The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 18, 2002, Image 13

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Opinion
The Battalion
Page 5B • Wednesday, September 18, 2002
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Organization needs $100 y 000 to buy land in time for Nov. 23 bonfire
RICHARD BRAY
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n Sept. 15,
the Unity
Project
^^■ounced its goal
^ to bring Bonfire
*t back as an off-
Ka campus bonfire. The group, which is not affiliat-
in ed with Texas A&M, said it plans to hold a pub-
acc lie bonfire to replace the tradition, which has not
returned to campus since Bonfire collapsed in
i "- due to safety and financial concerns.
■Although the organization declined to com-
" ment for this column, the Unity Project Web
site says the organization is “dedicated to creat
ing an event that will unify the Aggie commu-
nit /.” Unfortunately, by trying to build an imi
tation, “scaled-down” bonfire, the Unity Project
ispreating a larger divide within the A&M
community.
■ Luke Cheatham, spokesman for the Unity
Project, said in a Sept. 12 press release that the
A&M administration didn’t understand what
made Bonfire important. “Administrators didn’t
understand that the size of Bonfire was not
mpst important to the Aggie family,” he said.
“It s the tradition that matters most and we’d
ralher sacrifice size in the name of safety than
throw away tradition.”
■ Unfortunately, the Unity Project doesn’t
understand what made Bonfire important
either. It wasn’t the joy derived from stacking
\frood, it wasn’t the delightful smell of the bon
fire and it wasn’t the opportunity to indulge in
pyromania. It was the opportunity for Aggies
to congregate and enjoy an innocent ceremony
and celebrate the simple joy of being part of a
tight-knit community.
■ The ceremony, however, lost its innocence
when Bonfire collapsed and killed 12 Aggies.
That atmosphere will never return to Bonfire,
nor should it. If Bonfire is going to return, it
should do so with a united Aggie community.
Unfortunately, the Unity Project cannot bring
such single-minded agreement, and Bonfire
should not burn until it can be a safely-con-
ducted, University-approved project.
1 The Unity Project Web site says the pro
posed Bonfire would not be divisive because
students have no other options for a bonfire in
2002. However, there are still legitimate con
cerns about participating in a bonfire organized
by students, the most important being whether
speh a bonfire would be disrespectful to the
memory of those who died. It is also unclear
whether an off-campus bonfire outside the
University’s approval is really an Aggie
Bonfire. While the tradition may have begun
from humble roots, it has certainly grown into
something with much more meaning, especially
since the collapse.
Although the Unity Project Web site says it
is not a “renegade bonfire,” it does not offer
any evidence to the contrary. The term refers
to a non-University sanctioned bonfire, and the
Unity Project’s Web site makes it clear they
have no affiliation with the University.
“Renegade” seems the perfect term to describe
an organization which has abandoned the
University’s leadership and whose actions
imply it can succeed where others, including
Keep the Fire Burning and the University, have
failed.
In order to succeed, however, the Unity
Project still has numerous obstacles to over
come. Although Cheatham told The Battalion
that liability issues have been taken care of, the
Unity Project has been unwilling to elaborate,
nor has it been willing to disclose how much
funding it has obtained. The organization asked
for financial support during its informational
rally and. according to The Battalion, needs to
raise $ 100,000 for the project.
The Unity Project’s organizers are starting
public fundraising extremely late as their
scheduled bonfire date is Nov. 23, a little more
than two months away. Its Web site says the
money is set aside for buying the land the bon
fire will be burned on, but the Unity Project has
not released any information regarding how it
will fund other expenses, such as equipment.
Students have watched numerous attempts to
restore Bonfire to A&M fail in the past, and the
Unity Project does not look to be an exception.
Although its Web site says it will succeed
where others have failed due to superior profes
sionalism, the organization has not shown such
thus far. Its late start in attempting to raise
funds combined with the high capital required
will make it difficult for the Unity Project to
get off the ground.
The organization’s unwillingness to disclose
specific information to the media will make it
even more difficult for the Unity Project to
spread word of its mission and obtain the finan
cial support it requires. Even more impor
tantly, the Unity Project does not have the
full support of the Aggie community. As a
result of these weaknesses, the Unity Project
will fail.
Richard Bray is a senior
journalism major.
JOSH DARWIN • THE BATTALION
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United States should stop executing minors
Supreme Court decision missed opportunity to end practice banned in other nations
L ast month,
the U.S.
