LION
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Page 5
THE BATTALION
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msmess — JL e t b an one passenger under 21, ex-
n f et • . ,* s ’ ept: for their brothers and sisters with
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owners of public places, which
includes golf courses, must make
reasonable accommodations for
people with disabilities provided
that the modifications do not se
riously alter the nature of die ac
tivity.
Allowing Martin to use a
cart to travel the course does
not fundamentally alter the
game. The game is not about
walking; it is about the skill of
hitting the ball.
“.From early on, the essence
of the game has been shot mak
ing,” wrote Justice John Paul
Stevens. "The nding does not al
low for everyone to use a cart,
but only those with medically
qualified, permanent disabilities.
In the majority opinion, Jus
tice Stevens went on to say that
Martin’s claim is different from
others because he does not
have the capacity to walk the
course, while others have the
capacity but find it difficult or
uncomfortable. This language
makes the standard for apply
ing for a cart more restrictive.
In its arguments, the PGA
said “that the walking rule
served the purpose of injecting
the element of fatigue into the
competition,” according to the
New York Times. Martin used
this argument in his favor
when the previous trial court
found that he would have at
least as much fatigue riding in a
cart as the other players did
walking. The court agreed with
this finding and used it when
deciding the case.
Some golfers say that back
injuries or knee surgeries may
allow others to apply for a golf
cart. Yet, the language of the
ruling is specific, stating that
the disability must be perma
nent and that the applicant
must not have the physical ca
pacity to,walk the approximate
ly five miles of the course. In
other words, just because
someone has some difficulty or
gets uncomfortable walking
does not mean the person will
be able to use a cart.
“The court stressed the need
to evaluate each case on an in
dividual basis,” according to
the Times. This decision is not
a blanket ruling, and leaves it
up to other courts and the
PGA to decide how it will im
pact the game of golf.
Although the ruling opens
the door for many more court
battles, it was still a fair deci
sion, based on the ADA.
Brieanne Porter is a junior
political science major.
ADRIAN CALCANEO/Th-f Battalion
Teenage drivers need training, not restrictions
r
c<
Although statistics may suggest this
is a potential solution to the accident
problem, it does nothing except take
away the few freedoms still allowed to
minors.
Although the ban on driving be
tween midnight and 5 a.m. is misguid
ed, it is not the biggest problem with
the bill. Most teens will still be able to
drive at will by the time they are 17.
However, not allowing minors to drive
with more than one passenger is
ridiculous. This will put a hardship on
environmentally-conscious high
school students wishing to carpool to
school, work or the movies. In addi
tion, high school students in rural ar
eas often ride to school together be
cause it is a long drive, and they
cannot all afford gas money.
However, it will present the largest
problem for young college students.
There is an increasing number of stu
dents who graduate from high school
at age 16 or 17, meaning they will not
turn 18 until late in their freshman
year of college. Attending college this
young is enough of a hardship. Law
makers should not put an additional
burden on these students by telling
them they are not allowed to drive
when going out with a group of
friends. This seems to be a particularly
large mistake since chances are, a per
son that young will probably be die
first nominee for designated driver.
All hardships aside, the bill is still
not well thought out. There is no need
to put further restrictions on licensed,
physically capable drivers.
Teenagers are not likely to suffer
from age-related failing eyesight and
are just as able to see at night as every
one else. In addition, licensed
teenagers should be just as able to op
erate a vehicle as the next person — if
not, they should not have been issued
a driver’s license in the first place.
That is why driver’s education classes
and learner’s permits exist — to teach
teens how to drive and allow them to
work die kinks out of their perform
ance before being issued a real license.
If teenagers are more likely to have
an accident, it is because diey were not
trained and tested properly.
Instead of putting restrictions on
teens, the government should take
steps to make driver’s education cours
es, and the driving test itself, more rig
orous. Many driving tests involve
nothing more than driving slowly
down an empty road, putting the car
into reverse, and driving back to the
testing site. This is hardly a measure of
whether the person can cope in heavy
traffic. It is no surprise that a person
with limited experience driving in nor
mal traffic is more likely to have a
wreck than an experienced commuter.
