STATE
July 2, 2003
ry
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OCIATED PRESS
— Republican Gov,
cpanded the scope of
legislative session
8 additional areas as
ocrats complained
are pressuring sena-
sing a congressional
plan.
•ving of congression-
:s was the initial tea-
iccial session, whicli
Jay amid partisan
re fiery exchanges
•day at redistricting
,ustin and McAllen,
on the floors, beat
id shouting “Shut it
»ut 150 Hispanic
owned out earl;
ny the Senate
: Committee to hold
McAllen. Some in
louted, “What's the
fire map is already
angry citizens left a
istin after legislators
Republican-backed
map wasn’t ready
w and that testimo-
lelayed.
rnment is supposed
;, not them,” said
s, a retired state
o lives in Austin.
,\ Perry said most of
has added to the
30-day special ses-
bated in a govern-
nization bill that
the regular session,
ng the call to thee
:s, 1 am confident
s and senators fill
t use of this time in
;e state government
t for the people of
said.
se Democrats had a
ion.
ding the agenda,
an make deals with
pet issues in
supporting redis-
d Rep. Garnet
Houston Democrat
e Legislative Black
don’t believe that
non Id be corrupted
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at a news confer-
to promote the
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effort, the National
raffic . Safety
spending $11 inl
and Spanish ads
axas is a special tar-
Amoni, the admin-
ite administrator in
ram Development,
Opinion
The Battalion
ff age 5 • Wednesday, July 2,
Finding Saddam
The capture of Saddam Hussein would bring closure to Iraqis, silence dissidents
S ince the opening of the war
with Iraq, when a United
States B-l bomber dropped
8,000 pounds of bombs on the
suspected location of Saddam
Hussein, Saddam has been one of
the most hunted men in the world.
Despite being at the top of America’s list o:
most wanted people and one of the world’-,
most ruthless dictators, Saddam remains cut of
the reach of everyone searching for him. The
fact that Saddam’s whereabouts and existence
had not yet been determined could, if it does
not already, pose a serious problem for the
United States and Iraq. Consider that since
major fighting ended on May 1, 203 coalition
soldiers have died at the hands of enemy com
batants — whether Baath party loyalists or
criminals freely walking the streets. Finding
Saddam is a necessary step to bringing closure
to the latest war in Iraq and helping the nation
rebuild.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
recently said there “are many unfinished mis
sions to complete, such as capturing or
accounting for Saddam.” Statements such as
this by high-ranking officials in the Bush
administration make it abundantly clear that
finding Saddam is, as it should be, a top priori
ty. Capturing Saddam or verifying his death
will go a long way toward ending the war in
Iraq symbolically and physically.
This is not the only occurrence that must
happen to end the war, but it would stand as a
symbol in the minds of many people that his
rule is finished. Saddam’s old regime may be
tattered and torn apart, but as long as Saddam
is on the loose and unaccounted for, this war
will not be over in the minds of many Iraqis.
Members of Saddam’s Baath party, as well as
criminals released before the start of the war,
pose a significant threat to the coalition forces
trying to bring an elected government to Iraq,
not to mention restore water and electricity. As
tensions rise, it becomes more important to find
the deposed Iraqi dictator and get a stable gov
ernment established and coalition troops out of
the country.
The United States has done a wonderful job
thus far in capturing high-ranking officials of
the old Iraqi regime such as Muzahim Sa’b
TIM' >THY GILBERT
Hassan al Tikriti, No. 10 on the
U.S. list of most wanted Iraqis;
Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaydi,
No. 18; and Zuhayr Al Nqib,
No. 21. This is not even
the tip of the iceberg,
though, as the list of cap
tured officials goes on.
And while it is great that many
top officials have been captured,
how many people in America actual
ly know who these people are?
Probably not many. People in
America know who Saddam is and
that is about it. The capture of
Saddam would be a much more rec
ognizable accomplishment to the
American people than any other cap
ture could be.
Other less superficial reasons for cap
turing Saddam should also be taken into con
sideration. Most importantly, it would ease the
minds of the Iraqi citizens who live everyday
not knowing what has happened to the brutal
dictator who once ruled their country.
