Pagre 2
THE BATTALION
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1973
Constitutional Draft Riddled with Religious Flavori
ng
By RICK BROWN
The draft presented to the
Texas legislature by the Consti
tutional Revision Commission is a
great achievement, a succinct, un
ambiguous and commendable doc
ument effectively separating
church and state. It provides am
ple guarantees for freedoms of
the press, speech and religion.
Sure, and Wallace is engaged to
Shirley Chisom, the earth is flat
and Nixon is the best President
we’ve ever had.
Granted the CRC draft is bet-
CADET SLOUCH
ter than the 1876 model monstro
sity we now use, obviously. When
any constitution has 200-plus
amendments, reaches 55,000
words and is still growing, relief
is imperative. But in this case,
the cure resembles putting a
band-aid over a brain tumor; it
just don’t hack it.
The bill of rights section of the
CRC document provides for free
dom and equality regardless of
race, sex, creed or national ori
gin. So far, so good. The next
paragraph, however, promptly
proceeds blatantly to contradict
one of those guarantees by stat
ing, “No religious test shall ever
be required . . . nor shall any one
be excluded from holding office
on account of his religious senti
ments, provided he acknowledge
the existence of a Supreme Be
ing.” The coup de grace occurs in
another section devoted to guar
anteeing religious “freedom”
wherein it states “All men have
a natural and indefeasible right
to worship Almighty God ac
cording . . .” Nowhere is there
a guarantee against discrimina
tion" towards those choosing not
to worship or not to profess a
belief in a God. In point of fact,
the entire constitution is itself
religiously biased in addition to
being self-contradictory. It is also
in direct violation of the U.S.
constitutional amendments I and
XIV.
In 1961 the Supreme Court rul
ed conclusively in “Torasco vs.
Watkins,” that a Maryland sta
tute requiring a declaration of be
lief of God, an exact parallel to
that required in the CRC draft
and what is stated in Art. I, Sect.
4 of our present constitution, was
and is unconstitutional. The court
further stated, “Neither a State
nor the Federal Government can
constitutionally pass laws or im
pose requirements which aid all
religions as against non-believ
ers, and neither can aid those re
ligions based on a belief in the
existence of God as against those
religions founded on different be
liefs.” I could not have said it
better myself.
And yet there it sitsintlf]
as constitution. Light up i
era and be proud.
Incidentally Leon Jaworslj
a member of that collect
gradeschool dropouts who
up this pathetic compilatiu
self-contradictions and inecp
Richard Nixon, with thatch
teristic wisdom he has exhi
so often in the past, has sc«
to elevate Jaworski to theslt
of Watergate Special Proses
Thank you, Mr. President
by Jim Earle Listen Up
Editor Draws Fire; Aggie Traditions Defended
“We feel that it has a tremendous market among the
Sunday drivers I’’
I read an ad in the Battalion
concerning the image of A&M.
It contained an article from the
Daily Texan containing views
purported to be those of Mike
Rice. Although I would never
have believed that an Aggie
would say such things about his
school and his fellow Ags, I might
have been a little too optimistic
or naive.
Mr. Rice said that an Aggie
doesn’t call attention to himself
when he’s in Austin because he’s
afraid of all the Texas people. I
wonder if Mr. Rice has ever taken
the time to attend a Corps march-
in in Austin. The look on those
faces is pride, Mr. Rice, not fear.
Mr. Rice also said that the
most important thing to the stu
dent body is preserving the tra
dition of the “true Ag.” I hope
with all of my heart that we can
preserve that tradition for it as
based on those qualities exhibited
by Lawrence Sullivan Ross who
was a soldier, a statesman and a
knightly gentleman. The “true
Ag” has gained the image of be
ing honest and big hearted.
Should we change that? I think
not.
Finally, Mr. Rice said, “We are
so far behind the times that it
will take a while to do anything
Balt Commentary
Recycled Aggies
At A&M the number of graduates “recycled” back into the
faculty is alarming. As of last year, 21 percent of the A&M faculty
received their Bachelor’s degree here, 27 percent got their Master’s from
A&M, 20 percent received Ph.D.’s here (exclusive of the Doctorate of
Veterinary Medicine) and 60 percent of the profs with the DVM got
theirs at A&M. This inbreeding detracts from the wide variety of
personalities, opinions and experience stimulating an educational
atmosphere.
