Page 7B iwan jmier Taiwan (AP) — I; isident Chen Shui-t)i; THE BATTALION n ■ j i. ly to replace his resign dnesday, picking a' ■r of his party to takeove \s No. 3 ranking leader ked Vice Premier Cha g to replace Tang Per spokesman said during; ence. Tang quit Tuesdai ; his declining health pit rom keeping the job. :e of Chang, a lawyer an laker with the presideni Progressive Party, mark ' s abandonment of ant! a non-partisan premie ridge differences in Ik' Tie Taiwanese premie st powerful member ent behind the presides \\f :sident. and one of ibilities is to push theaf s policies in the island dy partisan legislature, idem urged oppositie i him to discuss natioi to give up their diffe ^residential spokesma n. nese :e gram anded (AP) — China’s bud-|d| >gram plans to explore^ ^ Dmmercially useful re- ■ g >es one day to take\)2i j nal expedition to * p secretive program s| stalls were few, thee thing clear: China sej flight as key to seqt^ ional stature and eb " . ^ ape voters should turn oM e ' ag Z-~r=- O- out on Election Day, regardless of obstacles .(XI Pi r r'JTtK m a R I A F / / Nov. 7, America will elect a new president. Among those visiting the polls will be the elderly, the wealthy, people of all races, Republicans and Democrats. Generally, college-age citi zens do not show up at the polls when election time comes around. As a generation, new voters must break the trend of past generations and make their voices heard on Capitol Hill not only by registering to vote, but by making a choice on Election Day. A recent poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and MTV shows that only one-half of people ages 18 to 24 are registered to vote, and only 46 percent of those reg istered intend to vote. Essentially, only one in four of America’s young MARCUS WHITE % -3k. nee the 1960s had • bomb and hydroai :hed its own satellite >t be regarded as an in rful country,” buref Injie told the audienct taries and school chS- trt of U.N.-declared Veek.” e 1970s, the Chinese ill conduct ation of oon and ely join mtional Ities for ; explo- ion/ 7 — Loan Enjte >r of Space Bureau adults exercises his right to vote. " The reasons why they choose not to vote range from apa thy to ignorance. Some college-age vot ers find the voting sys- tern difficult to work with while in school. Also, the youth of America are often convinced candidates and politicians largely ignore issues that concern col lege-age voters. ".Aside from on-campus groups such as TAMU College Republicans and Texas Aggie Democrats, many students at Texas A&M are unfamiliar with the plat forms each candidate supports. As a result, many choose not to vote Essentially, only one in four of America's young adults exercis es his right to vote. at the polls, leaving their concerns un voiced in the political arena. Tim Nevotti, a junior biomedical sci ence major, will vote in this year’s presi dential election. What Nevotti finds disturbing about both candidates, hdwever, is the relative apathy toward subjects and issues close to college students’ hearts. “It seems like all politicians discuss are issues like Social Security, gun con trol or welfare,” Nevotti said. “Granted, these are important to many people, but they do not really af fect my daily life.” There is no doubt the candidates make transparent attempts to gain popu larity with the young voters. Most recently, MTV aired a town hall meeting with Gore. Like his predecessor, current Presi dent Bill Clinton, Gore discussed his platforms and campaign promises with an audience of more than 150 young men and women. Programs like MTV’s “Choose or Lose,” which sponsored the Gore forum, work to familiarize America’s youth with the ideals of each political party. Often, as was the case with the Gore interview, MTV allows what could be an informative discussion on issues to di gress into another episode of “Total Re quest Live.” Instead of hearing Gore’s plans for America’s voting-age population in de tail, MTV viewers discovered that Gore listens to Sister Hazel and is friends with Tommy Lee Jones. Politicians, until forced to do so, will not put much emphasis on what they be lieve college-age voters want. Issues like financial aid for college students and civil rights will inevitably take a back seat to Medicare, defense spending and Social Security. They have discovered that, as a group, voters age 18 to 24 do not go to the polls when the time comes. As citizens of the United States, it is the obligation of all those eligible to vote to become involved in the democratic process by voting. The Kaiser/MTV poll showed that 70 percent of 18-24-year-olds polled be lieved that a change in presidents would have little to no effect on their day-to- day lives. The only way to get issues that col lege-age voters believe to be important to the top of the political agenda is to prove to candidates that they will vote for the nominee and party that best represent them. Hopefully, college-age students will find their way to the voting booths this November. Marcus White is a sophomore general studies major. o children allowed Kids in Olympics questionable uccessfully tested! anned exploration tnned Shenzhou.or ’ in orbit last F rom gymnastics to the pentathlon, there is an alarming trend relating to the age of athletes who qualify for the Olympics — they are too young. When the average age for girls who participate in Olympic gymnastics is 17, there is something wrong with Olympic age regulations. There should be restrictions on the ge of Olympic participants. It is safe to say that many 7-j 15- and 