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EDITORIAL
Corps photo was
NEWSWORTHY
; Recently, there have been questions raised regarding the
motives and validity of The Battalion's decision to publish a
photograph with the June 18 story "UPD investigates possible
hazing."
■ The photo showed a naked person, whose arms and legs
were duct taped together, being carried by two people.
I The decision to run the photo was not made because of any
[preconceived notions, decisions or biases against the persons
or actions depicted in the photos or because of any sensation-
alistic desires of the editorial staff.
i Although it is run by students. The Battalion is a working
[newspaper. Its first and foremost mission is to provide its read-
jers with fair, accurate and unbiased reporting. The decision to
[run the photo was made because the editorial staff of The
Battalion felt the photograph was the best way for its readers
to be provided with all sides of the story.
For The Battalion to have described the photos without run
ning them would have robbed its readership of the opportuni
ty to fully understand both the photographs in question and the
administration's subsequent reactions.
The Battalion was also careful in selecting the least offensive
photograph of the six it received. As a whole, the collection of
photographs was of a highly graphic nature, and it was only
after much debate that the decision was made to publish that
particular photo with the faces of the individuals blurred to
ensure their privacy.
Although the faces of those persons shown in the photo were
blurred, The Battalion still felt running the photo provided its
readers with the whole story and allowed them to develop their
own opinions regarding the incident.
While The Battalion, just like any other newspaper, gladly
welcomes feedback and criticism, it stands by its decision to
put the photograph into print and will continue to provide its
readers with fair and comprehensive reporting.
THE BATTALION
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor in Chief \ DOUGLAS PUENTES
l SINCE 189.1 I
Managing Editor
Executive Editor
Opinion Editor
News Editor
Guv Rogers
True Brown
Richard Bray
Christina Hoffman
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
i mailed to: 014 Reed McDonald, MS 1111, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
77843-1 1 1 1. Fax: (979) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thebatt.com
pplied i
MAIL CALL
enow tllr J
e J* Coalition for Life
DDonneireducing tensions
h
j|Hfl response to Richard Bray's
t a tiiw June 19 column:
ta Biyai- jhank y OU Rj c |-, ar(; j Bray for your
a g ains thoughtful and timely editorial,
nee Local Abortion Debate is
from ® Ridiculous."
You are absolutely right with
i to winyour premise: there is a tremen-
repealo'dous amount of name-calling
; supported misinformation spreading
lature Jiroughout our community sur
rounding the abortion debate.
It is regrettable that some indi
viduals have attempted to take
matters into their own hands by
resorting to the tactics you
mentioned.
? It is for this reason that the
H ^Coalition for Life has taken proac-
I tive steps to reduce the height
ened tension that both sides of
this issue have recognized in
recent weeks. Last Tuesday, our
organization held a news confer
ence in front of Planned
Parenthood's controversial abor
tion clinic to issue an official
statement regarding the very
issues you described. Though no
one from The Battalion attended,
KBTX-TV 3 and KRHD-TV 34 accu
rately reported that the Coalition
•or Life took a strong stance con
demning all forms of violence,
and announced a new policy to
ensure that those acting on
behalf of our organization will
only respond to the violence of
abortion with peaceful and legal
nj eans ’ a l so challenged
Planned Parenthood to adhere to
^ually strict standards among
tbeir own ranks.
Additionally, a video security
camera now records everything
«iat happens in front of the clinic
i 0 i3 0r ^e protection of our volun
teers. Since this practice began,
I many of the false accusations
a pd name-calling incidents have
dissipated.
■ Finally, as you stated, it is diffi-
#lt to sort out the truth sur-
munding the abortion debate in
this community. Even the media
gets it wrong sometimes. On
June 5, Christy Ruth wrote a
scathing criticism of our organiza
tion in The Battalion.
Unfortunately, her entire premise
was based on incorrect informa
tion and she never contacted our
office to verify her claims. While
we were disappointed, we chose
not to respond. If the Coalition for
Life spent all of its time respond
ing to the misinformation which
is rampant in our community, we
would never have time to do our
work: saving children's lives.
David Bereit
Executive Director
Coalition for Life
Corps photo was
inappropriate
Your decision to publish a
photo on the front page of The
Battalion depicting supposed
hazing in the Corps, more specif
ically in the band, was very
immature judgment on your part.
