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The Battalion
Page 9 • Wednesday, October l, 2003
Missing the target
lawsuit against manufacturer of video game misplaces the blame for shooting
JENELLE
WILSON
O n the night of June 25, 2003, 16-
year-old William Buckner and his
14-year-old stepbrother Joshua took
shotguns to Interstate 40 outside of Newport,
Tenn., and opened fire on passing vehicles. A
19-year-old girl was shot in the pelvis while
riding in her boyfriend’s car and ended up
with eight bullet fragments in her body. Aaron
Hamel, a 45-year-old registered nurse, was
shot in the head and bled to death in the arms
ofhis cousin, who had been traveling with
him, according to ABCNews.com.
The two boys, who told police they were imitating
scenes from the video game “Grand Theft Auto,” pled
guilty to reckless homicide, aggravated assault and
reckless endangerment. They will be held in juve
nile detention centers until they are 18.
Hamel’s family filed suit in early September
against Take2interactive, the manufacturer of the
game, for $100 million.
The pain the Hamel family is feeling
after this tragic loss is understandable.
However, they are attempting to hold the
wrong people accountable for Hamel’s
death. The game’s manufacturer is not
responsible for what happened this summer.
Retailers and, more importantly, parents are
responsible for these kinds of violent video
games getting into the hands of children.
Everyone who has seen one of the “Grand
Theft Auto" games knows how violent they
are. In truth, some parts are revolting. In
“Vice City,” gamers can pick up prostitutes and
take them to secluded areas for a little extra “life
energy,” pedestrians can be run over, leaving bloody
tire trails and gamers have weapons such as rocket
launchers and flame throwers that can be used on pedes
trians or the police.
According to the Athens Banner-Herald, the sole objection
in one of the “Vice City” missions is to kill as many police offi
cers as possible in two minutes.
Clearly, “Grand Theft Auto” should not be in the hands of
at Iowa State University, has found that violent video games do
have a negative effect on children. The games can cause tempo
rary increased aggressive thinking and behavior, as well as
anger. This is easily explained. Anyone who has taken an intro
ductory psychology or sociology class is familiar with vicarious
learning. Children imitate what they see in video games
because there are no real consequences. Nothing bad happens
when a gamer opens fire on police officers in “Vice City;” in
fact, one is positively reinforced for his brutality.
This can affect a child’s thought process regarding real situa
tions, especially if he has developmental
problems, which is why “Grand Theft
industry review each game and assign a rating. According to
Amazon.com, these raters include retired school principals, par
ents and businesspeople.
Ratings vary from Early Childhood (for children 3 and up) to
Adults Only. “Grand Theft Auto” has a Mature rating, meaning it
is unsuitable for anyone under 17. The package says the game
contains “extreme gore, blood, language and sexual situations.”
These ratings, which are printed on the game packages, are
there for a reason, and they should and do relieve game manu
facturers of their culpability.
Just as people are carded going into movie theaters, anyone
who appears to be under 17 should be carded while trying to
buy one of these games. Retailers must do their best to make
sure that games such as “Grand Theft Auto” are only
bought by the intended audiences. Glancing at the rat
ing in the bottom left cover of the box should not be
that hard.
Parents also have to take responsibility for what
their children play. A September 2000 Federal
Trade Commission report shows that parents are
present at the purchase or rental of games 83 per
cent of the time. Game manufacturers cannot be held
accountable for the lack of responsibility of parents buying
these games for their children.
And Take2interactive is certainly not responsible for William
and Joshua Buckner’s access to .22 caliber rifles.
Lawsuits against manufacturers of
video games — even extraordi
narily violent video games such
as “Grand Theft Auto” — s
are not the way to pre
vent these kind of incidents. If civil
actions are going to be initiated in cases
such as these, those directly responsible are
the ones who need to be held accountable: par
ents who weren’t paying attention to what their
kids were playing or retailers who sold the game to
someone who it was clearly not intended for.
