Friday, September 8,2000
rged
> •
Lsings
Friday, September 8, 2000
Page 5B
THE BATTALION
sible to justice, to disarm
the militias and to take
1 steps to insure the safe-
jntinuing to work on hu-
oals there.”
m President Abdurrah-
humiliated before scores
ders at the U.N. Millen-
lit, promised he would
e U.N. administrationia
an removing the hostile
i the border region. “But
jch a number of people
' he said. *
,‘d his forces had tried to
inesday’s attack, which
.1 workers, including an
aid three civilians dead,
y soldiers stood by with-
the mob.
teeted them, but it’s a
icultural nature," Wahid
ists, saying tribal differ-
; the militia problem,
as often blamed such
ry elements of triggering
id mayhem in Timor and
i Indonesia to derail at-
is 11-month-old govern-
d a new democracy after
luthoritarianism.
a’s official Antara nevj
ed Wahid earlier as say-
day’s attack was engi-
s domestic political foes,
ts-done at a time when I
York, at the United Na-
er to embarrass me," he
1 as saying. He did not re-
usations when speaking
J Nations.
PITS finally sees the light
Positive changes hy campus parking organization make commute around campus easier
ested
ifficking
I n the confusion of get
ting registered, chang
ing classes, confirm
ing financial aid and other
hassles associated with the
beginning of school, it is re
freshing this year to see
something less complicated
than before. Parking, Traf
fic and Transportation Ser
vices (PTTS) has accomplished a feat many
would have scoffed at a mere year ago — orga
nizing and improving parking on campus.
PTTS should be supported in the reforms that
have been implemented. The bizarre myriad of
red and blue parking lots scattered around cam
pus are a thing of the past. Red lots, resident stu
dent parking, are now conveniently located on
the east side of Wellborn Road, cutting down on
foot traffic and walking distance for on-campus
students. Blue lots, commuter student parking,
are now located in specific, secluded areas, re
ducing confusion.
Although these changes have been made pri
marily in preparation for future construction,
PTTS has seized the opportunity to increase effi
ciency. Unlike last year, those with red parking
permits will not have to fight competing blue
permit-holders for spots because the lots are now
separate and exclusive. In addition, there will no
longer be more permits than parking spaces in
red parking lots.
PTTS’s rearrangement is so effective that
blue and red lots have more spaces than last year.
Additions to Parking Area (PA) 50, a blue lot
near Zachry Engineering Center, created several
hundred more blue spaces this year, and resituat
ing red lots has added hundreds of new resident
student spaces.
Woody Isenhart, manager of customer service
with PTTS, said last year’s grand total of avail
able parking spaces was 2,421 red,5,116 blue
and 1,670 shared spaces in combined blue and
red lots.
Compared with this year’s more reasonable
totals of 3,351,red and 6,721 blue spots, there is
a noticeably'better setup. The improvement is a
numerical fact — once parking enforcement be
gins and the lots are patrolled for illegal vehicles,
students will be able to see the value of the
changes far more clearly. Although Fish Lot and
the lot near Albritton Bell Tower are no longer
red lots, the entire area surrounding Kyle Field
along with the gravel lots lining Wellborn Road
are designated red parking now. The parking
lots may be in different spaces, but there is no
question that PTTS did well when it reappor
tioned the spaces.
PTTS is also planning to reduce the number
of red permits to equal to or less than the number
of red spaces. To date, there are approximately
3,500 red permits purchased; however, last year
PTTS sold a total of 4,052 red permits to stu
dents for approximately 3,000spaces.
Provided that parking remains relatively
smooth compared to last year, the biggest con
cern PTTS faces in the future is maintaining a
positive parking situation. Following the con
struction of the West Campus parking garage,
PTTS may make new decisions on the locations
of lots. At that point, it can be hoped that it will
continue to make thoughtful decisions to in
crease and improve parking. If there is to be a
consistently favorable parking situation on the
Texas A&M campus, PTTS must continue to
keep parking less confusing and work to make it
readily available.
Matt Loftis is a sophomore journalism and
French major.
icted leader of a smug:
i was under surveill
ir proof he was invol
rsday.
«ion that Dutch police
1 in line with Dutch pri-
a week for some time.’
being followed the day
ed inside a truck’s un
gland.
ies of the Chinese, who
Weighty
merica is see-
magazine said the line
icking activities by the
icial close to the inves-
-ive other suspects were
ing.
ptember and full parlia-
ft
merica is see
ing a new
type of child
abuse. Child obesity is
becoming a real prob
lem. although some do
not consider extreme
ring the five-hour ten) childhood obesity to be
1 The truck was regis- child abuse. When ex
cessive baby fat does
:ited an article in there-1 not go away as the
one gang member as child ages, then something must be done.
