest: ?nt and the Supreme Court should up- ^ s -. ^ IW he decisions of the lower courts, lich felt the current use of the fee was -7.: appropriate. If an organization is not • atmosw ong enough to sustain itself, students ^■disagree with the organization ’ii ratoToc ou ^ not charged with the responsi- proiessTia iity for keeping it alive. The present stu- fo«b nisegregated fee provides money for MMMHj^vthing from the University Health Ser- )OMMATE$ :es to the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual . s need* io'u GB) Campus Center. Mckyani six Currently, students who attend the Uni- Mtv pay $330 in segregated fees. Of this ip througn A.: 30 $284 is considered “non-allocable The Badger Herald reported that isPnoney is used to support “University aalh Services, recreational sports and e student unions.” The remaining $46 is allocated by the isociated Students of Madison (ASM) id the Student Services Finance Com- se of photo, ointlocc raicnnino inodonnotp addresses readers concerns, qualms astweek, ————■ called, asking that I not run a story One e-mail to me said, “Is this ATO is in its second week of war in Kosovo. -RVICES ll'^l Wait, did I say war, I lebnt peace-keeping mission, a peacekeeping mis- i(8pm-8pm) ssn jon, how about a “peace- StX"*- Jr l in §” mission —though 46-6117 she* ial sounds like an oxymoron. Forcing peace in the Balka- Zach sis that possible? After all, HALL o world wars were started .efe, and the people of the area have been pTee Quoieoftlng each other for hundreds, if not thousands, Jlar name Ixam) f yratS. h the recent events in Kosovo seem all too inch like another conflict that this country was UTORS fvfclved in but did not belong in, then you are lalive speaker n OtlwrOIlg. with business s' i lon i ca ]ly though, the same country that Aught so hard against the propaganda machines 3HT L0o"f enem y countries like Vietnam, Iraq and the ht wanted / Arnier Soviet Union is now engaged in the c , 0 r recommer; tfgcst mass production of the same type of pro- |__ Ca "^"L aaanda that it has fought against for so many Breakthrougk ir/ ener may remember the first days of this con- ict, when spokesmen from both the Pentagon ncreaseene® nd NATO said that this action was not meant to e rnore than a one- or two-day action. Yet in .rpiuTi^r^ day of bombings and air raids the Serbs t Energy boost avc neither budged nor flinched, but NATO and g/csTcastTct TejUnited States continue the spin. _i€ase in point: soon after the bombings and Tajss exodus of ethnic Albanians began, NATO op scomparejyp 0 L eSDerson j am j e shea, as quoted in a March bs by 4/20J o Edition of the Houston Chronicle, said “I’d tress that the current campaign is not a sponta- llus outburst following NATO’s operations. It joks much more like a planned, conceived and routed campaign against the civil popula- on.” rShea does not even sound very convinced self. President Clinton has made similar ms. 'et, only since the bombing began have as |iy as 4,000 refugees per hour crossed into hboring territories such as Albania. Nice try [pinning the facts, but there is a direct correla te the bombings and a mass exodus, he only remotely legitimate reason the Unit- tates has in being involved in this war is to ect against the supposed ethnic cleansing g conducted by Serbian President Slobodan fsevic and his forces. Yet we have been wn no concrete proof that he is conducting a ranging massacre of ethnic Albanians; e have been only rumors of executions of minent figures that are opposed to Milosevic, ot that this is by any means correct, but does Iton plan to start a war against China or Aov \ Korea, countries notorious tor (heir Yiu- tan rights violations. The hatred between Serbs mended 316-2887. and Albanians is much deeper than what Clin ton and NATO try to make it out to be. Most im portantly these are two groups of people with very different religious beliefs. The hatred be tween the mostly Greek Orthodox Serbs and Muslim refugees is not going to be resolved be cause of long-term bombing. Just look at the sit uation in the Middle East. For that matter, we Aggies cannot even get through Resurrection Week without conflict. Over a week and a half into the exodus of refugees, the Clinton administration finally de cided to begin relief aid to the refugees, yet an other attempt at making his cause look legiti mate. Perhaps Clinton should offer to move some of the hundreds of thousands of refugees to America. He certainly seems to think that the other Balkan countries have plenty of room for them. Then Bill Clinton had the gall to tell the par ents and friends of American soldiers that the reason their sons and daughters have been sent to and remain in the Balkans is because of Slo bodan Milosevic. The nerve of this gutless bas tard to blame Milosevic for American presence in this conflict is despicable. To further the com plications in Kosovo is the capture of three American soldiers being held as POWs in this war that does not exist. They will soon be tried by the Serbs, probably for war crimes. While Americans hope and pray for their safe return, Clinton and his machine have used this as an other propaganda tool for support of his non-ex istent cause. Well President Clinton, the lives of those three servicemen rest on your head. The fact that NATO is violating international law by taking offensive actions against Yu goslavia has not even begun to be discussed. But because NATO is nothing more than a puppet for the United States, little has been said. Further more, the other European countries, who have needed the United States to bail their asses out of every conflict that has arisen in this century, are not complaining either, nor are they taking a very active role. They would much rather the Serbs hate the United States than