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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 2003)
W0R1} THE BATTALId North Americans shot in Yemen \ Yemeni man shotfouroi company co-workers in Ihe )rovince of Marib, killing ai American, a Canadian, aYei ind wounding a second Canadian before shooting limself dead. 150 mi 150 km SAUDI OM ARABIA Red S< -a RIT.' m. , Marib * ° l ', - ; ASan'a: YEMEN Arabian Sea DJI. SOMALIA URGES: Associated Press: ESRI iminal and personal... sino as shouting during the sli ig that lie would take revtij rainst those who were I ports about him.” Hunt spokesman i berwetter, speaking I alias, said the company"! ispended our drilling op ms in Yemen for the fores »le future.” He said the compi pressed its “heartfelt syn; ies to all the victims milies.” Jf Me SATURDAY SUNDAY: LATE NIGHT LARGE 1 TOPPING %L 99 after 10pm pu/delivery LATENIGH7 LARGE I 1 TOPPING $19’ Wa after 10^ pu/dehf ■ ivyriamc 1700 Rock Prairie 979-680-0508 EDITORIAL Justice denied Parsons Mounted Cavalry should face hazing charges like any other group In a tragic display of injustice, members of Parsons Mounted Cavalry, a unit within the Corps of Cadets, will not face any criminal charges for recent allegations of hazing. According to the Bryan-College Station Eagle, County Attorney Jim Kuboviak said that "even though he believed hazing occurred, he would leave it to University officials to discipline the students." These allegations of hazing included such actions as junior cadets hitting sophomore cadets with axe handles and forcing them to do exercises in excrement and urine. These actions verge on assault, yet the county attorney did not feel the actions were worthy of criminal charges. It is an atrocity to see the jus tice system allow these perpetrators to go uncharged. Similar actions from a campus fraternity would have unquestionably met swifter and stricter penalties. And while the county attorney has failed to charge these stu dents, the University should not be so easy on them. These are serious allegations, and Texas A&M must not allow acts of haz ing to go unpunished. Hazing must not be allowed to be a part of such honorable groups such as the Corps of Cadets and Parsons Mounted Cavalry. Lt. Gen. John Van Alstyne has thus far been open and candid in addressing Corps issues, and we trust he will work to stamp out hazing. The students involved in these incidents of hazing must be punished according to their involvement in the act. It is now in the hands of the University to send a strong condemnation of these acts to discourage future incidents of hazing from occurring. THE BATTALION EDITORIAL BOARD Editor in Chief Managing Editor Opinion Editor News Editor Brandie Liffick Sommer Bunge George Deutsch Rolando Garcia Asst. News Member Member Melissa Sullivan 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 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 7784 3-1 1 11. Fax: (979) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thebatt.com. No attachments. MAIL CALL ** when you r, TOEFL* arch 31 st L4 or to enroll. Bush's war decision should be praised I am tired of so many people in this country, and many on cam pus, "peacefully protesting" this impending war and claiming that their freedom of speech is violat ed when they overstep their bounds. You "code pink" wearing protesters should speak your peace (though I'm not listening) and then shut up and go home. Where are the patriots? No mat ter what people say, peace can not be achieved without war. That's just a fact. This issue with Iraq has been going on for far too long. Thank God we now have a president who is ready, willing and adamant about going in and getting the job done. Regardless of our opinions, whether we are for or against this war, we, as free Americans, must support the troops. Our protests are a slap in the face to all those men and women who have gone before, fighting to protect this country, and those who are continuing that same fight at this very moment. We need to put our political ties aside and join in the common good to rally behind our troops, our President and all that this country stands for. That's the least we can do. God bless America. Holly McGrow Class of 2005 Opinion The Battalion Page 9 • Wednesday, Marcl' Ethics courses needed A&M business program one of few without ethics classes Sbisa food fight not an important issue In response to Nicholas Neumann's March 17 column: I found Nicholas Neumann's article on the Sbisa napkin inci dent (or the lack thereof) to be completely absurd. He claims that Food Services employees were out of line in taking precau tion to prevent an utterly irre sponsible and juvenile act. One of the organizers of the napkin extravaganza was quoted as saying "the fight was meant to bring tradition and fun to the Sbisa dining experience." I doubt that the Food Services employees who would have been responsi ble for picking up more than 800 "Sbisa balls" would have found the fight to be very much "fun." Students need to have a greater appreciation for the workers who put food on their plates and wipe up the messes they leave behind. So how about establishing respect and compassion for fel low human beings as an Aggie tradition instead? I am sure it will have a much more positive effect than a balled up napkin upside the head. No dining establish ment that I know of would accommodate