ridav, October 5, 2001
THE BATTALION
Page 9
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Freedoms vs. safety
nthe wake of the historically horrific events of Sept.
,the United States has been faced with a question
—that defines the character of our
nation: Is the U.S. willing to sell free
dom for safety? While the images of
terror, fear and rage remain fresh with
in the minds of Americans, it is impor
tant to take a deep breath, collect
thoughts and remain steadfast in the
defense of the liberties that have
allowed our country to become great.
However, this is not what is hap
pening. Instead, Congress is consid
ering laws that will infringe on our rights. And the
citizens of America seem more apathetic regarding
this issue than ever. In this time of trial, citizens
must not succumb to any hastily composed acts of
government that would require a reduction in the
amount of freedoms.
In the government’s attempt to legislate an end to
irrorism, the Anti-Terrorists Act of 2001 is being
pushed through Congress. This is an interesting legisla
te idea. How does one pass laws that will prohibit mili-
mtextremists that are willing to sacrifice their own
lives for their cause? While one can argue that most of
the legislation contained within the Anti-Terrorism Act
does not infringe upon American civil libenies, there are
some notable instances that do — a substantial liberation
of wiretapping regulations, the expansion of governmen
tal ability to conduct secret searches (searches conducted
without notifying the citizens whose possessions are
being searched), the ability to indefinitely imprison for
eigners residing within the country legally without a
,and allowing the government to seize the assets
of people accused and not yet convicted of a crime.
If these newly found governmental powers were
lyused to catch the bad guys they would be great.
But these new powers would not be applied in a box.
Thevcould and would he applied in a blanket fashion to
all residing in America.
While the preservation of liberties would have been
at least a conscious thought in most minds, a recent poll
conducted by the Dallas Morning News reported that 37
percent of Texans would “forego ‘a lot’ of their personal
freedoms and 41 percent would curb some of their free-
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In this time of trial, citizens must not
mumb to any hastily composed acts
jfgovernment that would require a
reduction in the amount offreedoms.
doms” for increased safety. What happened to the
nigged individualistic Texan — the Texan that defended
their freedom so vehemently when phrases like “You
itake my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead
ids" defined the majority view?
The numbers get worse as we look at a national
el. USA Today reported that 78 percent of Americans
.Jitacceptable to videotape public places and 71 per
cent want a new national ID system based on finger
prints and retinal scans. Why even make these changes?
Atwhat point would retinal scans over photo ID’s or
cameras recording our movements in public places hall
oed the hijacking of four jetliners? They would not. So
why stop there? If Americans want real safety, why not
allow the government to put Orwellian telescreens in
ourhomes and chips in our heads? Of course, there
would have to be a chip insertion station at Ellis Island
tocatchall those immigrating in. The quote at the base
ofthe Statue of Liberty would have read “Give me your
tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning for
something kinda sorta like freedom.
This vision seems inevitable under the current apathy
ofthe American people. President Bush said the state of
our nation is strong. He is correct if the strength of our
nation is correlated to the number of flags we buy and
4e willingness of citizens are to immediately dispose of
the fundamental values that made our nation great.
The protection of civil liberties has never been easy.
To uphold such liberties means that a guilty man may
jtofreeover the imprisonment of an innocent one, that
expressions of free speech might offend or that society
may not be as safe as other more totalitarian states.
Bui upholding such liberties guarantees that
Americans will remain a free people. And that is the
defining characteristic of this nation that makes peo
ple proud to be American.
Todd Macek is a senior
history major.
Rec Center blues
Women should have a separate area for working out
aybe because it is the first half of the semester, or the first
round of tests have just hit the student body, or maybe
because there is a new crop of freshmen with an interest in
staying healthy, but the Student Recreation Center
is experiencing overcrowding. It is not unusual to
be at the Rec Center at 9 p.m. and have a 10 to 15-
minute wait for cardio machines, and there is
rarely a time when the freeweight area is not com
pletely packed.
Every Texas A&M student pays a $78 per semester
fee for the Rec Center and all it has to offer,
ZIMMER including the 14,000-square-foot weight room.
Around 7,500 people visit the Rec center each day
at the beginning of a semester and this number falls off to around
5,500 per day in the later weeks of school, said Drew McMillen,
assistant director for facilities.
The problem with overcrowding, however, lies within the gen
der of the crowd that dominates the weight room and intimidation
for the other sex. It is a common phenomenon for women, feeling
less than confident, to be intimidated to work out at the Rec
Center. Not everyone has faith in their body, their ability on a sta
tionary bike or their weight-lifting prowess, which creates a prob
lem for those who wish to work out in a relaxed atmosphere.