13-year-olds are physically or mentally ma- ire for the stress of the Olympics. Many people say that if 13-year-olds are skilled nough to make the Olympics, they should be able to (articipate. This is an absCtrd concept. It is unacceptable for a ild to be in the same athletic category as a veteran 25- ear-old, no matter how good he or she is at a sport. It would be more understandable for 13-year-olds to larticipate in the Olympics if there were not a lower cate- ;ory of Olympics such as the Junior Olympics. Some ports in the Junior Olympics accept athletes ranging rom 8 to 23 years of age. There are no excuses for 13-year-olds in the llympics; they should only be allowed to participate in he Junior Olympics. The Junior Olympics are designed o be a preparation for larger competitions such as the ilympics. The Olympics are a very stressful, intensive competi tion. The best of the best compete. How can children handle this pressure? Some physi cians believe that with a younger Olympian, more injuries are likely to occur during the Games. Most 13-year-olds do not have the physical abilities to handle the stress on the body the Olympics create. Dominique Moceanu is an ex ample of a child who was al lowed to participate in the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in At lanta at the ripe old age of 14. The effects of her winning the gold at the 1996 Olympic games have been dubious. Since the Olympics, she has legally divorced her parents. Moceanu wanted to control her life because she said her . parents and her coaches pushed her too hard and forced her to compete in major competitions too early in her life. During a gymnastics exhibi tion tour of the United States last year, Moceanu said,"When I was young, I had no clue.” Maybe if the Olympics put age regulation ons their participants, then things like this would not have to happen. When children at a very young age are forced to give up their whole lives and divorce their parents because they have the chance to go to the Olympics, there is a huge problem that needs to be dealt with. It is ludicrous to consider the Olympic sport of women’s gymnastics. These little girls are by no definition women. When a 20-year-old is considered to be in the last years of her Olympic competition, some thing is wrong with the way the Games are structured. No matter what, the Olympics should be revered as successful and re spectable athletic events. The athletes who partici pate in these Games are the best at their sports, but some are just too young. There must be some regulation of attas ion The age of. Olympians, Sunnye Owens is a junior journalism major. Mail Call < I to send astronaut? United States at)n of the moon and national activities on.” n, a rocket scientist of the China Asso- s, added that one house permanent ft and astronauts :re that can genef- arth. riticism of polygamy column hypocritical In response to Sarah Albers' Oct. 2 Vail Call. 4 heartily applaud Albers’ defense of tehreligion from the ungodly hordes of po- ygamists, but I must take issue with her Accusations against Greenwood and his esearch practices. , bis column, though not uproariously finny, was a satirical stab at an almost lead practice in this country. ^ 1 Albers’ holier-than-thou message was Jnwarranted, as were her accusations of leceit. She asserts that Greenwood has Tot done his homework. I suggest that Perhaps she has not done hers, either. Of the four Scripture passages she cit ed, l found three of them to have nothing to.do with polygamy. . Two of those (Jer 3:1 & Proverbs 5:18- l?) were warnings against adultery (which differs from polygamy), and one was an ex cerpt from a love poem in which the au thor expounds on his lover’s beauty but hakes no mention of the polygamy vs. honogamy issue (Song of Solomon 4). The only passage relevant to the issue Was Ephesians 5:31. One should consid er, however, that most of the original Chris tians were Jewish converts, no strangers to the concept of polygamy, as seen by Old Testament writings. Paul, author of the passage, was one such convert. He, however, was born a Ro man citizen and therefore shared the Ro man cultural distaste for polygamy, as mentioned in Greenwood’s article. I find polygamy to be an immoral prac tice, but I seriously doubt that Green wood’s article is going to inspire Aggies to take up the practice. Remember John 8:7, “Let you who is without sin cast the first stone.” Kevin Gifford Class of ‘03 Red Raider impressed by Aggie unity I am a proud Red Raider — have been and always will be. However, my recent visit to your University showed me a new meaning of the word pride. As I sat shoulder to shoulder in Kyle Field playing “Fight, Raider, Fight” with the Coin’ Band from Raiderland, I saw for the first time what true school pride should be. I looked upon a stadium filled with ma roon and proud Aggies screaming “Beat the Hell...” We are sometimes lucky to have our student section — two sections of Jones Stadium — even partially full. Half of Kyle Field seemed to have been made up en tirely of students. For your pride, unity and spirit that you show for the simple fact that you are Ag gies, I commend you alj. Matt Holt Class of‘03, Texas Tech University Photo misrepresents student’s support In response to Sept. 21 photograph. The picture displayed a group of Bonfire workers listening to the Student Senate’s debate on President Bowen’s Bonfire reso lution. I was featured in this picture with the caption, “Students in support of off- campus bonfire listen to speakers at Stu dent Senate meeting...” I was not