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Opinion
The Battalion
Page 9 • Monday, February 3, 2003
——
Melissa Sullivan
[HE BATTALION
EDITORIAL
Gone, not forgotten
Columbia crew embodied
best humankind has to offer
The Battalion would like to express condolences to the fami
lies of the Space Shuttle Columbia crew. The crew members
embodied the best values of humanity, and their sacrifice has
not gone unnoticed. These astronauts are a prime example of
the best America and humankind has to offer. The values of
courage, hard work, competence, ambition and bravery were
clear in the six Americans and the Israeli astronaut who died.
Audrey McCool, mother of Space Shuttle Columbia pilot William
McCool, told CNN that her son "did not die in vain. This will go
on -(the) space program (will) go on."
Their line of work was risky, but the research and technology
produced by the program is invaluable. Besides the practical
aspects of the work done by the space program, research for
research's sake is valuable. If humans lose the need to investi
gate and explore, then we will cease to be human. There is an
aspect of our humanity enveloped in our desire to study the
world around us.
After such a tragedy as the loss of the crew of the Space
Shuttle Columbia, many people have begun to reexamine the
need for the space program. If we look at the practical aspects
of the program and the valuable research and technology it has
brought forth, we find that even with the risks involved, the
space program must continue. The lives of those seven astro
nauts were not lost in vain.
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
Matthew Maddox
Rolando Garcia
Brieanne Porter
ol administrators^
ounties were
ick Perry Sunday
school grounds fora®
lat may have fallen ft#
e shuttle Columbia,
wn their schools wt
scovered debris
I from school property
’s spokesperson, Get
said although only
■ported debris on seto
the governor is asltit
administrators to lal
anary measures to
ool children from
the debris,
e said pieces of the sin
I contain toxic mateiii
led citizens to remain
:e from the pieces
i protection,
presentative from t
n County Sherifl
id a piece of the sh
nd near Neches I
12 miles east
:, on Saturday, ft
as been removed
prevent the high sc
ding classes Monday
have been no repot-
schools with debris f
oerty.
i said law enforcenio'
as Education Agent
fficials notified scW
•ators of the requite
ns.
i said if any debris
identification a
of the parts woo
•mptly.
A has indicated i
of debris on scW
would be a top prion
a said.
department of Put#
as also advised In*
ent to notify admir
f public and priv#
o inspect their facifr
la said.
Independent Sclto®'
uperintendent Hemrf
id this would be #
s officials have evf f
the school ground
lools will be inspect
i. Monday mornin?-
d.
ant to ensure the safe;
faculty and studenis.
a Mitchell, who #
dren in the Bry® 1
istrict, said she wop
f debris were foundo"
•operties and schools
ien not shut down.
Ike Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 200 words or
teuid include the author's name, class and phone number. The opinion editor
tese/ves the right to edit letters for length, style and accuracy. Letters may be submit-
ledin 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
177845-1111. Fax: (979) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thebatt.com
MAIL CALL
Ghetto Party' was
unforgivable
In response to the Jan. 22
editorial:
If Battalion editors cannot see
or refuse to acknowledge the
extent to which even planning
"Ghetto Parties" damages Texas
A&M's efforts to attract and retain
minority faculty and students, we
are in a sadder state than I
thought.
Grant some of us the same First
Amendment right to speak out
and to disassociate ourselves
from the hurtful, juvenille activi
ties, however innocent, that The
Battalion appears to defend.
In an article in The Eagle, I stat
ed that campus racial incidents
continue to misrepresent the
great majority of Aggies to the
world. As you know, Texas A&M is
trying very hard to undo a per
ception, underscored by many
blacks and Latinos in several
recent surveys, that in spite of our
good efforts and intentions,
minorities still feel unwelcome at
A&M.
Reported incidents suggest that
some campus people here and
there continue to mistreat or to
say unattractive things to or
about minorities. As the land-
grant institution founded to edu
cate the people of Texas, the inju
rious actions of a few young
adults who insist on countering
and thus belying the University's
Mission Statement is not helping
to improve our public image. True
Aggies, we all know, take great
pride in how we are perceived.
That is why I said that, in the
STATE
Falling on deaf ears
Celebrities have no credentials for political discourse
wake of other widely-publicized
racial incidents, perhaps the best
way to stop this kind of inappro
priate behavior would be to expel
perpetrators (who should be
aware of the University's diversity
efforts by now) from the
University. A zero-tolerance policy
against unprovoked racial and
ethnic assaults would effectively
communicate the message to the
four winds that such activities are
not going to be tolerated.
