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DCIATED PRESS
D — Officials
Opinion
The Battalion
Page 11 • Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Professor accused of stealing plague punished too lightly
eports of 30
stolen vials of
LYthe bubonic
lague at Texas Tech
Jniversity were men-
ioned by The
ssociated Press earli-
this month, trigger-
ng instant national
lews paired with the
atch-phrase 'bioter-
orism.' Sixty FBI agents were
iut on the case, working
hroughout the night to pre-
ent the outbreak of an epi-
lemic. The case was solved
when Dr. Thomas Butler, chief
ifthe infectious diseases divi-
ion at Tech, admitted to mis-
eading federal authorities
bout the whereabouts of the
ials. The professor destroyed
iem himself, according to
reports from CNN.
Of course, Americans are a
ittle on edge about the whole
threat of a biological attack.
e Homeland Security
Agency has done a good job
of brainwashing the public
into seeing a terrorist under
every rock. After all, in the
right hands, any stolen vials
intended for research could be
coated with polymer and
aerosolized, then disseminated
in subways or inside other
enclosed areas.
Butler told police that on
Jan. 1 he had 30 test tubes in a
rack on a table in his laborato
ry. On the morning of Jan. 11,
Bullet “discovered that per-
■ l ’On(s)hnd taken the test tubes
from the rack,” in a written
latement made after he was
[uestioned by FBI agents,
iccording to CNN. The labo-
atory was locked, and there
vere no signs of forced entry.
In his statement, Butler
rote: “I made a misjudgment
not telling my supervisor
hat the plague bacteria had
accidentally destroyed
arlier rather than erroneously
found missing.”
A man who is internation-
recognized in the field,
ind who worked with the
alague for 25 years, should
LEANN
BICKFORD
first
ally
not have accidentally
destroyed the vials,
panicked and then
filed a false police
report. Butler told
CNN that he wasn’t
aware that the incident
could trigger such a
massive investigation.
Of course, all this
leads to one question:
where has Butler been since
Sept. 11, 2001?
The university has placed
Butler on paid leave, changed
the locks on his laboratory,
blocked him from computer
access and banned him from
campus, according to a uni
versity spokesperson.
If convicted of mak
ing a false statement
to a federal agent, he
could face up to five
years in prison and a
$250,000 fine. Conditions
for bail included
$100,000, surrendering
his passport, abiding by
a curfew, submitting to
electronic monitoring and
putting up his home as
collateral.
He's getting off rather
easy. I'm surprised the fed
eral courts haven't thrown
the entire book of feder
al felonies at Butler.
What is surprising is
exactly how negligent the gov
ernment's rules are on who in
the country is permitted to
handle viruses such as ebola
and the bubonic plague. At the
time of Butler's investigation,
the Feds had a list of persons
restricted from handling bio
logical agents, but had put no
agency in charge of enforcing
those rules. In addition, the
federal government currently
has no oversight in place for
the hundreds of medical labs
handling samples of anthrax,
bubonic plague bacteria, ebola
and smallpox viruses. More
so, required background
checks for workers handling
such agents won’t go into
effect until Feb. 13. Homeland
Security Legislation is passing
through Congress, but at too
slow a rate to be effective.
On behalf of the nation. I'd
say that we are all pretty lucky
that Butler's hoax was only a
hoax. Unfortunately, there
aren't a whole lot of federal
laws in existence making sure
that it wasn't.
U.S. officials have had rea
son to suspect Saddam
Hussein of breeding deadly
viruses deep underground in
secret laboratories of the
Middle East, but the greatest
biological threat may sting us
from within our own borders.
After all, when terrorists can
access biological hazards right
here in the United States, they
don't have to go to the trouble
of bringing them in. The
Butler hoax proved thenvboth
readily available and easily
accessible.
Butler's wife told CNN she
believes the situation is being
blown out of proportion. Out
of proportion? Bacteria and
viruses, such as the plague, are
widely available to researchers
at universities across the
United States, and one in seven
cases reported in the United
States is fatal. Between 10 and
20 people a year are infected
annually in the United States;
globally, 1,000 to 3,000 cases
are reported. Butler should be
charged with a lot more than
making a false statement to an
FBI agent.
Leann Bickford is a freshman
business administration major.
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angermentastf
1 drug offenses.
ome people collect normal
material things like snow
globes and shot glasses; oth
ers collect titles. For example,
take William J. Clinton — gover
nor of Arkansas, former president
of the United States of America,
and potential chancellor of
Britain’s famed University of
Oxford.
In a recent poll published by Cherwell,
the university’s independent newspaper,
48 percent of 1,000 Oxford students who
were polled favored Clinton as their top
choice for new chancellor, a job he should
have accepted. The job became available
two weeks ago after the death of Roy
Jenkins, who is a renowned figure in
British politics and headed the university
for 16 years, as reported in The Seattle
Times.
Unfortunately, Clinton is “very busy
with ... his foundation and this (the chan
cellor position) is not something he’s con
sidering,” said spokeswoman Tammy Sun.
In other words, our former president is too
busy to assume one of the most presti
gious roles in British academia. What hap
pened to the opportunistic Clinton we
knew? After all, that is the reason the
British are so crazy about him.
If anyone deserves the chancellor posi
tion on the basis of merit and achieve
ment, Clinton is the man for the job.
When Americans think of Clinton, they
tend to only remember the ole’ boy for his
well-publicized extramarital affair.
