lay, November 29,ftl
Battalion
O PINION
Page 9« Monday, November 29, 1999
Dring 92
as hard-presset
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Money for nothing
nimaginative game show plays down to viewers, motivating contestants with greed
fter King Kong, one would
think New York would
learn to keep the loud, ob-
ixious apes locked away. How-
l; Regis Philbin is once again
orward Prissy bludgeoning America’s senses
ies early man in( j sensibilities with his “unique
■r 16 points in )rand of game-show fun.
■Jnfortunately, his new game
ones led the || ovv> “who Wants to be a Mil-
mts, while jonaire,” has rocketed to the No. 3 spot in the
Nielsen ratings not by being novel, professional or
ntcresting but rather by pandering to the lowest
amon denominators of society.
CHRIS
MUFFIN ES
)f the Year, nve™ |m
expectations j t wou i c i megal and maybe unethical to
1 till him, Philbin and his “Who Wants to be a Mil-
. ipnaire” game show must be stopped, for the fol-
12.6 percent t:l m 8 r ff ons - H •
»irst, the name of the show is pandering and
: marked thefiril 311 ^ 0, Everyone who isn't as rich as Bill Gates or
the Aggies heM counter P arts wants t0 a millionaire.
) point barrier a® 111 as Barnum said, there’s a sucker born
1 W | n j s jyery minute. And “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”
gin 0 f V i C t 0 ^ ?(avs to a sucker every minute on the minute.
or y_ ■The title casts the show as a television lottery.
lilt while one has a better chance of being struck
jy lightning than winning the lottery, “Who
clD Red A#nts to be a Millionaire” evens the odds a bit.
'frith “Lifeline” phone calls and audience votes,
Cyclone* now has the same chance of winning money
, ^ , v , is being on the john during a major earthquake.
StateUniS^ 11 ^ some ma y sa y “Who Wants to be a
-_3 15 _g i^.iBlionaire” is “Jeopardy” without the preten-
suc ‘P 118, smart people and that weird answer-
ason BRs lH * l ' st ' on thing, “Who Wants to be a Million-
is more like “Hollywood Squares” without
funny celebrities.
Iven more demeaning are the questions geared
jvard people with IQs just below household pets.
It may be challenging for the contestants — af
ter all, stress does make it hard to think — but a
challenge would be nice.
Asking contestants to name the capital of Iraq
or how many teaspoons are in a tablespoon may
be worth $200, but even as a stepping stone to $1
million they are fairly silly.
Worst of all, the show is just slow and not
entertaining. It uses expensive “Intellilights,”
the kinds found in major Broadway theaters, to
execute one repetitive, annoying, futile effect.
The set is minimalist at best, and not in an
artistic way. It takes Philbin and the judges sec
onds that stretch into an eternity to determine if
answer “A,” “B,” “C” or “D” is correct.
And Philbin...well, Philbin just is not game-
show host material. Even slaving away with co
host Kathie Lee Gifford, Philbin is too much.
In “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” it is all
Philbin, all the time. He lacks the poise and pol
ish of Alex Trebek or Pat Sajak or even Jimmy
Kimmell. Being less skilled than the host of
“The Man Show” and “Win Ben Stein’s Money”
is just sad.
But Philbin is well-known. He has “star pow
er.” Never mind his particular brand of star pow
er is more like a black hole, sucking good taste
into another dimension.
But Joe Six-pack, Joe Joint and Mary Jane
Homebody all know who he is, and is that not
more important than quality?
“Who Wants to be a Millionaire” is trash,
and it should not be allowed to continue in its
present form. Philbin should be barred from
walking into a television studio, much less
hosting a television show.
Chris Huffines is a senior
speech communication major.
en del
s also posted a
Drd at hcwates*
first for
game of tit®
disposed
less than 15
&M posting a
centage to
JO.
s jumped to cm y'
second game til
called a timeoifi
te managed a|
leld the Aggies®://
s before StrlcB/'
locker Woolsefft/
' end the game
off to a slow sf
ne, but slowlyf
m to take
mash by
ed the way
wording a matcS
a .591
;on ope
3 «Inject illustrates
htl a og«i rtudents ’ charit y
know college students
t.
