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Page 7 * Wednesday, November 27.
4 FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY
\)ot-Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act is poor substitute for parenting
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taome so lazy,
bathetic and tech-
[ologically incom
petent that they now need the assistance of the
government to help entertain their children in
digital age. This at least seems to be the
Ipinion of the U.S. Congress.
The House of Representatives and the
[enate recently passed a final version of the
ot-Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act.
he act will create an Internet subdomain fea
ring content specifically created for children,
en, incluir: ccording to The Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
as! Europei Whereas other Web sites use .com, .org or
ire premia idu domains, the child-friendly Web sites the
the West-:Lvcrnment will oversee will use the .kids.us
Btafehi | oma i n , an extension of the .us domain already
in use by the U.S. government.
The new law will give children their own
Iplayground on the Internet and will facilitate
e easier browsing and filtering of content
|ia! many parents desire,” Rep. Edward
larkey, D-Mass., a lead sponsor of the bill
laid in a statement to The Washington Post.
However, the new law will prove to be a
seless provision that will not prevent children
Ifrom accessing inappropriate material on the
Internet.
For example, Web sites on the .kids.us
lomain will only be able to link to other sites
with the .kids.us address, according to The
1 Washington Post. But if a child wishes to exit
tom a .kids.us Web site, there’s nothing to
Hop him from simply typing another address
linto the Internet browser.
Furthermore, the question of what is appro
priate for children will inevitably lead to dif-
Terences of opinion. Congress will be in charge
[ofdeveloping “child-friendly standards,” and a
rlcompany called NeuStar, Inc. will be in charge
gj§ of enforcing these standards, according to The
Wfas/tington Post.
But as Marilyn Geewax of The Atlanta
ouinal-C(institution points out, “gay parents
nSan Francisco may want their children to
have access to information that heterosexual
arents in rural Alabama might find
ffensive.”
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There is no way the government will be
able to develop standards that please all par
ents. The only way to accomplish this task
would be to make the content of .kids.us Web
sites so watered down and cookie-cutter that
children will easily become bored and avoid
these Web sites while surfing the
Internet.
Some critics have
also correctly point
ed out that a domain
specifically for chil
dren will attract sexual
predators. Supposedly,
Congress and NeuStar,
Inc. will prevent this by
limiting features such as
chat and instant messag
ing on the .kids.us domain,
according to Cox News
Service.
But tech-savvy predators
will probably find some way
to crack these security features
and access innocent children.
The problem is compounded by
the fact that parents will
inevitably be lulled into a false
sense of security by this children-
only domain.
Many will think the government
has solved the problem of children
being victimized on the Internet and
that there is no need to monitor their
childrens’ Internet usage. As the
Internet becomes more complex and
dangerous for naive children, the last
thing needed is parents who are less
attentive to their childrens’ computer
habits.
President Bush is expected to sign the
bill that will allow .kids.us to be implemented.
This development is both surprising and
disappointing.
As a Republican, Bush is supposed to
understand that there are some problems the
government can’t fix and should not try to
fix. He should be encouraging parents to sit
down with their children while exploring the
Internet and explain to them how it works and
how to use it.
The notion that the government must cre
ate child-friendly content is ridiculous. There
are plenty of Web sites with the purpose of
educating and entertaining children. Parents
must point out how to find and use them.
Of course, parents can’t be at the computer
all the time. But software already exists that
can track where a child has been while surfing
the Internet and a parent can review it and dis
cuss with the child what type of sites they con
sider appropriate.
The government providing more education
about how to raise children in the Internet age
would be much more helpful than creating
Web sites that will probably prove to be
unpopular anyway.
Unfortunately, it appears President Bush
and Congress are determined to learn this les
son the hard way.
Collins Ezeanyim is a senior
computer engineering major.
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MAIL CALL
Elephants do not belong
parading around campus
A & M has done it again.
Not only do we want to sacrifice human
lives for the sake of tradition and Bonfire,
but now we sink to the level of degrading
what is possibly the world's greatest animal
lor the sake of — yes, you guessed it - tra
dition!
I n 3 day that measured between 35 and
45 degrees Fahrenheit, we made
tropical/desert animals parade around
Carn pus for hours and do tricks for students'
°wn enjoyment.
