Page 2
CADET SLOUCH
THE BATTALION
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1974
Listen Up
Speaker reporting draws criticism
Editor:
“I’m in favor of flipping a coin and foregoing the game!”
I realize the difficulty involved
in objective reporting. In fact, I
realize that such a thing is im
possible considered from a purist
viewpoint, the best that can be
done occurs when a reporter
works as best he or she can to
keep opinions out of a news story
being written. However, deliber
ately slanted, biased reporting is
a difficult situation which I neith
er believe in nor tolerate. As a
result, I read Mr. Boriskie’s arti
cle in Friday’s Batt with increas
ingly growing ire.
Mr. Boriskie may believe the
Corps of Cadets is God’s gift to
mankind, he may believe that
SCON A is a waste of time be
cause the delegates couldn’t care
less if they were being addressed
by the Deputy Secretary of De
fense or the garbage man, he may
believe it is more important to
have one hundred times the num
ber of nuclear weapons necessary
to cause the extinction of all life
on this planet than it is to stop
an insane arms race and lessen
the chance of nuclear holocaust,
he may believe that Mr. Clements
is the materialization of truth it
self and that anyone questioning
the motives of the Pentagon and
the military-industrial complex is
a new Mephistopholes, seeking to
deliver all American souls into the
hands of Satan, and he may be
lieve that invisible mushrooms
are always served with steaks in
Duncan (at least any with the
steaks at our table were invis
ible).
on The Battalion for campus news,
I ask that from now on you keep
the editorial statements on the ed
itorial page and out of the front
page reports.
If Mr. Boriskie believes all of
this, that’s fine, because that is
what free speech and thought is
all about. Furthermore, if you,
Mr. Speer, want his opinions
printed in your paper, that’s fine
also—IN AN EDITORIAL, NOT
IN A FRONT PAGE NEWS
STORY! The biasing of this story
could not have been more obvious
and I believe represents the worst,
most childish piece of “journal
ism” I have ever seen in The Bat
talion in the two and a half years
I have been a student here.
If you wish to maintain your
integrity as an editor, Mr. Speer,
you owe your readers an apology.
Mr. Boriskie either owes your
readers an apology or the assur
ance that he will execute his job
as assistant sports editor and
never attempt to write a news
story again.
Ralph McNutt
I am referring to an article by
Kathy Young concerning the
Ruckelshaus speech. Her opening
sentence was, “Trite phrases and
generalities filled William Ruckel-
shaus’s speech before a large
crowd in the University Center
Theater last night.” Had I not
heard the speech myself, I would
have inferred from this and oth
er statements in the article that
the audience had been subjected
to an hour and a half of dull
ramblings by a former Washing
ton Bureaucrat. But what I heard
Wednesday night was a very in
teresting and original analysis of
the energy-environment problem.
Ruckelshaus’ speech on the ecolo
gy and energy problem and found
it to be of low quality—an all too
frequent occurance. William Ruck
elshaus, a man whose personal
integrity resulted in his losing his
job as Deputy Attorney General,
was criticized as being too gen
eral, implying vague, in his
speech. You’re right, he was gen
eral— he admitted it. How would
you have him be? Would you have
preferred that he unfold an ex
tensive proposal on exactly on
how to deal with pollution and ec
ology? Think how this would have
bored an average audience with
hours of complicated legal^
knowing all the while thitl
(Ruckelshaus) is a lawyer,ml
scientist or engineer, and pro||
ly doesn’t know the causes of
lution as well as a third semts,
chemistry student!
In general, the article igi*
the gist of his talk (which int^
ed the importance of farsi^
decision making by citizens ^
legislators as well as ways
producing energy) and mailt
appear as if the speech wash
and trite (it wasn’t) andRi
haus was nervous (he wasn’t|,
Tom Dawsey
SAL
“Whei
stand
24(
House committee will decide
what conduct is impeachable
.. .Ted Boriskie’s story was based
on fact, not editorial opinion. I
was one of the SCON A delegates
that heard Clements’ speech and
it was evident from conversations
there the delegates were tired
after their second long day of
SCON A events. It is also true
that the military was well repre
sented in the audience and Clem-
tns’ questioners were antagon
istic. Those were Boriskie’s ob
servations — and I don’t know
where you drew your conclusions
stated in the “Mr. Boriskie’s be
liefs” paragraph—Ed.
What I thought of Mr. Ruchels-
haus’s speegch is irrelevant. What
is relevant is that objectivity is
an important ingredient in respon
sible journalism, and coloring re
ports with the biases of the re
porter is not. In the future, please
consider that your readers depend
on you for an unbiased represen
tation of the activities which you
cover.
CANTERBURY AS5QCIATII
Each Tuesday, 5:30 p.m.—Holy Eucharist and Supper
Thursdays, 6:30 a.m.—Holy Eucharist and Breakfast
Daily 5:30 p.m.—Evening Prayer
SUM
EPISCOPAL STUDENT CENTER
904 - 906 Jersey Street
(Southern Boundary of Campus)
846-1726 Father James T. Moore Chaplain
By the way, I never saw it men
tioned either before or after the
speech that Ruckelshaus was pre
sented by the Great Issues Com
mittee.
