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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 2001)
Inesday, October 31, 2001 THE BATTALION Page 9 in ad).Thisratejpp u get an additional :1uled to end to quail LP WANTED! 10 starter fee. Eas T. Call Nancy !■ code OO-free call, nester Off! at Aspen Sk ialtitude.com b mend their broken hearts BS should not bring romance to victims of the Sept 11 New York City attacks t s the numbness created bv the events of assimilate them into American culture to anv seems to have been short-lived and oroved itself threatened like never before. But to trivialize th pan t Systems king for a 1st. Job re$i ng. Installing and servers, s to: CPitmanOi S 10/hr average, iler. Flexible ly. 2-4pm at Goidef.: )TORCYCLEj a XT225, 8000 i* Call 694-8076 ands now | s the numbness created by the events of Sept. 11 wears off in America, the sincere Jiope that this country has to move for- !ard as a nation united should not be over shadowed by the American response to all things tragic. In other words, the American media should not try to make a profit from anything concerning Sept. 11. In the wake of this j tragedy, it is unreal to think any American could make light of the events or, worse, hope to assimilate them into American culture to any other degree than as a reverent portion of our history. From the moment this happened, Hollywood and the television industry stepped up their responsibility and made an effort to guard the American public from anything that could be seen k as insensitive or inappropriate. They have acted nobly, thus far, with screening and planning in a rather uncharacteristic fashion and have opted to do what is right rather than looking to their bot tom line. But, this newfound responsibility and thoughtfulness on the part of TV and movies eeded for spring Apartments. 21 $412/mo. 0.8.0. seded for spring Si own bdrm/btri. 595-® needed spring /d, Madison Poinlt*! o. +1/2bills. 695-27® eeded for Novemw mo. bertoATtamufT sted. leeded for subleas! . $285/mo„ on M'lfc a senior utomatic admission ate ASAP, new 2W® yard, w/d, 5400 *12 5 3 030 1063 response to tf. 29 article: Sommer Bunce’s at A&M, and I was Jlmitted by merit, not automatical- T s P rin 9 semester [) ecause | was j n the top 10 par 5094. !,lt ' Any type of automatic admis- on is wrong. Statistics show that me high schools have higher $325/mo. OnW 2-0662. needed ASAP. drm/2bth. Call By* 1 ffs in their top 30 percent than ipring semester, line schools in their top 10 per- int. America is great because peo- ecan live wherever they want. Consequently, parents move to iere the schools are the best, n Ticket dismiss;liis change would discourage par- Fri ltsfrom graduating their children pm), sat(8am-2* 3m top high schools. They could ceive a lesser education at lother school that would allow lem automatic admission into I don’t even have a college igreeyet, and even I can tell that is is just a piece of political liber- garbage. :RVICES fensive Driving. merica. Walk* . Lowest price allo ,! Dr., Ste.217. 8^ .early. (CP-0017) -J ^ ’ Test; Hope P ,e ?J r Station 695-91S3 : Abortion Peer C#® id goose hunts f all 281-382-2644. .nusava Yoga-A^ igs- (979)268-3638 ANTED Jeffrey Palermo Class of 2001 MAIL CALL Changing the automatic admis sion standard is actually unfair to economically disadvantaged schools as many of them are small er in size. Smaller schools have lim ited resources and opportunities and smaller classes as well. While many might think that this is help ful, in this situation it is now more of a hindrance for aspiring Aggies just like me four, short years ago. Since officials here really want to improve diversity all around on this campus, socio-economically, ethni cally and otherwise, then they should put the money where their aspirations are. If you have the drive and determination to get into Texas A&M, then you will. Students from socio-economically disadvantaged schools with high minority student populations should be held to the same rigorous admission standards, as everybody else because once they get here the professors will do so as well. After all, it can be done without the auto matic admission percentage clause, and I am proof of it. Meagan Cribble Class of 2002 An unworthy Uncartoon In response to Oct. 29 cartoon of the day: Until last Monday, I found the Uncartoonist’s work to be a weak- minded attempt at dark humor. Monday’s attempt at humor fell into the category of out right vul garity. I cannot believe the editors at The Battalion would allow such a horrendous display! You are edi tors which means you edit out material that is over the line. The Uncartoonist does not have a blank check at The Battalion. You are not (or should not) be obligat ed to print every perverse notion that comes out of his or her head. I am a subscriber to your newspa per, and I was embarrassed to even have it laying around my office. Did you even understand what that cartoon was about? I’m sorry to say I think I did. Bad bull! John Herring Class of 1993 College Minister SEPTEMBER 10, 2001 DvacIa RteoN Vif~ © 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 also may be mailed to: The Battalion — Mail Call 014 Reed McDonald • MS 1111 Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Fax: (979) 845-2647 Mail Call: mailcall@thebatt.com Email: opinion@thebatt.com Submissions made to old hotmail.com accounts will not be published. Attachments are not accepted. seems to have been short-lived and proved itself to be something to which the American public should not become accustomed to. As reported in the Boston Globe on Oct. 16, CBS President Les Moonves and the network are “mulling a romantic comedy about two people who meet after their spouses are killed in the World Trade Center destruction.” Moonves justified the idea saying, “Is it exploitative to do something like that? Not if it’s handled properly. When appropriate, we should n’t run away from it. You want relevance when appropriate.” There is no way that any aspect of a show of that nature could be deemed relevant or appropri- mAmerican media should not try to make a profit from anything concerning Sept. 11. ate by a sane American audience. By trivializing the most