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Opinion
11
Monday, February 25, 2002
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EDITORIAL
L i:rure, Diversity at
INTERNATIONAL WEEK
An array of international student organizations will provide
udents with an enlightening and proactive display of cultures
is week at Texas A&M's annual International Week. The
attalion commends the efforts of the international student
rganizations, and encourages all students to participate in
ternational Week.
By implementing cultural awareness in a social environment
here Aggies can interact with fellow Aggies of different cul-
res, International Week takes giant strides toward promoting
campus that is aware and appreciative of diversity, as
opposed to one of ignorance and intolerance.
I International Week 2002 features various festivities, such as
lultural displays, an international talent show and an interna-
■onal buffet that provide students with a coveted awareness
and knowledge of differing cultures that cannnot always be
ibarned in the classroom.
I The activities this week wisely place an emphasis on the inter
action of students in a relaxed, celebratory manner instead of the
didactic manner many are accustomed to in the classroom. In
addition, the events are all moderately priced or free of charge.
■ Students should make an effort to take part in the enjoyable
and informative events of International Week that the University
and the international student organizations have coordinated.
Through the free-flow of differing ideas and cultures the events
piomote, students will learn about world perspectives and
encourage furthur discussion of these new perspectives with
Others. Only in this manner will Texas A&M and our society
fhove toward a state of "Unity and Diversity," the theme for
ihternational Week 2002.
THE BATTALION
Miiiuiging l <Utor
i ^Opinion / Hi tor
[ News Editor
I News Editor
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor in Chief
Brian Ruff
Cayla Carr
Sommer Bunch
Brandif. Liffick
Mariano Castillo
Member
Member
Member
Member
Melissa Bedsole
Jonathan Jones
Jennifer Lozano
Kelln Zimmer
The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 200 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 submit
ted in person at 014 Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Letters also may be
mailed to: 014 Reed McDonald, MS 1111, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
77643-1 111. Fax: (979) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thebatt.com
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response to Emily Peters' Feb.
article:
I never thought I would hear a
:xas A&M University professor
ake the claim that a college
;wspaper should be shut down.
The same First Amendment
at protects the Uncartoonist
so protects professors who
ay offend, say, the Bush family,
■ happened here in 1998-99. It
so protects organizers of V-Day
[ainst religious zealots troubled
' sexual expression by women.
It protected advocates for civil
;hts against white suprema-
>ts who sought to chill a free
ess, as in New York Times v.
nicer Semi Hlivan. It protects dissenters
[ainst American policies in the
j) . Erfui^pliy'ddle East and Afghanistan. As
stice Brandeis wrote in
listru Materh hitne y v - California (1927), "To
'urageous, self-reliant men,
ith confidence in the power of
ie and fearless reasoning
'plied through the processes of
>pular government, no danger
'wing from speech can be
emed clear and present,
less the incidence of the evil
prehended is so imminent
s at it may befall before there is
■portunity for full discussion. If
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there be time to expose through
discussion the falsehood and fal
lacies, to avert the evil by the
processes of education, the rem
edy to be applied is more
speech, not enforced silence."
Insofar as the cartoon in ques
tion has enabled us to have a
vigorous discussion about racial
stereotyping or the ambiguity of
visual symbols it has, on bal
ance, been a good thing.
To demand silence only shoves
resentments underground,
where they ultimately do more
damage. Guaranteeing a univer
sity environment free of poten
tial "offense" also guarantees a
university environment free of
education as well.
James Arnt Aune
Associate Professor
Speech Communications
"When you're white, you don't
have to think much about race."
Lott said. "It is the norm, you take
it for granted. They don't have to
worry about racial stereotypes.
That is the diseased white mind."
I'd like to applaud the unbiased,
well informed opinion of the 'dis
eased white mind'. I would
protest it instead, but I'm white
and not allowed to.
Jeff Allen
Class of 2004
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
A political game?
America goes too far Nation's actions justified
BRIEANNE PORTER
I n the wake of the Sept. 1 I
terrorist attacks, the 19th
Olympic Winter Games
has sparked a highly-charged
debate. When the United
States wanted to display the
tattered American flag from
the World Trade Center in
the opening ceremonies,
many people debated
whether the Olympics had
turned from the Greek-envi
sioned games of sportsman
ship, honor and glory to a
political arena. Gone is the
friendly competition among
countries. In its place, the
modern Olympics have
become a political creature
causing the true idea of the
ancient Olympics to vanish
under the guise of politics.
Gone is the
friendly
competition
among countries.
