Thursday, October 2(1,
ay, October 26, 2000
Page 5B
Jl.
THE BATTALION
: opposed to shopping onlii
icy was the greatest cod'/
of Internet users agreed thatp
e put their privacy at risijjt
found is that almost no oj
ernment monitoring us,”ft
raid corporations are watclii
signing
tition urging rethinking of Bonfire changes should be supported
]ues
esearchers said the survey
f 2 percentage points.
idge
ijects ple<
s the anniver-
sary of the 1999
vpes to continue the studyAggie Bonfire
ears in an effort to address: liapse looms near,
he technology. lotions are running
rector of the Pew Interne While many stu-
ject, said the report suppor nts are watching
the Internet is a tool thatyrdevelopments of
it isolates. The Fire Burn-
e evidence that people nii;(KTFB), one per-
distance friendships onli# s working for change through politi-
llvenues. Defying the administration
ly was funded by the Nad ^ ilot § et an y° ne anywhere, but a politi-
m as well as America On jjhaHenge, if conducted tactfully, could
)rp., the Walt Disney Co. ? | i ^ SU d S ’ , ., ,
j -a »ecky Bartschmid, a sophomore tour-
i no Questions were mfli»| m ^ is he . ltling J effort an J d de .
rJcs to be commended.
■Jnlike the efforts of KTFB,
Hschmid’s efforts take a political route
Matting a petition for a compromise on
Suture of Aggie Bonfire. While a rene-
de bonfire will do little more than upset
Administration, efforts by Bartschmid
ill have to be reckoned with. Bartschmid
hot defying the administration, but try-
Ito find common ground.
■he argues that a two-year suspension
1 (Bonfire will greatly endanger its evolu-
I CTT1 naSSV n Signers of the petition agree that the
«. W J. A A JJj t] .j ct j ons t00 an( j believe a
^ # Iddle ground must be found.
YW r\ 1<T ' B e fb re blindly following and agreeing
UlllUlllt ith Bowen’s decision, students must re-
O |niber that Bowen is the same person
l-.W YORK (AP) —Ajuiiai)p U 5]]cly declared to the media that if
ted a guilty plea ot a de:; | Special Commission found any fault
in the I S. embassy boiiAthe administration led to,the collapse,
case after the man saidfep/ould step down,
innocent but wanted:‘Students also need to remember that
! guiltv to avoid the hum: e ^ministration did contribute to one of
of a lengthy trial l man y factors of the tragedy, and
adih El Hageisoneof fc nisstill 11 here ' t ,
> -h'lro in th > |# 1 T he cancellation of student cut and a
L L i , c mlti-tiered Bonfire can be considered ex-
)in T s 011 1 nn ‘ lssk 'essivechanges. This was not necessarily
a and 1 an/ama, "' iclhservative decision, but an excessive
224 people, includingi , n | t bat was made to please the media and
leans. F.ight of those indihe country, notA&M students. However,
; fugitives. pme decisions made by the administra-
S, District Judge Leonaon were needed. Bonfire needs to have
asked El Hage onTwsT
offered to plead
he believed he is guilty
replied, “No, someot
nate reasons.”
Hage, charged with conspi , , ,, ,
,id he saw no chance 10.1" the wake of the tragic terrorist
,e and dreaded daily lripi| attac 1 k on the USS Cole last
.. . • LiAweek, many questions remain
stmts m cold holding^ is responsible f or
! te attack? What type of explosives
secutoi s i efei to El Hage, | re use( j9 pf ow (ju the terrorists
ssociate and tormerpew etso c | ose {0 q ie s bjp unnoticed?
etary ot Osama bin Lade|| n , t b ere is the most important
udi millionaire accused |i est j on 0 f a ip which the Clinton
ininistration has refused to answer
estly:
/hat was the Cole doing in Aden, Yemen, in the first
f all the nations on the Arabian peninsula, Yemen is
ar the most hostile to the United States. Yemen sup-
:ed Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War, and has been known
hive of terrorist activity. A State Department official
referred to Yemen as the “wild west of the Arabian
insula.”
3en. Anthony Zinni, former head of United States Cen-
Command (CENTCOM), told the Senate Armed Ser-
;s Committee that Yemen was a “sieve of terrorists.”
still, the Clinton administration saw fit to park a U.S.
troyer in an unfriendly port for refueling. Seventeen
/icemen and servicewomen will never come home
in as a result of the Clinton administration’s latest
se of military forces.
