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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 1979)
Viewpoint The Battalion Texas A&M University Friday March 2, 1979 Robert Cherry, left, briefs Regent H.C. Bell on the Texas A&M Univer sity System budget requests. Cherry is the System’s legislative liaison. Bell unexpectedly had to present the System’s requests Tuesday when the chairman of the Board of Regents had to leave on business — the original schedule called for Texas A&M’s presentation before The University of Texas, but that was switched. Battalion photo by Liz Newlin No time for amateurs Texas A&M University System has long been envied by other universi ties for its presentations at State Legislative hearings. But Tuesday’s performance would not have made anybody jealous. Its presentation before a House subcommittee on higher education demonstrated that uncertainty about the chancellorship is damaging the University System. Without a chancellor, there was no one who could answer questions about the whole System and direct its presentation. Instead the regents decided to fill in. But this was no place for amateurs — especially unprepared amateurs. Regent Clyde Wells, designated as acting chancellor when Chancellor Jack Williams resigned a month ago, had to leave on business when the hearing was delayed 1 V2 hours. The University of Texas System was al lowed to present its budget first, and its chancellor directed the show. Regent H.C. Bell,, only briefly prepared, was called upon to answer questions about the system. It was apparent that someone more familiar with the intricacies of the System was needed to direct the presentation. Rep. Wilhelmina Delco, D-Austin, questioned the regents’ method in presenting the budget — letting each institution “fend for itself’ by allow ing each institution’s executive to speak. She said it was unclear who made budget decisions for Texas A&M — the institutions or the regents. Twice representatives asked for Dr. Williams, forgetting he is no longer chancellor. The Texas A&M University System did not look professional. Sadly, Bell may have summed up his performance in the unexpected role with a closing remark to the committee: T know I’m not doing a good job at it.” The regents could have decided to ask someone else in the system to speak. Clyde Freeman, who was acting chancellor when then-President Williams was sick, would have been far more familiar than a regent with System workings. Or President Miller could have answered more knowl edgeably. Texas A&M’s regents should realize that this is a time for leadership, not for amateurs. / The House hearing illustrated that even a chairman of a board of regents, designated to act as chancellor, can’t be expected to know the day-to-day operations of a system. It’s even worse, as it was Tuesday, when even he can’t appear. We need someone experienced in working with the University System — someone should be named now to exercise this kind of leadership. — K.T. Letters to the Editor Cambodia suffers barbaric atrocities By ALAN DAWSON United Press International HANOI, Vietnam — C ommunist visitors to Cambodia since the Vietnamese invasion in early January have returned ap palled at the horrors of life under the over thrown Khmer Rouge. They also report continuing resistance by Khmer Rouge loyalists even in the Phnom Penh outskirts and predict it will take years to rebuild the country into even some semblance of a 20th century nation. “It really is the year zero in Cambodia right now,” said a Vietnamese. Foreign visitors to Cambodia during the past six weeks have been allowed in only on the condition they not state publicly that Vietnamese troops dominate the winning forces. Vietnamese officials continue to deny in volvement in the overthrow of the Pol Pot regime, although they admit freely the Vietnamese army “helped” by cutting the Khmer Rouge regulars to pieces near the Vietnam frontier. But in conversations with communist newsmen and Vietnamese who recently were in Cambodia, the dominant theme is atrocities of the Khmer Rouge against the Cambodian people. The most gruesomemies came from Polish newsman Wieslaw Gornicki, who . was taken to the province capital of Prey Veng near Vietnam where officials said virtually the entire population of 22,000 was slain. Reconstructed accounts from a few sur vivors, Gornicki said, indicated the Khmer Rouge killed the people, decapitated them, and flung the coipses and severed heads into city sewers. “What we saw were the remains, which were just liquefied flesh with millions of maggots and worms. The skulls floated on top of this, ” Gornicki said. Since Vietnamese troops overran Phnom Penh, Vietnam has organized three trips into the country for newsmen based in Hanoi. One reporter who has made all three trips said on his first visit he could hear Khmer Rouge