Christina Corrigan’s mother found her
uthorities receivedatip| dead in her bed in their Richmond, Calif.
England by yacht. home on Nov. 19, 1996. Christina was 13
lance operation, groups years old a‘nd weighed 680 pounds when
etherlands to help gaih-1 she died from congestive heart failure.
L Her mother, Marlene Corrigan, is being
3se allowed to proceed.; charged with neglect and felony child
abuse.
This death could have been prevented.
Extreme child obesity should be catego
rized as child abuse. In cases like Christi
na’s, the child should be taken away from
issue Child obesity can
be a form of child abuse
the parents. Obviously, Corrigan was abus
ing her child. When a parent does not know
when to say no to a child, something needs
to change.
Corrigan should not have had custody of
her daughter. If Christina had been re
moved from her mother’s care, maybe her
life could have been saved.
Another recent abuse case where child
hood obesity was the issue involves Ana-
marie Martinez, a 120-pound, 3-year-old
who was recently removed from her par
ents’ care.
The New Mexico Children Youth and
Families Department removed Anamarie
from her home last week after her physician
said the child’s condition was life-threatening.
Her parents received legal papers on Fri
day, charging the family with not regulating
the child’s weight.
”1 can’t believe that is what they are
thinking. It is back to blaming us,” said
Adela Martinez, Anamarie’s mother.
Anamarie’s parents should be held legal
ly responsible for her weight. A 3-year-old
does not know what foods are unhealthy for
her. Her parents provide her with the food
she eats. Three-year-old cannot go into the
kitchen and make themselves a snack. Their
parents must to do it for them.
In situations when the child’s life is in
danger because he or she is extremely over
weight, it is obvious the parents do not have
the child’s best interest at heart.
According to the American Heart Asso
ciation, obese children are at an increased
risk of becoming obese adults. Therefore,
successfully preventing obesity in child
hood may reduce the risk of adult obesity
and help reduce the risk of heart disease.
In today’s society, with fast food so
readily available, it is mandatory for good
health habits to begin early. It is fine to eat a
hamburger or pizza occasionally, but when
a child is’fed nothing but excessively fatty
foods, he or she is at a strong risk of be
coming an obese adult.
The only way to solve this problem is to
begin teaching healthy eating habits at a
young age. This lesson must be taught by
parental guidance and example.
Recently, 14-year-old Winnifer Hills,
who weighs 450 pounds, was taken from
her home and put under medical supervi
sion. She was not removed from her par
ents’ custody, but was taken to the hospital.
She suffers from sleep apnea and needs
oxygen at night. It is tragic that a person’s
weight can get so out of control that she
needs an oxygen tank to survive.
It is sad to think that parents would ig
nore a child’s weight problem so long that
medical intervention is necessary.
In this case, intervention has worked.
Since Winnifer was taken from her parents,
she has lost 150 pounds and is out of med
ical danger. Her parents have also learned
to cook healthy foods and motivate Win
nifer to exercise.
Who knows what might have happened
to Winnifer if she had not been placed un
der medical supervision.
Perhaps if someone had taken Christina
Corrigan from her mother’s care, she too
could have been saved.
Childhood obesity is a growing problem
in the United States. The root of the prob
lem is the parents influencing their chil
dren’s habits and being unable to say no.
When a child’s life is at risk because he
or she is overweight, then the child should
be taken out of the environment that made
him or her that way.
If it means taking children away from
the parents in order to save their lives, then
that is the step that must be taken.
Children are taken away from their par
ents when they are malnourished. Especial
ly when it is a matter of life and death, par
ents should also lose custody when their
children are “overnourished.”
Sunnye Owens is a junior
journalism major.
» For
ight
I Topping -
99 ;
. - Close /
i
Auto Repair
C Repair
nostics & Repair
eries
) SMALL!
ician
unday by Appointment
"Death Rouu Marv" sparks ethical debate
New action figure mocks capital punishment, insults value of life
F or years, there have
been toys mimicking
real-life tools that al
low children to play with
things their parents use.
While many of us had
pretend cash registers or
mini-steering wheels as chil
dren, youngsters today have
pretend cell phones and mini-laptop computers.
This is all very modern and there have been
no real problems — until now. The newest toy
to hit the market deals with a disturbingly inap
propriate subject for children to imitate.
Manufactured by McFaiiane Toys, “Death
Row Marv” is an action figure that sits snapped
to a large wooden chair with a cap on his head
that is connected by wires to a voltage switch.
