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Opimon
The Battalion
Page 9 • Friday, November 7, 2003
Beauty and the breast
7 DA must ensure that women know the risks of getting silicone implants
using can
ir all in lb
itematioE
A&Muil
I n 1992, at the height of the
panic over the safety of
silicone breast implants,
ome women were so alarmed
hat they tried to remove their
awn implants with razor
lades. That year, the Food
nd Drug Administration
hocked general use of the sil-
cone implants, citing lack of
:onclusive evidence about
heir safety and effectiveness.
MIDHAT
FAROOQI
A decade later, a key advisory committee to
he Food and Drug Administration recommend-
dthat silicone breast implants be allowed back
mPm market. The FDA should listen to its
^ advisory board's informed conclusion and per-
omiaw nit silicone implants to be used again.
The use of silicone implants, either to
nlarge breast size or reconstruct a breast dam-
Aged by cancer, dates back to 1963. Since then,
norethan one million American women have
ck that Received them.
The possibility that silicone implants could
:ause disease was recognized as early as 1978,
though the issue gained notoriety when CBS
aired an implant feature on “Face to Face with
Connie Chung” in 1990. During the show,
Chung called silicone gel “an ooze of slimy gel
atin that could be poisoning” women. The com
ment caused one stampede of women rushing to
have their implants removed and another to file
lawsuits against implant makers.
Largely swayed by public opinion, the FDA
restricted the use of silicone implants to clini
cal studies and breast reconstruction in cancer
patients. Meanwhile, the barrage of lawsuits
drove the main implant manufacturer, Dow
Iraq.lai
iends % : -
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ig for ol
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Corning, to bankruptcy and
led to settlements worth
billions of dollars for the
‘victims.’ Saline
implants, though consid
ered to be second-rate
in look and feel, took
over the market.
Those who scorn cos
metic surgery may see no
good reason to give the
implants another chance, but a
lot of women want them. In
2001, American women spent
$668.9 million on breast aug
mentation, according to the
American’ Society of Plastic
Surgeons. Women between the ages of
19 and 34 accounted for 56 percent of the
spending.
Plus, silicone implants are
generally preferred to saline
ones because they give the
breast a more natural feel and
look. Katina Hudson, a
Pompano Beach, Fla., resi
dent who prefers silicone,
received saline implants
five years ago and soon
grew unhappy with them.
“You were able to see the saline
bag,” Hudson said. “My husband was
n’t happy at all. He could feel the
sack.”
Though silicone implants provide
a better cosmetic effect, some
say they are dangerous since the
implants may rupture, releasing
silicone into the body. Implants do break: Data
from FDA studies indicates that on average, a
quarter of implants rupture within 12 years and
55 percent break within 16 years. In the first
few years though, the rupture rate is about
1.2 percent. Opponents claim that the sili
cone released from the broken
implants triggers an immune sys
tem response that causes a wide
! variety of diseases, from can
cer to rheumatoid arthritis.
However, there is little to
no scientific evidence to
support this assertion.
Ivan Flores
The Institute of
Medicine released a 500-page
document in 2000 in which they
evaluated research done on silicone
implants. After assessing a wide range of
scientific studies performed, the
the battalion Institute concluded that silicone
from the breast implants did not
result in a nasty immune response, or that the
implants were linked to any disease.
Comparatively, the saline implants currently
used break as well. Researchers at the
Washington University School of Medicine
have shown that bacteria and fungi can grow in
the saline implant, and there is concern that
these may be released into the body if the
implant breaks. If saline implants can be
approved by the FDA, then silicone ones
should be as well.
Also, some 1.5 million patients receive sili
cone eye lenses and another 670,000 get artifi
cial silicone joints each year. These medical
devices have not produced the side effects
attributed to silicone implants, though they
contain the same chemical. Since both the
lenses and the joints are approved by the FDA,
silicone implants should be no different.
Even so, a surprisingly high proportion of
silicone implant patients — from 21 percent to
46 percent depending on the type of patient —
require further surgery within two years due to
complications from the implants or to achieve
a better cosmetic result.
But, silicone implants should not be banned
because of this. Rather, women who wish to
use them should know that a large number of
patients tend to need follow-up surgery. It
makes sense for the FDA to give women the
choice of which implant to get as long as the
patients are warned of the safety risks.
