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rday detained 21 foreign,
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ive settled in recent years
ount of Olives in
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rm public safety,
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■ee British citizens andtl
ricans and an Australian-
■ee days to appeal, officii
Israeli officials are c«
? two groups were,
ly for other Christiansti
the Holy Land.
Group members have said
that they oppose vide
Battalion
O
PINION
fash-course dummies
)pular book series lowers educational standards, cannot be used as substitute for teachers
they range
from
home-
Iving to
lerican histo-
|o sex. They
every
jinable top-
lagging
n the intel-
■ctofthe na-
CHRIS
HUFFINES
ion with their orange and yellow
:J|rs and inane dialogue.
■hey are the Idiot’s Guide and
'or Jimmies books, and they are
hurting the idiots and dum-
|s who buy them,
he first problem with these
:s is that they end up replac-
ng eal teachers.
p the good old days, before
. .. Jepreneurship and cheap pa-
7 have mainly been enJ there were these people
.ling housing forvisitONiftd teachers. Teachers taught,
uting food and clothestoj Vhile there are some vestigial
nants of this system on uni-
lity campuses (soon to be re-
:ed by note-taking services
the internet), in the old days
ients learned from other peo-
and practice. They did not
nfrom "idiot” books,
the Lincoln educated himself
•eading, yes, but also by re-
_:lessly practicing what he
r ned and by seeking out peo-
to teach him.
iSBiy definition, books are stat-
Books do not change. The
ntof writing something
m is to preserve it, un-
jnged, for all time,
iowever, learning is dynamic,
students learn and change, the
I they see the world and how
ylearn changes with them. As
topic is discovered, it leads to
aching out into other areas,
King a constantly changing
estinians
Israeli authoritiesfearsc
ristian end-timers wfflci
dent acts to bring ak
ocalypse and hasten tfif
Ehrist.
:hern Cheo
Au%*.an fcfsir** c* a
ct Ruit ai' fcyoM
o
environment. A static book trying
to dynamically teach is like trying
to make apple juice from oranges.
Teachers answer questions
from students. Teachers alter
presentations of material to suit
students’ needs. Teachers build a
relationship with their students.
Teachers can answer questions.
Books just sit there. They
may have the right style, or lack
thereof, to pander to millions
simultaneously.
Weighed together, teachers are
far more effective. (They may
also grade on a curve).
While many readers of these
books, the idiots and dummies of
the world, can and do consult
others and so avoid this pitfall,
many others take the books at face
value and assume they are com
plete guides. These books are ad
vertised as complete guides. How
ever, they cannot be treated as
complete guides, or readers may
well become complete failures.
Second, these books attempt to
deal with complex issues in a pre
scriptive manner.
Prescriptive techniques, collo
quially known as “how to” meth
ods, are not the best way to deal
with complex issues.
Instead of trying to understand
something, prescription converse
ly takes the reader towards a spe
cific goal, which greatly oversim
plifies the nature of the situation.
For example. The Complete Id
iot’s Guide to the Art of Seduction,
its companion book, The Idiot’s
Guide to an Affair-Free Marriage
or First Aid for Dummies treat
complex issues dealing with the
health of people and relationships
prescriptively. Unfortunately, life
is not a spice rack, and it is im
possible to how-to one’s way
through it with anything more
than bare adequacy.
The foreword to The Complete
Idiot’s Guide to the Art of Seduc
tion even admits this limitation.
“At first glance, seduction is an
intangible subject that doesn’t
easily lend itself to a 1-2-3, “how
to” approach,” the author said.
Eveiyone is different, and try
ing to lure them into bed, develop
ing trust or treat their pain all re
quire an individual touch that has
been simplified out of these books.
Prescriptive approaches not
only deal poorly with complex
issues, they also have the unfor
tunate side effect of forcing
those who follow them onto
one set path.
It is like following someone
else’s directions to get some
where. Once the driver has made
a wrong turn, the directions are
useless and following them only
makes the problem worse.
Unfortunately for the idiots
and dummies, there is no good
way to tell if one has lost one’s
way. Knowing that would re
quire experience in the area the
book covers. This lack of experi
ence is why they bought the
book in the first place.
