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CHOOL OF :uitar Opinion The Battalion Page 5B • Monday, September 30, 2002 Terrorist threats are not a joke Georgia woman was right to report what she heard at restaurant to police COLLINS EZEANYIM I t is perhaps the most serious case of “he said, she said” the nation has ever known. A Georgia woman, Eunice Stone, claims to have heard three men plotting an attack of equal or greater magnitude than Sept. I 1. According to CNN, one of the three men ' n Muestion, medical student Ayman Gheith, says the woman discrimi nated against him because he was Muslim lied her story. Unfortunately for Gheith and his fellow medical students, Kambiz Butt and Omer Choudhary, Stone must be given the ben efit of the doubt because the nation is at an unprecedented level of alert. She was correct in reporting the men to the authorities and hope fully more Americans will have the courage to do the same if faced with a similar situation. According to Houston Chronicle News Services, on Sept. 12, Stone sat down to eat breakfast with her son at a Shoney’s Restaurant in Calhoun, Ga. What was supposed to be a relaxing meal turned alarming when Stone overheard Gheith, Butt and Choudhary — all of Middle-Eastern descent —joke about Sept. 1 1. According to the Houston Chronicle article, their comments included, “If they mourn Sept. 11, what will they think about Sept. 13?” Instead of dismissing these comments as off hand remarks. Stone took wrote down the license plate numbers of these men and alerted the Georgia State Patrol. The three medical stu dents were tracked down at a bend in Interstate 75 near Naples, Fla., known as Alligator Alley, according to The Miami Herald. Their car was searched and they were later released. Some critics say Stone’s actions will only : feed the nation’s paranoia and that the three men were treated unfairly. For example. Matt Drudge said on his Sept. 15 radio show, “We owe these guys an apology.” But Stone did not act rashly in reporting the men. If any thing, she actually hesitated to take any action. She was quoted by Houston Chronicle News Services as saying, “At first, you know, I just went ahead with my breakfast.” Furthermore, her story has remained consis tent while accounts of what the three men did have vacillated wildly. Salon.com reports that police first thought the men started joking about terrorist plots after receiving a dirty look from a customer in the restaurant. The men later told CNN that their comments about “bringing it down” were in reference to bring ing a car down to Florida and not to blowing up a building as Stone suspected. The men have claimed they never said anything about Sept. 1 1 or Sept. 13. According to the Houston Chronicle article. relatives of the three men have claimed just about everyone involved in the incident — including Stone, law enforcement officers and even the media — of being prejudiced against Muslims. Other detractors of Stone’s actions agree. “If the people in the next booth had been named Bubba, Leroy and Goober, would she still have called the police?” wrote one reader to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Stone’s critics do raise a legitimate con cern about ethnic profiling. Unfortunately, there have been other cases since Sept. 1 1 in which innocent people have been discriminated against because they were or appeared to be Muslim. For example, Michael Dasrath claims to have been thrown off a Continental Airlines flight because a female passenger reported that he and two other “brown skinned men” were — in her words — “acting suspi ciously,” according to a statement released by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In this case, the reporting passenger was clearly acting out of bigotry. She couldn't even specify the ethnici ties of the men she had thrown off the plane or any of their supposed “suspicious” actions. But Stone has been very specific about why she alerted the authori ties of the three medical students so her actions most likely were not born out of a hatred for Muslims. The anger expressed by sup porters of Gheith, Butt and Choudhary can be understood, but they must understand that the nation’s chance of prevent ing another Sept. 1 1 may depend on people like Eunice Stone roaming America’s streets and restaurants. Collins Ezeanyim is a senior computer engineering major. Aggie deserved death penalty for murder Though he claims he didn’t plan murder, Ron Shamhurger’s execution was justified I am almost the same age Lori Ann Baker was in 1994. Like me, Lori attended Texas A&M, participated in yell prac tices and cheered for Aggie foot ball. She studied often and prob ably dreamed of many of the same things I do. But unlike Lori, I have the opportunity to achieve my dreams. Lori does not, and she never will. This is because she was horrifically murdered before she ever got the chance. Last week, her killer, Ron Shaniburger, was put to death in a fitting act of justice for ber murder. The community we think to be safe and friendly was shocked when a member of the Aggie family brutally took the blc of another. According to reports, the murder occurred in the early morning hours of Sept. 30, 1994. When Lori awoke, she was undoubtedly surprised to see Shamburger in her room. Shamburger tied Lori to a chair before shooting her in the head with a 9 mm pistol. Then, in a futile attempt to recover evi dence against him, Shaniburger used a knife to dig for the bul- ' e t- Unsuccessful, he doused Lori’s body with gasoline and set her on fire. When presented with the gut-wrenching picture, one can only wonder how anyone can say Lori’s murder was unintentional. But this was Shamhurger’s claim. According to thedeathhouse.com, in Shamhurger’s words, “things happened so quickly, sometimes you don't have to think. It was a response, a reflex. I panicked.” According to him, he was in Lori’s house only to burglarize it and did not intend to harm anyone. However, the facts of the case present a very different story. Ron Shaniburger showed up that day with a gun, a roll of duct tape, gasoline and a knife for a reason. When considering if a killer is