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Opinion
The Battalion
Page 5B • Thursday, October 24, 2002
New campaign
Texas Department of Transportation
is in poor taste
is taking advantage of injured woman
>laint says e.;i
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iARAHFOWLER • THE BATTALION
T
he
legal
limit
GEORGE DEUTSCH
for intoxi
cation in
Texas is a
.08 blood alcohol content (BAC).
However, there seems to be no limit to
what lawmakers will show on televised
public service announcements (PSAs)
in an effort to discourage people from
drinking and driving. A recent Texas
anti-drunk driving campaign crosses the
line of decency and can only be
described as graphic and tasteless. Not
only should the campaign be cancelled,
it should have never aired.
Jacqueline Saburido, the “star” of
the new commercials, was injured in a
collision with a drunk driver in 1999.
She lost her hair, ears, nose, hands and
one eyelid in the crash. Clearly this was
a tragedy, and no one is pleased with
Saburido’s misfortune.
Equally tragic is the Texas
Department of Transportation (TxDOT)
and Texas Department of Public Safety’s
(DPS) gross misuse of Saburido’s disfig
ured image in their campaign. The
TxDOT news release said the agency
wanted the announcements to be “hard
hitting.” It has succeeded.
The images are so hard-hitting, in
fact, they might be sending adults to the
restroom to vomit and children into
their parents’ arms to cry. In the televi
sion spots, Saburido appears holding a
portrait of herself before the accident in
front of her face and talks about herself.
As she finishes, she lowers the portrait
to reveal her face - nose gone, both ears
missing — to the camera. An announcer,
in a somber, accusatory tone, then says,
“Don’t drink and drive. Ever.”
While Saburido agreed to do the
PSAs, TxDOT and DPS are doing her a
gross disservice. The strength of the ad
relies on nothing but shock value. She
has been reduced to a side-show act by
the agencies she trusted, and this com
mercial is her stage.
Even worse, the harsh reality is that
people will inevitably continue to drink
and drive in every state. The campaign
succeeds in offending Texans, but does
little to dissuade drunk driving.
Saburido has put herself on display, but
little good will come of it. Texas has
led the nation in alcohol-related deaths
for some time, and will probably con
tinue to. Sadly, this commercial will
not change that because it insists on
trying to terrorize people into good
behavior.
TxDOT must rely on more than dis
gusting its audience if it wishes to
reduce or end drinking and driving. The
best tools for ending intoxicated driving
are education and penalization, neither
of which this announcement does effec
tively.
But there are more victims here than
Saburido and those unfortunate enough
to witness the commercial. Reggie
Stephey, the driver of the car that hit
Saburido, is having his name bashed
daily on television and newspapers
across the country.
For his crime, Stephey was jailed in
1999 and convicted in 2001. He must
serve seven years in prison and pay
$20,000 in fines. He has gone from a
model athlete to a model prisoner, and
deals with the fact he’s now being
demonized across the country.
He has been punished, but his fami
ly, friends and those who knew him
must live with this graphic commercial
and once more be reminded of this
tragedy. When an ad is aired that deals
with a situation this sensitive, no one
walks away victorious.
There is no question Jacqueline
Saburido is a survivor, but the new com
mercials will not heal her wounds or end
her suffering. All they will do is make her
and countless others revisit a tragic past.
George Deutsch is a senior
journalism major.
Football team deserves praise, not criticism
m.)
T ii
:
LENTI SMITH
he student
athletes
who go out
°n the field each
weekend in front
of tens of thou-
sandsof screaming fans deserve credit for
their efforts, but it seems students prefer to
complain about their performance. Aggie foot-
ah fans should support the team even when
’ mgs aren’t going well, and remember that
1 ese athletes are only college students.
Students should realize how much dedica-
tl0n and hard work these athletes put into their
?f or t-These athletes put themselves on the
jao for thousands to pick out every flaw in
eir game. Their lives are focused around a
Series °f games that fans watch for entertain-
font purposes, but football to most of these
a e ’es is their life. Fans notice the outstand
ing catches, bone-breaking tackles and heart
pounding touchdowns, but it seems that if the
game is a loss, the positive aspects of the
game go unnoticed.
Following the A&M loss to the Texas Tech
Red Raiders, Aggies complained bitterly about
A&M’s kicking game. On community forums
such as texags.com, there is an obvious trend
in the posted messages. It’s almost humorous
to see that after a losing game there are
numerous messages that don’t hold true to the
Aggie spirit. They include posts with headers
such as “Why our football team doesn’t win
the close games” or “Tangerine Bowl or
Houston Bowl - which do you prefer?”
This difference can be seen at Kyle Field as
well. Following a loss, while some fans stood
in the stadium with a look of disbelief and dis
may and awaited the singing of the Twelfth
Man, others shouted profanity at a team they
were cheering for just minutes earlier.
