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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 2002)
Opinion The Battalion ntkrnatio the BATT.J -Qajdfi spects Four-wheeled terrors polio^enovated park will rid campus of skateboarders 'AC HI, Pakhjjt LoiwrmndosW, ost Texas ^aulc w«h *A/| \ ( v M holed upmaBiV Astinlems •dnesday, wjftfiM, h.uc Ivon on UUI onl ° campus ha\ e ( s u^spKt ely experienced^ 1 ri ’^ ^pfuiK:,ear collision with an untalented, ath as Pakistan ically-challenged minority that plagues ,K I hcncmr < £ s institution: skateboarders. Fret no ■! inovemefi )re jj 1c c j t y Q f Bryan is doing its part nat ° helj rid the University of these emer- ncy room regulars, and A&M students ould be applauding their neighboring y for its efforts. Risers, indui- nxe agentv ! when .. ... the UKvfkxt M !' nyot ,he .1 the roofttr avly-cemented ion Wdo/ ;as >t cam P us ~ of tax*:: dCdlege ion the nx**. atidn have iicnt Nocb inslposted that ded were r^' sco f jra 8 e skateboard- >nditioa §• The University Police said oneofa.^P ar,,nont ' w ho gets stuck and one • 'tth the unenviable task of sere Arabs, biasing those who skateboard ics were not rf campus, can also attest to this, were Afgfer hile someone might flirt with e idea of throwing skaters an federal bow on the way to class, such m Idanutu tions are viewed as confrontation- ! the gurenr , and generally solve nothing, hut rclca><c But contrary to popular belief, it maiion A ac n't the class of 2(K)6 doing most of the nen moved tui^heeled loitering, but middle and in the . ,gh school students from Bryan and hxki ahx oiiege Station with few other places to cate. One local skakeboarder, John Mu/cd .1 l^ iajasi, told The Eagle the lack of places iiicratun’ s j ( ^ te j n ^is community “forces” him assault nr nc j ^| s fnends to skate on the A&M cam- : ^. ,sI ms. Clearly, something needed to be done. ides, said i ia u .u • c. , In December, the issue was brought ;fore the city of College Station, which scarded its plans for a city-sponsored cate park after citing “liability con- re traded * "T'U- • • 1 u .• j , , ;rns. This is simply bureaucratic |n ‘ r(lss .p, ording. David Schmitz, the direc- ( w im , rv , *r of Bryan parks and recreation, |on ^ ^ -'Oked into the issue himself, only j ,i a |.Qaidj ‘ find the neccessary insurance ■ ’liters wk as;no more costly than it would n w [, en to install a typical play- *rces chase *ound. ountains t> In truth, what likely ter the collared College Station away regime. om the idea of a skatepark separate r^as'not liability concerns, on WednCit the near-$2 million security dee tag Bryan taxpayers • Islamic niii>e Spending revamping t planningK'alasota Drive’s Henderson American ark, the new locale for the skate park, m the city ' /hile less than $100,000 of this is fund- icinhersola' „ t ] le seating area, that is still a large of Har* im 0 f mone y to be coughed up. • or ^ oven1f The fact that College Station vetoed original plans for the park was good, . . this saved a financially-burdened 'thi" niversit y fifi* °f students from having sai ^'support skateboarding addictions. As it on the «rs n cos^ ■apons trainin Pakis is* funding for the skate park that isn’t eing covered by the city of Bryan is e.s captured 'ists in irt of the dost have o U.S. author ng. k. a report cd Al-JazeeR ork said he 1 JiXiMoney spent on iaikh Mohaif 1 inalshibh-' 1 ' A s some students surely J lined they h e ?/\ noticed upon their recent , 11 attacks®; A.arrival to the Texas A&M being picked up by either the school dis trict or parent-teacher organizations, according to The Eagle. College Station’s primary residents, students, generally have more important things to concern themselves with. Perhaps this money could have been more constructively spent, but as long as College Station residents do not have to foot the bill, it really doesn’t matter. Bryan can waste its money if it so desire’s. Besides, this frees up space in a RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION congested campus for those concerned with getting to class, as small as that number might be. So maybe the days of skaters with bloody knees and bruised egos clogging up the lines at A.P. Beutel Health Center are over. However, for those working at Bryan’s St. Joseph Hospital, it’s going to be a long year. George Deutsch is a junior journalism major. PTTS gets new luxury vehicles ney spent on new Tahoes could have