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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2001)
Wednesday, February 7,2001 Opinion Page 5B THE BATTALION Turn down that noise! •>nh9tto - wing 1 pos- i -nail: z)stal =)pm, Joint noise taskforce targets students y wastes resources ( n an effort to keep the commu nity reasonably quiet, the Col- l lege Station Police Department (CSPD) and the University Police Department (UPD) have decided to permanently continue the Loud Party and Alcohol Enforcement Task Force, a unit designed to is sue citations to residents who have ap/i/e , Ml • looks. I 5. Call 1 r work- Call ’ iy pure otheii,-' ily Intel- )0. Call spring. ml iutil- I3-2984. ; to cam- nBiyan, t250/mo. 1 tierldryer,, noker, to 8 or 255-! i 268-0989. available. iugli-a-lot1l 5pm-9pm), Sal(10am- otAmerica. ■ allowed by Show-up loud parties and disturb their neighbors. The task force consists of three teams, each composed of one CSPD officer and one UPD officer. Although each officer in the task force has volun teered to work overtime, this unit is a waste of re sources that could be used for more important en deavors. If the officers employed by CSPD and UPD are incapable of taking care of noise violations nd related offenses during their normal working ours, perhaps the local police departments should ire officers capable of performing these duties. According to a statement released by CSPD on an. 19, the task force “has proven its effective- liess.’’ This statement is supported by the number of itations that were issued by the task force last se- I hpster; 212 citations for disorderly conduct, 605 for I Icohol violations, 95 arrests and 23 warnings. m While the stats prove there are a number of noise liolations occurring in the community, it does not demonstrate that the task force was successful. If trie task force were truly successful, then there iould be fewer noise violations occurring, and, aver time, the problem would diminish. Instead of attempting to actually solve the problem by mediat- i|g the situation and building an understanding be tween the police and violators, the police point to the large numbers of citations they have given to )rove the task force's success. I The College Station community does have resi dents who are not college students. These individu- tls deserve the right to sleep on the weekends and should not have to call the police to report noise vi tiations. However, drunken college students do get olid on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and, isyi result, police must be called out on occasion to :alm the situation and break up out of control par ies. Does this really require a special task force? mCSPD and UPD are ignorant if they believe stu- erits are so unreasonable that they refuse to quiet ivn at a police officer’s requests. While there are occasional situations when individuals must be giv en citations, most of the time students are willing to comply with the police’s requests. If officers are ableto simply disband the party and/or provide warnings, in most cases the issue can be settled quickly and without incident. However, in most cases over the past semester, the task force chose to issue citations rather than warnings as the law suggests as an alternative in normal situations. By issuing 212 citations and only 23 warnings, the task force boosted the numbers that were then used to support the program’s continued existence. In a Battalion article regarding the task force on Jan. 26, a University of Texas-Austin law professor was quoted as saying that selective enforcement of noise violations is unfair because a low number of warnings were issued. He said that issuing a citation without a warning is legal, but the law says there should be a reason for such action. The CSPD release defended the task force by saying that “a decrease in loud-party complaints means that more police officers are available to han dle other responsibilities, such as patrolling for bur glars and responding to in-progress-type calls.” Perhaps a better solution would be to spend the money and manpower dedicated to the noise-level task force and apply them toward these other re sponsibilities. By concentrating their resources to ward relatively minor crimes instead of larger com munity problems, CSPD and UPD are wasting the money of those who pay for their programs. The College Station community has more serious crime to contend with than noisy parties. In the week the task force’s future was announced, an A&M student reported being assaulted on the golf course while walking to his residence hall and a teenage girl told police she was sexually assaulted after a practice track meet at A&M Consolidated High School. These are the type of incidents, not noise violations, that should motivate police to work overtime. With limited resources, CSPD and UPD must be careful when making decisions about how they can serve the community best. Students are being as saulted, but the police are concerning themselves