Mark S. Boerger
★ ★ ★
WASHINGTON <A>) — The
House Judiciary Committee comes
to grips this week with a cru
cial question: what kind of con
duct by a public official consti
tutes an impeachable offense ?
The decision it reaches—and
it could be weeks before there is
one—will go a long way toward
determining whether the commit
tee will recommend the impeach
ment of President Nixon.
On Wednesday the committee
members are to receive a brief
prepared by the staff that will
examine the history of the im
peachment provision in the Con
stitution, the way in which it has
been used, and define in broad
terms the nature of impeachable
offenses.
The brief will represent pri
marily the views of John M.
Doar, the head of the impeach
ment staff and Albert E. Jenner
Jr., the chief minority counsel.
As such, it will in no way be a
statement of the committee’s po
sition.
Doar, a Republican who rose
to prominence in the Justice De
partment under Democratic ad
ministrations, and Jenner, a Re
publican who supported a Dem
ocrat—Adlai Stevenson III of Il
linois in his 1970 Senate race—
have impressed committee mem
bers of both parties with their
nonpartisan professional ap
proach to the investigation. “If
Doar and Jenner agree on a defi
nition it’s going to be very per
suasive with me,” said Rep. Wil
liam E. Hungate, D-Mo.
Rep. Robert McClory, R-Ill.,
said, “I’ll probably be almost com
pletely persuaded by the brief.”
The question of what consti
tutes an impeachable offense has
been an issue for almost 200
years. The Constitution uses the
words “high crimes and misde
meanors.”
The core of the question is
whether the words refer to con
duct punishable under criminal
law, or whether they can in
clude a broader range of mis
conduct dealing with the offi
cial duties of an office-holder.
From the precedents of pre
vious House actions and from a
compilation of impeachment ma
terial published earlier by the
Judiciary Committee, it appears
likely the forthcoming brief will
support a broad definition of im
peachable offenses.
Editor:
First let me say that my only
connection with journalism is on
the reading end, so I am not con
ceited enough to think that I am
an authority on the subject. How
ever, since I must rely heavily
I agree the opening paragraph
was opinionated and should have
been edited more carefully.
The advance story for the
speech in the Tuesday, Feb. 12
Battalion mentioned that Ruckles-
haus was sponsored by Great Is
sues as did the SCON A calendar
of events. However it should have
been restated in the speech write
up.—Ed.
★ ★ ★
Editor:
I read
the article concerning
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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, show the address of
the writer and list a telephone number for verification.
Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion,
Hoorn 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas
77813.
Members of
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the Student Publications Board are: Jim
ey, chairman ; Dr. Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Albanese, Dr.
H. E. Hierth, W. C. Harrison, Randy Ross, T. Chet Edwards,
and Jan Faber.
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The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for
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Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas.
Editor Rod Speer
Assistant to the Editor Greg Moses
Managing Editor Stephen Goble
News Editor ,.... Will Anderson
Photo Editor Gary Baldasari
Sports Editor Kevin Coffey
Ass’t. Sports Editor Ted Boriskie
Staff writers Vickie Ashwell, LaTonya
Perrin, Mary Russo, Tony Gallucci, Cliff
Lewis, Mark Weaver, Brad Ellis, Hank
Wahrmund, Kathy Young, T. C. Gallucci,
Norine Harris, Sally Hamilton.
'Thanks'
1014
w
7?|«
'If
! (f
ZvNio
mi»s
TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO ALLOWED
ME TO HANDLE THEIR INSURANCE
NEEDS IN 1973.
Frank E. Novak
University Key — Kentucky Central Life
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY TOWN HALL SERIES
Presents
Roy Clark
And
The Sound Generation
G. ROLLIE WHITE COLISEUM
FRI., MAR. 1, 1974 — 7:30 P.M.
RESERVED SEATS
A&M Student and Date $3.00 ea.
General Public $5.00 ea.
GENERAL ADMISSION
A&M Student With Act. Card FREE
A&M Student Date $2.50 ea.
General Public $3.00 ea.
Town Hall Season Tickets Honored
Tickets On Sale Now
Rudder Center Box Office — 845-2916
Open 9-4 Mon. - Fri.
JUNIORS and
SOPHOMORES
1974 AGGIELAND
CLASS PICTURE SCHEDULE
S-V Feb. 18-Feb. 22
W-Z Feb. 25-Mar. 1
MAKE-UPS . . Mar. 4-Mar. 27
Pictures will be taken from 8 a. m. to 5 p. m.
At
UNIVERSITY STUDIO
115 N. Main 846-8019 North Gate
(Bring fee slips)
If you wi
thing, nc
canned
"Mexlca
Suprenv
Two Da
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352-857
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