Page 2
College Station, Texas
Thursday, November 8, 19|73
THE BATTALIOl
Nixonomics: Words of Wisdom on Year-End Prices
From WASHINGTON WATCH
A restaurant in Colorado features a
“Nixon-burger.” It is a grilled cheese sand
wich. A teacher in rural North Carolina
writes he is “quite discouraged” by trying
to meet problems of the heavy cuts in funds
for education. Columnist Carl Rowan says
of Nixon’s veto of the minimum wage bill:
“How in the name of heaven does the Presi
dent of the rich US, himself raking in 200,-
000 bucks a year, with plush pads in Cali
fornia, Florida and elsewhere, tell the
Congress that it may not guarantee the
grimiest, sweatingest workers in the land
a piddling $88 a week?
“And to veto even this Scrooge-like
minimum with the argument that it is in
flationary bespeaks the worst kind of White
House contempt for those millions of Amer
icans who need desperately to have friends
in the highest councils of government . . .
American corporations made a record $52.6
billion in profits last year. Second quarter
after-tax earnings suggest a new record for
1973 in the neighborhood of $70 billion . . .
How long can the country accept or survive
Butt Commentary
Planned
Reality
Conservation movements for fuel and ecology aspects
of our lives have become a day-to-day experience for all
Americans. However, few people ever endorse conserva
tion measures with the intent of putting actions where
their mouths are.
/ The TAMU Student Senate approved a resolution
Wednesday that stated that it endorsed “the implementa
tion of a program to inform students of what they can
do to conserve energy, sp>ecifically in their own living
areas, and to thereby draw their attention to the need for
positive action on this matter.”
The resolution, while good in intent, illustrates what
most people do: recognize the problem, but fail to present
any logical solution or program to help students knowl
edgeably take part in conservation.
Student Government representatives seldomly reach
down to the students and have again showed their refusal
to take the issue by the horns and present the Senate with
a workable plan.
The resolution recognized the fact that “the adminis
tration . . . has already taken steps to alleviate a serious
shortage by reducing energy wastes where possible” and
the administration can px>int out definite programs in ef
fect. The Senate and Student Government, supposedly
understanding student problems and life, should be the
ones to draw up student-related conservation plans—not
the administration.
Those sponsoring the measure, Greg Johnson and
Greg Smith, have said they don’t have definite plans.
True, they have indicated that they will work within Uni
versity policies and contact residence hall representatives
for ideas. This is the research that should have been done
before taking the matter before the Senate.
Background data pertaining to the energy crisis was
presented to senators and students in the Nov. 6 issue of
the “Senator” and brief data on administrative measures
was also aired. The only student-related material indi
cated that if residence halls were drastically affected by
the energy shortage, the campus would shut down. This
is nothing new.
A logical plan would be for Student Government to
immediately make clear to students the methods by which
they can save energy now in their rooms. For instance,
incandescent lights may be turned on and off many times
without a significant amount of energy lost in switching
the units on. However, fluorescent lights tend to have
their lives shortened with increased use. It is recommend
ed that they be replaced before they bum out.
In another example, students could decide to reduce
some of the lighting in dorm hallways and trim back the
number of burning lights around the north side women’s
housing area—although not to the detriment of personal
safety.
The Student Government should be guiding the stu
dent body, not waiting for the student body to guide it.
The student body doesn’t know all the ways to solve even
the simplest of conservation problems, while the Student
Government supposedly has pjeople specifically elected to
present logical programs for the students to implement.
In the future, resolution sponsors should present plans
each senator can present to his constituency. Only then
can an informed Senate effectively endorse the implemen
tation of needed energy conservation measures.
this kind of shameful nonsense ? ”
Columnist Sylvia Porter adds: “How
dare we ask the very lowest paid workers
among: us to stand in the first line of de
fense against an inflation fueled by the
buying and borrowing of the affluent?
How can we possibly justify asking those
already being pinched the hardest to accept
an even stiffer pinch ‘for the national
good ?' ”
Sidney Margolius writes in “The Ma
chinist” (Sept. 6, 1973) that “moderate liv
ing costs for a retired couple now are ap
proximately $430 a month . . . Despite suc
cessive increases, the typical Social Security
payment received by retired people—cur
rently about $280 for a couple—still falls
short of even intermediate living expenses
in retirement . . . Because of the large share
of a retirement budget that food takes, this
year’s runaway food prices have hit seniors
especially hard. Food now consumes about
twenty-eight percent of the moderate or
intermediate budget . . .”