Imagine living under the rule of an iron-
fisted leader who would routinely use
torture and executions against any sup
posed dissenters as a means of staying
in power. The knowledge that this man
is not on the loose anymore would help
those who have suffered under his tyran
ny to sleep easier at night.
Without fear of Saddam’s violent
regime taking back power after Iraq is
turned back over to the Iraqi people, citi
zens would be able to come out of the
woodwork and begin to build a new politi
cal system. As long as the threat of Saddam is
a real thought in Iraqi citizens’ minds, the
rebuilding process will not be able to make sig
nificant steps forward.
Paul Bremmer, the appointed civil leader of
Iraq, has more physical concerns about not cap
turing Saddam. He states that Saddam’s cap
ture would “prevent hostile elements from
undermining reconstruction in the country.”
This means that as long as Saddam is out there,
his Baath party loyalists will keep fighting
coalition forces in Iraq, as is evident by the 203
deaths since May 1. This fighting will continue,
because the belief is still there that one day, it
might be possible to reinstate Saddam as a
leader once occupying forces have left. Also,
those Iraqi soldiers who have been forced to
fight by Saddam and have seen his brutal han
dling of opposition might not be sure enough
that they are free of Saddam until they see him
captured.
All in all, Saddam has lost much of his
direct power in Iraq, but it is doubtful that the
fear he has instilled in many of the Iraqi citi
zens has subsided. This fear will not begin to
go away until the fate of Saddam is known.
His capture is necessary to help the people of
Iraq rebuild and put Americans’ minds at ease.
Timothy Gilbert is a junior
sociology major.
Graphic by Seth Freeman.
Dealing with aging drivers
More measures needed to ensure others’ safety
I t’s common
knowledge that
America’s high
ways are aging and
in need of repair. It’s
less well known that
America’s driving
population is also aging and may
be in need of corrective action. The
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration reported that in
2000, there were 18.9 million
licensed drivers age 70 and older
in the United States. This age
group accounted for 13 percent of
all traffic fatalities in 2001, but
only 10 percent of the driving pop
ulation. In fact, drivers 75 and
older have higher rates of traffic
fatalities per mile driven than any
age group other than teenagers,
according to the U.S. government.
The problem is only getting
worse. As the baby boomer genera
tion ages and the size of the 75-
year-old-plus population segment
increases, more elderly people,
many with questionable driving
abilities, will fill the roadways.
HoustonChronicle.com reports that
by the year 2030, a staggering one
in four drivers will be over the age
of 65, and the number of elderly
driver motor vehicle fatalities may
triple, according to NHTSA.
Can anything be done? The
American Medical Association is
expected to issue a set of guide
lines soon that would help doctors
identify warning signs of driving
incompetence, and the government
has allocated $1.6 million to fund a
National Older Drivers Research
Center, according to
HoustonChronicle.com.
The fact that this problem exists
is not controversial, but the pro
posed solutions are. States vary
widely in the number and form of
provisions for issuing licenses to
elderly drivers, and Texas falls on
the lax end of the spectrum with no
special requirements for its senior
citizens. To its credit,
Texas has safeguards
in place for drivers of
all ages, including
vision testing and
mandated testing
after a specified num
ber of accidents.
Texas also requires that driver’s
licenses be renewed every six
years, and in-person renewals are
required every other six-year peri
od. But Texas has no regulations in
place that apply specifically to
older drivers. Like any other driv
er, elderly Texans wishing to renew
their licenses can go for as long as
12 years without having their
vision tested.
Older drivers aren’t the only
high-risk driving group — they’re
surpassed by teenagers in this
dubious distinction. But Texas’
lawmakers have acknowledged the
risk posed by teenagers and created
a system to monitor their driving.
From the ages of 16 to 18, drivers
in Texas must renew their licenses
at the Department of Motor
Vehicles in person every year.
While this program is inconven
ient, it is justifiable.
Many states require more fre
quent license renewals past a cer
tain age, typically around 65. Other
common screening procedures
include compulsory vision, knowl
edge, medical and/or road tests, as
well as requiring doctors to report
certain conditions which may
impair one’s driving ability, such
as dementia.