deserving of the death penalty, we must find out if the murder was planned and if the killer knew what he or she was doing. In this case the answer, absolutely and unequivocally, is yes. We must also decide whether a convicted killer represents a future threat to society in determining the death penalty is jus tified punishment. With respect to Ron Shamburger, those against his execution argued this point. In a Sept. 15 Houston Chronicle column, columnist James Kimberly argued that Shamburger posed no future threat to society by saying, “Since his 1995 arrival, he has spent time listening to Christian radio, studying the Bible and preparing a personal testimony to con vert others to Christianity.” Based on this, Kimberly feels “Shaniburger has defied the jury’s prediction that he would be violent in the future.” Apparently, Kimberly thinks killers’ behavior in a maxi mum-security prison is indicative of how they will behave if released into society. Shamburger may have been a model pris oner, but prior to the murder he was an equally model citizen. He was a senior biomedical science major, was an Eagle Scout and attended church regularly. In fact, in the days before Lori’s murder, Shamburger was leading Bible studies at his house. If you had asked anyone then, nobody would have called him a threat to society, much less fathomed that Shamburger was capable of murder. Based on this, one cannot say with certainty that he would not have killed again, and the risk was one too great to take. The death penalty is an appropriate and fitting punishment for specific criminals who commit the most heinous of crimes. Sadly, Shamburger fits into this category, and deserved to be executed for the murder of Lori Ann Baker. Lindsay Aiello is a sophomore journalism major. LINDSAY AIELLO y guitar!!! i recording ducer and nd he can you needi* andaguil j: day )-2277 israin .com Y CLUB 3DAYH! )_ 6:00pm Building 304 TNG TreciS d: >rpoi*ate a r the Tur" ury? ‘B ad . ;ociolog' ca MAIL CALL The meaning of 'real Aggies' ln response to Richard Bray's Sept. 26 column: Brays column has a very poignant message: Sgies are not living in Utopia and should not pre- te nd it is so. As Texas A&M moves forward (and it will - the ew administration has proven that). Aggies must e P art °f solutions instead of always pointing at problems. With 45,000 students come 45,000 n ique opinions, and A&M’s leaders will be tested s ney try to heed consensus. But saying some stu- e nts are not "real" Aggies because of their opin es 1S unacceptable. ggieland is a great place, and many of us love it I ar| y-. Bu t a free exchange of ideas is imperative. m y tinae at A&M, I have seen a dichotomy emerge n campus: those who are for Bonfire and those o are against. As Bray so cleverly explained, that ^agreement has evolved, creating scissions , 0n § m any factions of campus life. This is futile counterproductive; we must all remember that ® can agree to disagree. We are, after all. Aggies, ongratulations on reminding us of something We need to hear. Brady Creel Graduate student I'm so glad someone had the gumption to say what Bray said in his article "What makes a real Aggie." Aggies need to realize that criticizing something or disagreeing with something does not mean you don't care about it. In fact, I agree with Bray that those who criticize A&M express their criticisms because they want to see it con tinue to succeed. How often have we criticized something our government did? That doesn't mean we dislike it. Think of it this way: imagine how the old Ags felt when women were allowed on campus. Many were appalled and angry and disappointed in A&M. But A&M has grown to be a better institution because of that. Not all change is bad. I love A&M as much as anyone does and am thankful for all it has given me, but I am not without my criticisms of it. It's time for us to open up to new possibilities, realize that change is inevitable, and realize that the universe doesn't stop at the College Station city limits. Jeffey Givens Class of 2003 I must say that I agree with Bray completely on this issue. Being a real Aggie does not mean you agree with everything the school does or like everything about every single tradition. Being a real Aggie does not mean being blind to problems for the sake of spirit and tradition. To be a real Aggie one must respect each other even if you completely disagree with their views. Everyone has a right to think how they want to. You can love all the traditions or hate all the traditions and still be a real Aggie as long as you respect each other. That is what is meant by a "community of respect." It does not mean respecting only the Aggie family and ignoring "two-percenters," "t-sips" and everyone else. It means respecting all peo ple regardless of who they are, where they're from, what they think, where they are or where they're going. Cody Sain Class of 2006 To clear something up that Richard Bray seems to be quasi-concerned about: Texas A&M has always made two-percenters, who entertain my free time between classes when I have nothing better to do than read their arbitrary opinions in The Battalion, pay full tuition. Travis Straw Class of 2002 I was absolutely appalled after reading, "What makes a real Aggie?" in Thursday's paper. Bray is only an Aggie because he pays tuition at this fine University. He is not an Aggie at heart. Being a real Aggie comes from within. Bray says that he cares about this University. Then shouldn't he care for traditions like Bonfire and having Yell Leaders that set this University apart from all oth ers? Shouldn't he tell workers to get off the Memorial Student Center grass, which is a memo rial to those Aggies who have unselfishly given their lives protecting our freedom? Bray has probably never attended a Yell Practice, a football game or Muster. If he had, he would understand why this University is so special in real Aggie's hearts. He would understand what it means to be an Aggie. Lindsey Turner Class of 2004 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 submitted in person at 014 Reed McDonald with a valid stu dent 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
