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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2000)
Page 5 Thursday, June 15,il earts iy, June 15, 2(XX) D) THE BATTALION Vice President A1 Gore has been Died quite a few things. The MARK PASSWATERS n went home and spent . He mailed it on a Wedm ■ phone rang. It was Lula. >w he was still alive," she Ik about. Johnston, whom ; World War II, surviveip^ the , astfew ^ . that sank his ship off Han, er received a master's v at l niversitv of Califotni™.. , ; . , , , Blights include descriptions such lev and taught secondarykB r,„ „. . , . . „ | | di nd, insomniac s best mend, incidentally, his four ehajf" ^ "criminal." Now comes near Marschat. She jost damning of all: Texas basher. ae a teacher and had three# at ' sn 8 ht ' folks: C - 3P0 ' S lon g- lost with her husband, a sc ithcrhas vidated the ILth Com- intendent Bment (at the very worst, Commandment 11-B): ter the phone converse f> u Shalt Not Mess With Texas. Apparently, Gore 2000 ton booked a flight immedi; inotgetthe message, and he has sinned, doorstep, she expected to jM )re an d his staff, crowed the Washington Post, have nstead, he opened his arms, de Texas out to be "backwater, a Third World state — Appalachia of the Southwest." Pretty gutsy statement, proposed at the dinner t isklering that Gore is from Appalachia itself. Or maybe leaned over and kissed her atsv" isn't the right word. Maybe "stupid" is. ," she said, blushing. 'fexas is No. 1 in the nation for people who have no Saturday More than 200pe & insurance at all. No. 2 out of the 50 states with it a Woodburn church, uitlM ure( j children," Gore said. He points to Texas' rank- i the groom u earing nar : ^ scores at 46th out of 50, and mentions that aethearts, he said. Wes! ^is "the most polluted state in the Union." Of course, cl these problems are the fault of Texas Gov. George p.ish, his Republican opponent. ere are just a few problems with Gore's statistics: (\ tfih inspection shows that they don't quite work the 1 J vdl'T^ore wants them to. In fact. Bush's campaign quick- ■ ffine out with rebuttals, nipping most of Gore's whin- ult with a deadly weapon gin the bud. The Bush campaign noted, among other triggered by a dispute v ngs, that 423,000 more children in Texas have insur- ler neighbor who compla ce now than in 1994, that Texas'per capita income has .it shots* being fired at ItaB up $2,500 over the past four years, and that Texas ie on July 4, b M /. jds the nation in reducing toxins released into the envi- lovvse u as 'sentenced to. an n p erC ent drop in air emissions. The s probation and or d l! " | S h campaign was also quick to point out that Gore's 1 '8° ,in }W 1 mnnagi nu itistics included illegal aliens. Since aliens often hold perlorm community service. 1 , . , , r o. J , Blow-wage obs and are not eligible for many of the n January, Howse was charoa „ . ...... . . mces Gore mentioned, their inclusion can create some i weapons violations, makinjB yrist threat and resistinganit| e ‘ u ’ n h stallsllLS ' during an incident at a relaWT| G° re would like to know how most citizens in the ie in South Los Angeles, dis: r Jf e °f Texas are doing under Bush's governance, he need rney's office spokesperson San® n0 further than the city of Round Rock. A suburb of oons said. listin, Round Rock was a sleepy town of 22,000 when aorge W. Bush took office. Round Rock was a one-horse iwn — with the horse on life support — when Bush took See, but it has become a boom town five years later. It is to computer giant Dell and has seen its economy ex- by 340 percent since 1994. Round Rock was one of Vice president’s derogatory comments incorrect, based on misleading statistics the top three fastest growing cities in the country in 1997 and 1998 and now has a population of over 50,000. Round Rock, like an overwhelming majority of the state of Texas, has benefited from Bush's administration. In any case, Gore has violated "the fighting words" doctrine, and no Texan can let that pass. If Gore is so inter ested in comparisons, perhaps he would be interested in comparing Texas and his home state of Tennessee. Consid eration was also given to comparing Texas to a suite in the Adams-Morgan hotel in Washington, D.C. — Gore's offi cial residence from 1978-1992 — but that just would not have been fair. In terms of landscape, Texas has the beauty of the Red River valley, the hills of central Texas and the desert of the far west. Tennessee was where they filmed Deliverance. Texas has more Rhodes Scholars than any other state in the Union. Tennessee was great inspiration for Jeff Foxworthy's redneck jokes. Texas does have more pollution than Tennessee, which is to be ex pected since Texas has the 11th largest economy in the world; Ten nessee has an ongoing dispute with Kentucky over who has more moonshine stills. The citizens of the state of Texas are not eagerly awaiting the return of an overweight rock star who died 22 years ago. This could be true be cause none of the members of ZZ Top have died, and the citizens can be sure that Billy Gibbon's daughter would not marry Michael Jackson. In Texas, citizens say "sir" and "ma'am." In Tennessee, folks say "boy." To both genders. Texas is home of the Alamo and Goliad. Tennessee is home to the Bristol Motor Speedway. In Texas, people name their chil dren after famous war heroes. In Tennessee, they name their children after famous NASCAR drivers. Texas