This may not be true only for women. The Rec Center can be an
intimidating place for men who do not list lifting weights as a
hobby and do not follow a weekly work out schedule.
No one should feel too intimidated to take full advantage of a
facility that they have paid for and are entitled to the full use of.
It would not he unreasonable to ask for a section of the facility,
an unused racquetball court or part of a parking lot to be turned into
a women’s wing, where women are free to work out and lift weights
without the intimidation of the crowds found in the main weight
room. This is what attracts many women to purchase memberships
at other gyms and workout facilities in the community that are far
less crowded.
The Rec Center must not deny the problem, and it instituted the
Women on Weights program last year. Jerod Wilson, weight room
and personal training coordinator, said this program was designed
to “teach women the proper techniques of weight lifting, thus giv
ing them more confidence when working out.”
Women on Weights is a free service that takes women through
the weight room on a not-so-crowded Saturday morning once a
semester with a staff of personal trainers who familiarize the
women with the weight machines and cardio machines, and teach
weight-lifting techniques in the free-weight area.
The services and facilities the Rec Center offers A&M are some of
the best in the nation, and a positive addition to our campus. The
Rec Center should be elated about its obvious popularity among
students, and should be worried if they did not have large numbers
of students working out everyday.
But the Rec Center should attempt to grow with the changing
face of A&M, and as uses increase, so should the facility.
As one of the most-used facilities on campus, the Rec Center
should increase its facilities to continue accommodating for the
A&M community by providing for women who simply want to
work out undeterred.
Kelln Zimmer is a junior
English major.
SHARMILA BADKAR • THE BATTALION
People should pay attention to the sad facts
ofthe Andrea Yates case and her depression
A ndrea Yates is not a common topic of
conversation. The names Noah,
John, Paul, Luke and Mary Yates
may not sound familiar
either, until one realizes
that they are the names of
five children drowned in a
bathtub by their mother,
Andrea. In the days fol
lowing the murders, pic
tures of the Yates family
were on nearly every
newspaper and magazine
across the country.
Then, time passed and other news
became top story. Many forgot about the
case and the woman who has been sitting
in jail since June. But the trial is beginning
and it is important for people to start paying
attention to her and the factors involved in
this extraordinary and sad crime.
The case became news again when Yates
was deemed mentally fit to stand trial.
Some may believe that Yates is insane and
should be admitted to a facility that can
help her and not serve traditional jail time.
Others may believe that she committed
cold-blooded murder and should receive the
death penalty, not even life in prison.
This incident is going to force society to
look deeper into diseases that plague many
women each year, such as postpartum
depression, and also take a serious look at
the growing number of children dying with
only their mothers to blame.
No one should deny that Andrea Yates is
sick. She drowned all five of her children,
one by one in a bathtub, then laid their
corpses under sheets in the master bedroom.
There is undoubtedly something wrong with
her. The problem is that there is not just one
disease that has symptoms of “drowning
one’s children.” And because there is not
one simple disease, there is not a simple
treatment or even specific warning signs.
It is believed that Andrea Yates suffered
from postpartum depression, but there is so
Because there is not one
simple disease, there is not
a simple treatment or even
specific warning signs.
little known about this disease that it is hard
to understand how it could have affected her
so drastically.
This trial will look deeper into what this
disease is about and people must start pay
ing attention so that there can be a better
understanding of it.
Maybe the disease can he better treated
with drugs in the future or maybe people
who are diagnosed with having postpartum
depression will be discouraged from having
more children. This case could help further
research other diseases that are associated
with postpardum depression.
This case is about more than finding
what was wrong with Andrea Yates. It is
about finding what is wrong with any moth
er who injures or kills her own child. It is
also about finding a way to punish people
who think killing a child will go unnoticed.
Not all people who suffer from postpar
dum depression kill their children, and,
more importantly, not all the people that are
killing children are suffering from any dis
ease at all. In the last few years, it seems a
growing number of stories have surfaced of
mothers playing a purposive role in the
death of their child. Unexplained deaths
blamed on shaken-baby syndrome or infants
being left in automobiles and dying because
of high temperatures are common. Sadly,
there are mothers who see murder as a way
out of tough times with their children.
For the judge and jury involved in the
trial of Andrea Yates, their focus should be
solely on her and the deaths of her five chil
dren. But for everyone else, it is time to
focus on this issue as a current problem in
this country.
This trial will uncover new understand
ings for diseases and new laws that hopeful
ly will make the problems underlying this
case not as frequent in the news. People
must pay attention as the details of this trial
unfold and realize that there are great les
sons to be learned from it.
Melissa Bedsole is a senior
psychology major.