Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2001)
^■ay, July 18. 2001 r in ad). This rateaf: 0 PINION Page 5 THE BATTALION ou get an additiona': aduled to end toqu ELP WANTED ice assistant needec iff ice. Detail- orient aceive customers, u i programs and peri:- s This is a yeai es l2-20hrs/wk ai listory is here to stay Confederate and Christian monuments remind us of our heritage r Apply in perecj* , • , entry Glen Really,^ ^ ' 1 - 1 East. CS. ■(! proud mili- ice assistant, w.-tai \ history, ;intl i. Flexible hours elit /cs in show- Most anager, part-time t ' X_ plus. Call 979-st)l(l, have at least the Alamo. TORCVCLE ice atification of rasaki $4200. kl ZX-11 GPZ and Hines exriai PETS Ninja Constitution, Texas is the only Can Carv te to have been a separate country ;h its own standing anny. Memorials ■altered across die state honoring : brave men and women who served dr nation from the Alamo to the ■War. jons for sale, maiesr'Hie typical Texan attitude toward « f° r a worthy cause is summed the words on die Alamo Memor- ^ , - 1 ; G( id and lexas, victory or death. eeds! Occasenffl IA .’. . r l c r i & others Braros-f* die lexas Division or the Sons or 6Confederate Veterans is in a fight of lie: Chocoate La:; eir own about honoring those who t ready 7 aui ^ a p art 0 f t h e state’s history. Last puppies. Biue-eye: •at, two small plaques at the Texas irmed S195 5* The effort to erase the IA fiAC folmoc frv av-l e except rabes C- Confederate side of the Civil War and judeo- L ESTATE Christian heritage of i home for ho®i the United States does T^imdisservice to everyone. i. Just minutes ter — 104 Los Robles, CS ; : and Realty. Be-, Supreme Court Building that were c ^dedicated as a memorial to those who nad servetl the Confederacy were re- )MMATES moved and replaced by the Texas Gen eral Services Commission. The action made headlines across die nation, just in time to be an issue for former Gov. George W. Bush as he sought the iWiire House. •+ a, ^ ■BVlajnv of the same critics who insist ded, fumisry.S»^ p- eo • - ; - needed se, $250/mo. 180-0576. eeded 3bdmar bills. 979-2&.W i-bills. (979rw« he Ten Commandments are a threat ioihe separation of church and state +i/3bills, on inwnfifted the plaques removed from the im, garage, ffiplfeitol. Much has been made of their Bposed narrow, divisive and bigoted for fail move-/,^||urc. But an effort is currently un- atrium, $3i5/iiio.,s»H w to have the Confederate me- -3070 Tracy. ■ , f . ^ _i(jrmls restored. Certain areas, most ided starting ^notably Alabama, have pushed to have ; m ° 0 n °®° | r s 9e Ten Commandments placed back H ■the wall. This controversy is noth- iare llew ’ but i,: is lon g P ast tinie t0 let plus utilities. Cali tie plaques and the Ten Command ments rest in peace. Both should be al lowed to hang freely. The offensive plaques quoted Robert E. Lee and bore the Great Seal of the Confederacy, one stating simply, “Dedicated to Texans who served the Confederacy.” The group has filed a lawsuit, Sweeney v. Muse, noting that the deci sion to dedicate the memorial to Con federate veterans was made through a constitutional amendment election in 1954. It reads, “The first major struc ture erected from die State Building Fund shall be known and designed as a memorial to the Texans who served in the Armed Forces of the Confederate States of America and shall be devoted to the use and occupancy of the Supreme Court.” The law implementing die amend ment specified the placement of the plaques. The issue raised by the Sons of the Confederate Veterans is an interest ing one. Can current unelected bureau crats decide that memorials put in place by voters and legislators from a previ ous generation be undone if the memo rials become politically controversial? There is no reason why this should even be an issue. The Civil War has been over for 130 years. Texans should concentrate on building a future that can benefit all citizens. Why should the past be erased? If some citizens find symbols of the Con federacy offensive and racist, it should be understood that many other citizens throughout Texas do not. Other me morial plaques paying tribute to Tyypns with whom not everyone would agtnee, including President Lyndon Johniitih and Congressman Henry Gonzales, rightfully adorn the Capitol in Austin. They are important parts of state histo ry. The plaques in question, along^cjth other symbols through the Capitol, pay homage to the six governments that have governed Texas. There is a rich and fascinating histo ry in this state. Like all history, it con tains elements that few today are proud of. The Confederacy, however, was about much more than slavery. The plaques were not intended to be an en dorsement of all the policies and as pects of any of the old Texas govern ments. Likewise, the Ten t fil&r £ *= r&me-rmtsii lBj fSt\' fufH tfm tc*ur on C-ttiOZ* £fiSX& <;< &iiozs t no Commandments do not have a solely religious purpose when hanging on a classroom wall. The government is not forcing citizens to adhere to one state- established religion when they are put up on the classroom wall, just as no one is endorsing every aspect of 19th centu ry Texas with the memorial plaques. Let them both hang freely, properly honoring those who came before us. The effort to erase the Confederate side of die Civil War and Judeo-Christ- ian heritage of the United States does a disservice to everyone. Like it or not, they are parts of U.S. history, and should be remembered and learned from. T here is much there to honor and respect as well. In die me^n- LLAM/The Battalion time, Texas and America should both be forward-looking places, with no liv ing in the past. The freedoms found here, after all, allow for the making of great history that can make every citi zen proud. Jonathan Jones is a junior political science major. i, M/F, 3bd/2bth 17k i, furnished except ckyard, Paul 822-15^ Mail Call i „r«OT :hina deserving of Olympics d valley, W/D cow* v yard. $305/mo. res p 0nse f Q Bader's July 11 column. )/ICES rive Driving. Lots- ticket dismissal#!. M-T(6pm-9pm), &Sat.