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EDITORIAL
Howard Graves
Epitome of the Aggie Spirit
Howard D. Graves lost his battle with cancer Saturday, and
A&M lost a trailblazer and a friend. Graves should be
remembered as a true asset to the University who selflessly
served his country.
Two weeks ago. Graves resigned as chancellor of the Texas
Texas A&M System due to his failing health, but little did the
student body know how severe his fight with cancer had become.
Graves graduated from West Point in 1961, and after study
ing at Oxford University in England, he served on active mili
tary duty until 1996. During this span he served as superintend
ent of the U.S Military Academy at West Point as well as assis
tant to the chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff William Crowe
and Colin Powell. In 1999, Graves was appointed chancellor of
the A&M System.
Graves worked until his dying day to help improve the lives
of Aggies across the state. He created two new A&M campus
es: Central Texas and San Antonio, which allowed more stu
dents a chance at receiving an education through the A&M
System. He supervised the expansion of A&M's Health Science
Center, which now includes five colleges of nursing at different
A&M campuses. Without Graves, the A&M System would not
be what it is today.
With these accomplishments. Graves solidified his place in
Aggie history, but what makes Graves a true Rudder-esque leg
end is the way he worked.
. “Howard Graves was the epitome of public service, a man
who dedicated his entire life to giving back to others,” said Gov.
Rick Perry. Pastor Dwight Edwards of Grace Bible Church
remembered Graves as a humble servant to the A&M System.
These are high praises from respected men that show how
Graves truly exemplified the Aggie Spirit while improving A&M.
THE BATTALION
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor in Chief
Managing Editor
Opinion Editor
Metro Editor
Sommer Hamilton
Elizabeth Webb
Jenelle Wilson
Sarah Szuminski
Metro Asst.
Member
Member
Member
C.E. Walters
Collins Ezeanyim
Matt Maddox
Matthew Rigney
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 sub
mitted 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 77843-1 1 1 1. Fax: (979) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thebattalion.net
MAIL CALL
Intelligent Design
is a valid theory
In response to Midhat
Farooqi’s Sept. 15 column:
Ir. Farooqi’s column fails to
Support his position that the fal-
' inherent in the theory of
evolution should not be includ
ed in high school texts. His dis
cussion of the peppered moth
experiments does not address
the real issue: did the experi-
nental techniques used taint
|he results found? The change
In the moths did not represent a
Sundamental genetic restructur
ing. Simple mutation and natu-
lal selection do not produce the
Kinds of radical change forward
ed by the evolutionary theory.
He also addresses Behe’s
|horough analysis of evolution.
Vhether or not Behe’s theory is
conclusive argument for
Intelligent Design is irrelevant.
‘Vhat matters is he points out
nany biological systems within
|he cell simply cannot be
explained through evolution.
This inability of evolution to
Explain certain cellular facts
d be discussed within stu
dent texts.
r. Farooqi points out that an
(Intelligent person” would not
design DNA with all the useless
Information present; however,
Intelligent Design does not
plaim that an intelligent person
s responsible for anything.
Evolution has many holes.
ing students the freedom
of thought and study around
Opinion
The Battalion
Page 5B • Tuesday, September 16, 2003
this issue would be of great
value to Texas education.
Stephen Addcox
Class of 2005
Large vehicles are
useful and safe
In response to Daniel
Chapman’s Sept. 15 feature:
There is plenty of use for cars
the size of a Suburban or an
Excursion. The first would be
any business, especially main
tenance services that uses the
back portion for storage of
equipment. Large families also
have need for larger cars. I’m
the oldest of five kids, and we
tried a Ford Expedition once, it
was too small. With the entire
family in the car, we couldn’t so
much as go to the grocery store
because there was no physical
space left. Nothing smaller than
a Suburban is practical.
Also there is the question of
safety. I hope that I am never
involved in an accident with
fatalities, but I know that if I am
in a serious accident, my F-150
gives me a greater chance of
walking away from that than an
economy car that gets 50 miles
to the gallon. Gas may be
expensive, and prices will con
tinue to go up, but I can always
make more money. My life is a
little harder to replace.
Chris Farmer
Class of 2004
The naked truth
Clubs pay tuition for female students who bare it all
9
CHRIS
LIVELY
A s students at the University of
Windsor in Ontario, Canada, head to
class this fall, that dreaded tuition
bill will once again have to be paid. But for
some students there is a new and nontraditional
option for getting the money to pay the tab:
stripping.
A local chain of strip clubs that exists both
in Ontario and Michigan has posted an ad in
the university’s newspaper that reads. “We Pay
Your Tuition.” Robert Katzman, the owner and
operator of the strip club chain, says his intentions are honor
able. “We put an ad in the paper. If they want to call, that’s up
to them. There’s nothing wrong with topless dancing ... espe
cially if you’re progressing in your life,” Katzman said, accord
ing to the Ottawa Citizen.
Katzman should be credited for his tech
nique in that he is, like any business, marketing
employment to a population that is desirable for
this line of work. However, a higher standard
must be held when dealing with a public insti
tution of higher learning. Seeking strippers in a
college newspaper is inappropriate and detracts
from the standards college students should seek
to hold.
The function of a public university is
to provide students with the necessary
skills required for success in the real
world. It is the university’s obligation
to provide a moral and intellectual environ
ment to fulfill this function. Because of
this obligation, the paper should refuse
to take such ads. A simple advertise
ment recruiting employment for a law
ful business is acceptable. Even at
Texas A&M, a local strip
club advertises employ
ment opportunities.
Katzman has obviously
found an untapped
resource to which he is
trying to appeal.