is the home of the Daugh ters of the Texas Revolution. Ten nessee is the home of the Ku Klux Klan. While driving on Texas roads, drivers can see bluebon nets, wildflowers and various species of birds flying over head. In Tennessee, drivers can see lots of trees, roadkill and more banners with numbers on them hanging off cars since the Soviet Union last had a May Day parade. According to these "statistics," comparing Texas to Ten nessee is like comparing deacons to drunks, royalty to re jects, or the pure and virtuous to trailer trash. Of course, these "statistics" are also biased and slanted, and they ne glect items that would prove them to be false. Fortunately, these comparisons are made in jest; A1 Gore's, however, were not. Such untrue attacks are unacceptable. If Gore wants to be president of the United States, he should show the nation that he has a firm grasp of the issues, not the ability to mislead. He has eight years of experience with that. Gore should be out telling the nation how he can im prove America's way of life, not lying to "show" how his opponent would destroy things. In any case, he would be well served to lay off Texas. Texans don't take very kindly to such things. Gore should remember that the most famous citizen of Tennessee, Davy Crockett, died at the Alamo — because he wanted to be a Texan. Mark Passwaters is a senior electrical engineering major. et prescriptions bad medicines OPEN HOUSE! TEXAS MM ay 29th-June 2nd June 5th A 9th June 19th-23rd June 26th-28th July 10th-14th July 17th-21st August 21st-23rd NN (Brazos Center) June 14th &. 21st July 19th August 2nd & 9th oltaire said, “A lysician is |who pours s of which ows little a body of ich he s less.” Voltaire illustrated a that has always been faced jatients: Society dependence a single human being with a owledge of medicine. Physicians are trusted, admired 1 adored. They are experts in dicine — the ily people who tually have pro- isional knowl- ge about 1th, humanity the human 1. Doctors : their train- I with the ! !rld for what fy believe to be 'ah price. They offer dance, health formation and Ascription ijs and are trendy looking make their as kance more interaction, the patient knows nothing of the doctor’s creden tials, and the doctor knows noth ing of the patient’s real symptoms or medical history. Now, while chatting with possible stalkers, people can fill out brief question naires and, with a click of the mouse, order prescription drugs. Proponents argue that this new way of writing prescriptions is con venient, saying it promotes better self-care and can be done in the pri vacy of the home to prevent embar rassment. But the potential certain for negative effects exists. For ex- N (Townshire Campus) !li ! ill>le Anum T axL LOt doctors June 8th July 13th 4 27th flPIIIIIMIHh Equal Housing Opportunity w.melrosexofr«he 8 Sf„ y W want to share da medical knowledge by diag- siig patients and writing pre- 'iptions via the Internet. As Voltaire suggests, doctors, !>ecially in today’s Internet age, ml be overrated. They are hu- mSbeings who make mistakes e everyone else. And now they ! try ing to diagnose conditions d lure diseases by way of mo- m|h is a heroic gesture but po- limiting a Internet JEFF SMITH/Tm; Battalion ample, Web surfers may not tell the whole truth, trying to manipulate the doctor into prescribing what they think they need. Even worse, a child could find one of these sites and order a harmful prescription. Prescriptions on the Internet are based solely on a brief ques tionnaire about medical history. Patients can easily manipulate their answers to qualify for pre scriptions that might be unneces sary or even dangerous. Anyone who has been on the Web knows how easy it is to falsify personal information. Through the magic of the Internet, boys become men, girls become women and 12-year- olds obtain Viagra. Granted, doctors do not know everything about their patients even during a regular office visit. But without the face-to-face evalu ation, there is almost no chance of learning about a particular person or his or her symptoms. How can a doctor see subtle signs of sickness in cyberspace? This creates a po tentially dangerous situation where the local hypochondriac can sit in front of a computer, surf more than 25,000 health sites and end up with a prescription for sickness or even death. Selling prescription drugs over the Internet is neither rea sonable nor safe. The United States Food and Drug Adminis tration currently has no direct way to regulate the quality and safety of substances sold in vir tual drugstores. To combat cor rupt doctors and prescription mistakes, the federal govern ment has proposed forms of governmental control over In ternet pharmacies and partici pating physicians. But the bit tersweet appeal of the Internet relies on freedom from govern mental regulation. As Voltaire said, doctors al ready prescribe drugs to patients without adequate knowledge of their patients. Doctors prescribing medicine over the Internet will know even less about the patient’s symptoms and medical history. This is the price paid for conve nience. If this new era of Internet prescriptions and diagnoses con tinues society will eventually re ceive a thste of its own medicine. Cayla Carr is a junior speech communication major. JEFF SMITH/1 in: Battalion Poor funding haunts black schools A s it stands now, the ranking of Texas universities is a higher-edu cation