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Opinion
The Battalion
Page 5B • Wednesday, September 11, 2002
America's
lessons
rue meaning of heroism and importance of
RICHARD BRAY
CAIRO.
The Arab
Jazeera br has been exact, y one y ear since the nation’s outlook
excerpts of : han,L:ecl. Professional athletes and movie stars suddenly
I uesday in a back stage to real heroes: firefighters, emergency
voice attnK. * cal personnel and police officers. Even in College
bin Ladcncdon. Texas, a small town with virtually no similarities
mg all I9Sc ew York City, the blow was felt. The United States was
On Mwuged forever.
broadcast i^®otism came to mean something more than it had in the past. Although the United
tape m tttes was no longer the indomitable force we once thought it was, it was also, paradoxi-
vo,cc< s PCiy, stronger.
55|HB^J r i ca ns came together across the country to mourn the tragedy and, perhaps even
J e importantly, most of the world joined. The tragedy of Sept. 1 1 was not just an
Mu-hh?? 0 eri f an tra g ed y* was a world tragedy.
H in|our * mad communities were strengthened as well. Texas A&M showed its support by fill-
in Tuc ^y' ? Cield with red, white and blue shirts, making the football stadium something
the voice e i lan ^ usl a stad ' um ^ or a da y- -lust as Aggies came together following the 1999 Aggie
hijackers Collapse, students again united to mourn America’s losses and to strengthen our
birth were ^ v r ^ blow had been dealt, but mere terrorism could not bring America to its knees,
were lauc as M 1 bad following Pearl Harbor, the “sleeping giant’’ awoke.
their pier. - v cn as American soldiers remain in Afghanistan, it is now apparent that America’s
*'Tho« r ltesl strength is not the speed of its fighter jets or the power of its weaponry. America’s
ers) have r:. rce resolve comes from the people’s belief in America. The ideals upon which this
only counr on Iwas founded have survived for more than 200 years not because the United States
ticc and dc^always been a military power, but because the American people believe in the system,
through jib: Adm ittedly, Americans may not have an affinity for politicians, and government waste
"truggle fo problem virtually every taxpayer is concerned with, but despite these problems,
God. the v ericans consider an attack against their nation a personal assault. They believe in the
said in T-fs-tem. and they will display an unmatched courage when that system is challenged.
There Americans throughout the United States became heroes that day. The policemen and
1 ' ’ ‘' ,r5c: " ; fighters who saved lives that day are undoubtedly heroes. The people who provided a
speaking «s: to cry on; the organizers of Red, White and Blue Out; the church leaders who led
■lucii. ' L yers and the counselors who offered their services all served important functions as the
• ^ 2 ^ ion struggled to come to grips with the inexplicable. Suddenly athletes who we once
r ught of as superhuman were simply entertainers.
V j 8 enera, ' on of college students, which had already seen the Oklahoma City bomb-
m'tcrvlewej• ’ f° un d itself facing a tragedy that hasn’t been equalled on American soil since Pearl
iSt ^ j . rbor. Instead of faltering, however, it reacted admirably, raising millions of dollars
the Voice y OS | t b e country for relatives of the Sept. 1 1 victims through a variety of programs.
I aden’s Even today, the United States continues to heal from Sept. 1 1. It will be a day of quiet
A differer ltem P ,ation ’ not on| y u P on Sept- 1 1 itself, but of the changes America has undergone
on TuMdav , s ce tbe largest terrorist attack in U.S. history. This nation has a firmer grasp of its own
the hiuders ; ngth, and a greater appreciation for both this country and the communities of which it
ed the greate : omprised.
expertise to a!
to give up tV
stand up. Richard Bray is a senior
remnants journalism major.
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W T
RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION
New video games carry insightful messages
KELLY WOLFENBARGER
longer thi r
Monday ar; f
footage of bit
top lieutcnr
silently on iIk
Bin Ladf. Xhile searching online for
hoard !r ' \/V/ obscure information on
after the U. < y y the snakehead fish. I
campaign umbled across a link to an online
Afghanistan - g ame called New York
I he i lefender. The game begins with a
included icture-perfect view of downtown New York City before Sept. 1 1.