One of America’s finest practicing
economists, Robert R. Nathan (he was
FDR’s adviser in key war years), writes:
“The administration’s economic policies are
really disastrous. They have refused to
recognize that we have had an inflation
spiral and, as a result, for a year and a half
after Nixon came into office there was seri
ous inflation and they tried to fight it with
a recession, but it did not work. Finally,
they came around to realize that the spiral
needed some kind of control and they did
introduce controls in August 1971.
“The controls could have been tougher
and administered a little more effectively,
but nevertheless they did bring some slow
down in the rate of inflation. Then came
the disastrous decision in January to re
move Phase I and move to Phase II. This
was probably the worst economic mistake
that has been made in decades, and it was
absolutelj' stupid and quite clearly wrong
at the time. It was a move by people who
hate controls and who felt that they just
had to unload them.
“The combination of inflation in farm
and food prices plus industrial commodife;
plus the impact of the devaluation on
higher priced imported goods and greats
demand for exports from the US have
added up to a disatrous 1973.
^“There is a pretty good chance that
consumer prices at the end of the year an
going to be ten percent higher than the!
ginning of the year, and possibly more,
think this outfit hates controls so mutl
that they are going to return to a recessiot
as a solution, and again I think it won'
work, and we are going to have unemploj.
ment and inflation.”
NOW, ON WITH THE INVESTIGATION .
Listen Up—
TAMU
Should Note Sex is Reality
Editor:
I suggest that the administra
tion seriously reconsider the pro
posal made by Elaine Clark of the
Family Planning Center in Bry
an. Her proposal was to use vol
unteers and materials at govern
ment prices from her HEW pro
gram on the campus at least once
a month, providing that TAMU
supply a doctor and the facilities.
This seems more plausible than
going to HEW and demanding
that students be treated by the
facility in Bryan. I agree with
Barb Sears that “there is truly
a great need for this service.” I
do not, however, think that the
problem can be solved by forcing
3,000 or more people on an al
ready overcrowded clinic in Bry
an.
Nearly all the services required
to obtain birth control pills are
already provided by the Univer
sity Health Center. With the add
ed help of Clark’s clinic, those
services not already provided
could be provided. These services
could be provided at a minimum
cost.
In regard to the statement by
Dr. John Koldus, “the administra
tion is concerned with the use of
birth control pills by single stu
dents, not necessarily by married
students,” I would like to ask Dr.
Koldus—Why? Does he feel that
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□ I favor Price Guidelines restricting raises in tuition, stu
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the parents of these 18-23-year-
old single students have entrusted
the students’ morals to him ? Does
the university really want the re
sponsibility of telling a 20-year-
old man that he cannot have sex
unless he is married ? Or does
this protection apply only to 20-
year-old women? Doesn’t the ad
ministration realize that saying
no to birth control is not saying
no to sex ? Whether or not the
student receives birth control
from the University Health Cen
ter is probably not going to stop
her/his sex life. What it might
do is stop a lot of worrying, pos
sibly a few unwanted and unloved
children from being born, and
maybe prevent a needless abor
tion.
Kim Peoples
★ ★ ★
Editor:
Oh, the dilemma of a bicycle
rider. Those of us who have
classes at widely separated points
on campus and have taken to the
bike have a real problem.
Should we:
1. Ride on the sidewalk or
across the mall where pedestrian
traffic is dense and slow? Invar
iably someone will step out in
front of a bike without realizing
it. The resulting swerving, brak
ing, etc., can cause a catastrophe
for cyclist or pedestrians or both.
Or should we:
2. Ride on the street where ve
hicle traffic is faster and pedes
trians frequently step off the curb
without the least notice of cycle
traffic. Often times as not, cars
ignore bicyclists’ rights at inter
sections and stop signs. An acci
dent involving a car and bike can
be easily fatal to the cyclist and
at least very damaging.
It is time that bike paths were
established on campus. The Cam
pus Planning Committee has plans
on tap for the future, but action
must be taken for interim paths
to meet today’s needs, or the pe
destrian vs. cyclist vs. automobile
battle will continue.
Bill Crider ’76
★ ★ ★
Editor:
I would like to know why the
Battalion cannot get a decent per
son to write the film reviews. I
have found that your critic has
only liked one film this semester
so far. I work at the Campus The
ater and I have seen many of
these films that she has reported
on. I talk to the other people who
see them and mostly they say
they are good films to see. One
in particular is the movie “Walk
ing Tall.” It does have a lot of
violence in it, but the plot and
theme are very good. I have not
seen or believe there has been a
film this good since “Gone With
the Wind.” I do not know how Ms.
