NATIO)
‘Hali,
irtl
Opinion
The Battalion
/
Page 5B • Thursday, October 30, 2003
irth
th's
tic field
)ther
iadio
ommuno
ons in the
oles may
lackout
lalfunctior- i
;o it wastr I
rherewasa I
n dismpiK
in the Ui
as commei
ators. ste
instrumens
ay from ifi;
■ panels as
)le.
Earth w
storm’s M
e magneti;
cloud w
same diret-
etic field
’s magneti;
thward -
could hap
- its oppfr
effect, open
:t’s magnet
d result i
> electrical
tol
EDITORIAL
Wrong answer
Bill will not help students
Recently, Rep. Howard McKeon, R-Calif., introduced a bill
into Congress promising to curb the rising costs of college educa
tion. The Affordability in Higher Education Act of 2003 proposes
to hold who is responsible for significantly rising tuition costs
accountable to parents and students, but it misplaces the blame for
tuition increases on institutes of higher learning.
The law would create a “College Affordability Index,” which
will be made available to the public through a user-friendly Web
site. The index will compare tuition increases to inflation rates
over a three-year period. The universities whose tuition increased
at greater than two times the rate of inflation would lose access to
Title IV programs, including Perkins Loans and Work-Study. Pell
Grants, Direct Loans and Stafford Loans would be exempt under
the bill.
One might wonder how taking financial aid money away from
universities is supposed to help students afford a college educa
tion, especially since most universities are not responsible for
determining the cost of higher education.
In only 14 states does a university campus determine its tuition
costs; the remaining 36 states’ university costs are determined by
governors or legislatures. It makes little sense to sanction univer
sities for tuition costs when they may not have any control over the
increases. To do so would only hurt students more.
States have a responsibility to provide adequate funding for
public universities, but the percentage of state funding going to
higher education consistently fell throughout the 1990s. Now, in a
time of state budgetary shortfalls, this funding has decreased fur
ther. If the federal government wants to hold someone responsible
for rising tuition costs, it should not be the universities. It should
be the states that have shown little creativity when it comes to
funding educational institutions.
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
C.E. Walters
Collins Ezeanyim
Matt 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 JD. Letters also may
be mailed to: 014 Reed McDonald. MS 1 11 1, Texas A&M University, College
Station, TX 77843-11 1 1. Fax: (979) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thebattalion.net
MAIL CALL
listed
ed at the
)1 was
2,752
proof w*
ains wetf
ut 60 F [ -
have ^
j at 2,792
e is,'"
e reading
iookfo r8
Hogwart 5
shod °[
,y wiza f 9
jadaches
t eir ^
nt.
*s
Student deserved
recognition
In response to an Oct. 27
article:
I must say that, after reading
the long feature article about
the tragic passing of Levi
Windle, I was a little disap
pointed to see that the original
story about the also tragic
passing of Cheng-Hsien
Chiang was only allotted a tiny
space at the bottom of the
front page. I felt it was a bit
unfair to give Chiang such a
small article at the bottom of
the page.
However, I was pleasantly
surprised the next day to see a
longer article about this fellow
Aggie, which let us all know
just a little bit more about this
young man and who he was.
Thank you for the second
article, which will appropriately
serve to inform Aggies of
Chiang’s unfortunate passing,
and to remind us to keep his
family in our prayers, as we are
all hopefully doing for the fami
ly of Levi Windle.
Mike Sullivan
Class of 2004
Communism not
a threat to U.S.
In response to an Oct. 29
mail call:
If you seriously believe that
the communists are still a
threat to the free world, it is
time to watch the news.
China has undergone many
reforms over the past decade
to modernize its society. It is
not the same China that
President Nixon visited in the
1970s. Slowly but surely,
China has begun to open its
doors to new democratic
ideals. It is far from being a
democratic country, but it is
nowhere near the communist
monster you make it out to be.
Socialism is fading from the
spectrum. Secondly, a demo
cratic nation does not guaran
tee success by any means.
Even though Russia had an
awakening, its economy has
seen little if any success since
its shift to democracy. The
army is poorly equipped, and
the government is having trou
ble keeping its budget.
If we are ever to have space
colonization, its going to take
the expertise of people from all
over the world.
