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EDITORIAL
NEEDLESS FEE HIKE
Students must vote it down
Year after year, the Student Service Fee increases without students'
consent, but this week, students have the opportunity to put a stop
to these runaway fee hikes.
The fee, which funds student programs such as the Memorial
Student Center's committees and Student Activities, stands at $142
per semester, and if approved by students, will rise to $150. It may not
seem like much, but if students vote for this deceptively small
increase, they are authorizing the University to gradually raise the fee
another $100 without student approval. Although state law requires
the University to hold a referendum when the fee passes the $150
mark, subsequent increases of less than 10 percent do not require
students' consent.
The spendthrift record of the Student Sen/ice Fee Advisory Board,
which recommends to administrators the rate of the fee and how the
revenue should be spent, should make students reluctant to give the
board such sweeping authority to dig into students' pockets. With
annual fee increases of 6-9 percent, the board has been quietly goug
ing students with rate hikes exceeding the cost of natural growth and
inflation. If students approve this increase, they can expect the goug
ing to resume until the fee hits $250.
In 2001, the board had a $1 million windfall when, following
approval of the transportation fee, student service fee money was no
longer given to Bus Operations, yet the board still recommended a
small rate increase that year. This increase is not to maintain current
programs, but to pay for frivolous new initiatives - an absurd propo
sition in these times of budget cuts.
Students must not relinquish their authority over the fee just yet
and should vote no on the student service fee increase.
THE BATTALION
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor in Chief
Managing Editor
Opinion Editor
News Editor
Brandie Liffick
Sommer Bunce
George Deutsch
Sarah Walch
Asst. News
Member
Member
Member
Melissa Sullivan
Rolando Garcia
Matt Maddox
Brieanne Porter
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-
/ftfin 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. No attachments.
1AM J JASONDJF
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CALL 845-0569
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MAIL CALL
Aggies want Step
Show off campus
In response to Sarah Walch's
Feb. 25 news article:
I hope this is the last year we
host this Greek Olympiad Step
Show event. I realize A&M is
trying to become diverse, but I
don't think it's worth having
bullets flying through the air.
We have hosted professional
wrestling, the circus, concerts
and many other events at Reed
Arena. Some of these events
drew people from all over the
area. Some would say that a
few of these events even
attracted some undesirable
types, yet I have no recollec
tion of gunfire or even fights at
those events. I hope this sort of
"diversity" is not the future of
this school.
Jeff Householder
Class of 2003
The events of early Sunday
morning surrounding the
Creek Olympiad Step Show are
ironic following the "ghetto
party" controversy a few weeks
ago. The after-party was said to
feature drinking, drugs, fight
ing, and guns.
Let's call it what it is — this
Wasn't a few random folks
ruining the party for everyone
else. This was widespread
mayhem.
While no progress is made by
perpetuating stereotypes with
things like "ghetto parties," it
seems clear now why stereo
types are hard to break.
My heartfelt sympathies go
out to the legitimate organiz
ers, participants, and sincere
fans who now have to endure
the shame enveloping this
event. A lot of people ruined
what could have been a won
derful time for many. As debt
ridden as Reed Arena is, I hope
the University declines events
of this type in the future.
T. Bruce Hudak
Class of 2003
Thank you to a few
helpful Aggies
Sometimes I think we need
a reminder about just how
special Aggies are.
Today in the 28 degree
weather and the freezing rain,
my car somehow got a huge
bolt stuck in the tire. Within
10 seconds of me putting my
hazards on and pulling over,
two guys were there to help.
In the freezing rain and kneel
ing in a puddle, they changed
my tire for me so I could get
home. I just wanted to say
thanks, and that people like
them make me so proud to be
an Aggie.
Rachael Hines
Class of 2003
Students deserve an
affordable education
I am thoroughly fed up with
University departments nickel
and dimming us to death. I have
been in college a long time and I
cannot recall a semester at any
school that I have attended that
there wasn't a fee increase. My
outrage is not towards the "new
student sen/ices fee" or any other
fee specifically. It just seems to
me that every time the University
or a department or a student cen
ter needs more money that they
come running to us, the student
body. I would not pretend to
know the inner workings of the
University's financial department,
but I would like to see an article
in The Battalion about how a
department needs more money
and they are really trying hard not
to come to the student's pocket
books. I recommend that those
of you who work for your tuition
ask yourselves "Why do we need
this fee increase." An education,
in this country, is a basic right.