Dr. Marco Portales
Professor of English
Ogden speaks out
In response to a Jan. 15
article:
Wednesday's (Jan. 15) headline
in The Battalion, "Senator Ogden
criticizes Gates' diversity plans,"
by Rolando Garcia, certainly got
my attention since I have never
spoken to Mr. Garcia personally.
I have not yet had an opportu
nity to read Dr. Gates' plan and
do not recall having criticized it.
I have discussed the issue of
diversity with Dr. Gates in depth.
He and I agree that Texas A&M
University should be a more wel
coming place for all to provide
and receive an education.
It seems to me that, before
writing an article about an impor
tant subject such as this and
quoting me heavily throughout it,
Mr. Garcia should have taken a
few minutes to actually speak to
me himself.
Stephen E. Ogden
Senator R-District 5
TU. EFFECTIVELY OPERATE: '
OHDER THE. SAME.
Tp&U WEFFWS SHSfKTo&C ,
\tA IRAQ WAiST FOLLOW,... ./
T here is a time and place for
celebrities: on a stage or
screen entertaining an
audience. Entertainers they may
be; educated in matters of for
eign policy, many are not. As war
becomes imminent, criticism
from actors, musicians and
comedians about President
George W. Bush’s initiative in
Iraq has soared. As boisterous as
this criticism may be, at its heart lies
ignorance and misrepresentation. This
much has been evident in recent weeks by
three very prominent stars: Sheryl Crow at
the American Music Awards, Janeane
Garofalo in the Washington Post, and
Sean Penn in, of all places, Baghdad.
Sheryl Crow makes great music and is
also one of the best-looking musicians in
history. However, could someone hand her
a clue, because apparently she lacks one.
At the American Music Awards,
Crow’s immaturity was proven. “The best
way to solve problems is to not have ene
mies,” she was quoted as saying while
wearing a “War is Not the Answer” T-
shirt, according to The Associated Press.
What a profound statement. One can be
sure that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin
Laden believe that too, as they plot to kill
Americans and their allies. War is not the
answer; but it is an answer. It is a conclu
sion arrived at through necessity, not
desire. War is an ugly inevitability at
times and can rarely be justified. But a
comment such as Crow’s suggests a naive
simplicity of worldly truths.
What does Janeane Garofalo have to
say about the situation with Iraq? “George
W. Bush is vehemently pro-life, seeks to
overturn Roe v. Wade ... because of the
sanctity of human life. Yet at the same
time he is asking us to drop bombs on
Iraqi civilians ... Up to a million people
will be (casualties) in this war ... If you
are a presentient mass of cells, this coun
try will protect you and your rights to the
nth degree. If you have made the mistake
of becoming an Iraqi citizen, apparently
we can just drop bombs on you with
impunity,” the Washington Post quotes
Garofalo as stating.
Only in Hollywood would such banter
be given a second thought. The United
States does not need to drop bombs on
Iraq to kill Iraqis; given enough time,
Saddam could have killed them all him
self. One must at least be honest about
this: more Iraqi citizens will be saved by a
U.S.-led invasion than killed.
Iraqi citizens will be allowed to elect
their own leaders, and then it will be up to
Iraqis whether they want to support the
rights of those “presentient masses of
cells” whom Garofalo so eloquently dis
likes. Garofalo’s comments reflect the dis-
MICHAEL
WARD
ease of ignorance that ails
Hollywood. Human Rights Watch
reveals on its Web site that
the real threat posed on the
Iraqi people by an American
invasion comes not from
American soldiers, but
from Saddam himself,
who is not above using
his own people as
human shields on the
streets of Baghdad.
The award, however, for the
most audacious act goes to
Sean Penn and his epic
travels to Iraq. One will
recall that several weeks
ago, Penn decided that he
needed to get the truth
about the Iraqi people.
Distrustful of the
American media, he trav
eled, camera in hand, to
Baghdad. “I needed to come
here,” he said, “to see a
smile, to see a street.”
National news sources
showed Penn snapping pho
tographs of Iraqi citizens
and visiting a chil
dren’s hospital.
There is a vein of
honor in obtaining the
facts for one’s own self
as Penn sought to do.
However, there is also a
parallel vein of arrogance
and stupidity in thinking
that, because one is a
celebrity, the Iraqi
leaders would unveil
their weapons,
their murder
ous history,
and the graves
of tens of thou
sands killed
throughout
the course
of
Saddam's
regime. Was
he blind to
the fact that
there are four
pages of article
headings found
on the Human
Rights Watch Web
site that discuss the current Iraqi regime’^
horrific crimes against humanity? The
only truth that Penn discovered on his trip
was the fiction that the Iraqis wanted him
to see. The only smiles that he saw were
from children too young to understand the
horrors that surround them.
