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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 9, 2001)
1 VU nday, July 9, 2001 o PINION Page 5 ). This rate applisl THE BATTALION an additional c j m fl new wave of activism iJonservative students deserve praise for protesting Kyoto Treaty always looking:! e positions in o.| ing and Design elude: 1) Machiri sis 3) Prototype fe The CAD pactej ^^olletre students -are meet- EER, Analysis caM T - i and the manJM in £ 111 Europe next week anufacturing. OrHpto participate in a series :s of a cnc Mill 0 j p ro tests in reaction to the m Monday thro.: J>'oto treaty. Recent years exibie schedules ®ive seen young protesters Sront^:I r ner headlines through is improvementsr;m)lorful, and sometimes vio- 95 demonstrations. ynntech@iynnter Such protests, with a few exceptions, have bring resumeto advocated positions advanced by the political Eastmark This time, however, things are different. ■rom July 13 to 20, a group of students from Hie .United States will join others in London, needed for sales 1 > id hard worker i ships. Call vfeHrussels and Bonn. 32. Ask for Rid H Sponsored by the Leadership Institute, Colle- busy medica * ans f or a Constructive 'Ibmorrow and the Sci- Send resume tc ^ Suite-3i2.cs rl fnce and Environmental Policy Project, the goal g. apply at 113-vi. is environmental activism of a different variety. ideiivery.com I 1 One A&M participant, senior political sci- er. part-time resi|4nce major Jack Long, said, “We are going to s. Cal ® 79, -®H jUro p C t 0 help break the perception that post college students are opposed to the taurant now ao chen Swaitstaff . onallty Senergy 211-West W.t-| iryan. inicle needs rou6 rea. Routes pap ormng hours. Cas: ; )RCYCLE i, 15K, good arc ! 50. 680-0346 an 750, excellem:: 50/0BO. CallSTH, ia ZX-6R, red arr., S5700. Cal? ETS i for sale, male ST 100, both are ntee icrphs. 279-012: Kittens, Cats • Is! Occasion; : others. Braao; Chocolate ady 7/9/orfft»_ ipies. Student participation in politi cal activism, no matter the specific position, can be a positive contribution to political debate. It should be encouraged, and college students should make it a point to get more informed and more involved. ^resident’s agenda.” Student participation in political activism, no natter the specific position, can be a positive contribution to political debate. It should be encouraged, and college stu dents should make it a point to get more in formed and more involved. The emergence of conservative students nifiking their voices heard on this important is- sue is a refreshing change from the usual left- B * u9 ^ ?of-center youth activism. And with the Kyoto JTreaty, their protests are right on. ias feimes for Sr The Kyoto Treaty, undertaken by 180 na- ixcept rabies and«®j ons hi 1997, calls for reductions in the emis- 3610, 15-min.frOfflC: g. £■ •« r ; gsion or greenhouse gases. ESTATE i It is based on the premise that global tem- 2 brand new sf peratures are increasing, caused by human ft at the premie ' Imissions of greenhouse gases. The proposal vce* condominpPT sound good, but there are some major s left for Sale! W problems largely ignored by the environmental make protesters President Bush encountered on his its! Enjoy beachvo: Erst European tour last month, pool, spa and?- National Academy of Sciences report )0 call J; n 5; | ecen cly released contends that “there is no lome today andHonsensus, unanimous or otherwise, about Ise Is A Comprori #101 in College! 58 or Toll-Free: 1 » long-term climate climate trends and what causes them,” according to panel member Dr. Richard Lindzen. The Kyoto Treaty calls for the United States to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 to 40 percent over the next 10 years. But that could never be achieved without a severe reduction in energy use. In adequate energy supplies, as Cal ifornia has so aptly demonstrated, can severely hamper an economy. Ironically, California has gone far beyond any other state in pushing the energy efficiency and alternate energy pro grams so beloved by environmental extremists. The students should commit themselves to pointing some of this out. Conservation is im portant, but is nowhere sufficient enough to meet the U.S. energy demand. Roughly two- thirds of the nation’s energy comes from oxidiz ing carbon-based fuels, and without the de structive consequences so hauntingly predicted beginning in the early 1970s. "The United States certainly consumes more energy compared to the rest of the world but is far more productive and economically viable compared to the rest of the industrialized na tions. This treaty punishes America while let ting some major polluters off the hook. The U.S. Senate rejected the proposed treaty 95-0 and with good reason. The protocol does not include developing countries who are among the world’s worst pol luters of the environment. In addition, it allows for the industrial nations that are big users of coal and petroleum, like Australia, to continue to increase emissions. The Kyoto treaty has also been criticized for the lack of enforcement capability and a per ception that several of the nations who signed have no intention of meeting their targets. Finally, no con sensus has emerged that global warming even exists as a real threat. Assume for a moment, however, that it is. ' Even full adher ence to the Kyoto Treaty to cut greenhouse gas emissions might have little to no impact on global warming. Graeme Pearman, chief of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, said stopping the growth of