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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 8, 1999)
Battalion o PINION Page 7 • Thursday, July 8, 1999 'pet o I make you angry, baby? iwsuit over Austin Powers doll illustrates dangers of frivolous, irresponsible litigation he line be tween [cenity and nor is Ned every regardless tc flood taste, often at ***]expense of ency. Al- ■ in the wj Beverly MIRELES Kflst anyone who watches movies JBelevision would agree. What is dividuals/ 01 easily agreed on is whether the >arytoav lw h as a sa V * n editing what is ac- ■ous inb Jtable or not, and if it does, how S|3ch? ■The judicial system is obviously (■important tool in the massive hreautofr 0 ! balancing rights against reg- are habitation®. However, when the sys- id poa^Ji attempts to make regulations ^pnrder to save us from ourselves, tnewond hi system stops being a tool and ^^^^ins to become a public nui- ce. Case in point — legal action nceming the Austin Powers doll, diiion [(Georgia, Tamatha Brannon filed recovetS obscenity complaint against the cow." lys-R-Us chain after her 11-year- colleci W son picked up the doll that capi (tJted, “Do I make you horny, ise, ArirI b y- doI? ” deer anci wb en her son asked what ■my meant, Brannon became so ant |y offended that she bought both the ir re$e(" s remain i n g on hie shelf and ™ned one over to the local police. Her actions seem somewhat ex- ssive, considering the circum- sk,” shf| ■n resin stances. The complaint against Toys-R-Us is completely frivolous. The store was supplying the doll to satiate a demand, just' like it stocks toy guns. Barbie dolls and video games. That said, it is true that the doll is ugly, strikingly ape-like and mildly vulgar. But that does not make the entire Toys-R-Us chain guilty of endangering a child. No matter what the masses may expect from chain stores, Toy-R-Us has little responsibility to the pub lic. If they did, perhaps its shelves would not be filled with toy weapons of war, sexist figurines and violent games, all of which are bought by both parents and chil dren every day. Brannon’s actions were com pletely above and beyond the call of duty, as far as regulating so- called obscenities go. It would have been perfectly acceptable for her to picket the store, organize a boycott or simply complain to the manager. When Brannon involved the po lice, she illustrated how individuals would rather ban the choice than let others with the implications of maturely deciding what is accept able on their own terms. Brannon is not the only person guilty of such reckless use of the le gal system. Frivolous cases go be fore judges every day, wasting tax payers’ money and trial times. These trivial cases have had such a negative impact on the judicial sys tem that there are even laws regu lating these types of cases. Unfortunately, these cases con tinue to fill court dockets. Com plaints like Brannon’s only serve to add to the judicial system’s bur dens. Regulation over reason is one of the least sensible trends occur ring in society today. The Austin Powers doll situation only concerns a toy, but the trend goes much further than toy stores. In many cases, citizens would rather blame major institutions or corporations than deal with the consequences of choice them selves. One only has to look to Lit tleton, Colo., to see how people were quick to use Hollywood as a scapegoat instead of dealing with the real issues at hand. Tamatha Brannon may not have been ready to explain what horny meant to her son (who is notably nearing puberty), but this hardly means she was correct in filing a complaint against the toy store supplying the doll. Certainly she had the right to file the complaint. The beauty of the judicial system is that individu als can change policies. Nevertheless, with rights come responsibilities. Brannon obviously felt the responsibility to file a com plaint, but she failed to take the re sponsibility to parent her son with out the help of the legal system. Beverly Mireles is a junior microbiology major. Jeff Smith/The Battalion gst over annexation can be avoided he Bryan City Council is poised to go /{against the will of er sai :i h 475 of its residents, invest a® bi s need not be the VIS, igetareccl The council is set ate is i|° vote Tuesday on aup.Weil^ eannexat i on > monev P>^8 acres of land MinulejBdjacent to Bryan city limits. The city be- ;awid(a n studying possible areas for annexa- Marc GRETHER Jon in Feb. 1998. Since then, several ,o (roniipublic hearings have been held in an at- 0 Jenniir em Pt t0 find out what citizens think ttersaid ' bout tbe proposal. t[? ar |Ke( i Many of those at the hearings have levariet' pen decidedly against it. Led by Karen e pyy; all and her groups, the Concerned Citi- M s0 [ [ns of Bryan and the Citizens Against , muc |,j hnexation, many people have been [hting against this annexation. are a ! | They are doing so for two main rea- Ins. f 0( j; j First, after being annexed, Hall claims /n 0 pperty taxes will go up by about 30 isnallvi l rcent - ' «^ e { . Hall also said those affected by the sts aM Inexations should have a say in them. Her desire is to see the citizens of Bryan )ers 0 j id the owners of the land to be an- ■ ^ji ixed get the right to vote on all pra ised annexations. 