Opinion
The Battalion
Page 1 I ♦ Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Stopping domestic terrorism
Government must do more to stop actions of radical environmentalist groups
u f I Vie capitalist
1 state and its
JL symbols of
propaganda must also be tar
geted. These symbols and
forms can take the shape of
individuals, businesses... the
Statue of Liberty, Disney,
Wall Street, etc.”
Words such as these bring
to mind the haunting images of the World
Trade Center crumbling to the ground in a
hateful anti-American attack on U.S. lives and
property, but the quote does not come from a
foreign threat. While law enforcement officials
have been investigating the possibility of
“sleeper cells" of terrorist groups such as al-
Qaida, they’ve ignored a terrorist group living
here in the United States.
What’s worse — the U.S. government is
advocating the ideology behind its hatred and
violence in public, schools and on television
commercials every day.
The words come from the Earth Liberation
Front’s Web site, the “heroes of environmental
ism," and unless the government does more to
stop the ELF’s activities, Americans are going to
be put in danger by this group's radical agenda.
The ELF admittedly fought against the
“American Dream” by torching a five-story
condominium complex in San Diego, sabotag
ing five housing construction sites and destroy
ing car lots during last summer alone. On Sept.
23, its members tried to bomb a Michigan
pumping station belonging to Nestle Waters,
the parent company for Aberfoyle and Ozarka.
all the while claiming to be promoting life.
It is true that the ELF, while boasting about
its$100 million in property damage, has not
been responsible for taking any human lives.
However, by asserting that nature is more
important than human life and showing no
regard for human rights, it is only a matter of
time before killing people becomes part of the
group’s agenda. As syndicated columnist Robert
Tracinski wrote, “No, they don’t want to kill
people; they just want to make sure that we
don’t own anything, don't eat anything, don’t
use any power and have no place to live.”
Environmentalism, which the ELF violently
fights for, places inanimate objects such as
trees, dirt and mountains
above the lives and
prosperity of
human
beings.
ELF’s
idyllic world is a
place in which
humans live
in harmony
with
nature.
If one
ever
wonders
what the
“life” it claims
to promote
would look like
for mankind,
watch any
charity com
mercials
where dis
eases and
filth rank
above men
and women and claim their
lives daily. Even those starv
ing African states take from
nature; such a harmony cannot
exist to humans, who depend on taking things
from nature to survive.
Putting an end to the ELF and similar radical
organizations will require a two-pronged attack.
First, the government must classify ELF and
punish the group as domestic terrorists.
Currently, the legal system classifies the ELF’s
violence as vandalism, arson and property
damage. Assigning
meager fines for
a group that
clearly wants to
destroy the
American way
of life is
grossly inap
propriate.
“Make no
mistake,” U.S.
Rep. Scott
Mclnnis, R-
Colorado,
told the
Vail Daily,
“the violent
methods used
by these crimi
nals are nothing
short of acts of
terror. These
actions cannot
go unpunished.
It’s only a matter
of time before
human life is
taken.”
It is insane
for a country to
prosecute a war
on terror by
traveling halfway
across the globe to
fight anti-American extremists while ignoring
ones in the United States. But American offi
cials are doing worse than simply ignoring
these acts of terrorism, they are equating their
actions with an insolent teenager spray-paint
ing his name in the neighborhood park.
Second, the government must cut these ter
rorists off at their source by curbing teachers
from unknowingly spreading propaganda in the
American school system. Anyone who attend
ed public school can remember talk about
“saving the earth.” Teachers must not use an
innocent child’s love of nature to encourage a
negative image of businesses on impression
able young minds that may carry radical envi
ronmentalism into adulthood. Children must
not be taught in schools that technology and
industry cause only pollution, global warming
and wholesale wildlife extinction.
These young children don’t have the neces
sary cognitive function to question it; they
simply take it on faith.
Being taught about water pollution in sec
ond grade is inappropriate when children
aren't even old enough to realize that the
minority of cases where an industry that has
polluted the local water supply pales in com
parison to the rivers of polluted filth that Third
World nations live in as a result of not having
these industries.
