The Rattler (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 8, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 25, 2004 Page: 13 of 16
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February 25, 2004
13
Are Latinos
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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHUCK KERR
Bush administration's best efforts ' for the good of all mankind.
Say What?
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mmmmmm
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Random drug
tests ineffective
important
only for
votes?
Greg
Pardo
What a man of action.
What a fearless leader.
What a space cadet.
President George W. Bush
recently unveiled his new vision
for the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA)
schools and that it does not seek to isolate
them.
Jay Bender (3L)
President
Student Bar Association
St. Mary's University School of Law
"g
ward appearances may suggest
otherwise, isn't stupid.
Ever the forward-thinker, by
revitalizing NASA he's obviously
laying the groundwork to relocate
the entire human population to
Mars once pollution and global
warming make Earth uninhabit-
able.
Bush should be lauded for his
foresight: his environmental poli-
cies aren't working, so he's cut-
ting his losses and planning ahead
having an adverse effect, how wilL
the human race survive?
Well, Bush, although all out-
Initiative is aimed at curbing
potential forest fires by cutting
down miles of American forests.
Bush and company have over
200 environmental repeals that
have either been implemented or
are in the works, many of which
benefit no one save the energy
industry that contributed $48 mil-
lion to the Republican Party in the
2000 election.
With the threat of environmen-
tal meltdown looming, and the
mT
Amanda R.
Martinez
aseaessxzsaxasasssasssaesssesas
Who would you like to see win an
Academy Award this Sunday?
Law school not of a “bottom tier”
“oea’
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Chuck
Kerr
programs that the nation can rally
behind. Of course, that would be a
very superficial reason for giving
NASA a jumpstart, and the presi-
dent is supposedly above such
shameless pandering.
In fact, the real reason for the
renewed interest in the space pro-
gram isn't a political one.
Bush is a born problem-solver,
and there's a problem our man is
determined to solve.
The global climate is changing
at alarming rates, but the Bush
administration is doing its best to
combat pollution and global
warming.
Their Clear Skies Bill, an
amendment to the Clean Air Act,
sets new standards for emissions
of sulfur dioxide, mercury and
nitrogen oxides from U.S. power
plants. However, those standards
are actually lower than the current
regulations, meaning about 50
percent more deadly sulfur emis-
sions and triple the toxic mercury
emissions.
President Bill Clinton's work
for preserving Pacific Northwest
forestlands is getting an extra
"I want the Best Picture to be
The Lord of the Rings: The
Return of the King.”
Cesar Barro
Freshman
International Business
and Corporate Finance
application would simply be two questions: 1)
what is your LSAT and 2) where do we contact
you. But that is not the case. Law school
applications are long including essays,
resumes, and references. There is much more
to an applicant than just a LSAT score. This is
also why it is unfortunate that the LSAT score
“I’d like to see Charlize
Theron win Best Actress
for Monster."
Eva Christian
Junior
Exercise Sports and
Science
Commentary
The Rattler •
In the most recent State of the Union
address, President Bush cited an 11 percent
—--- drop in high school student
“I want Johnny Depp to
win for Pirates of the
Caribbean."
Jessica Rosales
Freshman
Bio-Chemistry
Gov. Bill Richardson from New
Mexico provides us with percent-
ages, for example; 18 million
Latinos who do not have health
care, 1.5 million unemployed
Latinos across the U.S., and the
gap between home ownership
rates between Latinos and white
homeowners increasing by seven
percent during the past three
years. He concludes by stating
that 65 to 70 percent of the Latino
vote goes to the Democratic Party.
However, the current situation
that many Latinos face is
extremely detrimental to their
social well-being. Consequently,
because of many Republican poli-
cies, education, jobs health care,
adequate and affordable housing
seem to be at a far-reach for many
lower and middle-class Latinos.
Ironically, Republicans believe
that under the current adminis-
tration, policies being made are
positively affecting Latinos.
"With a president who wants
us to have every opportunity to
succeed...Hispanics have reason
to feel confident about the
future," says Mel Martinez, for-,
mer Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development.
With the Democrats and
Republicans vouching for Latino
votes, both are neglecting to rem-
edy the problems that Latinos are
facing. Of course Latinos are
important, but Latinos are impor-
tant to political parties to win
elections. Sadly, after Latinos are
used for winning elections, politi-
cians become oblivious to their
needs during the legislative ses-
sion.
Being motioned during elec-
tion time is not enough.
Politicians should stop pretend-
ing that they truly care for the
Latino population and begin to
pass policies that are truly going
to help. Until then, Latinos will
only be important to win an elec-
tion.
My advice to politicians: if you
truly want the Latinos' help, why
not help them first.
to get re-elected this coming hand from the Bush administra-
November by creating long-term tion: their Healthy Forests
their respective
parties.
Of course both
individuals argue
that their parties
are the most bene-
ficial for the Latino
community.