Afghanistan j ant . s soon k e g an flying onto the screen heading for the Twin
young men owcrs j] ie object of the game is to shoot the planes out of the
being among jj- before they collide with the buildings, but within a minute so
1 hey appear^umy pj anes are pouring onto the screen that even the most
at maps. inT ^haustive effort becomes futile. The planes crash into the towers
Washington 1 re atmg massive holes of dark smoke and the World Trade Center
manuals oK oes joy^o Game over.
At least one Video games are popular because they offer the player a dif-
scveral hoof cu | t but feasible challenge to overcome. The player has an
could he su pjfiprtunity to win, thus the tired eyes and sore thumbs at 5
desks and all m but New York Defender is different: You can’t win. This
pointing at ’ ante is anything but satisfying. It makes the player feel power-
Pentagon on ( ;ss | an( j vulnerable.
A no thereof -j-hc game wasn't created for a good time, though. It is a mes-
man identic lge a bout the hopelessness of anti-terrorism: Try its you might to
Abdulaziz A | ow ever y enemy out of the sky, some will always slip by.
what appeanThere are no ways to actually win,” Jonathon Pitcher, one of the
farewell mess3j arncs p renc h designers, wrote as a side note to the game. “The
“God ma.' d nner becomes the last one to lose.”
those who traia:-__
path and who
this noble act;
mention should
Sheik 0sani J
may God P fl
AI omari and
iboard Am eri1
Some are concerned about the message this game conveys.
They say it is negative and insensitive to the efforts of America.
But the point of this game, and others like it, is not to mock
America, but to sympathize. The message of New York Defender
is not that America is doing a lousy job of protecting itself; it is
that no matter how peaceful the world gets or how well the
United States guards itself, you can only do so much to keep a
plane from flying past the reaches of your gun.
The online video game has become the newest means of mak
ing statements about current events. Tech columnist, Clive
Thompson, says last summer the pass-around hit was a Lizzie
Grubman game in which players mowed down unlucky
Hamptons townies using a smirking Lizzie in her SUV. Now
there is a parody of the popular arcade game Street Fighter out—
Downing Street Fighter, in which nine British politicians maul
each other in an effort to become prime minister. As if the sight
of nine suits throwing fists isn’t entertaining enough, the men yell
mangled Japanese-style English taunts at one another. It’s a jab at
the concept of party politics where ethical debate often turns into
childish smack down — a game.
The war on terrorism has inspired the creation of many online
games, and their makers span a wide variety of people both for
and against the war. One designer crafted War on Terrorism, a
game that allows you to take down the Taliban with sniper rifles
and AK-47s. If you’re still alive by the last level, you get to pum
mel bin Laden with your fists. Yet another designer created A1
Quaidamon, a satirical play on both Pokemon and human rights
concerns over how prisoners of war are treated “Your very own
prisoner of war! How will you treat him?” the game asks. “Be
careful, you might just grow to love him!”.
Most of these games, while sometimes violent and gruesome,
are meant to be humorous and in good fun. Others send out a
powerful message about the state of the world. The French cre
ators of New York Defender have developed another game called
Enduring Freedom, and while the title sounds positive, the game
is quite the opposite. The player’s goal is to try and bomb Afghan
military bases while avoiding peaceful settlements. But the bases
look nearly identical to the townships and they go by so quickly
the player ends up accidentally taking out innocents in the effort
to defeat the enemy. Although the villages being bombed are in a
country on the other side of the world, the message hits close to
home.
Most of these games are pretty dull. They will never make it
to the arcades and more than likely, you won’t find yourself at
the keyboard early in the morning. They are low-tech, 2-D and so
simple most can be mastered within two minutes, but this is all
part of the point. These games aren’t trying to get you hooked.
They're trying to make you think.
Kelly Wolfenharger is a sophomore
journalism major.
foreign visas too difficult to obtain after Sept. 11
k T (
Flight l obtain a stu-
N t
COLLINS EZEANYIM
bt having to
he World dent visa to
Al-Jazeera , n( j t d e i r school
weekend thaj c choice is some-
espondents most
wo top lerican college students take for granted,
wanted in thrf eign students, however, are not so fortunate.