with noise violations. They should rethink their priorities. I Grand OP Party laugural ball funds could be better spent Richard Bray is a sophoynore journalism major. RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion h, Ida destina-- jwest pric^ - jsfpopir, BEAK. IDUCTIONSj ritional prod' of ON news ).9 V'/ fSvv ^ ^ le they tried to find a warm ice to sleep for the evening. f In Washington, D.C., nearly half the he inauguration of the nation’s 43rd president recently k place, and many >ple came from all r the world to wit- s and participate in events and parties. Though there are no ures that depict the exact amount ;nt on the inauguration, the Bush team sed at least $17,466,000 to spend on - inaugural event, according to a list of itributors published by the Bush cam- ign. Too much money was spent on the tuguration. America does not need to spend mil- ms of dollars on parties to welcome in a w president. It does need to find a solu- Dn to the problems of this country, not ilebrate in the face of them. Washington, tC. has a tremendous rate of poverty and omelessness. The people of this country hould spend money to solve the prob- ems of homelessness and poverty, not on Dirties. The list of lavish inaugural events eems endless. The Black Tie & Boots all was held in an upscale hotel with 1.1,000 guests. Brisket, martinis and iO,000 jumbo shrimp were served. In ad dition to the Black Tie & Boots Ball, there vere 10 other extravagant inaugural balls, jleven separate galas waste money. The nauguration should welcome the new President, but with all the money spent on he events, it is more like the coming of a tew king. One might think that there could not be )om for any more events, but there was bom for one more — the inaugural pa- ade, which consisted of more than 10,500 tiarchers representing 45 states. The pa- ^de lasted more than two and a half hours nd ran through the District of Columbia, nding just past the White House. These events were held in the city with le highest poverty rate in America, 19.3 ercent. Ten thousand homeless :ople live in the District of olumbia alone. Many of em saw the extravagant, ele- int events roll into the city homeless adults have children. Try to imagine a homeless child asking his moth er why they cannot live in a house or eat a hot meal or even take a daily shower. Now imagine that same child asking his mother the same questions while they watch lim ousine after limousine, carrying wealthy people on the way to fancy parties, roll past them. This inauguration shduld be considered an embarrassment to all who proudly call themselves Americans. Instead of spending the money on a night of partying that will have no long term benefits, Americans should have do nated the money to organizations that strive to end homelessness and hunger. There are more than 40 nonprofit agencies that assist the homeless in Washington, D.C. Any one of them could have made a difference in the life of someone who needed help. Future inaugurations should be less ex travagant. There is no need to have 10 par ties to ring in a new presidency. The mon ey raised by the president-elect should fund one party, the parade and the actual inauguration. The partygoers at the inauguration may have thought they were being patriotic, but getting an American off the streets is a much more patriotic and noble way to spend money. Chris Busta is a senior agriculture and journalism major. Puff Daddy finally faces the music F aced with possi bly having to hang up his Ver sace attire for an or ange jumpsuit, Sean “Puffy” Combs, also known as Puff Daddy, has landed himself with yet another run- in with authorities. Combs is facing five criminal charges in conjunction with a shooting inside a New York nightclub late last year. Combs has adamantly denied the weapons and bribery charges filed against him, retain ing dream-team attorney Johnnie Cochran to assist him. In a trial that began last week, Combs’ high-profile lifestyle ap pears to be in danger as he anxiously awaits the verdict. On the night of the incident. Combs and his girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, were enjoying themselves at the club when an other patron of the club insulted Combs by throwing money in his face. Angered, Combs and another rapper for the Bad Boy label, Jamal Barrow, drew weapons and fired several shots in the air, injuring three. As they fled the scene, Combs, Lopez, his bodyguard and his driver were pulled over by.police. All were arrested for possession of a weapon that police found inside the vehicle. Several days lat er, investigators discovered yet another handgun they claim had been thrown out of the window during the frantic drive. Success as CEO and founder of music label Bad Boy Entertainment has obvious ly influenced Combs’ “above the law” thought process. Taking the label’s name literally. Combs is no stranger to court rooms, attorney fees, and celebrity treat ment. Indeed, Combs’ past bad boy behav ior has never landed him a day in