profound event in American history, CBS is stepping into the unknown and is show ing that the television industry can only wait so long to get back to its old ways, finding the most outrageous ways to make money. Their profit- driven interests could not be suppressed for much longer than a month, and they have taken down their self-imposed restrictions and are returning to a line-up of sensationalism that has no place in the American household. Renee Graham of the Boston Globe reported on the sitcom and said, “it is uncon scionable that any network or pro ducer would even consider turning this mind-numbing tragedy into 22 weekly minutes of lame jokes, cheap emotionalism and canned laughter.” The suggestion of turning this tragedy into a sitcom is absurd and completely inappropriate no matter the justification. Newspapers, magazines, com mercials and news broadcasts con tinue to serve as constant reminders of Sept. 11 as they report on the unfolding events here and overseas. But, must the events be turned into some kind of entertainment for the masses? It is a definite comfort to see flags on street corners and cars —real, tangible signs of national unity. Memorials and relief funds are a nec essary part of the healing that must take place in America as it has been threatened like never before. But to trivialize the events of Sept. 11 into something as inconse quential as a television sitcom is a low blow to the families of those who lost their lives on Sept. 11 and those who fought to save them. America’s response to this terror has been overwhelmingly un-American to this point. There is a renewed sense of national pride never before seen by young generations, and the fervor with which Americans have assumed normalcy is unbelievable. The world has watched in awe as American life has been pieced back together and we have shown our national spirit and unmatched unity unlike any other time in history. To commercialize Sept. 11 in any way, whether through entertainment or merchandis ing, is to throw away the things that we have come to appreciate in the wake of this tragedy. Like no other time in history, Americans are dealing with a situation that must not be looked upon for profit. Remembrance is vital and must be recognized as a part of the grieving process, but there should be no attempt to profit on the insecurities that Americans feel for the first time in many of their lives. Americans and American industry must be vigilant and realize the importance of their freedoms, but not at the cost of compromising the culture and the lengths that this country has come. Kelln Zimmer is a junior English major. Guilty as charged jury was right not to give terrorists death penalty TIM DYLL G uilty as charged: Wadih El Hage Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, Rashed Daoud Al-’Owhali and Khalfan Khamis Mohamed were charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals; to murder, kid nap and maim U.S. nationals and to destroy U.S. national defense buildings. This they did by bombing U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. As the debris and shrapnel flew, 4,224 people fell victim to their cowardly act of terrorism. Among the 4,224 people killed in the attack were 12 Americans on diplomatic missions in Africa. The United States swore revenge on the perpetrators of these acts, but in light of their recent trial, many Americans are wondering, “Did we real ly get revenge?” The jury issued a verdict of guilty on all counts, but decided to sentence the men to life in prison. While the death penalty could have been applied, the jury found it more prudent to send the terrorists to prison to avoid making them into martyrs. This decision was well-founded and was reached after much deliberation. Aside from punishments that would break the cruel and unusual clause in the Eighth Amendment, life in prison serves as the best penalty that we have against terrorists. Many wonder why the death penalty was not used. After all, is not death the best punishment because it both penalizes individual and elimi nates them as a threat to society? In this case the answer is “No,” and to understand why there is a better penalty than death, one must understand the motives behind the bombings. Maybe the best explanation of Islamic terror ism comes from the Bible. In John 16:2, Jesus prophesizes to believers about future persecu- The jury came in with a verdict of guilty on all counts but then decided to hand down a sentence of life in prison to all four terrorists. tion, saying, “A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think that he is offering a service to God.” Indeed this is true of Islamic fundamentalists. According to the Islamic faith, an individual can reach heaven by abiding by the five pillars of Islam — an Islamic equiva lent of the ten commandments — or by dying in Jihad (holy war). In speaking about Jihad, former Saudi Chief of Justice Sheikh Abdullah bin Mahammad bin Hamaid said, “See how Allah has encouraged the cowardly men to plunge themselves into the battles, to face death with an open heart and to run for it (Jihad) with great encouragement showing clearly to them that death will certain ly overtake them and in case they die as Majahidin (martyrs) they will be compensated for their worldly life with a mighty compensation, and they will not be dealt with unjustly in the very least.” Many Muslims share this same belief and look for ward to the supposed reward that they will receive upon death in Jihad. However, by denying them execution, American courts take from them the golden ticket to heaven for which they sold their souls. If America does not execute terrorists, they no longer have the guarantee of Jihad. Secondly, life in prison is not a slap on the wrist. Terrorists attack America because they see its way of life as evil. By locking terrorists away with the worst criminals society has to offer, they are subjected to a life surrounded by the evil they tried to destroy. Terrorists belong in a prison, caged like the animals they are. By using the penalty of life in prison, Americans can both punish the terrorists and discourage others who would do the same. Tim Dyll is a senior electrical engineering major.