Americans must separate environmentalism
from responsibility and an appreciation for
nature and expose it as the anti-human philoso
phy it really is. The ELF is its proper conclu
sion. Unless ELF members are classified as
terrorists, Americans won’t stop them, and
unless Americans stop preaching their ideas,
others will only take their place.
Mike Walters is a senior
psychology major.
&
MIKE
WALTERS
Mahesh Neelakantan • THE BATTALION
A scientific compromise
Ectogenesis may satisfy a long debate
H:
4 I V uman
beings
used to be
... ’he hesitated; the blood
rushed to his cheeks. ‘Well,
they used to be viviparous.’”
So wrote Aldous Huxley in
his classic novel, “Brave New
World.” Huxley predicted that
humans in the future would
no longer give birth naturally,
but instead, be grown in glass
test tubes. The stuff of sci
ence fiction novels, however,
is quickly becoming reality.
Researchers are getting
even closer to developing a
technique known as ectogene
sis: the process by which a
fetus develops into a baby in
an environment outside of the
mother. Experts estimate that
ectogenesis could be possible
within the next five years.
As weird as it may sound,
this technology is not some
thing to fear. Aside from
helping infertile couples,
ectogenesis may be able to do
the impossible: settle the
debate over abortion. Both
sides of the debate should
come together to support this
developing procedure.
The science of ectogenesis
is still in its infancy, leading
some to believe that ectogen
esis will never exist.
However, Dr. Hung-Ching
Liu of Cornell University in
New York has already devel
oped an artificial womb. His
research group also discov
ered that embryos can attach
to the walls of this synthetic
womb and begin to grow.
Meanwhile, Dr. Yoshinori
Kuwabara of Juntendo
University in Japan has created
an ectogenetic chamber: a tank
connected to a machine that
brings oxygen and nutrients to
the fetus developing inside.
Kuwabara has already delivered
goats from this chamber, and
says that his ectogenetic cham
ber could be ready for a human
fetus in the next five years.
Critics of
ectogenesis
may call it
dehumaniz
ing and
unnatural,
which is
odd.
Ectogenesis
is merely an
artificial means to sustain life,
and, by this definition, it is no
different than life support.
Plus, the end result of
pregnancy and ectogenesis is
a normal human baby, navel
and all; one is not less human
than the other. And while
ectogenesis may entail an
unnatural delivery, so does a
Caesarean section.
Still, the issue of ectogene
sis is not as well-known as
that of abortion, which has
been infamous from the
beginning. On one side are
the pro-life supporters who
believe that a fertilized
human egg is a complete
human being that has the
same rights and privileges as,
say, a 35-year-old brain sur
geon. On the other side are
the pro-choice supporters,
who feel that an egg is not a
viable human being, but a
mass of cells dependent on a
woman’s body. Hence, a
woman has the right to
remove these cells from her
body. This is a woman’s pri
vate decision; so, the poten
tial loss of a productive
human life need not concern
the public.
Enter ectogenesis.
Now, an unwanted fetus,
rather than being aborted, is
removed from a woman and
placed in an ectogenetic
chamber. The fetus is then
raised in a laboratory under
the supervision of reproduc
tive scientists. Then, the baby
is “born” and adopted by a
loving family.
No abortion takes place,
appeasing pro-life groups,
while the woman still decides
if she wants to be pregnant,
satisfying the pro-choice sup
porters. The fetus, too, fares
better. It develops into a child
in a much safer environment,
one where medical assistance
is never far away and there is
less risk of alcohol exposure
or bodily injury.
Skeptics may ask who will
provide the money to raise
the fetus by ectogenesis. As
all technology, the price for
such a procedure would be
high initially, but, in a matter
of time, decrease dramatical
ly. Once ectogenesis becomes
routine it may even be equal
to, or lower than, the cost of
the abortion a woman was
originally seeking.
