Unued froM ay, February 26, 2001
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o PINION
THE BATTALION
came I
ohnson
in the dugom
•y come.’Wei
isguided Rules
Potential dry-campus policy unfair to law abiding students
’ di(1 bank ii ne ot the hottest
e top ofthe-:il to P ics on campus
or good ai'.llf * las h> een left out to
phomoreDai ^ b y Dr - J - MaIon
nsky hit a >outherland, vice presi-
ird baseir denl °f Student Affairs,
ppeared tor ^hc Residence Hall As-
booted tf ; 'Oci ition (RHA) rec-
) score. Bnended that the
inishedthe :am P Lls alcohol ban should not be passed.
RBIs. Tk > out herland has yet to rule on whether the
ince runir tn-campus alcohol ban will become offi-
mer. who aa l- bl e ‘ s expected to announce his deci-
teginnine >i° l; 011 A P r il 1 * because he wants student
i a double ^P 111 The alcohol ban is not needed and
ad to 8-6 legislates against students who are not
all that Fart^'Hy the law - In stead, the University
' he shut ■ ■teed'' to enforce current student policies
nainderofr-Uf regulations,
litlessinhif' C urrently, it an underage student is
Bght in possession of alcohol on campus,
nd struck i the student can be fined up to $500 and be
areer win Sf ed to do eight to 12 hours of cbmmunity
huge ”Bai ; serv ice for the first offense, in addition to
e freshman® 08 ' ll § his or her driver’s license and being
tot my vote Mpd to take an alcohol education class.
r (2-l) sotf fhc third time a student is caught, the
lowecfone penalty can be increased to a $2,000 fine
i two ini:;:. inc U P to * dciys in jail. These are harsh
return to ftBishments, but they do not deter under
travel to H a g e drinking. If the problem rests with un
ion Couear derage drinkers, then a proposal should be
adopted to help deter underage drinking on
pnpus — not one to condemn the students
| who legally and peacefully drink.
M | b ' s ah'eady illegal for people under 21 to
■“■•*-W’*'Hfesess or consume alcohol, yet some be
lieve it is necessary to keep students who are
I Haver 21 from possessing alcohol on campus.
1C J) / According to the University Police Depart
ment, there were two arrests for providing
A. alcohol to minors on campus, as well as two
anCl vehicle alcohol violations involving
V students of an unspecified age in 2000.
d i There were, however, 365 citations for mi-
|faors in possession of alcohol on campus for
the same year. The problem does not lie
with the students over 21 who con
sume alcohol, but with the underage
on-campus drinkers. Current Univer
sity policy prohibits minors from pos
sessing alcohol, but if there is still a
problem then enforcement for that
policy should become stricter.
No one, regardless of age, can
consume alcohol on campus in pub
lic. University policy states if a stu
dent of legal age wishes to drink on
campus, there cannot be excessive al
cohol in his or her residence, the door
must stay closed. These guidelines
are fair and represent how the alco
hol situation should be handled op
campus. As long as alcohol is only
allowed behind closed doors, in
moderation, it will not interfere with
other residence hall occupants’ study
and sleep time.
If Texas A&M becomes a dry
campus, that would include both ,
A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen
and Southerland’s houses, which are
on the south side of campus. It is se
riously doubtful that Bowen or
Southerland would like to have their
rights as adults infringed upon be
cause there is a problem with under
age drinking. This can be also said
for students over 21 who live on
campus. These students should not
have their rights as adults taken away
because of other problem students.
The idea of a dry campus will not
work. There should be at least one
residence hall solely devoted to stu
dents who wish to live in an alcohol-
free environment. Enforcing the cur
rent policy is the place to start and if
alcohol is still seen as a problem on
campus, then enforcement should be
strengthened. Enforce current policy,
and let those who obey the laws live
in peace.
Thomas Campbell is a junior
agricultural journalism major.