Supreme
Court missed its
chance to correct
one of the most
heinous and appalling practices in our society:
the execution of juvenile offenders. Despite
public demands to hear the case, six of the
nine justices rejected the Texas death row
inmate petition for a stay of execution and left
the lives of the 80 juvenile offenders on death
row in this country in jeopardy.
Toronto Patterson was arrested at the age of
17 in connection to the murder of a 25-year-
old mother and her two children, ages 6 and 3.
He was convicted and sentenced to death, but
always maintained his innocence.
On Aug. 28, the state of Texas executed
Patterson at the age of 25 after the Supreme
Court denied to hear his appeal in a 6-3 deci
sion. Alarmingly, he became the twenty-third
inmate executed by Texas this year, and the
second juvenile offender executed in the
month of August.
Justices Ginsburg and Breyer issued a sepa
rate dissenting opinion in which they say the
recent Atkins v. Virginia decision allows the
court to reconsider the constitutionality of exe
cuting prisoners for crimes committed under
the age of 18. In Atkins v. Virginia, the court
declared the practice of executing inmates who
may be mentally incapable of fully under
standing their situation, or unable to help their
lawyers, to be unconstitutional.
The same should apply for juvenile offend
ers, especially since, according to the
American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry,
many of the psychological and emotional
changes an adolescent experiences while
maturing do not occur until the early 20s.
According to Amnesty International, the
execution of juvenile offenders violates all
major international human rights treaties.
including the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and the American
Convention on Human Rights.
Only six countries, the United States, Iran,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen,
have executed juvenile offenders since 1990,
with the United States executing more than the
other five combined. Yemen has since out
lawed the practice and this year Pakistan
spared the lives of 72 minors.
Iran, the Democratic Republic of Congo
and the United States are the only countries
that continue this terrible practice. Instead of
doing the just and moral thing by limiting the
killing, the execution of juvenile offenders in
the United States is actually increasing.
The National Coalition to Abolish the
Death Penalty Web site says 160 children in
the United States have been sentenced to die
since 1973; 80 currently sit on death row. Of
the 20 executions that took place during the
past two decades, the last six, all of which
involved black males in Texas, occurred in the
past three years. Two took place in August.
Minors are prohibited from buying tobacco,
alcohol or other “adult” products. They cannot
vote or sit on a jury. The^ cannot sign con
tracts or make their own medical choices
because U.S. laws say they lack the maturity
and responsibility to make decisions.
But minors as young as 16 can be sen
tenced to death.
The execution of juvenile offenders in the
United States is an outrageous and shameful
practice. The rest of the world, excluding the
“evil” Iran, outlaws such an ultimate and
unchangeable punishment, and the United
States must follow its lead. Juvenile offenders,
who do not have the capacity to fully under
stand their situation, do not deserve to die.
Jenelle Wilson is a junior
political science major.
JENELLE WILSON
MAIL CALL
KANM hurt by new
Internet royalty rates
In response to Collins Ezeonyim's Sept.
f 16 column:
As the former news director of KANM,
I applaud Ezeanyim's column on the
upcoming death of college radio.
KANM would be much harder hit than
i its counter parts, such as KVRX (the
University of Texas station), because
; KVRX already has a broadcast license.
KANM, on the other hand, broadcasts
at 99.9 FM on a cable transmission,
which most people have no clue how
to equip their radios for, and also
broadcasts as a low power AM station
at 1600 AM but the power is so low
that unless you are in the MSC, you
probably can't pick up the signal.
Thanks to the Federal Communications
Commission's lock on applications, the
station has little chance of obtaining a
real AM or FM license in the near
future. The only way the station can
reach out to the Texas A&M community
is through it's live feed from it's Web
site, http://kanm.tamu.edu.
The Recording Industry Association of
America is only trying to put more
money in their pockets while not caring
about listeners or the upcoming artists
who just need airplay. College radio
has been a tradition in Aggieland since
1974, write your congressman and
encourage him to save KANM.
Justin Williamson
Class of 2005
Simple way to register
new students to vote
A quick and simple way to get stu
dents registered to vote is to include
a Brazos County voter registration
card with the New Student
Conference packets. It could be
worked into one of the many meet
ings and presentations students must
attend and could tell new students
that registering to vote is "redass" and
a way to be a good Aggie. In four
years, the majority of students at A&M
will be registered to vote here in
College Station.
Nick Nethery
Class of 2003
-1124