TuesdaiJj
OPINI
uesday, April 18,2000
Taxation with reflec
High gas prices present consumers opportunity to
ethink values, realize the finite nature of fuel
t is easy to tell that it is
election time — the
ords “tax cut” ring
High the air like church
11s on Easter. Naturally, this
sfeet music to everyone’s
everybody likes a tax
lut. 1 lowever, the most recent
irclosal is a foolhardy tax
jutlfthe federal gasoline
his should be filed under the title of “The
bt Ideas Anyone Ever Had.”
hen the price of gasoline began to climb in
nited States, consumers, as always, began
whine. The noise woke someone in Washing-
nup from their coma long enough to propose
Surprise! — the government should fix it.
patric schneider i >iiie this was one of the rare times when the
i learned to fly as a U.S, ;olemment did not hold all the cards, options
r course. ■'fixing it” were limited to either lowering or
ilimmating the gas tax.
Proponents of lowering the tax said it will
raise the tax. And not a little bit. It would not be
extravagant to tax gasoline enough to double its
present price. If a gallon of gas were to cost
three dollars (as it does in some countries), peo
ple would have to think twice before making ex
tra trips, buying gas-guzzling monstrosities or
unnecessarily commuting long distances.
The real benefit, however, of drastically in
creasing the gas tax is the revenue that would
be generated. This revenue could be earmarked
for research and development of renewable
As long as the country
consumes vast
amounts of petroleum,
it will be at
the mercy of
oil-producing nations.
■dit the economy to relieve the consumer,
loyever, it is difficult to believe that such a little
I I ClTlbitpl tax relief would fuel much of anything. And
w JJ.V4p^jJ on g^ errri cos t s could be devastating indeed.
. ■The problem is not that the government will
io even after several op:t,l,, , u . r . „ . °
puid to a halt if it stops getting the 18 cents on
I Itcnmn and rclaliwo: **“" sold ; Thc P roblem is that n0 one is
lian \ ictims have filed c •9 ol ' ll ^ at the real problem. As long as gasoline is
mist the World Maccabi Wpensive, consumers will use it freely. Unfor-
thc engineer and contn ‘tiriately, petroleum is a resource that has a limit.
. of Kaniat (ian, the Yarl 3ne day, there will be no more. Period,
thority, the state of Israel ac;BThe solution may be to do the unthinkable —
The president of Australia's'®
anization, Tom Danes, ifl
fuel resources and the kinds of transportation
that use them. While some of this work is being
done presently, the current solutions are too
costly for the public, particularly personal
transportation that is not gasoline dependent.
The point is not that someone should build a
car that does not use gas — it is that this car
needs to be practical. That means affordable by
ordinary people. It needs to go more than 100
miles before needing to be recharged and be
something that consumers would actually want
Page 13
to drive. It also means that automakers may have
to be enticed into manufacturing and marketing
this car.
Further benefits of drastically increasing the
price of gas would be improved health resulting
from cleaner air. Less traffic will also mean a de
crease in the noise pollution in cities, which in turn
could reverse the current trend of people moving
further and further away from work to live some
place quiet.
The cost of fuel has been kept artificially low in
this country for years, resulting in ever increasing
pollution, consumption and, when it comes to non
renewable resources, the false sense that “the road
goes on forever and the party never ends.” One
need only look as far as Mexico City to discover
the logical consequences of this attitude. The traffic
problems there are horrendous. Car owners may
only drive every other day, and the air pollution
may be the worst in the world. For them, at least,
the party seems to be winding down.
The other alternative would be to do nothing,
carry on business as usual, eliminating the tax or
lowering it. That way, when oil reserves begin to
run out, oil will become naturally expensive.
Everyone can walk while someone figures out an
other form of inexpensive, fast and convenient
transportation. This procedure has a name. It is
called re-inventing the wheel. Sensible people try
to avoid it whenever possible.
As long as the country consumes vast amounts
of petroleum, it will be at the mercy of oil-produc
ing nations. When they'decide it is time for the
United States to pony up, the consumer will pony
up. Eliminating the tax entirely will not guarantee
that an equal price hike will come from the supplier
the next day.
The time has long passed to begin weaning the
country from its petroleum habit. The crossover
from petroleum-based transportation to cleaner, re
newable resource based cars ought to be in full
swing. Realizing that this is not happening and fail
ing to correct the problem approaches criminal
negligence. Procrastination is a dog that bites.
