The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, July 22, 2002, Image 7

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    ^ July 22 J
Opinion
The Battalion
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In need of priorities
Animal protection groups should focus on real cruelty
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Male Stafford:
conclusion after hearing The
Associated Press news reports
about the July 16 arrest of a
Liberty, Mo., man who allegedly burned a kitten on a barbecue
grill while several other people watched and poked the animal
with a stick. It would be absurd to bemoan human morality if
this were one of but a few instances of animal cruelty.
Unfortunately, it is just one of over 1,000 documented
instances each year, according
to the Humane Society
of the United States.
In order to better com
bat and prevent such
cruelties, organizations
such as People for
the Ethical
Treatment of
Animals (PETA),
should focus
more resources
towards pre
venting inten
tional cruelty
towards ani
mals. In order
to do this, it
must reduce
activism in less
helpful practices
such as attempting
to make people vege
tarians and trying to
decrease the amount of
cow’s milk which is
consumed.
The Battalion
reported one of these
instances last year
after two Baylor
University baseball players,
Clint Bowers and Derek Brehm,
we accused of misdemeanor
animal cruelty after killing and
depilating a cat March 9,
2001. According to the Humane
Society, both players were sus
pended from the team for eight
games, though Brehm was later
dismissed from the team after he
was arrested on charges of driving
while intoxicated. However,
according to the San Antonio Star-
Telegram, both men were acquit
ted of animal cruelty charges
because the cat they killed was
feral and therefore had no owner.
According to “Understanding Animal Cruelty,” a resource
book distributed by the Humane Society, there are few statis
tics regarding the prevalence of animal cruelty due to the diffi
culty in defining animal cruelty and because there is no central
reporting system in place. However, a 1997 study by the
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JEFF SMITH • THE BATTALION
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Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
and Northeastern University estimated there are between 1,500
and 2,000 cases of animal cruelty in the United States each
year, and most of these are committed by teenage boys. In
2000, the Humane Society found that 94 percent of animal cru
elty cases are committed by males, and 31 percent were com
mitted by teenagers.
Other studies have noted a connection between animal cru
elty and other violent crimes. According to the Humane
Society, the FBI has recognized this since the 1970s, when its
analysis of serial killers suggested most had tortured animals as
children.
These instances of abuse, in which animals are tortured,
beaten or severely neglected, are societal problems which are
much more worthy of attention than complaints about the
inherent cruelty of
fishing, which is
the goal of fish-
inghurts.com, a
website associated
with PETA. Other,
PETA-associated
sites include milk-
sucks.com and furis-
dead.com. Activism
in this form does
little to further
animal rights and
drains resources
which would be
better used to
fight animal
cruelty that is
truly harmful
to society.
Last week.
The Battalion
ran a mail call
letter from a
woman who wanted the
community to boycott
the Ringling Bros, and
Barnum & Bailey Circus
which had come to town, com
plaining that animals kept in a
circus setting are inherently mistreat
ed. Several other readers wrote in,
saying circus animals were better off
in the Circus, and that training animals
to complete tricks does not constitute abuse.
While such activism is certainly reasonable
in accordance with her ideas, organizations
must work toward the more important goal of
decreasing animal abuse.
For example, education programs might be helpful in
decreasing animal cruelty and would more likely be accepted
by mainstream society. As evidenced by the studies cited
above, animal cruelty crime is a serious problem with real
effects on society. To gain support for its organization and
make a real change, organizations such as PETA need to focus
its attention and resources upon cases such as the ones in Waco
and Liberty.
Richard Bray is a senior
journalism major.
A force to be reckoned with
Texas politics finally focusing on women's issues
T exas’ political candi
dates are turning an
open ear to female
constituents. Gaining the
female vote has become a
key component in the cam
paigns of gubernatorial candidates Rick
Perry and Tony Sanchez, as well as those
°f Texas Attorney General candidates
Kirk Watson and Greg Abbott. The
increasing power of the female vote has
affected how these candidates are run
ning their campaigns.
Democratic candidates Sanchez and
Watson have established support groups
similarly dubbed “Women for Sanchez
and “Women with Watson.” As for GOP
gubernatorial candidate Rick Perry, he
Points to his history of naming women to
high-level state positions, along with his
record on health care and public educa-
Uon, as a means to engage the female
electorate. Republican Greg Abbott
appeals to women in the state by stress-
reg allegiance to his promise of increas
ing child support collections and combat
ing child pornography.
Whether explicitly stated or not, these
current political candidates recognize the
unportance of attaining the female vote,
and why shouldn’t they? Women hold
rcore power at the polls than ever before.
According to Texas Republican Party
c hair Susan Weddington, suburban
w °men have been known to vote without
regard to political party, and they consis-
te ntly show up at the polls. Weddington
‘s quoted by The Bryan-College Station
Eagle as explaining, “It’s always impor-
TERI BEENE
tant, with women being over
half of the population. You
just are always factoring
women into campaign
plans.”
This campaign strategy
has made its way into pres
ent political agendas. With the success of
former governor Ann Richards and
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, along
with numerous female Texans who have
been elected to public office, it is a won
der that female issues are not at the fore
front of Texas political campaigns.
