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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 1999)
'he Battalion Page 13 • Thursday, April 8, 1999 O PINION Of feminists, abortion and pregnant men feminist case against abortion y presentation offered little supportfor controversial stance ti ‘Enron ng, which went with Enror, ward. nor companies wa Inn Enron longfc inside track betas ii in the stadium, if a case in point.” On onsidered movingM f\ March 29, Serrin Fos- D.C., area in JLter, the executive di- : area companies ector of Feminists for Life of $34.7millionfc .merica, presented a lecture ti ed ‘The Feminist Case sisted that the p; gainst Abortion” at Rudder lan next to the bwer. Foster’s well-organized ouston. This so relentation was filled with iround on a sec iews of some historical femi- | ists, relevant up-to-date statis- Demond REID approved the b Line’s pleas th as financiallvvia cs and significant vivid personal testimony. It a person already coincided with Foster’s be efs, than the presentation served to strengthen hat belief. But with all her facts and obvious pe» king skills Foster proves that feminism in this ountry is veering off in more directions than a . , ^ J^.junken New York cab driver. L HlTUtJp It is hard to believe that feminists would be . gainst anything concerning the rights of women. WV on Iminist against abortion is like a drowning man ‘ / gainst a life preserver. ISTON (AP) -hfaeminism and anti-abortionism should mix to- backup gu, : ;etlier like water and oil. On one hand, there is an iderwentsucci dealism dedicated to the autonomy of women, A'ednesday.acvhile on the other hand there is an idealism that ctheinjuryin vould shackle down women’s individual freedom, over GoldenS fes, abortion is a question of an individual has been bar voinan’s choice. Why? Because individual women :v of injuries i the ones getting pregnant, ir career and C Attempts by the Supreme Court and Congress, 11 three to tout vhich are mostly made up of men, to pass a bill to physicians )utlaw what a woman can do with her body are ■ h; ictW jutrageous. the arthroscopd m woman’s body is that woman’s choice. The repair a car ;ame cou i(d be said if the Supreme Court and Con- re! meniscusi » s we re comprised mainly of women and they lassed a bill outlawing a man to have testicles twisted hiskfir.Wj t j ie a g e 0 p 25. That man’s testicles, that man’s eu kwardlvattr .bojeg. i.-'S to ScotdeFtp^ftince women are the ones getting pregnant, the pl.n ot! ssi , e 0 f abortion hits them the hardest. Women . hit sganv, )ave p 0wer (o make the babies, but not the >ed the entire! 1 with a kneeiiii nly 25 games ini! of an elbowinjitr knee problem lower to make the policies. However men do. If men were able to get pregnant, abortions would be easier to get than gonorrhea at a latex- optional bordello. If men got pregnant there would be abortion clinic commercials during the Super Bowl sporting such winning sales pitches as ‘‘get two abortions for the price of one” and “done in thirty minutes or your abortion is free.” Foster also offered plenty of solutions to help eliminate the reasons women seek abortions. One of the more plausible solutions was prevention. Foster explained how her organization offered teen-pregnancy prevention for boys and girls. Foster went on further to say that 80 percent of the girls who went through the prevention pro gram most wanted to know how to tell a boy no without hurting his feelings. In Foster’s para phrasing of the events, the girls were told “you have a right to your body.” Now, unlike the street in front of Blocker, shouldn’t vaginal rights run both ways? If Foster believes women have the right to choose what goes into their vaginas, shouldn’t they also have the right to choose what comes out of them? The only bad part of the presentation was when Foster tried to equate abortion with violence against women. Smacking a woman upside the head because she brought home regular-cut green beans instead of the french-cut green beans is violence against women. Punching a woman because she would not be quiet during the “yada, yada, yada” episode of Se infeld is violence against women. Equating abor tion to violence against women is an in insult to all women who have had to endure real violence. All in all Foster’s presentation of “The Feminist Case Against Abortion” was well-organized and highly informative about the organization of which she is executive director of. But despite the sinceri ty and effectiveness of the presentation, in the court of public opinion, the feminist case has no merit and should be dismissed. Demond Reid is a sophomore journalism major. ROBERT HYNECEK/Thk Battalion OPAS needs praise for offering culture to students, community Caleb MCDANIEL T exas A&M Uni versity has long struggled with the image that kife nothing more than an engineering college, that an evening out on the town in College Sta tion consists of vari- oui combinations of barbecue and bonfires and that the closest Aggies come to art appreciation is a rousing round of “hullabaloo ca- aeck.” p For over 25 years now, the MSC Dpbra and Performing Arts Society lOPAS) has been working hard to com- Dat these myths. As it enters its 27th ieason, it deserves a round of applause or doing such a great