napkin fights, so why should Sbisa? If you want to be treated as a mature adult, then step up and act like one. Jocelyn Baron Class of 2003 T exas A&M is one of the most prominent public uni versities that does not require ethics courses for its busi ness students, according to The Houston Chronicle. While this may have been acceptable before the revelation of corporate shenanigans at companies such as WorldCom and Enron, it is clear that institutions that teach business students market savvy must also work to bring conscience into their classrooms. This includes A&M, which should require future business students, both undergradu ates and MBA candidates, to take ethics courses. If for no other reason, A&M should require ethics classes to compete with other prominent institutions of higher learning in Texas. The University of Texas at Austin will require ethics courses for the first time this fall, according to The Houston Chronicle. The Chronicle also reported that Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Management already mandates that stu dents take courses in ethics. Of course, some Aggies might argue that Aggies are more honorable and trust worthy than their peers in other schools. Therefore, there is no chance of an Aggie executive participating in a corporate scan dal such as those seen at Tyco or WorldCom. The notion that Aggies do not lie, cheat or steal is nice, but untrue. Especially in light of a 1997 academic integrity survey that showed an astonishing 88 percent of Aggies cheated in some form at least once, according to The Battalion. Unfortunately, even Aggies could use assistance in dealing with ethical dilemmas that are likely to occur in the workplace. According to the results of a BusinessWeek reader survey released Jan. 21, 64 percent of the respondents said they “think that ethics should be a required, stand-alone course for MBA students.” Also, Gov. Rick Perry, Class of 1972, has set up a task force that will examine how public universities in Texas can improve the teaching of business ethics, according to The Houston Chronicle. Some may argue that emphasis should be placed on interweaving ethics into accounting, marketing and finance classes. There is no doubt that implemented cor rectly, this method can be quite effective. For example, Dr. L. Murphy Smith, CPA, and a professor in the accounting department, explains his method of teaching ethics, “incorporates ethics dilemmas/cases into my lec tures throughout the semester. In addition, I have a one-day focused lecture on ethics, which I've pre sented to over 50 classes and in other settings.” Unfortunately, not all faculty members are like Smith, who believes ethics should be integrated into all courses, and explains, “Regrettably, for various reasons, many faculty do not inte grate ethics into their courses. Faculty may feel there is not time enough to include ethics in a course already packed with technical topics.” Smith adds, “Some fac ulty may feel uncomfortable or ill-pre pared to discuss ethics. Ethics can be a sensitive topic.” If business school faculty members feel uncomfortable discussing ethical issues with their students or they feel such discus sions get in the way of the technical details of the classes, one possible solution is to hire faculty members who are experts in teaching ethics and offer a separate, stand-alone class that focuses solely on business ethics. Aggie engineers are already required to take a stand-alone course on ethics, “Ethics and Engineering.” This is neces sary because future engineers must be taught the possible consequences when engi neers act unethically. The engineering ethics page on the A&M Web site, ethics.tamu.edu, lists examples of technologi cal and ecological dis asters that may occur when engineers per form their jobs in an unethical and unprofessional manner. Examples on the Web site include the Jan. 28, 1986 Challenger shuttle disaster that killed seven astronauts; the July 17, 1981 Kansas City Hyatt- Regency Hotel walk way collapse that killed 114 people; and the infamous Exxon oil spill. But in the wake of a myriad of corpo rate scandals, it is clear that there are severe consequences when business people disregard ethics. Thousands of people lost their jobs domestically and overseas in the wake of the Enron and WorldCom scan dals, according to BBC News and The Guardian Unlimited. In the Business Week reader survey, 75 percent of respondents believed ethics were best taught at home by parents. This is undoubtedly true, but business ethics class es will allow students to relate these home- taught ethics to issues in the business world. Besides being in a new and disturb ing age of corporate scandal, it is obvious that there is no such thing as someone being too ethical. Collins Ezeanyim is a senior computer engineering major. Achieving a diverse University I t is no secret that one of Texas A&M’s top priori ties is to make the University more diverse. According to the A&M Web site, in trying to achieve this goal, A&M President john david Robert M. Gates and blakley University officials have been focusing on Vision 2020 diversity initiatives to target minorities. Gates will be working under restraints set forth by the Hopwood v. Texas decision, but he plans to adopt innovative minority recruitment programs and to provide additional schol arship money for minorities, according