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:sday,July 25,2000
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re offered in 1942 to Amen®
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percent of test-takers pass.
THE BATTALION
Lrmstroii
^ins Twvfairy-tale romance exaggerated by media,
latantly disregards immigration process
le France
PARIS (AP) — Lance Antt
sed a glass of champagne era
e he crossed the finish line,
iting a second straight k
mce win that was even sweeter
ic around.
Then, on the victory podi
mstrong hoisted his infant
ove his head. Tears welledii
?s of the 28-year-old Texan,
t three years ago was fighfe
life against cancer that hadspr
lis lungs and brain
he storybook romance usually
ends with Cinderella and her
Prince Charming escaping all
ils and living happily ever after —
at not in today's society. As a real ro-
antic tale unfolds, criminal charges
iiickly kick it back to reality.
Bahraini Princess Mariam A1
jhalifa was smuggled into the United States by then
nited States Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jason Johnson,
he two fell in love last year at a mall in Bahrain,
It was a hard TourdeFrance|| nowin 8 the Y would find a wa Y to be together. The
last year, I'm glad it's finished 3uple eloped in Las Vegas and now live on a military
ase close to San Diego. But while the
ledia insists on glamorizing the
in see more of these guys," he 1
iday as he stood with
stin and 9-month-old son h hivalrous actions of now Pfc.John-
o was dressed in yellow-ji
dad.
Because of his insurmounl!
nee, riders joked and clowned’
nstrong as they coasted pasttix
us sites of Paris and thronj
ctators.
Shortly after the cyclists too
m the Eiffel Tower, Armst
ined a long-haired wig. At
sed the Louvre Museum,
bbed a pocket camera and
pshots of the flag-waving Ak
s shooting pictures of him,
He even was passed a glai
bubbly and made a toast as:
laled, even though he had ear!
lared he wasn't "a champs;
d of guy."
"This one's even mores]
year, partly because
Armstrong said after*
iling the son who was horn ft
iths after his first Town’#
on, U.S. immigration officials take a
ifferent stance.
Even when love is involved, rules
d in the final stage of the To: mst be followed. The actions of
News in Brief
nese two individuals, an illegal im-
aigrant and a soldier obligated to de
end the country, are neither glorious,
lor romantic. The couple must step
mtof the spotlight and focus on real
ty, because when laws are broken,
legative consequences should follow.
Johnson is not a hero. He used his
nilitary affiliation to smuggle an illegal immigrant into
he country. He secretly brought A1 Khalifa into the
ountry by forging military documents. Johnson
Taimed to have encouraged his fiancee to disguise her
self in American clothing to keep from raising suspi-
:ionon a commercial plane. And since the Johnsons
uow reside on a California military base, the two crimi
nals are living comfortably off government money.
Johnson has been demoted from lance corporal to pri
vate first class and assigned extra duty. Is this punish
ment severe enough? His actions might warrant a dis
honorable discharge.
When Princess A1 Khalifa fled her home and coun-
,try, many felt she dishonored her family and religion.
The fact that A1 Khalifa is a princess makes for a good
The couple must
step out of the
spotlight and focus
on reality, because
when laws are
broken, negative
consequences
should follow.
fairy-tale romance. If this story involved a commoner
instead of a princess, she would not still be in tlae Unit
ed States. The media are trying to transform this into
another Elian Gonzales crisis. They overlook the facts,
and try to convince society that this is a heartwarming
emotional tale. This princess has no right to stay in the
country, and since slve came to America illegally, gov
ernment actions have been taken to remove her from
the country. The American dream is sometimes seen as
having the freedom to do virtually anything. This be
lief has led many to leave home and seek refuge in tine
United States. However, to have a chance at the dream,
tlie trek must be made legally. By following procedure,
an immigrant has a greater chance of being allowed to
stay; disrespecting American laws and
coming into the country under a dis
guise are immoral.
If the judicial system takes its time
and eventually removes the princess,
many people will disapprove and once
again be unhappy with the U.S. gov
ernment. Therefore, action needs to be
taken quickly in this case so that wide
spread controversy does not erupt. If
these two individuals are not swiftly
and severely punished, then the gov
ernment will do a disservice to the
process of legal immigration. Johnson
needs to be discharged. If not, more
military personnel will assume that it is acceptable to
abuse their positions. Likewise, the media has made it
easy to sympathize with a young woman now in a for
eign country to her who is afraid to return home. But
this woman is royalty. If she is punished, it would not
be as harsh as tlie punishment facing a commoner in
the same situation.
People want to see the princess and tlae private first
class overcome obstacles and remain together, living
happily ever after. However, Princess Mariam and Pfc.
Johnson broke all tlae laws for love. America is not fan
tasy land where laws are lenient and criminals run free.
Actions must be taken against these two individuals.
