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STATE
THE BATTALION
riving
r s grow
MAIL CALL
•e used to be a Utah
stereotype as a type of
and that’s just fading
we’re so multicultural
vVe have so many lan-
.ultures, backgrounds,"
ire Lindsey, who, with
and and three children,
her of the Barton Creek
It’s a church for every-
rh some denominations
rat Mormons are not
i because of their belief
n prophets and apostles
r use of the Book of
, Gee said the church
■ in common with other
is than many people
I'he church, he said, is
on Christ and promotes
id faith as the top prior-
gelism is key, and thou-
young men and women
ibaticals each year to
on missionary assign-
lormons also adhere to
es of behavior and for-
sing; consuming drugs,
md caffeine; and having
al sex.
e who have seen friends
hbors live out the moral
e often attracted to the
said Leigh Germamu
>f five. “I know that we
any people who live
vho have chosen to join
xh either because the
tries have found them...
often than not, they’ve
somebody and had an
lity to get to know about
ch,” she said,
aer indication of church
is the number of tent-
y sanctuaries open only
h m embers for special i
ies such as baptisms of
I relatives and eternal
:s. Temples are built t
lere followers are grot-
active.
EWS IN BRIEF
i leads to
r-old's death
’RING, Texas (AP) - Fid
have ruled arson caused
morning house fire Jan
e the body of a 6-yeai
vas found.
Lopez Jr., 18, of Clovis
as been charged with
in the death of Matii
Preliminary autopsi
showed the child was
assaulted and stran-
icials have said,
and Nieto are cousins,
i/as visiting relatives in
>e as was Nieto, whose
ves in Big Spring, olj
e said.
members extinguished
and the girl was trans-
to Scenic Mountain
Center where she was
ced dead.
lature of fire set dearlf
it any type of accident,"
ing Fire Marshal Cafl
said in Wednesda/s
dition of the Big Spring
ay said a liquid was
o help spread the fire.
Learn from history
Unitarian Minister Danita
Noland said, 'The leaders of our
great nation have forgotten the
lessons of history and war," in
protest of going to war with Iraq. I
seem to remember from my histo-
ly classes the lesson learned after
the First World War. Germany was
seemingly demolished and placed
under very restrictive treaties.
However, they were left
unchecked, unopposed, and basi
cally ignored, even though it was
known the pacts were being bro
ken. No country stood up against
them in their rebuilding process,
and the Second World War rav
aged the world. America and the
United Nations cannot ignore Iraq
because of their past aggressive
tendencies, and like it or not,
forced disarming might be the
only option. Also, the president of
the Aggie Democrats, Jonathan
Steed, basically said the only rea
son why this conflict is happening
is because Bush somehow owes it
to the oil companies for helping to
finance his campaigns. This is
absurd, and is just his way of trying
to weaken Bush's image through
unfounded attacks. I am not say
ing that I support war at this point,
but to say that this conflict is only
about oil interests is partisan-
based ignorance.
Brandon Hoover
Class of 2005
Pray for troops
In regards to the war protest
that was held on campus, this is
your right to do this, but whether
you support the war in Iraq or not,
remember to support and pray for
our troops abroad and our
President. Always remember
those who fought and died to give
us our freedoms, as well as those
«ho protect our lives and free-
irms today. Whether Republican,
taiocrat, or Libertarian, our
1 Want deserves our respect as
Aw American. We might not
agree with what he is doing, but
lie is still our President and he is
only trying to keep us safe from
enemies, both foreign and domes
tic, as is the United States military
personnel as they swore to in their
oath. Shouting that the President
should go to hell is a blatant sign
of disrespect, as is some of the
signs in the crowd that disrespect
ed the Armed Forces. I am proud
to say my father aided in the liber
ation of Kuwait from an evil mon
ster. With that in mind show the
President and all veterans the
respect that they are due. Ifitwas-
ntfor them, our freedoms would
be infringed upon and any
protests regardless of the issue
would be silenced with recoils of
rifles from a dictator's army.
Ryan Kirkpatrick
Class of 1999
No "Go Western?"
In response to the recent "ghet
to party" articles and letters I
would like to say lets track down
every person throwing a culturally
oriented party and throw them
out of school. Lets not just stick to
the Ghetto Party and Hawaiian
parties. We will start will Western
themed parties where everyone
dresses up as cowboys. It really
upsets me to see people wearing
cowboy hats and boots. While we
are at it, lets go after Mexican-
themed parties. There is nothing
more stereotypical than som
breros, fajitas and Coronas.
People need to stop being so
oversensitive.
