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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 2004)
SPORls *ttalios P in a Jncan : gotl20 0 | winner^ ’ays after ,ff series fc, '3cked news ana, and tie Opinion The Battalion Page 5B • Tuesday, May 4, 2004 A fair plan for everyone ase knuckfe. It’s a team >ective," wrs, butfc Votves. Ite Conference r ecord, then ^ exits from Nuggets, think of, or Point guard, league-lead- is season- V players to five assists ' sports writ- i gue's cities. 716 points, <1 third with were next. I a.m. ils! ■conds I ON ■ Rd. Students and faculty must give Transportation Services parking plan a chance A fter much discussion and several false starts, the new student parking plan has been approved. Faculty, however, have yet to be fully incorporated into the new park ing scheme. Despite what some students might think, faculty leaders and Transportation Services are working to develop a process to adequately meet the needs of both the faculty david and student body. Students should not think shoemaker that faculty will get a park-anywhere pass while students serve as guinea pigs, and faculty members should not fear that a poorly-conceived plan will sim ply be thrown at them. TS Director Rodney Weis’ plan looks to he fair to all parties, and as such, everyone should be willing to jive it a chance. The faculty had two main problems with the original plan, according to Joseph Newton, dean of the College of Science. The first was that faculty felt that they had not been ronsulted sufficiently during the initial process, and the second was that the process outlined by TS would not be flexible tnough to accommodate special cases for faculty parking. Both of these are legitimate concerns that the deans must xldress to accurately represent the needs of their departments aid employees. The first problem can be solved relatively easily by increas ing communication. TS’ predecessor. PTTS, was not renowned for nnmunicating policies to students and faculty. Although TS has Ken proactive on the communication front, it needs to remember tail will have to go the "extra mile” to make sure the students’ lid faculty’s opinions are heard. TS still suffers the poor service (fits predecessor, which was trusted by no one on campus. However, Weis has shown a willingness to listen to and try to iddress problems brought to his attention. This willingness to work with others will be key in resolving He issues the deans have had with the flexibility of the faculty Biking plan. The system would be the same as the one for stu- itnts, where one enters his NetID. and then selects his top six lot Voices. What worries deans such as Newton is that in special cir- msiances, there will be no way to override the automated sys- anand provide parking. A newly-hired professor of high status ;ould be at the bottom of the list, or staff with unusual working Imurs or access needs would be unable to get parking to meet ik needs. • There are many possible solutions to this problem that TS •ouid do well to consider. One way could be that a dean could kiit a list of his staff with special parking needs to put near the apof the list. Or perhaps faculty could be given a pool of spaces anearby lots, allocate the ones they need and return the rest to iegeneral pool for the lot. Regardless of the method to be select- id,the result will be the best that the deans and TS can do, as both groups are committed to finding an acceptable solution. parking is an issue with imperfect solutions. Ask anyone who has That solution, much like the changes for students, may require tried to park in the downtown of a major city recently. But a leap of faith in TS on the part of students and faculty. Many are regardless of their feeling on the matter, people should give TS distrustful of TS, but they should let TS earn or lose their trust on the benefit of the doubt that it is trying to improve the parking sit- its own. Change can be hard to deal with, especially when it goes uation at A&M. against an ingrained way of doing things, but the parking situation at Texas A&M became untenable. With luck, the new plan will alleviate many problems. However, with any new plan, it is not perfect for every person. David Shoemaker is a junior Not everyone will get to park exactly where they want and may management major. have to get used to walking a bit. But even in the outside world. Graphic by Chris Grijfin MAIL CALL Column an example of liberal propaganda’ In response to John David Blakley's W 29 column: Blakley's column on April 29 was an acellent example of liberal propaganda. I iin sorry to hear that a student at our icliool was at a march to support the ingof unborn children. By his own statement, he is a man, and lenhave no understanding or say in the subject of abortion. Therefore, he should We kept quiet about it. Apparently, the Wement that men don’t understand ibortion only applies to those who dis- igree with him. There is a concept that apparently Mr. llakley and the rest of the marchers need Hearn, that of "personal responsibility." “you are past the age of 7 or 8, you should be aware of the fact that babies sse a result of sexual relations. Knowing bat, if a person makes the decision to lave sexual relations, then they have to accept the possible consequences, one of »hich is pregnancy. If that person refuses taaccept these consequences, then they be no right to engage in the activity. I understand that there were not a lot of Mfe supporters at the march. That is feuse most pro-lifers actually work for a feg and cannot take the time away from family and jobs. Timothy Cook graduate student Elective abortion isn’t a reproductive right Mr. Blakley and the near million others »ho marched two Sundays ago deserve a big thanks for their defense of women’s reproductive rights. This is a very impor tant right to protect. A woman ought to be able to decide when to become a mother. A woman must be trusted with tier own body. But to my chagrin, I found that Mr. Blakley and the other marchers vehe mently defend elective abortion, which is not an issue of reproductive rights. Freedom from rape is a matter of