there in support of off-cam- pus bonfire, nor was there in support of Bowen’s resolution. I was there because I am a senior from Mclnnis Hall who loves to build Aggie Bon fire. I have been to virtually every pre-cut, cut, unload, stack shift and even a few load shifts since I came to this University. I was there hoping there was a possibil ity of getting those things back in a Univer sity-sponsored Aggie Bonfire because they are the backbone of dorm life and unity. Brandon McDermott Class of ‘01 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 opinton 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 1111 TAMU College Station, Texas 77843 Campus Mail: 1111 Fax: (979) 84S2647 E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com Columns and letters appearing in The Battalion express the opinion of the authors only. They do not necessarily re flect the opinion of other Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M student body, regents, administrators, faculty or staff. ANDREW STEPHENSON A DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT Affirmative-action issue skewed any articles have been Sprinted in the past few years discussing the perceived racism problem at Texas A&M and other colleges throughout Texas. It seems a study is done every week, or some vis iting professor has a comment to make con cerning the attitudes on campus. However, few of these people are doing anything to solve the perceived problem. They are, instead, creating problems where there are none, or in some cases making small problems out to be very large. Recently, professor Robeit Jensen of the University of Texas-Austin spoke at A&M to discuss the attitudes of Caucasians and affir mative action in America. It was his belief that affirmative action is already prevalent in a rel atively Caucasian-dominated society for its Caucasian citizens, and that a white man in to day’s society is granted more privileges than a minority member. He admitted that he was no expert on race, simply a “dumb-ass white boy from North Dakota” exploring a world in which white men receive undeniable privilege. I do not feel that 1 have been given unde niable privilege throughout my life. 1 do not believe that many, if any at all, of my life ex periences would have been altered il my skin had happened to be a different color. My family was by no means rich; most ot the time we were barely getting by. This was never used as an excuse for anything, and my parents expected nothing less than my best in whatever I did, from band to football to schoolwork. 1 was able to maintain good grades, and thus I was lucky enough to be admitted into a great school. Texas A&M even gave me a scholarship. As a white person, I real ize that I may not always be able to see certain ex amples of discrimination. if I was a minority, however, 1 could have possibly received a larger award. There are even those students who have comparatively lower grades and come from better backgrounds than white students. These students can be given a scholarship that is of a greater amount, while maintaining a lower grade-point average. As a white person, 1 realize that I may not always be able to see certain examples of discrimination. Motivated by this realiza tion, 1 spoke with an African-American stu dent in my dormitory, and got his opinion on racism on campus. Under terms of anonymity, he told me, “I feel like I should not be judged just because of who I am. I do not think that I should be accepted into this University because I am black. I do not feel like any organization should accept me just because 1 am black. I do not feel like anyone should give me any special treatment just because I am black.” When affirmative action was brought up, his comment was, “I do not think there will ever be complete equality because ... by af firmative action [life] is racist.” Another subject discussed was whether a certain hostility existed on campus toward minority students, whether by other students or by the administration. “I do not think that [hostility] has any thing to do with this University, because anywhere I go there is always going to be one ignorant person in the group that has something to say. I came here not because this is a black school, I did not come here be cause it is a white school, I came here be cause I wanted to get an education,” he said. Granted, this one person does not necessarily reflect the views of all minorities on this cam pus. However, his opinions do provide insight. Certainly, today’s world is not perfect, for any race. How can it be right for people to be judged on the basis of their skin color, one way or the other? The University recently did a study of mi norities who were accepted to A&M but chose not to attend. The top reasons that were cited were lack of financial aid and lack of personal attention. This raises the question, “Why should any students be sin gled out for special treatment? ’ There is definitely no easy solution to the problems of discrimination and reverse dis crimination, but a start would definitely be to remove the little boxes that are checked on any forms students and prospective em ployees fill out. The fact that A&M gives prospective stu dents little special treatment is a good thing. It shows that the University is doing its best to look at each student as an individual, not as a race. Once everyone begins to view people simply as who they are — not what color they are or where they are from — it will bring society one step closer to unity. Andrew Stephenson is a sophomore environmental design major.