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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1999)
i Battalion o PINION Page 9 • Monday, December 6, 1999 iear in ad). This rate app;;! ir you get an additional; [ cheduled to endtoquali ids today: Buy, sell or trade? bkemon allows children to mimic a status-obsessed society, parents ROOMMATES ) (or spring , Zbdrm/lbth, ffl- :all 775-3574 (or spring 187.50/mo. own t> 764-7892. (or spring or longer 3txim! ft itial neighborhood $275/mo I (or spring summer'00 Stidmi® ge $275/mo. +1/3brlls DemseSs-l member of the U.S. Con gress recently ilfed for an investi- at on into what he Js is a serious iroblem facing Herica’s schools, ft was not school lotings, drugs or jjpi MARIANO CASTILLO smoking that concerned him. His iep (Se ^t6w, ||ry was about reports of violence (or spnngoo, own beiiroo, Helming from the popular Pokemon 'mo. caii Isabella 623-6697 riding cards — the pride and joy of needed asap for spring. 2:r»ntless teens and preteens across ?97 50/mo +1/2el9c & pho« ■ Qation _ needed ASAP own bed^J arentS are U P in armS OVer hoW Seri - jartment. 693-5188 $3oos: jusly their children are taking the trad- needed for spnng, 4bdm*- ngcards, which feature characters from ,o -fiMbrlls Call Andrea6^| popillar Nintendo video game and needed Sprlng-'OO. Owi; olex Call Jadyn 695-9322 >. large bedroom In 2b(M$ se to campus, w/d. 691-6731 bon series. Schoolyard stabbings Me been reported in New York and At- |Aa, and thefts have occurred in al- mst every U.S. elementary, middle and ii school. But it is ironic that so nlch fuss is being made over children’s nate needed for spnng $262 v: ptfession with material possessions jplex. Call 822-7281 J en are s i m ply mimicking mod- mate needed for spnng, pi)T9 sOCiPt\' hnttlp rnutp Wiilnwick Cal! rale needed for spring (ourplex. Own room. AC ilacl nberger@tamu.edu orf buttle route, Willowick, CalTWi for spring semester. 3M"Cj fully furnished, $325/mo. for spring semester, $28(» JS 694-0542. You have to look at [the Pokemon e] in the context of our culture,” clld psychologist Stephanie Pratola 'fir. Time magazine. “We are all ob- j&ed with acquiring things, and we needed ASAP. Jan-May. 2Wr,L, , , . , so own bedroom + t.2b see; can t expect our children to rise above needed for Jan.-May 3Mrm/2ia our culture. ” > deposit. $25o/mo.feprhe desire to own the most recent [products and gadgets seems en- mic in our culture. leeded for spring. House in 6ry; room. $245/mo. +1/3bills 6)1 u 775-7263. ■Whether it is driving an Eddie Bauer jdition car or organizing oneself with a pi Pilot, parents show their kids that Needed 1 1700sqft. house, JWi , garage, central heal/ac, eaten elec, bill Call Paul 822-1569 pring or longer, furnishedaJiti? a material world — variety maga- locatiom $285/mo &i/2uttii ||es glorify new gadgets, television —■tidies them to the public and people mX 8°shopping. In doing so, they breed the want it...now!” attitude of many chil li. Not all kids are brats, but today, needed for spring. $250/m: >409. needed for spring w/d, no child in his right mind would pass up campus, $300/mo +1» V anoppoitunity to - catch < em a H.” needed for s „ inability to say no to their olex, shuttle route, veiy nice arWlliny Offspring dOCS not help this ins Heather 695-8640. Mpd more cards a collector has, 6 "® e , d . e 1 d zwm'ibth o«ti * more likely he is to show them off smu.edu 3t|chool and consequently get jumped needed for spring. Parkway&TjjCfllOUS ClaSSmatCS. +i/3biiis. 696-7238Chris ■; j s a parent’s responsibility to let wanted for spring. Southwestp.p s [^ now that there are things in life Hmore valuable than Pokemon cards. -bedroom, CS, $300/mo., JanP irah/Connie Ashford Squaretej iThe same mentality is found in college stu- Jents who work extra hours, not to enhance their fucation, but to afford a new laptop, bike or Ice of clothing. There does not seem to be any- imate for spring. Great locafcf 95-2481 Anne ded for spring own bedrooiNV -j. i.-.i cabie/phone paid 4bdrm2tf|ng wrong with taking pride in ownership in the ege and business world, but when it happens as aze with kids, people go into an uproar, o more are the good old days when collecting }> a hobby rather than a business opportunity. Its who remember buying stuffed animals to with should see something wrong with their fed for spring. 