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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 2004)
NE\! attalic eer Centers vith them to, 3b search pfe II 845-5133 lent or ;du. students n brief advis; n appointrri 1-F from8:i :30-4p,ir r letters cans ilk-in advise and anon- ? at: http: j u/tamu/st: idex.htm. A&M'S e that peo:| bottles in tid. “We the abilinl iplinary st K. rum rev $ » will use e take the: ig of it. at they uc<J| aid. “I irJ >es it take j§ >tudents r« settle vvilh I Opinion The Battalion Page 11 Wednesday, September 8, 2004 Pace Design MATT RIGNEY Legislature vs. nurture Laws on breast-feed ing in public should be left to the states T" n a country rendered hysterical by Janet I Jackson’s alleged wardrobe malfunction, Ait’s not surprising that breast-feeding in public would make many Americans uncom fortable. The acceptability of public breast feeding has been a controversial issue for years, but H.R. 2790 is bringing the matter to a head. The bill would make breast-feeding in public a civil right and is currently before a congressional committee. Federal intervention in this matter is unwarranted and unnecessary. Forty of 50 states and most businesses have already established regulations that provide for public breast-feeding in some manner, although the degree to which breast-feeding is allowed to be an open, public act varies. Because this issue is already being handled locally in a majority of states and is so intricately tied to social mores and other norms distinctive to a particular group of people, it makes sense to leave breast-feeding in public in the realm of state legislation. California allows women to breast-feed “in any location, public or private, except the private home ... of another,” ac cording to a Fox News Web site. A federal law already exists that ensures mothers the right to breast-feed in public if they are on federal or public, property, according to Nancy Solomon of Women’s Enews. Some states, such as Virginia, mirror this law, allowing breast feeding on public property but avoiding the issue of breast-feed ing on private property. Other states simply sidestep the issue altogether by omitting breast-feeding in public from their criminal statutes, implying that it doesn’t violate any indecent exposure or obscenity laws, according to Fox News. In addition to existing state laws, many businesses try to ac commodate the needs of new mothers, allowing them to breast feed their babies in any way comfortable, primarily because it’s bad business to alienate such a large, potentially cash-wielding, population. Regardless of a state’s laws, capitalistic imperative is incentive enough for many corporations to adopt mother- friendly policies. Other businesses ask that new mothers move to a less conspicu ous area to breast-feed or cover themselves with a blanket. To many, this so-called modesty requirement does not seem unrea sonable, and those who do find it unreasonable can object to it in language a business enterprise can easily understand: taking their business and their cash, elsewhere. “No shoes, no shirt, no service” signs in a variety of businesses are not an uncommon sight, nor is it difficult to understand the reasoning behind them. Businesses that bank on the aura they work hard to create and charge a premium for are rightly allowed to demand certain stan dards of dress from their customers in order to protect their livelihood. Likewise, it’s understandable that a busi ness catering to families with young children asks women to breast-feed with some discre tion to protect its clients and itself. In her Women’s Enews column, Solomon writes, “When someone asks a woman to cover-up during breast-feeding or move to someplace more private, it is often because this person is sexualizing the act of breast-feeding rather than viewing it as a natural, nurturing act.” While Solomon makes a valid point, she misdiagnoses the point of contention among those who disagree on this topic. Many who oppose breast-feeding in public, or at least ad vocate a modesty requirement of some kind, may agree that breast-feeding is a natural, nurturing act, but see it as an act that is as inherently private as it is natural and nurturing. In the wake of the fiasco that centered around Jackson’s breast, many social critics were quick to note the irony of a country that can witness a seemingly endless parade of violence and gore without flinching and yet is sent into histrion ics at the sight of a breast. Yet as much as some activist groups may protest, there are segments of America that are simply not comfortable with the sight of a bare breast when they are eating, with their children or even watching television in their home. While a balance must be struck that satisfies the needs of new mothers as well as the community as a whole, places of business that find financial neces sity an insufficient incentive to accommodate new mothers are required to do so to some extent by law. Eighty percent of states have existing legislation on the issue. The crux of the issue rests upon just how public breast-feeding in public should be, an issue that is more a question of social mores, norms and individual tastes than of civil rights, an issue best decided by various con stituencies themselves rather than by Congress. Lindsye Forson is a senior journalism major. Ivan Fiores • THE BATTALION Strategic Oil Reserve should keep its cap on JOSHUA DWYER E nergy is a hot topic these days. From the United States’ dependence on foreign oil and over-regulation of domestic sources to investment in renewable energy forms and the limits of non-fossil fuel technologies, it seems like everyone has some thing to say, especially special interest groups. As the temperature rose this summer, so did the price of fuel. The national average price for regular unleaded gasoline reached $2.05 a gal lon, according to a report by the AAA. Though the price has come down since its all time high, some economists and elected officials are calling for action to help ordinary citizens cope with the necessary expense of filling up. Perhaps the most popular and publicized idea was for President Bush to authorize the sale of some oil reserves owned by the federal government to help lower the cost at the pump. The use of oil reserves to temporarily give Americans a lower gas price would be irre sponsible as well as potentially harmful to the national security of the United St ates. Officials elected to serve their respective constituents need to be reminded that their position does not entitle them to recklessly pawn U.S. security to win votes. The federal government owns more than 668 million barrels of crude oil in a group of storage facilities in Texas and Louisiana known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), ac cording to the Department of Energy. Selling oil intended for “emergency use only” greatly impairs the United States’ ability to withstand future hazards, especially with the frontlines of the war on terror in the Middle East. This vulnerability is even more salient when one considers the American Petroleum Institute’s report that the United States imports more than 62 percent of its crude oil. A useful analogy might be the low-on-funds college student who uses an emergency credit card fora festive weekend at Northgate, then bemoans his misfortune when