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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2000)
Tluirsday, July 20,2(M ews in Brief j|-Jabbar >ted Tuesdaj ANGELES (AP) - all great Kareem Abdul- was arrested Tuesday i suspicion of driving ie influence of marijua- e said. former Los Angeles ,tar was arrested about ifter the car he was dit s pulled over at a San o Valley intersection 0 miles northwest of n. as booked and released >wn recognizance, said ipokesperson Eduardo jrsday.July 20. 2000 THE BATTALION Page 5 Rage in ? AA and airline the skies companies need to ake a stronger stance against air rage ontinued from Page! ie explosion of toys that is home, before rushing e vet school for necropsy, ng his necropsy rotation returns home to eat dim wife and children, said these few’ hours are me. t dinner and I walk in the vith my wife," Chapman re too long, though, I have k up to the vet school to part-time jobs and study st 1 a.m. g focused on the end nming a veterinarian, and » my time between work I and family has been the King for me," Chapman ink my particular circunv id added responsibilities et school experience much n the average vet school or many Aggies, summer break is a time to take to the skies in search of fun and relaxation in ew locale. But, this summer, flights yhave a different ambience than [previous years. "Air rage," which hen a passenger is verbally or ysically abusive toward other pas- gers or the aircrew, is on the rise, iving passengers and aircrews fearing for their safety. On July 5, a passenger allegedly threw a beer can at attendant and later broke into the cockpit and the pilot on the arm. This disruption caused the pilot return the plane to Anchorage, Alaska, where the me departed. On July 7, flight attendants' and ground iws' unions called for a "day of action" against air ge. Union members rallied for an international agree- enton the prosecution of air rage offenders. They also anted airport and airline authorities to provide air- ews with training on how to handle air rage situations kd to introduce security policies aimed at air rage. Air is a growing problem that needs universal policies id enforced punishments. One factor leading to cases of air rage is the delay of ights. Many people are forced to wait in airports or on anes, but most people do not react by attacking the ight crews. Some passengers today blame the aircrews rdelays, which the staff have no way of controlling, id take out their frustrations on the flight attendants, ccording to the International Transportation Workers' fourth year, Chapman y eration, a union that includes airplane crew work- both small and large ani- ei . yjg flight crews have reported a substantial in- said he sees himself prac- | ease j n incidents of air rage in the last two years. In l u 7, only 66 incidents were reported, compared with running is own prMtice. I t j ian ^qq j n 1999 Likewise, according to San Fran- honal reporting by IP Beatc. I . , , „ , , L , Isco airport spokesperson Ron Wilson, his city alone as seen 111 air rage incidents in the past 18 months, though the perpetrators of these incidents are few out of the total number of daily flights, it shows the beginning of a startling trend. Crews are not the only people negatively affected by air rage. By lashing out, angry pas sengers endanger the lives of everyone on the plane. If there were stricter punishments for these outbursts, such as larger fines and longer jail sentences, and these punishments were printed on plane tickets, the welfare of passen gers and crew would be less threatened. Currently, the Federal Aviation Administra tion (FAA) fines people $1,100 for assaulting crew members. All things considered, this amount is not enough compared with the po tential damage that could be caused. When a passenger attacks any member of the crew, the balance of work is disturbed and can have dire consequences. Crew members have specific tasks, especially during an emergency, and if they cannot perform their duties, everyone's safety is jeopardized. The FAA is considering increasing the fine for assaulting a crew member to $25,000. Hope fully, a much larger fine will make many of fenders think twice before assaulting a flight at tendant for serving the wrong drink. The FAA is also proposing an increase in the fine for dis rupting a flight to the degree of causing such a disturbance that the flight is forced to return to where it took off from. The FAA wants to in crease the fine to $250,000 and introduce the possibility of a 20-year prison sentence for such a disturbance. These stricter punishments will prevent many incidents and they will also protect the passengers and crew. Another proposed step in preventing air rage is putting a description of these crimes and their punish ments on passengers' tickets. Passengers will be fore warned that this kind of behavior is not acceptable. By issuing a ticket notice, the airlines and their employees will be able to take charge of a situation with the knowl edge that the offenders had proper notice of punish ments. The descriptions of these kinds will not allow for ignorance of the law and help protect airlines against potential lawsuits. While society should address the issue of violence and acceptable behavior, the government and airline companies need to take the initiative to prevent and prosecute these crimes. The airlines could take an