Aggie fans seem more eager to participate
in a post-win yell practice than support their
team no matter the outcome.
True sports fans should remember that one
or two plays don’t win a game — it takes the
entire time and effort of all the players. Yes,
some important plays weren’t executed as they
should have been, but what right do students
have to criticize sorpething they only watch
from the sidelines?
If someone had stopped Texas Tech’s Wes
Welker from running back a punt for a touch
down, the outcome could have been different.
Football is not a sport where fans can pin
point the exact moment that lost the game.
One can look at plays that were not executed
well, but the way the game is played as a
whole is the deciding factor. Maybe it’s possi
ble to see where the game took a different
turn, but one person cannot lose a ballgame.
One game depends on many different factors,
including injuries and momentum. Maybe
instead of criticizing a team Aggies should be
proud of, students should congratulate the
other team on a job well done.
With the season winding down and fewer
games left to play, fans should remember that
the players work hard. Fans pay money to sup
port these players through school and provide
the program with funds, so fans have the right
to discuss the team’s play. There is a differ
ence in relieving frustration and turning your
back on a team when they don’t live up to
some expectations, and some Aggie fans have
crossed that line. It’s time for Aggies to show
the football team respect for its efforts.
Lenti Smith is a junior journalism
and political science major.
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Giuliani is not the solution in Mexico City
Cornier New York City mayor's zero tolerance policy won't solve crime problem
M
JENNIFER LOZANO
exico: so far from
God, so near to the
— United States.”
lUt h CCOrding ^ Jaime Suchliki,
loth T r ^ exico > From Montezuma
Z, aUof,hePRI ’ thisis
at e summation by Porfirio Diaz regarding Mexico’s long-
aing sentiments toward the United States. Although many
r J Cans admire and respect the United States, they also
la v e m er United States took more than a third of their land,
i| 0 H^^d in their affairs and invaded their country on sever-
jj st r Us asions - Therefore, it is understandable that many Mexicans
s and often reject American intervention.
H ^ sent iment, Mexico City has recently hired former
0r k City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to rehabilitate the noton-
^me-ridden city under his popular zero-tolerance criminal
it ren P° ,ic y- Giuliani, who has been regaled as a source ot
:o ns S h and stability during the Sept. 1 1 attacks, and his new
u J ln § firm will receive a hefty $4.3 million for a year’s con-
A ,r lr * ^ ex ico City, according to The New York Times.
ia S t -Sh Giuliani has displayed tremendous diligence in the
Nthe rr*? a8nitude of the challenge he has undertaken, as well
■'g 1 Acuities of the zero tolerance policy, cannot be ignored.
ck m the early 1990s, New York City was regarded as the
crime capital of America, featured on the cover of Time
Magazine as a rotting apple,” Giuliani told the New York Daily
News. “Mexico City faces a challenge like that today.”
Giuliani’s plan revolves around his policy of zero tolerance,
which says all crimes are equivalent and worthy of prosecution.
The plan lowered New York City’s crime by approximately two-
thirds, according to The New York Times.
One of the main problems Giuliani will have to deal with
before enforcing zero tolerance is the corruption of Mexico’s
police force. In fact, hundreds of police officers have been
arrested as bank robbers, kidnappers, burglars and drug dealers
in the past decade, according to the New York Daily News. As a
result, Mexican citizens are reluctant to report crimes to the
police for fear that doing so may exacerbate their problem and
expose themselves to more crime.
However, many believe that imposing a strict zero-tolerance
policy on the police force would make things worse.
“One idea that won’t work is zero tolerance of corrupt
police,” Jon French, a security consultant and former State
Department official, told The New York Times. “They’ve tried
that. It only put corrupt cops out on the street to engage in crime
full time.”
Given the police corruption, the implementation of a harsh
zero tolerance policy poses a valid threat to human rights in a
country with few protections against police abuse. For example,
according to the Tuscaloosa News Web site, last year in
Honduras, President Ricardo Maduro, elected on promises to
enforce a zero tolerance policy on crime, abolished the need for
a search warrant and allowed armed police to enter any home
upon will in search of a criminal.
This aspect of zero tolerance government, the fear that false
accusations could result in serious punishment for innocents,
poses a serious threat to the violence-plagued people of Mexico
City and must be considered by those choosing to implement
this style of governance.
Although Giuliani may compare Mexico City to New York
City, there are intrinsic social and political differences that can
not be ignored. The problems that plague Mexico have been
around for centuries and have withstood the efforts of many
noble Mexican leaders who tried to correct them. The nation is
divided by geography in addition to being divided by huge gaps
in economic and social status.
Mexico’s unfortunate history with the United States should
be acknowledged when considering the chance for success of
this risky venture.
Jennifer Lozano is a senior
English major.