The Clinton administration has repeatedly used this
iiscuss these opportunities. * H)n ’ s overstretched and underpaid armed forces as a
ovided. If you are unable® F thin g’ then fails t0 g ive lhe military the support it
or visit our website i^ s ' administration’s actions in the wake of the
ole tragedy have underscored this pitiful habit of de-
oy and decry one last time.
[U.S. Navy vessels have been refueling in Yemen
the past 18 months in an attempt to “open up
nen,” according to a State Department official,
ini in his testimony claimed that he made the deci-
n to start the refueling trips to Yemen when he was
[pharge of CENTCOM, and claimed that the port of
n was as safe, if not safer than any other port in
_ _ _ J e g ion -
pinni’s attempt to fall on his sword and deflect blame
^ Drive p those who deserve it is honorable, but does not
more supervision. More time needs to go
into finding and agreeing on a structural
design, and more monitoring of students
and their behavior is a must.
participants are informed of before partici
pating. If a student cut and more student
involvement can be reinstated, it can be
done with minimal risk.
Bartschmid argues that A&M should
have some type of student cut. Student
Body President Forrest Lane in a Battal
ion article earlier this month defended the
administration’s decision on cut.
He said that because most of the in
juries and accidents in the history of Bon
fire occurred during cut, its elimination is
justified. Yet those injuries are a risk that
More Aggies have been injured at par
ties, or driving, yet that is acceptable and
taken with a grain of salt. People accept
risk when they get up every morning. Par
ticipating in Bonfire is no different; there
are risks, and that is part of life.
Now, as the future of Bonfire is in peril,
the ones with a voice are the Class of ‘04
and transfer students that have not partici
pated in a Bonfire. Basically, anyone from
the Classes ‘03 and before, as far as peo
ple are concerned, are all tainted.
One reason the two-year suspension
was instated was to allow previous
thoughts and actions concerning Bonfire
to leave the system. Transfers, freshmen
and future students have not been tainted
by the Bonfire philosophies of past.
If students make their voices heard, the
University will not and cannot turn a blind
eye to them forever. The more students
push for what they believe in, the more the
former students will support those efforts.
Do it the right way. Do it politically, do
not defy the administration. Negotiate
with it and provided the student body with
a voice to be reckoned with.
The administration was overwhelmed
by the media, and in doing so, made an ul
traconservative decision. It forgot what is
important: the students.
The Senate has formally declared its
support of Bowen’s decision, speaking on
behalf of all the students. It is not doing its
job; it is not representing the student
body— nor is Lane, they are being pup
pets of the administration, not serving the
students as they were elected to. Political
correctness should not be taken at the stu
dents’ expense.
Bonfire 2000 is a bad idea, but Bonfire
2001 is not. It is possible; after all, A&M
is one of the best engineering colleges in
the nation.
The Empire State Building was built in
a year, so students with ample professional
supervision undoubtedly would be able to
build a stack of logs safely. There can be a
cut, though it needs considerable supervi
sion. There need to be cutbacks, but not
eliminations. A further compromise can be
met. Few students want Bonfire to be can
celed altogether, but few want the scaled-
back version in which only a select few
are allowed to participate.
If change occurs, it should be done
through politics, like a petition, not
through defiance.
Andy Hancock is a senior
journalism major.
Unworthy risk American military neglected, abused
minding the attacks.
r & People
Translating Sales
Network^
Project Analp
Technical
louse
5000
d with
ucs
illege Station.
ns, Inc.
TX 77845
com
wash. Any decision made about adding ports of call
must be approved by both the Defense Department and
the State Department; in this case, Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright had requested that such an idea be
considered.
Any claim that Aden was the safest available port is a
farce. Ports of call previously used by the Navy include
Naples, Italy; Alexandria, Egypt; Jeddah and Dammam,
Saudi Arabia; and Manama, Bahrain — the headquar
ters of U.S. Navy forces in the Persian Gulf. Zinni
claimed that Jeddah and Dammam were especially
risky.
Then, there is the most impor
tant question of all, which the
Clinton administration has re
fused to answer honestly: What
was the Cole doing in Aden,
Yemen, in the first place?