Matt McCartney
Class of 2005
v STU t *. V ,
:30 pm
•e In Love
pm
[ght
King
Not so peaceful
One would expect peace pro
testers to be peaceful people,
hut this expectation is disap
pointed when one is faced with
the stream of hateful vitriol that
emerges whenever they open
their mouths. President Bush is
a 'chicken-hawk', a 'war-mon
ger', is owned by the oil indus
try, wants to steal Iraq's oil and
kill Iraqi children. This is non
sense. If a principled, reasoned
opposition to war exists, it is
possible to articulate this oppo
sition without resorting to child
ish insults. I encourage the pro
testers to voice their concerns in
a more positive, constructive
manner.
Tom Boucher
Graduate Student
Dr. Portales wrong
Perhaps as a sane member of the
A&M student body and a minority, I
should let this subject lie, but I am
simply appalled at some of the com
ments made in the opinion columns
and mail call in recent issues of the
Battalion concerning the supposedly
infamous "ghetto party." Despite the
obvious First Amendment rights pro
tecting such expression, I find it
absolutely hilarious that so many
"educated" people are willing to
advocate the use of a zero-tolerance
policy, suppressing the very tool that
minority groups have fought so hard
to secure over the history of our
nation-the right to free speech and
expression. Without such rights I very
seriously doubt that any minority
would be as well represented in
American society as they are today.
As an English major I find Dr.
Portales's comments backward and
embarrassing and find that for a
person so keen on tolerance he has
a very intolerant way of expressing
himself. Perhaps people here
should wake up and realize that the
shocking reason there are not many
minorities on campus is the result
of a single-and what I thought to
be-obvious fact: They are minori
ties, a smaller percentage of the
population.
Aaron Kalbas
Class of 2005
Greek satire
Kappa Kappa Gamma:
I apologize for not being able to
attend your Headbanger's Ball
Crush Party last night. Though I
appreciate the invitation, I ran into
some scheduling problems with an
event called Silver Taps. In case you
did not know, Silver Taps is held the
first Tuesday of every month as a
final tribute to any student who has
passed away the previous month.
Now I realize how hard it must be
to schedule a crush party; there are
so few possible nights throughout
the year. On top of that, you have
the inconvenience of working
around the 8 days a year for which
Taps is scheduled. Furthermore, I
am sure your crush party has been
scheduled long before Taps, which
has only been around since 1898.
Once again, please accept this
apology for being unable to attend
your well-planned event. For some
reason, I felt more compelled to
attend a solemn ceremony marked
only by the sound of rifles and
bugles rather than Guns N' Roses.
Matt Giese
Class of 2003
Honor fellow Ags
It wasn't cold. It wasn't raining.
It wasn't just any other Tuesday. It
was a night when Aggies gather to
remember and pay respects to
their own. The only thing more
disheartening then watching
Aggies walking around Academic
Plaza to avoid Silver Taps, was
watching a person actually wait in
front of Bolton Hall for the Ross
Volunteers to march out of the
way before continuing on her way
to Northside. It amazes me that
so many Aggies can pack into Kyle
Field to stand for hours upon
hours yet we can't gather enough
Aggies to fill Academic Plaza for
less than 30 minutes. Sure, there
are legitimate reasons for not
attending Silver Taps, but having a
test the next day isn't one, want
ing to watch your favorite TV show
isn't one, saying you just don't
have the time isn't one, saying
that you have experienced Silver
Taps before and already know
about the tradition sure as hell
isn't one, neither is saying that you
don't know anyone on the list. I
am tired of hearing excuses why
people can't go. Silver Taps is not
something meant for you, it is
meant to honor your fellow
Aggies that have passed away the
month prior. The next Silver Taps
is March 4th, I pray we don't have
it, but if we do I truly hope that all
Aggies that can and all Aggies that
would want Silver Taps played for
them will be there.
Brent Maddux
Class of 2004
An eye toward detail
I Just wanted to compliment
Ivan Flores on his illustration in
Aggielife. The attention to detail of
having the Japanese girl's shirt
read the same as the Texan girl's
but in Katakana was very sharp.
Joseph Ferguson
Class of 2004
Opinion
The Battalion
Page 5B • Thursday, February 6, 2003
PASSING THE BUCK
Perry needs to take charge of the budget problem
DAVID
SHOEMAKER
s chief executive of Texas, Gov. Rick Perry
has many duties. One of those duties is to
..oversee the preparation of a state
budget. He and his staff are
required to consider the
needs of the state and its
funds and then plan
state spending for
the next two
years. But
by submit
ting a blank state budget for
consideration to the Legislature, i
he has failed to fulfill this duty.