To put the problem in a different perspective we see that,
according to the new University catalogue to be printed this month, the
1,339 part and fulltime A&M faculty members have 983 doctorates,
come from 224 schools in the U.S. and represent 56 schools in 33
nations. This sugar-coating of statistics, however, does not hide the fact
that one out of five doctoral degrees (non vet-med) and three out of
five DVMs, earned by our faculty were presented by our school.
The University’s deans and administrators deal with the problem
in different ways. Dr. John C. Calhoun, vice president for Academic
Affairs, says he asks the deans “to seek the best, neither by policy
discrimination for or against our own graduates.” Dean Fred J. Benson,
College of Engineering, mellows this position somewhat. “We don’t
have any particular policy against hiring our own graduates, however,
we do try to avoid inbreeding,” he said. “If we had equals up for a
position, we would take the other guy.” The dean of the College of
Agriculture, Dr. H. O. Kunkel, said he tries to disregard this factor in
seeking faculty, but, “we have a tendency not to hire our own. A
graduate is essentially a carbon copy of someone you already have.” In
the College of Science, Dean John Prescott said he will not hire recent
A&M graduates unless under “unusual circumstance,” such as a
temporary appointment. Hiring of grads with terminal degrees from
A&M “is not generally done,” he added, unless the person has done
post-doctoral work or has distinguished himself in the scientific world.
Dean David Maxwell of the College of Liberal Arts deviates even
further from Calhoun’s policy on hiring A&M graduates. “We dis
courage it; we don’t do it,” he said. “If someone got a Ph.D. from A&M
and had a career and did well, then we would consider him.” Of the
nine department heads in Liberal Arts only one has a degree from
A&M.
Statistical interpretations can, however, oversimplify a complex
situation. After all, can the College of Veterinary Medicine be expected
to have a widely diversified faculty when there are only a handfull of
such colleges in the country? And, should an A&M grad be turned away
if he received an advanced degree out-of-state and had a distinguished
career?
With certain exceptions in mind, a growing university must strive
to achieve a diversified and broad-based faculty. Administrators and
deans should unite in this effort and ban inbreeding.
Cbe Battalion
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M. Is
'■‘“O' or o, the writer of the article aad are hot
necessarily those of the University administration or May, and once a week during: summer school.
the Board of Directors. The Battalion is a non-profit,
self-supporting enterprise operated by students as a MEMBER
University and Community newspaper. The Associated Press, Texas Press Association
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longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit Texas 77843.
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77813.
—— — 0 — — EDITOR MIKE RICE
Members of the Student Publications Board are; Jim A «;<5i<5tant to tho Fzlitor Rn6 Snaor
Lindsey, chairman ; Dr. Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Albanese, Dr. Assistant to tne IbaitOr itoa opeer
H. E. Hierth, W. C. Harrison, Randy Ross, T. Chet Edwards, Managing Editor Greg Moses
and Jan Faber. News Editor T. C. Gallucci
Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising -
Services. Inc, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. Ass’t. Sports Editor Ted Boriskie
constructive.” Well, I guess we
are behind the times here. We
Aggies are so far behind the
times that we haven’t had cam
pus demonstrations and riots as
other schools have. We are even
so backward as to pay a final
tribute to a departed Ag with
Silver Taps. Yes, Mr. Rice, if we
weren’t so far behind the times,
we could scrap that tradition also.
Donald E. Parr, III
Any letter will be run if it is
in good taste (without certain ad
jectival flavorings). Definitely,
demonstrations are not the ans
wer to problems, but an aware
ness of crisis of the times, such
as the energy problem, should re
sult in the change of such tra
ditions as the annual bonfire. Ad
ditionally, there can be no defini
tion of “true Ag.” except that he
may be classified as one who at
tends A&M.—Ed.