- Fri(6pm-8:' , Sat(8am-2:W ica. Walk-ins west price allowed Ste.217. 846-61' ly. (CP-0017). DRS . Call 846-0169. I; I read the opinion article 'China undeserving of Dlympics because of human ights" today. I met other Chi- lese students at lunch this af- :ernoon, and everyone felt an- :jry about the article because it lurt every A&M Chinese stu dent's heart. Although my English is not good, I want to :alk about my opinion of Chi na hosting the 2008 Olympic Games as an ordinary Chinese aerson. | | have to admit, our country s not a democracy like the Unit- ad States. In addition, we took part in the Tiananmen Square event. I still remember when I paraded with a lot of my schoolmates in 1989. At that time, I was 14 and did hot ex actly know the true meaning of democracy and freedom. I was just thinking it was great about parading in the street, because it kept us from having to go to school and do homework. I just want to say that in China, ordinary people do support the Olympics being held in Beijing. We think it honors not only our nation, but every individual person. This event should be treated separate from politics. It is not about politics, it is not about governments' opinions, and it is the dream of every Chinese person's heart. The author is ridiculous in comparing Beijing hosting the 2008 games to the 1936 and 1968 Olympic Games. Beijing hosting the 2008 Olympics will benefit the development of China. It will also make Americans under stand Chinese culture, politics and customs much more than now. Last Friday, when I saw the news from the Internet, I was moved. All the Chinese stu dents at A&M are excited about this news. I also hear a lot in Email from my friends in China, Japan and Australia. We are all Chinese and we are all proud of our great country. We had this dream when we were young. Now it has fi nally come true. Vivian Xie Graduate student A second chance Denying former drug users aid harms students (U-WIRE) — The U.S. Department of Education esti mates that more than 34,000 students will be denied loans and grants this year for pre-ex isting drug records. That num ber is triple the amount of those turned down for the 2000-2001 school year. The education department screens all its applicants with drug records and denies those people any type of aid. Is this a fair law? Many students exper iment with illegal substances before attending college. Should one mistake cause a student his or her education or future career? The education officials in the Bush administration seem to think so. They support de nial of aid to people with pre vious drug convictions. I find that quite amusing since Bush seems to have had his own dealings with illegal sub stances. What are students with prior drug records to do? It is commendable that the education department advo cates a drug-free learning en vironment, but should it not also support the uplifting v f students trying to better them selves through getting a college education even if their records aren’t squeaky clean? Should students not be granted a sec ond chance? The argument at the oppo site end of the spectrum is that students should do nothing to compromise their futures. My response is interrogative. Don’t we all make mistakes? I suggest the department do something to discourage drug use. Maybe, implementation of an aid probation period would help the problem, rather than completely banning a student from aid. The reality of the sit- Should one mistake cost a student his or her education and career? uation is that this law will keep students who want to move for ward from doing so, it will also discourage many students from even applying for aid for fear of denial. Let’s face the facts, we live in a competitive society. How are people expected to be able to compete and make a comfort able living when they aren’t al lowed a second chance once they make a mistake? Take for example: a re formed robbery felon has a bachelor of science and is seek ing work in a specific field for which he is well qualified. However, he finds no job. Where is his reward for want ing to do more with his life? Has his mistake cost him his future? This analogy may not be a great one, but it promotes a certain point which is that peo ple deserve a second chance. There have been several at tempts to repeal this law and give students a second chance. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) introduced a new bill in hopes of repeal and the Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s 140 chapters are also seeking a re peal of the law. According to officials, 10 million aid appli cations are expected this year. Of those applications 34,096 will likely be denied. For more information concerning the student drug policy go to http://www. ed. gov/ Kimberly Dudley Daily Mississippian University of Mississippi The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the au thor's name, class and phone num ber. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, style and accuracy. Letters may be submit ted 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 r.°