Instead of penalizing teenagers for
their lack of knowledge, diey should
be taught how to drive, correcdy and
thoroughly, the first time. Then, not
only would there be less wrecks, but
teens would be able to keep their free
dom as well.
Jessica Crutcher is a junior
journalism major.
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(U-Wire) — The rumors
swirled through the marble
stairwells of the Senate and the
ornate gardens of the Capitol.
Whispers of shock met scoffs of
disbelief at every office’s water
cooler. Barely anyone dared ut
ter the word — “independent.”
It was almost too incredible
to be true. And yet just like the
removal of a single card from a
card house, Jim Jeffords single-
handedly brought the entire
Republican Senate crashing to
the ground.
The Jeffords story is a perfect
example of what happens when
the moderates in any political
party are stifled, not because
the party disrespects their views
but because the party’s ambi
tions become too great. Moder
ates are the gears in the com
plex machinery of successful
lawmaking and Jeffords’ depar
ture should serve as a warning
to both parties about the penal
ties of political arrogance.
Jeffords did not leave the Re
publican Party because the par
ty’s politics had lurched to the
right. He left because they had
taken him for granted. Respon
sible policy-making is usually
done over months of discussion,
and sometimes years of debate.
But President Bush’s tax cut
could not wait. It was bad
enough that a few conservative
Democrats would have to be
courted in order to prevent
those ugly party-line votes and
the appearance of uncompas
sionate conservatism. But there
was no room for tolerating the
demands of liberal Republicans,
the “weak sisters,” as some Re
publicans call them.
It was not so much the idea of
a tax bill that bothered Jim Jef
fords, but rather the way they
went about passing it. At first
they refused to compromise al
together. Then, when it was
clear that they had no choice but
to compromise, Jeffords’ com
plicity in the deal made him a
marked man. After a debate over
what essentially boils down to a
$250 billion difference ($1.6 tril
lion versus $1.35 trillion), the
Republican Party threatened to
punish Jeffords simply for a dif
ference of opinion. Some con
servative Republicans may now
be thinking, “What’s a couple
billion when we had the entire
Senate on the line?”
Forcing the tax cut was not
the only reason that Jeffords had
to leave. With regard to the
Bush agenda, it was not a matter
of policy disagreements, but
rather the way the party dealt
with those disagreements.
For the first time in 50
years, Republicans had the op
portunity to enact a thoroughly
conservative agenda, and, like
kids in a candy store, none of
them wanted to listen to Jef
fords who pleaded with them
to slow down and make
changes in moderation.
For the past six months, the
Bush White House has been
digging out the GOP’s grand
old policies, some of which have
not been discussed by anyone
other than Washington’s stand-
up comedians for two decades
or more. But the real problem is
that he has presented these
policies as if his several hundred
Florida voters had turned into
an overwhelming mandate for a
Republican agenda, thanks to
fairy godfather Jim Baker’s
magic wand.
Bush does not have the sup
port of a mandate from the peo
ple. He has been pursuing his
agenda with only token com
promise rather than acknowl
edging the closeness of the
2000 election.
Jeffords could no longer stay
with the Republican Party be
cause the GOP had forgotten
that moderates’ opinions deserve
recognition — not because they
appear bipartisan, but because
moderates’ opinions represent
the vast majority of Americans’
opinions.
Moderates help legislation be
come something that is both rel
evant and acceptable to the
largest number of voters.
Should moderates be allowed
to make all the decisions? Ab
solutely not, or we would end up
with wishy-washy policies that
accomplish almost nothing. But
when moderates are shut out, or,
even worse, kept quiet through
subtle threats, a political party
risks the marginalization of the
American people.
In the wake of the Jeffords de
parture, John McCain called on
his party to “grow up.” But one
of the great things about chil
dren is that their opinions and
philosophies are not yet etched
in stone. Maybe both parties
need a bit of a refresher course
in one of those elementary
school lessons: the one that
teaches respect.
Dan Pollock
The Dartmouth
Dartmouth College