Democratic
Apparently Bush failed to analyze the
data in sufficient depth as a recent USA Today
article pointed out that a University of
Michigan study, in part with the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, found 95 percent of
schools nationwide don't even conduct ran-
dom drug tests.
The typical response to a student on drugs
at school where drug testing is implemented
is expulsion.
What a great idea! So these drug abusing
students that clearly need some sort of help
get booted out of school and are left stuck at
home bored, with more time to do drugs.
At least the students are showing up to
school. The fact that they were caught on
drugs perhaps means they just need a help-
ing hand to reprioritize.
Maybe, with open communication with
adults, we would see a successful decrease in
high schooler's drug use and have some-
thing real to attribute the success statistics to.
If Bush so desires to help students, why
not apply that $23 million to scholarships for
more students to have more options in the
future? What about top of the line technolo-
gy in schools or more efficient public trans-
portation?
Surely there are other ways to go about
tackling such social issues besides wasting
valuable learning time to catch students to
expel.
r
m .
human explorations of Mars by
2030.
To accomplish these lofty
goals, he proposed a $1 billion
addition to NASA's budget over
five years.
Pundits saw his announcement
as a cheap ploy to generate good
press. In the midst of a slipping
economy, a Democratic party
that's getting a spine implant and
the continued lack of evidence of
Iraq's weapons of mass destruc-
tion program, what better way to
divert the nation's attention than
with talk of moon bases and voy-
ages to Mars?
Others saw it as part of his bid
aidb
Lx/
As President of the Student Bar Association comprises approximately 90 percent of the
at St. Mary's University School of Law I want U.S. News and World Report rank order and
to respond to Justice Steven Wayne Smith's why the ranking is heavily criticized. The
political ad comparing the rankings of the remaining 10 percent of the ranking is attribut-
in the February issue of
Hispanic Magazine, a commentary
entitled "Seeking the Latino Vote"
showcases two prominent politi-
cal figures, a Democrat and
Republican, as they discuss the
importance of the Latino vote for
University of Texas School of able to Academic reputation. Academic repu-
Law and St. Mary's University tation is inherently flawed as an indicator
School of Law. because it is a subjective interpretation. The
I concur with Dean Bill Piatt answer to the same question will vary depend-
of St. Mary's University School ing on who was asked.
of Law, who has already elo- What is more unfortunate than the bogus
Bush to Mars: “You’re next, amigo.”
detailing an ambi-
tious plan for space
exploration.
Beginning in
2008, Bush plans to
return astronauts
to the moon by
2020, using it as a
launching pad for
drug use in the past two
years, attributing this
improvement to random drug
tests. As a result, Bush pro-
posed to offer $23 million to
schools to implement random
drug testing to further lower
the rate of student drug use.
——-------- quently and publicly respond- basis for Justice Smith's statement is that he
_ . ed to Justice Smith's remarks uses it to confuse the issue. If Justice Smith
w by correctly pointing out that were to argue his credentials fairly, he must
St. Mary's University School of Law has many first place them on the same level playing field
wonderful successes and alumni. as his opponent. It is unfair for Justice Smith
When Justice Steven Wayne Smith alludes to claim that he graduated from a top-tier
to St. Mary's law being a bottom-tier law ranked law school because in 1986, when he
school from which his opponent, Judge Paul graduated from the University of Texas School
Green, graduated in a political ad campaign, of Law, there were no rankings. The first and
he is referring to the rankings published by only rankings, those published by U.S. News
U.S. News and World Report. These rankings and World Report, did not start until 1990. This
are flawed and widely criticized by the ABA is an unfair comparison because there is no
and the ABA accredited law schools. The U.S. way to know how the University of Texas
News and World Report uses 12 factors in deter- School of Law compared in 1986, when Justice
mining the rank order of the law schools. Smith graduated, to St. Mary's University
However, only two factors statistically account School of Law when Judge Green graduated,
for the ranking difference among the schools; Justice Smith's statement is disappointing
mean LSAT and academic reputation. and arguably inaccurate. I am proud to have
Anyone who has taken a standardized test, attended St. Mary's University School of Law.
like the LSAT, can understand that there are I have gained a deeper understanding of the
many who do not test well for a variety of rea- Marianist traditions and sense of community,
sons. Certainly many who have matriculated I am sure that graduates from the University of
into law school with lower standardized test Texas School of Law are equally proud. They,
scores and still had successful academic as well as any graduate from a Texas law
endeavors. Therefore, the LSAT test score is school, have every right to be proud because
not "the" single indicator of ones ability to being a lawyer is a noble profession. It is my
perform in law school or as a jurist. If the sincerest hope that this unfortunate issue can
LSAT were such an indicator, the law school lead to a broader appreciation for all Texas law
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St. Mary's University (San Antonio, Tex.). The Rattler (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 8, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 25, 2004, newspaper, February 25, 2004; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1518898/m1/13/?rotate=180: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting St. Mary's University Louis J. Blume Library.