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
AM, N.C.fl
he hardff/M,
-nhardtJr.rei
iytona500. W* rizona Sen. John McCain R -
m his car* Ariz. continues to push his bill
red. xlLto reform the campaign finance
•obably the S y^ em Although the majority of Sen-
- as his datf ate Republicans are opposed to the
he driversE i e gj s ] at i oru Majority Leader Trent
iff like tli; l o11 j ias a u 0 tt e j time in late March to
iarnhardt s ^g p r0 p 0 sal. Along with co-
lis crew. S pk nsor r uss Feingold D - Wis., Mc-
st wanting | ias sc h ec i u ied town hall meetings across the coun-
bat ’. st ‘ !e011 try to promote his legislation. The campaign finance
put it nen | i system does need repair, but this proposal is seriously
ladjusul"' fi awe( j because it is based on the false premise that mon-
wben 1 ’p ey can be taken away from the political process. Allow-
a ing for unlimited donations with immediate disclosure
would be more sensible.
inthetf ^ McCain’s bill is unconstitutional and would greatly
y-
'^fheS ' ncrease media’s power. The voting public never
lc sailed tki warmec l to his message, and it is time to put this bad
dents He# Idea to rest.
rn 2 quid#' I McCain ran for president last year on this issue and
1 front ofW ^ ost ' H° wever ’ this is not stopping the senator.
•sian to belli | “John McCain is acting like his campaign for presi-
T keyed fok dent never ended, CNN’s Jonathan Karl recently report-
jrn 3 Robi)) e d- “Stepping on the toes of Republicans like Trent Lott
track andand others who want to work on President Bush’s agen-
R first, McCain is forging ahead with campaign-finance
i brakes,Bk reform that looks more like a national campaign, much
ind slamn 1 # more so than just another bit of legislation working its
t. His car fi#'fay through the Senate.”
ddowntltf
to coned 11
--'CARTOON OF THE DAY
,e path of#
^ed into t#
t Earnhard 1
turns™,
ferent ann
iat killed l"- 1
Though he never made it past the Republican prima
ry, McCain claimed “I have a mandate too.” One must
hope it is never realized.
The bill would ban the solicitation and receipt of “soft
money,” which are the funds party committees and elect
ed officials can receive from corporations, unions and in
terest groups. This bill would make it impossible for po
litical parties to fill their traditional roles of voter
registration, turnout efforts and political organization. In
addition to the soft-money restrictions, McCain’s bill at
tacks party spending for candidates and issue advertis
ing. The proposal creates a category of “electioneering
communications” that would disallow any radio or tele
vision message that features a clearly identified candi
date for federal office 60 days before an election. This
proposal defies several Supreme Court decisions, in par
ticular Buckley vs. Valeo, which maintained that soft
money expenditures are political speech.
Currently, there are only three Ways for a voter to ob
tain information on a candidate: the candidate’s own
words, the media and soft money advertisements from
groups such as the National Rifle Association or the
Sierra Club. A ban on soft money would greatly increase
the power of the media by restricting grass-roots political
activity. Groups wishing to support a particular issue or
candidate would be unable to advertise as extensively.
As such, the media coverage of a campaign becomes
much more influential.
Money is a necessary element of the political process
and is not automatically corrupting. Money can never be
separated from politics, so many different groups have
an interest in the decisions elected officials make every
day. Businesses, unions, groups and individuals will al
ways seek to have their input considered. As such, there
is a better way to approach campaign finance. Ameri
cans can and should be able to voice their opinions with
money because that is the main tool politicians use to
fight for office. Any individual, union, business or polit
ical group can give as much financial support as desired
to any candidate.
However, there must be immediate disclosure with
heavy penalties.for secrecy. Complete and open records
on every donation would encourage an atmosphere of
honesty while allowing money Jo play its inevitable role
in the political process. In this way, any charges of cor
ruption or conflicts of interest could easily be handled.
Deep pockets are necessary to get a challenger off the
ground. The old Soviet Politburo had more turnover than
the current U.S. Congress. Even the “Republican revolu
tion” of 1994 saw 90 percent olpouse incumbents re
elected. Last election, that re-eliection figures was 98.5
percent. Something must be done to allow for greater cit
izen involvement. The current system is very favorable
to incumbents, but restricting soft money is not the an
swer. McCain is right to point to the current political cli
mate and the 1996 Democratic fund-raising scandals as
evidence for the need to reform, but there are more sensi
ble and constitutional ways to make it happen.
Jonathan Jones is a junior political science major.
Mail Call
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Russians are no
longer U.S. enemies
In response to Mark Passwaters’
Feb. 23 column
Many Aggies are too young to re
member the Cold War. Perhaps it is
a reason why some of them are
ready to step into another Cold War
so easily. But are Russians enemies
once more? Do they really want to
be isolated from the rest of the
world and spend their efforts and
money to produce more weapons
again? Let me assure you that the
answer is no.