Everyone deserves an education.
Not just the wealthiest 25 per
cent. The overall education of our
people is what has made this
country so great.
Matthew Hendrix
Class of 1999
Opinion
The Battalion
Page 11 • Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Fiscal responsibility
‘Sunset’ bill would hold federal agencies accountable
A protracted slump in the
national economy has led
to drastic revisions of
projected budgetary health. To
help alleviate the problem,
President George W. Bush has
been calling for a second round
of tax cuts to foster growth and
investment. True to form, big-
government liberals and spend-
happy politicians have criticized
Bush’s plan as irresponsible, arguing that
further tax cuts cannot be afforded. If
these groups are truly concerned with the
budget, they should start practicing
restraint in spending.
But restraining federal spending has
always presented a problem. As the nation
has matured during the past 225 years,
more citizens have sought help from gov
ernment for things that used to be han
dled privately. With a growing depend
ence on and expectation of government
help, many politicians have come to see
the benefits of providing such assistance.
To them, more spending often leads to
more votes.
Certain entitlement-driven politicians
and their beneficiaries refuse to acknowl
edge that increases in spending contribute
to the deficit, and refuse to consider
decreases in spending as part of a possible
solution. As a result, any tax cuts aimed at
revamping the economy are out of the
question. But fortunately, there are many
who have done the math and see the
whole picture.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) has
advocated fiscal responsibility in
Washington for years, repeatedly calling
for passage of a “sunset” bill. Under this
legislation, every federal agency would be
sunsetted, or eliminated, after a certain
period of existence unless Congress
explicitly approved its renewal.
This way, tax dollars that would
have gone to an inefficient or
unnecessary government
bureaucracy could be re
directed to better pro
grams, used to pay off
debt, or returned to
American taxpayers.
Brady’s sunset legis
lation would go a long
way toward enforcing
fiscal responsibility in
federal agencies, in
large part because it
would force them to
operate more like
organizations in the
free market, where mis
management and ineffica
cy have real conse
quences. As Chris Edwards
of the Cato Institute
testified before
Congress, the sunsetting of agen
cies is akin to an enterprise in the
private sector going out of busi
ness. When a business cannot pro
vide services at a competitive
level, it is eliminated as the market
makes room for more efficient
firms.
jerad Placing the same stringent con-
najvar straints on government enterprises
would amount to a radical depar
ture from the status quo. As former
President Reagan said it years ago in a tel
evised address, “The nearest thing to eter
nal life we’ll ever see on the earth is a
government program.” Under sunset legis
lation, federal agencies would either prove
their worth or shut down.
Some people may have a problem with
such a radical move toward fiscal respon
sibility, perhaps because they do not
believe government is really that wasteful.
After all, new budgets must be approved
each year by Congress and the President.
However, egregiously wasteful allocations
of tax dollars are still plentiful.
For example. Citizens Against
Government Waste (CAGW), a non-parti
san group in Washington often looked to
by Congress for waste-eliminating ideas,
points to a study at Northwestern
University funded by the National
Institutes of Health. In the study, women
are paid to watch pornographic films to
study their arousal level. Former Surgeon
General Jocelyn Elders, most well-known
for recommending that masturbation be
taught in schools, speaks about the impor
tance of the study. “We need to under
stand what stimulates women. And it’s for
their children’s sake, for this country’s
sake,” she said.
Under Brady’s legislation, a commis
sion would have been in place to inform
the National Institutes of Health that
pornography is not a vital national
interest.
Given countless examples of waste
such as this, the potential benefits of sun
set legislation are enormous. In fact,
CAGW estimates that $1.2 trillion could
be saved during the next five years if
wasteful agencies and programs were
eliminated or reformed. This is a signifi
cant amount of money that could be re
allocated or returned to the American tax
payers who contributed it in the first
place. Although it is doubtful that any one
piece of legislation could eliminate all
government waste, Brady’s sunset bill is a
step in the right direction. If politicians
really care about reducing the deficit, they
can start by making this bill a law.
