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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2004)
Opinion Bgan t The Battalion Page 11 • Monday, April 5, 2004 Porn in the U.S.A a | legislation should be introduced to outlaw pornographic films in vehicles edhis enorist!, ►rove» Jchenectady, lovie titled 4 s more Americans outfit their vehicles with DVD players, a disturbing trend is emerging: car-owners playing X-rated films while driving. Worse still, these films can be seen by anyone near them — often children in other vehicles. This sort of disgusting and flagrant behavior requires government interven tion. Lawmakers across the nation should intro duce bills that would make playing pornograph ic films in vehicles illegal. In February, Andre Gainey, 35, of N.Y., was arrested for playing a pornographic Chocolate Foam” in his Mercedes-Benz, accord- igto USA Today. Not only was the movie visible to the driver, it was also playing in the passenger-side aphs. fclsor and on screens in the back of vehicle’s :adrests. While it is fortunate police were orcemi to charge Gainey with a public loreeffs isplay of offensive sexual material id operating a vehicle in which a TV II everlii :reen was visible to the driver, more special FBI asa «d laws are needed to address this issue. This Butwcfiould be done as a deterrent to anyone fool- ihenough to watch porn while driving. Matt Sundeen of the National lonference of State Legislatures told SA Today that no state expressly pro- bits the playing of X-rated movies tiile driving, but a couple of states e taking action. For example, The ssociated Press reported that a ichigan councilwoman is consider- g a measure that would fine a per- n $500 for playing pornography hile driving. In Tennessee, a bill recently passed in e state Senate that would expressly prohibit the shows display ever-increasing amounts of nudity. Certainly someone shouldn’t be arrested for allowing “NYPD Blue” to entertain his passengers, one could argue. Right now, the defini- m. irrivedat in a.m. i flams ie fire d 'ere putej laying of obscene films with screens that are visible other drivers, according to USA Today. Of course, some will be uncomfortable with any ort of government intervention on this issue. Some light specifically have problems with some of the lan- uage used in proposed laws addressing this problem. : orexample, regarding the Tennessee bill, some might Isk, “What exactly defines ‘obscene?’” Some lainstream Hollywood films and television tion of offensive material should be left to police officers. Most times, authorities will display proper discretion as they did in the Gainey example. Another issue that might .arise is whether statutes created to deal with pornography on the road might be expanded to include films depicting especially violent acts. It is arguable that acci dentally seeing realistically brutal violence might be just as offensive as viewing explicit sexual behavior. This type of nuance will eventually work itself out, but only after the big problem of drivers making material that is obviously X-rated visible to other vehicles is properly addressed. To properly deal with this issue, ordinances that discour age such behavior must be created. Although the inside of one’s vehicle is generally regarded as private space, that dis tinction becomes irrelevant once one engages in an activity that could negatively affect other drivers. Andrea Carlton, a 26-year-old mother who witnessed someone playing a pornographic film in another car while driving with her 4-year- old daughter put it best. Carlton told the AP, ‘‘Just like there's no windows in a strip club, you shouldn't be able to see inside windows in a car when they're watching X-rated movies.” w]> \ It’s not a secret that Americans are already too distracted while driving, vl However, while some driving activi ties, such as eating, putting on makeup and reading the newspaper will only distract the driver stupid enough to attempt them, the practice of playing X-rated DVDs has the potential to dis tract drivers in other cars. Therefore, special atten tion on this matter is warranted. Quite frankly, it is embarrassing that this problem needs to be addressed at all. But to make the already chaot ic streets of America a bit saner, the govern ment must act on this issue with alacrity. Collms Ezeanyim is a senior computer engineering major. Graphic by Paul Wilson b udacris concert didn’t ve up to advertisement response to the April 1 Ludacris oncert: After returning from the Ludacris con- ert Thursday, I felt so sad. Don't get le wrong, the concert was great, but I It deceived. enjoy Ludacris just as much as the ext man, but honestly, I was not going to o to the concert so I could get some done. Being a psychotic Chingy I rushed to get my ticket that cost Imost $30. I waited anxiously for the itire concert in hopes that he would run ut and surprise us, but alas, my dear was no where in sight. I almost led when the DJ said it was over. The thing is, the MSC Town Hall Web itesaid that Chingy was the special guest dormer, and that was false advertise- lent. That was THE ONLY reason I went the sole reason for me to purchase ticket. I just wanted to express how isappointed I am that it was not true, and !Xt time MSC Town Hall should make re it has the correct acts listed. All in all, hen I left, I felt that it was all a very cruel il Fool's joke. Onyinyechi Okoro Class of 2006 /IP program only meant increase diversity In response to an April 1 mail call: Mr. Fisher, both you and Mr. Maddox liss the point of the VIP program com- , The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last ear that diversity was an important issue higher education. Rather than use race- ased admissions, President Gates ought to increase diversity at TAMU trough other means. He instituted schol- rships, created recruitment programs, nd proposed other initiatives. In the speech he gave on Dec. 3, 2003, e also mentioned a specific problem: ...Currently, only 44 percent of African- merican, 48 percent of Hispanic and 3 percent of Asian-American students /e admit actually enroll as students ere. This contrasts with 62 percent of hite students who are admitted and len enroll." The VIP program has been developed to ixthis problem. To complain, then, that it hurts white students, or that white'appli- cants deserve the same treatment, miss es the point. Of course, it would be nice if all admitted students could