1 The current charter states that annex- eons can be carried out “with or with- :y mailt the consent of the inhabitants in the ere art|eiritory annexed.” All votes on the matter are currently Irried out by the City Council exclusive- I The City Council should be taking the pad in changing this provision. | Those in proposed annexation dis- ]cts should have the right to decide ?achesl he carl he ca«J labor [ imfortj ) helpl e they’ This 1 whether or not to be co-opted into the city. Each landowner should have the choice to determine what to do with his or her land. Rather than just complaining. Hall did take steps to rectify the problem. Her groups circulated a petition to call for a vote to amend the charter. The city sec retary said 1,475 qualified voters in Bryan signed the petition. Unfortunately, Hall’s good intentions resulted in a vaguely worded document which will likely be voided in court. Her petition called for the charter to be changed, but did not specify in what way. Further, the petition incor rectly stated the change would be an ordinance, not an amendment. While this seems like pet ty nitpicking, the law re quires strict wording. But the City Council’s re sponse was to sue the peti tioner. Rather than comply ing with the petition and holding an election, the city filed suit in district court. It contends it would be impossible to fulfill its duty because the petition does not specify the wording for the proposed amendment. Further, the city would save $30,000 by not having an election. This amendment would not affect the current annexation proposal because the vote on the petition would occur after the annex ation vote. Each of the city’s arguments is valid. However, it is not taking the best ap proach. This suit has been extremely un popular because it does not address the petitioners’ concerns. In fact, it has made them angrier and caused many people to feel further alienated from the council. The council should propose an amendment themselves that would satis fy Hall and her groups. Bryan Mayor Lonnie Stabler is right in pointing out that an amendment could be seen as an attempt to control the situation, but so is suing the petitioners. By proposing an amendment itself, the Council would be making a good- faith effort to follow the will of the peo ple. The council’s amend ment should include the provision that all annexa tions must be initiated by landowners and then be voted on by Bryan’s citi zens. Both parties are in terested in these matters and should be allowed to vote on the outcome. Further, the amendment should specify that votes will not be held strictly to decide on annexa tion matters. This would keep the city from hav ing to pay $30,000 for an election solely based on annexation. This would not cause a meaningful delay in most cases because annexations typically take years to complete. And after doing this, the council could continue following the will of its citizenry by practicing self-restraint and not voting to annex any land until the charter amendment situation is cleared up in the courts. By taking steps like these and listen ing its citizenry, Bryan will be on its way to truly becoming an All-America City. Marc Grether is a graduate student in mathematics. Cabarets good for community In response to Caleb Mc Daniel’s July 7 column. I like sex. Just this sen tence has probably offend ed half of this conservative little town already. I am glad people have different opinions, they just need to realize where those opinions are coming from before they spew rhetoric, as in McDaniel’s article about the new cabaret. All of the cliched old points in his article are ob viously due to his religious viewpoint. Instead of complaining for half a page about true love, the degradation of women and morality, he needs to admit he has a problem with cabarets be cause his religion has a problem with sex. Call it anything you will, sex sells. Even though our community is oh-so-pious, the adult video store on the comer of campus has failed to go out of business yet. I will not be visiting the new cabaret because that form of entertainment just does not float my boat, but I applaud John Skruck for allowing people to attend something other than bars, tiny clubs or movies in the evening. MAIL CALL I only wish other entre preneurs would follow suit and help bring this town up to date. Adam Nordost Class of ’01 It seems McDaniel for got one “truth” for his col umn: America is a capitalist society — not a capitalist (with respect for morality) society. Hence, what a minority — or even a majority — finds “wrong,” as McDaniel termed it, has no bearing on the establishment of a business. Also, do Aggies a favor and do not waste more of our money on ink for such a weak argument. To promote or define universal truth, use the tools of fact, logic and reason. Save the morality for your personal truths, because they are not ours. Brent Barkley Class of ’00 Grad speakers should be brief In response to Caleb Mc Daniel's July 6 column. While it is unquestion ably discourteous to leave graduation early, it is equal ly discourteous to the grad uates and faculty for com mencement exercises to last for hours and hours. There are ways to make it easier to stay, including shortening speeches and having separate cere monies for each college. If the audience were con sidered by the speakers, they would see that less is more. Succinctness is not stressed in our society. We love lots of words, especial ly if we can pepper them lib erally with technical jargon. But ask, “What exactly is the point?” and often nei ther speaker not audience knows. Graduates want and need the pearls of wisdom passed on at graduation, blit perhaps they do not want or need quite so many of them. Ann Weaver Hart Class of ’00 The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the au thor’s name, class and phone num ber. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters may be sub mitted in person at 013 Reed Mc Donald with a valid student ID. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 01.3 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mail: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com ore financial aid, cultural opportunities can make A&M diverse |he ’98-’99 stu- 1 dent application ior Texas A&M atured the following Isay question: “How |\\ you contribute to ie diversity here at fxas A&M Universi- I?” BECKER —’s The prominence of -60,0t this topic on the stu- ndatf-JInt application reflects A&M’s desire to ve a diverse student body. Texas A&M eds to find more ways to diversify, e goal can be accomplished by offer- g more need-based scholarships and I' creating a more cultural atmosphere that will draw a more varied group of dent students. e acti With the removal of minority-based e Mpolarships and admissions, the minor- jvn,aj|ty population at A&M has fallen to less ajor.^han 11 percent of the student body. . at I This statistic is a huge indicator of OrtlW&M’s lack of diversity, but it does not kil the whole story. The low number of gl wijhinorities at A&M has not resulted be- the clause the school is discriminatory or un concerned about diversity. The answer lies in the statistical correlation between race and economic status. Economic factors are the main rea sons people do not attend college. The person who has the lights shut off every other month because his or her parents cannot afford to pay the bills is going to have a much tougher time finding the time to do homework assignments than someone who has everything provided. Many people are forced to find jobs when they reach employable age just to help their family pay the bills. Economic status does affect academic performance. Less affluent families are not able to afford to send their children off to school at a cost of thousands of dollars a year. The problem is this: much of the mi nority population is poor, unfortunately. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of the population that is black in poverty areas is four times greater than the percentage in non poverty areas. The comparable percentage of His- panics living in poverty areas is three, times greater than in non-poverty areas. The reason for the discrepancy can be attributed to many factors, including “Economic status is a much fairer gauge by which to give admission - and scholarships than race." past injustices and high levels of immi gration to certain areas. In Texas and other states, the immi gration rates have led to large numbers of first- and second-generation Ameri cans who have been traditionally poor throughout the nation’s history. More opportunities for advancement must be given to people who are in their economic state because they had the misfortune of being born into it. An education at A&M is one of the best financial deals in the country, so there is little excuse for having such a small minority population compared to other schools. A&M needs more scholar ships based on financial need in order to diversify its population. A&M should re alize the adverse effect of economic background on academics and the abili ty to go to school when parents cannot afford to pay. Economic status is a much fairer gauge by which to give admission and scholarships than race, which A&M has thankfully abandoned. When scholarships are given on the basis of race, it is not fair because not all whites are rich and not all minority members are poor. For instance, more than half of the people living in poverty areas in the United States are white. Many people are not given the proper treatment because they fall in these cat egories which are ignored when scholar ships are given based on race. The policy of giving certain people preferential treatment on basis of race is discriminatory. However, by offering more financial need-based scholarships, Texas A&M can fairly and efficiently cre ate a more diverse environment by mak ing it easier for people of all economic backgrounds to attend. But diversity is also about the unity of people who have a myriad of cultural backgrounds and multi-faceted interests. A&M can help to create a more diverse group of students by bringing more cul ture to the university. A&M should not be known for having one museum and two nuclear reactors. A&M must consider more options in im proving the liberal arts program, such as more funding and better facilities. If A&M were to bring more cultural oppor tunities to campus, an even more di verse group would surely be drawn to A&M. A&M has already taken many mea sures to attempt to diversify the school, but a more intense effort must be made to truly create a dynamic, competitive and fair learning environment and di verse student body. Jeff Becker is a sophomore computer engineering major.