The days of Teddy Roosevelt’s “Great White Fleet”
are over. Military forces should be committed only under
the most serious of circumstances with a clearly defined
objective, not on a political whim. This administration,
more than any other, is guilty of abusing the military.
It started in 1993, with the botched attempt at “na
tion-building” in Somalia. The operation in Haiti was
deemed a “success” by the Clinton administration, since
the supporters of living martyr Jean-Bertrand Aristide
— “our guy” — are now the ones doing the killing. Iraq
has been used as a punching bag whenever Clinton’s
personal peccadillos have gotten him into trouble —
Iraq was bombed one day after Clinton’s infamous
“apology” speech for his involvement with Monica
Lewinsky and the day he was impeached.
The use of force in Bosnia and Kosovo has not ac
complished any concrete objectives, but has merely
caused the population to wait for foreign forces to leave
before letting ancient fueds erupt again.
Perhaps the reason the Clinton administration is hap
py to repeatedly send underpaid, undermanned units on
Quixotic crusades is its lack of respect for the armed
forces. The current commander-in-chief wrote of his
“disdain for the military uniform,” in his famous letter
to Yale’s ROTC commander after his draft deferment.
His sentiments seem to.be echoed by his political ap
pointees, who have shown contempt for the military
uniform with their actions.
When the Voice of America (VGA) wrote an editori
al that it intended to broadcast to the world decrying the
cowardly use of terrorism, the State Department (which
oversees VGA broadcasts) shot it down.
An unnamed State Department official wrote in a
memo that was leaked to the media that “The 17 or so
dead sailors does not compare to the 100+ Palestinians
who have died in recent weeks,” and demanded that
VGA “take the edge off.”
Once the memo was public, the State Department
had a change of heart. Spokesman Richard Boucher is
sued a statement calling the memo “wrong” and saying
that it “in no way reflects the views of... the department
or the bureau of Near Eastern affairs.” It is tough to be
lieve that, considering how the Clinton administration
has repeatedly shown disdain for the armed services.
The Austin American-Statesman was correct in its
Oct. 22 editorial, which stated, “The (Clinton) adminis
tration’s national defense policies are nothing to brag
about.” Some feel that since Clinton is about to leave
office, such offenses can be overlooked. This cannot be
done, especially when considering that A1 Gore has al
ready stated his intentions to continue Clinton’s defense
and foreign policies.
The military is not a toy. Individuals in uniform are
brave human beings who should benefit from the re
spect of all Americans, especially those in government.
The Clinton administration has repeatedly abused the
armed forces through needless deployments and then
stabbed them in the back with a lack of support.
When those being dumped on are in uniform, the of
fense should be deemed downright criminal.
Mark Passwaters is a senior
electrical engineering major.
Cyberlaw
Development of Internet
laws should be encouraged
T he Internet has been de
scribed as many things:
a land of opportunity,
the information superhigh
way, the ultimate free-enter
prise system, a capitalist’s
utopia and a place where any
thing goes.
All are accurate, and for the
most part, this is a good thing.
However, too much of a good thing could be a bad
thing.
The Internet has afforded all people incredible
opportunities, and according to some critics, that
is the problem. With every door that the Internet
opened for a small business or an individual in
vestor, another door opened for those seeking to
abuse the freedom the Internet has to offer.
In recent years, the number of Internet fraud
cases that have gone to court has skyrocketed.
Less blatant forms of Internet abuse are also
widespread.
A remedy for this problem is
the speed with which law
schools are teaching this new
form of law. The efforts of the
legal community to quickly
teach and create these laws
and the intricacies that they
contain should be applauded,
endorsed and hurried along.
WED
Nov 1
3hem 102
Ch. 20
7hem 101
Ch. 10
^hys 218
Ch. 8
^hem 228
Prac test
Belle
Chem 102
THUR
jtodggie Band missing
icause of finances
^ \n response to Brenda Toepfer’s Oct
Mail Call.
Jam a senior in B-Company in the
Practesuwi ^j n - y exas Aggie Band. The reason
Aggie Band was “missing in action'
|s strictly financial.