They should have thought with their brains, not just
their hearts. If they followed proper procedures, their
Expulsion should be last resort
ussian rebels
ttack, kill three
NAZRAN, Russia (AP) -
ibels launched an unusua 1
ytime attack Monday, unde;
ing their growing boldnessfe;
ibushing a Russian
nvoy in Chechnya's c?pil
d reportedly killing seven 1
issians.
The Russian soldiers wen
iveling in a three-truck convt
Grozny when the rebel:
:acked, said the office t
rgei Yastrzhembsky, ft
emlin’s spokesman G
echnya. The rebels setoff
ne under one of the trucks
m opened fire on the softs
:h automatic weapons an
made-launchers. M
ssians returned fire.
Three Russian soldiers
ed and 17 wounded in tlf
ack.
ilitary apologize
r river pollutior
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)-
5 U.S. military issued a pub
ology Monday for dumpii
naldehyde into the Han Rive 1
nain source of drinking watf
Seoul's 12 million people.
It was the first public apoloj
ued by the U.S. military 1 '
Jth Korea since its deplo;
nt here in the 1950-5’
'ean War. Earlier this mo#
military admitted releasi
gallons of formaldehyde if
Han River in February. Vacationing student deals with
E arlier this month, state House of Representa
tives members introduced a new education bill
to Illinois Gov. George Ryan, which he vetoed.
The bill would have allowed, but not required, sus
pended or expelled students to attend alternative
schools, and also would have required school districts
to enforce full suspensions for disciplined students.
After passing through the House and Senate unani
mously, the bill was rejected by because lie felt that
signing it would send an inappropriate message
about the importance of kids being in school. He is
absolutely right. Students should be required to at
tend an alternate school wlaen suspended or expelled,
and school districts should be required to send sus
pended students to school while they are serving
their suspensions. Do whatever is necessary, but kids
need to be in school. It is most definitely the responsi
bility of the state's representatives to keep them there.
Unfortunately, some of representatives and lawmak
ers do not agree with that.
The authors of tlae bill, Todd Sieben (R-Geneseo) and
Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) and contributor Gerald
Mitclaell (R-Sterling) have laad more than a few choice
words to say in response to Ryan's rejection. Mitchell
came to the defense of the bill, saying, "This is not a bill
refusing alternative schooling. We're not talking about
kids who are talking back to their teacher. Students
have to work pretty darn hard to get suspended."
Even though getting suspended might involve a lot
of "hard work" on the part of a delinquent student,
does it matter? Schools should not give up on the stu
dents who misbehave "badly enough" to get suspend
ed. Often, it is too much of a hassle or costs too much
to set up an alternative school for suspended or ex
pelled students or to transport students to an alterna
tive school.
Instead of taking the initiative to include these
kids in some kind of program, tliey are sent home to
their parents, and often, their own devices — and that
will never solve anything. Sieben said: "My view is,
once tlaey're expelled, let them sit out for awhile.
Once they're serious about their education they can
think about re-enrolling."
All of these representatives insist that this bill was
meant to help kids and help keep schools safer. It
does not help kids to simply send them home. They
run the chance of being unsupervised because their
parents are working, or in more unfortunate cases,
cannot or do not give their children the attention they
desperately need. It is also not realistic to see all kids
who misbelaave in school as "unsafe." It is not realis
tic for misguided youths to be concerned with their
long-term education, and they cannot be expected to
take initiative on their own.
Sometimes misbehavior in school is a cry for help or
for attention. Because it is not always possible to deter
mine the reasons behind the behavior that leads to sus
pensions and expulsions, the problem cannot be ignored
in the hopes it will go away. Time and energy need to be
put into the students who need them the most.
Staff editorial from the Daily Illini at
the University of Illinois.
Mail Call
Col. Samuel Taylor read F 1
tement to television cal GTE s poor phone service
s. Petrosky said the U.ST'j
y will take "appropriate &| tn response to Luke McMahan’s July 24 column.
tive action" after an inqu r :
ipleted. ) Thank you so much for ail the articles about the
The investigation will be * GTE monopoly in College Station. I spent 20 minutes
vlaj. Gen. Barry Bates, who* on the phone with one of their “customer service”
ponsible for all U.S. AfC (representatives last week because they have totally
allations in South Korea. ; screwed me over on charging me this summer.
' am not even in College Station, but I chose to
have my phone put on Vacation Freeze so that I
would not have to pay to have it re-installed this Au
gust. Instead of charging me $20 to reconnect
w -When I get back down to school, as the original lady
e July 24 article, loa ^old me, they are charging me half of my regular
E defend business,"^ phone bill each month.
