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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2000)
s day, Novel Page 11 arg vy, saidtj ws becaiij vVec nesday, November 1, 2000 THE BATTALION MOKING IN ALASKA ovement to legalize marijuana harmful to law enforcement efforts lybody," Jestionki 'olice of the reasoi iBruno the grand that dei iree eyes.; 2y hit tti; 1 to retupi Jjhe grajiB -elcome to Io'eha\»lA /the United led my m ? States of 5 atenio': Amerijuana, the ' said.rrMtential future h. of Alaska after :y willfeHe election Tues- hy FitzrMy. A proposal vifieda fo the general- painful liled legalization unions, ;of marijuana is on the ballot. If the repeatet'proposition passes, it will deal a lice sad (Substantial blow to drug enforce- vhite, le:|jent in the United States by mak- ^■g drug importing and consuming llgal for all in Alaska. I A poll conducted by the Gallup j ■rganization this year found that j 1 ai overwhelming majority of I IdWmericans oppose the generalized llgalization of marijuana, while, at m'lw e same time, the majority sup- ^Ull'P (,rts the legalization for medici- ^ rial purposes. I The Alaskan proposition could conflict with federal laws concern ing the apprehension and prosecu- : ■ ()n of Criminals involving marijua- -“■a. Under the proposition in Alaska, pleaded ■ row j n g an( j consum i n g marijuana jmeaiion^Qyij | e g a | j.- or an y 0ne over of 18. It would also give 1 niSmiesty to those with marijuana-re- e l ^mted convictions. tpoogiB* | aw en f orcement problems j.jhat would arise would undoubtedly er H reate anot her battle over states’ •s ofpt a-hshts. In an article appearing in The H e i®j uarc h an (London) this month, ,'isi : x Tommy Knowles, governor of Alas- i th^H ca ’ cr hicizes the proposition as fool- ant i dangerous for a state where y alcoholism and other addictions ave done much harm to residents, fl the proposal passes, addicts nd dealers would flock to Alaska, rearing a port of import and export sentencuif or the drug and another battle front gain." In the war on drugs. ;lfour’sa This is not the beginning of the hadaskec lattle over marijuana in Alaska, jresent si izes rthek fouttol(| officers s arrest, Before 1990, it was legal to con sume and possess up to 4 ounces of the narcotic at home. In 1990, a ballot initiative to recriminalize marijuana use passed with only 8 percent of the vote. In 1998, a proposition made the drug legal for medicinal purposes. Legitimate arguments are being made by supporters of the hemp movement. One long-time supporter of the effects of cannabis is country singer Willie Nelson. In the October issue of Details magazine, Nelson asserts that marijuana and exercise are part of his daily routine. “I don’t want to call it a drug — an herb is not a drug,” said Nelson. “It’s good for stress, which is the biggest killer on the planet.” Wanda Carp, treasurer of the Hemp2000 campaign in Alaska, was quoted in a wire story from Reuters as saying, “There’s 50,000 uses and everyone tries to focus on only one of them.” Hemp2000 is one of a handful of organizations in Alaska campaigning for the proposition. While hemp can make products ranging from clothes to rope to beauty products, its most distinct feature is the effects the drug caus es. If the Alaskan proposition pass es, it will considerably set back the national government’s war on drugs. It also could begin a states’ rights battle for years to come and would allow people between the ages of 18 and 21 who cannot legal ly consume alcohol to get stoned. How many people will grow mari juana for the sole purpose of mak ing useful products? This proposition would leave the government searching for ways to fight the infiltration of marijuana into the continental United States. Andrew Hancock is a senior journalism major. lem. tar Wars flashbacks einstatement of Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative wasteful, unlikely to work ^he resurgence of go-go boots and bell-bottoms a lew years ago has Voven that fads tend to pcycle themselves. The [e-emergence of John Travolta and the resur rection of Woodstock Ve further proof that NICHOLAS ROZNOVSKY mencans find it hard to leave the past ehind. Whether it is a new appreciation °r the past or mere nostalgia, every once n a while society says, “That was a great dea. Let’s bring it back.” Such is the view of the U.S. govern- atent on one of the defining budgetary Sunders of the 1980s, the Strategic De- e nse Initiative (SDI). More commonly eferred to as “Star Wars,” the SDI pro- sram sought to create a networked system of ground and space-based lasers to pro- « ij tect the United States from a Soviet nu- 11 c l ear attack. First proposed by President • Ronald Reagan in 1983, the program stirred up much debate in Congress before 4 was linally scaled back by President George Bush in 1991. Since then, the pro gram has puttered around the Defense De partment, a remnant of the Cold War look- ln g for a purpose in the new world order. But now, much like Travolta and Woodstock, the program is getting a sec 15 JS ond lease on life. In the midst of a Social Security crisis, conventional military shortfalls and a concerted effort to bal ance the budget, the most visible symbol of the free-spending Reagan administra tion has been resurrected from the grave. The problem is that the system is no more feasible now than it was 17 years ago. It is time for the U.S. government to give up on this Cold War science-fiction fantasy and move on. SDI began its return to prominence in 1994 when Republicans included the cre ation of a national missile defense system in their “Contract With America.” With North Korea, Iran and a number of other anti-American countries developing bal listic missile technology throughout the 