Midhat Farooqi is a senior
genetics major.
ggies ai!
so/s:|Illegal immigrants
are not criminals
Inresponse to Michael Ward’s Nov. 5
column:
hddwtfc
-ence Cenf
No matter how much you may dislike
it, no matter how much legislation is
passed, no matter how tight the bor
ders are patrolled, there will always be
illegal residents in the United States.
So why not reward those who are liv
ing the life of true Americans?
For many illegal residents, graduat
ing from high school, much less get
ting into college, is not an easy task.
Other than a simple piece of paper,
how do you differ from an illegal resi
dent who is trying to attend college?
' Did you not live in Texas before com
ing to A&M (I’m assuming you did)?
Did you not graduate from high
school? Did you not have credentials
deemed acceptable for admittance to
A&M? Why should you benefit from
in-state tuition, and not an in-state
illegal resident, with the same cre
dentials as you?
This legislation is not designed to
give citizenship to criminals who
cross the border in search of their
next victim. The purpose of this legis
lation is to reward those immigrants
who have taken to the “American”
way by pursuing a college education
or have shown loyalty by serving the
country that protects them. This pro
gram benefits young immigrants who
are trying to advance their lives. A
person who is improving himself is
improving his country.
Greg Rivera
Class of 2007
oopjf DREAM Act to fix INS
incompetency
The Immigration and Naturalization
Services is a government entity that
rarely deals with Americans, it is ripe
for corruption. Foreign nationals trying
to gain green cards are not in a posi
tion to complain about the poor treat
ment they receive and have no
Congressional representative to com
plain to.
Simply put, I think Sen. Hatch is
attempting to solve a problem caused
by the INS without fixing the INS.
Because immigration in this country is
so backlogged and so underfunded, if
you want to come to the United States,
coming illegally may be the only
[option. We, as Americans, have for-
| gotten that the United States is not an
| exclusive country club that only grants
membership to the lucky few, but
rather the United States was founded
to be a shelter for the abused and
downtrodden in this world. Also con
r»’ or 9
^11
on
sider that until the 20th century, you
didn’t need permission to come and
live in the United States. You just
showed up. As such, your ancestors
probably didn’t have “permission” from
the government either when they
came here.
Michael Martin
Ph.D. student
Study questions could
have caused bias
In response to Collins Ezeanyim’s
Nov. 5 column:
It is unfortunate that so many Fox
viewers have the misperceptions men
tioned in the study, although people
who get their news from more, as
some like to put it, “mainstream” (read
“liberal”) sources are definitely not
immune to being wrong about events
and facts regarding the war. It all
depends on the question asked. If
PIPA/KN had decided to include more
neutral or even anti-war prompts, Fox
viewers would not look quite so misled,
comparatively speaking. For instance,
what if they had asked, “President
Bush lied in his State of the Union
address about WMD’s — True or
False?” Or maybe ‘The U.S. acted
unilaterally by going to war with Iraq -
True or False?” I guarantee a higher
percentage of people who get their
news from the liberal sources would
answer questions like these incorrectly
and, thus, would not score so highly
on this biased study while Fox viewers
would answer them correctly and
score higher. So, while the title of his
article gave me some hope of learning
something by reading it, Mr. Ezeanyim
failed to look at both sides and served
only remind me that, for the most part,
the media is still blind to its own liberal
bed-wetting disposition.
Paul Sims
Class of 2006
Abortion providers
motivated by profit
In response a Nov. 5 mail call:
It is time to challenge a statement
repeatedly made by pro-abortion
advocates. Nick Anthis said, “I am
pro-choice. Don’t get me and other
pro-choice advocates wrong, though.
We are not pushing abortion ...”
Perhaps that is true on a personal
level. I would hope he wants fewer
abortions to occur. However, abor
tion providers do want more abor
tions. Why? Because like Coca-
MAIL CALL
Cola and Ford, they are for-profit
businesses. The National Coalition
of Abortion Providers Web site states
that they represent “the political, busi
ness and networking needs of inde
pendent abortion providers across
the country.” If the abortion industry
— the ones actually lobbying
Congress on behalf of the “pro-
choice” movement — really wanted to
reduce abortions, then they would
support pro-adoption legislation for
instance. But, as companies looking
for profit, abortion providers want
more business. While individuals may
be “pro-choice” and want to reduce
abortions, those providing the proce
dure are indeed pro-abortion and
looking for more work.