After being told by Comptroller
Carol Keaton Strayhom that the
state would face a funds shortfall
of $ 10 billion, he submitted a budget
with zero dollars listed for every
budget item, according to The Houston Chronicle.-
The Chronicle also quoted Perry as saying that he felt it
was important that with a $10 billion shortfall, “every dollar
spent by government must be scrutinized to determine whether it
justifies consideration as a priority.” If this is true, then certainly there
are some parts of the budget that are too important to cut funding and
others that could obviously be cut. But with a blank budget, either Perry
is showing that everything is on equal footing or that he has no idea which
state programs are more important than others. If they are going to be priori
tized, as he says they need to be, then it will not be by him, but by the lieutenant
governor and the legislature. The governor decided that although his staff
couldn't write a budget to deal with a $10 billion shortfall, somehow the legis
lature was better equipped to do so.
Though it appears the legislature will have much to do this.session, it will
have to hold a special session just to deal with funding public schools. But
apparently the governor feels the legislature will be better at deciding what is a
priority for the state. Sadly the governor does not seem to have a grasp on the
amount of work the legislature has to do before it is done and seems to think
dumping his work on it is a good idea.
But the governor realizes the speed with which this problem must be
addressed. Just a week after he submitted the blank budget, he sent an open let
ter to all state agencies asking them to cut 7 percent of their budgets this year
to save a total of $700 million for the year, according to The Chronicle. For
someone who seems unwilling to set state priorities, he is quite willing to act
in ways that show he is aware of the severity of the prob
lem. He is also aware of the problems he will face
addressing the budget politically, either
with spending cuts or new taxes. This
seems to be the real reason why he
and his staff declined to pub
lish a budget. Perry claimed
he wanted “transparen
cy” in the budget process,
according to The
Chronicle, and his
motives might be just as
transparent. His staff was
able to plan sufficient cuts
for a $5 billion shortfall, but
decided they couldn’t do it
when the shortfall doubled.
What really seems to have
happened was the governor decided that he
did not want to be the bearer of bad fiscal news.
He did not want to announce or plan cuts in
many programs, from health care to public schools.
Instead, he is going to let Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst
and House Speaker Tom Craddick do the dirty work.
Dewhurst promised to keep essential services funded
and not raise taxes, according to the Chronicle, similar
to what Perry has promised. But now if someone has to
back down from his promises, it isn’t Perry, but Dewhurst
or Craddick.
They will have to propose spending cuts or fee or tax
hikes for the fiscal year, not Perry. This seems to be the real
reason Perry submitted a blank budget. Now he cannot be
directly linked to any unpopular spending cuts or fee hikes that
will be necessary to allow the state to function for the next two
years. Rather than do the right thing and lead his party into
what promises to be a bitter budget process, he has chosen to
take the easy way out and lay the problem at the doorstep of the
Legislature. As an Aggie, we should expect more from Gov.
Perry.
David Shoemaker is a junior
management major.
Graphic by Leigh Richardson
Texas should take homosexuality in stride
T exas has always been a conservative state,
especially regarding social issues. There is
nothing wrong with this until the conser
vatism of a few violates the personal rights of
many. The government has no right to intrude into
the private life of its citizens, telling them with
whom they can and cannot sleep; however, Texas
currently has laws outlawing homosexual
conduct. A Supreme Court case to be
heard early this year could overrule this
antiquated way of thinking and bring
Texas into the 21 st century with the rest of
the modern, accepting world.
While answering to a false report of an
intruder, police arrested two men in 1998
in an apartment for violation of this law.
The state fined them $200, and they
immediately appealed the case in hopes of
overturning the code. The U.S. Supreme
Court agreed late last year to hear the case, and a
decision is expected by June, according to CNN.
While the state does not intrude so harshly into
the private life of heterosexuals, certain homosex
ual acts are illegal. Chapter 21.06 of the penal
code defines “deviant sexual intercourse with
another individual of the same sex” a class C mis
demeanor.
This law has been intruding on the privacy of
Texas citizens since 1973. Outlawing homosexual
ity only adds to the negative stigma of gay people
— a stigma that works against the advancements of
the last decades of gay-rights supporters. If the
state has its way, these people will never be
accepted.
Should the Supreme Court rule in favor of the
two men, it will overturn an appellate
court which not only upheld this out-of-
date law, but according to CNN, ruled that
the law “advances a legitimate state inter
est, namely, preserving public morals.”
The job of preserving public morals
should be left to the public, not legislators
in Austin. A person’s morals vary greatly
on any number of circumstances, and can
not be decided by anyone other than the
individual. The state, however, thinks it
has the right to tell people what is “right.”