Greg Rivera
Class of 2007
Board must listen
to student wishes
I am appalled by the letter I
received under my door from
the Department of Residence
Life, which was meant to deter
any student from joining
Student Bonfire. I would have
to say that the majority of stu
dents at A&M would love to
see Bonfire burn again. We
have to start out with a step in
the right direction to getting
Bonfire back on campus, and
bonfire off campus is the place
to start. While the University
may look down upon this
action, nine of the 12 families
that lost a child in the Bonfire
of 1999 came out last year
and supported off-campus
bonfire. This support should
show the A&M Board of
Regents and the departments
of this University that the tradi
tion of Bonfire is worth pursu
ing in any fashion necessary.
In the future I would appre
ciate consideration from the
Residence Life in the matter
of telling me and the rest of
the student body the events
that we shall participate in.
Regardless of the location of
the bonfire project, the
University should respect
and stand behind any stu
dent decision to bring about
positive change and unity to
this campus.
Karl Moellering
Class of 2006
Terror in
the skies
College student protested security, deserves mercy
O n Nov. 19, 2001, the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) was
formed in response to the 9-1 1 attacks.
President George W. Bush proclaimed that the
measure “should give all Americans greater
confidence when they fly,” according to The
Houston Chronicle, but not everything that
should happen actually does.
Fast forward to Oct. 20 and the charging of
Nathaniel Heatwole, a 20-year-old college stu
dent, who in a self proclaimed act of civil dis
obedience, smuggled box cutters and other prohibited items onto
airliners.
Heatwole could face up
to 10 years in prison for
his Ghandi-like political
criticism because the mem
bers of the TSA are embar
rassed that after two years
of work, they have accom
plished virtually nothing.
Although Heatwole’s
actions were illegal, they
pointed out a huge flaw in
the system, and he should
receive no jail time.
If Heatwole had not
pointed out this flaw in
airline security, it could
have been exposed by
real enemies of the
United States.
Beginning Feb. 7, he
managed to smuggle
box cutters, matches,
bleach, modeling clay
and even a knife past >
security agents at two
major airports, accord
ing to The Dallas
Morning News.
It is common knowl
edge that the 9-1 1
hijackers used box cut
ters to usurp control of
the planes that crashed
into two New England
cities. Not only did the
TSA allow this to hap-
pen again, but Heatwole
proved that ingredients used to
make a bomb could be smuggled
onboard as well. Any rational
American would rather Heatwole
expose this gaping hole in airline secu
rity than an al-Qaida operative.
One college student smuggling some items onto jets a few times
does not mean a huge flaw exists in airline security, right? Wrong.
Michael Boyd, president of Boyd Group Consulting, which
advises airports on security, said current safety measures, such as
strengthening cockpit doors, have not actually increased safety.
“It will just be another piece of wreckage when the bomb
goes off,” Boyd said.
The Houston Chronicle outlined other times security has
been breached. In four separate instances in 2002, different indi
viduals brought knives, box cutters, razors, pepper spray and
loaded pistols on commercial airline planes. These are just the
instances in which the contraband was either found or reported.
The amount of unreported objects that have invariably been
taken on airliners is chilling to comprehend.
The magnitude of Heatwole’s message should now be clear.
Why did Heatwole convey this message? Was it a hoax or a
pointless frat boy stunt? These acts were “an act of civil disobe
dience with the aim of improving public safety for the air trav
eling public,” Heatwole told the FBI.
Many times throughout history, people have performed acts of
civil disobedience to change how society views issues. Rosa Parks
sat in the front of the bus when blacks were not allowed, and
people would chain themselves together to protest
restaurants that served only whites. Many of
these protesters went to jail; although,
everyone today would agree that these
people were pioneers in the move
ment to bring equality to the races.
Heatwole’s actions fall into the
same class as the civil rights protests
of the 1960s.
Many would argue that
Heatwole’s protest “was not a pub
lic service. It was a very foolish and
dangerous course of action,” as U.S.
Attorney Thomas DiBiagio put it.
Followers of DiBiagio’s ideology
might push for a stringent or even the
maximum punishment.
As much as these people might
regret the embarrassing light that
Heatwole shone on the TSA, it was
neither dangerous nor foolish.
Federal officials “determined
this individual did not pose an
imminent threat to national
security,” a federal law
enforcement official told
The Associated Press.
Heatwole must have
known that he would be
punished for his political
protest, and he cared
enough about the safety of the
nation to sacrifice his freedom so
this issue would be brought to the
public’s attention. He accomplished
this with flying colors, and the least the
government could do is have mercy on him.
Matt Rigney is a junior
journalism major.