been better used A; Kat' tmpus, some of the beloved COLIN ENNEN mg m ‘'parking. Traffic, and icsday transportation Services (PTTS) ' of Pa ^ ffieers can be seen tooling around within the friendly confines gency anJfVf a | uxurious new suv They are a far cry from the mopeds apartment Aj Cherokees t , have been using since I've been here, v i n o there. ld are stirring up criticism. tsLvere sf ^ doesn’t take much for a PTTS officer to anger a student, he^raiding P ;Ut this complaint may be more legitimate than others. It seems fire froir *ost of the complaints are a mixture of various grudges and said. alousy, but this recent concern is about an unwise use of funds, he gunfit c ' Doug Williams, associate director of PTTS, said four new neighbor ^ hevy Tahoes were purchased this summer. Williams said there I reinforcef’ aJ been interaction between officers and the acting director, in. The g^obert Bisor, and the officers requested larger vehicles due to bbed g ren ;ie “tight fit,” as Williams said, in the older vehicles, rtment ""Apparently, Bisor felt the request had merit and justified the the iiffihase of four vehicles some of us can only dream ol owning, lion on , a m i n i murn cos t 0 f $34,000 per Tahoe, PITS officers and NV nly had to collect 5,440 $25 tickets to purchase the complete whatWhen you consider 5,440 students is only l 2 peicenl of the vm.iv ;uden t population and probably more than 12 percent of us official ' ave gotten tickets, many more than one, you have to ask your- imen insid^f w hy they didn’t go all out and buy five Tahoes, or why the wled “Therficley wasn’t spent on something more beneficial for the stu- ih” in Ar a L ents - In fact, with the money spent on four Tahoes, the tiles d University could have purchased around 130 new computers :ar at nts were either comparable to or better than those stationed in the Student Computing Center. Or, if you think we’ve got enough quality computers, the school could have purchased roughly l ,800 new desks. In an effort to promote cultural literacy and awareness, the University could have purchased a half-year subscription to Time for 5,450 students. PTTS could have purchased 45 beauti ful new Vespa scooters for its officers. Or, since our school is all about tradition, PTTS could have stuck with the Jeep name and bought five Grand Cherokees, with some money left over. A cool 13,000 dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts could have been kindly purchased. About 1,100 high quality stainless steel teaching lecterns might also have been more beneficial. After figuring in the cost of importing them, Texas A&M could have been the proud owner of a flock of 250 fine Peruvian alpaca llamas, an animal raised worldwide for its valuable fur. The point is, while most of these items seem frivolous, many students feel giving luxurious vehicles to folks who take money away from us is just as foolish. Instead of this wasteful spend ing, the administration could have put that money towards our teachers and instructors. After all, the classroom and the resources necessary for edu cation should take priority over the opportunity to buy PTTS officers luxury vehicles. So the next time you see a friendly PTTS officer driving around in one of these fine looking vehi cles, ask yourself how much your education might be suffering so they can give tickets comfortably. Page 5B • Thursday, September 12, 2002 MELISSA FRIED ‘In God we trust’ disputed M ichael Newdow stirred controversy earlier this summer when he fought the California courts in an attempt to remove the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance and won. For those w'ho missed it, Michael Newdow, an atheist, argued the inclusion of the words “under God” violated the principle of separation of church and state. Just when it seemed his 15 minutes of fame were over, Newdow is back. This time, using the same argument as before, he wants the courts to prohibit the House and Senate from employing spiri tual chaplains. Newdow’s argument is wrong. The chaplains that serve the House and Senate are not there to instill their doctrine upon members of Congress, but to offer guidance, advice, comfort and support when needed. They work independently of business conducted within the House and Senate cham bers and, contrary to what Newdow wants the public to believe, do not seek members, but are sought out by them. Even more interesting, a recent