repro ductive rights. Freedom from incest and sexual abuse are matters of reproductive rights. Our nation is responsible to pro tect women and men from and adequate ly punish sexual criminals. But abortion isn't a reproductive right. It can’t be, simply because abortions are performed after reproduction is complete (the moment of conception being its com pletion). Since it is scientific fact that a new, unique human life begins at concep tion, abortion is murder: the immoral ter mination of an innocent human life. If we are truly concerned about women, shouldn't we see to it that they are fully informed of the realities of abortion? How are we protecting women’s rights when we mislead mothers into blindly murdering their own children (and the life-long guilt and anguish that choice may cause), all under the guise of reproductive freedom? David Dunton president, Aggies for Life Palestinian side of Israel issue is often ignored In response to Nicholas Davis' April 30 column: After reading your opinion column enti tled "A policy worth backing," I was very angered to see that you neglected to show both sides of this issue and pre sented a clear bias. I will admit that, being a Palestinian myself, I also possess a strong bias. However, I will present you with a few facts. First, you mentioned that nary a day goes by without bloodshed and death of "innocent Israeli citizens." I am not an advocate of terrorism, but I think that both sides should be shown, which is not the case on American television. Between 1993 and 2002, 615 Israeli cit izens were murdered. How many Palestinians? During those years, 1,671 Palestinians were murdered, but of course this is rarely shown in the American media. Since Ariel Sharon took office, the per annum death count of Palestinian citizens has doubled. Furthermore, you portrayed the 1948 occupation of Palestine to be a peaceful and simple takeover. This is far from the truth. More than 10,000 Palestinians were murdered, and all males over the age of 18 were placed in concentration and work camps (including both of my grandfathers). It's ironic that the Jews would do this to a group of people, when the reason they took Palestine was to escape the same persecution in Europe. Although you say that the Palestinians have been offered portions of land (quasi independent, I might add), think about it like this. If somebody invaded the United States, and took over, then offered us Texas back as a compromise, I do not think it would go over very well. Throughout history, people have used the Palestinians as a scape goat, and Zionism has been the popular belief. I wish you and people like you would take the time to research the facts and not just what they see on the evening news. I think you will find it to be very enlightening. George Akra Class of 2007 Assassination of world leaders isn’t justified In response to a May 3 mail call: If I understand Mr. Sewell correctly, he seems to think that there is a moral justification for murder carried out with the ultimate wisdom and discretion of George W. Bush. When you say America acts with the interest of establishing law and order, you forget that by partic ipating in any way in the assassination of any international leader, the presi dent is in violation of Executive Order 12333, which forbids involvement in any such activity. What a great example we are setting. In likening "Islamic militants" to convicted killers and the United States or Israel to the all-knowing Judge, he has erroneously assumed that we are the virtuous and innocent motherland, acting in the best interest of everyone involved. In reality, our hands are just as dirty as theirs. During major combat in Iraq, reportedly as many as 6,000 innocent civilians were killed. These were not even "enemy com batants," who themselves have no rights to fair or humane treatment. They were merely citizens of Iraq, perhaps Islamic, and thus fell victim to the "swift hand of American justice." Assassinating world leaders is murder. America must respect international law and condemn anyone who partakes in such enterprises. We cannot expect to achieve peace if we don't practice it. Brad Ray Class of 2007 President Bush has been acting as a ‘tyrant’ Our government is acting as a tyrant now, especially the commander in chief President Bush. I would consider myself more conserva tive than liberal in most cases, but the acts of President Bush are going unno ticed by Congress because they are also Republicans. I hate it when people in the current administration blame 9-11 on Clinton and his administration. Excluding the fact that Clinton left Bush a surplus of $540 billion, which now is gone, the economy was good and America was not invading any countries for false pretenses. Yet when Clinton fouled up in the oval office and received special benefits from his intern he gets impeached by the Republicans for lying. But when Bush lies to America and has laid over 600 American soldiers to rest because he lied, where is our great democracy and justice? The Republicans are not going to do anything. I will be vot ing for Kerry in the election because Bush will take us nowhere but lower with his "gaining respect by striking fear into oth ers" plan. Jordan Chambers Class of2003 Battalion fosters debate on academic dishonesty Thanks to The Battalion for its clear and accurate coverage ("Week aimed at aca demic dishonesty, plagiarism," April 15) of Academic and Professional Integrity Week. The Battalion played an important role in this university-wide conversation. I greatly appreciate your help in inform ing the A&M community not only about this event, but about its key message: Integrity is the foundation from which a university derives its authority. Yet, integri ty doesn't just happen. That's why the week's events looked beyond detecting and punishing academic dishonesty to focus on creating a community that fos ters integrity at all levels. Teaching, mod eling, and affirming inquiry, intellectual freedom and responsible scholarship will move us forward toward meeting the goals of Vision 2020. Dr. Michelle Hall Kells associate director, University Writing Center m tm