It is hard to pinpoint the
beginning of the end. Many
point to the 1936 Olympics
held in Germany, when
Hitler refused to recognize
American track and field star
Jesse Owens because he was
black. Yet, the change could
have been in the 1968
Summer Games in Mexico
City when protesters were
fired upon by police. It could
have been in 1972, when
Israeli athletes were killed in
Munich or in the 1976
Montreal games when
African nations boycotted
the games. It could have
been as recent as 1980, when
the United States boycotted
the Moscow games because
of the USSR invasion of
Afghanistan and when in
return the Soviet block boy
cotted the 1984 Summer
Games in Los Angeles.
One of the most recent
examples of the Olympics
becoming political is the
debate of whether the World
Trade Center flag should
have been included in the
opening ceremonies. By
putting such prominence on
the World Trade Center
attacks, many other coun
tries’ tragedies and similar
attacks are ignored. The
Olympic Games are an
international event. If
prominence is placed on one
country’s tragedy, it should
be placed on all countries’
tragedies. In a Newsday arti
cle, American luger, Ashley
Hayden, said, “We need to
remember this is the
Olympic Games, an interna
tional event.” To advocate
the American tragedy is to
ignore the tragedies facing
other nations.
In the same Newsday arti
cle, cross-country skier Nina
Kemppel said it best: “The
Olympics should be beyond
politics. It should celebrate
the lone bobsled team from
Mexico as well as the
Americans,” she said.
Another example of the
continuing amount of politics
in the Olympics is the pairs
skating scandal. The idea
that countries are pressuring
judges to vote for one couple
over the other is appalling
and goes against the original
views of the Olympics. Now,
the best competitor does not
necessarily win. It is better
to say the one who has the
most judges pressured into
voting for them will win.
Whether it is the place
ment of a flag or the incon
sistencies in judging, the
Olympics have changed from
a friendly competition
among nations to a very
political event. It does not
matter whose politics it is;
these politics have no place
in the Olympics. The
Olympics are a time to cele
brate the athleticism of indi
viduals from across the
world, not to celebrate any
country’s political strength.
Brieanne Porter is a senior
political science major.
JENNIFER LOZANO
O n Feb. 8, regardless of
their nationality, 55,000
spectators and 5,000
ceremony participants were
left in respectful silence after
the controversial tattered U.S.
Hag that was recovered from
the World Trade Center rubble
was carried at the opening cer
emony for the 2002 Winter
Olympic Games. Despite the
extensive controversy and
debate sparked by the
International Olympic
Committee (IOC), a moving
yet tasteful and respectful trib
ute to America in which the
symbolic flag made its appear
ance was a success.
According to the official
Website for the 2002 Winter
Olympics, the IOC was con
cerned with the flag causing
excessive nationalism at an
event designed to promote
international unity. Basically,
it was attempting to keep poli
tics out of what became to be
the highest-rated Olympic
opening ceremony ever.
However, when the ice skating
bribery scandal occurred and
reports later surfaced revealing
confidential minutes of the
IOC over the past three
decades that were decidedly
anti-American, it became evi
dent that despite efforts, poli
tics would rear its ugly head.
This can be seen most
acutely in what the Houston
Chronicle has called “perhaps
the most serious judging
scandal in the modern history
of the games.”
One of the nine judges of
the couples ice skating compe
tition was put under “a certain
pressure” by officials of the
French skating federation to
vote in favor of the Russian
pair. To add insult to injury, in
the midst of the bribery scan
dal, the San Jose Mercury
/Vcu\y quoted a member of the
mainly European board saying,
“the IOC does not have to jus
tify itself to the United States.”
Another member of the board
was quoted making jokes
about the implications of the
bribery ever coming to a head.
These are the same people
who were against the appear
ance of the World Trade
Center flag because of its
political implications.
The events of Sept. 11 had
ramifications that affect many
nations other than the United
States. Members from 80 dif
ferent countries were present
at the trade center when it
was attacked. When the ter
rorists chose to attack the
World Trade Center, their
decision literally affected the
entire world. All biases
aside, one has to be reason
able and acknowledge that the
American political and eco
nomic hegemony is not to be
toyed with. When something
of great magnitude affects the
United States, the breadth of
its damages will not end with
the United States. For these
reasons, the appearance of the
American flag was justified.
Hosting the games gives more
leniency in light of recent
tragic events that have taken
place on our soil.
A movingy yet
tasteful, tribute to
America was
a success.
Citizens always push for
“policies” that are conducive
to personal advancement; it is
Darwinian. This is not to say
the United States should stop
trying to make things fair in
society and digress to a primal
form of existence. Humans
were also given free will and
use this innate right to discern
the varying degrees of politics
that are acceptable in liveli
hood. The ice skating bribery
scandal was a good example of
politics in the Olympics run
ning amok, while the carrying
of the World Trade Center
American flag at the opening
ceremonies was an innocent
expression of the resilience of
a nation.
Jennifer Lozano is ajtmior
English major.