[Monday, June 25, 2001
O PINION
Page 5
THE BATTALION
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president George
'W. Bush has de
cided to halt U.S.
Javy operations on
ic Puerto Rican is
land of Vieques in
2003. While Bush’s
iecision to stop the
bractice bombing is
pe correct one, the
hJavy should stop the bombing now and
leave the island before Bush’s 2003
Deadline.
Since the Navy began practice bomb
ing on the island after World War II,
jesidents and others against the bomb
ing have protested.
But it was not until 1999, when a
kray bomb killed a ci\ ilian security
^rard, that the issue was attracted
rorldwide attention.
Since this incident, the Navy ceased
Rising live bombs. However, the use of
Hummy bombs did not end the protests,
'his year, more than 180 protesters
vere arrested for trespassing.
protesters break into the naval bomb-
ng range, at the risk of being arrested,
n hopes that they will be spotted and
he bombing will be stopped for a short
period. For the most part, they have
been successful.
Aid has come from highly visible pro
testers such as political activist the Rev. A1
Sharpton, environmentalist Robert
Kennedy Jr., union leader Dennis Rivera,
Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of Jesse Jack-
son and actor Edward James Olmos.
Teacher and protester Rafael Feli
ciano said, “We did this to end the
myth that the Navy is invincible. De
spite their technological superiority,
we beat them.”
The Navy opposes Bush’s decision to
stop the bombing. Its reasons for staying
are strong. There is no other place like
Vieques in the Atlantic Ocean, where it
can practice amphibious landings and
aerial and sea bombardments simultane
ously in an area unencumbered by com
mercial air and sea traffic.
It has also been questioned if the resi
dents of Vieques really want the Navy to
leave. A referendum that was to be con
ducted this November, through the co
operation of former President Clinton
and former Puerto Rican Governor Pe
dro Rossello, would allow the residents
to vote on whether the Navy would
leave the island.
There are benefits to the Puerto Ri
cans if they vote for the Navy to stay —
Clinton promised them $90 million in
foreign aid, as well as the contimied eco
nomic stimulation a naval base on the is
land provides.
However, these benefits should not
sway those islanders opposed to the
bombings. First is the issue of the
bombs themselves — about 10 percent
of the bombs do not explode. Consider
ing that the Navy has used the island for
60 years, the amount of live ammunition
that might still be on the 900-acre
bombing run is dangerous.
Robert Kennedy Jr. said, “The Navy
has an obligation to clean up the reefs.
They had the same obligation in Cule-
bra, but anyone who dives there can see
there are still bombs that were never
disposed of.”
Culebra is an island similar to
Vieques that the Navy stopped bombing
in 1975, but did not remove all unex
ploded bombs after leaving.
There are also health concerns relat
ed to the bombing.
Portuguese doctors conducted a
study on the island, and die preliminary
report shows high rates of vibroacoustic
disease, a thickening of the walls of the
heart due from increased exposure to
loud noises.
In American Prospect, Wendy Williams
said, “Many suspect that the bombing is
causing elevated rates of cancer on the
island. This may be the case. Some of
die compounds these weapons emit —
RDX and TNT, for example — have
been shown to cause cancer.”
In response to these health allega
tions, the Navy has only offered to con
duct studies to analyze their significance.
Former New York Governor Mario
Cuomo said, “The president should
make the decision his own logic com
pels: End the bombing and the exercis
es now.”
President Bush’s decision to have the
Navy remove itself from the island is
correct. Navy bombing practices have
proven to be a public nuisance and in
some cases are dangerous. In light of
these facts, he should also take further
initiative and have the Navy leave now
— before any more damage is done to
the island.
Reid Bader is a junior
political science tnajo)
CHAD MALLAM/the battalion
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The world of vitamins
'A balanced diet is healthier than supplements
Li
JENNIFER
LOZANO
ate nights, bad cafete
ria food and a lack of
time or facilities to
plan gootl, wholesome meals
often lead college students
into a nutritionally chal
lenged existence. It seems
hat in exchange for a college
degree, students are forced
to resign themselves to a stressful, unhealthy
lifestyle that often results in obesity-related ill
nesses, a weaker immune system or some other
nother undesirable fate.
However, being a consumer nation, health
roblems are often taken elsewhere. They are
aken to the consumer marketplace, the awe-
nspiring American health food store. Once in
he health food store, consumers, college age
r not, can become overwhelmed by the large
rray of vitamins, minerals, herbs and hor-
nones that boast many health benefits they
provide better than their competitors. In the
md, the everyday consumer is forced to decide
hich dietary supplements are safe, beneficial
nd worth their money.
According to the Dietary Supplement
lealth and Education Act of 1994, a dietary
upplement is “any product (except tobacco)
hat contains at least one of the following: a
itamin, a mineral, an herb or botanical, an
mino acid, a dietary substance for use to sup
plement the diet by increasing total dietary
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However, high potency doses
should be regarded as drugs
instead of supplements and
are likely to cause more harm
than good.
intake or any concentrate, metabolite, con
stituent, extract or combination of any of the
aforementioned ingredients.” Those who
benefit most from dietary supplements are
children, pregnant women, people using pro
longed weight-reduction diets, the elderly,
people recovering from surgery or serious ill
ness, vegetarians who completely avoid ani-
ial products and people who are “unable or
nwilling to consume an adequate diet” (i.e.
College students).