MATT
RIGNEY
Game promotes negative stereotypes
T he controversial
Ghettopoly board
game promises
“playas” the experience
of “buying stolen prop
erties, pimpin’ hoes,
building crack houses
and projects, paying
protection fees and get- lindsay
ting car jacked,” accord- orman
ing to the product’s Web
site. Consequently, it has been removed
from the shelves of Urban Outfitters
stores and blocked from sales on Yahoo!
and eBay sites in response to an
onslaught of marches and protests decry
ing the game for perpetuating negative
black stereotypes. The game is undeni
ably racist and “demeaning, repugnant
and reprehensible, to say the least,” as
Kweisi Mfume, president of the NAACP,
explains in The New York Times.
However — as many critics have been
quick to point out — the game is a rela
tively inconsequential symptom of a
much larger problem: America is set on
glorifying a culture of deviance, violence
and ignorance.
The celebration of “gangsta” culture runs
rampant in rap music. Ghettopoly creator
David Chang accurately reflects symbols of
hip-hop culture as propagated by superstars
in the images and themes he selects for his
game, right down to Ghettopoly man — a
black thug in a bandana and dark glasses,
toting a marijuana joint, an Uzi and a bottle
of malt liquor, according to the Chicago
Sun-Times.
Quite disturbingly, this heavily carica
tured figure in all of his offensively
exaggerated manifestations of “gangsta”
style might be the artist’s persona behind
any number of popular rap songs.
A few examples: Rapper 50 Cent’s Web
site opens with a gunshot noise followed
by a picture of him pointing a gun at the
viewer from the computer screen. Lyrics to
songs such as his hit “P.I.M.P” exalt a
sleazy, flashy lifestyle that degrades
women and promotes violence: “Yeah, in
Hollywood they say there’s no b’ness like
show b’ness/ In the hood they say, there’s
no b’ness like hoe b’ness ya know.”
Other songs, such as rap superstar
Nelly’s “Country Grammar,” turn deadly
assaults such as drive-by shootings into
subjects of celebratory rhyme. With a
“street-sweeper, baby, cocked ready to let
it go,” the occasion of violence is not
complete without a joint: “Light it up
and take a puff/ Pass it to me now.”
Nelly’s song champions violence and
drug use as part of thug life, while Nelly
himself defends his new Pimp Juice ener
gy drink as a legitimate product for ath
letes, comparable to Gatorade, according
to the Christian Science Monitor.
However, the Rev. Paul Scott, founder of
the Messianic Afrikan Nation, calls
attention to the regressive nature of its
implications on the progress of the black
community: “Four hundred years ago,
black women were being sold into slav
ery, and now someone wants to come out
with a drink selling women.”
Although selling the drink is not the
same as selling women into slavery,
Scott makes his point. One must join him
in wondering why hip-hop culture icons
seem to be striving to marginalize urban
black men and women whom they claim
to represent. As Leonard Moore, head of
African-American studies at Louisiana
State University, more succinctly puts it,
“When it’s a fad to celebrate black mis
ery and poverty, something is wrong.”
By infusing glamour into actions that
are unmistakably criminal — being a
pimp or a prostitute, beating women.
killing other men, doing drugs — rap
music does a tremendous disservice to
inner-city children who grow up thinking
they should conform to, rather than com
bat, these stereotypes.
In a speech last summer, Marc Morial,
president of the National Urban League,
warned that many young black men asso
ciate manhood with the ability to injure
or damage another man, according to
The Times. No kidding. This is the
image of black manhood that tasteless
rap continues to successfully encourage.
Even at Texas A&M, the uproar in
January over a “ghetto” party planned by
a residence hall combines the relevancy
and problematic nature in discerning
what is offensive and inappropriate.
Complications arise because of mixed
messages. On one hand, black rappers
celebrate “gangsta” life. On the other, a
game manufactured by a Taiwanese man
that does the basically the same thing is
protested and hated.
Rather than defending the game, the
party or the stereotype on those grounds,
it is time to realize that to solve the larg
er problem of violence, ignorance and
prejudice, all of these negative images
must be denounced, regardless of the
color of their authors.
The Black Eyed Peas may have the
first hip-hop song to effectively capture
this message: “Negative images is the
main criteria/ Infecting the young minds
faster than bacteria/ Kids act like what
they see in the cinema/ Yo, whatever hap
pened to the values of humanity/
Whatever happened to the fairness in
equality/ Instead in spreading love we
spreading animosity.”
Lindsay Orman is a senior
English major.
AD