However, I am still paying full price for features
such as caller-ID, call forwarding, etc., even though
story might have had a real-life fairy-tale ending. But
since they acted on impulse in the name of love, theTaw
must step in. Ironically, though, if the couple is pun
ished appropriately, tlien their story can join the mil-
KELSEY ROBERTS/The Battalion
lions of other tragic love stories, loved by society, that
did not end happily ever after. )
Cayla Carr is a junior speech communication major
National mourning for
JFK Jr. excessive, unrealistic
there is no phone even plugged into the line. It is
absolutely ridiculous. I am going to end up paying
$60 for my phone this summer instead of the $20
that I was promised. I told the representative that
as soon as there was another option for local ser
vice, I would take it.
Sara Martin
Class of ’01
Correction
/ritten by Kim TrifiliO’
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 McDon
ald 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
77843-1111
Campus Mail: 1111
Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com
T he first an
niversary of
the crash
that claimed the
lives of John F.
Kennedy Jr., his
wife and his sis
ter-in-law was
two weekends
ago. The amount of attention the an
niversary garnered was astounding.
Fox News dedicated its entire week
end schedule to "JFK Jr.: as it hap
pened," and three books on Kennedy
were released, including one with
the sappy title, The Day John Died.
Members of America Online were
asked: "JFK Jr.: Where were you?"
when they logged on.
While Kennedy's death was un
questionably sad, the nation's re
sponse to his passing — indeed, to
his whole life — was unreasonably
excessive. The desire of some
Americans to place people on a
pedestal prevented Kennedy from
having a normal life. That same
idol worship has also prevented
many Americans from seeing the
basic facts surrounding his death.
Simply put, it is time for America to
get over Kennedy's death.
Why was John F. Kennedy Jr. one
of the most sought-after men in
America? Why was he People mag
azine's "Sexiest Man Alive" in
1987? Because he was a Kennedy.
President John F. Kennedy has
become an almost mythical figure.
People remember the young presi
dent, his glamorous wife and the
ideal of Camelot. They remember
his little son saluting his casket as it
passed on the way to Arlington Na
tional Cemetery. And, in the
process, tlie nation forgot that the
Kennedys are human.
The flaws of Kennedy seemed
minor compared to those of some of
lais family members. He was a de
cent student, an adequate lawyer
and tlae editor of a moderately suc
cessful magazine. Unlike his rela
tives, he did not laave a drinking or
drug problem, he was not caught
having a sexual affair with an un
derage babysitter, and he did not
cause tlae death of a young woman
by driving his car into the Chap-
paquidick River.
Basically, Kennedy would have
been a regdlar guy, if not for his last
name. He had some success, but
most was not gained through his
own personal merit. Yet, when he
died, the country's outpouring of
emotion was greater than for the
deaths of Joe DiMaggio, Frank Sina
tra or Payne Stewart, who all
achieved greatness through their
own efforts.
Basically,
Kennedy would
have been a
regular guy, if not
for his last name..
If a son of a bus driver went to
Brown University, became a lawyer
and later a publisher and had been
People's "Sexiest Man Alive," he
would have been more worthy of the
nation's note than Kennedy. After all,
it would have been someone who
worked hard, strove for excellence
and attained it — all on his own. If
that man, who had attained what
many consider the American dream,
died young, it would truly have been
a tragedy. For some reason, people
around the nation were obsessed
with making Kennedy into some
thing bigger than life, a base for their
own personal American dreams.
Such idol worship has made it im
possible for some people to see that
Kennedy died because he made an
error in judgment. Kennedy was a
novice pilot, having flown solo fewer
than a dozen times. He was not certi
fied to fly an aircraft primarily by in
struments instead of sight.
Despite of his inexperience, de
spite poor visibility, despite the night
time landing, Kennedy decided to
make the flight. The result was the
deaths of Kennedy, his wife Carolyn
and her sister Lauren. Showing the
trait that has gotten so many of his
kin in trouble, Kennedy acted as if he
were invincible. Experienced pilots
agreed that they would not have
made the flight in those circum
stances. The official report by the
Federal Aviation Administration con
curred with these assessments, blam
ing tlie crash on pilot error.
Yet, not one year later, the mem
bers of the press and public continue
to act as if Kennedy were some kind
of deity. Gone too soon, perhaps, but
so are many others. Such blind wor
ship of human beings, such as
Princess Diana, is counterproductive.
It prevents those in the spotlight from
living real lives and denies the public
to grow as people. By trying to shel
ter themselves in the aura of a figure
who has become an modern legend,
regular citizens deny the realities of
life. These are realities that the
younger Kennedy attempted to em
brace, but was not allowed to.
Kennedy suffered a great deal of
loss in his lifetime. He saw his father
and his uncle murdered and watched
his motlier succumb to cancer. He has
watched his cousins die and another
uncle disgrace himself. Yet, through it
all, Kennedy moved on. Now it is
time for Americans to do the same.
Mark Passwaters is a senior
electrical engineering major