even more aggressive stance and ban violators from flying with them in the future. This action may seem harsh, but when these offenders are risking the lives of so 'many people, airlines must take an aggressive stance. It is better to lose these offenders' business than to liave to explain the deaths of passengers because of air rage. Brieanne Porter is a sophomore chemical engineering major. New logos not traditional JP BEATO/Thk Battauiw ipman, fourth-year vet a Iks to his next rotation. ontinued from Page 1 •iginal discussion was an n to the project, not a call on. He said the plan con- construction of a 32,000- : structure. The courtroom enlarged, and additional vork space will be provid- ■ judge. The number of »r clerks to aid the public ble from three to six, and e feet would be dedicated inistration. e going to present our igain when the budget :onvene, and if the plan ''ed, construction will etime in late September October," Cryan said. / the new building will ted in the fall of 2001." Station residents, like inneman, a junior jour- jor, have found that the ys are inconvenient and ir cases. mmer, I had to drive back Station to take care of a I had gotten months hurineman said. "By the retrial date came around, me had passed after'the was unable to remember 1 that I wished to." ontinued from Page l lamp is free, and Turner r dents are encouraged to dnkous, a junior nutritioO 1 Aggie Camp is a good to Fish Camp, that it is good to do that ts who do not want 1° imount of time it takes t° lamp," Linkous said. T exas A&M students are hesitant to embrace the Athletic Department's re vamped logos. While to some, the new icons may seem a petty change, many students are dis turbed by the Athletic Depart ment's disregard f6r student in put. Texas A&M, Nike and Athletic Director Wally Groff tinkered with the sim plicity of A&M's logos.The block lettering "A&M" and "ATM" logos that are required to be on all athletic uniforms are now standard- ized. Also, a set of new logos based on old A&M images will be used as secondary ensignias run ning alongside the main block ATM logo. Groff has been i telling to adopt this plan for sev eral years. Since no one voiced any problems with the traditional maroon- and-white emblems, and no student body groups were pushing for new logos, it seemed Groff would have to change them on liis own. Obvi ously, concern for the student aody was not at the heart of the ledsion. The logo revamping not only breaks tradition, but was completely unnecessary. Although Texas A&M is home to one of the wealthiest athletic departments in the na tion, greed appears to be the mo tive behind new logo alteration. Created to distinguish athletic earns from each other, the new lo gos will nonetheless appear on all types of apparel available at stores verywhere. Nike and the athletic department know that changing a team's logo and releasing mer- handise with the new logo will drive sales. The Athletic Depart ment hopes to start a fad, and in turn, make a few bucks off Aggie fans. Prestigious and popular, Nike is ranked as one of he top sporting goods companies in the world. The A&M Athletic Department has one year remaining n its multiple-year association with Nike. During he association, the international corporation has continued to tinker with A&M uniforms, looking for ways to profit from A&M students and fans, several years ago, Nike made changes to football uniforms for no apparent reason, changing the jer sey collars to a strange camouflage of maroon and white. Copies of the new uniform went on sale shortly thereafter, making the old ones unpopular. The recent logo change seems to be another step in a profit-oriented pattern. Intended to be about ath letes, the decision to create the logos will do noth ing for the entire student body — it was a waste of time and energy. Texas A&M is known for its spirit of tradition. Peo ple worldwide associate Aggieland with its allegiance to maintaining its roots. The recent logo changes make a mockery of A&M's traditional logos. The fancy new logos will supposedly modernize A&M, but si multaneously cheapen the time-honored practices of Aggie life. One new logo mimics the New York Yankees' style of overlapping letters. The de sign is not only unoriginal, but it appears to represent another team. The logo changes are not only un necessary/but in some cases, the logos no longer accurately rep resent A&M. Nike's apathy toward A&M tra- k dition is obvious j in some of the new images. OF Sarge has been disembod ied, photographs of E. King Gill and Reveille have be come mere line drawings and the bon fire symbol is outdated. Since future bonfires will not be built in the tradi tional wedding-cake design depicted in the new Nike logo, the logo does not correctly represent A&M. The revised markings lessen the value of Aggie tradition. The logo revamping is not only a comical and a blatant ex cuse to make money, the Athlet ic Department is trying to mask the decision by claiming it will im prove athletics. But teams are not re quired to feature any of the secondary logos, showing that the new policy is not targeted at athletes and teams, but rather aimed producing new merchandise to get into fans' and students' wallets. The logo revamping is not a major crisis; howev er, the principle underlying the issue is worthy of criticism. A bit of tradition has been taken away in order to provide more revenue