equivalent of society's haves and have-nots. Unfortunately, the state's historically black colleges and uni versities (HBCUs) fall into the latter cate gory. Every year, schools like Texas South ern University (TSU) and Prairie View A&M miss out on many promising high school graduates who choose to attend more prominent and higher-ranking universities. In Texas, schools like Texas A&M and the University of Texas-Austin (UT) set the academic bar for schools such as Stephen F. Austin State University and Sam Houston State University, as well historically black schools like TSU and Prairie View. However, Texas' HBCUs face unique problems in reaching world-class university status and must take additional steps to compete with schools like A&M and UT for top students. Not only qre schools like TSU and Prairie View historically black, but they are historically under-funded. One need only remember the image of the fatal accident in volving the worn and cramped van of Prairie View men's track team last February to see that the school needs increased funds. HBCUs must overcome years of poor funding to reach their goals of becoming fully recognized legitimate institutions of higher learning. To combat this financial liability, the state gov ernment needs to pick up the slack and undertake an aggressive funding campaign. Recently, Texas Gov. George W. Bush has made a promise to improve funding for TSU and Prairie View. Bush said his pro posed funding increase would improve, amongst other things. Prairie View's juvenile justice, engineering and nursing schools as well as the overall scholastic programs and campus appearances of Prairie View and TSU. One can only hope that Bush's words are more than just that. All too often, politicians make promises on the campaign trail that are never realized af ter election day. Bush is also pushing for other financial issues such as tax law reform and direct emergency relief payments for America's farmers, but of all his campaign platforms, in creased funding for Prairie View and TSU is the most critical. While TSU may have to rely heavily on state money, Prairie View has the advantage of being a member of the Texas A&M University System. As part of the System, Prairie View gets a small cut of the state's Permanent University Fund (PUF), a revenue pool generated from state-owned land and mineral re sources. The PUF is split between the A&M and UT systems, with most of A&M's share going to the College Station cam pus. For Prairie View to grow, it needs increased financial as sistance — and the PUF is a relatively direct way for that in crease to take place. Thanks to a state constitutional amendment passed last November, more than $75 million was added to the PUF. Once divvied up, this $75 million does not amount to as much as it sounds, but the Texas A&M University System still should divert a disproportionate amount of the new revenue to Prairie View. Like other smaller schools. Prairie View does not have the large athletic programs that are the cash cows of schools like A&M and UT. However, Prairie View does have an as sociation with a 43,000 student university with a top-ranked athletic department. When doling out PUF money, the Sys tem needs to look with a more favorable fiscal eye on the Prairie View campus. For TSU and Prairie View to compete at the same level as schools like A&M and UT, more financial resources need to be earmarked for Texas' HBCUs. Texas state legislature and, in Prairie View's case, the Texas A&M University System, should recognize HBCUs' under-funded history and take steps to cor rect it. With the financial assistance of the state and a commit ment to future growth, Texas' historically black universities can reach academic goals previously met only by the likes of A&M and UT. Alcohol rules defeat purpose of college In response to Joseph Pleasant’s June 14 article. Texas A&M administration obvious ly does not understand that, while stu dents come to A&M to obtain an un dergraduate degree, they also come to learn responsibility. A&M’s rule that par ents be told when their student has been caught illegally drinking as well as their proposed rule that would ban al cohol for students of legal age in the dorms treats students like children. College is a time when people are supposed to grow and become capa- Mail Call ble of making their own decisions. In forming parents of their students in fractions is like we, as students, are all still in high school. We cannot be ex pected to learn responsibility in life, let alone drinking habits. A&M’s new proposal to ban legal drink ing in dorms is equally ridiculous. It is based on the statistically unsupported idea that by allowing students of legal age to drink it makes it easier for students of non-legal age to do so. This is like ban ning undesirable sites on the Internet or TV violence because children might see it. Just because some do, does not mean it should be banned or that they, espe cially older children and college students, are adversely effected by it. The University must allow us to make Eric Dickens is a senior English major. our own decisions. And if we make in correct decisions, let us take the re sponsibility for them. Terrell Rabb Class of ‘02 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 per son at 014 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: nu Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mall: battletters@hotmail.com
