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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2001)
Thursday, y ; trai= ace :sclay, March 8. 2001 Opinion Page 9 THE BATTALION Hi/erbal Agreements :eping the &• , Military should honor its recruiters' old promises r 1 ; :eping the -sity Ladyjack^’ ic Texas Mi' act on them :y of Texas-, )day at 6 p.u,|| he federal circuit 4avs comeincB court of 2-1 losstolBals in ; Christi IsfepShington, he Lady Ma ' C., decided to verturn a dis- are lead byt^fcal of a case il Jones.Vii gainst the fed- steals, Jones ral govern- Mavs offeiJent. This case involves two vet- IBs, William O. Schism and an aggressid. tball coach ];... g to have top :s and lii nee lastsei i A&M victor; enter today's, ■ of their lastll streak forth leir recording > No. 19ink The Aggies sanies wasaJ 12th-rankedli king to coni m kings, "sat: ilenaColfe me at a tiine. the little thine; is better and vvill looktQ tdges in thertj conferences! tr future, going to be he mistakes / this season nove up tk i noticing us.' recognition at e team, e were a a,” said Col to prove, amli Robert L. Reinlie, who sued the government for breach of contract. The two joined the military dur ing World War II, when recruiters promised them and their dependents free lifetime health care if they re mained in the service for 20 years. But in 1956, Congress said the re tirees could have the health care on only a space-available basis. The military should honor its word and give these veterans what - m the recruiters promised them. The government argued that there are no laws backing the re cruiters’ promises and therefore, they are worthless. While there may be no laws sup porting the promises, the men en tered into an oral agreement with the reemiters and the military, by joining the armed forces and com pleting their 20 years of service. According to the appeals court. m wed from! s, who kftst weighed in; FL Scouting e on his wM >omb.c shorn ounds, a If lays since 1 loss had ice, as T( the bench ther early eni an, perfontf the efinitelya®; ered a said. ‘‘He le. I him.” er who ans* : | Uenn ■I HMfc “When the government forced the retirees to rely on Medicare, it breached the implied-in-fact con tract.” By denying these veterans health care, the military is tarnish ing the ideals it teaches its mem bers. One of the staples of the U.ST armed forces is honor, and, by not 5 holding true to its word, the military is defiling one of its ideals. Many say that the government ! does not treat its servicepeople well and that denying medical refunds to these veterans is another example of such poor treatment. Too often it is heard that the military is under paid and that many members leave for better paying jobs, yet these vet erans continued to serve America with the belief that they would be taken care of in retirement. The mil itary failed to do that. The military should repay these men not only with money, but with gratitude for their years of dedicated service. While this decision applies only to Schism and Reinlie, the military should not wait for a class-action lawsuit by the remain ing men who joined under the same terms. By being proactive, the government can save numer ous extra costs that are part of fighting new claims. The government should act quickly because these men and their spouses are not getting any younger. Many have already passed away, and many more will if the case is stretched over a period of years. It will be wrong for these retirees to die not knowing if their spouses’ medical costs will be covered. When the military gives its word through the recruiters that word should not be broken. These promises were made in an „ era of “my word is my bond,” and the Statements actually had weight. If the government con tinues to draw out this legal battle, it will be doing an even greater dis service to these men. The government gave its word and should face the consequences for not honoring it. The best ap proach would be admitting the mili tary was wrong and paying these men for their medical expenses over the years. The government should not stop with these two veterans — it should pay the some 6 million men and their spouses the benefits they have been denied for years. Brieanne Porter is a junior political science major. r 1 L ud prices worldwide have been on the rise. from sur B '-- ™*P ri “ incr f s , e , is intents in te« ua,1 y blamed on the 11 le to no si®' countr ’ es that make up the Or- not to blame for high prices jury ganization of the Petroleum )ing prenye Exporting Countries (OPEC), about 90 pC:®PEC produces about 40 per- little hitchi: 06111 °f the world’s oil and el all right," hoWs more than 77 percent of the world’s re- ■rves. ractice Rep!' A sizable portion of these countries are locat- ed in the Middle East, and, partly because of as the firsttiii America’s history in the region, OPEC makes a is A&M Mgood scapegoat for higher oil prices. Blame for lependenceD-cost increases can theoretically be placed on vhat he saw. OPEC, as the group supplies so much oil to the 'as a goodslWorld. The only problem with blaming price in- lere’s someBeases on OPEC is that it does not have the ef- il youputthf|fect on American gasoline prices that many oil the same. It companies try to claim, le physical^ Part of the problem is that, for the common it’s what it's consumer, high fuel prices are just another rising lost in an expensive world. For some portions of if Toombst ^America, especially Texas, high fuel prices often