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o PINION
Page 11 • Wednesday, September 29, 1999
Making cents of tragedy
annuitized kids should not be accosted by media
■porters should use greater cau-
:ion when dealing with tragic
events, such as the recent shoot-
I at Wedgwood Baptist Church in
It Worth.
After the church
shootings, some
questioned if it was
wise for reporters to
interview the youths
who witnessed the
tragedy.
The interviews
may have forced the
young witnesses to
mediately relive an event that could
■hem psychologically for years to
or 229-me.
Otpers questioned the media’s deci-
m to constantly replay the incident
mjgh television footage and repeat-
newspaper and magazine articles.
In ihe midst of tragedy, reporters
ould put aside professional ambi-
ns in favor of displaying compas-
| innnd love to those who have just
■ deeply wounded.
Unfortunately, media competition
I COUrvgfgt the best quotes and the best
. Bographs often takes precedence.
| ®'niel Bianco, father of one of the
i who witnessed the shooting, ad-
d reporters camped outside the
i the week after the shootings,
hat brought me here today was
ncern over the interview my
ter had that was being shown
nd over and over,” he said in a
> Morning News article. “I just
) voice my concern about that be-
1 don’t want her to keep reenact-
IfifBt' 1 want her to move forward.”
■""whe father’s concerns are under-
■dable. Reporters often excuse their
ck of compassion by insisting they
only trying to tell the truth,
basic tenet of journalism is to
Injectively and accurately report inci-
ents, showing all sides of a story so
iaderscan see what really happened,
iressingup the tragedy would do
wreharm than good, reporters may
ay. This drive for accurate reporting
>an admirable quality, but sometimes
or
rom
it can do more harm than good. Jour
nalists should cover trauma without
creating more trauma in the process.
Some media organizations have es
tablished guidelines for dealing with
tragedies involving youths, urging re
porters to use caution when interview-
ERIC ANDRAOS/The Battalion
ing and to never pursue an unwilling
witness. Unfortunately, guidelines of
ten go out the window in the face of
an unexpected tragedy that catches
the world’s attention.
Reporters make split-second deci
sions to pursue interviews, seeking to
present the story in its entirety while
also getting better quotes than the
competition.
Hundreds of reporters descend
upon one witness who may or may .
not have a good story to tell.
They'ask young teens, deeply trau
matized and not really aware of what
they are doing, to recount haunting,
vivid, details for millions to hear, nev
er mind giving the teens still in a state
of shock a chance to fully compre
hend what has just happened.
In situations like these, competition
often overrides compassion. Surely
these reporters would not want their
own children interviewed.
Some reporters may truly believe
they are helping the public by urging
young teens to share with the world
what they have witnessed.
But whatever the media’s inten
tions, sometimes the best response is
to just wait.
When a tragic situation has just un
folded, reporters should simply seek
authorities and others trained to han
dle such situations while giving chil
dren and their parents time to reunite
and regroup.
Later, if a parent strongly wants his
or her child to share a story with the
media, one or two reporters might
conduct a gentle interview at a loca
tion safely removed from the trauma.
Finally, interviews should not be re
played a million times, until the
child’s face is easily recognized by
every American.
Once or twice is more than enough
to tell a story. A tragedy like the
Wedgwood church shooting is devas
tating enough without dramatizing it
with 24-hour coverage.
Compassion for the wounded will
not give reporters the ideal quotes and
the most eye-catching stories, but
sometimes the best story is not the
best choice. The best choice may sim
ply involve giving a person who has
been deeply scarred a chance to heal.
While camping on church grounds,
waiting to get snapshots of weeping
Wedgwood teens, reporters should
have remembered Jesus’ own princi
ple of compassion: “Love your neigh
bor as yourself.” This principle of
compassion, established almost two
thousand years ago, is never needed
more than when children have just
seen their best friends killed.
Stephanie Dube is a journalism
graduate student.
4TS
OLLEGI
MAIL CALL
Iding)
SC)
iuildingl
der criticizes
Society ad
As a recent University of Texas-
In graduate attending post-
duate studies here at Texas
have learned to turn the
J cheek, and even laugh, at
|multitude of anti-UT elements
both fife on campus.
,0 locatii But it is difficult for me to let a
mt advertisement in The Bat
in slide without at least saying
pthing in protest.
Jie decision to print the MSC
ISociety’s tasteless announce-
[ of this weekend’s showing of
[goes well beyond a simple ri-
joke.