Everyone seems to forget that it was
Clinton who made NAFTA (North
American Free Trade Agreement) a
reality, signed the Jim Brady
Handgun Violence Prevention Act
into law, was the first president to
balance the budget since 1969,
helped to bring the civil war in
Bosnia to an end, and strived to
mediate peace between Catholics
MELISSA and Protestants in Northern Ireland
FRIED and the Palestinians and Israelis,
even though the latter has seemed
to violently fall apart.
a
If anyone
deserves the
chancellor position
on the basis of merit
and achievementy
Clinton is the man
for the job.
With his worldly experience and
charismatic savvy, Clinton could chal
lenge a new generation of students to be
better than the best — to become the next
movers and shakers of our time. And
being an Oxford man himself (he attended
Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar from 1968-
1970), he understands the goals and objec
tives of the university. But these achieve
ments alone are not what makes him a
great candidate for the Oxford chancellor
ship.
Oxford is in desperate need of money,
as are many British universities. This
would account for the massive “brain
drain” of British talent to some of the
more prestigious American universities,
wrote Catherine Bennett of The Guardian,
a leading UK paper. Clinton’s influence
and worldwide popularity could have been
an essential asset to Oxford’s fund-raising
campaign. “He could make an appearance
in Hollywood, in Silicon Valley ... and just
shake the tree ... to produce a windfall of
donations. It’s what he does best.” And this
comes from Clinton’s biggest British crit
ic, Christopher Hitchens. In 2001, his sig
nature alone on a Democratic National
Committee fund-raising letter brought in
more than $1 million. That could translate
into a lot of British pounds.
Former President Clinton has been
playing the part of the good Samaritan
these days as he facilitates the success of
the William J. Clinton Foundation. It
focuses mainly on the economic empow
erment of the poor, as well as racial, eth
nic, religious reconciliation, and health
security. It takes a person of talent, dili
gence and perseverance to promote these
seemingly vague ideas and make them
into something worthwhile.
It is the same game in academia.
Oxford needs a “salesman,” or a represen
tative to show the world that Oxford can
still hold its own among even the best of
the best universities.
Melissa Fried is a sophomore
international studies major.
EDITORIAL
Cost of deregulating
Burden of tuition deregulation
falls on students
With dwindling state funds, the cost of higher education in Texas is
increasingly being shouldered by students, and if the University of
Texas and Texas A&M have their way, that trend will accelerate, put
ting at risk the entire notion of public education.
The University of Texas System Board of Regents has made tuition
deregulation its top legislative priority, and A&M administrators have
also voiced their support for the idea. Deregulation would remove
tuition caps currently in place and allow the regents at either school
to raise tuition without approval from the state legislature.
A&M President Robert M. Gates has already imposed a 7 percent
spending cut this year, and with a $10 billion state budget deficit
looming, further reductions in state funding are possible. The bleak
fiscal situation facing public universities like A&M is real - without
substantial increases in funding, A&M will fall behind and the goal of
joining the nation's elite colleges will be only a pipedream. Lean
times call for prioritizing, and Gates has appropriately vowed to spare
academic programs from the impending cuts.
But in its quest to move up a few spots in the U.S. News and World
Report rankings, the University must not forsake its central mission -
to provide a quality education at a price Texans can afford.
Deregulation would essentially privatize public universities - state
legislators have even hinted that they would cut funding to schools
which raised tuition. The net result would be the same amount of
funding, but with students shouldering a larger share of the burden.
The regents would be free to pursue institutional interests rather than
the public interest. Legislators, unlike regents, are accountable to the
voters and are more likely to ensure that tuition costs do not put a
college education out of reach for disadvantaged and middle-class
Texans.
The solution is more legislator involvement, not less. Many legisla
tors have sworn the budget can be balanced without tax increases,
but in reality, deregulation is a stealth tax hike on students and their
families. Rather than shirking their responsibility, legislators must ade
quately fund higher education and reject any attempt to raise tuition.
THE BATTALION
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor in Chief
Managing Editor
Opinion Editor
News Editor
Brandie Liffick
Sommer Bunge
George Deutsch
Sarah Walch
Asst. News
Member
Member
Member
Melissa Sullivan
Matt Maddox
Brieanne Porter
Rolando garcia
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 submit
ted 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
77843-1111. Fax: (979) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thebatt.com. Attachments are
not accepted.
MAIL CALL
Class presidents
respond to article
As the representatives of not
only our classes, but also
Class Councils, we would like
to correct some of the infor
mation reported in Monday's
article.
First, Class Councils is a self-
supporting organization, rais
ing money through events for
our classes. It receives no stu
dent service fees.
Second, the Class Councils
constitution, which gives the
elected officers the authority
to remove individuals from
their respective councils,
including elected officers, is
approved in the general stu
dent body elections and was
last amended this fall in the
campus wide election.
This election was open to
voting for any student, includ
ing freshmen. A copy of the
constitution was available for
viewing then and is always
available at our Web site. A
Division of Student Affairs
staff member reviewed the
removal process to ensure the
constitution was within
University guidelines and was
followed.
Also, according to policies
specifically outlined in the
constitution, the proper
authorities were kept
informed prior to and during
the deliberations and notified
after the removal occurred.
Finally, because this was a
performance related issue, the
matter was reviewed and han
dled as a confidential person
nel issue, specifically follow
ing guidelines described in
the constitution and federal
law.
Chris Durham
Class of 2003 President
Erin Bennett
Class of 2004 President
Curt Steinhorst
Class of 2005 President
Cinnamon Hodges
Class of 2006 President