3bdrm/1bthW] npus, $230/mo. +1/3util. Cal ded for spring. Can move in tillties own bdrm. Parkway AP 5 | ;ded for spring. Holleman n room $317/mo. +1/3bills. ® led own. Room close to caw ded spring or longer. (M tr, $230/mo. +1/3bills, M/F. children acquiring beanie animals to peddle off to a higher bidder or to enclose in a case. A childhood today is one where a toy is not necessarily a toy. The Pokemon collectors are doing just as their role models are doing, but they have no income, so they turn to stealing from each other and violence. Parents should use the Pokemon craze as a wake-up call to the lessons they are unconscious ly teaching their children. The obsession the kids have is a strong comment on American society. Families are are not putting sufficient emphasis on hobbies and values that are not material. RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion The supporters of the probe into “Pokemania” are right that it is pointless for children to get vio lent over something as insignificant as trading cards, valued by kids or not. However, the change has to start with parents, older siblings and other role models. They need to show children that there are other activities that can make one feel good such as sports, music or arts which cost nothing. Mariano Castillo is a sophomore international studies major. awyers, legal system sometimes misunderstood fed, move in as early as -Er mt $247.50/mo. +l/2bills. ■f the glove does not ease 1 bdrm in 4bdrm/2bM J |p -*■ lit, yOU able, $301/mo. Call Julio46i-6 : p5( acQllit. ” SERVICES Bse wannabe Dr. ss words have lance to anywhere in,be jn the emp _ aults of Ameri- minds ever ce the infamous CHRIS HUFFINES common technicality. The procedure to obtain a warrant is a bit complex, and an error as simple as a typo can invalidate a warrant, all the evidence gleaned from it and, in many in stances, the case. Throwing a case out because the desk sergeant switched finding judiciary stems from the use of a jury of peers. Without going into the discriminatory specifics of past years, it can be stated reason ably that the definition of “peer” is important to the concept. Some definitions would mandate tsive Driving. Lots-of-fun, U# insurance discount. M-W Frl.&Sat.- Frl(6pm-8pm) m-2:30pm). Inside BankoWt j. $25/cash. Lowest price MJ. bimpSOn trial. ^ ®' e - 217 ' 846 ' 6117 ' Tit is a sad, but true, fact: Americans P-0017). 5 LOCATOR SERVICE. « itial/ Commercial. Alpl® 368. TRAVEL VK 2000 Mazatlan & AcapuWj in & Houston Best, /I 1.800.SURFS.UP www.sy inply do not trust lawyers. They are ten as bloodsucking bottom-feeders io are more concerned with getting pr clients off the hook than with ng justice. And they are, in some >m$369. Reliable TWAfligW fpeCtS, right. odern law has shifted from a |rch for the absolute truth to ver- WANTFD 3lcombat where relative truths are Ss important than how well the rigerator, good condition.^ by ]jj^gg a (jg -irwT i hqq | jaw Proceedings are supposed to rKjin I LUbb ie simple trials of fact. The prosecu- the holiday break, ca : loi argues that a charge (the indict- jnt in criminal law) is legitimate ed on the facts. The defense argues prosecution’s charge is not valid ed on the facts. The jury decides h or falsehood while the judge ref- |es. It is a very simple system, nfortunately, the advent of con- utional protections have provided ny lawyers an opportunity to J fiise the system. These protections, K free speech, habeas corpus and 'TFMTTON- ^ sum Ph on s of innocence, are de- f' Ynnn ]§ ne d to keep the government from SS Ol 20(n o|pressing people. However, these left out of the 2 1 Protections, taken to extremes, can Get your free Sf-.ljn the search for the truth into a en at AR Photogra ose c | lase times are also avail'W o it 1410 Texas Ave.S () ‘B 1 ’ or example, search warrants are a -8183. Open 9-12 l 'i two numbers in the address seems fairly silly. But it must be remembered that the founding fathers preferred a hundred criminals go free before one innocent man was put behind bars be cause of government excess, hence the protection. Another breakdown of the fact- RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion that a African-American woman’s jury be composed exclusively of African- American women. The current legal system allows anyone who stands as a citizen of the state or country to sit on a jury. Either approach breeds problems. Juries which match the defendant in every respect may sympathize with the defendant. Furthermore, any jury of such “equality” would itself breed inequality. Sentiments such as “Oh, she got off because they were all lesbians,” or “He was found guilty for not act ing [Insert ethnic group here] enough,” coming from the mouths of the ignorant and bigoted, would take root in the cracks in the national consciousness. The other extreme — the local, citi zen’s jury — breeds its own injustices. For starters, the preferred IQ of might be considered low, or at least some what lower than one might expect. Except in contract cases, which are very complex, most lawyers prefer a dumb, easily-swayed jury. By allowing anyone in the county to serve on a jury, lawyers are getting just that. Many of the intelligent po tential jurors are struck for various reasons, including the three perempto ry strikes each side has. Also, can a middle-aged farmer understand an in ner-city youth well enough to be deemed a peer? Sure, the farmer was young once, but he, like many adults, might not credit the youth with the intelligence or responsibility the defendant actual ly possesses. Either approach easily can lead to injustice. But, both types of injustice stem from abuse of the legal system as a ab solute truth-finding body, not from