Jones cannot like this movie. Ev
ery person I have talked to has
loved it and thought it was fan
tastic.
Julia Jones also makes a mis
take in how she writes the re
views. First she tells the public
her opinion, then she tells the
whole story. She should put her
opinion last and leave out telling
people if they should stay at home
or go to the movies. A critic
should never tell the whole story
of a film. Ms. Jones is writing the
reviews like I wrote a book report
in elementary school. She should
learn how to write a critique and
follow that form.
I do not know if Ms. Jones is
mad at the Campus Theater for
not letting her in free anymore.
Ms. Jones should expect to have
to pay, if she is going to write
bad reviews and lose business for
the theater. What ever it is, she
either needs to learn how to write
a film review or be replaced.
William Reeder Martin ’76
Ms. Jones has been removed
from that position indefinitely.
We’d like to point out that it is
not a critic’s place to make money
for any theater. We will continue
the reviews later in a style we
deem the most professional.—Ed.
★ ★ ★
Editor:
We asked that The Battalion
be sent to us so we could read
news of A&M. We look forward
to each issue and having read it,
disappointedly put it down be
cause each one contains letters of
criticism—and articles of contro
versy. Do you never receive any
letters of commendation? I can’t
believe that you don’t!
We opened the October 23 issue
to your headline in the “Listen
Up” column over the letter from
the obvious Texas Tech fan put
ting down the Aggie Band. That’s
just too much! To see “Aggie
Band Performance Revolting” is
more than we can take. The writ
er did not say the performance
was revolting—he said their con
duct was. His criticism is not the
point because yell practice under
the circumstances is traditional
and that settles that.
The point is that somebody
your staff—an Aggie —wrote
four column headline detrimenti
to what we believe to be the fi:
est band in the nation. In dok
so, your staff also put down
Aggie Band. Therefore, we
longer want The Battalion set:
here.
Since I don’t recall reading set
letters of criticism of The
talion staff itself (only of every
thing else at A&M) I am assurti
this letter will not be printec
And, since I’m limited to 3#
words and there are not nei:
enough left to tell you all tli
things I love about Texas Ail
I’ll have to close.
Jo Walling
Reagan
We hope the letter before yotn
tells you something. Hedging 01
words is easily done. The condtd
of the Band anywhere away fron
TAMU is judged by us to bei
performance, on or off the field-
EdL
★ ★ ★
Editor:
I am puzzled by your editorial
stand on bicycle registration
voiced in The Battalion editorial
on Oct. 4. It seems to me to
in direct conflict to your editorial
stand on the subject last year,
You bring out several va
points in your editorial. The Ui
versity lacks conviction in k
future plans and enforcement
Why should approximately three
fourths of the bike riders on cam 1
pus register their bikes when the;
don’t face any repercussions?
Granted, the $1.50 registratioi
fee is generally considered
when most city registration aver
ages below 75 cents, but if
money will be used to purchase
and install badly needed
racks, then it is not exorbitant
No one complains about the nine
per cent road use tax for can
placed on gasoline.
With intelligent goals,
and enforcement, the bike regis
tration could be an asset for
students and at a low cost to the
cyclist.
Karl Jackson ’76
The Battalion endorsed regii'
tration in both, but expressed it!
disapproval of enforcement pro
cedures, which since that editorial,
have become more evident after
stimulation from the Office fur
the Vice President For Student
Services.—Ed.
Cbe Battalion
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of
the editor or of the writer of the article and are not
necessarily those of the University administration or
the Board of Directors. The Battalion is a non-profit,
self-supporting enterprise operated by students as a
University and Community newspaper.
LETTERS POLICY
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words
and are subject to being cut to that length or less if
longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit
such letters and does not guarantee to publish any
letter. Each letter must be signed and show the address
of the writer.
Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion,
Room 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas
77843.
Members of the Student Publications Board are: Jim
Lindsey, chairman; Dr. Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Albanese, Dr.
H. E. Hierth, W. C. Harrison, J. W. Griffith, L. E. Kruse and
B. B. Sears.
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The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, ii
published in College Station, Texas, daily except SaturdaF,
Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods, September througk
May, and once a week during summer school.
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EDITOR MIKE RICE
Assistant to the Editor Rod Speei
Managing Editor Greg Moses
News Editor T. C. Gallucci
Photo Editor Rodger Mallisor
Sports Editor Kevin Coffey
Ass’t. Sports Editor Ted Boriskie