for the Athletic De partment. The decision was a total waste of time. There is no point in fixing something that was not broken in the first place. Amber Rasco is junior journalism major. Morality issues behind prostitution ignore concerns of public safety A mericans love to pay lip service to the concepts of American liberty and rugged individual ism, but when it comes to their actual practice, many of those same Ameri cans seem somewhat more reticent. Not one state lias been successful in its attempt to truly legalize euthanasia. Sure, Oregon passed a ballot measure, but as long as there are judges willing to hold their state hostage for their own political ends, such voter-decrees carry little weight. And when it comes to the personal choice to gamble or use mind- altering drugs, the country still seems to be thinking with its Bible instead of its brains. Though feminism and women's riglits receive equal theoretical consid eration, once again, society seems more comfortable sitting around intellectu- alizing than attempting to realize such goals. And although it may seem far re moved from any discussion of women's liberation, the legalization of prostitution has to be considered in such lofty light. After all, what is the debate over prostitution about, if not about women's rights to do whatever they want witli their own bodies, and be safe in doing it? It is pointless to try and glorify the act of prostitution itself; even in the best of circumstances, an individualis still selling her or his body to another, probably unsavory, in dividual for cheap, loveless sex. But that is not the issue. Some may moralize away, explaining why prostitu tion is wrong from both a spiritual and • an intellectual perspective, but that is not every opinion. And a country's laws should not be based on morals or opin ions, no matter how well-intentioned. And no matter how reprehensible people imagine legalized prostitution to be, it is nothing compared to illegal prostitution. A Some may moralize away, explaining why prostitution is wrong from both a spiritual and an in tellectual perspec tive, but that is not every opinion. Just compare the United States with Holland. In Amsterdam, as many know, prostitution is not only legal, it is regulated by the government. Prosti tutes are required to use condoms and other forms of protection against botla pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and they are checked on a monthly basis to make sure they are free of any and all illness. Now compare that with the streets of New York City. One viewing of HBO's documentary "Hookers on tire Point" will more than demonstrate the sickening state of prostitution in this country. Women are forced to take on sometimes dangerous "Johns" in dan gerous settings, usually back alleys and unfamiliar cars. Tliey are not tested for communica ble diseases, and have to resort to even more dangerous behaviors, such as drug use, to escape the reality of being pimped out of the money they more than earned. Regulated prostitution is , kinder, gentler prostitution. Which is not to say that it is perfect. As long as sick souls become prosti tutes and sicker souls utilize them, soci ety will have a long way to go. But as long as this country sticks its head in the sand and pretends that this behav ior does not exist, or that its simple- minded vice squads are doing any thing positive about it, the United States will continue to leave undeserv ing victims behind on so-called quest for enlightenment. Protecting same-sex marriages a priority In response to Cayla Carr’s July 18 column. There are several flaws within Carr’s piece on gays in the Episcopal Church. First, Carr’s use of the term “religion” reflects a lack of familiarity with the distinction between a religion and a demomination. The Episcopal Church is a Christian denomination, like the Roman Catholic Church and the Assemblies of God. Christianity, on the other hand, is a religion. Also, while Episcopalians are committed to freedom of religion within society, the limits of religious expression are cir cumscribed within the Episcopal Church. A plurality of technological Mail Call views is tolerated, but it is still a Chris tian church. Finally, what she does say about current policy regarding gays and les bians is false. A congregation or dio cese cannot do whatever it wants. The church has taken a vague stance at best, an anti-gay and anti-lesbian stance at worst. I say the latter be cause if a priest blesses a same-sex union, she or he may face charges. The case of the heresy trial of a suf fragan bishop for blessing same-sex unions is a case in point. Protecting the rights of gays and lesbians on a national level to have their nuptials blessed is the only way of ensuring that conservatives do not try every cleric who performs such cer emonies. No one is forcing anyone to bless the same-sex unions. Initiatives like the ones debated at General Con- Jake Ten Pas is a columnist with the OSU Daily Barometer at Oregon State University. vention will protect gays and lesbian; allowing them to express their lov within covenant relationships. Andrei A. Buckareff Department of Philosophy 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 014 Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 014 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-11.11 Campus Mail: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com