A national survey conducted by
the Insurance Research Council in
1999 found a great deal of support
for these special age-conscious
provisions. 76 percent of respon
dents supported annual road testing
for drivers over 70, and 89 percent
endorsed annual vision tests. The
majority of respondents also
favored mandatory annual physi
cals, training programs for older
drivers, more left-turn signals at
intersections and easier-to-read
traffic signs.
Th& issue of regulating elderly
drivers may at first seem like an
open-and-shut case. Statistics
clearly show that the problem
exists, feasible solutions to the
problem are readily identifiable
and the majority of the nation sup
ports these provisions. But from
the perspective of a large number
of elderly people, the debate is
about fundamental rights, because
in America, and even more so in
Texas, driving is mobility and
mobility is independence. More to
the point, many elderly people
depend on driving to get them
selves to doctor’s appointments
and pick up prescriptions. In addi
tion, elderly people possess the
will and the means to be heard,
most notably in the form of the
American Association of Retired
Persons. More than 35 million
members strong, the AARP is a
potent political advocacy group.
For the collective safety of its
citizens, the state of Texas should
step up measures to ensure that
elderly drivers aren’t allowed to
continue driving if they no longer
have the skills required to drive
safely. Requiring that a certain
group of people forego driving
because of their age would indeed
be unreasonable. However, it is not
unreasonable to screen groups of
high risk drivers based on their
competency, a practice which is
already being done with teenagers
and goes essentially uncontested.
Allowing elderly drivers to go 12
years without vision testing or
medical screening puts the lives of
not only themselves but countless
others at risk. A driver’s license
should not be a license to kill.
Lindsye Forson is a junior
journalism major.
LINDSYE FORSON
MAIL CALL
Affirmative action dispels More money is not the
age-old racism and bigotry answer to school problem
In response to a July I mail call:
I would like to thank Mr. Sain for his solu
tion to the problem of racism: Just ignore
it. Are conservatives so naive as to think
that ignoring racism will make it go away?
Affirmative action provides universities
such as Texas A&M an avenue to create a
campus with diversity while taking steps to
dispel racism and bigotry. I applaud A&M
President Dr. Robert M. Gates for his
efforts to improve our fine school by
recruiting high quality minority students.
We should be willing to step on the toes of
a few borderline white males in order to
improve the quality of "the other educa
tion" that we take so much pride in.
It is the right thing to do for Aggies to
receive a well-rounded education.
Unfortunately, as Mr. Sain put it, he and
many other conservatives don't care.
Brian Prehn
Class of 2003
Courses can provide A&M
with needed diversity
It pleased me to read in Monday's
Battalion about the College of Liberal Arts
offering a minor program in Africana studies.
If we wish to achieve true cultural under
standing and diversity, we must focus on
offering courses that will attract people of
various ethnic and racial backgrounds rather
than admissions policies that consider race.
Forced diversity is not true diversity at all.
In response to Jenelle Wilson's June 30
column:
Ms. Wilson points out the obvious
shortcomings of this nation's public
school system: more than half of public
school students cannot read on their
own grade level, and they perform poor
ly on basic aptitude tests.
As a solution, Ms. Wilson suggests that
the government pour even more money
into the floundering system. But the
trend is already clear: we are spending
more every year, and getting less to show
for it.
We have instituted new requirements
for teacher certification, and invested in
better technology.
The implication is obvious. Additional
spending cannot solve the education cri
sis in our nation, but increased federal
intrusion will certainly make it worse.
Refusing to admit this is only an attempt
to avoid the fact that the sole responsi
bility for education rests with the individ
ual student.
Any student who wants an education in
this nation can achieve one. But for a stu
dent who refuses to learn, no number of
federal dollars, taken from those who
rightfully earned them, will be able to
force an education down his unwilling
throat.
If we wish to solve the education crisis
facing our nation today, we must be will
ing to return all of the accountability for
learning to the only person who has con
trol over it: the student.
Cody Sain
Class of 2006
Cindy McReynolds
Class of 2005
www.CojtAnd^orkum.conr)