greenhouse gas emis sions will not be enough to prevent climate change. “It is highly un likely that we will see such stabi lization (of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations) ex cept perhaps in the latter part of this century, and that will be levels at least double and perhaps triple preindustrial levels,” he said in a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia. After three difficult years of negotiations, the Kyoto signers have still not agreed to sanction countries that fail to meet their re duction targets, and just who will im pose them. In short, the whole thing is a feel-good exer cise not based on economic or environmental reality. Perhaps the college demonstrators can make a small difference. The next global meeting on climate change is the sixth conference of parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held at The Hague in November. One must hope some vocal and in formed students, armed with com mon sense, are making travel plans. CHAD MALLAM/7h£ Battalion ^ MATES 5-miles from caul , cable modem. n, 2bth, new Wj $350+ 11] age, backyard, o' 696-8952. ed ASAP, 3bdrr! +1/3bill$, Aimee 3d, 3bdrm/2bth e, $365/mo. 229-! ; needed, Shdrir- townhomes, $400; 179)255-6885. >r August ;, $330/mo. +1/5; ed internet. Sfr :, 1 st month dis+1 214- 3nergy.com sded for mo. -+utilities, P info call Josh 832' >73. 3d to share 3be;' >d valley, W/Dco ; yard. $305/mo VICES sive Driving. Ticket dismissal' M-Tfepm-gpriv .&Sat.- Fri(6pi"; ), Sat(8am-2: : irica. Walk-ins .owest price all ., Ste.217. 846f irly. (CP-0017). / est; Hope Free' tation 695-91933 ortion Peer Cotf ;: ANESE TO- on, contact Tale @ yahoo.com History repeating Surgeon general talks about sexual education (U-WIRE) — It is happening again, surgeon general is making waves in the stagnant waters of this nation, and ashington is getting motion sickness. Surgeon General David Satcher recent ly publicized a report that concluded lifelong safe-sex education is needed, nd that contraceptives should be dis- ributed in school. It also found that the ublic Deeds to strive to further under- tand homosexuality and not treat it as exual deviance. Boy, are Georgie-Porgie and his mer ry men miffed. They were hoping that atcher’s report would go either unno- iced or conclude that good little boys nd girls wear their chastity belts until hey are trapped in a suffocating, dead- nd marriage. And that boys do not kiss oys — ever! | Of course, it was easy for the Bush dministration to distance itself from such a rational report. Exercising com- non sense is not their strong suit. Ari Fleischer, Bush’s spokesman, im- nediately yelped that the research was ommissioned by the vile, sinful, sex- razed Clinton administration, not by ubya’s squeaky-clean, washed-in-the- Tlood cronies. In fact, cries for Satcher’s Resignation have been heard. ; Does any of this sound familiar? It |s way too much like the hulabaloo •that went on with former Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders, who was fired for encouraging masturbation as an al ternative to sex, as well as condom dis tribution. What is it with American people and honesty about sex? We cannot handle it. We get all nervous because we have is sues with our own sexuality, and then holler, “The children! What about the children?” to mask our own insecurities. Bill Mahr of ABC’s “Politically Incor rect” is right on target when he alleges that America is fighting a war on sex. Even though we love sex, we try to stuff that dirty s-word under the bed like daddy’s secret movies and then pretend it is not there or that we do not know Batcher's report correctly treats sex education as a health issue, not a moral one. what it is or what it’s for. That is bad enough, but most people bolt the bed to the floor and hope the children never lift it up. Sex is one of the most natural, in stinctual things a human can do. We are all here as a result of it; it is essential to almost all life. Yet Americans spend the majority of our time railing against sex, calling it evil and demanding that young adults ignore their urges and wait until marriage, which is coming later and lat er in life, to do the devil’s business. Worst of all, we cannot give them a re ally good reason to wait, except for the good old “do as I say” trick. It is an impossible request, and it ob viously is not working. Honestly, sex is too much fun to put off until you are in your late twenties. The whole world knows that, yet we brainiacs in Ameri ca insist that’s the way to go. Forget sex. Play Scrabble. Do a crossword puzzle. And for God’s sake, do not touch yourself. Satcher’s report correctly treats sex education as a health issue, not a moral one. The rest of Washington and the 50 states should try to play catch-up and recognize the importance, of Satch er’s findings. Until we can admit that sexual urges are natural and allow young adults to be educated in ways that will teach them to respect sex and make healthy choices, thus avoiding unwanted pregnancies and diseases, we will make no progress. Until we can become comfortable wit a honest people in Washington, like Satcher, we will live in a nation that uses denial as birth control and morality as an excuse for ignorance. Lindsey Turner' Sidelines Middle Tennessee State U. CARTOON OFTHE DAY -3VsT f\ stco^t) ,1'fo CHECKING ftf IN WS FW>P,£ ... You u_ RE ABLE TO HAN6 >foUfc EKWL READ To '{ou R'l THE PERSON V4HO SENT \T. THE DNcJM*toc>N'\vf-© 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 per son 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