Craig A, Anderson, chairman of the psychology department
Seth Freeman • THE BATTALION
Jenelle Wilson is a senior
political science major.
Skyrocket yell’s lift-off should be grounded
T his year, the yell lead
ers have decided to
launch a new Aggie
yell called “Skyrocket.”
Unfortunately, a good number
of Aggies were unprepared for
its liftoff. Worse still, many
who have heard the yell do not
want to go along for the ride. collins
The yell leaders should be ezeanyim
commended for trying to
induce change to their position, but the
Skyrocket yell may not be the appropriate way
to accomplish this. They should consider drop
ping the yell.
Tim Bailey, head yell leader and a senior agri
cultural development major, said the Skyrocket
yell was done between the 1940s and 1960s. He
said he does not know why it is no longer per
formed as an Aggie yell.
In explaining why the yell leaders decided to
revive the yell, Bailey said it was “a great yell.”
Memorial Student Center assistant director and
yell leader adviser Rusty Thompson also said the
Skyrocket yell was a way to “bring back the old
and the new.”
Trying to unite “Old Army” and “New Army”
traditions is indeed a noble goal. But there are
three reasons why the Skyrocket yell may not be
the best way to do this.
The first involves the deployment of the
yell. Bailey said Skyrocket was first performed
at Midnight Yell Practice for the Maroon and
White game during Parents’ Weekend last
spring semester. It was also taught to freshmen
during new student conferences and Fish
Camp. Thompson said that the yell was also
performed during the summer.
Still, a good number of Aggies returned in the
fall surprised by the yell’s presence and did not
know the words. Furthermore, there was no
ready resource they could turn to learn the words
to the yell. The Web site yell.tainu.edu and the
All-University calendar sold in the MSC have the
words and the hand-signals for the other yells,
but Skyrocket is not included in either case.
This situation is put most succinctly by
David White, a sophomore electrical engineer
ing major, “When were we supposed to have
learned that yell?”
To their credit, the yell leaders went over the
words at the Midnight Yell Practice before the
Pittsburgh game on Sept. 27. But that still
excludes those Aggies who were unable to go
attend the yell practice.
Another important reason why the
Skyrocket yell may not be the best yell to
bring back is that it introduces incongruity into
the Aggie yell system.
Aggies will notice that the yells performed
have strong connections to the A&M community.
For example, the “Military” yell recognizes
A&M’s penchant to produce heroes in the anned
services. “Farmer’s Fight” obviously alludes to
A&M’s roots as an agricultural school. Even
“Locomotive” recognizes the trains that frequent
ly pass right through the middle of campus.
But what significance does a Skyrocket hold
for the A&M community? Even though some
aerospace engineering majors might disagree, the
answer is none. Perhaps there is another yell with
stronger roots in A&M’s history.
Another reason, and this is admittedly the
most subjective of them all, is that there is some
thing about the yell that is disconcerting.
Somehow the sound of the yell just doesn’t tit.
It’s the “eeeeeeeeeee” in the two “Whistle-
eeeeeeeeeee” parts. It doesn’t sound like a yell
that could get the Twelfth man into the mood for
a game.
But again, this is an opinion purely based on
one’s taste. Bailey said he’s received more positive
feedback about the yell than negative. And he
points out, some Aggies are resistant to change.
That is true. But the yell leaders should also
consider that Skyrocket may have been grounded
because previous Aggie generations decided they
didn’t like it.
Granted, there are some in this generation
who like the yell. Indeed, the Class of 2007 prob
ably knows and likes the yell the best. For exam
ple, George Stowe, a freshman general studies
major who stood on second deck during the
Pittsburgh Midnight Yell Practice, said he loved
the Skyrocket yell.
Still, there are many other Aggies who vehe
mently disagree with the yell. Perhaps they are
not as public with their contempt, but they have
taken to the Internet to voice their displeasure,
such as the Texags.com football forums.
Most of the comments are against the yell,
calling it “stupid.” Furthermore, some say they
will refuse to do the yell.