to a Jan. 15 Battalion article on Gates’ top priorities. However, diversity will remain only a goal and forever short of reality until the admin istration and students grasp the importance of cultural diversity. In a Feb. 18 Battalion arti cle, during a student-faculty panel discussion, Gates said diversity is needed at A&M because corporate America and other schools will not look kindly upon a flagship universi ty that fails to change with the times. It is true that A&M is standing still in a progressive nation in regard to its diversity, and unless this changes, the University will continue to be viewed as a conservative repel lent to minorities. However, statistical representation alone is not a just reason for increas ing the population of certain minorities. What must be considered is the strength and knowledge found in a diverse population. It must be understood that differ ent cultures bring a widening of the mind and spirit. Because A&M students are for the most part surround ed by people of the same race and culture, they only get variations of the same race and culture. They cannot experience the values and views that other cultures hold, which, if experienced, can help college students expand beyond the values and views to which they have been exclusively exposed. University officials and stu dents must realize the value a person of a different ethnic group, creed, gender or sexuali ty brings, differences not found in any textbook. It is knowl edge that is especially vital out side College Station’s city lim its, and is necessary for achiev ing success in any field. During the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Men hate each other because they fear each other, and they fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they are often separated from each other.” One cannot imag ine a much greater separation of people than is seen at A&M. The value of diversity cannot be stymied by opposition to the means of achieving it. Diversity, whether it is achieved by racial preference, more scholarship money for minori ties or rigorous recruitment, is crucial for any university atmosphere. If A&M is to become diverse, both administrators and students must realize the importance of cultural diversity beyond outside appearance. Of course, “ghetto” parties thrown by students, which degrade blacks, and stereotypical politi cal cartoons drawn by students cannot be considered welcom ing by college applicants of minority status. But there are several other factors; in particular, the Southern Heritage Society bearing shirts displaying the Confederate flag. These shirts have been questioned since last March, when The Battalion ran a news article and several mail calls voicing the opinions of people who associate the flag with hate, especially on a cam pus with such a tumultuous racial history. The Confederate flag is a symbol of the Old South and the denial of equali ty and basic human rights of blacks, unless Southern Heritage Society is now mak ing a bold statement for the rights of states to nullify federal law. It would be presumptuous to assume that the members of this organization with such shirts are racist, and no one can deny these students the rights to wear shirts with Confederate flags, just as people have the . right to criticize them for wear ing such shirts. But how would many white A&M students know how blacks feel when, according to the Texas A&M Office of Institutional Studies and Planning, not even three out of every 100 students they see on campus are black? Members of the Southern Heritage Society likely fail to consider that the Confederate states were fighting for, among other things, the loathsome right to keep blacks in bondage. Because this southern culture has resulted in decades of social oppression still extant today, the Confederate flag is nothing short of repugnant and painful to the eyes of blacks. But this is the mindset when people at a university, or any where, are surrounded only by those culturally similar to themselves. A&M students are being deprived of the cultural understanding obtained in a diverse population. During a Feb. 17 panel on diversity, Mathew Maddox, president of the Young Conservatives at A&M, personified opposition against university programs aiding the progress of diversity, citing that such plans go against having a color-blind society and that no attention should be given to differences between races. It is true that the eyes of the law should be blind to such attributes as race, gender and creed, but is being color-blind necessarily good in relation ships between people? Being blind to race implies disregard for the different cultures dictat ed by race. However, these dis similarities should not only be noticed, but celebrated. One should not pretend these cultur al differences do not exist, but should realize each culture is valuable for being unique. Until the Aggie community recognizes what it can gain by opening its arms to all types of people, the educational experi ence A&M provides will con tinue to lack the entirety it should, and is capable of, obtaining. In the words of for mer President Kennedy, “The price of the democratic way of life is a growing appreciation of people’s differences, not merely as tolerable, but as the essence of a rich and rewarding human experience.” John David Blakley is a jreshman political science major.