artillery firing near the city. By the third trip, less than two weeks ago, the artillery was gone but he was fired on by someone with a rifle near the edge of the city. Some reporters have been taken to west ern Cambodia where the fighting is said to be heaviest. One said a trip to the temples of Angkor Wat proved that pro-Vietnam forces hold that ancient symbol of Cambo dian nationalism. The Khmer Rouge, which broadcasts over a China-based radio station, has claimed their forces hold the temple com plex. Most but not all the Hanoi-based rer porters come from communist countries or are pro-communist themselves. It may be presumed this sometimes shades their re- Foreign C ommentary porting, although most obviously are highly professional. “It’s just very difficult to think of an ad jective to describe the Pol Pot regime,” said one reporter. “Barbaric is not severe enough.” The Cambodian capital, they said, is a deserted city, like a movie where all the people were killed by an atomic bomb. Breakfasts from April 17, 1975, the day the Khmer Rouge won the war, still sit on tables in houses. Clothes hang in closets. There were no lights and no electricity when the Vietnamese entered the city. “And now they have just a bit of power restored,” said one reporter. “But most of the city is still blacked out.” One newsman celebrated his birthday in Phnom Penh with and cognac in the Royal Palace. Then he returned to his hotel room where there were no lights and no water. A Cuban journalist said he picked up 1.5 m ill ion Riel, the Cambodian currency, from the floors of the bomb-shattered na tional bank building. The Khmer Rouge outlawed money after taking over Cam bodia and switched to a crude barter sys tem. Even Phnom Penh’s once imposing French-built cathedral was wiped away by the Khmer Rouge. None of the newsmen knew it ever existed until informed by a Westerner who had been in the capital in pre-Khmer Rouge days. Admittance hassle useless bureaucracy Editor: After being at TAMU for more than six years, there remain few entanglements which yet succeed in flustering me. However, finally I have found a situation that has cracked my hard years of intensive training in patience that life at Texas A&M has provided. After trying to enter the G. Rollie White Coliseum Monday night in order to attend my scuba class (which I can miss no more than two times if I want cer tification), the personnel on the other side of the door requested my ID card. After being told two weeks before by similar personnel that identification would not be necessary to attend classes, I had not made certain that my ID card was with me that night. Unfortunately, I only had last year’s card. Alas, this would not suffice, and I was not allowed admittance to my class. (And when I went anyway, I was followed and asked by my instructor to leave — which I did with out hassle). It was obvious (or could have been with out too much imagination) that I was in deed a student, who somewhere had an ID card. One doesn’t carry a notebook cram med full of notes dated 1979 if he isn’t a student, nor does A&M often allow a per son on its official rolls if the person is not recognized as a student. I am disappointed in the staff of the in tramural office for not clearly stating the requirements for attending class, and for enforcing their rules the same night the announcement of intent was given to the class. I am also disappointed in the lack of dis cretion in the personnel on duty that night. The situation called for common sense rather than strict compliance as it was obvi ous I was not some shenanigan planning on bringing down the walls. If I had wanted to, I only needed to borrow an ID. I suggest that some alternative means could have been provided by the depart ment — particularly if the staff intended strict adherence to the rules — for those students, including myself, who were de-- nied entrance Monday night. As it was, I spent the majority’ of the class period not greater than 30 feet from m> classroom waiting for my ride, who was incidentally in scuba class at the time. —Dawn Merton, graduate student Get the points? Editor: This is in reply to Charles Cody’s badly misinformed letter of Feb. 21 concerning nuclear power. I will take it point by point. 1. Yes, nuclear plants do release radia tion, but at a level hundreds of times less than that released by a coal-fired electric plant (Yes, coal! Look it up). 2. In the same studies where you learned of radiation induced genetic mutations, you should also have learned that virtually ev erything on earth and in the rest of the universe is radioactive including Charles Cody. The maximum level of radiation that nuclear power plants are allowed to release is much less than that natural background level; about 5 percent of it. Typically, a nuclear plant emits only about 0.01 percent of the background. 