Idiot’s Guides and For Dum
mies books are not entirely use
less. Many titles are perfectly ade
quate. And, if the reader bears the
books’ limitations in mind, these
books can be broad introductions
to any category.
But these books are advertis
ing themselves as complete re
sources, and they are only hurt
ing their consumers with their
prescriptive, static approaches.
Chris Huffines is a senior
speech communication major.
I B liJ\
RUBEN DELUNA/Tiik Battalion
, Dagestan this summer an
med fora series of apartni
sions in Russia that
iple.
With Russian troops o ,
echnya’s northern third ami
gradually toward Gro®
north, east and west,ttis
? increasingly appeared ait
oring Russian co
echnya.
TAR-Tass reported
iters met with the
id over the black b
/shot down, as well as tlie
soldier they said was thepl
an’t Forget
Us For
Late Night
1 Large 1
rug legalization
268-^
College Station
764-7272
TAMU/Northgate
846-3600
TRAVEL
srnational Aware#
dder410
r 20 7:00 pm Rudder 401
r 28 8:30 pm Rudder 402
dan.tamu.edu
your special needs,
rme visit us at M8C 2234.
ia slippery slope
In response to Jessica Crutcher’s
[t.25 column.
Let’s say for the sake of argu-
ot that states do legalize the use
drugs. Heavily taxing a product
tdrugs will not reduce the black
Met activity. Drugs are more ex-
nsiveto produce than alcohol,
iich makes them much more ex-
nsive to purchase to begin with.
If I were a drug user, heavy taxa-
'n would tempt me, along with
mother penny-pinching American,
goto the black market where I
get more of a substance for
ih smaller price. I seriously
'Ubtthat a drug dealer is going to
lit my purchase amount to pro-
ttmy health, as Crutcher sug-
■sts the government should do.
Crutcher also seems to think
at since it is still going to be a
‘laller number of deaths than al-
related deaths, it is alright,
lat is a very ignorant way of ra-
•nalizing the idea.
Alcohol consumption in America
already a problem, as evidenced
'the 100,000 deaths attributed to
[by the American Medical Associa-
•n. One’s opinion would change
istically about drug legalization if
[ae lost a family member or a
Wend to a drug-related accident.
Alcohol consumption in America
already an enormous problem.
Let’s not compound the problem
with the legalization of drugs.
Gary Blackwelder
Class of ’02
Companies are not
responsible for cure
\n response to Caesar Ricci's Oct.
22 column.
Ricci is correct in stating that
Africa is suffering terribly from the
HIV-AIDS virus. I absolutely agree
that something must be done for
these people. However, it is not
the responsibility of pharmaceuti
cal companies to develop a vac
cine. They are just companies and
their main objective is to make
money, not save the world. The
well being of a group of people is
their responsibility and that of
their government.
Ricci's statement that a vac
cine found for the specific sub-
type of AIDS found in Africa will
put an end to the disease's ram
page is entirely inaccurate. Stop
ping the rampage of one subtype
will not stop the present or future
rampage of the other strains.
As far as vaccine development
is concerned, the efficacy trials for
current possible vaccines (devel
oped by government cooperations
of both the U.S. and other coun
tries) are currently held in Africa.
The percentage of people in
Western Europe and the U.S.
makes it extremely difficult to run
a statistically accurate trial. Hav
ing a 25 percent population afflic
tion makes it much easier and
more accurate to study the effec
tiveness of a vaccine than a study
in the U.S., where less than 1 per
cent of the population is infected.
Also, the current vaccines are 60
percent or less effective. From an in
dividual standpoint, this is risky.
Second, education is adminis
tered with the vaccine. We in the
U.S. are generally educated as to
how the virus, spreads, but many
people in Africa are not. Regardless
of the effectiveness of the vaccine,
the education helps immensely.
It would be inappropriate for
pharmaceutical companies to be
held responsible for the entire hu
man race. The ultimate responsi
bility lies in the government of the
people governed and the people
themselves.
Stacie D. Green
Class of '99
The Battalion encourages letters to the
itor. Letters must be 300 words or less am
elude the author’s name, class and ph
number.
