Columns
• Editorials
• News Briefs
Cbe Battalion
Page 2
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, January 5, 1966
• Opinions
• Cartoons
Features
CADET SLOUCH
by Jim Earle
United States: 1965
Viet Nam War
Was Top News
By GLENN DROMGOOLE
The war in Viet Nam was rated
the nation’s top news event of
the year by Battalion editors
Tuesday night.
Escalation of the Southeast
Asian conflict during 1965 gained
all first place votes from the six
student newspapermen.
National professional newsmen
also rated the Viet Nam War
as the major story of the past
year, according to a poll by the
Associated Press.
The Battalion staffers selec
ted the men in Viet Nam as
top newsmaker of the year.
President Lyndon Johnson, win
ner of the AP newsmaker award,
- finished second.
The Top 10 at a glance in
cluded:
1. The Viet Nam War.
2. U. S. and U.S.S.R. space
flights and probes.
3. Riots in Los Angeles.
4. President Johnson’s legis
lative program.
5. Dominican Republic crisis.
Winston Churchill’s death.
Northeastern power fail-
India-Pakistan fighting.
Pope Paul VI visits New
“Pm having a little trouble picking up where I left off
before th’ holidays—do you remember if I have an 8
o’clock class?” v
Sportsmanship:
No Dirty Word
Baylor University — 1965 Southwest Conference
sportsmanship champions.
The announcement that our friendly rivals from Waco
had received the SWC award for being best sports was
greeted in College Station with emotions ranging from
anger to outright laughter.
It was indeed a disappointment to Texas A&M stu
dents New Year’s Day when Cotton Bowl queen Cheryl
Robbins and SWC Sportsmanship Committee executive
secretary Terry Norman presented Baylor with the gigan
tic trophy indicating outstanding conduct for the second
time in three years.
Many Aggies, in eager anticipation of the award, sat
in front of their television sets for the halftime award they
knew belonged at home.
And if ever a student body worked for a sportsman
ship title, the Aggies did this fall.
But now that the shouting has somewhat sudsided,
let’s examine several facts, changes and background of
the SWC conduct trophy.
1. Method of selection. The sportsmanship winner
is chosen by individual ballots from each opposing school.
After every conference football and basketball contest,
each institution’s sportsmanship committee grades the op
ponent in two areas — team and student body conduct —
with a minimum of three and maximum of 12 points in
each area. Basketball sportsmanship, therefore, receives
an equal rating to football. The ballots are totalled by
the committee’s executive secretary at the end of the
year and the winner determined.
2. Single incidents as criteria for judgment. Through
this method single incidents (such as the Baylor painting
spree) carry little weight. While Texas A&M may lower
an opponent’s rating for such action, other conference
schools grade this same team and student body on its
conduct in other contests. For instance, the SMU com
mittee probably did not alter Baylor’s score for painting
the A&M campus. Also, with two areas of grading used —
and these areas broken down into three more definite
groups — a single incident cannot justly determine the
overall score of a school.
3. Change in selection procedure. Because individual
bias, single incidents and inadequate communications often
prohibit a school from fairly grading member schools on
their overall conference conduct, an additional ballot was
added by the SWC Sportsmanship Committee at its meet
ing in Dallas New Year’s Eve. Proposed by the A&M
delegation, the third ballot will be equal to the basketball
and football ratings. A discussion of each student body’s
overall conduct for the year will be held during the
committee’s fall meeting. Each delegation will then rate
all other members on basis of their conference-wide actions
instead of single game behavior.
The sportsmanship committee is currently exploring
ways to further insure objectivity in selecting the winner
and to provide a greater spirit of cooperation and sports
manship between competing schools.
The organization, since its inception in 1948 by The
Battalion, has had its weaknesses. But it has also done
some good. The trophy it awards each year was indeed
a goal of the A&M student body this year, contributing
much to the revised, refined and reformed Aggie game
conduct this fall.
If the A&M student body can improve its basketball
conduct and continue the sportsmanlike spirit next foot
ball season, Texas A&M would be a likely candidate for
the 1966 honors. Conference representatives had nothing
but praise during the recent sportsmanship meeting for
Aggie conduct.
Next year their ballots might also reflect this respect.
Let’s try a little harder.