job. ■vISC OPAS is a group of highly dedi- :ated students and community volun teers who aim to “enlighten, entertain and inspire the students and communi ty of the Brazos Valley.” On all three counts, they are succeeding admirably. OPAS programs enlighten Aggieland by giving it a wide-ranging, free-wheel ing cultural education each season, and the shows that visit Rudder Auditorium are incredibly diverse in style and sub stance. During the season that just end ed, everything from ballerinas to “Bul ly” presidential impersonators graced the stage. OPAS further expands the cultural consciousness of the Brazos Valley by bringing performance troupes from all parts of the globe, from New York to St. Petersburg. The unique connection be tween audiences and performers from completely different cultures is always interesting and enlightening. At the same time that OPAS edu cates, though, the education it provides is hardly stuffy or high-brow. This is because OPAS is very committed to its second aim as well — to entertain its patrons. The society contacts and se lects shows that will be sure to bring audiences to their feet when the curtain falls. These shows do not just educate and entertain. True to the OPAS mission, they often inspire. Even a ballet like “The Sleeping Beauty” communicates the power of true love in the face of im possibility, and the blockbuster musical “Les Miserables” brought a powerful message about faith and forgiveness in the face of injustice. People who attend OPAS events definitely leave feeling en lightened, entertained and inspired. In recent years, OPAS has also broadened its mission and worked to build an arts community in Bryan-Col- lege Station that can reach people throughout the Brazos Valley instead of MAIL CALL just at the University. Its work with the Arts Council of Brazos Valley and its youth program, OPAS Jr., have provid ed valuable arts services to the entire region. Even so, OPAS has never forgotten its original commitment to the students of A&M. They have managed to keep ticket prices low enough to accommo date college student budgets. They have created innovative services like offering a fee option for students to purchase season tickets at registration. Moreover, they are forever investigat ing how to improve; for example, they often distribute convenient surveys at performances to gauge student percep tions about the job they are doing. The only regrettable thing about MSC OPAS is the fact that more stu dents do not take advantage of their hard work. Thanks to OPAS, A&M is leaving behind its days as a third- or fourth- rate arts community, so stu dents should take every opportunity to ♦ support OPAS events. Earlier this week, next year’s OPAS * season was unveiled and it is as spec- * tacular as ever. Classic American musi- * cals like “The King and I” and “Annie” * share the slate with the Moscow City * Ballet’s “Nutcracker” and the New York* City Opera National Company’s “Bar- ^ ber of Seville.” Students should take *- advantage of this great list of shows. 7 And they next time a student wear- ^ ing an OPAS t-shirt walks by, give him * or her a pat on the back — or maybe * even a standing ovation. He or she is part of the organization that is making , A&M stand as much for “arts and mu- *: sic” as it does for “agricultural and me- L chanical” sciences. : —— 4 Caleb McDaniel is a sophomore. history major:} orities, t continue i change youf American entrance in Kosovo vital B/n response to Zach Hall’s Apr. 5 opinion column. 1 There are those who believe hat we need not be involved in Kosovo as it boils down to a Yu goslav land dispute, within its own ^orders. So it is a Yugoslav prob- em right? But history shows us hat we would not be wrong to in tervene. In the late 1930s, Britain and fance stood back and watched as Germany settled its land dis putes in such areas as the Rhineland, the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia and eventually Poland before they acted. |By then it was too late. Just a erman problem, I guess. ■And as refugees fled across Europe spreading stories of exe- utions, concentration camps and “supposed ethnic cleansing,” everyone shook their heads and said it was just the refugees’ problem. IjHall says that there is no way to verify that ethnic cleansing is actually going on, and that is true. But 4,000 refugees leaving the country every hour is a pretty good hint that something is not right. ■There is no way that Hall can hold President Clinton responsible For the lives of the captured Amer ican soldiers. I am sure that the soldiers are fully aware of the dan gers in the area and the thought of President Clinton probably has not crossed their minds. They are soldiers and they get paid to fight wars, keep peace and guard bor ders. It is extremely unfortunate that they were captured, but that is what happens in wars. Hall himself said that ground troops are the only means to end the conflict. I hate to be the bear er of bad news, but in a ground war, a lot of good soldiers are go ing to get a lot more than just cap tured. Will Clinton be held respon sible for them too? President Milosevic is an evil man and must be stopped at any cost. Though Hall may not agree, he is as good a reason to inter vene as any. In this decade alone, he has fought