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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2000)
IhursdavVll; I I OPINION ursday, April 6,2000 THE BATTALION Page 15 I’s lead justia s leader seeks jus:: Brazil's most visible landless tel i after he was convicted of kilhvl / a 1 yi Up# Jr y Supreme Court decision raises questions concerning FDA regulation of tobacco industry 9 over a farm. Land ownershipiiij 3s The most affluent Bn® percent ol the popiiar 90% w e Rainha The / ) 26 1/2 poorest * • T| , anyone makeup -d 40 percent ol pem years is the population vw ial. and own 1% GUYANA M omma Bear Bill Clin ton has once more de cided to save America from itself. This effort has noth ing to do with TV censorship or changing election laws once he has broken them; this effort is to beat people’s butts. Literally. On March 4, BRAZIL GENT1NA UGUAY f- GABRIEL RUENES/The Battalion rewitt suit example of police abusing power iirkish arliame ejects bil NKARA. Turkey (AP| ;y’s parliament rejected d President Suleyman De:| in office today, a serioustl 10-month-old govemmeri ;d hard for the re-election if d president, ily 303 deputies voted in institutional reform ufnle f‘ ’ rs voted against. Itwasnofi^ wemmenl would seehC- r withdraw the bill. e vote was a setback^ ter Bulent Ecevit, whohili lemirel’s re-election was ibility in the country, e result was expected to political bickering amont icmbers. Many apparent!; 1 •el as the symbol of ii .h politics and favoredle lates. evil feared that dissent el's successor couldhantpi) intent’s economic i d much-needed politicals! road toward membership can Union. ; constitutional reform woil ic president’s term fromse ars, but would allowforastj \ new president must be arc V 16. Bving through sidents are elected byparlwalestme," theory fill a largely sjiBas, be careful owever the presidency las® you Hick off. ver broker in severalgovetwt you could 1 yourself ar- vit called on deputiesear* 6 ^ Imve your cast their secret votes inoif'^^Hy p their promise to pavetiiiB^ 16 ^ ^ e stM l' ) . nird-sre-election.His«S ' 1 , V T' S T «t 100 deputies ofthe Jr ut speak,ng l ° a , la 7 er ' Tl, ‘ s , , . p , oi|iids excessive, but it happened to who voted against thebi | anda Prewitl last semester while lespite their earlier wriW lying through Anderson County on ent, causing serious strains enway back to College Station. in - Amanda Prewitt, an engineering ma- e honoraiy status ofparMrb Texas A&M University, and her :n overshadowed,” EcevBher Bryan were returning to Col- :ontradiction must be eiV Station when a car occupied by a n aii and a woman performed a U-turn /it said as many as 406^1 P ulled out in fr ont of them, cutting ig members of the cent# 1 off - Amanda, the driver, flicked ion True Path Party; had* 6 vell,cle and coatinued d 1 rivl n n g' ,i xu ta Mhe same car caught up to the Pre- i w pmposa K pia vitt siblings at an intersection, and the is scats. ^ itts said a man got out of the car pi line minister sealhil ipc||i e g an yelling and cursing at them ol a warning by Pai y acted in a menacing manner. As Yildirim Akbulutthatti^fojauda Prewitt hit the gas, Bryan shot he voting if deputies c^Bman the bird and the Prewitts went apenly, in violation ofl’liheir way. ml requirement forsetf All was well until they were signaled 0 a Palestine Police officer to pull rit wants to prevent pol| r > which they did. The vehicle they tg among his coalition# d l1icked off twice was an unmarked lemirel’s successor, fr “°f b y officers Br f nda ..lay and Shelby Green. Apparently the umper the goverairtt ’ * J Rre- reform package ^ , ib |i, lgs „ ere stopped F W |,o knows |ailiiK.il stahiht) on iok many other people tire Prewitts membership in the B night have flicked oft'if they hadn’t Bn stopped by the brave officers of ire! has failed to drav^pePalestine Police Department and the from deputies who sa; l jnderson County Sheriff’s Office, s political stability C | At this time both Prewitts were de- > one person and thalif" o retire from politics, i The Supreme Court ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) overstepped its legal bounds in 1996 by issuing regula tions involving cigarettes and other tobacco products. The echo of the gavel had not even ceased before the White House started beseeching Congress to pass legislation giving the FDA the right to regulate to bacco — and once again save , John Q. Public from having to decide whether or not he wants to poison himself The Clinton Administra tion has been at war with the tobacco industry' for five years in an attempt to protect peo ple from themselves. Lawsuits, higher taxes and blatant attempts to circumvent the law have all been used to try to stop people from doing something legal, albeit stupid. If the Clinton administration really felt that strongly about the evils of tobacco — or if it had any guts at all — it would attempt to ban ciga rettes outright, deeming them illegal narcotics. Or allow the American people to make up their own minds as to what is right for their lungs. There is more of a chance, however, of Vice President Gore doing the “Lambada” on “Star Search” than either of these possibilities being implemented. Previous actions by the Clinton administration and the FDA have clearly altered the cigarette industry. While cigarette makers are no saints and should be held to the letter of the law, it is unfair to create new laws for the sole purpose of crippling them. Results from previ ous efforts have increased education for children on the What was advertised as a way to motivate people to quit smoking has instead become a huge payday for the government dangers of smoking (which is certainly a good thing) and limited the amount of money tobacco companies can spend on advertising (which is certainly illegal). Taxes on cigarettes have increased the price of ciga rettes by nearly a dollar per pack over the past four years. What was advertised to the public as a way to motivate people to quit smoking has instead become a huge payday for the government. The government has not forced people to quit smoking, but have instead helped to establish a strong black market for cigarettes. In places like California and Oregon, the combination of federal and state taxes have led people to purchase their cigarettes off of the Internet. These people know that cigarettes are bad and do not need constant browbeating from the federal gov ernment to make them “see the light.” There are already warnings on packs of ciga rettes, as well as ads that speak of the dangers of smoking. If these people want to be stupid, they have the right to be. The government should not waste more time and money on a fundamentally stu pid attempt at thought control. If President Clinton really wants to make a stand against tobacco, he should take steps to ban tobacco. This would certainly grab the attention of the public. Doing so, however, would lighten the coffers of the Department of the Treasury and, therefore, will never happen. If this President has consistently proven one thing, it is that he is willing to put all moral and ethical considerations on hold for a few bucks. A few billion dollars will certainly prevent any sweeping changes. But meddling in the personal af fairs of the American public? That is, at least to this bunch, better than candy. Taxation and attempts at thought control are an noyances in all matters and this no exception. The Clinton Administration should butt out and let the average American decide whether or not they want to poison themselves. Mark Passwaters is a senior electrical engineering major. he Clinton Adminis tration’s confirmation of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authority to regulate tobac co is incorrect — for now. Although revoked by the Supreme Court two weeks ago, the FDA’s jurisdiction over the tobacco industry is an extremely convoluted issue that could have very easily fallen on the pro-regulation side. After. all, the Supreme Court ruling was down to the wire — only five justices ruled against regulation while four voted in fa vor of the FDA. Such a split indicates how flimsy and vulnerable the argu ments are for anti-regulation. Instead of engaging in common- sense reasoning, the court has resorted to hair-splitting and mak ing misguided assumptions in order to circumvent the inevitable — the eventual restoration of the FDA’s authority. Essentially, the Supreme Court should have concentrated on the “ends” of the FDA’s regulation of tobacco rather than the “means.” For example, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said in the court’s opinion that the FDA was “exercising an authority not granted by Congress.” How O’Connor came to this conclusion is baffling. Granted, Congress has yet to pass anything that explicitly states the role of the FDA in regulating tobacco. However, it is ridiculously obvious that the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act — the congressional act that created the FDA — de fines that role in principle. It states that all of the “drugs” and “devices” that fit under the FDA’s jurisdiction are defined as “articles in tended to affect the structure or any function of the body.” Tobacco fits that definition — stained teeth and lung cancer obviously affect the structure of the body. Furthermore, the court’s ruling now wastes the valuable time of Congress because now the only hurdle for the FDA is to get Con gress to draw up legislation literal ly giving them the authority to reg ulate tobacco. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn, is a pro ponent of FDA regulation and is considering introducing the corre sponding legislation. “This does not have to be a campaign issue. This is a public health issue. [Tobacco-indus try giant] Philip Morris has even supported FDA regulation,” Frist said. “The fact is ... nicotine is an addictive drug, and it should be reg ulated by the Food and Drug Administration.” By sending this matter back into the hands of a predictable Con gress, the Supreme Court has created a ridiculously inefficient and Plainly stated, the question of the FDA's re-establishment of authority over the tobacco industry is not a matter of "if" but "when." bureaucratic mess, right along the lines of a person being sent to the back of the line at the post office because he or she forgot to dot an “i” on a change of address form. Justice O’Connor goes on to make the assumption that since the FDA has concluded cigarettes to be unsafe, any law passed by Con gress would be forced to “require the FDA to remove them from the market entirely” anyway. This assumption is clearly erroneous and impractical. During an appearance on the television program “Good Morning America,” former Sur geon General C. Everett Koop disputed O’Connor’s conclusion. “That is absolutely not true ... the Public Health Service knows that if we were to take away tobacco from 49 million addicts right now, we would have a medical problem of un believable proportions ... I wish the Supreme Court knew a little more about addiction,” Koop said. Hopefully, Congress will expedient ly pass the legislation necessary for restoring the regulatory authority back of the FDA. Plainly stated, the question of the FDA’s re-establishment of authority over the tobacco industry is not a matter of “if’ but a matter