themselves. Unfortunately, we are too far advanced in this operation to succeed or back out without send ing in ground troops. Though Clinton has main tained that he will not send in ground troops, any person who has actually had experience in the military will say that our goals (whatever they may be) cannot be accomplished without ground forces. For now, we can only pray that this “military action” was not started so Clinton could save face on his already pitiful presidency. It is so very unfortunate, though, that this doubt even arises in the first place. Aaron MEIER L ast week, the cam pus of Texas A&M ex perienced one of the most dif ficult ways to lose a fellow student. Tues day afternoon, William E. Berry Jr, known to his friends as J.R., apparently took his own life, leaving his family, friends and the student body shocked. The next day. The Battalion along with The Bryan-College Sta tion Eagle, and later the Houston Chronicle, ran stories on Berry’s death. As editor of The Battalion, I made the decision to run a photo graph of a clean-up crew scrubbing the portion of New Street where Berry fell. As I sat looking at the page before it was sent to the printers, I knew the campus reaction to such a picture would be strong. However, after the flood of telephone calls, e-mails, mail call letters and personal visits, I feel an en masse response is warranted. First and foremost, let me extend my sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Berry. The loss of one so young is difficult enough to deal with, but when that loss comes in such a quick and hor rifying manner, it is that much more difficult to comprehend. With that said, however, I cannot apologize for the photograph that ran. The night Berry died, a student called, asking that 1 not run a story on Berry’s death, saying that it would desecrate his memory. To this I responded with one simple question, “Is this story news?” The answer is an unquali fied “yes.” This is the reason it was covered in The Battalion and the reason the accompanying photo ran next to the story. Examine any photojournalism book and stronger images can be seen. One used by the department of journalism shows a picture of a young boy being placed in a body bag as his father cries over his son. Images bombard us on the televi sion every day of gang victims in Los Angeles or dead bodies in Israel following a bomb explosion. Are these images any different? The answer is yes. They are differ ent because they do not hit so close to home. That is why the image of water, bleach and men cleaning is so disruptive to our lives. “Tacky,” “tasteless” and “total disregard for human life” — these are some of the terms I have read in the letters that have passed across my desk. My own father said that the picture was something he ex pected to see in the Houston Chroni cle, not a college newspaper. But why shouldn’t such a picture appear in the student newspaper? Suicide is a horrible tragedy that doesn’t simply end with a person taking his own life. As editor, I made a conscious choice not to flinch from the harshness of this incident. MAIL CALL One e-mail to me said, “Is this the image you want to present of the University?” The Battalion is not meant to be a public relations tool for the Uni versity. We are not the campus newsletter, we are the campus newspaper. As a journalist, I am here to ac curately portray the events that happen on this campus whether they be good or bad. Romanticizing such a thing as a suicide is not only a betrayal of every lesson I have learned during my three years at The Battalion but also as a human being. Everyone would like the world to be a place where smiles and howdys follow us wherever we go, but such a fantasy will never exist. This has been a difficult semes ter for the campus of A&M. With the alcohol-related death of Barry Vail, the cocaine overdose of former student Mark Eisemann and now Berry’s death, it has proven the small-town spirit of College Station is not immune to big-city problems. The anger directed toward The Battalion is understandable, but if we want to prevent a further death, the energy placed into writing mail call should be redirected to assisting our severely taxed counseling de partment or simply lending an ear to a friend. There are people on this campus who need our help. To deny this fact truly is a dishonor to Berry’s memory. Aaron Meier is a senior political science major Zach Hall is a senior philosophy major. Student counseling services in need of more promotion I am writing in response to the photograph accom panying the article on William E. Barry Jr, in Wednes day’s edition. In my opinion, The Battalion chose the most taste less and disrespectful picture to place with the article showing workers cleaning the street where the young man died. It makes me very angry to see that our campus newspaper has shown this tragedy in such an inhumane fashion, where it appears at Texas A&M, we look at someone’s misfortune as something that stands in the way of our own progress. I am sorry if William Berry’s parents have seen the picture, and I hope they do not think less of A&M, be cause of \t. An issue that concerns me even more, is the fact that our campus does not make a decent effort to reach people who are in need of help; great or small. There are hundreds of promotions for organizations and events, which are widely distributed and costly, but there is a severe deficit in promoting student counseling and help. I think it would be a good idea for the University to start placing flyers, or for The Battalion to put in ads, informing students of easier ways to find help. Brad Woods Class of ’02 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 McDon ald 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 E-mail: batt@tamvml.tamu.edu