jail, because he has somehow negotiated plea bargains for his violations. After pleading guilty td a charge of possession of a weapon and robbery in 1995, Combs was sentenced to a paltry $ 1,000 fine, probably pocket change for him. Police reports re leased after this latest arrest reveal that, when booked, Combs was carrying more than $8,000 in cash. Only months before the shooting, Combs pleaded guilty to a second-degree harassment charge in connection with an alleged attack on record company execu tive Steve Stoute. Stoute produced a video featuring Combs that contained footage of Combs nailed to a cross. Combs had Stoute promise the footage would be removed, but he broke the promise and aired the video with the clip intact. Stoute’s jaw and arm were broken in a subsequent attack. Combs was once again let off lightly, sentenced to attend an anger management class. During his appearance before the grand jury that recently indicted him. Combs cit ed personal reasons for choosing not to own a gun. When Combs was three years old, his father was killed by gunfire and later, his best friend the Notorious B.I.G. was killed by a gun as well. “I would never, never, never disrespect the life of my father or my best friend by owning or possessing a gun,” Combs testi fied, no doubt with his lingers crossed un derneath the table, hoping his previous guilty plea on an identical charge would not surface. Nervous that he might not be able to rap his way out of this one, Combs was hit with another charge of bribing a witness. Prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos maintains that Combs put “relentless” pressure on the driver of the car by offering $50,000 and a diamond ring to claim the weapon that was found. On three different occa sions following the shooting, Combs al legedly left message on the driver’s an swering machine. “I just wanna make you feel comfort able ... make your family feel comfort able,” Combs said. Doing an unexpected U-tum, the driver went to police and later filed a $3 million suit against Combs. In what sounds like a desperate de fense, Combs’ lawyer said his client had no idea whose gun was in the vehicle, telling police that Combs has promised to find out who owned the gun. Combs just needs to make a few more phone calls and up the bribe a tad, and'an owner of the gun will almost certainly appear at the station. Combs has developed a pattern of vio lating the law and needs a severe punish ment like jail time, instead of class time, to rectify his behavior. Althotigh Combs has been known to say, “Ain’t nobody gonna hold me down. I’ve got to keep on mov ing,” it is now up to a jury to decide other wise and convict the rap mogul. If he is found guilty, his jail cell might entice him to pursue a career in singing the “jail-time blues.” Not to wony, a maximum 15-year sentence should give him plenty of time to perfect the sound. J.J Trevino is a senior journalism major. Mail Call KRISTIN MCNEFF/The Battalion Athletes deserve special treatment /n response to Matthew Cannon’s Feb. 5 column. First of all, let it be known that I am not a student athlete, ■but I do interact with them dai ly as a student athletic trainer. I came into this school as a regular student. I did not have a perfect SAT score. For some, being a student athlete is the only way they would be able to pay their way through college. Otherwise, they may just end up working at a local fast food place. Many students do not real ize the amount of time that is put into being a collegiate . athlete. Many times, they are up at 6 a.m. for morning weights and then off to class at 8 a.m. Then they have a morning full of classes before three hours of practice. After that, they have to eat and then report back to study hall. A certain amount of hours of studying is required for each athlete, therefore academics are strongly en forced. Also, student athletes have to keep the same GPR as any student in order to stay in this University — a 2.0. Then, they finally get a chance to go home and rest up for the next day ahead of them. Early registration is neces sary to ensure that all ath letes can make scheduled practice times. Just like the student workers who get to register early around their work schedules, athletes are the same way, except their line of work is practice. Also, athletes are not allowed to park at the front door of Cain. It is only for staff and, yes, athletes do get ticketed. Every student has access to Cain Hall if they want to pay for that meal plan just like at Sbisa or the Commons. What about Duncan Dining Hall? It is strictly for Corps members and their dates and that is only during lunch. In the evening, it is just the Corps. Isn’t that being unfair to regu lar students? What about be ing the same for everyone? After reading this article, I was very disappointed in The Battalion. I cannot believe this article was allowed to be print ed without proper research and With the amount of inappropri ate comments it contained. Christine Albright Class of ’02