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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 2000)
OPINION Friday,February25,20(K) THE BATTALION Page? ad). This rate applies ;et an additional 5 ed to end to qualify for rORCYCLE Aik 700cc hydraulic clutch shaft- on 695-1627 600cc. Runs pertect, clean bike, 20,000-miles, $1,800. Brett, 22S- MUSIC Local acoustic duo, seeks bongo 93-8121 iRSONAL ig, 20-ssomething already dating Mow'd they meet? Turns on sin. sixdegrees showed them the xdegrees com PETS ittens. Cats. Dogs. Many pure lal Shelter- 775-5755. 29-Gallon Great system Fish, >225/060. Call 695-8138 cute Need good home Cal a. ‘tL ESTATE . carport, large fenced backyard Afford SCompany Realtors 57k- DM MATES nuse, CH81A, w/d. fenced, for lease >250 +util. +deposit. Lori 846-8781 aeded ASAP to share 4bdrm/3bth ■no+util+deposit. 696-8240 altei i @ $325/mo. +1/3bills. Contad 06. ;d to share 2bdrm/2bth. $2627mo. 5-4367 for details. dr brand new 4bdrm/4bth condo, 680-1776. iVSAP' 2bdrm/2ba. Call Matt 694- move ini vanted. $290 +bills, W/D, private 7801. >273.33 includes rent Sbills. 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Same gresi ree delivery in B/CS. Checks and 1 Open 24/7 695-6983. ansportation Institute or students from the :ities to survey child ;e during Spring Break: Austin, Beaumont, Sorpus Christi, Dallas, r t. Worth, Houston, Antonio, Tyler & Waco, gas. Call 845-2736, o.m. for interview. E MONEY THE : ASHIONED WAY. SELL 1ETHING. JattalioN assifieds I 845-0569 Can J.C. be made P.C.? Debate over Jesus ~n this day and age of political correctness, the First Amendment las become the ultimate battleground. Organized religion has found itself in the cross hairs of PC war riors in their battle for sep aration of church and state. While some of the ar- Euments set forth by the advocates of political correctness have merit, most are totally absurd. The latest battleground between PC pundits and common sense is in Marshfield, Wis. It is no shock that the line in the snow has been drawn on something sublimely ridiculous. Marshfield has had a statue of Jesus Christ in Praschak Wayside Park since 1959. The statue stood without incident until two years ago when the Madison, Wis. based group Freedom from Religion Foundation sued the town. The foun dation demanded the town tear down the statue, claiming that its presence in a public place was an oppressive symbol that coerced people into believing in Christianity. The town, not wanting to destroy a local landmark, allowed a private group to buy the statue and the land around it. With the assistance of groups such as Ruther ford Institute, American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) and the Liberty Counsel the town was able to prove that the sale of the land was perfectly legal. Since it was on private land, the argument continued, the statue was then pro tected by freedom of speech, also in the First Amendment. The case was thrown out of U.S. District Court in April 1999. The Freedom from Religion Foundation is now suing the city again. Still claiming that the statue is coercive, they are demanding that the city put a wall around the statue in order to ob struct viewing of the statue. Once again, they are claiming that the city — or in this case the private group that owns the statue — is still vio lating the First Amendment’s separation of church and state, in spite of the fact that the stat ue is on private ground. statue in Wisconsin park escalates political correctness to ludicrous levels If the foundation actually thinks it can win this case with such an argument, they should fire their lawyers. The First Amendment's “Es tablishment Clause” merely states that the gov ernment is not supposed to advocate or discrim inate against any organized religion in any way. In Lemon v. Kurtzman, the Supreme Court elaborated on what is and is not allowable. Since the statue does not “foster an excessive government entanglement with religion,” their case has no legal merit. Yet, they continue to moan and complain. Why? The answer is simple. Under the auspices of political correctness, groups such as Freedom from Religion Founda tion are able to pursue personal vendettas. For 40 years.this statue stood without complaint but suddenly became a symbol of religious oppres sion in 1998. The Freedom from Religion Foundation is ac cusing the city of Marshfield of trying to control how people think. In truth, their actions are an implicit accusation that the public does not know what is good for itself. In other words, groups such as the Freedom from Religion Foundation are the ones guilty of thought control. For four decades, no single person had ever complained to the city about the coercive nature of the Jesus statue. It had not been seen as a po litical tool in order to steal the minds of the masses. Then, out of the blue, the foundation and its president, Anne Nicole Gay lor, ride to the rescue to save the people from themselves. Why the people of Marshfield — or anyone, for that matter — required rescuing is still a question. Is the American public too dumb to know what is good for it? The logic used by the foundation would seem to lead to that conclusion. Not only does this corrupted state of political correctness al low' for a small group of people to dictate the course of society’s debate, it allows them to grind their own personal axes. ACLJ chief counsel, Jay'Sekoluw was quot ed by the Christian Persecution