(0 r Rudds The ad shows two women
■ding over a body saying:
ent Act iv. tl believe the T-sip killed him-
Theyfflt 8 one sa i9-
* ‘‘Well, they did reopen the tow-
jthe other replied.
Ihis is not funny. In fact, it is
Jsad. Perhaps the Daily Texan
lid print the exact same scene
Jthe captions: “I think that Ag-
I’sdead.” “Well, we are in a
Is A&M parking garage.”
Jut I’m quite certain no one
|uld be laughing at either of
Je “jokes.” In fact, you would
{hard- pressed to find anyone,
In a Longhorn, who would find
jse in the least bit funny.
Jhe Texan would never print an
[like that because common de-
; prevents it.
[he death of college kids in the
.Jie of their lives is never some-
f^iingto poke fun at. Think about
rat the next time you decide to
It another jab at the t-sips.
>ugh Can
iplicaWl
;|y Brifl
Mason Miller
Graduate student
Nov
■ion!
- er vedj
him)
I The Battalion encourages letters to the ed-
tcir. Letters must be 300 words or less and in-
de the author’s name, class and phone
iber.
The opinion editor reserves the right to edit
ters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters
be submitted in person at 013 Reed Mc-
hald with a valid student ID. Letters may also
mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1111
Campus Mail: 1.111
■ Fax: (409) 845-2647
! E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com
For hampered waves of grain
The U.S.
embargo
on Cuba
damages
its own
farming
industry.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ROBERT HYNECEK
F acing diminishing government sub
sidies, American farmers see little
sense in maintaining a 37-year-old
embargo with Cuba.
In 1962, President
John F. Kennedy levied
what has become an
incredibly restrictive
United States trade
embargo upon Cuba
and its people.
Cuba, a culture that
thrived on tourism and
eating from America’s
breadbasket, was or
phaned economically by the United
States and, more recently, by the former
Soviet Union.
Fidel Castro, Cuba’s communist
leader, has continued his engorged reign
even as his citizens hunger for desper
ately needed food and medicine from the
United States.
For America’s agricultural industry,
the embargo severed ties with its largest
rice export market and damaged the
trade of many other commodities.
The trade embargo was sensible at
the time of its inception. However, the
U.S. agricultural industry may soon find
itself in want of currently restricted mar
kets like Cuba. Fluctuations in the global
marketplace have brought pressure upon
Congress to partially lift trade bans on
food and medical necessities to Cuba.
The possible reopening of this mar
ket will not be a cure-all, but it will pro
vide an ideological step toward the fur
ther integration and unification of the
global market.
Despite diplomatic arguments against
the embargo, America’s farmers have a
strong economic one to support it — the
United States can supply a Cuban de
mand. The time to re-evaluate, rethink
and restructure the embargo is now.
The past two years have presented
the U.S. agricultural industry with three
basic dilemmas.
First, the 1996 Federal Agriculture Im
provement and Reform (FAIR) Act will
lower federal subsidies for farmers over
the next few years.
Second, the Asian market has been
drastically weakened. As the buyer of 45
percent of U.S. agricultural exports, the
Asian market is critical for the U.S. in
dustry. But deficit spending, corruption,
graft and poor bank-management prac
tices have taken a toll on many Asian
economies. Markets in Thailand, In
donesia, Malaysia and the Philippines
have fallen 40 to 80 percent against the
U.S. dollar, increasing burdens on U.S.
producers. Once-growing markets now
have little money to buy U.S. crops and
are increasing competition by selling
them at devalued prices.
Dr. Parr Rosson, an agricultural eco
nomics professor at Texas A&M, said
these negative ramifications were slight
ly delayed.
“Even into 1998, the reverberations
[from the Asian economic crisis] had not
yet arrived in the United States,” he said.
“Then America experienced a deprecia
tion in commodity prices, falling from
record ’96 highs to record ’98 lows.”
Because there are not enough buyers,
many crops marked for export remain in
storage facilities across the United States.
This surplus has led to a third prob
lem facing American farmers — an in
creasing amount of carry-over-to-use ra
tios for U.S. crops.
If a harvested crop does not transfer
to market immediately, it must be stored
and conditioned to prevent spoilage. The
unused crops are “carried over.” Since
1996, these carry-over-to-use ratios for
wheat, sorghum, corn, soybeans and
rice have nearly doubled.
The need for new export markets is
becoming an issue of increasing immedi
acy. The U.S. interdependence with
Asian marketplaces for growth and trade
has left farmers with a dwindling con
sumer base and an overabundance of
surplus crops. Dr. Mark Waller, an agri
cultural economics professor at A&M,
said.