ROBERT HYNECEK/The BATTALION
/f/7« Hart is a senior English major.
ed Israeli lawmakerslolid
replenishment of an aid
10,000 that Israel had setr!
\ ictims pay medical and tel
rt heard more than
r 50 sessions.
Is creationism in text books OK?
in Oklahoma
r;
i he criminal trial beganL # #
Unbiased education debated
an deliberating six month.
Rape defense perverts justice
Ags
he Okla
homa
House of
Representatives
fas made a move
■fiange the
y science
ksread. An
■ B ■endment to a
Hposed bill
and the
this year's
\gs made
? than
$ 2500
Sank.
It-
pr
icnsors:
nts
fill ensure that books approved by
(State Textbook Committee must
tnowledge that “human life was
ited by one God of the universe.”
ie bill originally required that the
book committee contain two ele-
ntary and two secondary level
hers. However, the bill
frogged its way into chang-
the way science is taught in
ahoma public schools. Un-
Ithe guise of doing what is
lest, some members of the
Ibiisc of Representatives
Mtrying to take the funda-
(jital basis of modern day
fnce and manipulate it to
efr own personal beliefs.
(Some members of the Ok-
ma House are attempting
ke away the right of school
Idren to get an unbiased educa-
i. They are allowing the commit-
|to not only add creationism into
)ol but state it as fact. By putting
itionism alone into textbooks with-
also the theory of evolution, the
dren do not have the opportunity to
e a decision on their own. When
ie [committee is allowed to stomp on
ts and state that creationism is fact,
Idren will be taught a biased theory
I will be hindered in their education,
ny classes, tests and accepted
ghts in the science community are
led on evolution.
Many critics argue that science ed
ucation is already biased, by not
teaching creationism. This may seem
true, but the fact is that Darwin’s evo
lution is the accepted theory in the sci
ence community, and many Ameri
cans agree that teaching this theory is
necessary. By allowing textbooks to
say creationism is correction, the
House is looking to hurt children’s
science education in the future.
Furthermore, the bill also allows the
committee to put a “one page summary,
GABRIEL RUENES/The Battalion
opinion or disclaimer” into any book
that is authorized for use in the schools.
According to this bill and its amend
ments, the committee has the power not
only to say creationism is fact, but any
thing else they feel is necessary. This
opens a Pandora’s box of ideas that can
be stated on tire page as fact for school-
children. Whether the representatives
understand it or not, they have given an
undo amount of power to the commit
tee members. If this bill is approved,
anything that is slightly controversial
that was previously taught can be de
nied at the beginning of the book. It is a
fact that most first impressions are the
lasting ones. The opposing opinions
will confuse children who tend to be
lieve whatever textbooks say.
The ability to put disclaimers and
opinions into textbooks is the first step
toward a totalitarian government where
school children learn only what the
government believes is right. If some
thing in the textbooks shows the gov
ernment in an unfavorable light, the
committee might put in a dis
claimer that certain parts of the
book critical of the government
are not right. Ideas that some
people are now starting to
promote as fiction, such as
the Holocaust, could be sin
gled out as wrong if the com
mittee is inclined to do so.
This kind of power
should not be put into the
hands of a few. The unbiased
education in country will slow
ly be whittled away if bills like
this one pass. Future generations
of schoolchildren will be handi
capped if the State Textbook Commit
tee is allowed to say whatever they
believe is right in the school’s text
books. A biased government need not
interfere with the education process.
All theories need to have the chance
to be taught and learned. Then the
children will be able to make a deci
sion based on knowledge of the sub
ject and not what a few people think.
I t seems some men really do think
with it. Will Wright, a 42-year-old
from Midfield, Ala., has been
charged with raping and sodomizing his
live-in girlfriend’s 19-year-old daughter.
Wright’s lawyer, Charles Salvagio, is
claiming Wright is innocent due to men
tal defect, also known as the insanity
plea. Wright’s mental defect supposedly
stems from his use of Viagra, the popular
pill that helps men afflicted with Erectile Disorder (ED). Sal
vagio is wrong — his client is not mentally defective, but his
abuse of the insanity plea is.