Clearly this imitates a man being executed. But
it gets worse.
Whep Death Row Marv is fueled with two
’ small batteries and the lever is pulled, his body
• shakes all over and his eyes glow red, while he
and his chair scoot across the table.
It is not over for poor Marv quite yet. After
his shaking stops, he exclaims, “Ha, ha, ha!
That’s the best you can do, pansies?”
Sixty-five thousand of these toys have al
ready been sold nationwide and are portraying
the death penalty as some sort of joke.
The death penalty is already one of the
hottest topics in the news, and in the upcoming
election. A toy that makes a mockery of the
death of another human should not be in the
hands of any child.
This toy produces an image that the death
penalty or executions are in some way humor
ous. Whether the death penalty is right or
wrong, there is nothing funny about it.Not only
is the toy itself completely offensive, but it also
seems the producers and marketers of these toys
are showing very little compassion.
Death Row Marv hit the stores in Houston
on June 22 — the same day convicted killer
Gary Graham was executed amid much protest
in Huntsville.
Ken Reinstein, spokesman for McFarlane
Toys, said the release of Marv on this date was
“totally coincidental.”
Coincidence is no excuse. That execution
was in the news for weeks ahead of time, and
there was certainly time to show a little com
passion and adjust the toy's debut date.
However, compassion is obviously unfamil
iar to McFarlane Toys. It also markets a line of
“grotesque spawn figures” that come in boxes
highlighting their toys’ “dripping entrails” and
“removable guts.”
Reinstein still claims that his products are
harmless.
“From our standpoint, this is just another en
tertainment product... there are no political is
sues behind any of it,” he said. “We don’t mar
ket our stuff to those who don’t want to buy it.”
Children do not have any concept of market
ing. They see toys at their friends’ houses or in
pictures, and they want one of their own.
Unfortunately, it is not just the children buy- /
ing the toys that is the problem. T.J. Johnson,
president of Third Planet (a comics and toy
store) said that Houston police officers were big
purchasers.
Johnson explained, “They said they took it to
the office, and whenever someone got off on a
technicality, they’d light it up.”
It is debatable whether the toy itself or the
adults thinking it is funny is more disturbing.
While much of this debate simply goes back
to the parents’ responsibility to closely monitor
their children and the toys they choose, parents
today have quite a lot to monitor.
Life might be simpler if outrageous toys
such as Marv were not even available. Death
Row Marv cannot be found at the local toy
stores, but he is out there.
At stores such as Third Planet, Marv sits pa
tiently on the shelf, retailing for about
$24.99,waiting for his turn to teach a lesson that
no child should learn.
Melissa Bedsole is a junior
psychology major.
Bull Board
Good Bull — Very little, if
anything, has been said about
the decision by Tim and Janice
Kerlee to move from Memphis,
Tenn., to Bryan-College Sta
tion.
Their only son, Tim Kerlee
Jr., was killed last year in the
Bonfire collapse. Instead of do
ing what most people would do
in such a situation — entirely
avoid the place of the tragedy
— they have embraced it.
Some people think this is a
positive reflection of Texas
A&M and the Aggie spirit.
Whether this is true is
something only the Kerlees
know, but one thing is certain:
their continued presence and
the love they show for the en
tire A&M student body makes
the Aggie spirit stronger than it
was before.
Bad Bull — The National
Football League’s lords of disci
pline need a good spanking. In
stead of addressing plainly obvi
ous fouls, they have decided to
jump on what they wish they saw.
The NFL is suspending Mark
Carrier of the Washington Red
skins for a hit on Carolina’s
Wesley Walls. Carrier almost
hit Walls’ helmet with his own.
The key word in that last
sentence: almost.
In the meantime, Oakland’s
Regan Upshaw might escape
punishment entirely for a
cheap shot that landed San
Diego quarterback Ryan Leaf in
the Napa Valley with seven
stitches in his chin.
Carrier has been known for
dirty play before — his hit on
Green Bay’s Antonio Freeman
last year broke Freeman’s jaw
— but the hit on Walls yjas
clean.
Instead of scrutinizing a
player’s reputation, NFL offi
cials should sit and watch the
replay.
— Mark Passwaters
The Battalion encourages letters to the ed
itor. 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 Mc
Donald with a valid student ID. Letters may
also be mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
014 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
1111TAMU
College Station, Texas 77843
Campus Mail: 1111
Fax: (979) 845-2647
E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com
Columns and letters appearing in The Bat
talion express the opinion of the authors only.
They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of
other Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M
student body, regents, administrators, faculty
or staff.