Your whole story on the matter
was a poor attempt at sensation
alism. The Eagle, at least, had the
decency of not displaying such a
crude photo in its paper. I can
think of only one reason that you
would choose to make such a
decision, and that is to discredit
the entire Corps of Cadets. I hap
pen to work with these cadets,
and while I think that their con
duct was unbecoming of cadets.
I'm confident that you do not
have all of the pertinent facts
regarding the case. Rather than
waiting to see what the outcome
of the District Attorney’s decision
would be, you chose to publish
your own version of the truth,
including the photo.
It is my hope that responsible
parties at The Battalion will be
held accountable for their poor
decision, just as the cadets will be
for theirs.
Michael E Caudle
Cadet Training Officer
Opinion
The Battalion
Page 5 • Tuesday, June 25, 2002
Maintaining the faith
Students should not abandon religion in time of crisis
JENNIFER LOZANO
W ith the recent
events that have
occurred in the
religious community,
including Catholic priests
accused of child molesta
tion and a prominent
Southern Baptist leader’s ethnic attacks on the Muslim
religion, it is no wonder that young people in the United
States are discouraged by the disorganization surround
ing organized religion. Instead, many of America’s youth
are opting to worship a superior being on their own.
However, just because a few bad individuals have
made it into leadership positions in the Catholic and
Southern Baptist churches, it should not be reason
enough to abandon a faith that has developed over thou
sands of years. In fact, despite its numerous shortcom
ings, one should carefully examine the intricate issues
surrounding organized religion before hastily condemn
ing and abandoning it.
For years, adolescents and young adults have chosen
to rebel against the standard of organized religion in an
attempt to discover their own spirituality. According to
a national study of youth and religion, one of the main
reasons young people abandon organized religion is
because they feel it is fraught with hypocrisies. Another
common attack on organized religion is to hold it
responsible for the many controversies and problems
that differing religious beliefs are at the heart of. One
simply has to look at our world history, which has had
innumerable religious wars since the beginning of time.
Even now, Americans are fighting a war with radical
religious beliefs at the center of it.
Unfortunately, humanity’s problems are not this sim
ple. Humans go to war because of innate differences,
not because a religious doctrine tells them to.
According to an article written by Orson Scott Card in
The Daily Rhinoceros, a study conducted with chim
panzees showed that a few chimps inevitably separated
from the group to form their own tribe and were later
murdered by the majority chimps. In an astonishingly
similar nature, humans attack their deviant brothers over
invariable differences when we go to war. However,
according to Card, when human beings succumb to evil,
in order to justify their cruel and evil acts, they play the
religion card and claim to be doing it for their God or
another superior being.
If organized religion is at the root of all grand acts of
violence, how can one even attempt to explain the hor
rific atrocities that were committed without religion as a
primary motivating force? According to Card, many his
torians have also come up with conclusive evidence that in the
course of history, organized religion has actually done a com
mendable job of keeping humans from acting out on these
impulses. Card gives the example of the relatively large number
of Indians still living in Spain instead of England as a direct
result of the Catholic priests’ influence over the blood-thirsty
conquistadors.
In organized religion, individuals who occupy leadership posi
tions are more inclined to obey the rules of God and are thus
more likely to follow the rules of a civilized society and better
serve the common people in their religious community. These
individuals are usually honest, good people whose friendship and
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
guidance can help others overcome life’s obstacles and achieve a
closer relationship with their God. This provides an irreplaceable
and unique support system for those who participate in it.
If organized religion were abolished, humans who wish to
oppress and destroy would still do so and find a way to make it
look virtuous. Therefore, despite its numerous flaws, organized
religion should be appreciated for the good it contributes and
should be discarded with more discretion and consideration than
is often used. Organized religion is not the enemy. If anything, it
seems to be a mere catalyst to a negative reaction for which
Jennifer Lozano is a senior
English major.