THE BATTALION
Opinions expressed in The Brittalion The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for
i .. 7 __ T republication of all news dispatches credited to it or not
OiT€ thOSB Of the Student ivtntevs only. 1 he otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous
Battalion is a non tax-supported non- rcpublication of a11 other
profit, self-supporting educational enter- Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas.
prise edited and operated by students as Represented nationally by National Advertising Service,
a university and community newspaper. Inc., New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
News contributions may be made by telephoning 846-6618
Members of the Student Publications Board are: Joe Buser, or 846-4910 or at the editorial office. Room 4, YMCA Building,
chairman ; Dr. David Bowers, College of Liberal Arts ; Dr. F or advertising or delivery call 846-6415.
Robert A. Clark, College of Geosciences ; Dr. Frank A. Me-
Donald, College of Science: Dr. J. G. McGuire, College of Mail subscriptions are $3.50 per semester; $6 per school
Engineering; Dr. Robert S. Titus, College of Veterinary year; $6.50 per full year. All subscriptions subject to 2%
Medicine; and Dr. A. B. Wooten, College of Agriculture. sales tax. Advertising rate furnished on request. Address:
' The Battalion, Room 4, YMCA Building, College Station, Texas.
The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M is —
published in College Station. Texas daily except Saturday, EDITOR GLENN DROMGOOLE
Manuring Editor Gerald Garcia
Sports Editor Larry Jerden
MEMBER News Editor Tommy DeFrank
The Associated Press, Texas Press Association Photographer Herky Killingsworth
6.
7.
ure.
8.
9.
York.
10. Tie between Air Force
Academy scandals and the Selma
march and resulting racial strife.
The Associated Press rated the
riots number two, legislative pro
gram third, power failure in the
fourth spot, space probes fifth,
Selma sixth, Dominican Republic
seventh, Churchill’s death eighth,
Pope’s visit ninth and the India-
Pakistan trouble number 10.
Increased military commitment
and involvement, anti-Viet Nam
demonstrations and administra
tion peace efforts made the war
1965’s top event.
United States armed forces
personnel in Viet Nam rose from
only 25,000 in January to 165,-
000 in December, with every in
dication pointing to a substantial
increase as the new year began,
despite concentrated peace ef
forts by President Johnson.
American and South Vietna
mese planes began regular bomb
ing missions over North Viet
Nam in February, after the third
major attack on Americans in
Viet Nam in three months.
Military equipment reaching
Viet Nam rose from 65,000 tons
in January to 750,000 tons in
November.
The war became real in 1965.
Its reality gradually gained
recognition by the public and
various polls indicated strong
support of United States involve
ment in South Viet Nam.
However, not everyone agreed.
Strong anti-Viet Nam and anti
draft demonstrations cropped up
on college campuses, reaching a
peak in mid-October with a na
tionwide protest by leftist, peace
nik college youth. The Justice
Department, fearing communist
involvement, decided to investi
gate, and a larger percentage of
college students rallied to sup
port the war with petitions,
counter demonstrations, Christ
mas Cards and gifts, magazines
and other expressions of grati
tude to the fighting men.
Meanwhile, draft calls were
accelerating to meet the war’s
demands. Induction rose from
3,000 a month to 35,000, and de
ferments became more precious.
Space exploration received a
much higher rating from the stu
dent writers, possibly because
their poll was taken after the
year had ended and included the
space rendezvous of mid-Decem
ber. The Associated Press fig
ures were compiled before the
astronauts successfully completed
the mission.
Other accomplishments in out
er space during the year in
cluded space walks by Russian
Alexei Leonov and American Ed
ward White, an eight day flight
by Americans Gordon Cooper
and Charles Conrad, Ranger 9’s
crash landing on the moon only
2.76 miles off target, closeup
pictures of a lifeless Mars.
The long, hot summer that
FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover pre
dicted last spring erupted Aug.
11 in the Watts District of Los
Angeles after a Highway Patrol
officer arrested a young Negro
on suspicion of drunken driving.
Four days later, 34 persons lay
dead, 898 injured, more than
1,000 buildings damaged, more
than 4,200 people arrested and
$50 million damage suffered.
President Johnson’s legislative
program included 86 major pieces
of Great Society legislation.
Among LBJ’s priority items
okayed by Congress were a $1.3
billion Aid to Education Bill;
the Voting Rights Bill; enlarged
Social Security benefits including
medical care; the controversial
$1.1 billion Appalachia Aid Bill;
a liberalized immigration policy
and the creation of a Depart
ment of Housing and Urban De
velopment.
Fighting in the Dominican Re
public and India-Pakistan feud
over Kashmir kept the world in
a turmoil in 1966. The great
English statesman, Sir Winston
Churchill, died. Cheating scandals
ripped the Air Force Academy.