According to The League of Women
Voters of Texas (LWV-Texas), women’s
issues include tackling domestic vio
lence, enforcing child support laws,
improving statewide child care and
health care, improving public school
finance, enacting laws to conserve and
protect the state’s natural resources and
promoting privacy of women to make
reproductive choices. The LWV-Texas
also stresses the need for “a coordinated
financial structure, equitable taxation,
and increased accountability” in state
government. It endorses limited cam
paign contributions and measures to
“ensure every citizen’s right to vote.” It
seems that while women are recognized
for maintaining strong stances on domes
tic issues, they should also be recognized
for their integral participation in effect
ing legislative action on issues of gov
ernment reform. The LWV encourages
women to take an active role in the gov
ernmental process, and the number of
women involved with the LWV-Texas is
growing. These women are powerful and
determined, and nationwide it seems this
trend also involves an increase in eco
nomic status of American women.
According to a recent study by Money
Magazine, women represent a sizable
portion of the bank of American
investors. Compared to five years ago,
women have expressed growth of interest
in the financial market. The study found
14 percent of American women have
$100,000 or more in personal retirement
funds. Money magazine quoted
OppenheimerFunds’ Rob Denisen com
menting on this subject: “It's common
wisdom now that women get it — they're
responsible.”
Disregarding the sexist implications
of this comment, Mr. Denisen’s remark
reflects the sentiments of many men in
the industry who have recognized the
growing financial power of American
women.
Women control more money in the
economy than before, occupy important
civic positions, display consistency at the
polls and show a trend of voting on
issues rather than party affiliation. With
women representing such a powerful base
of constituents, politicians would be
unwise to fail to address female issues.
Taking this into consideration, current
Texas politicians have recognized the
female voting power as a force to be
reckoned with, and rightfully so.
Jeri Beene is a senior
English major.
To publish or
not to publish?
A s the entire country cele
brated the Fourth of July
with barbecues and fire
works, The New York Times com
memorated the holiday with a few
oratorical fireworks of its own.
The Times published a story based
on a highly-classified document leaked from a Pentagon offi
cial. Criticism is now being hurled at The Times from all
sides. The renowned newspaper is being accused of lacking
journalistic integrity, at the very least, and some suggest that
to publish such a document is an act of treason.
The Times cited an anonymous informant as the source of
the document. Called a “Concept of Operation” or
“CONOPS,” the manuscript essentially is an outline of a pos
sible course of military action.
The New York Times' article described a plan to attack Iraq
on three sides in another attempt to oust Saddam Hussein.
Specifically, U.S. forces would deploy air, land, and sea-
based military units to launch the strike from three directions
— the north, south and west. According to The Times, multi
tudes of Marines and soldiers would enter Iraq from Kuwait.
Warplanes would invade Iraq from nearby countries such as
Turkey and Qatar, and focus raids on “airfields, roadways,
and fiber-optics communications sites.”
Covert forces such as the CIA would hit Iraq’s facilities
suspected of manufacturing or housing weapons of mass
destruction. The Times' article also mentioned the attack
would utilize up to 250,000 troops.
Regarding their motivation for leaking such a document,
the mystery informant mentioned the plan was “insufficiently
creative” and “failed to incorporate fully the advances in tac
tics and technology that the military has made since the Gulf
War.” In other words, there are too many ground forces and
not enough airpower, according to Kenneth Alhird, MSNBC
columnist and former Army colonel. He speculates the person
who leaked the information possibly could be someone with
ties to the Air Force, a group who would likely oppose the
use of ground forces on a large scale.
The identity of the source is of negligible importance now,
at least compared to the potential effects of his or her loose
lips. One person violating a sworn confidence by leaking the
information, and a widely-read newspaper consequently pub
lishing classified military information “is damaging our coun
try’s ability to stop terrorist acts and is putting American lives
at risk,” according to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
For example, in September, after the terrorist attacks, Utah
Sen. Orrin Hatch said the United States had intercepted a
phone call between an unidentified party and Osama bin
Laden that implied his involvement in the attacks. The Los
Angeles Times suggests that after learning of this through the
U.S. media, al-Qaeda ceased using telephones, thereby cut
ting off a major source of U.S. intelligence.
However, there is also speculation the leak was intentional,
and the U.S. government has essentially duped The Times into
becoming a mule for carrying false information. It would not
be the first time this has occurred. Winston Churchill has
been quoted as saying that “In wartime, truth is so precious
that she must always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”
Allard claims the Pentagon basically manipulated the
media during Kosovo to disseminate only certain selected
information via lengthy press conferences. Allard also sug
gests that if the recent leaking was in fact intentional, the pur
pose could be a sort of last chance for one of Hussein’s gen
erals to take care of the problem privately and avoid an inter
national conflict.
Regardless of whether the leak was done by one disillu
sioned Pentagon official or the result of a grandiose govern
ment ploy, the fact remains that The New York Times was will
ing to publish the details of a classified military document.
Whether The Times is truly “arrogant, unpatriotic elitists,” as
suggested by Allard, or a newspaper just looking for a story,
it crossed the line by publishing an article detailing U.S. mili
tary secrets. Even the chance that circulating this report could
endanger the lives of Americans should be reason enough for
The Times to play its journalistic integrity card and turn down
a sensational, but possibly treasonous, story and look else
where for a scoop.
Lindsye Forson is a sophomore
journalism major.
LINDSYE FORSON
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
77843-1111. Fax: (979) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thebatt.com