U.N. must stop foreign sex trade
I rina came to Italy in
order to fill an ad for a
waitress, but upon arrival,
was instead forced into slav
ery. Olga was kidnapped by
a human-goods smuggler,
and brought to a tiny town
called Valesta, where her saga of dehu
manization and degradation began. Their
destination: a life of forced promiscuity,
obligatory participation in sexual acts, and
physical abuse from their “owners” and
clients — a life of sexual slavery. The tales
told by Irina and Olga are the testimonies
of two women who were brave enough to
relay their accounts to MSNBC, but they
are not alone. It is estimated that more
than 800,000 girls and women are traf
ficked worldwide each year. Due to the
appalling violation of multitudes of inno
cent girls, the United Nations (U.N.) must
help ease the burden of these young
women and demand stricter enforcement
of existing legislation.
Many of the young girls tell a strikingly
similar story. Economic deprivation and
lack of education left them desperate for
work, making them extremely vulnerable
to believing the hollow promises of a “new
beginning,” told by smooth talking traders
of women. The country of Moldova
became suddenly destitute after the fall of
the Soviet Union, and MSNBC cites that
approximately 10 percent of the women
forced into prostitution come from this
country. Some of the women were kid
napped through the use of physical force
and smuggled into bondage against their
will.
The individuals involved in the sex
trade developed highly successful tactics
to keep these woman caged. Human traf
fickers pay for the voyage of the women
who leave their homes by choice. Once
these women reach their destination and
there are no jobs waiting or available, they
have no way to pay back their debt and are
forced to become an “indentured servant”
via the sex market. Other owners of sex
slaves either threaten or use
grotesque physical violence
to intimidate the defenseless
women.
Ultimately, the most
widespread, successful tactic
and by-product of long-term
sexual slavery is dehumanization. Olga
related her owner’s methods of dehuman
ization to MSNBC. Her owner, Meti,
raped and beat 19-year old Olga regularly
until she completely submitted herself to
him, and further degraded her by making
her clean the inside of a toilet with her
tongue, and perform obscene sexual acts
with other women for his entertainment.
MSNBC’s report focuses on the flour
ishing sex trade in Eastern Europe and
specifically, the city of Velesta in
Macedonia and its neighboring country,
Albania. The enormous demand for sex
slaves generates massive revenue, leaving
the owners and operators of the sex trade
with resources that undeipaid local police
simply cannot match. While the smugglers
have state-of-the-art electronics and equip
ment, police lack even the basics, such as
flashlights and handcuffs. And since they
cannot beat them, many officers and politi
cians join them. On April 18, Albania
admitted that due to their immense pow
ers, criminal organizations are able to
establish links with even top government
officials, according to MSNBC. The U.S.
State Department also acknowledged the
occunence of bribery in several countries’
political systems in its 2001 article on
human rights, and conceded that
“instances of corruption and involvement
of police in trafficking in persons occurred
at the local level.”
But contrary to the assumptions of
many, the incidence of human trafficking
and sexual enslavement is not limited to
Eastern Europe, or restricted solely to
impoverished countries. MSNBC reports
that approximately half of the women
taken from countries like Moldova eventu
ally work as prostitutes in Western Europe,
and one quarter of the slaves are eventual
ly sent to the United States. In addition to
the fact that indigent countries do not have
the resources to deal with this under
ground operation, the involvement of
developed countries like those of Western
Europe and the United States make it clear
that it is the role of the U.N. to help deal
with this problem.
The U.N. has taken some action against
the trafficking of women, such as its 1949
convention to deal with this problem.
Recently, the U.N. created Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights
of the Child (OHCHR) on the sale of chil
dren, child prostitution and child pornog
raphy, a document which vaguely outlines
a plan for dealing with this problem. This
document is obviously well-intentioned
and sets an excellent precedent for U.N.
involvement in this problem; in the
OHCHR, the U.N. lists among the reasons
for its creation being “gravely concerned
at the significant and increasing interna
tional traffic in children for the purpose of
the sale of children, child prostitution and
child pornography.”
However, the U.N. and the OHCHR
fall short of the measures necessary to
eradicate this problem, as the document
does not have any enforcement powers. In
addition to this, the U.N. should consider
the sex trade an international — not isolat
ed — occurrence, and should therefore
delineate specific protocol for dealing with
sex traffickers as international offenders.
The practice of forcing young women to
have sex against their will is the most
severe kind of violation and must be dealt
with immediately. The countries that are
founded upon freedom and personal liber
ties and are blessed with ample resources
must be the ones to take a stand to put an
end to this grotesque and dehumanizing
practice.
Lindsye Forson is a sophomore
journalism major.
LINDSYE FORSON