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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2002)
Sports RASKa The Battalion Page IB • Thursday, November 7, 2002 Soccer team begins run in Big 12 Tournament ahomaSoonerstci 11 in Huskerland. By Troy Miller THE BATTALION jhe No. 3 Texas A&M women’s soc- CUmaiilingD certeam (15-3-1, 9-0-1) is looking to defend its 2001 Tournament title and its 2002 regular season championship this week in San Antonio at the Big 12 Championship Tournament. The last time the Aggies won a regular season was in 1997, when they went on to win their first-ever tournament crown. The 2002 season has been full of ups downs. The Aggies have a 14-game [unbeaten streak, which is a team record for consecutive games without a loss. The streak started after dropping three matches in a row, which is the team record for most consecutive losses. With the Aggies 2-1 win against No. blexas Friday, giving them the regular [season title, the Aggies secured the first end of the Big 12 Championship dou ble-dip. Now that the first goal has been met, the Aggies are moving on to the next step in their quest. “We’re reassessing our goals for the rest of the way,” said head coach G. Guenieri. “We consider (the Big 12 Tournament) to be a season unto itself.” The Aggies enter the tournament as 1 "Injuries' to succeed. Co daybook iscwdiij uarterback : STATE he first 'He r. IncreasedfraiK at this yeartha leirwayup. RN the number one seed by virtue of their first place finish in the regular season. They begin by facing off against the eighth-seeded Oklahoma State Cowgirls who are making their program’s first Big 12 Tournament appearance. The Cowgirls are coming off a 3-2 win against archrival Oklahoma. OSU sophomore Jeni Jackson scored a hat trick, or three goals, in the last six min utes to overcome a 2-0 deficit and give the Cowgirls their first Big 12 Tournament birth. “(OSU) is going to be a hungry team,” said Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week Emma Smith. “It’s going to be a good game for us to go in and play first. It’ll be a good hard game.” Smith has picked up her game as she has scored six goals in the last six games and is on a current six-game point streak. Coupled with sophomore Linsey Woodard, whose 13 goals lead the Big 12, the Aggie offense is running on all cylinders. “(Our midfielders) have been unbe lievable at getting behind people and sending in crosses,” Smith said. Freshman Kati Jo Spisak, the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week and First-Team All-Big 12 selection, has continued to improve her aggressiveness in the net. Spisak made six saves against Texas, including a save on a penalty shot. The rest of the defense, anchored by First-Team All-Big 12 selection Jessica Martin, has forced opponents away from their strategies. “All over the field everybody, throughout the season, has stepped up,” said senior midfielder Heather Ragsdale. “As a team we have started to play a lot better overall.” The competition in the Big 12 Tournament should be fierce. Texas, the No. 2 seed, did not lose a game until it faced the Aggies. No. 3 Nebraska won the Big 12 Tournament in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000 and No. 4 Missouri has netted 13.9 percent of its shots. “We should be nothing but confi dent,” Guerrieri said. “The players should have experienced the satisfac tion of what hard work brings, and they’ve worked hard.” The Aggies begin play at 1 1 a.m. on Thursday against Oklahoma State at Blossom Field in San Antonio. The winner of that game will take on the winner of Missouri vs. Colorado in Friday’s semifinal. JOHN C. LIVAS • THE BATTALION A&M sophomore Linsey Woodard battles for the ball against Texas last week. Texas baseball team given probation for coach’s violations : won’t be goin? I can’t really 1, either. )king at the Sian] :en running at : “no say, no [ational Center ves. In many . baby and wto he do this to lit in federal n, as well as cognition, touch with director for list forCath* Tten theyf# 1 guilt and loss 3fi. “Hepl^ e child, or W jit of the abor ence.” ministry « lk -husbands, hel brands Paid Advertisment _ Are Later Children Affected by Abortion? Martha Shuping, M.D. Can an abortion affect one's parenting skills? Obviously, if women and men are having emotional problems because of their past abortions, this is going to have an impact on their families. For example, women who have had an abortion are more likely to report subsequent substance abuse. Clearly, alcoholism rind drug abuse have a negative impact on families. Women who have had abortions are also more like ly to become depressed for long periods of time. This, like other prolonged reactions to abortion, can affect children’s emotional development, which is modeled on their parents’. A past abortion can also have a direct impact on one s parenting “style.” For example, in one study of women who had post-abortion problems, nearly halt reported that they feared they would be “punished” for their abortions by some harm coming to their other children. In many cases, these women choke back their love and are afraid to bond with their children. They fear that if they love their children “too much,” they’ll be punished by losing them. Conversely, nearly half of the women in this study reported a “compulsion to be a perfect mother.” These tendencies have led many women to report that they have become overly protective and “smothering” of their subsequent children. They too