So, instead of a woman
paying for an abortion, she
can instead foot the bill for
ectogenesis.
What’s more, the sundry of
pro-life organizations should
put their money where their
mouth is and help financially
support women seeking ecto
genesis. Pro-choice groups
should not object to ectogene
sis either, and should help
chip in.
Indeed, the amount of
resources that both groups
spend fighting one another
would probably be better
served supporting ectogene
sis: at least, actual progress
will be made.
To date, ectogenesis is the
only idea where pro-life and
pro-choice groups can find
common ground. Thus, it
gives both the chance to tran
scend the brutal abortion war,
rather than fighting it to no
end. Both sides should realize
this and finally make amends.
Midhat Farooqi is a senior
genetics major.
MAIL CALL
Seniors guilty
of leaving early
In response to Sept. 29 mail
call:
This will be an unpopular
opinion but as much as many
of us would like to blame fresh
men, sophomores and old Ags
for leaving the game on
Saturday, the worst offenders
were the juniors and seniors. I
saw juniors and seniors leaving
the game in large numbers with
eight minutes left in the game.
They may want to blame the
loss of Bonfire, Vision 20/20 or
a few bad football seasons for
the lack of spirit, but they have
no excuse to leave the game
so early.
The “Wrecking Crew” has lost
its name and so should “The
Twelfth Man.” We are just
another crowd now.
This University wasn’t found
ed upon academics. It was
founded on the Aggie Spirit.
Remember that next time yoy
decide to quit on a tradition that
is bigger than you.
Travis Rape
Class of 2003
Valid reasons
to leave early
It seems like after every
football game, there are so
many people who write in to
complain about leaving foot
ball games early. I understand
that as part of the 12th Man,
we need to do our best to
support our team. But at the
same time, I feel that as
Aggies we need to respect
other’s opinions and choices,
even if they don’t coincide
with our own.
It saddens me to hear obnox
ious fans heckle others as they
leave. It’s plain rudeness, but
these people justify their
actions because they are the
“true fans.”
People leave games early for
a variety of reasons, whether it
be heat exhaustion, other
planned events or yes, bore
dom. They paid for their ticket,
and it is their business if they
want to stay for the whole
game, not anyone else’s. I
hope Aggies can consider oth
ers’ feelings in the future.
Jennifer Stark
Class of2006
Appreciation
from Pittsburgh
I wanted to say thank you for
the wonderful football weekend
that I recently spent in College
Station. I have spent weekends
at other big tradition football
schools, but nothing compares
to the atmosphere, tradition,
respect and courtesy that was
shown to me and my guests
this past weekend.
I’m envious of the pride that
you have for your school and
community and hope that
some of it rubbed off on my fel
low Panther fans. I encourage
the ADs of Texas A&M and Pitt
to get together soon to sched
ule future games.
Jeff Bartlett
Pittsburgh, PA
Embarrassing
game behavior
If you’re in the stands and
you see somebody wearing a
hat when a yell is about to
start it’s no big deal to yell
“uncover.” The problem starts
when either one or a group of
uncover police realize there is
somebody around them who
is simply not taking their hat
off for any yell.
At two games in a row at Kyle
Field, I watched as a group of
guys harassed a fellow Aggie
for not taking their hat off. They
were cussing, making jokes
about them incessantly and
threatening them the entire
game. This is ridiculous and
has to stop.
Not only is it breaking one
tradition (true to each other as
Aggies can be) to “enforce”
another, but it also makes us
look bad as a group. Politely
asking somebody to respect a
tradition is one thing, but don’t
embarrass yourself and fellow
Aggies by thinking you have
the right to harass others in an
attempt to force conformity.
I’ll always ask other Aggies to
respect tradition, but I’ll never
be caught trying to degrade
somebody in order to force
them into what I consider is
right. That’s not American and it
sure as heck isn’t like an Aggie.
Joshua Carroll
Class of 2003
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 77843-1 111. Fax: (979) 845-2647 Email: maiIcall@thebattalion.net