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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2000)
1 iday, Decemk. December 1,2000 THE BATTALION wo separate worlds Ishops should not use religious status to influence abortion politics ;cently, ^'nearly 300 [bishops limously foved a posi- 1 statement Icalls for a titutional Jndment ling abortion.” u. to THEBii’ilAlthough Cathleen Cleaver, rnes andVS 1 ^ head of the bishop's anti- i involvesiffhon secretariat, acknowl- ) of readr Slgcd that “the chances of a con ditional amendment were y dote,” it is their influences that !i| matter here. heir opinions on the issue of rtion could influence many 1 llP/l ma ^ ers - tllvdl While this is an important is- , it does not need to be about nging any laws. . tors, respo’ijrhe Constitution, as well as its ndments, defines rules that ain to all people in this country. .'tunngano: jd Friday, bur-year i iIk jobI‘^ an Christians are quick to ofinvkinjfft out abortion goes tga nst beliefs regarding murder, e vearbefB not t * ie on *y Christian a\c noteB 116 that is involved here, nil artsderfl^ 1 * 8 i ssu e involves honesty, cpansioi ^ fighting abortions likely mpanies-B' e not been in a situation where ‘mployee\By had to deal with having a xpected: .child created by rape, nt, an incraBHow can these people truly say e levels. bBy know what they would eported:: choose to do if they were in that hiring-f Ikwuon? It is probable that nei- id compm® r the bishops nor their support- ohavehaJB can sa y w jth certainty what will conii t |ly wou i ( j ho. ding tote® ■ more mod® But honesty is most important in realizing that this procedure is never going to be ended. For some people, it is merely the choice of a doctor’s office or illegal “back alley” clinic. One is clean and safe, and the other is not — Americans should not make the “back alley” the only choice for someone. This issue involves having to understand the decision of others and respecting that the choices people make about their bodies are not something that laws can These bishops are using status as a political machine to influence a change to the Constitution, the very thing that defines their religion as something sepa rate from laws in this country. be made for. Abortion involves one person and her body and it is wrong for the bishops to support mundane laws to govern such a personal is sue. There are no laws on eating disorders, but they are killing people. Millions of Americans are ruining their bodies, but no one — including the bishops — is urging regulation against it. A possible reason is because, technically, their bodies belong to them and what they choose for themselves is their right. Like it or not, unborn babies are a part of a woman’s bodies. They are not independent — without the mother’s body, the baby would die. There are no laws against women who smoke, drink or mal- nourish their bodies while they are pregnant. It would have been fitting if the bishops had kept this in mind when they drafting their position statement. Mothers are causing life- threatening problems for their children, but no one is stop ping them. Their decision is not any one else’s decision, and abor tion should not be, either. Granted, the idea of us ing abortion as a form of birth control method should be ended. But there are emergen cies, and there needs to be a safe way to deal with them. Abortion is not the right choice for everyone, but it should remain a choice. Abortion is an issue in Amer ica — religion is an issue in America. Other than that, the two should not be related in opinion forming and law-making. Melissa Bedsole is a junior psychology major. RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion ale, suclu see their GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT. ...VF/OU WWiTTO SET AN ABORTION! 5 lost in column In response to Nicholas Roznovsky’s Nov. 28 column. | After reading Roznovsky’s opinion column, I was appalled. 1 There were so many things wrong with what was being said. ! Instantly, my blood boiled and my anger rose. I I agree that in many ways, businesses begin the annual hol- iday shopping frenzy early. Every year it seems to start sooner I than the year before. But for many, it is not an an- 1 noyance. Those of us who do celebrate the winter holidays en- joy it. It is the one time of the ear when we all rush to the de partment stores to buy presents nd search for the perfect Christ inas tree. But it is also the one time of year when everyone is friendly to one another and giving. Despite the presents and lights, it reminds us that it is not r j the gifts we get or who has the srO best-decorated house, but that it is our friends and family that matter. Christmas does not carry with it limitations. Yes, Christians observe ad vent only four weeks out of the year, but we celebrate the rea son for the season the whole year round. Our joy of being alive and our happiness of knowing that we are saved because of Christ’s birth and death prevails and stays in our hearts and minds for eternity. It is too big to be contained in four weeks. A celebration of eternal life does not work that way. There is no moderation for the joy of salvation. As Christians, how can we not be excited about Christmas every day? It should not be an annual event. It should be a con tinuous lifetime celebration that lives in our hearts and spills over into our everyday lives. That is the sanctity of Christ mas that