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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 2000)
Thursday,i OPINION Jay, April 13,2000 THE BATTALION Page 19 Castro comp; ilism to Holoc i (AP) — Cuban Preside: ; j a scathing attack on the»i Wednesday, telling a surl nalions that the econoraiift mg comparable to the Nazi M caring a suit insteadofhb,! enounced capitalism befai .tatc or government at Ike nd called for the eliminat Monetary Fund, acuii irkl poverty, ges u c see of mothers! ’ions of Africa under tk other catastrophes remine i camps of Nazi German;, to war crimes trials afM, leader said: “We lackaNc economic order imposed three years more men,m )f hunger and preventable lie Second World War;’ tm pi aims of inequality wai ers at the opening of thesie in w as likely to seeklessra: ic Cuban leader’s —w fora 1 percent tax on finance a global develop® it ions called for developed lebts ofpoorer states, share i u>rcr nations a greatersav I development funds. cewit oup a broker w ith Shaw Stod in Sydney. ’acific Century CvberWoi ,un a powerful partner.awei. un of cash and some at elecom industry'. Pelstra will invest $1.5bil Century CyberWorksnotB on verted later into shares, he two companies are also ibile telephone joint veatai 60 percent by Pacific Ce::| Airks and 40 percent by It elstra also will give Pacili erWorks $1.5 billion in exfi s Li’s company will add:» shone venture. From student council to city council Students should support city council representation JEFF SMITH/The Battalion C ollege students are perhaps the most un derrepresented voter population in the Bra zos Valley. It is a safe assumption that Texas A&M students easily make up one-third of the Bryan-College Station population, yet there is not a single elected college student representative on either city council board. — All too often, city council deci sions that affect students are made and students have little or no say in these decisions. They definitely have no vote. Perhaps because stu dents are seen as temporary mem bers of the community, not much has been done to include them in the small-town politics of Bryan- College Station. Texas A&M students are partial ly to blame for this situation. Many students have a “consequences are consequences as long as I graduate” atti tude. However, several Aggies are looking to become active members of the Bryan and College Station City Councils. In Bryan, Hugh “Alec” Pointer and Christopher Olsen are running for seats on the Bryan City Council. Meanwhile, Michael Blum, a junior aerospace engi neering major, has thrown his hat in the ring against Larry Mariott, incumbent of College Station City Council seat four. Students should consider the advan tages of having a student on the city council. If elected, Blum will be the first student representative on the city coun cil to have a vote. In the past, Texas A&M students have been represented by a student govemment- appointed liaison ofticer. This campus liai son could give advice but could not vote on the city council. A fresh perspective is needed on the Bryan and College Station City Council, and it is time students had a voice in the goings on of this community. One vote does not appear to be big deal, but it could easily cast a tie-breaking vote in decisions — decisions where the students’ views may not be otherwise un derstood or presented. While the Student Government Association and student body president are worthy positions of service on campus, so much more “on the outside" can affect students. “A recent issue that affects students is removing of free parking in the Northgate area,” Blum said. “Not only is this a con venient place for customers of Northgate to park, but for students.” A student on either city council could have many advantages for the whole com munity. At times, there seems to be an “us against them” mentality between residents and students. Having a student on the city council will increase positive communica tion with the city, with students and resi dents working together to solve problems. However, one side should not be re duced to a mere focus group for the other. Many people in the community may re duce a student running for office to some sort of prank. They may think students do not have time to familiarize themselves with the issues, and do not know the histo ry of the area. However, the student candidates have all spent time working with their city councils before. Simply put, Texas A&M students should support other students who run for city council. It may be too late for students to regis ter to vote in the city elections, but they — can do more than just vote. They can work on a campaign staff or register other students to vote. Admittedly, city council meetings are boring. Instead of fonning a “B- CS Students United for Changing City Councils” group with no pur pose other than to protest with signs and obnoxious slogans, students should hand together to send one per son to represent all. Then, instead of merely complaining about what goes on in city council, students would have done their democratic part. While the Student Government Associ ation and student body president are wor thy positions of service on campus, so much more “on the outside” can affect stu dents. Many members of student govern ment are merely padding their resumes. A student city council member’s