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Opinion
The Battalion
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Page 7 • Wednesday, December 3, 2003
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ost people are familiar with the
Americans with Disabilities Act put
into effect in 1992. The act was
ntended to open up services and employment
opportunities to the millions of Americans
with disabilities by eliminating illegal discrim-
nation against disabled workers, and has done
quite well. The Human Rights Act, a European
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ty act with in regard to employee discrimina
tion. Despite its seemingly detailed and
rtoiopi^stiaightforward structure, the doctrine has been called into
question by a workers’ union attempting to take advantage of
some rather gray areas.
The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union in New
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Move to get smoking classified as a disability distorts laws that protect disabled
Ml
Zealand argues that because smoking is an
addiction it is, therefore, a disability under the
Human Rights Act. Consequently, it argues that
mokers should be given disability status and
herefore should not be able to be discriminated
against. The complaint arose after applicants
jkhV tvere refused employment at a New Zealand
health center because of their smoking habit,
according to The New Zealand Herald. If this
laim was to even be considered, the precedent
et would be a destructive and disgraceful one.
Employers in New Zealand have full legal per
mission to refuse employment to smokers if they
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severs »-Mvish on the basis that smoking is not protected
)or979-22Ji< un( j er t h e Human Rights Act. This is fair and log-
cal in the sense that if a company looks to hire
eople to counsel smokers and help them quit smoking, it would
lot employ smokers to do the job. Ironically, this is actually the
ase in New Zealand. But this is a separate ethical issue in itself.
What is most inconceivable is the fact that the labor union and its
advocates are attempting to expand the precincts of an act origi-
aally designed to give truly disabled people a boost to include a
population quite unworthy of its assistance.
Certainly anyone who has been or is currently addicted to
nicotine would testify that withdrawal symptoms can be quite
intolerable. Symptoms including, but not limited to, anxiety,
But, because it is the
persons decision to
take up the habit and
his ability to stop it,
smokingfalk into a
separate category of
disabilities: those that
should not be covered
by disability laws
nausea, headache and discomfort can hamper one’s ability to
work. There is no doubt that the withdrawal symptoms can at
times be somewhat disabling.
However, many smokers are able to perform normally dur
ing an eight-hour work day while suffering withdrawal symp
toms. For those who are addicted to the extent that nicotine is
needed for them to function, they can simply smoke or get
nicotine from another source. Furthermore, because there is
no simple and efficient test for nicotine addiction, proving
the disability becomes problematic. At the same time, howev
er, these conditions were brought on by one’s choice to start
smoking. Not to mention that a smoker also has the same
choice to discontinue using nicotine, regardless of how diffi
cult it might be. Nicotine addiction may be considered a dis
ability. But, because it is the person’s decision to take up the
habit and his ability to stop it, smoking falls
into a separate category of disabilities: those
that should not be covered by disability laws.
If smokers were covered by the disability
act, up to 30 percent of Americans could be
considered disabled.
If smokers were to receive disability sta
tus, why not treat all coffee drinkers the
same? Some people experience withdrawal
symptoms from lack of caffeine and, in some
instances, can be disabled in the same sense
smokers could claim. Not all smokers can be
considered dysfunctional as a result of their
addiction. Therefore, classifying all smokers
as disabled is a fallacy.
Even for the most severely addicted, the
addiction is not one qualifying them for the same treatment
that should be given to people with arthritis, a heart condi
tion or missing a limb.
The bottom line is that nicotine addiction is easily treatable,
like an addiction to coffee’s caffeine, without the special care
of an employer.
The argument claiming smoking is a disability and therefore
a disease qualifying for aid by a discrimination act is illogical.
If the labor union in New Zealand takes its case to a human
rights commission or tribunal, it should be thrown out on the
Ivan Flores • THE BATTALION
grounds that smokers are not eligible for disability status. If
nicotine users are granted protection from an act intended to
serve humanity, then the real disabled will have been dealt an
undeserving disfavor.
Chris Lively is a senior
sociology major.
.N. needs to help create lasting infrastructure in Iraq
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ar bombs, roadside
ambushes and other
terrorist attacks seem
;obe the only news coming
ut of Iraq and Afghanistan,
resident George W. Bush
nd other officials have
[restated their resolve to stick
it out in the countries despite
the numerous attacks, but the
attacks do seem to be having
an effect. The assaults have made the U.N.
leaders become defensive instead of helping
rebuild the nations.
The United Nations needs to act now and
help set up a lasting infrastructure in Iraq. Its
decision to temporarily stop committing
resources to Afghanistan comes at an inoppor
tune time. The organization has already lost
credibility, but it could now make amends if its
officials show they are willing to establish a
strong physical presence in these countries.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said
regional offices may be set up in Jordan or
Cyprus to have a presence in the region of
Iraq, but he is wary of sending personnel into
the country while it is still unstable. Annan
should immediately return the U.N. staff to its
Baghdad headquarters and be resolved to stay
put. He said he wants to wait until the area set
tles down before more personnel are present,
but more staff are needed before the region
will settle down.
Even the main opponents of the United
States and Britain’s actions in Iraq are support
ive of the United Nations taking an active role
in Iraq. According to The Associated Press, the
French ambassador to the United Nations Jean-
Marc de la Sabliere said it is “essential that the
United Nations be allowed, with full independ
ence, to lend its legitimacy and its support to
the transition in Iraq.” Many major countries
such as Russia, China and Germany have said
the same thing, but the United Nations believes
it must wait until the region settles down.