When one’s clientele can no longer
afford to purchase as many goods, it is
time to find new clients.
Farmers currently are recovering from
droughts in the East and flooding from
Hurricane Floyd on the West Coast,
while Texans suffer between droughts
and Hurricane Bret.
Increased exportation of crops to
Cuba and other markets is the best way
to re-establish stable prices.
Despite boasting a population of 11
million people, a majority of whom are
impoverished, Cuba will not be a mira
cle cure-all for the U.S. commodities-ex-
port market.
But tapping into this new trade av
enue would be an ideological victory
and a step toward peaceful relations
with the island.
By reopening negotiation channels
with Cuba, America can lead the global
charge toward economic unification and
diversified security.
It is time to utilize business to assist
in foreign policy with Cuba and to pro
vide fresh opportunities for a troubled
agricultural industry.
John T Baker is a junior
agricultural development major.
JOHN T.
BAKER
Not-so-friendly
university needs
more tolerance
T he notion that Texas A&M is the “friend
liest university, ” a place where Aggies
can always be found helping Aggies, is
simply an unrealistic ideal. In general, A&M is
a very outgoing university
and its students are usually
polite and well-mannered,
but to be considered the
friendliest university, the defi
nition needs to be expanded
to mean the most tolerant
and accepting university.
With a history of being an
all-white, all-male and all
military university and a current student popu
lation that is only 15 percent non-white, A&M
suffers from an obvious lack of diversity. In the
absence of a healthy mix of multiculturalism,
Aggieland is an environment prone to all sorts
of intolerance. Many students carry feelings
and opinions of racism, sexism and homopho
bia around the “friendliest university” on a dai
ly basis.
Problems of intolerance undoubtedly are so
cial ills, but by promoting the school as a
friendly university, students are just ignoring
these issues at A&M.
Minority and international enrollment at
A&M continues to improve, and the number of
groups and programs aimed at increasing their
prominence on campus is increasing.
But demographics do not mean that stu
dents are any more accepting today than they
were in 1876.
By promoting the
school as a friendly
university, students
are just ignoring
intolerance at A&M.
Examples of discrimination are still seen at
A&M. However, what is more troublesome are
the unseen, subtle displays of ignorance many
international and minority students encounter.
Most students guilty of these forms of intoler
ance are not even aware of it. Low-level intol
erance is a consequence of living in the type of
setting A&M offers.
With such a heavy majority of white stu
dents, international students often stand out
and draw strange looks.
It is not uncommon for Muslim students
wearing traditional clothing to be stared at, or
African-American students to be thought of as
football players before anything else.
Patterns of ignorance thrive in the minds of
many students and in the overwhelmingly con
servative atmosphere at A&M.
To be a top-10 university, A&M’s stated goal,
a fundamental change in the way Aggies of all
backgrounds are embraced has to occur. Unfor
tunately, the continued claim of being the
"friendliest university” is standing in the way
of such change.
If A&M students continue to support and be
lieve in this claim, all they are doing is worsen
ing an already difficult situation.
Current and former students who have ex
perienced life at Aggieland would be hard-
pressed to say A&M is actually a multicultural
environment. But no casual observer would
know that by hearing students push the
“friendliest university” rhetoric found on
brochures and advertisements for A&M. To
project the image minority students are wel
comed and accepted by all students at this
school is false. A&M holds itself back by at
tempting to cover up the continued ignorance
and intolerance existing in Aggieland.
The University has come a long way from its
monochrome past and continues to make
headway toward becoming a truly diverse uni
versity, but there is still a long climb ahead.
Lying to ourselves about A&M tolerance
levels does not help. A positive first step
would be removing the phrase “friendliest uni
versity” from A&M’s advertisements, but more
importantly, students need to understand how
inaccurate the label is and stop believing its
empty image.
After shedding the “friendliest” label, the
next step is for Aggies to question their own
ideas and beliefs.
It is easy to recognize prejudice in others,
but more often than not a student can find cul
tural ignorance in their own actions as well.
Further, admission advertisements need to con
tinue to focus on the school’s commitment to
a multicultural environment. This will help di
minish A&M’s reputation as a non diverse uni
versity and to increase minority and interna
tional enrollment.
If A&M can increase the prominence of non
white students it will only help foster an at
mosphere where students are forced to ques
tion their stereotypes and open their minds to
other cultures.
Once Aggies quit holding on to A&M’s claim
of being “The Friendliest University” and open
their eyes to their own ignorant behavior and
that of their fellow students, then maybe the
University will truly earn the title.
Eric Dickens is a junior
English major.