It is my understanding that it cost
und $150,000 for just the upper-
$smen to travel to the Notre Dame
ne this fall. Believe me, the Aggie
d would have loved to attend that
ne, but we can only afford one of
se types of trips per year,
o, I apologize for your disappoint-
Mail Call
Chem 10 1
CH.11A
Phys 210
Ch.9
ment, but unless you happen to have a
large wad of cash just lying around,
these football games will have to go on
without the Pulse of Aggieland.
Roy Toone
Class of ‘01
Fetus displays justified
In response to Brad Burris’Oct. 25 Mail
Call.
Burris asks the question of those
hanging the posters “Is your objective
to dissuade young women from abor
tion by any means necessary?"
Although I have not personally been
involved in the hanging of posters, I ap
plaud those who are actively involved in
trying to protect and save human life.
Consider for a moment that your
personal view equates abortion with
murder, and that an unborn child has
an inherent right to life. Would you not
then be required by your convictions to
dissuade others from performing such
a heinous act, even if it meant offend
ing someone or causing someone to
feel uncomfortable?
And why does it offend you? Is it be
cause you are offended by all clumps
of mass and tissue that are torn apart,
and you can therefore never again par
ticipate in a biology dissection lab? Or
is it the thought that the picture you
see is a human child, and that as a
proud member of the “socially accept
able” pro-choice crowd, your mind re
fuses to acknowledge the fact that
what is seen is a fraction of the geno
cide of innocent children?
If you were forced to concede that a
fetus is actually a human child, then
you would have no choice but to view
abortion as murder.
I think the posters offend you be
cause you cannot look at them without
seeing an innocent baby.
You are not required to feel the
same as those opposing abortion, but
at least respect those who are stand
ing up for what they feel is right.
Kevin Kennedy
Class of ‘01
With companies like America Online, Ama
zon.com and many online brokerage firms using
the Internet as their primary means of conducting
business, countless numbers of disputes arise and
are settled in the courts. These things are in
evitable.
A remedy for this problem is the speed with
which law schools are teaching this new form of
law. The efforts of the legal community to quickly
teach and create these laws and the intricacies that
they contain should be applauded, endorsed and
hurried along.
Law can be perceived as a well-grounded and
slowly changing discipline. After all, many argu
ments presented by attorneys revolve around deci
sions made by other courts concerning similar is
sues years ago.
With disputes concerning the Internet, lawyers
rarely are afforded that task or privilege. When the
laws of the pre-Internet world are applied to Inter
net cases, the logic is sometimes morphed along
the way or totally inapplicable.
Three years ago, there were 15 to 20 Internet
law courses taught at the 196 law schools affiliat
ed with the Association of American Law Schools,
according to Pamela Samuelson, a leading cyber
law scholar at the University of California-
Berkley School of Law.
Today, it is estimated that the number has
swelled fivefold. Students study this subject for
practicality and self-interest. Internet law is hot
and in high demand.
This is also a revolutionary time in the field of
law. Samuelson said, “I tell my students, if you
like stable stuff, this course is not for you. If you
would like to see the law in formation, see the
forces that will affect how the law develops, this is
a good course.”
Law students graduating with a specialization
in cyberlaw will not only be pioneers in the field,
but will also have played a significant role in the
creation of the law itself.
The importance of a solid platform for cyber
law to build on can be seen in recent events. Less
than a month ago, 16-year-old Jonathan Lebed
was prosecuted by the Securities Exchange Com
mission (SEC) for manipulating stock prices on
the Internet.
Lebed used Yahoo finance message boards to
spread fabricated good news about stocks he al
ready owned in hopes that others would buy the
same stocks and cause the price to rise. The task at
hand was drawing the line between simply being
devious and breaking the law.
The technicalities in the case were wrongful
ly ignored. Lebed sent between 200 and 300
identical messages on Yahoo under different
user identifications.
Therefore, when a visitor to the site read sev
eral of the same messages, the impression was
that different people held a positive consensus on
the stock.
The issue of Yahoo allowing an infinite number
of user identifications or accounts for a single user
was ignored.
The framework needed to handle cases' like
Lebed’s is in desperate need. Without them,
judgments and verdicts will be handed out based
on archaic rulings and criteria that play a rela
tively insignificant role in the heart of the matter
at hand.
The massive undertaking by law schools na
tionwide to begin the teaching and creation of
this new Internet law is necessary and should be
encouraged.
Luke McMahan is a senior
industrial engineering major.