Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 2000)
Tuesday, October^;. q)andf r $45 billk boards of both o iroved the deal, whichisei o be completed inei ic acquisition is subjed ry approval and tl t Honeywell shareov •cpects the deal to be per share by double dii st full year, excludini charges. is how GE gets a b| in the global marketpl g its size by nearly a t and adding to its dor jiffsduv. October 24, 2000 ^r THE BATTALION Page 11 ankruptcy reform bill before Senate misguided, targets the wrong people wo weeks ago, the U.S. House of Rep resentatives passed legislation that, if passed in the Senate, would reform nerica’s bankruptcy system. While bankruptcy reform is needed, this bill will n key areas,’ analihirt debtors more than it will help them. P. Heymann of Prudenii* Ti ie hill will succeed in forcing people to pay off s Inc. said Sunday. thL'ir debts but will eliminate the fresh financial start 11airman John K bankruptcy provides today. ' j 1S f 2(X) 1 j ne<3 reflrail fl Legislative action on a bankruptcy reform bill began last summer in ' 'I 1 - l ! “ t0 inuv ’ light of the increasing number of Americans filing for bankruptcy. In l l ) L )8 alone, there were more than 1.4 million tilings. ■ Rep. George Gekas, R-Penn., co-sponsor of the bill, stated, “The esti mated losses associated with bankruptcy filings cost the average Ameri- ■ean family more than $400 a year in higher costs, rates and fees.” I To reduce the high bankruptcy filing rate, the bill will incorporate a rgest industrial compam; AN REDDINGAhi Battalion hat domestic vio- >f survivors paint I- MSC Flagroom. hose from years ay. ' party in the not-too-o ience was supportive (j nd motives of thelital , although some werei| linly in breaking ablishment. of the two-party system angford, a senior poll ;ociology major. 'TtieL Republicans get allofi ion, and I believe it’sd lemocracy. I don’t neces vith [the LibertarianPi ! ere to show my suppmt Mail Call Aggie Band missing at Iowa football game le, local support for lit asing. Chris Jagge, razos County Libertarii' am a confused graduate vho went to the A&M vs. ISU Same this weekend. I found no Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band at the game. What’s up with that? drove all the way from Wis consin to enjoy the “whole” echnician with theenlf & me and was shocked that the irtment, said heisii# r anc ^ was missing, senting an alternativep’'| Because of this oversight, I id is pleased that the to not ignored. Aggie Li 1 on-campus group,« )98 and now has seven participants. was forced to watch an entire halftime of ISU’s “high school” band. Don’t let me forget to mention the 20 year reunion of the ISU band. Please never do this to us again! We cheered our Ags on, but it just was not the same without the Pulse of Aggieland being there to help us. I hope this never happens again! Brenda Toepfer Class of ‘88 :re to educate about tm I true diversity, 1 ’ sai din, president ofAf secretary for the Te# irty and a sophomore? chemistry major. e Instead! rope 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 1111TAMU College Station, Texas 77843 Campus Mail: 1111 Fax: (979) 845-2647 E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com Columns and letters appearing in The Battalion express the opinion of the au thors only. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of other Battalion staff mem bers, the Texas A&M student body, regents, administrators, faculty or staff. While bankruptcy reform is needed, this bill will hurt debtors more than it will help them. The bill will succeed in forc ing people to pay off their debts but will eliminate the fresh financial start that bankruptcy provides today. |“jneans system” to determine who is eligible for Chapter 7 and Chapter Ip bankruptcy. I Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows the filer’s unsecured debt to be wiped c ean, while Chapter 13 bankruptcy requires the repayment of most of the debt. I The “means system” will attempt to draw a line on a gray issue. Fami lies or individuals earning more than $51,000 a year will be forced to re pay their debts via Chapter 13 bankruptcy and those with a lower income will not have to repay their debts. I AFL-CIO President John Sweeney stated that the proposed act was “a feearlless attack on working families by powerful financial institutions.” I Reasons for filing for bankruptcy are different in every case. This line will undoubtedly force some into Chapter 13 bankruptcy who should not k there. I President Clinton, who plans to veto the bill if it passes in the Senate, issued a statement that says, “Under H.R. 833 (the Bankruptcy Reform Act), a debtor whose ability to repay according to the IRS formulas was even$l above the minimum threshold would have to demonstrate ‘extra ordinary circumstances’ in order to gain access to Chapter 7.” Instituting a zero tolerance policy is not the way to solve the rapidly rising bankruptcy rate problem. The new act will only increase the amount of money credit card companies collect. The legislation should target organizations that offer credit that con- r i -J- U zJ D D /«!' if***** •»V,» lisit —-“V i W - ** v W-v X 1 I f I i f VI 91VVII imife.i n rlppBEr JC/E SAjJKR^ O j c o o 9 § § I I 3/D2 \’A G A V jra. iJrjriL ANGELIQUE FORD/The Battalion tributes to the high bankruptcy rate. For example, at the beginning of every semester, students are cajoled and coerced into applying for new credit cards on campus. The idea of debt is relatively new to them and spending can easily get out of control. Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director of the U.S. Public Inter est Research Group, referring to a 1998 survey by the group, said, “Stu dents who obtained their cards at tables on campus had a higher balance and more difficulty paying off their card than those who obtained them with more thought.” This reckless credit card giveaway is done so that new cardholders can accumulate debt to the credit card company, so the company makes more money. According to the interest group Common Cause, companies such as Citigroup, Bank of America and Chase Manhattan Bank have donated more than $6 million to political candidates and their parties. This money might be the reason that the Bankruptcy Reform Act pri marily targets the individual filing for bankruptcy, rather than the compa ny that offers the “no-frills” low interest rate. Judge Joe Lee, a bankruptcy judge in Kentucky, said, “The target of bankruptcy reform should be the consumer credit industry and the laws governing extensions of consumer credit. .Instead, they are robbing the poor to enrich the rich.” Bankruptcy reform is meant to decrease the increasing number of peo ple filing for bankruptcy in the United States. Howevef, the current attempt to do so will not accomplish this. It will target the people rather than the companies responsible for allowing them tb accumulate such debt. Reid Bader is a junior political science major. I 5 A stronger force USS Cole tragedy indicates need for stronger American military presence abroad^ T wo weeks after a sur prise bomb ing crippled the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden, Americans are still strug gling to find an explanation for the incident. Seventeen sailors, many of them just starting their adult lives, are now dead. As the na tion mourns its loss, doubts about the United States’ overseas presence have begun to surface. In homes, barber shops and edi torial pages across the country, the debate has emerged — should the United States maintain such a visible presence around the globe? Although the men and women who gave their lives on the Cole are an enduring reminder of the inherent risks of such a strategy, the United States must maintain its pres ence abroad. It is clear that the Navy and other branches of the military must have adequate support if they are to carry out their mis sions safely. It is wrong for America to send its sons and daughters around the world without ade quate resources and protection. Although the attack on the Cole is now thought to have been an intricately planned and well-financed effort, the fact re mains that the warship should not have been placed at such high risk. Even though officials defend the use of Aden as a refueling port, the truth remains that the Cole was forced to refuel in a hostile port without reinforcements of any kind. Despite the Yemeni govern ment’s attempts to curry Western favor, its lack of control within its own borders has meant that Yemen is still, by and large, a lawless country. Tourists are frequently kid napped by bands of bandits, and harbors a number of terrorist groups, including groups with Palestinian, Sudanese, Libyan and Iraqi ties. A dozen other ships had safely refueled at Aden within the past 18 months, but two other U.S. vessels had aborted refueling operations be cause the risks were deemed too high. On the day the Cole entered Yemeni waters, a demonstration against Israelis and Americans was underway in Aden. U.S. Marine Coips Gen. Anthony Zinni admitted the Cole’s presence was more political than functional. enough oilers to station one in the Gulf of Aden. During the Clinton administra tion, the number of commissioned vessels in the U.S. Navy has shrunk from 435 to 311. Many of the decommissioned ships were tenders, support craft such as oilers and cargo carriers, that allowed the Navy to operate abroad without shoreside assistance. Now, American ships routinely take on fuel and provisions in for eign and sometimes less-than- friendly ports. “I don’t think you can run from “I thought we needed to do more engagement. If we do nothing and write these countries off, they are going to become massive sanctu aries [for terrorists],” he said. As the men and women aboard the USS Cole discovered, Yemen is already a hotbed of terrorist activity. Having a U.S. warship refuel off shore for a few hours every other month is not going to change that. Some have asked why the Cole was refueling in port, since the Navy has long had the capacity to refuel vessels at sea. Adm. Vem Clark, chief of naval operations, ex plained that the Navy does not have ADRIAN CALCANEO/The Battalion it,” Zinni said at a press conference last week. “The only safe place to refuel is on the east or west coasts of the United States.” Such a statement clearly illus trates the need for support vessels as a part of the U.S. fleet. Certainly, re fueling a warship would be safer if it were done by American naval per sonnel in a secure environment. American warships cannot always operate under an umbrella of com plete safety, but there are ways to re duce the number of threats sailors must face. In the aftermath of the Cold War, new threats have emerged to chal lenge American resolve. Although > they are not as visible as the Soviet * Union was, the Muammar Gaddafis, * Saddam Husseins, and Osama bin . Ladens of the world are still very * much a threat to American security • at home and abroad. The United States has the right idea, but it is going about it the wrong way. It cannot hide from in- ternational affairs if it wishes to re- md5n the most powerful nation in i the world. At the same time, it cannot con- - tinue to cut back on its military forces and stretch already-thin American lines even thinner across f the globe. The men and women of the < , USS Cole knew that the job they ' were doing was important. “He believed in what he was doing,” said the father of 19-year- old Joshua Parlett, an enginema/fireman killed aboard ] the Cole. To him and the other 16 sailors who gave their lives pro- ; tecting American freedom, this country shall be forever indebted, j As Thomas Jefferson noted, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” How can Americans expect to preserve their liberty if they are unwilling to pay the price of vig ilance? Hard decisions must be made, * but the United States can no longer afford to rely on its pres tige to defend it from attack. Strength in the past will not make this nation immune to the dangers of the future. Another American statesman, Benjamin Franklin, understood this well. “They that are on their guard and appear ready to receive their ad- ' versaries,” he said, “are in much less danger of being attacked than < the supine, secure and negligent.” America must strengthen its po sitions abroad, not only for the na- ; tion’s defense, but also for the de- ) fense of its defenders. i Nicholas Roznovsky is a senior