Jay Schwarz
Class of 2004
Abortion is usually
not a last resort
I was initially confused by Nick
Anthis’s mail call. He begins by stat
ing that he is “pro-choice,” but in his
next paragraph he states that abor
tion is “definitely not about choice.”
Well, which one is it?
Abortions are certainly not manda
tory; at some point, the woman must
make the affirmative choice to termi
nate her pregnancy.
I think Mr. Anthis is naive if he
believes that most abortions are per
formed as a “last resort” because the
woman is not capable of bringing a
child into this world that will receive
love and nurturing. On the contrary,
abortion is primarily chosen as a
means of post-conceptive birth control
in response to an unwanted pregnan
cy — not as a last resort after every
other option has been exhausted.
There are literally thousands of
families in this world who are unable
to conceive, and who are waiting
patiently on adoption lists for the
chance to provide a loving and caring
home to the child that you are
“forced” to abort as a last resort.
These adoptive parents view preg
nancy as a miracle; abortion advo
cates view it as a nuisance.
Jon Apgar
Class of 1999
Boykin's remarks were
not wrong
In response to Hayden Migl’s Nov. 6
column:
According to Mr. Migl, in order to
show the world that the United States
is open to all opinions, we should
punish Gen. Boykin for expressing his
personal opinion. That’s bad logic.
Yes, leaders should be open-minded,
but they should also stand up for what
they believe. The general has a point;
we are at war for being a predomi
nantly Christian nation. Let us not for
get that no other faith other than the
Islamic extremists attacked the
United States on 9-11. Islam is not of
the devil, but some might say these
extremists are using their religion to
inspire terrorism, and that sounds
like the devil’s work to me.
Stephen Davis
Class of 2005
Boykin's resignation
would be tragedy
Forcing General Boykin’s reassign
ment or resignation would be an egre
gious tragedy for the sake of political
correctness. Mr. Migl’s claim that
Boykin’s comments were uncalled for
is completely untrue. In fact, he was
invited to openly share his experiences
and opinions to groups of individuals
freely assembled for the purpose of
hearing personal remarks. He was not
speaking as a spokesman for the
United States, nor was he articulating
any policy of the United States. He
was expressing his beliefs.
Consider the following statement: “It
cannot be emphasized too strongly or
too often that this great nation was
founded, not by religionists, but by
Christians; not on religions, but on the
gospel of Jesus Christ! For this very
reason peoples of other faiths have
been afforded asylum, prosperity and
freedom of worship here.” Did some
crazy right-wing religious zealot say
this? While one might think so, it was
actually the patriot Patrick Henry.
America shouldn’t place U.S.-lslamic
ties, or any ties for that matter, above
our freedoms or the foundation of
those freedoms which secured the
wonderful country we live in today.
Joshua Dwyer
Class of 2006
Missing Silver Taps
unacceptable
In response to a Nov. 6 mail calf.
Personally, I find it disgusting to see
that a lot of people on this campus will
fool around all month, and suddenly
become too busy to honor a family that
has to bury their child at Silver Taps. I
can understand if someone is sick, or
is forced to work, or in another tough
circumstance; however, I walked
behind someone with a broken leg,
who dressed up and limped back to
his dorm after honoring a fallen peer. I
think a lot less of people who don’t feel
like paying respects to a dead class
mate and their family when, if that per
son had the great chance to be alive,
would come to honor you, God forbid
you pass before your time. There are a
lot of people who don’t agree with me,
and that’s fine. I didn’t write this to
make friends, I wrote this to make peo
ple aware. If you don’t want to say
“Howdy,” I don’t care. If you don’t feel
like going to yell or a football game, I
could care less. But if you’re selfish
enough that you can’t find 20 minutes
a month to honor someone who died
before their 25th birthday, you might go
to Texas A&M, but please don’t call
yourself an Aggie.
Michael Vargo
Class of 2006