I
Tuesday. June 26, 2(X)1
PINION
THE BATTALION
is rate applies
idditional 5
■nd to qualify foi
Toys steal more than sanity
r Interactive playthings increase trend toward an aliterate
T
iers.com or
graduates are
industry.
ittens for adopto
shots, de-wr
Cradle 936^
he new mi lien
la cross, spayee I mum tlul not
children, enep ■arrive alone
8-3907. Close on its heels
"'as the less-eele
)wn Academy ofe . .
unification progr*! brated arri\ al oi
d m greaterAia hitfhU’ realistic and
Academy is pan: • • i i
ling and beta interactive toys. It
odd. On-sitehw ieems that the ap- |
aiiabi^visio- )ro P r i' ate accessory of the 21st century
It is not merely adults who do not
like to read. Teachers claim that the
aliteracy trend begins with children.
Then again, what child would not pick
an interactive computer game over a
classic children’s book that requires
more time and energy before achiev
ing the desired outcome?
Technology is a double-edged
sword. It serves as a tool to help hu
mans excel above and beyond the best
of their abilities in many key areas, but
in the end, it can never equal the levels
that a child’s imagination can take him
or her. Interactive educational toys are
a beneficial tool that past generations
of children did not have. However,
parents should not forget the benefits
of reading and should think twice be
fore popping in the film version in-
society
s “reality.” Everyone from television
iroducers to toy manufacturers seem
:o have embraced (in a tight, stran-
k old femaleps bear-hug-like manner) reality as
>ts. spay, &suEi 3 means of taking mass consumer dol-
ars, children’s imaginations and the
stead of reading E.B. White’s Char
lotte’s Web out loud.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “In
the highest civilization, the book is still
the highest delight. He who has once
known its satisfaction is provided with
a resource against calamity.”
Jennifer Lozano is a
sophomore English major.
playful, yearo.. reneral publics sanity,
spayed & suppn ^ ^ r , i • i i • i
loys abound with names like i-cy-
Mmte/gray tabti#’ 6 ’ Poo-Chi, Meow-Chi, Chirpy-
9)268-1589 Chi, Furby and its newer and more
old. $75/each' annoying counterpart, Shelby. Grow-
e black male a ln g U p w i t h Barbie, G.I. Joe and Le-
E os, it is hard to imagine what it must
e like as a kid today, where every-
remodeied,wFiling is interactive, realistic and al
ways predictable. Not only are parents
Rick 218-843'
miles from cairn: spending increasingly large amounts
able modem mone y on ne w, interactive toys, but
children are growing up defunct of in
edible literary experiences that en
rich and define one’s childhood expe-
ASAP, 3Mm2
/3bills, Aimee
for August mo*t: hence and lead to a successful and
100/mo +1/3ur; it erate adulthood.
The days of hours upon hours of
1. 4-bdrm. iuxs
is from campus,
needed
n/d, on shuttle
bills. Call (281
)255-6885.
eeded, 4bdm2
no. +utilities. k#
ded, 3bdrm/2t*:
mo. +1/3bills‘-
om in a 4-beatJ
pus, $350/mo
alayand make-believe has passed. In
stead, children take home annoying lit
tle creatures like Shelby, the hairy
shellfish with interactive sensors and a
180- word vocabulary in English, Fur-
eeded. abdrie bish and Shelbish (its own language)
vnhomes, $400- that can, and will, go on forever. The
scary part is, as our society moves clos-
3rgy.com
er to becoming completely interactive,
it also moves closer to becoming com
pletely aliterate. An aliterate person is
meone who can read but chooses not
to. Unfortunately, it seems that our
society has already begun its down
ward spiral to aliteracy.
ist month disi? ] According to the latest Gallup Poll,
214-908*-; ^ number of people who do not read
has been rising for the last 20 years,
futilities, i°r: “People don’t take the time to read
o call Josh 83283 anything,” said Jim Peters, editor of
Brand Packaging magazine “Marketers
nd packagers are giving them (con-
umers) colors, and shapes as ways of
Driving. L f'Bcommunicatinff.” Words come in dead
cket dismissal/t®*, . ° .
M-T(6pm-9pm), | hst for effective marketing.
Sat.- Fri(6pin-8 : ’f
Sat(8am-2:3
:a. Walk-ins
vest price allowed!
Ste.217. 846-fJ
/. (CP-0017).
ICES
DELUNA/The Battalion
needs, call “
3493. Monthly 1
vices available.
hey die needlessly
U.S. policies to blame for immigration deaths
CARTOON OF THE DAY
it; Hope Prf
ion 695-9193,
ion Peer Cour
TED
;ell lawn business
i. Call J.D. Hi
r loss
HT? Increaset'
Matural, Money^
i 979-778
m
d customer
ustomers
to buy.
N
(U-WIRE) — Not a drop of
ater remained in the canteens,
e air was a scorching 115 de-
rees and the sun, high and
right like a vengeful god, was
burning through the flesh of 27
rekkers. In every direction
pread out the shadeless terrain
|of southern Arizona.
Of those 27 poor, unfortu
nate souls, 14 did not live to see
June 2001. After five days of
horrible conditions, they suc
cumbed to heat exhaustion.
The survivors were promptly
deported to Mexico.