we need to preserve. Tracey Petway 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 opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, style, and accu racy. Letters may be submitted in person at 014 Reed McDonald with a valid stu dent 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 opinions of other Battalion staff members the Texas A&M student body, regents, administrators, faculty or staff. ii r- No hard feelings Bush should appoint Democrats to Cabinet A ssuming the elec toral sit uation in Flori da remains as it is now, Gov. George W. Bush will have his hands full as the 43 rd president of the United States. He will be the third president in history to be inaugurated after los ing the popular vote, and he will have won with a single electoral vote to spare. As a result, Bush cannot come in and play hardball with the De mocrats immediately. Such a move would destroy his chances of accomplishing anything of substance. There are a number of ways, however, that Bush could come to an accommodation with the oppos ing party. Doing so would not only help him in the eyes of the public, but make it easier fot him to gain sup port for his agenda. In many countries, this situation would be settled by having the leader appoint a coalition govern ment, placing members of smaller parties in the Cabinet to ensure their support. Such a scenario would never work in this country, and the De mocrats in Washington appear to be in no mood to negotiate. It would, however, be politically prudent for Bush to appoint a De mocrat or two to his Cabinet for a number of reasons. It would be a good public rela tions move, and would buttress Bush’s claim that he is a uniter and him chances in obtaining the sup port of more moderate Democrats for his agenda. Although the majority of Amer icans believe Bush won the presi dency fairly and would accept him as chief executive, that does not mean that they endorsed his plans for the country. Even though his loss in the pop ular vote was by less than one-half of 1 percent, more than 300,000 more people supported A1 Gore than Bush. Bush mentioned that he was “a uniter, not a divider” during the campaign. If he finally does become presi dent, his record in Texas will go out the window with the Clintons’ laundry. He must now prove himself on the national stage. Appointing De mocrats to the Cabinet could not hurt. , , That being said, these Democ rats would have to be pragmatic, not interested in furthering their own political career and willing to work with a member of the op posing party for the country’s benefit. One possibility is Sam Nunn, the former senator from Georgia. Nunn is being considered for the position of secretary of defense. If Bush could convince Nunn to serve, in spite of his statements that he has no interest in the job, it would be an even larger coup for Bush. Though he has been scorned for voting against the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Nunn was the head of the Senate Armed Service Com mittee and has an extensive back ground in military-affairs. It is almost certain that he would do a better job than William Cohen, the Republican secretary of defense under Presi dent Clinton. Cohen has been unwilling to make a stand for the best interests of those in uniform for four years. and his reputation has suffered as a result. Nunn is known for his princi ples and appears to have no further political ambitions. This would make him a perfect fit. Bush would be wise to find an other Democrat, probably from the South, who leans to the conserva tive side. Once again, it would have to be someone who has had his time in the limelight and is now interested in just helping his country. It may be difficult for Bush to find a conservative Southern De mocrat. Most people who once fit that description are now called Republicans. In any case, he and Dick Ch eney should have their eyes and ears open for a possible fit. Once Bush has found his token Democrats, he must be careful not to push too hard on some of his is sues too quickly. Social Security and Medicare are the “now” topics, and it is pos sible that Bush could find some support for his agendas on those is sues from a few Derrfocrats in the House and Senate. Passage of some sort of legisla tion on these issues, no matter how watered-down, would give the public the impression that Bush can indeed work across par ty lines. Once Bush has successfully gained the trust and support of the public, he can then move forward on issues that made him popular with the Republican base. In other words, tax cuts. He must be cautious not to appear like this is No. 1 on his wish list, or he will be condemned to at least two years (and probably four) of grid lock. Once he has addressed issues where there is bipartisan support, he.can be more daring. Bush’s job as the next president will not be as difficult as a blind man’s in a minefield, but it will be tough. To make things easier on him self, he needs to at least make the appearance of being willing to deal with the Democrats. Appointing a couple of them ; to his Cabinet and working with them on selected issues could dd the trick. Once he has killed them with ► kindness, he can then try simply * killing them (in a legislative sense, of course.) I Mark Passwaters is a senior electrical engineering majdf. It would, however, be politically prudent for Bush to appoint a Democrat or two to his Cabinet for a number of reasons.