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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 1999)
Battalion O PINION Page 7 • Thursday, August 5, 1999 plOlympic showdown icnext^ i r fexas not suited for Olympic competition; Dallas should stop fighting Houston for bid 1 > rd Pori' 1 ake Placid, Los Angeles, At lanta, Salt Lake City and Houston? hat do these cities have in ANTONIO common? Nothing except the guard Terry pBnPjcs- signing with Houston doesn t have Spurs ^ p he Olympics yet, and hopefully yesterday never but a11 the other :ities have been awarded the lonor of hosting the pinnacle of nternational athletic competition. Aaron MEIER purs and sever lave courted | l Julv e E» ow > not one ’ but two > Texas cities are vying for n 'hjl' L , die!2012 Summer Olympic Games — Houston and rnm tn cn' Dallas, jl jjjfJ^Kord save us all. Antonio°Ern ffi S ure ’ if the 01 y m P ics came to either town it ‘ would mean all sorts of honors being bestowed on ition to the SI lass he state. Jfake Atlanta, for instance. Before the 1996 games, n was one of three things to people: the town : , IU 'dose to Scarlett’s plantation, the city where the , Braves play or the town Ted Thrner has turned into 1 ' ean 1 his own personal playground. Now, ask any Ameri can about Atlanta and they will mention either the ot some re ; « m Pi cs or prostitutes for Super Bowl players, n from so® B at a ,g reat town. s,” Marcus kj h ut t ace mots: the chances of Dallas or Houston u’dget officer or 8 a 11 izers coaxing the Summer Olympics to the executives ^ ne ^ tar State is about as likely as the Winter ut which pkl m P ics being awarded to El Paso, pport. Team K irst ’ there is a little thing Texans like to call hu- tisunprofitablfp^’ , . . . nodome MwPh things like heat indices and humidity factors urs want a |fr wn i 1110 the 95-degree heat, no athlete in his/her , / right mind is going to want to run a marathon ied with h*\ ^ rou g.h downtown Houston, unless there is an air A , conditioning unit duct taped to their back, na for theSputiff ven ^ urin g the Atlanta games, athletes com- , 7 plained that the humidity there hindered their per formance and this resulted in fewer world records being set as compared to past games. ggAnother problem with the Olympics coming to Texas is a complete and total lack of football, and I I don’t mean soccer. /\b\ u -.There a re two things Texans like to hear — Lllllvnouchdown” and “free barbecue.” Texans are so ra bid over football they would probably fill a high school stadium just to watch a movie about football, sse won its hip. such as Varsity Blues. Sure fans would watch a few hours of 10-year old girls folding themselves in half on the floor exercise competition, but as soon as a football fan confused the rhythmic gymnastics ball for a pig skin, there would be mayhem as little girls are punted over the high bar for the extra point. Besides that, what would either city do for the opening ceremonies — the big spectacle that sets the tone for the rest of the games? Barcelona depicted the tale of Hercules on one of his legendary journeys, founding the city. Atlanta’s closing ceremonies metaphorically de picted the destruction and rebirth of the city follow ing the Civil War. Maybe Houston should put forth the heroic tale of Mattress Mac opening his first store so he can “save you money.” Perhaps it could have Marvin Zindler tell all the attendees which restaurants in town had “slime in the ice machine,” and then fol low with Tommy TUne taking on Dolly Parton’s role in “The Best Little Whore House in Texas. ” Not that Dallas has anything better to offer. Reenacting the Kennedy assassina tion would not really go over too well, even if Oliver Stone produced it. Another obstacle in the road to Olympic fever is the recent Salt Lake City scandals. Accusations of International Olympic Commit tee corruption and city-sponsored kickbacks in order acquire the 2002 Winter Olympics have turned the town that Brigham Young built into a laughing stock, aside from the entire polygamy thing. But you shouldn’t send a bunch of Mor mons to do what Texans have been doing since the creation of the republic. How else would Lyn don Johnson have been elected to the Senate? The only conceivable way for either town to win the Olympics in 2012 is for them to possibly join forces and turn it into a statewide bid. Heck, have George W. Bush lead the committee. He is pretty good at being popular for absolutely no reason. Just have him saunter into a few IOC meetings, shake some hands, show pictures of him and dad at Kennebunkport, and boom — the