hole at full: strengthen the economy. Because of the state’s to a rums | |] ose tj es t 0 the oil industry, the strength or ole as sophot Weakness of the oil industry is a major economic n getting re i |f actor f or Texans to consider, y Jones not| Since high prices are good for the oil industry, de injuiy, 1 pi] companies do their part to keep them high. : Cam fiijMhcy are aided by the fact that the public, especial- ipantsatiulf 1\ Americans, never really fights the cost increases. Americans continue to pay whatever it may cost to drive, even as they buy larger and less-efficient ve hicles. Many complain, but no effective protest is |ver organized. Even during the height of the 970s gas crisis, drivers waited in long lines for eir chance to pay too much for fuel. 11 have theilB ^ ne tbe current explanations for sustained u^jojfcgh oil prices, even after last year’s OPEC pro- ° 1 Suction increases, has been the supposed lack of Joe there al) i. “We’re pi: )ut he’s genu fullback. F: lack right Di* to be a 19 h i the Mondf 111 more s : reserves around the world and here in America. ■Surplus oil production capacity worldwide is currently near its lowest level during a non-dis ruption period over the past three decades. It is close to its lows after such events as the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo and the Iranian revolution. Es timates of oil inventories worldwide, however, indicate that the question of world oil supply ver sus demand balances do not completely reflect the current state of the world oil market. Despite the recent large increases in produc tion compared to past smaller increases in con sumption, world oil stocks have not increased. According to the OPEC fact sheet on the U.S. En ergy Information Administration (EIA) Website, “Official Energy Statistic^ from the U.S. Govern- OPEC is certainly not a perfect organization, but it does deserveUnore credit than it has peen given. ment,” this fact implies 1 th it “production has been overestimated, consum'pti m data has been under estimated, or that the stbc : data is incorrect.” The EIA calls this the “missinj The most reliable aval the industrialized coupjriJ for Economic Co-opleffeti] (OECD). OECD stocM, ij around half of total world oil stocks, “remained virtually unchanged in 2000 despite four increas es in OPEC production quptas during the year,” according to the EIA. The balances available from the EIA for supply and demand suggest that OECD stocks should have increased by nearly 400,000 bar rels per day during the year. “Since the stock data do not show this increase, these barrels have been characterized as ‘missing,’ with a further unknown amount not showing up in non-OECD stocks.” These so-called “missing” barrels, if they exist, would be very significant, as they totaled almost 150 million barrels last year. That ; barrels” problem, able stock data are for I in the Organization h and Development elieved to account for amount would be large enough to move OECD stock counts up from historically low levels into the average of their range over the past seven years. OPEC has expressed its desire and commit- < ment to maintain a price range of $22 to $28 per barrel for its oil. Any price higher or lower than' that range warrants changes in production quota's. While OPEC has been better about maintainihg its quotas in recent years, there are still countries that produce over their quota. The member nations of OPEC, while certainly not the best of friends jp the United States, do not want high prices any . q more than the average driving citizen does. If fuel prices are consistent and reasonable, OPEC makes money. When there is a large increase in oil pricey, more often than not, one or more of OPEC’s members will get greedy and flood the market, at tempting to make a quick profit. As the market be comes flooded with supply, the prices drop dra matically, and all of OPEC loses. With many companies missing surplus sup ply that may or may not exist, OPEC can be portrayed as an evil oil empire controlling the price of fuel. But if these barrels were “found,” these companies would be out of excuses and would have to pass the recent crude price drop on to the consumer. Many Americans seem to have completely missed that, despite OPEC’s increase of quota in the summer of 2000, a cor responding drop in pump prices was never seen. OPEC is certainly not a perfect organiza tion, but it does deserve more credit than it has been given. In the end, it may simply come down to the fact that, throughout America, and especially in Texas, the better oil companies are doing, the better the economy as a whole is. Most people would not want to give up the relative prosperity the United States is currently enjoying in ex change for paying 20 cents less for gas. Andrew Stephenson is a sophomore environmental design major. Navy not tour guide! A s the na tion cau tiously awaits the con clusion of an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Navy, questions as to what caused the collision between the U.S.S. Greeneville and the Japanese boat Ehime Maru remain unanswered. The 360-foot nuclear subma rine was on routine patrol south of Oahu, Hawaii, when it surfaced and collided with the Maru in ear ly February. The collision spared the lives of 25 but presumably killed nine Japanese citizens as they fished the Hawaiian waters. The submarine’s failure to de tect the fishing vessel above it has aroused intense criticism because 16 civilians were on board the