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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2004)
fED M-F. t 3® majoti )ns ope; •S. Giao ays. ft iy! Cu s +• Coie Opinion The Battalion Page 5 • Wednesday, July 21, 2004 T-shirt turbulence slew York Sub has right to produce T-shirts offensive to Kerry supporters 'Peciafe. ligitt ; early!! dj.com enaissance thinker Michel de Montaigne once said, “There is no conver sation more boring than the one where everybody agrees." If there’s any truth to that, the dialogue between New York Sub and local liberals can be considered anything but boring. Recently, employees of New York Sub designed a T-shirt that features, on the breast pocket, an elephant mounting a donkey, and “F#@k John Kerry” written on the back. The public commotion started when former Aggie Democrats presi dent Nick Anthis wrote a mail call to The Battalion claiming that the shirt depicted rape and made light of the crime, and that promoting this shirt at a restaurant “alienated progressives.” But the truth is this is an act of refreshingly candid free speech by Jew York Sub owner Austin Harkness in an honest attempt to share a iugh with and attract like-minded people to his establishment. Harkness strongly rejected the notion that the shirt design I picted rape. “Let me get one thing straight for Mr. Anthis and yone else who wants to take this too far: Pulling the “rape” card a cheap shot, and insinuating that we would endorse such a lespicable act represents mental weakness,” he wrote to The Bat- ta ion. “Don’t claim we promote rape, whether it’s a donkey or a ^Residential candidate. It’s absurd, and I would imagine embar- 81 "wing to your fellow progressives ... there IS NOTHING imorous about rape.” It’s ridiculous for Anthis or any liberal to presume a j staurant owner and his employees would all think along those lines. Perhaps what liberals are actually glared of is that Kerry will be “raped” in the polls this November when the American pub SSJjects an unpatriotic, flip-flop politi- : ci i) in favor of one who will continue wBfight evil within and outside of =s i unateriM, ome. vljr o +bills Is drmarl iveor J 79-77M 25/m. Imerican borders. -jjjjj The second accusation Anthis made 1406 Ras that “New York Sub has hurt the ci nmunity by alienating (Democrats)” om caBrough the creation of the shirt. “It’s lexcusable," he believes. Of course, nthis acknowledged that the establish- lent has the right to free speech, but lid New York Sub needs “to exercise me more control.” Harkness explained that he new exactly what he was doing id understood the consequences. iherte todmi/t JedMii i,485H Brand a snw “I understand each time you take a side in a hotly contested subject such as politics or religion, you automatically anger or offend those people who aren’t of the same opinion,” he wrote to The Battalion. The claim that free speech should involve the exercise of con trol is a good idea if one is attempting to change someone’s mind. Persuasion requires a certain amount of tact so as not to offend the person whose mind one is trying to change. However, it’s clear that Harkness didn’t believe he’d change a card-carrying Democrat’s vote from Kerry to Bush this November with humor and swearing. “Con trol” was unnecessary given his intentions. The truth is, Harkness should be applauded for taking such a strong stand for his beliefs and encouraging a laugh and a whoop by those who believe as he does. His T-shirt harms no one and offends only those whose ideas are offensive to his own. Besides that, the shirt idea was a shrewd marketing idea — few establishments in town have received so much attention as to be discussed in two Battalion articles and multiple mail calls, and likely there are Aggies who have visited New York Sub for the first time just to see “what the fuss is about.” In fact, Harkness confirmed that “there has been a sharp increase in sales since this started.” The T-shirt controversy highlights many of the reasons we should be proud to live in America. Entrepre neurs like Harkness are free to set up and profit from private businesses, and he and the rest of Americans have the freedom to say what they wish, wear what they like and eat wherever they want. In the end, those who are offended may wish to take the advice of a mail call by Michael Hart and “grow thicker skin.” Mike Walters is a senior psychology major. Graphic by Rylie Deyoe Preserving the PATRIOT Act ssential to national security ITT' 1 W 1 MAIL CALL CRAIG BOWEN a lio® : hile lawmakers were still thinking clearly, when vi sions of burning buildings nd scorched bodies hadn’t yet left television screens and when the 248i' 'tizens of America were still stead- -2-Jtst in their resolve to combat terror, invito' Re USA PATRIOT Act was created, icobail he PATRIOT Act extends the laws —Jsed to fight organized crime and ed $42T ru § trafficking to the war against 693^Btror. Incongruity has now led some ^/ibawrmer supporters of this bill to challenge it as uncon- 4C fitutional and offer “amendments” to it that basically tdlify its existence. The proposed amendments to the act were defeated in ongress by a ridiculously narrow margin on July 8. Ameri- pns aren’t safe yet, though. The opposition says there will °' +ll, l e Ntore proposed amendments until the review period in September 2005, 'hen a vote will be taken to decide on the ATRIOT Act’s reinstatement. The PATRIOT Act allows the use of wing wiretaps, pen registers, tap and pee devices, delayed search notification Pd the gathering of potentially eviden- I ar y records and receipts from banks, hraries and airlines. These were all exist- Provisions law enforcement agencies |heady used to fight crime long before e PT 11. The PATRIOT Act made these 1,0 ^ethods available for use, among others, | v ailable for use against terrorists. For example, in the 1970s the Supreme Court ruled at the Constitution does not require law enforcement jgencies to immediately notify an individual whose ptne or office has been searched if that notification Paid result in destruction of evidence, harm to witnesses r the fleeing of a suspect. Section 