state will be ink — Diversity proven to help students oi Kansas, is more than 5! se of the gradesgr 1 ts suspended I academic he 1996 1 Hopwood decision. vas in Caleb MCDANIEL which abol shed an affir- -.ions «'4rs of m mony i. School, did met le^Jot sett i e the tant a debate over race-weighted univer- coacli jjty admissions. ^ ra , n ’ " V / nst ead, it has only unleashed nally 0 firestorm of controversy over blame tc/he justification of consciously ad- ing Axtet mining minority members to di- mat ' on ' , |£ rs 'fy a student population. Accord Those ^0 disagree with Hop- 5 the sworn Bod's precedent have argued 1 mony, Owning from multicultural diver- — through Sity is a crucial feature in a stu ped his longtsfent’s education. Axtell’s gradf ;: A report released yesterday by tations. [he Civil Rights Project at Harvard Leslie Parle University offered long-awaited led her bwof that they are right. ie document Researchers conducted a Gallup Poll survey of 81 percent l P acc epted rlFhe students enrolled in law hipld blame fu 00 ^ at Harvard University and S wsn®. ^"‘versity of Michigan. • i/Tup cotildl Almost 65 percent of those ?hp tesl ; P0lled said ethnic and racial di- r ] t ” Oran ; f ers ity in the classroom has im- did it, era proved dasg discussions _ /A staggering 87 percent |nanged their views about civil Ehts because of interaction with indents from diverse multicultur- J , dents from di /I P|P backgrounds. The report, which offered re sults similar to other studies gath ering faculty opinions on campus diversity, gives some important quantitative support to race-based admissions policies. Its testimony should reinvigo rate the debate over affirmative action in law schools and univer sities. This debate is desperately in need of new insights. The controversy has generally stagnated into a stalemate be tween merit being the sole factor in admissions decisions and using affirmative action to help minori ty applicants. The Harvard report should shift the debate away from these issues of fairness toward equally important educational issues. The prevailing question has been whether affirmative action is just, but the pressing question of whether affirmative action en hances the educational environ ment has largely been ignored. The pro-diversity responses of nearly 90 percent of the surveyed students should bring this ques tion to the fore. The debate can finally recenter around the opinions of the most interested party in the debate — real students. Thus far, those students who have gone to court protesting the unfairness of affirmative action have dominated the discussion. This report, however, reveals these angry litigants are not nec essarily representative of students as a whole. Some students may believe the benefits of diversity outweigh the disadvantages of affirmative ac tion. “It’s measuring the people who most benefit from diversity,” Mark Hass, a spokesperson for the University of Michigan Law School, told The New York Times. “It’s asking the students about it.” Far from being a blight, multi cultural diversity offers an invalu able contribution to the educa tional experience. Universities who recognize this by implement ed race-weighted admissions poli cies are merely doing what is best for their students. Since they are hired to be good educators, they should be applauded. Texas A&M, for the first time, is taking really serious steps to improve diversity on campus through Vision 2020. University officials should take note of this research as a validation of their efforts. They should also consider sur veying Aggie students by asking similar questions about the im pact of diversity on their academ ic careers. And like-minded officials around the country should renew efforts to diversify the college classroom. Caleb McDaniel is a junior • history major. very dub?'w»; > rs Chuck out Low imong b 1 --,, iGtivatoranT alent. ninute j him, ■ e> ” Aeros ickto ex#!, the NHiaf or league of H c me the <1; feel about National k said. M This is aS >ckey heap, ;oing t0 and flooded with 10-gallon-hat wearers scarfing down fa jitas and chili. It would also make the creation of an official Olympic mascot much easier. Get some A&M scien tists to join forces with UT and create the first long horned collie. They could call it Revo. Jeff Smith/The Battalion And what would happen if a Texan won a gold medal. Would they play “The Star Spangled Banner” or “Texas, Our Texas?” Aaron Meier is a senior political science major. cbssTmntssff AOL Instant Messenger policy unfairly restricts competition O Mark PASSWATERS ver the past year, the