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Page 11
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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.