213 of the Patriot Act pPly extends this provision to terrorism. If the FBI i arches a suspected terrorist’s residence, it doesn t have .p notify the suspect right away. This ensures that the t can’t burn any instruction manuals on “How ’ J° Operate A 767” or decide to leave the country before Planned search. That makes sense to most freedom-lov- § Americans. A handful of critics, however, call this the “sneak and ee k section of the Act, saying it violates the Fourth nie ndment, which secures a person and their pos- • • tt J ess * 0ris a gainst unreasonable searches and seizures. S I eaic h warrants still must be obtained under the Patriot (<K | C T however, and the investigative body still must have frs 2 * r ? able cause. How is that an unreasonable search? Actions 214 and 216 are two other so-called “problem F eas °f the act. They introduce the use of pen registers ' n trap and trace devices, which are “...investigative } ° s used to obtain information about the source and es tination - but not the content — of telephone calls and jnclo* 301" j" 3, e-mail messages.” Authorities can tell who the suspect called or e-mailed, and from what telephone or computer they corresponded, but nothing about the content of the correspondence is revealed. The opposition to the PA TRIOT Act skews these sections to make them look like spying or intercepting devices used to eavesdrop on cor respondence between innocent civilians. The vast majority of the opposition to this law comes from Section 215, the so-called angry librarians provision. With a judge’s order and a grand jury subpoena, law of ficers can obtain library, business and international banking records, airline manifests and a number of different receipts for use in their case. The fact that library records are included here is considered by some to be the most ludicrous thing the government has ever done according to the U.S. De partment of Justice Web site. However, a brief over view of the cases library records have helped solve might enlighten and surprise some: the Gianni Versace murder case in 1997, the nationwide Unibomber hunt and the 1990 Zodiac gunman case, just to name a few. To keep libraries out of this list of potentially evidentiary records would be ludicrous, especially now that most public libraries of fer high-speed Internet connections. Public places of study would become a safe haven for terrorists to commu nicate and research their catastrophic causes. The U.S. government’s duty is multi-faceted, but the protection of its citizens and the ability to research, combat and ideally prevent acts of terror on U.S. soil is quickly becoming an undeniable necessity. The citizen ship of our nation has an important duty: to cooperate with governing authorities, aiding them in any way unless our Constitutional rights are being violated. That is absolutely not the case with the PATRIOT Act. To strip powerful tools out of our leaders’ hands because of falsities provided by a hysterical few is not cooperation, it is treason, “providing support and comfort to the en emies of one’s nation.” We must battle to save laws like the PATRIOT Act that in turn protect us from heinous crimes like those committed on that forgotten September day three short years ago. The protection of (U.S.) citizens.Js quickly becoming an undeniable necessity. Marriage should be religious institution In response to Nicholas Davis’ July 20 column: I would like to support Mr. Davis’ defense of traditional marriage. Even though I am a liberal homosexual, I agree with Mr. Davis that religious mar riage is a sacred union between one man and one woman. Government does not have a right to meddle with the ba sic definition of this holy union. Religious people in this country have a constitu tional right to believe, define and prac tice these unions within their respective religions. How, then, can we deal with men and women who seek legal recog nition of their same-sex relationships? Mr. Davis and many who share his po litical views are quick to offer Civil Unions as a concession. Separate but equal in stitutions have already been declared un constitutional. Incidentally, the court who decided that case could be described as activist. I would like to propose a solution agreeable to the largest amount of people on both sides of the political spectrum. Let religious institutions administer marriages (just like they do now) and let everyone get civil unions for government recognition of their union. No more marriage for straight people and civil unions for gay people, just give everyone civil unions. That way, the government stays out of religious insti tutions, an idea this country was founded on, and every union is equal before the law without separate definitions. Matthew McDougall Class of 200 Headline showed reporting bias In response to a July 19 article: Recently, The Battalion featured a news article on the front page featuring a headline that read “Controversy esca lates over offensive T-shirts.” I am left to ask who exactly determines what is and what is not “offensive?” While I cer tainly understand how and why some people are offended by shirts that say “F— Kerry,” many (myself included) are not. By using the word "offensive” in the headline, The Battalion is making a value judgment instead of simply report ing the facts regarding the news story. The editors of the Battalion should not allow this type of bias to appear and I encourage them to take more care in leaving opinions and value judgments out of their news reporting. Mark McCaig Class of 2005 Wall ruled against due to land claims In response to Clint Rainey’s July 20 column: The ICJ ruled against the wall be cause Israel violated international law by building it on illegally annexed land. If Israel had built the wall on the inter nationally recognized border between itself and the Occupied Territories, no one would have the right to object. Isra el has every right to defend its people, but if this were about defense rather than a land grab, the wall wouldn't be deep inside Palestinian territory. Ahmed Gamal Ph.D Student Craig Bowen is a junior wildlife ecology major.