The opinion editor reserves the right to
letters for length, style, and accuracy. Let
may be submitted in person at 013 Reed
Donald with a valid student ID. Letters may;
be mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com
Liddy Dole proves money matters
too much in presidential politics
L iddy Dole
just threw
in the
towel. She has
given up on
running for the
president.
The prob
lem of raising
enough money
is one most candidates face,
and she is not the first to suc
cumb to the impossibility of
winning an election without an
astronomical budget.
The loss of Dole as a candi
date is a national tragedy and
an American disgrace.
The entire country ought to
mourn the fact that the first
woman ever to be a serious
presidential contender has had
to quit the campaign for a petty
reason like lack of funds.
Dole was able to raise a re
spectable sum — $4.7 million.
Most people would consider
that a sizable sum.
The trouble is that her two
major competitors in the Re
publican Party have 15 to 20
times the financial resources
she had while she was running.
The problem is not that Dole
needed more money.
The problem is that there
ought to be some kind of limit
on the obscene amounts of
money expended in pursuit of
the presidency.
Years ago, rumor had it that
any child — the kid next door,
the kid from the wrong side of
the tracks, anyone — could
grow up to be president of the
United States of America.
People were especially proud
to be Americans because their
children were assumed to be on
a level playing field.
It seems the public has been
corrected of that notion once and
for all. Not only is it not possible
for just anyone to become presi
dent, it is nearly impossible for
anyone to become president un
less they are in a financial posi
tion to buy the office.
The days of the level playing
field are nothing more than a
fond memory.
Eventually people will forget
they ever existed.
Perhaps they already have.
If the guy with the fattest
wallet gets to be president, and
the country is following the
golden rule — whoever has the
gold makes the rules — then the
whole concept of representative
democracy just got replaced
with market-driven government.
Through clever marketing ap
proaches, the candidates market
themselves to the voters.
Whoever presents the pretti
est package gets the public to
choose them.
Often the public gets sold a
bill of goods — without any
goods behind it.
Whoever has an agenda to
push can do so with a few well-
placed campaign contributions.
Not only is it
not possible
for just anyone
to become
president, it
is nearly
impossible
to win
without
big bucks.
And democracy takes a hit.
What if, rather than selling
the presidency to whoever can
afford to buy it, the whole cam
paign thing were-revamped?
Suppose the government put
in place some ground-rules that
“abridged” the right of free
speech in a very carefully
thought-out way.
Suppose, instead of allowing
the spin doctors to have their
way with the campaign, the only
campaign advertising permitted
were issues-oriented with no
dirt. What would happen?
Suppose, instead of needing
every cent they can scrape to
gether to buy advertising, the
candidates were limited to using
only the air-time the government
provided, and only for speeches
and debates about issues.
Suppose there was a rule
that said that if a candidate
broke the rules they would be
thrown out of the race, like a
foul in ice hockey, only with
much greater stakes.
At first there might be a
problem getting anybody to
pass muster.
But eventually, when they
saw that the public meant busi
ness, the fast crowd would
move on to some less important
line of work, like entertainment.
Then the real public servants
could come forward and attempt
to persuade the American peo
ple they could and would do the
job to the best of their ability.
Then voters would have a
choice, and it is likely the choice
would include more women,
minorities and maybe even the
kid next door.
Then perhaps, one could read
an unsigned speech and know
which candidate wrote it because
they would be saying different
things about the issues, instead
of all saying the same thing.
And maybe then, the govern
ment could govern.
To critics who support the
present system on the basis of
“if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” the
reality of the situation is that the
present system would be in bet
ter shape if it were broken.
A look at recent history will
verify that the quality of the
candidates is eroding for vari
ous reasons, not the least of
which is the enormous sums of
money they must raise in. order
to stay candidates.
Money is not generally an en
nobling thing, and the dire ne
cessity the candidates face to
raise it does not encourage rigid
honesty and scrupulous conduct.
There comes a point beyond
which it is unreasonable to ex
pect morally upright behavior,
and the current election process
passed it long ago.
The system is not broken, it
has dissolved into chaos.
Americans have a choice
about whether it continues,
even if they no longer have the
choice of having a woman pres
ident in the year 2000.
Ann Hart is a senior
English major.