Report as saying that the removal of the statue “is not neutrality toward religion. It is hostility.” Such hostility to ward religion under the guise of political cor rectness is not new. Other absurd suits in clude the suing of a minor league baseball team for having a discount night once a month for people who brought pro grams from their local church or tem ple to the game and attempts to bar high school students from praying on school grounds an hour before classes started. Once upon a time, political correct ness was used as a tool to weed out true problems in society. It has since devolved into a forum for small groups of people to attempt to force their ideas on the rest of society. It is unfortunate that what could have been a benefit to American society has become such a farce. The next time the Freedom from Religion Foundation starts whining about Marshfield, Wis. being a supporter of oppression, it ought to look in the mirror. A close examination will show that they, and people like them, have be come a greater threat to the First Amendment than those they rail against. Mark Passwaters is a senior electrical engineering major. GABRIEL REUNES/Tm: Battalion Fox show degenerates marriage institute, highlights society’s woes A t first, it sounded like the plot from an old episode of “News Radio” — something only Jim my James could have cooked up. Girl meets multimillionaire for the first time, multimillionaire proposes to girl, multi millionaire and girl live happily ever af ter (the annulment.) But the truth is stranger than this fic tion. Fox Network’s recent broadcast of “Wlio Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire” proved just how low television broadcasting — and society in general — has sunk. After a two-hour pageant which paraded women in bathing suits and wedding gowns before the ogling eyes of a filthy (rich) man, the special culminated in the legally bind ing marriage of Darva Conger to Rick Rockwell. The show was the first time the newlyweds had met, and judging from the latest news reports, it was the last time they were seen together smiling. Just a week after her “wedding,” Conger publicly admit ted she made a mistake and now wants to get an annulment. On their honeymoon Caribbean cruise, Conger says she barely spoke to her groom. According to the 34-year-old nurse, Rockwell was just not the sort of person “I would or dinarily have even a friendly relationship with.” But of course, nothing was ordinary’ about this “mar riage.” Thank goodness. The Conger-Rockwell wedding was a profoundly disturbing event that one can only hope will, like their marital bliss, be a short-lived phenomenon. The fact that the union was a horrible perversion of what marriage should be al most goes without saying. For different and equally valid reasons, both liberal feminists and conservative family advocates have de nounced the show as de plorable. “Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire” portrayed women as objects for sale and weddings as cheap spectacles. But marriage should not be a business venture or a flight of fancy. Brides and grooms should not be learning each other’s names as they walk down the aisle (or onto the sound stage). Men should not be able to take wives for test drives, and women should not pick husbands for their investment portfolios — both ex pecting an annulment or divorce if a friendship does not ensue. But while much ado has been made about the show’s commercialization of marriage, it is not too late to hope that most people take their vows a little more seriously than the likes of Rick Rockwell and Darva Conger do. Of course, it is beyond dis pute that the institution of marriage is in dire straits in modern society. After all, the Website taking requests to be on the show was so over whelmed by applicants that it crashed after the premier. And these days, when cou ples say “I do,” it is becoming more justifiable to honestly ask, “Is that your final an swer?” But the special’s incredi bly high ratings are not neces sarily evidence the viewers condoned the ceremony. In truth, the mere fact there were wedding dresses on the show probably guaranteed the interest of anyone with estrogen, while the mere fact there were swimsuits probably got the at- tention of a fair amount of men, 1 Nevertheless, the surprise popularity of the show did say something revealing about American society. The show was the most grotesque example to date of a growing genre of television shows that includes broadcasting gems such as “Change of Fleart,” “The Real World,” “Blind Date” and a litany of'trashy talk shows. The appeal of these runaway TV juggernauts is in the way they force people to make major, life-changing deci- ' . sions in front of live studio audiences. But is this what television has come to? Do people spend so much time in front of the tube that their connection with the outside world comes through distorted “real-life” dra mas? And in a larger sense, has television bred such a cynical skepticism about “Andy Griffith” TV families that artificially created relationship shows have become the popular fare? Unfortunately, “Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire” has suggested these possibilities. There must be trouble in Mayberry. Caleb McDaniel is a junior history* major. Clinton’s proposal for funding one side of Colombian conflict a bad idea T he Clinton Adminis tration is pushing for a new drug war strategy that would in clude