strong staii omet j mes are ca || ec | se |f-ab-
>ng rallies, ^ orbed, said to be looking out
nly for themselves, but Project
darque Car' jimshine proved these stereo
points and /pes wrong this past weekend,
ded 21 fm |? | The Aggie chapter of Project
to lead A&Twnshine traveled to Texas Chil-
ren’s Hospital in Houston and
id by freshm^pw a wonderful fall carnival
ai Gilchrist f the children,
joints and 3 f The smiles on the kids’
aces, as well as the-laughter
were nut-ret eard on the Playground, told
. ^ *(, 'hat a great time they were hav-
ft? UP i: ’8- The carnival was a great
> A&l, con uccess q ue to the planning on
t foject Sunshine’s part,
credit — | cannot say enough about
s, and we/i|se college students who took
th any off tne out of their busy schedules
kM senior' d entertain children who need-
d. d to take their minds off of the
ay its second is pita I, if just for a few hours.
in Dentonh I was truly proud to call my-
/ of Nortli elf an Aggie that day.
m Thank you again to Project
>unshine for all your hard and
lication to the children of
xas Children’s Hospital.
iybroh
[air Salo (
Kyra Barnett
Class of ’99
jteligious unity is
lever dangerous
Vo discoiq
th this i c response to Stephanie Dube’s
lov. 17 column.
1 WelbotL
vestgaKc/ f- hjs art j C | e about the dangers
ir BarraciidJy
MAIL CALL
of religious unity is not backed
up with objective proof. One
analogy that she used was the
situation with Galileo’s persecu
tion for believing that the Earch
revolved around the sun.
Dube said that “if Galileo had
been willing to water down his
-knowledge for the sake of unity,
truth would have been lost.”
But Galileo did recant his be
liefs after bringing out his theo
ry, and today people believe that
the earth revolves around the
sun. The truth did not get lost.
Also, the Phantom Menace
and Matrix analogy is complete
ly irrelevant to this discussion of
religious unity.
This seems to suggest that
by having religious unity, not
only would truths more than like
ly not be lost, but we would also
have peace and tolerance be
tween different religions (no
more religious wars), which
would be a benefit.
It would be wise, in the fu
ture, for Dube to make sure all
of her facts and analogies are
straight and relevant to the dis
cussion, for a writer’s credibility
is in question if she distorts or
mistakes intended evidence for
her claims.
Marc Willis
Class of ’03
Aggie family caring,
dignified in tragedy
I am an “Old Ag” living
halfway around the world, in Oki
nawa Japan. I have watched first
with horror, then with pride as
the events of last week unfolded.
I have cried tears for those
who have fallen, and prayed
prayers for the families at this
difficult time.
I have sat and listened with
pride as students and University
officials alike try to explain to
others our traditions and what it
means to be a part of the Texas
A&M family.
You have demonstrated digni
ty, caring, and love, to the “out
side” world at a time when it
can be difficult to be under such
extreme scrutiny.
I am a fourth generation Ag
gie and have always been proud
to be a part of Texas A&M.
Thank you for giving me even
more reason to wear my Aggie
ring with pride and know there is
no other place in the world quite
like Texas A&M.
Lezlae Frazier Grubb
Class of ’89
The Battalion encourages letters to the ed
itor. Letters must be 300 words or less and in
clude the author's name, class and phone
number.
The opinion editor reserves the right to edit
letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters
may be submitted in person at 013 Reed Mc
Donald with a valid student ID. Letters may also
be mailed to:
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Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1111
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Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com
ROBERT HYNECEK/The Battalion
Sanctions against Afghanistan
persecute blameless civilians
A fghanistan
and its
people
have suffered
too much al
ready. Twenty
years of non
stop civil war
has left mil
lions of
Afghans dead, displaced or ut
terly impoverished. Further
more, the Taliban,the fanatical
group that controls most of
Afghanistan, maintains a state
of terror that includes gross op
pression and abuse of Afghan
women. Now, adding insult to
injury, the already devastated
people of Afghanistan face in
ternational sanctions because
the Taliban refuses to stop har
boring suspected terrorist
Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden, a Saudi Arabi
an millionaire opposed to
the United States’ Middle
Eastern policy, is wanted for
allegedly bombing two
American embassies in
1998. The United States has
demanded he be extradited
and is largely responsible for
the United Nations’ imposi
tion of economic sanctions.