According ;n before last year’s terrorist attacks, interna-
bew, report^ ial students had to endure rigorous regulations
n June with brder to study in the United States, according to
dohammed 'Association of International Educators. Since
Jinalshibh, events of Sept. 11, the scrutiny has grown
Congress vUS rse.
American la^ The Associated Press reports many foreign stu-
)aida’s Sept ' its were unable to re-enter the country to attend
ie terror group'sses f a ]j because increased security has led
red striking visa application delays. In particular, students
acilities. rn the Middle East, Africa and Asia have experi-
U.S. cowhed more difficulty in obtaining visas. As
f'ficials, spea^tann Drolesky, executive director for the inter-
on of anonym'-ional programs for students at Texas A&M. said
Mohainrnea .rtually no students from Saudi Arabia received
x>ut the origi ,1 'as to enter the United States.” This should not
I plot are Pmappcning. After Sept. 11, the government
ey have no iuld exercise more caution when dealing with
at would verfpign visitors. But by unfairly focusing on inter-
ional students, the government is performing a
grievous enor that will negatively impact both for
eign and American students and their universities.
For example, in 2001, the visa application
process for foreign students lasted about a week,
according to The Associated Press. Since that time
the government has stretched it to last as long as
three months. The expanded time frame is grossly
unfair. For some foreign students, it means they
may have to wait until spring to continue their edu
cation. Even when Sept. 11 is taken into considera
tion, there is no reason why a process that took
only a few days a year ago now takes months.
What makes the situation worse is the govern
ment’s inconsistency in handling foreign visitors
post-Sept. 11. While the federal government is
being stingy in approving student visas, some state
governments readily give away driver’s licenses to
people who are in America illegally. In fact,
Governor Gray Davis is about to sign a bill that
would make this official policy in California.
The Justice Department claims the intense
scrutiny foreign students endure is in America’s
interest - yet only one of the Sept. 11 hijackers was
able to obtain a student visa, according to
NAFSA.org. FoxNews.com reports at least seven
of the Sept. 11 hijackers were able to obtain dri
ver’s licenses. By this proportion alone, the gov
ernment should be more focused on how illegal
immigrants obtain driver’s licenses. Instead, they
have directed too much attention on international
students.
Worse still, government organizations may cre
ate a needless fear of foreign students. Drolesky
said the “INS classifies all schools simply as
‘schools’ - so rank research institutions like Texas
A&M are lumped together with flight schools and
other such training organizations. Because of this,
students and scholars have been made to look as
though they are among the most dangerous indi
viduals entering the U.S.” Drolesky said less than
two percent of the 30 million temporary visas
issued are student visas. It would seem logical then
for the government to devote about two percent of
its anti-terrorism resources to student visa holders.
Instead, the Department of Justice chooses to exe
cute new and bloated regulations such as the
Student and Exchange Visitor Information System
(SEV1S). According to the Department of Justice
Web site, it will eventually be mandatory for
schools to use SEVIS to “report pertinent informa
tion to INS” regarding foreign students. Still,
SEVIS probably will not keep determined terror
ists out of the United States.
By implementing more pointless bureaucracy
into the student visa application process, the gov
ernment negatively affects many critical aspects of
higher education. As Larry Bell told The
Associated Press, “The greater impact. . . may be
on the intellectual community ... a lot of these
people are involved in research projects that may
have to be put on hold.” Other than educating stu
dents, the main responsibility of many universities,
including Texas A&M, is to conduct research. It
would be a shame if research projects were put on
hold or cancelled due to shortsighted actions by
government.
The new enhanced security will also negatively
impact the American economy.
According to The Associated Press, the 550,000
undergraduate and graduate foreign students con
tributed $11 billion to the economy. In addition,
Drolesky says multinational companies seeking to
build partnerships in other nations may move their
business if foreign students cannot study in the
United States.
The U.S. government has a responsibility to
protect the public from terrorism, but it is wrong to
focus so much unneeded attention on the hard
working international students who choose to
study in America.
Collins Ezeanyim is a senior
computer engineering major.