Jerad Najvar is a senior
political science major.
Plastic surgery not for teens
Procedures can cause unexpected repercussions
I t seems that Americans live in an image-obsessed soci
ety, where they often judge solely on the way we look.
For many people, their teenage years are some of the
most difficult. During this time, teenagers place a lot of
their self-esteem and confidence in their physical appear
ance, and peers are often quick to judge by this as well.
The growing trend of teenagers turning to cosmetic plastic
surgery to change or improve their looks reflects the
weight that our society places on a person's outer beauty.
And while some plastic surgeries performed on adoles
cents are needed and warranted, many are not, and none
of these procedures should be decided upon hastily. Careful
thought and deliberation must be put into such an important deci
sion due to the consequences, both good and bad, that can result
from unnecessary surgeries.
Plastic surgery is not just for the rich and famous anymore, and
the average age of the patients continues to drop. The number of
people having cosmetic plastic surgery has tripled since 1992,
according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, with
breast augmentation increasing 533 percent and liposuction
increasing 313 percent. While young adults age 18 or younger
made up only 4 percent of all cosmetic surgery patients in 2001,
that is still an astonishing 303,103 people. More young people are
having plastic surgery than ever, and this is not necessarily good.
Teenagers who express a desire to have plastic surgery are
often trying to improve physical characteristics that they feel are
awkward or flawed, and may achieve gains in self-esteem and
confidence when these problems are corrected, according to plas-
ticsurgery.org. Certainly some cases warrant such an extreme
solution, such as severe facial bums or scars.
But most cases do not. Take 15-year-old British teenager Jenna
Franklin. Jenna brought teenage plastic surgery to the forefront of
media attention when she asked her parents to have her breasts
enlarged from a size 34A to a size 34C or D for her 16th birthday,
and they agreed to pay for the surgery. According to
news.bbc.co.uk, Jenna said she had made this decision at age 14,
adding, “You've got to have breasts to be successful.”
The fact that some parents and doctors are allowing procedures
like this to be performed based on such ridiculous teenage moti
vations and whims is ludicrous. As Ruth Coppard, a child psy
chologist, told the BBC, “Emotionally, she (Jenna) is at risk by
making a decision now when she's a child that will have
long-term repercussions that she can't consider yet; she
hasn't got the perspective.”
According to brainevent.com, some cosmetic surgeries
can be dangerous because foreign material, such as an
implant, is inserted into the body and can be rejected.
Plastic surgery is a heightened risk for teenagers because
their bodies are still growing, changing, and developing,
and it is not always clear how a procedure will affect the
patient years later. Since the human body isn't always fully
developed before a person turns 18, the cosmetic changes
teenagers have done may change and possibly become distorted as
they get older.
Some teenagers believe plastic surgery is a quick fix for their
physical, and in turn, their emotional problems, and this simply is
not the case. As brainevent.com states, “Looks don't directly
translate into feelings. Plastic surgery may be a quick fix, but it
doesn't prepare people for the things that can't be so easily
snipped and tucked in the real world.” Opponents to teenage plas
tic surgery feel that some teenagers are picking the easiest and
fastest solution while actually avoiding the root of the problem,
according to miami.edu.
The procedures themselves are also very expensive, usually as
much as several thousand dollars, and the majority of such opera
tions are not covered by health insurance.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons has no formal posi
tion on cosmetic plastic surgery for teenagers, but does state on
its Web site that the most rewarding outcomes are expected when
the teenager initiates the request, possesses realistic goals, and has
sufficient maturity. They must avoid unrealistic expectations about
life changes that will occur as a result of the procedure, and not
every teenager seeking plastic surgery is well-suited for an
operation.
Plastic surgery cannot produce miracles, and if teenagers are
going into it with that type of mindset, they are wrong. Cosmetic
surgery shouldn't be a first option, and cannot be taken lightly. It
will change the patient's life, and in ways they may not have
expected.
Laurel Franck is a junior
English major.
LAUREL
FRANCK