voting ability would have more power than an SBP’s opinion on a topic. Additionally, it would give this student experience. It would also make a pretty cool political sci ence 485 class. Regardless, it is time for students to stop being silent members of this community. Joe Schumacher is a senior journalism major. e citizens pay expensive gas prices oliticians play energy crisis blame game lOW is time for another round of “Pin the Blame on Someone le”This game is a fa- ite of Washington politicians, and it has start- edfegain. This round’s con- fpstants are President Clin- and the House of resentatives, namely MTY m R R aker of the House, Dennis Hasten. Each pins other for who is at fault for the recent energy is. Prices at the pump have soared, and the pie are complaining. I lowever, Washington eaucrats — instead of fixing the problem — working hard to cover their rear ends. On March 31, the president’s authority to w from the government’s emergency oil re- e ended. The Senate has already passed h an extension to continue this presidential iiority, but the House has made no move to s the measure. I This action prompted Clinton to say that tigress has missed the mark by failing to tak- ig the crucial steps to augment the nation’s en- y supply in the face of rising prices for crude and gasoline. Clinton should stop wonying ut blaming Congress and work to find other ans of solving the problem. Many people have suggested that the United tes should work to negotiate with the Orga- ation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries [OPEC) to see if it will increase production of Iroleum. In March, OPEC agreed to increase the mpply, but the effects of this increase will not be felt for six to eight weeks. This an nouncement leaves some hope for consumers, but it is not enough. Hastert responded to Clinton’s accusations of Congressional blame by stating on CNN that the Clinton administration is at fault. According to Hastert, the administration has not properly dealt with U.S. allies such as Mexico and Kuwait properly to solve the problem without depending on OPEC. Since America has helped these countries, with actions such as the bailout of the Mexican economy, they should return the Both sides of the argument should stop this unnecessary bickering and work to solve the energy crisis. help. Hastert believes that the United States is being pushed around by OPEC nations. It seems that both sides are blaming someone else and not much is being accomplished. Yet, an article in The Australian Financial Report said the Clinton administration has used “ham-fisted diplomacy” in dealing with OPEC. The “ham-fisted diplomacy” includes calls placed by Bill Richardson, U.S. secretary of en ergy, during meetings of the OPEC ministers. Many of the ministers were insulted when Richardson interrupted their meeting. Many peo ple said these very public demands have made OPEC nations look like American puppets. MAIL CALL Republicans said that the United States should cut foreign aid and arms sales to OPEC countries in order to get OPEC to increase oil production. Even though OPEC has agreed to increase oil production, much of the public wants an immediate fix to the problem. Others say that these tactics are just giving those op posed to U.S. presence in the Middle East and Persian Gulf areas more reason to be anti- American. If bipartisan politics could occur during such times of crisis as this, something more could be accomplished. Waiting for OPEC nations to de cide if they are going to sell oil to the United States is not a way to practice politics. Both sides of the argument should stop this unneces sary bickering and work to solve the energy cri sis. If they cannot find an immediate solution for this crisis, they need to work on a plan for the next time this happens. OPEC has the majority of the petroleum market cornered, but the United States can find ways around the problem. Congress and the Clinton administration need to put aside their differences and solve the problem. The American public should not have to suffer while the leaders of their nation try to blame each other. The crisis will not disappear once they decide who is at fault. The prices at the pump will continue to rise as faith in the leaders will dwindle quickly in the minds of American citizens. Brieanne Porter is a freshman electrical engineering major (Made in Taiwan) Chinese involvement in Taiwanese independence calls for U.S. reaction s Loupot’s has the right to reclaim ubstation space {response to Rolando Gar y’s April 12 article. Does City Council member Dennis Maloney really think that it is considered a temper tantrum for a property owner to do as he wishes with his own property? ■ The Northgate Police Sub station has been occupying Prime commercial space rent free for nearly a year. If the own er of the building wants to evict Af fn j ;N 'j« e College Station Police from j his building that is his busi- *E It .ness. Since when is it the City \TEXASA&MUNI' : Council’s job to whine about how property owners manage their property? I walked by the Northgate Po lice substation yesterday, and it’s nothing more than an emp ty room with a large desk and a high-backed office chair. The station is open during the day, closes at 4 p.m., and re-opens for an hour from 7 - 8 p.m. The station is clearly a waste of space and manpower. Maloney