Celebrities do one job well — they
entertain their audiences — but
their excursions into the realm of foreign
policy are ill-fated. When Sheryl Crow
claims, according to The Associated Press,
that a war with Iraq would have “huge
karmic retributions,” one may be certain
of this: the only “karmic retributions” that
have occurred took place in Hollywood
after the making of “Killer Klowns from
Outer Space.” One supposes karma
thought that movie was as bad as every
one else did. Celebrities must realize their
influence extends very little outside of
Hollywood.
Michael Ward is a senior
history major.
Medical practices are unethical
LAUREL
FRANCK
»
S ince the 1970s, a widely-accepted but highly
controversial practice has existed in the emer
gency rooms of many hospitals across the
United States. According to The Wall Street
Journal, residents, or doctors-in-training, are
allowed to practice emergency medical techniques
on newly-deceased patients under the supervision
of a senior physician. In addition, some hospitals
also permit young doctors to practice these tech
niques on patients who are technically still alive,
but beyond the help of even extraordinary meas
ures, reports The Journal.
There are many ethical issues that have the medical community
divided on this topic. One is the fact that the patient’s’ family or next-
of-kin often has no knowledge that these procedures are being per
formed. Another issue is the fact that the hospitals will sometimes
bill the nearly dead patients’ insurance companies for the procedures
performed for medical training, according to The Journal. A third
issue arises from questions about respect for the dead and their reli
gious beliefs.
Training on dead or dying patients is a vital and extremely benefi
cial practice for both physicians and their future patients, but it is also
one to which some changes need to be made, especially with respect
to obtaining the family’s consent and the inappropriate charges for
such procedures.
The techniques practiced include inserting needles into major
veins, drawing body fluids and performing endotracheal intubation, a
technique for opening a person’s airway, reports The Journal.
According to Ethics In Emergency Medicine, a medical trade
magazine, procedures can also include thoracotomies, opening the
chest, and performing venous cutdowns, surgically opening veins to
insert catheters.
Doctors and residents who support the practice say it is the best
way to learn life-saving emergency procedures, according to abc-
news.com. As Dr. Kenneth Iserson said in The Journal, “If the doc
tors in the emergency room units don’t know how to do these proce
dures, these patients die.”
Society places a heavy expectation on the emergency room clini
cian to act quickly, professionally, and expertly to save lives when
possible, states Ethics In Emergency Medicine, many times there is
no adequate or affordable substitute, such as plastic models and pre
served cadavers, for a live or recently dead human body for practic
ing and perfecting some of these skills.
While physicians need to be proficient in these life-saving tech
niques, a larger effort must be made to inform the patient’s family
and obtain their consent for these procedures, especially for the near
ly dead. The training procedures on the nearly dead are currently list
ed in their medical records, but families are often unaware of that,
according to The Journal. While the American Medical Association
recently took the first step to resolve the issue by adopting a non
binding policy that no training is to be performed on dead patients
without consent, it did not address the issue of nearly dead patients.
According to The Journal, the answer could be a simple consent
form upon admission to a teaching hospital to perform these proce
dures. Drivers could also attach permission slips to their licenses, as
with organ-donor cards, reports abcnews.com. Amednews.com sug
gests asking patients for their “blanket” permission upon entering a
hospital.
Consent from patients or their family is extremely important and
will also help make doctors aware of any religious beliefs the patient
may possess.
The other issue that needs to be corrected is charging insurance
companies for procedures performed on the nearly dead. According
to Ethics In Emergency Medicine, nearly dead patients are some
times not pronounced “dead” until trainees complete the procedures
they are practicing, and this can be expensive for insurance compa
nies and third-party payers, who must pay for all medical and surgi
cal procedures done before the patient is officially pronounced dead.
Since health care costs are constantly on the rise and the health
care and medical insurance systems have enough problems already,
this is one practice that needs to end. Patients’ families should not
have to pay for procedures that likely had no impact on their loved
one, and that “...fall into a gray area,” as stated by Dr. Catherine
Marco, chairwoman of the ethics committee of both the Society for
Academic Emergency Medicine and the American College of
Emergency Physicians.
Doctors need the hands-on experience and training that perform
ing procedures on dead and dying patients offers. As Dr. Doug
Smith, a third-year resident told The Journal, “We are doing this to
help the next patient who comes through the door.” However, until
affordable alternatives can be developed, this practice must be done
in the most ethical and respectful manner possible with regard to
Laurel Franck is a junior
English major.