What has this University come to?
OK, I understand that having these ani-
n^ls walk around campus does no harm
dself, but what kind of asinine idea is this?
Could someone not have exercised some
COr nmon sense just this once and said "It's
I 00 cold, let's not expose these animals to
the elements because they could die?"
This university has shown no compassion,
class or empathy for these animals.
Yet, I am not surprised, because if Aggies
are still willing to throw a few students on
top of a gigantic pile of logs which could
possibly fall again, this is no problem.
After all, why should we care about a
bunch of elephants, right?
L. Mabel Cortina
Class of 2003
Iranian students doing
right thing by protesting
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 student ID. Letters also
may be mailed to: 014 Reed McDonald, MS 1111, Texas
A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1 111. Fax:
(979) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thebatt.com.
Attachments are not accepted.
O n Nov. 7, Iranian professor
Hashem Aghajari was sen
tenced to death by hanging.
His punishment was to be preceded
by eight years in jail, 74 lashes and
a 10-year ban from teaching, all due
to a speech he made in August encouraging
Muslims not to “blindly” follow religious leaders,
according to The New York Times.
The sentence was handed down by powerful
religious leaders who were neither elected nor in
the majority, making the punishment absolutely
ludicrous. Aghajari was given a death sentence
because he voiced an opinion The New York
Times says a majority of Iranians
share.
Not surprisingly, the sentence
has resulted in weeks of protesting
by Iranian college students, who
are outraged that religious leaders
would go so far to stifle any politi
cal dissent.
Aghajari’s sentence is the harsh
est handed down by the hard-line
Iranian judiciary to reform activists
pushing for more separation
between religion and state. The
judiciary continues to defend the
punishment despite being ordered
by Iran's supreme religious leader.
Ayatollah Khamenei, to review the sentence. The
punishment given to Aghajari is simply meant to
thwart the Iranian Parliament and President
Khatami's attempts to push through reforms.
Iranian President Khatami has been urging
governmental reforms since 1997, when he was
first elected with more than 70 percent of the
vote. He has been thwarted at every turn and the
Iranian people — especially the younger genera
tions, which make up two-thirds of the population
— are running out of patience.
Khatami recently introduced two bills to
Parliament that would limit the control of the
Council of Guardians, an all-powerful and un
elected group headed by Ayatollah Khamenei,
according to the Miami Herald. The New York
Times reports the bills would restrict the
Council's ability to overturn acts of Parliament
and to bar candidates from running for office, as
JENELLE WILSON
Iranian college
students are
showing remarkable
courage by
continuing the
protests despite
government
threats.
well as increasing the president's
constitutional control over the courts
currently controlled by religious
extremists.
The religious leaders are expect
ed to kill the two parliamentary
bills, but Khatami and other reformists have
threatened to resign if this occurs.
In 1999, similar demonstrations began at
Tehran University and quickly spread nationwide
after some students were attacked for protesting
the closing of a moderate newspaper, Salam,
according to The Iranian.
Police forces and assault gangs, controlled by
religious leaders, violently defeat
ed the protests with guns, chains
and machetes. Several students
died and hundreds were injured.
Many student leaders were arrest
ed and sentenced to death, accord
ing to the Chicago Tribune.
Ayatollah Khamenei has threat
ened to use similar means to halt
the current student protests.
Iranian college students are
showing remarkable courage by
continuing the protests despite
government threats. They have
been wearing white scarves over
their mouths to symbolize the lack
of free speech and the intolerance for dissent of
hard-line religious leaders. Students have turned
Aghajari’s sentence, which was meant to stifle
opposition and instill fear, into a way to push for
greater and more immediate democratic political
and social reforms, as well as the release of other
unfairly jailed activists.
A majority of the Iranian people are tired of
theocratic rule by religious leaders who suppress
basic human rights, such as autonomy and free
speech.
Aghajari and other activists are putting their
lives at risk to push for reforms and students are
defending the right to simply have opinions and
a mind of their own. They should be commended
for the courage they continue to demonstrate.
Jenelle Wilson is a junior
political science major.