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Opinion
11
Tuesday, April 23, 2002
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EDITORIAL
No Secrets
The appointment date for Texas A&M's next president is quick
ly approaching. By the end of June, students will most likely have
a new president. But two candidates remain unknown. While
three potential presidents have visited campus to discuss impor
tant issues and answer questions, the A&M community has not
had the opportunity to hear from the others. With each passing
day bringing us closer to the end of the semester, the likelihood
of an opportunity for open dialogue decreases.
Students, faculty and alumni deserve better than this. The
names should be released immediately and the two unknown
candidates should visit the University before the semester
ends. Under Texas law, the names of all finalists must be made
public only 21 days prior to the Board of Regents appointment
of the next president. It would be the height of administrative
arrogance to keep the candidates undisclosed until a large
majority of the students are away from campus. Why the
secrecy and the lack of opportunity to meet with or voice con
cerns about every candidate?
The president of Texas A&M makes decisions that directly affect
students. As such, Aggies should have the opportunity to hear
the goals and vision of all individuals who wish to lead the
University. They also should be given time to examine and scru
tinize the record and qualifications of any person who might
make decisions on their behalf. To completely release the candi
dates names after most students are gone is a disservice and a
slap in the face to students and University supporters.
The Texas A&M Board of Regents should end the secrecy
immediately. Such action should be unnecessary if all the can
didates are qualified. The confusion and speculation is unpro
ductive to the process of choosing a new president. All those
who care about A&M should be outraged by the refusal to
make all the candidates known. There is no legitimate reason
why ail of those who want to make decisions on behalf of oth
ers should be protected from critical analysis.
THE BATTALION
Managing Editor
Opinion Editor
News Editor
News Editor
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor in Chief MARIANO CASTILLO
Melissa Bedsole
Jonathan Jones
Brian Ruff
Cayla Carr
Sommer Bunce
Brandie Liffick
Member
Member
Member
Member
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 submitted in per
son 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 77843-1111. Fax:
(979) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thebatt.com
Hef,m IS If side!!!
MAIL CALL
so i
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Parents survived
the college visit
I am a parent who survived the
college visit experience with my
°wn children in their pursuit of
selecting a college for their further
studies. I have experienced the
conservatism at Texas A&M and
the religious closing to the video
Presented by Baylor University.
The Baylor film ended with the
university's president stating "that
extending Baylor University was
the next best thing to being in
heaven." It is evident that religion
15 a live at Baylor. It is also obvious
to me that conservatism is alive
and well at Texas A&M.
While visiting the College
Station campus it is impossible
to miss the George Bush Library,
George Bush Drive, and the
Glayton Williams Alumni Center.
Speaking of conservatives, the
very idea of Tom Delay confus-
'ng conservatism and religious
affiliation at these two universi-
f'os shows that the House
Majority Whip needs more edu
cation. Perhaps the voters will
decide to send him back to
class and put him out of a job
just like Baylor did when they
j^ent him packing because of
his very social social life.
John Skinner
Fort Worth, TX
Muster is a time of
remembrance
This year at Muster I rediscov
ered
school
esteem
a lot. I saw why our
is held in such high
| saw why I am nearly
brought to tears at every single
Silver Taps, and why I am
brought to my feet at every
game. The band made me
tremble with pride and passion
and the fightin' Texas Aggie
Class of 1952 made me humble
and eternally grateful.
I was blessed, overwhelmed,
inspired, made proud, moved
and impassioned among many
other things. And I was also
enlightened.
I learned how to make things
easier on my family when I
pass. The struggle with a death
need not be complicated with
the burdens of financing cere
monies and travel expenses
and everything that goes into
remembering the deceased.
I only hope that by then peo
ple follow the example set by
the reverent trail-blazers in the
window offices at A&M at our
most sacred of ceremonies.
Dion Mclnnis
Class of 2003
DANGEROUS GAMES
Sports clubs should implement safety precautions
COLLINS EZEANYIM
W henever
sports fans
hear the
name Brittanie Cecil,
they instantly feel a
pang of sadness.
Cecil, an Ohio eighth-grader, was struck in the
head by a deflected hockey puck shot by
Columbus Blue Jackets center Espen
Nutsen during a game on March 16. She
died two days before her 14th birthday.
Although the death of Cecil is tragic,
some good can come out of her
untimely passing. Now the opportuni
ty exist for sports teams to finally
address the problem of keeping fans
safe at sporting events — an issue
they have set aside for too long.
Admittedly, it is rare for fans to
suffer casualties while enjoying
sports. Cecil was the first fatality to
occur at a National Hockey League
game. And, according to an article in
the Philadelphia Inquirer, only five
people have died from being hit by
foul balls at major or minor-league
baseball games.
But for every Cecil, there may be
hundreds of fans who suffer serious
injuries. James O. Elliot, a lawyer who
has researched injuries to baseball fans,
told the Philadelphia Inquirer that signifi
cant harm could affect a spectator at every
baseball game. Likewise, Dr. David
Milzmann, a doctor who worked at the MCI
Center for two NHL seasons, told ESPN that “...
almost every game we wound up with somebody
with an injury.”