of “when.” David Lee is a junior economics and journalism major. MAILCALL tained, handcufted, and their car and luggage were searched. While held at the station, Amanda was strip searched. Nothing illegal was found. Both were detained overnight ,and their parents were not allowed to post bail. After spending the night in jail, the two were then brought before a judge and pled guilty to disorderly conduct. The charges were later dropped. After offending the law in Anderson County, the Prewitts are now fighting the law in Palestine. The Prewitts are suing PPD and AndersorvCounty to the tune of $500,000. The lawsuit con tends the Prewitts were not in formed of their rights or why they were being held and were not al lowed to speak to their lawyer or their parents. Also, flicking somebody off, while rude, is not against the law, even if one hap pens to be flicking off a police officer. Finally, the arrest caused Amanda to miss a final and fail a class. “This case is about the principle as much as it is about money,” the Pre witt’s attorney David Carter said. “ We set the amount for $500,000 to let Palestine and Anderson County know we are serious. We plan to bring the case before ajury and let them decide what it is worth.” PPD’s lawyer Paul Miller said the both Prewitts committed a class “C” misdemeanor of Disorderly conduct by offensive gesture. Miller said the rule is on the lawbooks in Texas and Texas Courts have precedent of ruling “the finger” as not protected by free speech. “It is viewed as a physical challenge and is interpreted by the courts as a breach of the peace,” he said. Another infraction by the PPD were the illegal searches they perfonned. Perhaps they were looking for other ob scene material. Additionally, the strip search of Amanda seems to be nothing more than an act of intimidation and demoralization. Bryan was also held overnight, but he was not strip searched. It seems pretty shady for only Amanda to be “suspicious” enough to require a strip search. It seems the PPD was out to prove a point: at that time they could do whatever they wanted to the the Prewitts. Officers Green and Gray were un dercover as part of a drug taskforce when they were side-tracked by the Prewitts. They were not using tax-pay ers money for the purpose of busting college kids making obscene gestures on the highway. Whatever legitimate assignment they were on was compro mised when they pursued the Prewitts. Additionally, the Prewitts argue Of ficer Green did not identify himself as a police officer when he pulled up to them at the intersection. He did not act like a model citizen either when he ex ploded into what the Prewitts call “road rage.” However, Miller disagrees. “Officer Green identified himself as a law enforcement officer early on [in the altercation] and denies any misconduct on his behalf,” he said. If the police did not understand they had done something wrong, the Jus tice of the Peace did. Perhaps that is why she dropped the charges. Both Green and Gray are still working and were not disci plined in anyway for the detaining the Pre witts, not reading them their rights or il legally searching their car; not to mention in volving the City of Palestine and Anderson County in a half-million dollar lawsuit. Even if the Prewitts did break the law by flicking off the officers, that does not justify the Police officers breaking the law by violating their civil rights. It is too bad that the people who are chosen to enforce the law in Palestine and Anderson County do not have a better understanding of it. Just as the PPD made an example of the Prewitts, the legal system should make an exam ple of Officers Gray and Green. Joe Shumacher is a senior journalism major. Lots of reasons to hate Walt Disney Co. In response to Heather Corbell’s April 5 column. The truth about Disney and the boycott is more complex than Corbell wrote. The American Family Association began its Disney boycott in 1995. The boycott was then joined by the Southern Baptist Convention, Focus on the Family, the Assemblies of God, Concerned Women For America, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, and other Christian organizations for reasons larger than ‘Gay Day.’ The Walt Disney Company owns more than just Disney World and the Dis ney Channel. Disney-owned Miramax attacks Christianity directly with its pro duction of Priest, Dogma, and Kids. Disney directly funds abortions by giving money to Planned Parenthood. Christians should be bothered that a portion of every dollar they spend on Disney products is going to pay for equipment used to perform abortions. 1 think it’s sad that after 50+ years of continual destruction of the Christ ian world view, the SBC is now just starting a small boycott of one company. Daniel Spenrath Class of VI New REC sports fee not per credit hour In response to Beth Sutherland’s April 5 mail call. I would like to set the record straight and, hopefully, alleviate any concerns. The Recreational Sports Fee is not a per credit hour fee; therefore, any increase in the fee is charged on a per student basis, not on a per credit hour basis. Pec Sports Referendum fact sheets are available in the Student Recreation Center and on our Website at http://recsports.tamu.edu. We also have an open door policy where all of our staff are available to respond to any question or concern. I hope this helps clarify the issue concerning the Rec Sports Fee Referendum. Dennis Corrington Director, Department of Recreational Sports The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. 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 McDonald 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