What Russia really wants is to
become a stable powerful country,
to reinforce its economy and to re
animate is influence on world poli
tics. This goal is not ambitious but
rather suitable for any other coun
try of Russia’s size, history and
culture, the concern about Russia
becoming soviet again expressed
in Mark’s column is actually a fear
of a strong independent Russia
which would not always agree with
the United States. But why does
one need a friend who follows him
all the time? Does not a shadow
do that better?
Citing the communists’ mouth
piece Pravda is the worst way to get
an impression of what the majority
of Russians think. This newspaper
published false information, like
anyone can do in a democratic
country. I would recommend Mark to
do his research more carefully be
fore calling for a new Cold War.
Alexei Milkov
Graduate Student
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 accuracy.
Letters may be submitted in person at 014
Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Let
ters may also be mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
014 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1111
Campus Mail: 1111
Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com
Page 9
No tolerance
needs to be
re-examined
I n recent years, in an ef
fort to discourage poten
tial discrimination law
suits and ease the minds of
parents, an alarming num
ber of school districts across
the nation have adopted
“zero-tolerance” policies re
garding school rules. These
policies are designed to pre
sent a fair way of dealing with threats from stu
dents and on-campus possession of drugs, alco
hol and weapons.
However, the policies’ results have been
nightmarish, causing American Bar Associa
tion (ABA) lawyers to recommend ending
the school discipline program. Though the
program does discourage school violence,
both trivial and serious offenses often are
punished with the same degree of severity.
This unyielding policy should be aban
doned; focusing on the circumstances sur
rounding individual student cases would pro
duce more justifiable results. There are
several examples of the policy’s discrepan
cies in judgment. One Louisiana 12-year-old
was turned over to the police after telling
schoolmates in the lunch-line, “I’m going to
get you,” if they ate all of the potatoes before
he could get any.
A Virginia middle school student was sus
pended for weapons possession after a knife
was found in his locker. No one seemed to
care that he had taken the knife from a suici
dal classmate, who earlier that day had told
him of her plans to kill herself.
There was also a middle school student
suspended for drug trafficking on his school
bus — he had let a friend who was having
trouble breathing use his asthma inhaler.
Though a student should never have a
knife, threaten others or traffic drugs, the cir
cumstances surrounding these offenses do lit
tle to merit severe punishment, much less
suspension or expulsion.
“Zero tolerance has become a one-size-
fits-all solution to all the problems that
schools confront,” according to an ABA re
port recommending an end to zero-tolerance
Each student discipline
case should be handled
individually and
objectively, and all the
circumstances surrounding
the case must be
considered. Better judge
ment should be used by
administrators when
deciding a student's fate.
policies. “It has redefined students as crimi
nals, with unfortunate consequences.”
The result is a guilty-until-proven-innocenf
mentality that estranges school administrators
from the very students they should protect.
“The message kids are getting is, ‘Our .
main enemy is among us, and it is our chil
dren,’ ” said Bernadine Dohrn, director of the
Children and Family Justice Center at North- ,
western University School of Law. “Our
whole goal should be to hold onto them until
they grow out of it, not look for more and
more ways to get rid of the kids.”
The question then is what can be done to
enforce zero tolerance, while still treating all
students fairly and impartially? Each disci
pline case should be handled individually and
objectively, and all the circumstances sur- ~
rounding the case must be considered. Better
judgment should be used by administrators ;
when deciding a student’s fate.
Texas has the most effective approach to
zero tolerance. In most school districts here ;
there are three offense levels, each carrying
punishments appropriate for the violation in ,
question. If school districts in other states *
would adopt similar approaches, there
would be fewer controversial incidents and,
as a result, less frequent disruptions to the
learning process.
Catherine Krebs, an attorney for the Chil- ^
dren’s Law Center in Boston, suggested refer-"
ring questionable cases to independent deci
sion makers, such as psychologists and others
who are familiar with adolescent behavior.
School administrators should also consider
giving students a say in the decision-making
process. Peer-review panels already in use at
various schools across the country have been
effective in delineating the standards of be
havior students expect from one another.
Whatever course of action the nation’s
school districts decide to take, they must
keep in mind that their job is to educate and
teach students values, not that there are no
second chances.
George Deutsch is a sophomore
journalism major.