Not only does the state outlaw the innate right
of defining one’s own sexuality — claiming to do
so in order to protect the public’s morals, which it
cannot define — it spreads a message of bigotry
throughout the schools. Chapter 163 of the Texas
statutes deals with sex and substance abuse educa
tion in schools. Section 002 of the chapter calls for
“emphasis, provided in a factual manner... that
homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the
general public.”
The state relies on scare tactics to conserve the
ignorant view of the few. Public acceptance of
homosexuality can be seen running rampant
across America. This ranges from television and
films to everyday social settings. Gays in America
are accepted by many and this is what the state
should teach its children. Prejudiced thinking kept
women in America from voting until the 1920s,
and kept slavery legal until the 1860s. Hate for
other groups of people looms large in many of
America’s worst moments, and laws such as this
only encourage more hate. Homosexuals in
America are now beginning to gain the accept
ance they deserve, but Texas cannot seem to
embrace every citizen equally.
The Supreme Court should use this case to send
a message to Texas and other states with similar
laws. Adding to the negative stigma of any kind of
people is unacceptable, even when sanctioned by
the government.
Matthew Rigney is a sophomore
journalism major.
MATTHEW
RIGNEY
State should make mercy killings legal
L ast month, a 63-year-old Georgia woman was sentenced to five years in
prison after pleading guilty to assisting her two sons in their suicides,
according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Carol Carr's sons, Randy
and Andy Scott, were bedridden in a nursing home suffering from the late
stages of Huntington's disease when she shot each behind the ear with a 25-
caliber semiautomatic pistol. At the time of their deaths, both men were unable
to speak, move, and were barely able to swallow.
Thankfully, Carr's plea agreement prevented her from being put on
trial for the felony and malice murder charges a grand jury charged
her with, yet five years is much too harsh a sentence to give. The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the police investigation
determined the deaths to be mercy killings, but Georgia law does not
distinguish between mercy killings and premeditated murder. The law
needs to be changed.
Carr's sons were to the point that they had no lives; they did not
want to live in that condition and had signed living wills in 1995
attesting to this fact, according to James Scott, Carr's remaining son,
who also has Huntington's disease. Carol Carr was simply fulfilling a
promise to her sons. People who suffer from terminal illnesses and
face terrible, painful and cruel deaths must have the option of ending their suf
fering early if they so choose. Her sons had chosen to end their lives early; they
just were not in any condition to do so by themselves.
Huntington's disease is a devastating hereditary, degenerative brain disor
der that currently has no effective treatment or cure, according to the
Huntington's Disease Society of America. The condition typically begins in
mid-life, usually between the ages 30 and 45, although it can begin earlier.
Almost 250,000 Americans have Huntington's disease or are at risk for it. The
disease does not discriminate along gender, ethnic or racial lines; all are equal
ly at risk if a parent carries the gene.
Huntington's disease slowly steals a person's ability to walk, talk, think,
reason and even move. Eventually it leaves patients completely dependent on
others for care. The disease ultimately ends in death, usually from complica
tions such as choking, infection or heart failure.
Carr's husband became sick with Huntington's disease in 1976, entering a
nursing home in 1983 where he stayed until his death in 1995. He could not
walk, talk or leave his bed. James Scott told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
that his father's slow and agonizing death is what prompted them to sign the
wills. “We all signed living wills saying if we got in my daddy's shape, then
we didn't want to live anymore, not to try to keep us alive in any way,” he said.
He also said he supports his mother's actions and hopes someone will do the
same for him. “The day when I can't take care of myself, and walk
and talk and fish and do the things I like to do, then my life is already
over,” he said.
The state of Oregon has gone farther than any state in giving more
options to terminally ill patients. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act
(ODDA), initially passed in 1994, allows competent, adult Oregon
residents with terminal illnesses to end their lives with a legal pre
scription from a medical doctor, according to Oregon's Department of
Human Services Web site. It includes multiple safeguards to ensure
the system is not abused. The annual ODDA reports show patients
who utilize this option are usually older, well educated and dying from
cancer.
Unfortunately, even the ODDA could not have helped the Scott brothers. It
requires a patient to be competent within six months of death of a terminal ill
ness. Huntington's completely usurps lives long before it actually becomes
fatal.
Diseases such as Huntington's, Tay-Sachs and Alzheimer's virtually turn
people into shells. As long as there are no cures or truly promising treatments
for these illnesses, people should not be made to suffer, especially if they
specifically expressed a desire to die, as the Scott brothers did. Carol Carr's
actions, while crude, were more humane than letting her sons lie in a nursing
home bed unable to speak, move or think for years. She does not deserve five
years in prison for fulfilling a promise.
Jenelle Wilson is a senior
political science major.