Greeneville at the time of the acci dent. It has not been clearly estab lished whether the civilians were indeed a distraction, but nonethe less, the mere fact that they were on board raises serious doubts. Details reveal that the Greeneville was practicing a ma neuver known as an emergency blow. Ideally, the crew is supposed to use several forms of highly so phisticated equipment to plot the location, speed and course of any vessel in an eight-to-10-mile radius before the maneuver propels the sub to the surface. Somewhere in these prescribed measures, a flaw occurred, and the crew failed to de tect the Maru directly above it. NTSB officials have said they will focus on the civilians on board as an indirect cause of the accident. The 16 civilians, were on board because as part of what the Navy calls its “most effective public re lations tool.” The Navy invites in fluential citizens, friends and fami ly of sailors, and journalists onto ships to gain publicity and support for its programs. In this case, the civilians aboard the Greeneville had donated money to a group that pays for the maintenance of the battleship Missouri. In the court of inquiry that be gan this week, testimony revealed that the emergency drill was pushed back by almost 45 minutes because the civilians had to be fed in two shifts. Cmdr. Scott Waddle, second-in-command of the Greeneville, apparently ignored procedure after spending quality time chatting with guests during lunch and ended sweeps by the sub’s periscope five minutes early to make up for the delay. Regard less of this inexcusable mistake, others on the Greenville should have picked up the slack. Another procedure that could have prevented the incident, a sonar plotter procedure that listens for sounds of other ships in the water, proved ineffective as well. A crew member had been tracking the Ehime Maru with the plotter less than an hour before the colli sion but stopped because of over- crowdirig in the control room. John Jammerschmidt, a NTSB member said the crew member “was unable to finish his job plot ting sonar blips because the civil ians were in his way.” Despite these disturbing find ings, the NTSB has said that crew members honestly thought “there was nothing near them when they did the emergency surfacing drill.” Maybe they should face the fami- | lies of the victims who perished in i the collision and see how their mis-; takes affected the lives of others. Even more troubling, two civil- ’ ians were allowed to sit at two of the three control stations, essen tially controlling the rudder and j levers that initiated the Greeneville’s ascent. Although the Navy adamantly says the civilians ; were under close supervision, Japanese officials were outraged. ; “A civilian would not know what to do at the controls,” said Ry- oichi Miya, first mate of the Ehime Maru. “It is absolutely unforgivable if a civilian was operating it!” The mayor of Uwajima, Japan, 7 alongside the families of those y who were killed, vented his frus- I tration with the United States for “i failing to prevent the accident. “Common sense dictates that the rising submarine should have been watching for what was above it,” said Mayor Hiroshi Ishibashi. Although the onboard presence of civilians can be disregarded by _ some, Navy officials told CNN that, if it had not been for the civild; ians, the Greeneville would not 2 have been out there in the first place. The civilians had originally been planned to accompany the j submarine on a trip several days : earlier, but for some reason Wad dle canceled it. However, Waddle decided to . | go ahead with the trip when he ; learned that the civilians had al- .: ready arrived in nearby Honolulu/; Essentially, the decision to go on with the tropical cruise caused the ; submarine to be in the wrong place at the wrong time — at the I expense of nine peoples’ lives. ; A disturbing revelation of ironic | facts has additionally heightened , * the sensitivity of the tragedy among the people of Japan. The • man who arranged for the civilians * to be on board the Greeneville hap- \ pened to be the former commander « of the U.S. forces in the Pacific, - I Gen. Richard Macke. Macke was ■ forced into early retirement in 1995 after telling a reporter that the ‘ servicemen convicted for raping an Okinawan schoolgirl should have " paid a prostitute instead. Additionally, this tragedy struck at a time when the Bush ad- ‘ ministration has been vigorously ' vying for strong relations with the Japanese because of their impor- « tance in Asian affairs. % Although the Navy has barred ' civilians from the controls of U.S. nuclear submarines, they will still be allowed on ships pending the results of the investigation. Mean while, President Bush has asked Defense Secretary Donald Rums feld to “review all policy regard ing civilian activity during mili tary exercises,” according to CNN. Instead of doing their duty to the fullest of their ability, the Navy and crew members of the Greenville were too busy enter taining high-dollar VIPs and cram ming civilians on the bridge of an already tightly packed ship, plac ing the lives of the civilians in jeopardy as well. The Navy should put these civilian donors on a real cruise ship bound for the Bahamas instead of on a nuclear submarine. Perhaps there, they can live out their fan- \ tasies on board a glass-bottom boat with a professional tour guide. J.J. Trevino is a senior journalism major. CARTOON OF THE DAY THIS »S A -2..500 OhICi B*VHf*.oo/v\ TU^ WdN \s-f-