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Opinion
The Battalion
Clarifying the myth
Page 9 • Friday, February 21, 2003
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said of 57-year-old Mir.
was very considerate. Ai
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in wanting to know about
roblems of his men.”
NEWS IN BRIEF
in Astin attends
as Film Festival
ir Sean Astin, costar of'Lord
e Rings," will attend the
Film Festival Saturday al
?r Theater.
n will be appearing
lay at noon during the festi-
Sean Astin Tribute."
7-two-year-old Astin gained
>m in 1985 after his role in
loonies" and then later as a
Dame football legend in
tribute will include dips
^stin's movies, a speech by
a viewing of his diredorial
short film, "The Long and
tort of It" and a question
nswer session,
ets will cost $6 and la-
at the Sean Astin Tribute
: limited to 750 people,and
are still available at the
rr Box Office.
prices soar
>ss the U.S.
— The middle of winter
more like the heart of sum-
gas stations nationwide,as
ices surge past $2 a gallon
ne places and motorists
le about being gouged,
ical instability in Venezuela
ie prospect of war in Iraij
[gering price hikes that nor-
don't kick in until the peak
season. And experts warn
could shoot up even more
political situations and the
?r heat up.
ib 318 North
Downtown Bryan
318 N. Main
LIVE BANDS
WANTED
Call 823-4448
Pechno/Friday Nights
Iso take reservations
>r private parties
bouncer friendly)
nd fund raisers
day, February 21 s '
Rev. Kathy Russell
Conspiracies that promote the idea that war with Iraq is about oil are wrong
TIM
SCHNIEDWIND
T here are many
conspiracy the
ories these
days, and those
involving the United
States’ need for oil
and the conflict with
Iraq seem to be
extremely popular.
It is easy to dis
miss these claims
based solely on the
context in which they are usually pre
sented, and there is likely little truth
behind them.
Data from the Department of
Energy suggests that there is a lack of
potential motivation for war based on
oil interests. One could look at the
issue of Iraqi oil as involving three
main factors: At what rate will Iraq
produce oil, who will be the recipient
of the oil that is produced and who
will handle the task of getting the oil
out of the ground?
Trying to influence any of these
three factors is likely not reason
enough for U.S. oil companies to pres
sure their government for a regime
change in Iraq.
According to the Department of
Energy, Iraq has the second largest oil
reserve in the world. Iraq exports
roughly 2.5 million barrels of oil per
day.
Oil conspiracy theorists would sug
gest that U.S. oil companies are
always trying to increase the supply
and demand for oil. Would a war with
Iraq increase the supply of oil on the
market? The last war with Iraq did the
opposite.
Iraqi production is down from
highs of more than four million barrels
per day since the Gulf War, mostly
because of damage sustained during
the war. Any kind of war in Iraq could
disrupt Iraqi oil production, and it
could take year# to rebuild production
capacity back to its current level.
Would a more U.S.-friendly regime
in Iraq increase the supply of oil?
Right now, the United Nations regu
lates the amount of oil that Iraq can
produce. According to the Department
of Energy, the current regime in Iraq
has made many efforts to expand its
oil production levels. In fact, agree
ments have been signed to increase oil
production by four million barrels per
day. Looking at it from the perspec
tives of the amount of oil available to
the U.S., this does not sound like a
regime that the U.S. would want to
change.
The United States is not fighting a
war with Iraq to ensure that it gets its
share of Iraq’s oil. Though a war for
oil seems to be a popular idea, it does
not have a firm basis in reality.
According the Department of
Energy, around 20 to 25 percent of
Iraqi oil ends up in the hands of U.S.
oil companies, so America is already
getting its fair share in terms of con
sumption. Oil is a heavily traded glob
al commodity, so no matter where
Iraqi oil goes, the increased supply
will make it easier for U.S. companies
to obtain their oil.
Then comes the third factor: who
receives the job of drilling and pro
cessing Iraqi oil. Oil conspiracy theo
rists don’t focus on this as much,
mostly because getting the job of per
forming one stage in a production
process does not seem to be such a
potential sinister motivation as getting
more oil for SUVs. But if there is a
reason for U.S. companies to push
their government for a regime change
in Iraq, this is probably it.
According to the Department of
Energy, all of the contracts Iraq has
granted to carry the expansion of its
oil production capacity have been
given to non-U.S. companies from
across the globe, including places such
as China and Indonesia.
The majority of the contracts have
been given to companies that have
supported Iraq in the United Nations.
One Russian company is quoted by
the Department of Energy as saying
that Vladimir Putin, Russia’s presi
dent, guaranteed that “no matter what
happens,” its contract will be upheld.
This is undeniable evidence that
politics is playing into who gets the
contracts to do the exploration and
development.