It is important for Aggies to express their
opinion of the yell, pro or con. But if they are
against the yell, they must tell the yell leaders in
the most respectful manner possible. Calling the
yell “stupid” or hissing when the yell leaders
give the pass back serves no purpose.
Ultimately, the yell leaders must evaluate
whether the new yell is causing a significant
amount of Aggie disunity. If it is, then Skyrocket
should be sent on a permanent blastoff.
Collins Ezeanyim is a senior
computer engineering major.
Horse laugh means
same thing as booing
In response to Sept. 29 mail call:
I don’t understand the big deal.
What bothers Klepac is knowing that
this behavior exists among my fellow
Aggies?” It’s not like we were throw
ing beer at the refs or tearing up the
tenches in the stands.
The horse laugh means the same
exact thing as a boo. They are both
signs of displeasure at something in
lie game.
Trying to convince ourselves that
*eare somehow better fans because
*e hiss instead of boo is kind of
semantical.
No one was booing at our team, or
even the other team for that matter.
We were booing because the refs
test us a touchdown on a ridiculous
tell. They deserved it, and it only
teppened once.
Sometimes the horse laugh just
teesn’t effectively convey how irritat
ed we are. I think a warranted boo
now and then is a good thing.
Clint Caughman
Class of 2003
In response to Dallas Shipp’s Sept.
30 column:
I admit that I am generally loud and
obnoxious at the games, and I have
been known to spew out my share of
choice expletives. My friends and I do
indeed yell out “uncover” at the
beginning of each yell. This is the
same thing that my father taught me
to yell, when I came to my first game
in fourth grade. It also was something
passed on to me at Moses Hall dur
ing the times of Bonfire.
So even though you may not con
sider this to be a tradition, in my mind
it is. You take your hat off in the MSC,
you take your hat off during the
MAIL CALL
National Anthem, you take your hat
off in a church and you take your hat
off at Kyle Field during a yell.
Usually we only yell out uncover once
and then continue with the yell.
However, at this particular game there
was an individual two to three rows in
front of us who refused to remove his
camo visor. If he doesn’t want to partic
ipate, then maybe he would be better
suited for the visitor section.
Gerald Goss
Class of 2002
Uncovering is a sign
of respect
To begin with, I agree that Aggies
should not hurl choice words or com
ments at fans who do not uncover
during yells. However, I do believe
that, out of respect, fans should
remove their hats during the yells as
well as the school songs.
When a fan is asked politely sever
al times to uncover, we expect him to
honor that. Since we are always
yelling only for our team, it shows
that we have respect for our team
by removing our hats while yelling
for the Aggies.
I respect this tradition as part of
the Aggie Spirit, and in doing so I do
not question the origin of it nor the
rationale behind it. It is a tradition,
and being a school rich in such tra
ditions, I only expect of fellow
Aggies what we have been doing
for decades — uphold and reinforce
our traditions.
Yes, it may seem petty to some, but
it’s a tradition nonetheless.
Brandon Talbott
Class of 2007
A bad memory of
Texas A&M
In response to Sept. 30 mail call:
One of my worst memories from
my days at Texas A&M is of the sec
ond Midnight Yell Practice I attended.
A drunken group of Aggies started
yelling at a man (who was clearly not
a student) to uncover during the
yells. He did an admirable job of
ignoring their increasingly vulgar
taunts. As the crowd began to dis
perse, one of the Aggies spat on the
man’s back! I never went back to a
yell practice, and I rarely took a
friend or family member from outside
the University to any sporting events
after that.
I have many fond memories of the
years I spent at A&M, but I do not
miss the small-minded people who
felt it necessary to act as policemen
for the traditions (real or perceived)
of the University.
The Aggies I work with do not har
bor such attitudes, so perhaps even
the worst offenders, as they mature,
will begin to realize what a disservice
they are doing to the perception
many outsiders have of A&M.
Jason Leifester
Class of 1991
Uncovering should be
treated as a tradition