3. You voiced concern over uranium miners. Per unit of electricity produced, uranium mining is by far safer than coal mining. 4. On the problem of nuclear waste dis posal, we actually know a great deal. First, reprocessed nuclear waste becomes less radioactive than the ore from which it came in about 600 years, not 500,000 years as you claimed. From nature’s own nuclear reac tors that operated about 2 billion years ago in the Gabon Republic, Africa, we see that nuclear waste is not a problem. In fact the ability to remove nuclear waste from the biosphere is one of nuclear power’s best selling points. 5. So called “thermal pollution” is as sociated with any electric plant that uses heat to produce steam (oil, gas, coal, nu clear). In Texas and many other places, this “thermal pollution” seems to be beneficial rather than harmful. 6. While nuclear power is not THE MOST efficient way to produce electricity, it is comparable to other steam-electric plants (oil, gas, coal, nuclear). The next generation of nuclear plants which includes the HTGR and the fast breeder, will rival or surpass the most efficient of the present steam-electric plants. Nuclear power is an excellent way to mass produce electricity. In short, nuclear power is the cleanest and safest way to mass produce electricity. —Clay Booker, ’79 Need nuke’s power Editor: The following comments address Dennis Chester’s letter to The Battalion (Feb. 22). I would like to criticize his comments stating that nuclear power is both “a limited energy source” and “unnecessary.” Mr. Chester seems to lack the knowledge of breeder reactors and fusion, for he did not mention them in his article. It is true that breeder reactors use limited fuels such as the various isotopes of uranium or plutonium, but the fact is that these types of reactors produce more fuel than they consume. Mr. Chester has also neglected fusion. The dominant fuel used for fusion is the isotope, deuterium, which is found in hy drogen. The common source ofhydrogen is water, and water is nearly inexhaustible. Therefore, nuclear power, with the use of breeder reactors and fusion, is far from being a limited energy source. As for nuclear power being unnecessary, any energy source that has the potential of supplying the world with a substantial amount of power is definitely needed, not to be discarded. —Roland Dunn, ’81 you're ^1oo«zt To s/^ Top of the News LOCAL Two file for Consolidated posts A&M dean now on bank board STATE Solons back same-day primary Two Houston legislators said Thursday they have signed commit ments from 78 of the 150 House members for legislation that would block attempts to have a presidential primary in Texas on a different date than the regular state primary elections. Reps. Brad Wright, R-Houston, and Ron Waters, D-Houston, are sponsoring their own presidential primary bill, which would allow either major political party to choose whether it will conduct a presidential primary in 1980, but would require any presidential votes be on the same May date as regular state elections. Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and Speaker Bill Clayton have been pushing legislation to establish a presidential pri mary in March and change the date of the primaries for state offices from May to July. 3 states want suspected hit man A homicide investigator Thursday said a parole violator arrested last week after a day-long siege of his trailer house is a suspect in 15 murders — many of them kill-for-hire contracts — in Texas, Okla homa and Louisiana. Harris County Sheriffs Detective Jim Waller said Robert Eugene Drummond, 25, was charged in one Montgom ery County, Texas, murder this week and was a suspect in a series of paid killings. “It’s called eliminating witnesses,” he said. The detec tive said law enforcement agencies from several states were seeking information about Drummond, arrested last Friday on a warrant charging him with parole violation. Estes pleads innocent to charges Billie Sol Estes, the man who became a millionaire from a fertilizer tank scheme, pleaded innocent Thursday to new swindling charges that could send him back to prison. A federal grand jury last week in dicated Estes on charges of income tax evasion, mail fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property and concealing assets. Estes pleaded innocent to each of the charges in the court of U.S. District Judge Sarah T. Hughes, who scheduled trial for May 14 before U.S. District Judge Robert M. Hill. Defense attorney Jerry Irving protested the arraignment, saying the government could not prosecute his client because of an earlier plea bargaining arrangement. Hughes told Irv ing to address those contentions during the trial. NATION Physicist: Wastes can be stored One of the nuclear physicists who developed the hydrogen bomb told Mississippi lawmakers Thursday that radioactive waste