A power failure stunned the na
tion when a Canadian power
plant four miles from Niagara
Falls suffered a malfunction and
cut off electricity in Northeast
ern United States and part of
Ontario, Canada. Pope Paul VI
broke precedent and became the
first Roman Catholic leader to
visit the North American conti
nent. A march from Selma, Ala.,
50 miles to Montgomery to pro
test vote discrimination high
lighted racial activity for the
year.
Gerald Garcia
It’s Reds’ Turn
For Peace Moves
President Johnson has done his
part in trying to push for peace
in Southeast Asia. Now it is up
to the Communists to make the
next move.
The President has started the
second and most dramatic phase
of his peace offensive but the
Communists are still balking on
stopping the Southeast Asian
war.
Johnson’s first peace phase
was the cease-fire on Christmas
day. The chief executive agreed
to stop fighting on Christmas in
order that war zone troops could
celebrate Christmas and to stop
troop movement. The Commun
ists agreed to the terms but used
the truce to their advantage.
The Reds staged a couple of at
tacks during the truce on South
Viet Nam government troops and
also moved front line troops to
better positions. Now the Viet
Cong are asking the allies to
halt the war for a four-day peri
od in late January so they can
celebrate their new year. After
they broke the Christmas truce,
they expect us to agree to such
a request?
The second phase of adminis
trative efforts in pushing the
peace offensive was the dispatch
ing of envoys to talk with world
leaders and the pause of U. S.
bombing of the North.
Both phases of the second ef
fort are still being continued but
the Reds still refuse to open
negotiations.
Since the United States start
ed bombing the North, the So
viet and East European Com
munist governments have been
saying that no peace talks would
be possible so long as the bomb
ing continued. The Russians par
ticularly have pressed the Unit
ed States to create a better cli
mate for opening negotiations by
stopping the bombing.
Even though the ground war
started up again at fullscale in
the South after the Christmas
truce, Johnson has not ordered
the bombing of the North to be
resumed.
This is what the Communists
requested before they would con
sider peace talks. The President
has stopped bombing of the
North for nearly two weeks but
the Communists still have not
indicated they want to talk peace.
If Johnson’s envoys fail in
their attempts to get peace for
Southeast Asia, Johnson will
have no alternative but to start
bombing the North again and to
increase the war effort in order
to drive the Viet Cong out of the
South.
Johnson is doing his part by
complying with the Communists
wishes of stopping the bombing
of the North. His envoys are
also doing their part. It is now
up to the Communist leaders to
act.
‘We Can Win In Viet Nam’
Sen. John Tower Says
After Southeast Asia Tour
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sen. John Tower recently returned from a 25-day
trip to U. S. Military installations throughout Southeast Asia.
This is a special report.
As a member of the Sentate Armed Services Committee, I
spent some three weeks with U. S. forces in the Philippines, Thailand
and South Viet Nam.
I visited with scores of young Americans who are proudly
and courageously fighting there against Asiatic Communism. And,
I can report to the people of Texas that never in our nation’s
history has America been represented by more qualified and de
dicated troops.
I was tremendously impressed by the American men who are
helping defend the independence of South Viet Nam and indeed
all Southeast Asia. These men are hard fighters. They do their
job day in and day out. They don’t gripe. They have high morale.
They are doing a magnificent job for the free world.
I found, in visiting such places as Da Nang, Bien Hoa, Cam
Ranh Bay, Pleiku and the Special Forces camps, that American
forces came to the aid of South Vietnam just in the nick of time.
Had we not moved quickly, a few months ago, to assist South
Viet Nam, thta nation would have been overrun by the communists.
Looking at the situation there now, I believe it is correct —
as Defense Secretary McNamara has said — that we have stopped
losing the war.
However, we have not yet started winning it.
Both the American troops and their officers indicated to me
that additional steps are necessary if victory is to be achieved
promptly without unnecessary loss of life.
I believe we must now move quickly and decisively to destroy
the will of the communists to fight; and to destroy North Viet
Nam’s capacity to continue the war.
To do this, I believe we must provide additional American man
power on the ground to give every American trooper full and
adequate support. I think we must send to our men in Viet Nam
the new M-16 rifle — a rifle far better suited to jungle combat
than the older rifle many of our men have now.
My observations and briefings led me to believe, also, that
American airpower must be utilized to attack pin-point military
targets in the Hanoi area. And, I think we must close the Haiphong
harbor. This would deny the communists the war supplies and I
anti-aircraft missiles now being landed at Haiphong..