a $1.6 bil lion aid package to help the Colombian gov ernment fight cocaine production in their country. The money will purchase 30 Blackhawk and 33 Huey helicopters, as well as pay for anti-narcotics train ing. After all, it seems logical that the best way to keep drugs out of the United States is to cut off the supply at the source. However, supporters of this pro posal seem ignorant to the current sit uation in Colombia and the possibil ity that the money will further fuel their civil war, which is associated "ith drug trafficking and human fights abuses. The situation is ex tremely complicated and too risky for the United States to intercede unprepared. Far-right paramilitaries, con- 'inced that their government cannot contain the insurgent Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have been accused of severe human rights abuses in their battle against the guerrillas. The FARC, on the other hand, oc cupy a large portion of the Colombian countryside and fund their revolution mostly through drug trafficking. Before committing any money to Colombia, supporters of this aid pack age need to understand the implica tions of such an act. Drug production may decrease, but the war between para militaries and guerrillas that the Colom bian govern ment is trying to control will reach new heights. Recently, the Colombian govern ment held peace talks with the guer rillas, which consequently has kept the paramilitaries at bay. These talks are shaky at best, and U.S. involve ment will inadvertently escalate the war there. By equipping the government with attack helicopters, the guerrillas will have no choice but to step up their own arsenal to maintain a balance as they attempt to iron out a peace bargain. In short, the U.S. cannot give aid to Colombia without choosing a side in their civil war. Even if Americans choose the “cor rect” side, and advance the drug war in Colombia, it will be at the expense of the Colom bian people whose land will be rav aged by guerrillas re turning to war. That is only the be ginning of the bad news because the United States is not likely to watch a $1.6 billion investment go up in smoke. Once the United States commits the money, the nation is also indirectly committing troops that may be necessary to aid a Colombian mili tary that for decades has been unable to crush the FARC. Clinton’s aid package is flirtation with an international crisis. The risk of getting involved in another nation’s domestic war needs to be avoided at all costs. Vietnam serves as a painful reminder of this lesson. The only voice of concern so far lias been made by Human Rights Watch, urging the Clinton administra tion to make sure money does not go to military units that support tyranni cal paramilitary groups. It is absurd to suggest that a clear line can be drawn between the right and far-right in Colombia. While the Human Rights Watch plea has good intentions, they should realize that U.S. aid can escalate the Colombian situation to war, leading to a rise in human rights violations. Re gardless of how many conditions are placed on the aid, the risks outweigh the benefits. It is disheartening that the Clinton administration can be so naive as to believe that money will end the drug trade between Colombia and the United States. Before promising any aid to the Colombian government, the Clinton administration needs to stop and con sider the consequences. Mariano Castillo is a sophomore international studies major. The risk of getting involved in another nation's domestic war needs to be avoided at all costs. MAIL CALL “D” grade system change beneficial In response to Melissa Bed sole’s Feb. 22 column. Bedsole needs to find out the true facts before she attempts to print a story. When discussing the recent change in the Grapevine- Collyville grading system to elimi nate the letter grade “D,” Bedsole states that the only reason for this change is that “the school district is trying to improve the chances for football player Cody Spencer to receive a scholarship to a division 1 school.” This is not true. The change in the grading sys tem was made for all current and future students. In addition, sign ing day for scholarships had al ready passed by the time the grading system was changed. Grapevine-Collyville school dis trict is one of the rare schools left in the state that had the let ter “D” in their system. Kids were losing scholarships due to the fact that at other schools a 70-74 is considered a “C" but at Grapevine it is recorded as a “D.” One thing Bedsole needs to understand is that Spencer is a typical 17 year-old high school boy that has one thing on his mind, football. Quite a few high school play- . ers just get by in their grades in order to stay eligible, but in col lege they find out that they have to step it up a notch. Bedsole also states that “Spencer is being set up for fail ure.” Statistics have proven that a great number of high school boys do not excel in their grades in high school but do very well in college. I think this will be true in Spencer’s case as well. He will see that it takes hard work and discipline to make it in college - and he will persevere in spite of ' his critics. Travis Mayer Class of ‘99 The Battalion encourages letters to the ed itor. Letters must be 300 words or less and include 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: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mail: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com