1990s, the SDI program gradually re gained bipartisan support in Congress. Last year, Clinton signed a congressional bill making the creation of missile defense system the official policy of the United States. The legislation specifically calls the missile defense system to be con structed in Alaska as soon as possible. An other plan under consideration would en large the force and necessitate a second launch facility in North Dakota. Now that SDI is back in the spotlight, the cracks that doomed it in the ‘80s have begun to show up again. Throughout the history of the SDI pro gram, the main argument against it has re mained the same — the system is not fea sible. Renamed from the start by critics as Reagan’s “Buck Rodgers Ray-Gun De fense System,” the SDI has many techno logical obstacles that have yet to be hur dled by the program’s designers. In 1988, a congressional report stated that the SDI system would likely suffer a “catastrophic failure” in its “first (and pre sumably) only use.” Today, tests of the missile defense system have failed to in still confidence in Congress. Scientists have abandoned the 1980s idea of laser- based defense for the more conventional notion of projectiles, but the system failed two of its first three tests, including an embarrassing failure in July that cost the United States more than $100 million. The Ballistic Missile Defense Organi zation, which heads up SDI research and development, says that failures are com monplace when new weapons systems are developed, citing the development of the Atlas and Minuteman One programs as examples. Some members of Congress, however, have their doubts. “The problem with a national defense missile defense,” said Sen. Joseph Biden, “is how to deploy it without sacrificing other interests that we value greatly.” With an estimated $75 billion already Liberal arts important part of Education, deserve support [ In response to Jennifer Ramby’s Oct 30 column r In the fourth part of Blurred Vision, Jennifer Ramby stated frier opposition to parts of Vision 2020, particularly to any at tempt to strengthen the liberal arts program. She stated that | many students do not want a liberal arts education and Friat “changing the basic foundations of a University alters l|rie kinds of students it draws.” She went on to argue that ■mis could have “long term effects on what it means to be an mie." While it is true that the “typical Aggie” is not a liberal Karts major, there are many that are. Being an engineering Mail Call major does not make a person more of an Aggie or a better Aggie, just as being a liberal arts major does not make a per son less of one. Strengthening the liberal arts program here at A&M would not change the kinds of students it draws, it would merely better their education. Students come to A&M because they possess an intangible spirit and desire to be a part of the Aggie community. This makes us a diverse popu lation, and that is something that should be embraced, not looked down upon. Liberal arts students are not atypical Ag gies. They are just Aggies, and by creating a stronger pro gram, the administration would be opening the doors to more people with that same spirit. Surely good Ags can like music and art, too. Amanda Brown Class of ’02 spent on research and development and at least $60 billion earmarked for the con struction of the system, a completed SDI system will cost Americans more than the development of the stealth bomber and the Manhattan Project combined. It is a lot to cough up for a system that has yet to work more than once. “Can it be done?” asked Federation of American Scientists policy analyst John Pike. “Yes. Can it be done reliably? Ap parently not.” Another issue that has dogged the pro gram since the Reagan administration is the*feffect it would have on international re lations. Although, SDI supporters are quick to claim that the program applied pressure that brought down the Soviet Union, the plain truth is that internal problems, not a group of scientists designing a pipe dream in America, doomed the USSR. Many critics say that an SDI system will cause a new arms race, this time with China, India, Pakistan and Iran taking the Soviet Union’s place. “The Red Chinese don’t want to be in the situation where we can blow them up and they can’t blow us up,” said Pike. “They’re a big country and don’t want to be pushed around by America.” Russia, Great Britain, Germany and France are opposed to an American defense system, saying that the development of the !V\tk!E system violates the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Mis sile Treaty and undermines international peace efforts. The British House of Com mons Foreign Affairs committee recom mended that the United States “seek other ways of reducing the threats it perceives.” Last week, America brokered a tenta tive deal with North Korea to abandon its long-range ballistic missile program in exchange for satellite technology. With one act of diplomacy, the United States managed to negate a threat to its security without spending one-tenth of $1 trillion. In the end, Secretary of State Madeliene ’ Albright managed to do what hundreds of American scientists have been trying to do for nearly two decades — stop the threat of North Korean missiles striking the American coast. Apparently, America can secure peace without building a big ger gun. Perhaps someday when Americans dri ve flying cars and have robot housekeep ers, they can look back and say “SDI — that was a good idea. Let’s try it again.” Perhaps in the future it will be technologi cally, economically and politically feasi ble. Until then, it should remain in the closet with all the other fads whose time has passed. Nicholas Roznovsky is a senior politi cal science major.