Washington Post article said he has also decided the words “In God We Trust” should be removed from our money, and references to God should be deleted from future presidential inauguration speeches. The United States was founded to provide individuals with the right to practice their religion freely. What Newdow proposes would effectively limit the rights of Americans to express their religious beliefs, an act that would go against the very roots this nation was founded upon. Whether one is a practicing Christian, or Christian at all, the true heritage and history of this great country cannot be denied. The words “In God We Trust,” printed on the back side of our money, is not supposed to be taken to heart by the person holding it. It is a throwback to our founding fat! ho ivested a great deal of time and energy so Americans could choose whether or not to put trust in God. Newdow goes too far in his demand that any reference to God be deleted from the speeches of future Presidents at their inaugurations. There is a difference between preaching and praising. When a president praises God for helping him accomplish such an arduous and laborious feat, he speaks for himself and only himself. In delivering a speech praising graciousness and mercy, it reflects only the opinion of the speaker and leaves the audience to either marvel at his devout faith in a higher being, or to cringe at the thought that he does not have enough faith in himself. It is difficult to see how this is an infringement on the separation of church and state. The president who makes a reference to God in his inau guration speech is not attempting to brainwash us to accept some form or fashion of the Judeo-Christian faith. No presi dent would dare challenge us to accept God out of fear his popularity would drop and he would not be re-elected. In a country that guarantees freedom of religion and pro tects one’s right to practice, it is unfortunate we have some one like Michael Newdow who perseveres to chip away at the very religious liberty granted to us all. Melissa Fried is a sophomore international studies major. MAIL CALL Student visas denied for safety In response to Collins Ezeanyim's Sept. 7 7 column: Tm sure Ezeanyim intended no disrespect with his column. Still, I am utterly disgusted at his selfish whining over the dif ficulty in obtaining student visas since Sept. 11, 2001. It is as if Ezeanyim is com pletely oblivious to the fact that the majority of the hijack ers were Saudi nationals. Common sense dictates that all Saudis wishing to enter the country should face more scrutiny. Period. Furthermore, Ezeanyim's call for less international student scrutiny and "more focus on * how illegal immigrants obtain driver's licenses" is downright idiotic. It should be the exact opposite. The legislation in California is intended to help undocumented Mexican work ers get some form of valid identification for employment - that has nothing to do with the war on terrorism. Ezeanyim complains, "stu dents and scholars have been made to look as though they are among the most dangerous individuals entering the United States." The cold truth is that they are. No one can guarantee that the knowledge they are amassing here, especially at the science and engineering col leges at A&M, will not someday be used to wreak mass destruction. A person with no higher education flying a plane into a building is one thing. A rogue scientist constructing a nuclear weapon is another. Is it somewhat unfair and arbitrary? Yes. Is it understand able that innocent international students are upset? Yes. Is it necessary, though? Absolutely. Better safe than sorry, as the saying goes. Twenty-three years ago, my family first arrived in this coun try from Taiwan thanks to a stu dent visa. Without that visa, I would have never gone on to become a naturalized American citizen and I would still be liv ing under the foot of commu nist China. So I fully appreciate and understand the worth of and Ezeanyim's desire for more student visas. However, if peo ple of Asian descent perpetrat ed the hijackings and I, as a foreigner, was denied a student visa, I think Tm reasonable enough to understand why. David Lee Class of 2001 Colin Ennen is a senior English major. The Battalion regrets that an opinion column regarding video games published in Wednesday's edition had been plagiarized from material published by another author in an online magazine.