Justice De partment has taken aim at the computer software giant Microsoft. It has ac- cused the company of using strong-arm tactics in an attempt to create a monopoly over the industry. While the Justice Depart ment’s case has shown Mi crosoft’s owner. Bill Gates, is a not-so-nice guy, it has yet to conclusively prove Microsoft is in violation of federal anti-trust laws. If the Justice Department does succeed in its battle with Microsoft, then it may want to consider making Internet giant America Online (AOL) its next target. AOL has a history of using its large share of the market (about 40 percent) to its advantage, and its actions in the past couple of weeks are as blatantly monopo listic as anything Microsoft has ever done. Five years ago, AOL pio neered the America Online In stant Messenger (AIM) system, which is one of the most popular aspects of the Internet compa ny’s service. Instant Messages (IMs) allows two people to communicate over the Internet in real time, imitat ing a conversation more closely than e-mail messages. Any AOL user can send an IM to another AOL user, and the company designed their software so an AOL user may also send IMs to non-AOL users who download the program from the Internet. AOL has allowed other com panies, such as Prodigy and Ya hoo, to use some of the IM tech nology for the past few years. But this spirit of cooperation vanished in an instant on July 25, when Microsoft introduced its own version of the IM sys tem, which would allow people using Microsoft software to com municate with people on AOL. As soon as this happened, AOL did the Internet version of taking their ball and going home by blocking anyone using mes senger software from Microsoft, Prodigy or Yahoo from sending messages to people on AOL. In one move, the nation’s largest provider of Internet ser vices eliminated the ability of those not using the system to contact those who were. Of course, AOL users can still send their IMs to AIM users on the outside, giving AOL total competitive advantage in the IM market. AOL has threatened to sue Microsoft over its actions, saying it is bombarding AOL’s 40 mil lion users with unwanted mes sages. AOL’s “actions in the past couple of weeks are as blatantly monopolistic as anything Microsoft has ever done.” In an ironic twist, Microsoft has threatened to countersue, saying AOL is acting in a fashion which prevents the industry from standardizing and is at tempting to destroy other Inter net Service Providers (ISPs) — just like a monopoly. The funny thing is that Mi crosoft is right on the money. Abishek Garni, an investment analyst with William Blair & Co. in Chicago said in a Washington Post article, “Standardization re ally isn’t in AOL’s best interest.” With its IM program, AOL has created the goose with the gold en egg and does not want to give it up. Yahoo and Prodigy are very small in terms of providing Inter net service, so lending them IM technology has done little to damage their market share. But when a behemoth like Mi crosoft gets in the ring, the rules are a little different. AOL now fears it may have some new competition and in tends to do anything it can to get rid of it. Blocking Microsoft from using IM technology also gives AOL a pretext to cancel its deals with Yahoo and Prodigy, thus ensur ing its large market share. While this dispute alone may not be enough to warrant the in spection of the Justice Depart ment, AOL’s track record certain ly does not help it out. In the past, AOL has lost law suits for price gouging (charging customers for hours that they were not online) and for not pro viding proper access to cus tomers who signed up for a flat fee and then were unable to get online. It has also been threatened with suits for attempting to change terms of service for its current customers. While this is not in itself an uncompetitive trade practice, it does give an idea as to what AOL would do if not properly checked. If the Justice Department is concerned with Microsoft’s un willingness to share its technolo gy with potential competitors, then AOL should be on the look out for men in cheap suits with badges showing up at its door. AOL has a statue in its head quarters in Reston, Va., of a pa per Tyrannosaurus Rex which is supposed to be Microsoft. Apparently, AOL has decided to be king of the ISPs, much like Microsoft has tried to be the king of the software providers. If the Department of Justice is truly interested in busting up prospective trusts, it may want to send a meteor toward AOL’s little world. Mark Passwaters is an electrical engineering graduate student.