What makes this situation frustrating is that fan
safety can be greatly improved if a few simple provisions
are made to sporting arenas and stadiums. From his research,
Elliot has concluded that the most dangerous areas in base
ball parks are between home base and first base and home
Fan safety can be greatly improved if
a few simple provisions are made to
sporting arenas and stadiums.
base and third base. He calls these places “war zones.” He
claims that injuries due to foul balls could be reduced by as
much as 80 percent if a Plexiglas screen would be placed
from first base to third base. Hockey, also, has many safety
options. According to The Hartford Courant, many hockey
arenas in Europe and NCAA Division I hockey use netting to
protect fans from errant hockey pucks.
But professional baseball teams and the NHL continue to
drag their feet when it comes to taking measures to keep fans
safe. They even try to shift the blame for the complacency to
the fans. Elliot told The Philadelphia Inquirer that baseball
teams will not implement the Plexiglas proposal because fans
who buy the most expensive seats do not approve of it. This
is the same reason used by the NHL. Frank Brown, vice
angelique ford* the battalion
president of media relations for the NHL, told The Hartford
Courant that “people seem ... to be comfortable with things
the way they are.”
Professional sports franchises need to be more up front
about the risk involved in watching events and the number of
fan injuries that occur in stadiums and arenas. Sports teams
regularly print warnings on the back of tickets about the possi
bility of being struck by a foul ball or puck, but many experts
say this type of warning is inadequate. Also, too many major-
league baseball teams claim they keep no record of fan injuries,
which also needs to be changed immediately.
Decisive action is needed by the sports leagues and stadium
and arena owners to protect fans who keep the business of
sports thriving. If these parties do not act in the urgent manner
warranted by Cecil’s death, then she will have died in vain.
Collins Ezeanyim is a junior
computer engineering major.
More than barrels of joy
Drilling in ANWR’s pristine lands should not be avoided
CHRIS JACKSON
R ecently, the democrat - con
trolled Senate defeated a meas
ure that would allow drilling in
Alaska’s tundra-covered Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
The issue, however, is not yet dead and
is hotly contested for good reason: the
federally protected land could contain
as much as 16 billion barrels of oil to
supplement the United States’ ravenous
appetite for energy.
But the pro-development lobby
pushed over some seriously questionable
figures on the House of Representatives
to hurry the bill through last session,
namely, inflated employment estimates
and a tricky technicality involving the
amount of land available for building
permanent structures. Political sleight of
hand is not entirely unnecessary though;
oil exploration and drilling carries with
it a stigma of pollution and destruction,
even if contrary evidence can be present
ed. Development’s negative image does
not remove the possibility of a 16 billion
barrel lake of oil pooled under the frozen
tundra of America’s last wilderness,
however. Though lobbyists for ANWR
exploration have been sneaky with their
promotion and were shot down in the
Senate last week, the pro-drilling lobby
has a decent case.
The United States makes up only five
percent of the world’s population, yet it
uses 25 percent of the world’s oil pro
duction every year. That breaks down to
about 19.2 million barrels per day,
according to a March 1998 report by the
U.S. Geological Survey. U.S. oil produc
tion steadily fell to 5.9 million barrels
per day since 1985, a 33 percent reduc
tion in output, while demand rose 21
percent. Clearly, America uses a lot of
oil and produces little. Another report by
the U.S. Geological Survey, however,
reported that between 6 and 16 billion
barrels of oil are available under the
Alaskan coastal plain. At peak produc
tion, this reserve would be able to output
between one million and 1.5 million bar
rels per day, increasing current produc
tion by more than 20 percent and taking
a chunk out of daily import needs.
The need for oil, however, is not the
real issue. The issue is a herd of caribou
that has made the plains one of its regu
lar stomping grounds.
The Porcupine Caribou herd’s calv
ing grounds are located in the middle
of the 1.5 million acre coastal plain,
and disruption of these grounds is a
main concern of environmentalists who
object to development in the region.
The caribou population of nearby
Prudhoe Bay, however, shows that cari
bou can live on oil fields, and actually
favor the area to more open environ
ments. The herd numbered 3,000 when
development began, and has grown to
nearly eight times that size.
Last year, the Canadian government
expressed concern over exploration in
the ANWR, and how it might affect the
Porcupine herd’s migration route and
calving grounds.
Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski was
quick to point out, however, that this is
the same government whose unsuccess
ful attempt at coastal oil development
had little to no effect on the same herd
of caribou. Though 89 wells were
drilled and a highway was extended
straight through the herd’s migration
route, the caribou were not relocated
and continued to calve normally.
Development of the ANWR would
have an even smaller impact. Ice roads
would be utilized instead of highways
and runways, and most activity would be
restricted to the long winter months,
allowing ice to naturally protect the
ground and vegetation.
Though environmentalists do not
support oil exploration or drilling in the
first place, the situation in Alaska’s
ANWR is compounded by the two sim
ple words at the end of its title. But no
one wants to shred the land and kill the
wildlife. There is oil potential locked
deep in the ground, and high tech, low
impact drilling can realize that potential.
The untapped energy might as well be
wasted, however, unless measures are
taken to get it out.
Chris Jackson is a sophomore
business administration major.