Katzman sees nothing
wrong with his tuition offer
and believes he is offering students
a reasonable and efficient employ
ment opportunity that can help
them pay for school. On top of the
$10 an hour rate the dancers make,
students can receive $1,500 to $2,000
in tuition money upon employment,
according to the Calgary Herald. This market
ing technique used by Katzman is creative, but
is inappropriate and misleading.
The reality is that many college students
are skeptical and uncertain about their val
ues. When combined with financial limita
tions, these immaturities can make a person quite susceptible to
advertising schemes like Katzman’s. The problem with this vul
nerability is that a student who otherwise would not even con
sider working in such a place could easily make an irrational
decision.
The stigma society places on strippers and their work envi
ronments is expected given the line of work; strippers display
their bodies as a piece of property for the public to see. It may
be a legal and legitimate industry, but the strip club environment
is really not one to be associated with academic excellence.
Not to say that there are no hard working individuals who
make outstanding grades working in strip clubs, but the average
newly-recruited stripper in college is probably more likely to
get sidetracked in this sort of atmosphere. Offering scholarship
money in a public university’s newspaper is bound to attract at
least a few people whose college success would be hindered by
such an endeavor. If only one exposed student chooses and is
negatively affected by this lifestyle, that is enough to outweigh
all those who benefit financially.
While attempting to not only provide students with employ
ment, Katzman intends to improve the image of his business by
requiring that the students maintain a “B” average or higher,
according to CNN.com. This measure is to ensure that strippers
have not only good looks, but finely tuned intellectual minds. In
turn, Katzman hopes this will make his strip club more rep
utable. It should be well known that good communication skills
and reasoning abilities are not exactly high on the
“How to be a Successful Stripper” checklist.
Katzman is a capitalist who wants more
money. He cares about the well-being of his
employees but does not consider the conse
quences such a job could have for certain
individuals. His marketing scheme is mis
leading in that he is trying to portray his
establishments as places of success and
opportunity. He advertises that he will
pay college tuition, but in fact is
only paying part of it. He is using
every legal means possible to attract
any young and attractive potential
employee he can.
Katzman has every legal
right to advertise employ
ment opportunities.
However, he should try mov
ing to another population
rather than preying on young
and financially desperate col
lege students. He should also
refrain from giving the college students
the wrong idea about his industry. Stripping
probably is not the best work experience for a
college graduate to put on a resume.
Mahesh Neelakntan • THE BATTALION
Chris Lively is a senior
sociology major.
CRACK harms children
Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity fails to
adequately address the real causes of drug addiction
o
DAVID
SHOEMAKER
ne of the sad
dest social
problems gen
erated by substance
abuse in this country is
unwanted children who
can have birth defects
born to parents who are
drug addicts. Such chil
dren must be cared for
by the state or extended
family and can have needs that are hard to
care for. One woman, however, feels that
she has come up with a solution to the
problem of unwanted “crack babies” born
to drug or alcohol addicts.
Barbara Harris, the founder of Children
Requiring a Caring Kommunity, or
CRACK (also called Project Prevention),
believes the solution is to pay addicts to
allow themselves to undergo long-term
birth control.
The real problem with Harris’ solution
is not that she wishes to prevent addicts
from having children they will surely
abandon, but the means she uses to
accomplish this goal and the fact that
despite the program’s good intentions, it
still does not attack the cause of addiction.
According to Project Prevention, par
ticipants receive paperwork about the
project, which states that participants can
earn $200 for undergoing one of several
medical procedures used in long-term
birth control. But the Project Prevention
Web site outlining the program makes no
mention of any other help being offered
to the addicts.
In fact, the Project Prevention page
states that they do not monitor where the
money is spent, “any more than the gov
ernment monitors where welfare or other
related money is spent.” Although this
may be true, just because the federal gov
ernment follows a questionable policy is
no reason why a nonprofit organization
should do the same.
Project Prevention paying addicts for
the birth-control procedure is unethical.
While the idea of preventing pregnancy
might appeal to some addicts, these
women are essentially
being given free money
they can use to feed their
addiction.
Wendy Chavkin, a pro
fessor of public health at
Columbia University said
in The Village Voice,
“Whether or not to have a
child is a profoundly
important and private deci
sion. CRACK is offering
money (for addicts) to go
out and get high in
exchange for a fundamental
human capacity.”
This ethical problem
could be avoided if CRACK or Project
Prevention used other means to entice
addicts to be part of their program, or at
least tried to make sure participants did
not take the money and spend it on drugs.
But Harris may not be all that bothered by
the ethical dilemma of her organization.
According to a British Broadcasting
Company article, Harris was quoted in one
of her first interviews as comparing people
who are substance abusers to dogs, saying,
“We don’t allow dogs to breed. We spay
a
While the idea of
preventing pregnancy
might appeal to some
addicts, these women
are essentially being
given free money they
can use to feed their
addiction.
them. We neuter them. We try to keep
them from having unwanted puppies, and
yet these women are literally having litters
of children.” Although her concern for the
children of addicts may be genuine, she
may not have any for their parents, who
also need help.
Harris — and those who bankroll her
— seems to be fine with only treating a
symptom of addiction, a problem the pro
gram shares with many other programs
related to substance
abuse. Many in the
United States, including
the federal government,
seem to want to avoid the
fact that programs such as
Project Prevention will
unfortunately always have
participants because they
treat effects, not the dis
ease itself.
The way to end the dis
ease of substance abuse is
to reduce demand, but few
pursue this route because it
is time-consuming and
hard to accomplish. It is
easier to throw money at the participants,
get statistics showing quick progress and
go home at the end of the day feeling that
they were able to help solve the problem.
But really all groups such as Project
Prevention do is allow the addiction to dig
in deeper, while erasing some of the out
ward social consequences of addiction.
David Shoemaker is a junior
management major.