wars in Croatia, Bosnia and now Kosovo. A lack of action on our part would give him a green light to continue with the killing. And now the current crisis threatens to spill over into the neighboring nations of Macedonia and Albania. Hall is right about one thing though. The Balkans may soon become the flash point of two world wars and not just one. Matt Lucas Class of "0 Environmentalists perform good deeds In response to Luke Saugier's Mar. 31 opinion column. Perhaps Greenpeace is trying to take the world’s problems on its shoulders, but why condemn them for that. We all need to take responsi bility for our actions if we do not then we are the ones being arro gant. True, we must draw the line somewhere, but we cannot draw that line with humans, with hu manity. What real and true benefits do circuses and zoos have for hu mans? What benefits do we gain by pollution and harming the en vironment along with non-human animals? We can all live beneficial lives without any of this; there are many cultures that have a recip rocal relationship with nature and do not cause harm. If we do not take into account these culture’s lifestyles, and only try to force our own, then we are the ones being narrow mind ed. Most activist groups are not necessarily trying to "fix” the damage already done but trying to slow the process of damage or bring it to a halt. Whether or not we have a lasting effect on the earth, there is nothing fool ish about using alternative meth ods if they exist. It is only foolish if we do not try. There are plenty of people al leviating the suffering of other people, so why is it so bad for those that want to help the envi ronment and non-human ani mals? It is natural for us to care and to want to help, that is what makes us human. And just be cause something is beneficial does not mean that it is moral. Chris Pace Class of ”9 Possibility that morality not relative In response to Lisa Foox’s Apr. 7 column. I would like to respond to Lisa Foox’s column of April 7. She states that there is a life philosophy that, just as all paths up a mountain get you to the top of a mountain, so all religions are heading in the same direction.” She then goes on to talk about how we should find our own moral codes “privately” and not force our morality on others. This all makes sense only if her underlying philosophy is true. The truly important question which Foox fails to answer is not “How should we show tolerance since we’re al ready OK?” but “Are we really OK?” There are physical laws all around us, which are not affected by our opinions about them. Gravity, for instance, exists. We did not make it, and if we do not choose to accept it, we will be the ones in the wrong (and are very likely to suffer the consequences). How does Foox know that morali ty is not the same way? There might be moral laws that exist regardless of our philosophies. There might be only “One Way and One Truth," but unless we are willing to look for it, we will all be heading in the same wrong direction. What we need to do is consider different philosophies and weight them seriously and honestly. If, for example, a philosophy makes his torical statements, such as “Jesus was crucified and then came back to life and was seen by many peo ple,” then that philosophy needs to be weighed against documented historical evidence. If the evidence seems to sup port that philosophy, then it might be worth investigating further. Auto matically assuming, however, that truth cannot be found is not only a cop-out but could be the most seri ous mistake possible. Faith Boone Class of VO College meant to expand horizons In response to Benjamin Borg- ers’Apr. 7 mail call. Benjamin Borgers does not seem to understand why he is in college. He is here to learn how to think. Unfortunately, he seems dead-set against the idea. It is silly to ask a newspaper not to report news or opinions you do not want to hear. It is a fact of life that some people have ideas that are not exactly like yours, and that is OK. The whole point of an “opinion”is to have an exchange of ideas. Without different opinions, the “Opinion” page would be really boring. By writing an article that “everyone is going to absolutely despise” Manisha Parekh was do ing her job. The newspaper is not here to « stroke your truck-driving ego; it is | here to provide facts and informa- 3 tion. SUVs kill people. Like it or ^ not, that is news. If you want to * bury your head in the sand, please don’t read the newspaper. Why do • we need to “create more campus 3 enthusiasm and agreement?" Weren’t we acknowledged by Newsweek or something as having } the most school spirit in the entire ♦ country? Isn’t that good enough? * We should not be afraid to think* about why we have the opinions l we do. By listening to opposing ♦ views we force ourselves to test « our own feelings and make sure t we are still comfortable with them. 4 It is childish to refuse to listen to | other people’s ideas. Benjamin * seems to be saying, “OK I’ve got a l nice consistent world view that * works for me, now don’t go screw- £ ing it up with the facts.” That scares me. * * l John Patterson^ Graduate Student*. *. 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: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: batt@tamvml.tamu.edu