Salvagio’s argument performs poorly because it complete
ly ignores how Viagra works. Viagra can only enhance a pre
viously existing, but failing, attempt at erection. Viagra can
not make an already healthy man get more out of an intimate
encounter with his mate of choice. Those with ED typically
have a deficiency of a chemical
called cGMP that increases blood
flow to Mr. Happy. Viagra simply in
creases the effectiveness of the little
cGMP they have. In other words, Vi
agra does not make anyone more or
less likely to engage in mad, passion
ate sex — it just helps those for
whom the spirit is willing, but the
flesh is weak.
Salvagio claims that Wright, who
pled guilty to sexual assault in 1984,
Salvagio's argument
performs poorly
because it completely
ignores how
Viagra works.
Even if Viagra did somehow affect Wright’s brain, causing
a known sex-offender to suddenly lust after the teenager he
lived with, he is still liable. If Wright knew that the only thing
keeping him from making advances on his girlfriend’s daugh
ter was his inability to get his funk on, perhaps a little fore
thought should have stopped him from getting the prescrip
tion. Heaven forbid a lack of morality or common sense so
easy to blame, what with Viagra and the company that made it
to blame. Not to stereotype rapists as amoral, but Salvagio’s
argument seems to ignore the fact that Wright may have got
ten the Viagra expressly for the purpose of committing anoth
er sexual assault. He certainly should not have expected the
prescribing doctor to root through court records for a 15-year-
old conviction.
Even worse, Viagra only has an active lifespan of one to
four hours per dose. Wright could only have had assisted sex
within four hours of taking the pill. If he had taken the pill
specifically to have sex with his girl
friend’s daughter against her will, it is
clearly rape.
If having sex with his girlfriend
was not enough and he raped her
daughter on the tail end of that four-
hour span, Wright is still a danger to
society. Either way, he took the pill
when he should not have, or he was so
sexually insatiable that having sex
with his girlfriend did not satisfy his
lust for her daughter. Whatever the
should have been denied a prescription for Viagra. But his ar
gument just does not measure up. First, there is no possible
way that Viagra caused Wright to rape anyone. Second, even
if Viagra did alter Wright’s mental state, he is guilty of not
disclosing his “urges” to the doctor. Finally, Wright’s argu
ments do not even meet an insanity plea’s burden of proof.
Wright did not suddenly become a crazed sex-fiend be
cause of Viagra. Viagra’s side-effects do not include the de
sire to engage in whipped-cream, leather monkey sex. Both
the negative and positive effects of Viagra have been ex
haustively cataloged. They include some increased bodily
stiffness, nausea, diarrhea and color distortion in the blue-
green part of the spectrum. Nowhere is “patient becomes a
sexual predator” listed, nor has it been recognized in any of
the Food and Drug Administration tests. This is simply be
cause it isn’t a side effect.
reason, it was not the Viagra, kiddbs.
Finally, Wright’s claims do not meet the burden of proof
for an insanity defense. Under the law, if the defendant’s ac
tions were reasonable in the context of his “delusion,” then he
is not guilty by reason of mental defect. Under what delusion
could Wright have been operating which would have made
forcing himself on a girl half his age acceptable?
The argument is not so much absurd as pathetic. Unsatis
fied with conventional law (or morality), Wright and his
lawyer are stretching the insanity defense beyond the inten
tions of its originators. Rather than devoting so much time and
energy to a defense whose stupidity boggles the mind, per
haps Wright should focus on finding a way to keep his libido
for youngsters down.
Chris Huffines is a senior speech communication major.
Brieanne Porter is a freshman
electrical engineering major.
MAIL CALL
!
I
Minorities involvement with
Parents’ Weekend lacking
I would like to express my disappointment and
concern in regard to the minority turn-out at Parents’
Weekend. I am myself an African-American student at
Texas A&M and my mother visited for Parents’ Week
end and consistently remarked how much she en
joyed herself.
We attended the Aggie Mom’s boutique, the Par-
tents’ Weekend Barbeque and she even became a new
member of the Aggie Mom’s Club in our community.
However, during these events I could count on my
fingers how many minority parents and students at
tended. There seems to be a misconception of minori
ty students that our parents would not enjoy the
events provided or be interested in student-oriented
activities here.
We should not deprive our parents of experiencing and
expressing their pride to be Aggie parents based solely on
our opinions. I do believe there could be more variety of
programs for our parents, but I do not see minority associ
ations arranging such an array of programs.
Overall, I do feel Parents’ Weekend catered to
what is really important, which is a parent’s being
proud of their Aggie son’s and daughter’s involve
ment in their lives.
Shawna Howell
Class of ’01
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