If we do these things, I think we will greatly diminish Hanois’ [
capacity and will to continue the battle.
Sometimes it seems every generation of Americans is called
upon to make sacrifices in blood to preserve freedom. As I visited
the field hospitals, I saw sights I will not forget. And yet, the
wounded men I saw understood — just as the American people must
understand — that we are making our stand in Viet Nam today
to preclude a fight on a much broader front at greater cost later on.
Besides fighting, our fine soldiers, sailors and airmen are busy
doing many constructive things to help the people of South Viet
Nam.
They are building schools, teaching local leaders how to govern,
teaching about sanitation, giving out soap and food, tending sores
and wounds and tropical diseases — all this in marked contrast to
the terror of the Viet Cong, who close schools and even force
children and girls into combat situations.
Many times, the men with whom I visited asked me if the
Protseters and Beatnicks and Peacenicks really represented the
views of Americans about this confrontation with communism.
To these men I answered emphatically — NO!
I told them the vast majority of Americans support them fully,
as evidenced by the Christmas Gift Lift and the patriotic rallies in
many of our cities. I told our men the Peacenicks either are com
munist inspired, or are just poor, misguided fools who do not
understand what they are talking about.
I come home optimistic. We can win in Viet Nam — if we
will buckle down and do the job. And, in winning, we will be going
a long way toward establishing world order and world peace for
the future.
Tommy DeFrank
4 101 Aggie Jokes’ Book:
Fuel For The Fireplace
The booming upsurge in quan
tity and simultaneous tailspin in
respectability of Aggie jokes in
the past few months has been
gloriously crowned with recent
publication of a collection of
Aggie barbs.
The volume, now in a second
printing and enjoying widespread
popularity, is titled “101 Aggie
Jokes, or Ts it true what they
say about Aggies?’ ”
Published by the Gigem Press,
the work is crammed with as
sorted Aggie jokes liberally sup
plemented with illustrations
(strongly resembling the style of
a prominent Dallas newspaper
cartoonist) depicting Aggies as
stumbling, bumbling idiots who
can neither read, write nor think.
The first page reminds readers
that “it is not the intention of
the publishers to ridicule or de
grade any institution or individ
ual. The purpose is to chronicle
an important chapter in Ameri
can humor.”
Without providing the basis
for including Aggie jokes in a
classification of important Amer
ican humor like Will Rogers’
material, the protest marchers
and Smothers Brothers routines,
the publishers nevertheless man
age to slip in a few “jokes” that
go beyond the vein of legitimate
humor.
A sample: The first prize at
the high school scierice contest
was a five dollar bill. The sec
ond prize was a four year schol
arship to A&M.
That’s not degrading an in
stitution ?
Another example: It is said
that an Aggie is the only form
of life that can fall into a pile
of manure and leave it smellier
than before.
That’s chronicling an import
ant chapter in American humor?
The book does include many
clever entries that even maligned
Aggies can appreciate, like the
Aggies who thought vice versa
meant a dirty joke.
But some selections range
from poor humor to off-color to
downright sordidness.
The last page actually pats the
Aggies on the back if we are to
believe the publishers. It points
out that Aggie jokes are a trib
ute, for if A&M students and
graduates were not “the proud,
dedicated lot they are, they would
not rate a second glance.”
The tribute then outlines im
portant contributions made by
Aggies and calls them “among
the greatest men of our time.”
Douglas MacArthur’s words of
praise for Aggie military officers
are also included.
The testimonial ends by re
minding all to “never forget that
all of us have a great debt to
repay the men of Texas A&M.”
But from the material on the
48 pages preceding this last en
try, one begins to wonder if this
isn’t also intended to be just an
other Aggie joke.
Aggie jokes will never be elim
inated, nor will there ever be
means to keep the sordid and
malicious from mingling with
good-natured lampooning.
The Aggie Joke Book may not
permanently damage the univer
sity's reputation, but then again
it likely will not help.
Time Magazine suggested last
week that so many poor literary
efforts evolved from 1965 per
haps America should return to
book-burning.
The Aggie Joke Book should
not be overlooked as potential
fuel for the fireplace.
PEANUTS
By Charles M. Schulz
^THIS 60Y \
BORES ME
i
<TO DEATH! J
(
|
51 ,
CZp**
f
\
HE'S ALWAYS TALKING ABOUTALL
THE WORMS HE'S CAU6HT BECAUSE
HE SETS UP SO EARLY IN THE M0RNIN6