★ ★ ★
Editor:
Several misconceptions have
arisen from the advertisement in
the Wednesday Battalion by the
Committee of Concerned Students
for an Accurate Image of A&M.
Several petitions calling for the
removal of Mike Rice as the editor
of The Battalion have been cir
culated as a result.
The editor has a right to ex
press his own views anytime he
wishes. The views in themselves
are not grounds for removal. Ac
cording to the University Rules
and Regulations, “The Student
Publications Board shall have the
authority to suspend student edi
tors, although editorial opinions
expressed and content of publica
tions shall not in themselves be
grounds for suspension.”
If the editor has lost the con
fidence of the student body, then
perhaps the Student Publications
Board should investigate the op
eration of The Battalion, but in
no event should the Editor’s per
sonal views be considered.
David L. White.
Committee of Concerned Students
for an Accurate Image of A&M
Editor:
Re: Lee Blumenthal on Nov. 27
I must first state that although
I am on Town Hall the ideas I
am about to present are my own
and should not be assumed to be
anything else. I am one of the few
civilians on Town Hall and have
been on the committee for two
years now. I must admit that
some of the feelings expressed by
Mr. Blumenthal were once my own
and my primary motivation for
applying to Town Hall. In the past
two years I have discovered some
of the error in my logic.
First, concerning the makup of
the Town Hall Committee, there
is a much larger number of Corps
students than civilians. However,
last spring when applications for
new members were taken less than
one third of the applicants were
civilian. Of the new members se
lected I believe that the ratio of
those accepted to those applying
was substantially larger for civ
ilian than Corps members. My
suggestion is, therefore, that
those complaining should get more
civilians to apply.
Second, I served on this year’s
selection committee (which I
might add was open to anyone in
terested) and wish to explain the
choice of groups. Not just myself,
but nearly every one of the com
mittee members ran opinion polls
as well as a joint poll in the “Bat
talion.” Every attempt was made
to book the first groups on the
polls but several factors made this
impossible. Town Hall gets fund
ing from student fees and this is
its sole source of capital. How
ever, the money available is only
about 20 per cent of its total
budget. Obviously, with two free
concerts that doesn’t leave much
to book a really expensive group.
Next, many of the groups simply
will not play for colleges. Since
our five fall dates are inflexible
it is often impossible to find one
which will coincide with both the
group’s tour and open dates. Al
so, comparatively speaking, our
box office sales is somewhat small
and we lose several groups to
better offers. For example, one
group we booked canceled to play
Madison Square Garden.
Third, I am sorry but I cannot
answer the reason for not playing
in Kyle Field. I will offer, how
ever that probably the expense of
utilities and janitorial »
would be to large to handle
fixed cost. Also, even forCH
and Elton John. G. RollieU
was not sold out.
I would like to state thatlli
tried to answer Mr. Blumenii
questions, but I fail to see tin
son for his sarcasm (Sgt.
.... really!) In my yean
have found that we are Ai
gies, with or without uni
male or female. I am not
Corps nor have I been, bntl
no less of an Aggie. This jn'
bonfire proved this more!]
ever. The Rice game left feik
Saturday. But those of osk
worked together and noonetii
if they were a “CT” or “nonni
Without the pros andconso:
fire there was a sense of c
and pride there that was®
than just enjoyable. All I
hope is that more people will
“off their apathy” and find:
there is more to going to tdi
than going to classes and foci
games. So if you aren’t trjif
find a way to obtain change
have no right to gripe.
Ron Sparks ’ll
: ^
: t
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HARDY
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2301 S. TEXAS AVENUE, COLLEGE STATION
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Special Christmas
Candlelight Feast
Dec. 17, 1973-4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Roast Breast of Turkey
Cornbread Dressing
Giblet Gravy
Chilled Cranberry Sauce
Marshmellowed Sweet Potato Souffle
English Peas w/Water Chestnuts
Choice of Salad (Except Chef Salads)
Pecan or Black Bottom Pie
Home Made Hot Yeasty Rolls
Choice of Beverage
*1
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plus tax
11:00 a. m. - 1:15 p. m.
4:30 p. m. - 7:00 p. m.
“Quality First’