said that “they don’t care about safety here, they don’t care about people throwing beer bottles or women getting assaulted, we just want our parking spaces." What kind of absurd state ment is that? I think Maloney is the one having the temper tantrum. Maybe he has forgot ten that in 1998 his City Coun cil passed an ordinance ban ning all glass containers from the Northgate area. How about putting the evict ed officers out on the streets? I think it would be rather diffi cult to fight street crime from behind a desk. Maloney argues that the 27 parking spaces make it difficult for emergency vehicles to ac cess the Northgate area. When have you ever seen an emer gency vehicle responding to an accident circle the block look ing for a place to parallel park? Maloney needs to stop ha rassing this property owner with his silly argument and start moving the Police out of that worthless sub-station. In a couple of weeks, I in tend to buy my books at Loupot’s Bookstore. Hopefully when that time comes, I’I a place to park. have Steven Gilbert Class of '01 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 accu racy. Letters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed McDonald with a valid stu dent 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 T he intimidating eyes of China and the fumbling hands of the United States have ensured that the Republic of Taiwan is not a true republic. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a re public as “a government in which supreme power is held by the citizens entitled to vote.” Tragically, this definition does not apply to the Republic of Taiwan Simply stated, China has always consid ered Taiwan “a renegade province,” and that there is only “one China.” Taiwan has never been allowed to fully spread its wings as an in dependent country. China’s call for reunifica tion has always been a monkey on Taiwan’s back. Accordingly, the Clinton administration in recent years has slowly siphoned American support from democratic Taiwan in favor of communist China. The Clinton administration must stop walk ing this diplomatic tightrope. Surely it can see the potential hypocrisy of its actions — Uncle Sam turning his back on the American values of democratic government and self-determina tion in favor of economic gain in an oppressive communist country. It is the epitome of “sell ing one’s soul” for self-gratification. The time for choosing loyalties is now — the United States must clearly state whose side it is on. By not doing so, the Unites States is merely prolonging this agonizing standoff rather than bringing it to an amicable conclusion. As reported by CNN, U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke reiterated the American government’s support of the “one China” poli cy during a state visit to China last month. For Taiwan, this statement raises a seri ous question: Whose side is the American government really on? It has had a history of being pro-Taiwan — to the point where pre vious American presidents have not hesitat ed to send aircraft carrier groups near the Taiwan Strait in order to diffuse Chinese threats. In addition, there is currently legis lation in Congress that calls for deepening the military partnerships between Taiwan and the United States. ALCOHOL AND DRlT EDUCATION PROGRAM http://stulife.tamu.cdu/i“|y However, the balance of support has been slowly creeping in the other direction as Chi na has become more and more “Western friendly” — in particular, its encouragement of foreign investment. Recognizing an un tapped economic gold mine, the Clinton ad ministration has become one of China’s biggest advocates for entrance into the World Trade Organization. Being ^China’s advocate comes at a heavy price — it requires American recognition of China’s claim to Taiwan while placing Ameri can support for Taiwan’s independence in lim bo. Essentially, the Clinton administration has become “two-faced.” China’s claim to Taiwan stems from the Chinese civil war of 1949 where the Chinese Nationalist Party — the losing side — fled the communist-controlled mainland and reestab lished itself offshore in Taiwan. After 40 years of martial law, Taiwan es tablished a parliamentary government with the endorsement of the United States — the first open presidential elections were held in the past decade. Along the same lines, Taiwan has managed to assemble and maintain one of the most robust economies in the world — rough ly based on that of the United States. During the island’s presidential elections last month, the issue of whether or not to move toward formal independence from China was at the forefront, with the topic of American loyalty not far behind. By electing Chen Shui-Bian of the pro-in- dependence Democratic Progressive Party, the Taiwanese people have sent an irrefutable sig nal that they no longer care to be held hostage by the mainland. “There is no point trying to drag out nego tiations with a hungry China. I hope Taiwan becomes independent in the future,” said Chen-Su-Lian, 24. Hopefully, the Clinton administration will consider this signal carefully. By ignoring it, the administration risks hypocrisy. By embrac ing it, it risks destroying hard-earned econom ic interests in China. It is a difficult choice: to live by one’s principles or to live by one’s pocketbook. David Lee is a junior economics and journalism major.