While the United States’
insistence on bringing a
possible terrorist to justice
is warranted, now is not the
right time to focus on cap
turing bin Laden. Instead,
the world should be.trying
to stop Afghanistan’s civil war,
which may soon create a hu
manitarian disaster. According
to U.N. humanitarian director
for Afghanistan Eric de Mul,
warfare between the Taliban and
opposition forces has trapped
thousands of refugees, who are
now in danger of dying of
hunger, disease and freezing
weather as winter approaches.
A ceasefire is necessary to pro
vide refugees with desperately i
needed relief, and sanctions.are
likely to endanger the already
volatile peace process, thus jeop
ardize the lives of countless inno
cent civilians.
Sanctions also will hurt efforts
to improve the Taliban’s ap
palling treatment of women by
further polarizing and isolating
Afghanistan from the world com
munity. The United States should
sacrifice its immediate desire for
revenge for long-term considera
tions of the welfare of Afghans.
Afghanistan’s people have
been tortured by war. In 1979,
the Soviet Union invaded
Afghanistan to help prop up a
disintegrating communist
regime. For 10 years, American-
backed mujahedeen, or Muslim
holy warriors, fought tenacious
ly to drive the occupying Soviet
Red Army off their soil. Roughly
one million Afghans were killed
in the fighting, and another
three million fled to refugee
camps in Pakistan and Iran.
The Soviets’ retreat from
Afghanistan in 1989 did not
mean an end to the terrors of
war for ordinary Afghans.
The diverse ethnic factions
which pulled together to oust the
U.S.S.R. soon turned on them
selves in a struggle for power.
It was in the midst of corrup
tion and lawlessness that the
now-infamous Taliban was
swept into power.
Sanctions draw
attention away from
the most serious
problems in
Afghanistan
and will unfairly
punish the already
suffering civilian
population.
Backed by Pakistan and draw
ing its members from
Afghanistan’s largest ethnic
group, the Pashtuns, the Taliban
initially won the people’s re
spect for restoring enough sta
bility in the country for com
merce to be re-established.
Soon Taliban forces gained
control of 90 percent of
Afghanistan.
Then the true nature of the
Taliban reared its ugly head.
It became apparent the Tal
iban’s grip on power would be
maintained through intimida
tion and terror.
Members of Taliban claim to
be building a pure Islamic state,
yet their actions have enraged
and disgusted much of the
world’s Muslim community.
Worst of all is the terrible
crime the Taliban has commit
ted against Afghanistan’s 12
million women. According to
Amnesty International, women,
who once had limited freedom
in Afghanistan society, now are
denied all rights. Creating a sys
tem of gender apartheid, Tal
iban forces have prohibited
women from going to school,
working or even leaving their
homes without the accompani
ment of a male relative.
The Taliban also have im
posed a strict dress code for
women under which women
must cover themselves com
pletely from head to feet, with
only slits in front of their eyes to
allow them to see.
The Taliban’s “morality en
forcers” publicly beat and hu
miliate women who are found
to be breaking their stringent
moral edicts.
Most devastating to women,
however, has been the segrega
tion of health services.
The Taliban have forbidden
women to be treated by male
doctors, while at the same time
preventing most female doctors
and nurses from working.
Special hospitals have been
created for women in which ser
vices are wholly inadequate.
Amnesty International reports
Afghanistan now has one of the
highest maternal mortality rates
in the world.
It is important for the West
ern world to understand the Tal
iban’s treatment of women is
opposed to the principles of Is
lam, which espouses equality
and development for women.
Rather, the Taliban’s actions
are an extension of a historically
chauvinistic culture and are a
means of asserting dominance
over Afghanistan’s population.
The danger of economic sanc
tions is that they will be used by
the Taliban to justify their harsh
policies in the name of resisting
“imperialistic powers” out to see
the country fail, much as leaders
in Iraq and Cuba have done.
Sanctions draw attention
away from the most serious
problems in Afghanistan and
will unfairly punish the already-
suffering civilian population.
Peace is what Afghanistan
needs most.
Once peace is made and
Afghanistan has an official gov
ernment, it will be easier to im
prove the condition of women in
Afghanistan.
And for the United States, the
prospects of capturing Bin
Laden, America’s most wanted
man will be brighter.
Caesar Ricci is a junior plant
and soil science major.