'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*.
*.
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