benefit from the program. But, with the budget situa tion as it is, that is not practical. Right now, the VIP program is open to those who need it most. Besides, your brother, Mr. Fisher, seems too intelligent to base his decision on whether or not to come to A&M on such a minor issue like the VIP program. Midhat Farooqi Class of 2004 McCaig, Hernandez go with McAdams for SBP We, Mark McCaig and Royd Hernandez, would like to thank those of you who sup ported us during the recent student body presidential elections. While we were not successful, we will continue to advocate the ideas we ran on in order make Texas A&M even greater. That being said, Will McAdams is the only candidate in the runoff for SBP who will put an end to the "social club" atmos phere that has taken over student govern ment. Will has the leadership experience as well as the desire to put the SGA back in the hands of the student body. He has made it clear that changes to improve the quality of student representation will take place if he becomes elected. Will is also the only candidate who has been willing to take firm stands on issues of importance to the student body such as parking, traditions and communication. His willingness to speak his mind and take action is admirable as well as necessary to be an effective student leader. On April 7 and 8, we will be voting for Will McAdams for student body presi dent. We encourage our fellow Aggies to do the same. Mark McCaig Class of 2005 Royd Hernandez Class of 2005 Battalion coverage of Rip Torn disappointing When I picked up my copy of The Battalion last Friday, I was more than disappointed to see the reporting priori ties for our campus. At the very bottom of the page was a relatively small image of the actor Rip Torn, Class of 1952, MAIL CALL reciting verse from a first edition of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass." The pur pose of the reading on Thursday was to celebrate the Whitman work as the three millionth acquisition of the Sterling C. Evans Library. The image placement was disappoint ing, but more so because there was no extended story about the event. Texas A&M is one of the nation's leading univer sities in numerous fields with regard to research and creativity. Students need to recognize that these research and creativ ity components are the lifeblood of our university; moreover, students should take full advantage of these experiences during their education. The University libraries often play a vital role in any research and creativity experience and, in the future, students should be made more aware of these unique happenings associated with the University. Josh Peschel Class of 1998 Not all Muslims are affiliated with al-Qaida In response to Nicholas Davis' March 19 column: The American media has a tendency to attach the name of Islam to terrorist groups that carry out actions against the religious beliefs of the Islamic faith. Heard that argument before? Sure, we all have, but nonetheless the media keeps doing it. The estimated size of al-Qaida is anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand people. The number of Muslims in the world is 1.4 billion people. You do the math! It is really very simple. Blaming Muslims for the acts of al-Qaida, would be analo gous to blaming Christians for the acts of Serbian forces, IRA, Basque and other groups. Let us remember that Serbian forces massacred, not too long ago, well over 100,000 Albanian civilians. Way, way more than all recent terrorist acts com bined. Is that what their religion teaches them? Of course not! As regards to Israeli actions, I wonder how you could consider the recent killing of over 700 and injuring (mainly through live ammunition) of over 28,000 Palestinian children an act of self defense (note I said children, not all Palestinians). I would like to end with the following quote to show how similar quotes can be found on both sides and at the end of the day will not help bring any solution. “We have to kill all the Palestinians unless they are resigned to live here as slaves." — take some justice from this act. Heilbrm, the chairman of the Committee of the Re-election of General Shlomo Lahat, the mayor of Tel Aviv. Hassan Jaffer graduate student Battalion’s choice of photos is undesirable In response to an March 31 sci-tech article: Although Amelia wrote a great article, I was not pleased with The Battalion's pic ture. But, sadly, I am not surprised. I was hoping to use the article for our required outreach part of our project; however, I do not feel that it would be appropriate to do that now. The choice of pictures in The Battalion never ceases to amaze me. I do not understand why the unique and exciting images of real Aggies having real-life experiences were replaced with some cheap cartoon. I personally did not mind at first until fellow engineers and stu dents started to joke about it. It now makes our project look like a joke, which is something I am starting to take offense at. I am not sure what can be done to change things since the article has already been written. Many times I see a random picture on the front page or somewhere else in The Battalion that has no related story. I am usually fine with these pictures as long as they relate to Aggie life. If the pictures from the NASA Web site were used in such a manner, they could still inspire other students. If this were to happen, the Texas A&M teams could Thanks on behalf of the Texas A&M KC- 135 teams. Grant Kemper Team Leader WSW KC-135 Team North Siders can’t eat without making a mess I was personally offended today when a group of 30 North Siders decided to eat in the Commons Dining Room. They found it necessary to recite their juvenile rhyme about how close-knit they are and how the food we South Siders eat is less than quality. They went too far by not using plates, but slopping their food directly onto the trays, throwing things off the tables and onto the floor, and taking parts of an Easter display and throwing them around at one another. The hardworking employ ees do not deserve to clean up an unnec essary mess made by a rowdy bunch of rude people who think that their actions make them Red-ass. If you think you're closer because a rhyme says it, fine. If you think it's tragic we live on South Side, fine. But if those of you involved in this sort of infantile act think you’re repre senting Old Army or the Aggie Spirit, you’re wrong. Shannon King, Krueger Hall Class of 2007