However, right now the majority
of the contracts are not being ful
filled by the companies due to pres
sure from the United Nations.
Iraq has expressed displeasure
and is looking for other companies
from nations such as the United
States that could come in and get the
job done more quickly.
Iraq is quoted by the Department
of Energy Web site as “being willing
to work with U.S. companies.”
If the United States really only
cared about getting its companies
development contracts, it could likely
accomplish this through negotiations
with the United Nations and the Iraqi
government.
Whatever motivations the oil issue
is creating, it is certainly far-fetched
to imagine that they are powerful
enough to influence policy that
would dictate risking American lives,
spending $50 billion and the presi
dent running the risk of ruining his
Tim Schniedivind is a graduate
environmental engineering major.
Graphic by Becky Maiden.
Blacks and Hispanics need to work together
A cultural earthquake hit
recently when the
Census Bureau estimat
ed that Hispanics are now the
nation’s largest minority group.
Hispanics now comprise 13
percent of the American popu
lation, with 37 million people,
wording to CNN. Blacks
make up 12.7 percent of the
nation’s population with 36.1
million people claiming to be black in the 2000
census.
But tensions exist between these two minor
ity communities. Blacks and Hispanics must set
aside any differences they have and look for
common ground on issues that affect both com
munities.
The media sensationalized the shift in the
population. Some newspapers used outrageous
headlines when spreading the story. Examples
include: “Hispanic population surpasses African-
Americans” by The Commercial Appeal of
Memphis Tenn., or “Hispanics now No. 1
minority in the U.S.” in The Washington Times.
These headlines improperly give the impression
of a race between Hispanics and blacks to
become America’s most favored minority.
Some prominent blacks have expressed con
cern with the rising Hispanic population. Henry
Louis Gates Jr., chairman of the Afro-American
Studies department at Harvard University, told
The New York Times, “Our (African-
Americans’) privileged status is about to be dis
rupted in profound ways.” Other blacks have
been more forthright in their trepidation. Los
Angeles radio show host Terry Anderson
describes the way he views Mexican immigrants
in his community in a column appearing in the
Houston Chronicle, “What I see in ... South
Central Los Angeles ... is thousands of Mexicans
who care nothing about our traditions and cul
ture, and only want to impose their ways on us.
That’s not immigration, that’s invasion.”
Anderson’s vitriol toward Hispanics is disap
pointing, but indicative of some of the opinions
of the black community. It fears that Hispanic
immigrants, usually willing to work for less
money, will compete unfairly for jobs. Some
blacks also fear the predominance of the Spanish
language and the loss of their hard-earned politi
cal influence—which took more than a century
to create.
But these fears are irrational. As Tatcho
Mindiola Jr. points out in a rebuttal to Anderson
in the Houston Chronicle, the jobs that immi
grant and some blacks compete for “ ... are
lower-paying jobs with little advancement
opportunity.” Mindiola also correctly states that
American English isn’t going anywhere and will
always remain the prominent language of this
land. Currently, the United States does not have
an official language. Indeed, pressure is con
stantly applied to Hispanic immigrants to learn
the commonly used language of this country.
As for the fear of a decrease in political influ
ence, nothing can erase America’s shameful
legacy of slavery and Jim Crow laws. It was
blacks and the civil rights movement that
reminded the United States that this country is
founded on equality. And for this, Americans of
every generation should be eternally grateful.
Now black America must extend the goodwill
and graciousness on display during the early
civil rights struggle to its Hispanic neighbors.
Many of the immigrants responsible for the
Hispanic population upswing come to America
asking only for the chance to become successful
in their own right. True, the vast majority of
blacks’ ancestors weren’t given that choice when
they arrived in America. They arrived in
bondage, instead, and were forcibly kept here
from the early 1600s to 1863 when slavery
legally ended with the Emanciaption
Proclamation. But showing kindness and oppor
tunity to another group will help alleviate much
of the pain that slavery and Jim Crow laws
caused.
There are many places in culture where
blacks and Hispanics can find a common
ground. “La Cucaracha” is a politically charged
comic strip that stars Hispanics and whose satire
is as sharp as “The Boondocks,” another popu
lar comic that features a black cast. The creator
of “La Cucaracha,” Lalo Alcaraz, told the
Washington Post that he was encouraged by the
success of “Boondocks” creator Aaron
McGruder.
Blacks and Hispanics can also focus on
issues that affect them equally. For example,
the National Council of La Raza describes
itself as an organization established “to reduce
poverty and discrimination.” Likewise, the
Texas Chapter of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People states that
its purpose is to remove “all barriers of racial
discrimination.”
These two groups are also concerned with
the state of health care and the quality of edu
cation minority children receive. This type of
cooperation is even on display at Texas A&M.