may be motivated hy a tear of harm coming to their children, so they are deathly afraid of letting them out of their sight. Unfortunately, some parents with unresolved grief want their bom children to serve as “replacements” for the one who was aborted. This can result in the bom children constantly being judged against the unattain able standard of “what might have been.” But aren't these problems offset by the fact that abortion has reduced child abuse by reducing the number of unwanted children? This “fact” isn’t a fact at all. Indeed, after decades of study, researchers haven’t found a single shred of evidence to support the conclusion that abortion reduces the risk of child abuse. Instead, numerous stud ies have shown the opposite: a history of abortion is statistically associated with higher rates of child abuse. These findings are supported by clinical experience. A substantial number of women and men seeking post abortion therapy have described a link between their unresolved post-abortion feelings and patterns of emo tional or physical abuse of their subsequent children. One woman described feelings of intense rage whenever her newborn baby cried: “I did not under stand why her crying would make me so angry. She was the most beautiful baby, and had such a placid per sonality. What I didn’t realize then was that I hated my daughter for being able to do all these things that my lost [aborted] baby would never be able to do.” Are you saying abortion can cause child abuse? Yes. The reasons for child abuse are complex, and can’t be fully dealt with here. But let me make a couple of quick points. Difficulty bonding with subsequent children because of fear, shame, or guilt is commonly reported by post-abortion parents. Lack of adequate bonding is also one of the most significant risk factors for child abuse. When inadequate bonding is combined with feelings of anger and rage, which are common afteref fects of abortion, a dangerous mix can result. In some rare instances, abortion can also lead to complete emotional breakdown with tragic results. Renee Nicely of New Jersey experienced a “psychotic episode” the day after her abortion which resulted in the beating death of her three-year-old son, Shawn. She told the court psychiatrist that she "knew that abortion was wrong" and that she “should be punished for the abortion." Unfortunately, Shawn became the victim of her pain and guilt. Sadly, in years to come it may be shown that post abortion trauma was a major cause of the dramatic rise in child abuse cases in the last two decades. Can abortion have an impact on siblings who were already bom? Yes. Some children experience “survivor guilt” over the abortion of a sibling. They feel guilty that they were the ones “chosen” by their parents to live. Some may even feel that they are responsible for the abortion of their sibling; if they had not been “so much trouble,” perhaps their parents would not have felt it necessary to abort “another burdensome child.” One expert in the treatment of child abuse. Dr. Philip Ney, has noted that children who know they were “wanted” may not feel they were simply “wel comed” for who they are. This subtle shift, from being unconditionally “welcomed” into a family toward being “wanted” to satisfy their parents’ expectations, may have a lasting impact on the child’s self-percep tion. Dr. Marltia Shuping, M.D., is a psychiafrist with more than ten years of experience in helping women with post-obortion issues. Supporting citations are posted at www.afterabortion.org exas had done with Couch. )ve thought we was a viola- ^y understand- jhat they were aid Texas offi- fexplaining the took the job, } on him. te case was t only with a iames Doyle, \t these events gallon.” ' i the phone- ant and hear- fe inside forgive^ 5 ted with pe n,,is ^ ,0n Stress Quiz continued from page 6 ^ ere a P er * oc ^ a f ter your abortion °fal ^t? 11 ex P er ^ ence( d an increase in the use othe r f °* ° r < ^ ru ^ s ^ Have you experienced ^ °nm of emotional deadening? flioughlVn 11 experienced an y suicidal t n ^ '^o you take risks that put your life disorder^ ^ aVe ^ ou deve l°ped any eating niaint 0 ^ 011 ^ aVe trou ^ e finding, building, or °f the min ^ .g° OC * re l a ti°nships with people with • Ppos * te sex? Do you have trouble lth issues of trust and control? Do you get involved in hurtful or abusive relationships? Do you tolerate abuse because you feel you don’t deserve any bet ter? qq. Have you lost the desire for sexual inter course? Do you have increased pain during intercourse? Have you become promiscuous because of low self-esteem? Have you lost a previous desire to have children, or are you filled with an anxious desire to have a child as soon as possible? Q9» Do you experience periods of depres sion, heightened anxiety, or cramping during certain months of the year, particularly dur ing the months that would correspond to the month of your abortion or the due date of the aborted pregnancy? Q10: Did you have a faith in God that you have now lost? Are you afraid of God? Are you angry at God? Have your rejected your religion for emotional rather than thoughtful reasons? Post-Abortion Stress Quiz Answer key: If you have answered yes to three or more of the previous questions, post abortion counseling may help. Skilled and understanding people, many of whom have been through the same things you are going through now, want to help. Many services are free. See page 2 for a list of referral centers. Page 9 1AY lots n ( <N