material can be stored in the salt domes of south Mississippi without danger to people living in the area. Dr. Edward Teller told two state House committees that nuclear wastes would be stored in deep caverns. He said federal regulations governing the storage of such materials are safe and strictly enforced. Teller said the material’s radioactivity is self-contained, and the salt would serve as a seal to prevent leakage. “Many sites have been discussed. These salt domes are the easiest and least expensive method. The domes will remain dry and undis turbed for a million years,” he said. WORLD Iranians capture evacuated base A group of 22 U.S. Air Force personnel who were evacuated from a top-secret U.S. electronic monitoring base near the Soviet border left Tehran Thursday for Paris en route home to the United States. West ern diplomatic sources said the Americans were forced to abandon their base at Kabcan, near the Soviet border in northeast Iran, after right-wing guerrillas attacked and seized the base, capturing secret monitoring devices. The State Department acknowledged the base had been abandoned but denied it had been attacked by guerrillas or that top-secret monitoring equipment had been lost. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Iranians poured into the streets of Qom, 100 miles south of Tehran, Thursdsay, welcoming Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic revolution that swept the shah from power. Khomeini left the turmoil of Tehran and retired to the holy city, where aides said he would devote the rest of his life to teaching religion. WEATHER Partly cloudy and mild with isolated showers Friday after noon. There is a 30% chance of rain Friday night. High today 70 and low tonight in the upper 50s. Winds will be S.E. at 10-15 mph. A cold front will be passing through College Station on Saturday. c Two candidates have filed for A&M Consolidated School Board positions that will become vacant on April 7. James F. McNamara, an education professor at Texas A&M University, has filed for Position 2. Mary C. Fellenz, a homemaker, has filed for Position 1. The current trustees in these positions, Rodney Hill and Lambert Wilkes, respec tively, have decided not to seek reelection. The filing deadline is Wednesday. Chi) Dr. Haskell M. Monroe Jr., associate vice president for academic affairs at Texas A&M University, has been elected to the hoard of directors of City National Bank in Bryan. The announcement was made Thursday by Bookman Peters, the bank's chief executive offi cer. Monroe is also Texas A&M dean of faculties. He joined the University in 1959 as a history instructor. “Texas A&M University is clearly the major economic influence in our community and Dr. Monroe will give us valuable guidance on banking services desired by the faculty, staff and students,” Peters said in making the announce ment. cient uncli da\ The Battalion; LETTERS POLICY Te*a™S!f?,SLon Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are Southwest Journalism Congress subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does Editor Kim Tyl not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must be Managing Editor Liz Ne" signed, show the address of the writer and list a tele,,hone Assistant Managing Editor . Andy Willi! number Jor venjication. rrJ- <=><=> fa Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, The oports Editor David Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building^ College City Editor Scott Pendki Station, Texas 77843. Campus Editor Steve Represented nationally by National Educational Adver- News Editors Debbie PaTSO! tising Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los Beth Calhoun The Battalion is published Monday mrouRhTridaVfVom Staff Wnter * Karen Rogers Jll September through May except during exam and holiday. Patterson, Sean Petty, Dl3 periods and the summer, when it is published on Tuesday Blake, Dillard Stone, through Thursday. Bragg, Lyle Lovett, Kell Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per Tavlor school year; $35.00 per full year. Advertising rates furnished ^ . ta o L on request. Address: The Battalion, Boom 216, Reed Cartoonist Doug Crall!| McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Photo Editor Lee Roy Leschpef United Press International is entitled exclusively to the Photographer Lynn Bl use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it. r?„ Cnn, W»l Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. F ° CUS SeCtl ° n editor Gary Wei Second-Class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are Regents. The Battalion is a non-profit, those of the editor or of the writer of the supporting enterprise operated by slid article and are not necessarily those of the as a university and community newspcj University administration or the Board of Editorial policy is determined by the edit 1