The National Society of Black Engineers and
The Mexican American Engineers and
Scientists organizations routinely work togeth
er to show the opportunities in the engineering
discipline to minority high school students.
Examples such as these show that the only
race that matters is the human race.
Collins Ezeanyim is a senior
computer engineering major.
COLLINS
EZEANYIM
What’s the rush?
T he Persian Gulf and
the world simmer as
the decision of war
is debated in the great
democracies of theworld.
According to CNN,
France, Germany and
Russia are determined to
find a peaceful solution to
the threat of Saddam havens
Hussein. Meanwhile,
President George W. Bush continues to
press for a U.N. resolution allowing force
tube used against Saddam and Iraq.
However, Bush has yet to answer the
questions raised by U.S. allies and United
States citizens. According to a CBS News
poll, 63 percent of Americans want to wait
for support from allies.
Bush responds that Great Britain backs
the United States. The backing for a war
with Iraq is not as strong in Great Britain
as Prime Minister Tony Blair might make it
appear. According to the Washington Post,
lawmakers from Blair’s Labour Party are
going to march in an antiwar protest in
London on Saturday. The protest organizers
are projecting a crowd of 400,000 people.
A public split within the majority party
does nothing to instill confidence in Great
Britain’s conviction for this war. In fact, a
BBC Poll showed 45 percent of the British
population did not favor war “in any cir
cumstance.” Only 40 percent of the British
approved of war, but only with a new U.N.
resolution. This pressure has forced Bush
to pursue a new U.N. resolution expressly
allowing war with Iraq.
Bush has missed the point of all the
protests of allies and citizens across the
world. America’s allies are urging caution,
and they want to give U.N. inspectors time
to thoroughly search Iraq.
Bush sees the new U.N. resolution as
another obstacle that must be surmounted
to allow an attack on Iraq. The international
community sees the resolution as interna
tional law and cooperation winning out
over a unilateralist.
It is important to note that almost no
ally has said that it believes Saddam is not
dangerous. The issue of when Saddam will
have the ability to strike will determine
when the United States should attack.
The United States must prove that it has
exhausted all peaceful means to ending this
crisis before launching a costly attack
against Iraq. Saddam should be given due
process of law like the Nazi leaders at the
Nuremberg Trial, and Slobadan Milosevic’s
current trial. In this case, it amounts to due
process of international law and diplomacy.
When the public compares between
Adolf Hilter and Saddam, who both mur
dered their own citizens, and the appease
ment offers made to Hilter in hopes of
diverting a war, these comparisons do not
hold up to scrutiny. In this case, no incen
tive is being given to Saddam to stop a war.
The United Nations is giving Saddam
Hussein every chance to end this crisis
peacefully. War with Iraq in the next few
weeks is not worth the cost to international
law and the loss of support from key allies.
Jonny Havens is a senior
history major.
MAIL CALL
Conflicting views on murder
In response to John David Blakely's Feb. 20 col
umn:
Blakley's column yesterday was hypocrisy at its
finest. Quoted from his Jan. 27 opinion article "Right
to Privacy Under Attack," Blakely said, "we must
hold on dearly to and fight for the woman's right to
choose." So, I guess it's the woman's right to choose
whether the unborn child comes into the world.
But he said yesterday "when the life of a human
being is cut short, not by disease, old age, or acci
dent, but done so deliberately and otherwise the life
would continue, it is murder." So, is he saying they
should have the right to choose, but in doing so,
they are committing murder? You'll find the colum
nist is one of the many liberals in this country who
carry the disease called hypocrisy.
Brandon Lackey
Class of 2005
Servers deserve more for the job
In response to Melissa Fried's Feb. 20 column:
Have you ever been a server? I think not because
if you had, you would know that as servers, who
may also be students working to pay off tuition, we
work very hard on a daily basis serving customers
knowing that there is a chance they will leave us
nothing. Now, I'm glad that you agree that servers
should get paid more than $2.13 an hour, but as far
as the American restaurant association lobbying
goes, the average individual server has no influence
on that.
Gratuity fees are put in place to protect the server,
usually in the cases of large parties, and even then are
subject to the server's decision on whether to imple
ment the gratuity. This specific case in Baltimore, Md.
may be questionable, but gratuity fees as a whole
should not be condemned.
You stated that "a tip should be something earned"
and that "many people leave the obligatory 15 percent
tip" and that is nothing more than generalizations.
Most people leave under the 15 percent on average.
That is not to say that customers should not decide for
themselves what the server deserves. They should.
Waiting tables is a job like any other and yes, there
are some sen/ers with a poor work ethic, but those
people exist in every job and community in America.
Personally, I think you should give waiting tables a try
and see how appreciated you feel on some cus
tomer's "gratitude" for your service.
Leisha Nickerson
Class of 2005
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