However, many dietary supplements are not
11 they are advertised as. Although some are
Effective, many others are ineffective or dan
gerous in large doses. Instead, it is worth one’s
time to eat a healthy, balanced diet — even
k hen that time is hard to find.
I If consumed in recommended daily al
lowance (RDA) doses, most vitamin and min
eral supplements pose minimal dangers to the
general public. However, high dosages
should be regarded as drugs instead of sup
plements and are likely to cause more harm
than good. Like other natural substances,
even nutrients can be harmful at certain lev
els. Some known harmful nutrients when
taken in excess are folic acid, iron, niacin, se
lenium and vitamins A, B6, C and D.
As for amino acids, herbs and other botani-
cals, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
admits to knowing very little about the ingredi
ents and benefits these products claim to pos
sess. This is why the FDA does not allow an
tioxidants such as vitamin C to be labeled or
marketed with claims they can prevent disease.
In addition, many manufacturers fail to label
their products correctly. For example, firms
market the botanical white willow bark as an
ingredient for children’s use. White willow
bark contains a substance that the body metab
olizes into acetylsalicylic acid, which is the ac
tive ingredient in aspirin.
However, labels for these products do not
carry the FDA warning that children and
teenagers should not use these products if
they have symptoms of chicken pox or in
fluenza, because such use has been associated
with Rye Syndrome, a rare but serious illness
that can be fatal. In fact, many of these prod
ucts have been labeled “aspirin free.” This is
just one example of how “natural” does not
always mean “safe,” and why the FDA should
have more say in the regulation of over-the-
counter dietary supplements.
The best way to obtain vitamins and min
erals is from foods consumed as part of a bal
anced diet. If one’s diet is deficient in nutri
ents, it may also lack components such as
fiber that cannot be supplied by pills. If one
still cannot find the time or energy to squeeze
a reasonable amount of fruits and vegetables
into a fast food meal plan, and concludes that
a supplement is needed, stay away from those
that claim to be unique or better than those
of their competitors.
Since little scientific research has been
done on the benefit of herbs, it may be best
to stay away from them as well. According to
Dr. Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch.com, the
best supplement for the average adult is one
whose label lists nothing above 100 percent
of the daily value and is taken every other
day. Since a supplement meeting the above
description can be obtained for about five
cents per pill, this method would cost the
consumer less than one dollar per month.
When it comes to dietary supplements, less is
always more, avoid the hype and if you can
not pronounce it, it is probably not worth
your money.
Jennifer Loza?io is a
sophomore English major.
Mail Call
Citizens have legal right to
carry military firearms
In response to Jason Bennyhoff's
June 21 column.
Jason Bennyhoff decries the "subculture of
Americans dedicated to sniping and the use of
ultra, high-powered, military firearms." He can
not fathom why anyone would want to engage
in the completely legal sport of long-range tar
get shooting.
The military issues .40-caliber and 9mm
handguns. Does Bennyhoff suggest that all such
handguns are "military firearms" too? A typical
30-06 hunting rifle is more powerful, round for
round, than a military-issue M-l 6? Where does
he draw the line?
The framers of the U.S. Constitution — men
who, themselves, took up their personal "mili
tary" arms against a tyrannical government —
intentionally reserved the individual's right to
keep and bear arms, be they pellet guns or .50-
caliber rifles. If Bennyhoff wants to live in a coun
try where the government has made the peo
ple "safe" from firearms, he need only relocate
to any number of the countries with strict gun
control laws and their accompanying higher
rates of violent crime.
Jon L. Gardner
Battalion reader
Ignoring Kyoto equal to
ignoring global warming
In response to Mark Passwaters'
June 2 / column.
Mark Passwaters agrees with the Bush ad
ministration on not supporting Kyoto. This is his
choice, however, there are very serious errors in
his line of argument. He argues that Europeans
CARTOON OF THE DAY
too have pollution problems like acid rain or
smog in cities.
This is true, but is beside the point. Green
house warming is caused by a man-made in
crease in greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere. This increase in carbon diox
ide is mainly caused by the burning of fossil fu
els since the industrial revolution (by power
plants, cars, house heating). It accumulates in
the atmosphere since it has a long lifetime.
Pollution problems like acid rain and urban
smog also originate mainly from combustion,
but are caused by different substances (like;
ozone, sulfate aerosols), and are much shorter
lived. Municipal wastewater and testing of
atomic bombs, while sad, have absolutely noth
ing to do with global warming.
If you want to understand who is responsible
for global warming, you have to look at the per
capita carbon emission. Here, the United States
is a worldwide leader, Europeans have much
lower per-person carbon emissions (mostly be
cause they rely more on public transportation,
have smaller cars, insulate more and use air-con
ditioning less), developing nations have usually
quite small per person carbon emission levels
(since they usually do not have all the gadgets
U.S. citizens do).
If you also consider that you should not only
look at the present day emission levels, but at
the integrated emissions over the industrial pe
riod, the United States is clearly on the forefront
of causing global warming. Therefore it is the
United States' responsibility to participate in ef
forts to reduce (avoid is impossible) global
warming.
We have only one planet to live on, and are
performing an irreversible (within human time-
spans) experiment with it. People may not agree
whether Kyoto is the best approach to deal with
global warming, but ignoring or distorting the
facts is not the right approach.
Dr. Gabriele Hegerl
Battalion reader
-TUs Rt&orVvi-f-
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