any problems inherent in the basic system. Like so many other things, Ameri can law needs to get back to its roots, so that justice will be done. Chris Huffines is a senior speech communication major. Medication can prove harmful when in excess T he overprescription of medi cine has been a problem for as long as doctors have been looked upon as lifesavers and medication as a cure-all. Overprescription has conse quences for patients. When a doc tor prescribes a medicine too of ten or too much, the effectiveness of certain medications is impeded. When one is sick, standard protocol for some doctors is to simply examine the patient and prescribe an overabundance of the antibiotics best known to eradicate or at the very least alleviate the disease’s symptoms. However, if patients are routinely exposed to the same antibiotics or sporadically take the pre scription, the disease they suffer from may be come immune to the antibiotics. This already has become a problem with dis eases antibiotics supposedly had cured, such as tuberculosis (TB). Caused by bacteria, TB was al most completely eliminated (in America) in the early 1900s when people begun receiving TB im munizations. However, the disease developed into different, antibiotic-resistant strains TB (a contin uing problem overseas) was able to make a come back in the United States. It is now apparent that overprescribing specific antibiotics can make medicine useless and yet many doctors stubbornly refuse to change the way they prescribe them. Penicillin is a perfect example. When first discovered, it was a medical breakthrough. In fact, penicillin initially seemed the perfect panacea — an antibiotic, harvested from a mold, that appeared to kill most pathogenic mi crobes. Once penicillin proved beneficial, doc tors began prescribing it for almost everything, from athlete’s foot to the flu. In some cases, doctors would even prescribe penicillin regard less of the symptoms because of a skewed sense of preventive medicine. It worked, and peni cillin was hailed as the “wonder drug.” Overprescription of medicine, if not monitored, could throw a wrench into the treatment of disease. Unfortunately, diseases mutated and found ways around penicillin’s effectiveness. Doctors learned prescribing penicillin no longer worked, and other medicines had to be utilized. But in stead, of changing the methods by which they prescribed antibiotics, doctors again overpre scribed new “wonder drugs,” such as amoxicillin or tetracycline. The possibility that these drugs soon will not work either is realistic. And when overprescription hinders one drug’s potency, the need for other antibiotics becomes more pressing. Medications like antibiotics are much like natural resources — initially everyone benefits, but soon enough, resources, in this case the cures, run out. Therefore, the ramifications of overprescription are ominous because, if continued, medications that once had antibiotic value might be useless against current and future diseases. Overprescription also is dangerous because medicine, as a recent column in Newsweek said, is not “one size fits all.” Deciding what dosage individuals should be al lowed to take can be something of a dilemma for doctors. Because each person is different, the amount of medication one’s body can take is differ ent. Doctors routinely use medical guidelines and physical characteristics such as weight and height, but sometimes even the lowest suggested prescrip tion can be too much for a patient to handle. If so, patient health is at risk. The human body can only handle so much chemical meddling. By challenging the limits of chemical allowances, doc tors can put their patients’ lives in danger. Some medical researchers even believe chemical overexpo sure can lead to a non-HIV related form of auto-im mune deficiency syndrome, better known as AIDS. The helplessness doctors already must feel be cause of AIDS currently is a huge issue in the medical community. If overprescription is thought to be another way a person can suffer from AIDS, one would think doctors would make overpre scription a bigger medical anathema than not washing hands between patients. Overprescription of medicine, if not monitored, could throw a wrench, so to speak, into the treatment of diseases. There are too many dangers that come with too much medicine to ignore the problem. As long as doctors continue to overprescribe and patients to pot follow doctors’ orders, the ef fectiveness of certain medications will continue to decrease and while new and mutated diseases will increase. People must be aware of overprescription of medication and try to avoid it whenever possi ble. Doctors are professionals, highly skilled in their trade, but they can made faulty decisions. That is understandable. But they are aware over- prescription is hazardous and take every precau tion against it. Otherwise, they might as well be amateurs, treating people by trial and error, in stead of experience gained. Beverly Mireles is a junior sociology major. ■