the transmission goes out on his car and he can’t afford to get it fixed. He did not solve his first problem, but merely exchanged it for a larger problem in the future. Created in 1975 after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) im posed an oil embargo against the United States in response to its support of Israel, the SPR was intended to be a safeguard against any oil supplier who might threaten to turn off its oil spigot in the future. It was also created to be an insurance policy against severe disruptions to the domestic oil supply, such as sabotage or a natural disaster, which might cause econom ic devastation. The SPR was never intended to displace the inconveniences of a free market that determines the price of gasoline based on the accessible supply and required demand. The Wall Street Journal reported that as the need for crude oil increased in China and India earlier this year, the worldwide supply of oil was less than the new demand. This forced the increase in prices at the pump, not the greed of oil executives in the United States. Additionally, the amount of oil recommended to be used from the SPR may not improve the price per gallon of gasoline by more than a few pennies. A little perspective is also needed. When adjusted for inflation, the gas prices of today are less than they were in the 1870s, the 1970s and early 1980s, according to msnbc.com. The hysteria regarding the new high prices should be tempered with a little historical understanding. If certain congressmen were truly concerned with the energy prices that face Americans, perhaps they should consider other less risky alternatives. One of the fastest ways to reduce the cost of gasoline to the millions of Ameri cans who drive automobiles would be to cut the amount of taxes they impose on every gallon. The federal government charges 18 cents on every gallon and Texas adds an additional 20. This means that of the $ 1.79 a Texas A&M student may pay for gas, 38 cents of it actually goes to the federal and state governments. Any reduction in these taxes, even if it were tempo rary, would be immediately felt and appreci ated at the pump. Every year, Texas has a tax-free weekend to help people with back-to-school shopping ex penses without bankrupting the stale or drasti cally reducing its services. The elected officials should do something similar with fuel taxes rather than increase the United States’ potential dependence on foreign oil by selling some of its emergency reserves. Joshua Dwyer is a sophomore political science major. MAILeCALL No one should walk on grass As some of you may or may not have noticed a great tragedy has been occurring under our very noses. The tragedy I speak of is the disrespecting of the MSC and all that it stood for. I say stood because apparently it stands for little. How can you explain an ab surd amount of people walking on the grass? Yes, it is crowded by the bus stops, and yes, you may be in a very big hurry, but so are 90 percent of the rest of the people on the bus. But most of them don't take off through the grass like it is just another piece of campus real estate. I used to hear tales of people getting jumped for even stepping foot on the grass. Gone are those days, but there are other ways. Ask people politely to refrain from trespassing on the grass. If that doesn’t work, then it’s up to you. Do what you will, but do some thing! Don’t let our traditions die; it's who we are. It's what sepa rates us from the University of Texas and the rest of the schools in America. Take pride in being an Aggie! All I ask is that you re spect the MSC and what it stands for, whether it be keeping off the grass or taking your hat off, nei ther is very hard. Matthew Tollison Class of 2005 Pope shouldn’t endorse cloning In response to Mike Walters' Sept. 6 column: The column questioning the Pope’s comments on techno logical progress was misleading. The Pope has always supported technological progress. However, he has never, and no Pope will ever, support technological prog ress at the expense of innocent life. Catholics believe that life begins at conception, and clon ing research (like stem cell re search) involves the destruction and murder of humans at their most vulnerable stage. Mr. Walters said that the Pope attacked technology itself by re ferring to his comment denounc ing "the sense of power that ev ery technical progress inspires in man." It is quite a leap to con strue this statement as attacking technology itself and not the sin of pride over accomplishment that has infiltrated not only the medical profession but academia as well. The Pope is supportive and thankful for the medical tech nology that has enabled him to serve as long as he has, but I can guarantee you that if his welfare relied on the killing of innocent life, he would gladly suffer and die rather than live at the ex pense of innocent life. Brandon Thomas Byrne Class of 2006 Greeks have other work to do What the Aggie Greek com munity needs is not a change of seating, but a change of at titude. While a block of seat ing for Greeks might be a neat idea and on par with other large schools, there are more funda mental issues within the com munity that just sitting together cannot solve. Greeks need to take a step back and remember that at Texas A&M you must be an Aggie first and a chapter member second. Maybe it doesn't work that way at other schools, but that is what makes us different; it's what makes our school better. The elitist attitude will do nothing but continue to hurt our appearance on this campus, and for all the talk about trying to break the stereotype, I’d say Aggie Greeks are coming up short. IFC needs to take respon sibility for its own failures and bruised egos rather than point ing the blame at those whose job it is to make decisions that are in the best interest of all students. Until these attitudes change, and until we can offer students more than hangovers and divi sion, I am afraid recruitment will continue to fall, and for that we can only blame ourselves. Aggies expect more from Greek life; per haps Greeks should too. Richard Auter Class of 2005 Remember 9/11 at football game Being that this Saturday's home opener will be played on the third anniversary of the most horrific day in American history, I think it would be ap propriate to honor those fallen that day and in the war on terror through a red, white and blue out similar to the one that took place following 9/11. Not only would it give A&M an opportunity to honor those who have lost their life but it would . also give the student body the opportunity to showcase our community’s never-ceasing sense of national pride and pa triotism. Let's not forget that fo cusing on the more important is sues of country and family could help a lot of Aggies forget about a rather dismal season opener. Johnny Walker Class of 2006 The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters should be 200 words or less and include the author’s name, class and phone number. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, style and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in i person at 014 Reed McDonald with a, valid student ID. Letters also may be mailed to: 015 Reed McDonald, 1111 TAMU, College Station. TX 77843- 1111. Fax: (979) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thcbattalion.nct