Sound like a nightmare? It
is. Unfortunately, though,
predicaments like these are also
reality for the thousands of
people who try to cross the
United States-Mexico border
every year. Last year, 367 peo
ple are officially recorded as
having died crossing the bor
der. The actual number is
probably three times as high,
because many of the dead are
never found in the vast expans
es of land.
The most distressing aspect
of this story is that it continues
to repeat itself. Last month’s fa
talities were particularly no
table because such a large
group perished, but smaller
groups and individuals die at
the border every week.
Much of the blame for the
tragedies goes to the coyotes, or
uides who take immigrants
across the border, and often, as
in the case above, leave their
mployers stranded. But these
coyotes would be out of a job
were it not for the United States’
harsh border policies. Opera
tion Gatekeeper, the most re
cent initiative, has turned the
border into a militarized zone.
There are now thousands of
well-armed patrol agents and
miles of fence along the border.
To get into the United
States, undocumented immi
grants often have to risk their
lives by either going through
the guards or crossing the bor
der in the most remote, and
To get into the
United States,
undocumen ted
immigrants often
have to risk
their lives. ”
dangerous, areas. Many would
say the militarization of the
border, and the subsequent
deaths of so many immigrants,
is justified because he United
States government is trying to
maintain its boundaries and the
lifestyles of its “legal” citizens.
Although this argument may
be true in some instances, it
does not hold here.
Illegal immigration is active
ly encouraged in the economic
sector. “Illegals” work in thou
sands of hotels, restaurants,
poultry-processing plants, con
struction teams and garment
factories.
Because the country’s econo
my is so dependent on the six to
nine million illegal immigrants,
the Immigration and Natural
ization Service rarely monitors
employers who hire them. In
one hand, a smirking Uncle Sam
offers the illegal immigrant a
wad of cash, the other hand is
holding a whip.
If our economy continues to
utilize and profit from immi
grant labor, then immigrants
should not have to risk death to
get here. Furthermore, employ
ers should not be allowed to ex
ploit immigrants because they
are not “legal.” As long as the
United States is the wealthiest
country in the hemisphere and
we continue to offer excess work
here, the tide of immigration
will not recede.
'The militarization of the
border will not stop illegal im
migration. Instead, it will con
tinue to make criminals of and
kill off people who are, for the
most part, honest and hard
working.
When defending our current
border policies, many politicians
say the militarization of the bor
der is necessary to preserve our
“national integrity.” But if we
truly have integrity, then we
should develop border policies
that do not degrade human life.
May ne then, last month’s deaths
will not have been in vain.
Peter Sullivan
The Daily Cougar
University of Houston
'TWe Wch Kt6^N\sf* C)
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.
Letters 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: (979) 845-2647
E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com
Page 7
Viewpoints
Explanation for
firing DJs needed
On June 18, radio disc
jockeys Kramer and Twitch
of KEGL-FM, a Dallas-based
rock station, were fired after
airing a false radio report
saying Britney Spears had
died in an auto accident.
The report resulted in a
deluge of phone calls to the
Los Angeles police and fire
departments by distraught
fans trying to confirm the re
port. The radio personalities
should never had been fired
for what was merely a joke.
Clear Channel Commu
nications, which owns
KEGL, denies that the firing
is the direct result of the
fake report, but from the
timing of the firings, the
event definitely served as
the catalyst.
For Clear Channel Com
munications to fire the two
is like firing Orson Wells for
airing War of the Worlds.
Halfway through Wells' ra
dio broadcast people be
gan to fear for their lives
and ran through the streets
believing that Martians
had invaded the Earth.
KEGL claims that the de
cision was based solely on
other controversies sparked
by the duo at their previous
job in San jose, Calif. If this
was true, then why were
they fired right after their
fake news report?
According to Kramer and
Twitch, the report was ap
proved by their program
manager. With that in mind,
Clear Channel Communica
tions should seek to rehire
the two, or provide an ade
quate reason for the firings.
Reid Bader is a junior
journalism major.
Politician's stand
on stem cell
research admirable
Trent Lott, a Republican
from Mississippi and major
ity leader of the Republi
can-controlled Senate, said
yesterday that he saw
"great promise" in medical
research which uses stem
cells from human embryos.
This topic has been a po
litical nightmare for most
politicians because, while
stem cell research has shown
progress in curing diseases
such as Parkinson's, the cells
are harvested from human
embryos, usually those that
would otherwise be thrown
away after an abortion.
Lott should be com
mended for making the first
step in taking a stand on
such a controversial issue.
While he stopped short
of endorsing public fund
ing for such research, it
bodes well for the Republi
can Party that a staunch
conservative like Lott would
be willing to even consider
political suicide for some
thing he believes.
It is doubtful that Lott
will come right out and say
he believes the research is
the right thing to do and
that the government
should fund it, but he
should be applauded for
making an effort.
In the modern age,
when politicians are no
more trusted than the local
pickpocket, it is refreshing
to see one make a move to
ward his convictions, even
if it is only a single step.
Apparently, the fever has
caught on as other high-pro
file Republicans, including
Sen. John McCain of Arizona
and Orrin Hatch of Utah, are
urging the president to sanc
tion this research.
No matter what the
public's feelings are on
stem cell research, and it is
more than likely that a large
number of Americans do
not support it, all Americans
should be excited to see
politicians doing what they
believe is the right thing,
rather than bowing to the
pressure of opinion polls.
Jason Bennyhofi is a
senior journalism major.