Currently, the United States has had to take
on many roles in Iraq.
According to the AP, these tasks include
repairing hydroelectric power stations to pro
duce more electricity and setting up truck
fleets to distribute supplies, but both could be
fulfilled by U.N. workers. By shifting more of
the infrastructure projects to U.N. workers,
more U.S. forces could be devoted to security
and more manpower could be committed to
hunting down terrorists. This plan would fulfill
both objectives: setting up an infrastructure in
Iraq and making the country safer.
The United Nations is also more experi
enced in setting up governments, which is a
huge part of reconstructing Iraq. A U.N.-built
Iraqi government would have more internation
al credibility than one formed only by the
United States. The United
States needs to allow the
United Nations to come in and
take primary control of the
rebuilding efforts, and the
United Nations needs to com
mence these efforts right away.
A recent assassination has
also caused the United Nations
to rethink its role in
Afghanistan. A series of terror
ist attacks and the killing of a
French refugee worker has the
assembly questioning if it
should cease sending staff into the country to
help secure the region, according to the AP.
The security review may result in a pullout
from Afghanistan which would decrease the
United Nation’s presence in the area until the
country becomes more stable.
This is the wrong approach for the United
Nations to take.
It needs to be in Afghanistan helping set up
a permanent infrastructure and helping the new
The United Nations
is also more
experienced in setting
up governments which
is a huge part of
reconstructing Iraq.
government provide for its people. The United
Nations needs to take a stand and show terror
ist attacks will not shake its resolve to trans
form these countries into not only habitable,
but favorable places to live. As much as the
United Nations thinks it can do
from outside the countries, it
would be able to do much more
if it stays inside.
As tragic as the reports of
daily killings and bombings are,
there is progress being made in
Afghanistan and Iraq, and a
stronger U.N. presence in the
area will only help speed up the
reconstruction. The United
States and the rest of the inter
national community need to
welcome the United Nations
into this area, and the United Nations needs to
have a strong presence to show it can still be
effective. If the United Nations passes this
opportunity up, it will have missed a chance to
play an integral part in the formation of two
countries and lose even more credibility.
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» Howdy tradition holds
Aggies together
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In response to a Nov. 24 Aggielife
feature:
| To all who share Steven Trent and
Jessica Madison’s sentiments about
Howdy, let me talk to you about what
it means to be an Aggie. Give me a
break if you think it takes too much
lime to say “Howdy” as you pass peo
ple! You’re not getting their life story;
you’re simply leaving your own self
ish, petty world for an instant to
acknowledge the existence of anoth
er human being. Jessica, I’m sorry
you feel “Howdy” is an unimportant
tradition, because it is the tradition
that holds the rest of them together!
Without Howdy, Aggies are just
another group of students at some
generic college!
You reap what you sow in this
world, and if you’re too busy to be
friendly, God help you if you are ever
in need that someone like yourself
comes along and ignores you!
Howdy is not just a meaningless
greeting to “strangers” as Jessica
said. It’s the glue that holds Aggies
together, and what sets us apart from
the rest of the world. That other per
son may be in serious need of a
smile, give them one! Please don’t let
it be you who killed the Aggie spirit
that has been shared by Aggies for
127 years.
Clint Heath
Class of 1993
Race has no place in
A&M admissions
In response to a Nov. 26 mail call:
I would like to agree whole-heartedly
with Miss Goodman’s comments.
Race has no place in college admis
sions. What matters is keeping the
academic standard high. If a student
does not meet the academic criteria to
get in, they do not belong on campus.
The only criteria that should matter
past academics are things like extra
curricular activities such as sports,
band, student council and other well
rounding activities such as volunteer
ing or part-time jobs.
I’d like to see an admissions form
without information that could lead to
a biased decision such as race, gen
der or even a student’s name (some-
MAIL CALL
thing that is replaced with a student
ID once enrolled). The color of skin
does not make someone a more
valuable asset to our campus, nor
does affirmative action benefit any
one at Texas A&M.
I would like to hope that A&M
takes the high road and does not
follow in University of Texas’ and
Rice’s footsteps and include race on
new admissions forms. Doesn’t any
one remember his mother telling
him that it’s what’s on the inside that
counts?
Marissa Feith
Class of 2002
E-walk discriminates
against larger Aggies
Being the “red ass” Aggie that I
am, I have been waiting for this all
semester. Like many of my fellow
2005 classmates, I decided to pur
chase E-walk apparel. Being a bit
more robust than some other stu
dents, I asked for a 2X E-walk shirt.
To my surprise, the class represen
tative informed me that they did not
offer any. When I questioned why
the class of 2005 decided not to
accommodate their more portly
members, she revealed that they
voted against having 2X’s printed
because they cost more than the
smaller sizes.
Now ponder this: Was l in fact dis
criminated against because of my
size? Am I any less important than
any other member of the Class of
2005? Should my size somehow
forfeit my ability to participate in tra
ditions held dear by this University?
I was discriminated against
Hayden Migl is a freshman
political science major.
because of my build. People do not
generally consider that larger mem
bers of our society are discriminat
ed against based oh their size. We
focus on religion, race, culture and
sexuality, but never examine the
only discriminating factor to cross
all these boundaries: size. Now the
Class Council of 2005 is guilty of
this prejudice.
Adam Willmann
Class of 2005