Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1975)
In the beginning Page 2 THE BAITALIO! WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, II; Government regulation is everywhere 'MR. PRESIDENT..!!' Yesterday, I received last week’s copy of my hometown paper. The State Line Tribune (Farwell, Texas). The editor, John Getz, has a column on the front page, and he had an interesting article in it. The article is of a political- economic nature so it was sug gested that it be run in The Battal ion as the economic reply. Since it is sort of a guest editorial, it could be classified as The Aggie forum. But the Tribune was my first newspaper (I was 11-years-old and wrote under the name, “Scoop” Anderson, about the sixth-grade band), so I felt it should be Your man at Batt. To avoid argument, no col umn head will be used. My thanks to Mr. Getz and to the original writer, California Con gressman Andrew Hinshaw. There’s a message to this unique account of CREATION: “In the beginning, God created Heaven and Earth.” He was almost immediately faced with a class-action lawsuit for failing to file an environmental-impact statement by HEIA — the Heavenly Environmental Impact Students continue lobby effort By ROD SPEER City Editor WASHINGTON — TAMU Stu dent Government President Steve Eberhard and three A&M stu dents left Wash ington D.C.Sun day night after a weekend of poli tics in the Capi tol and else where. Eberhard was / selected by the vice president of Student Services, John Koldus, to attend a “Symposium on the Presi dency” at the Sheraton Inn in Ras- ton, Virginia. Eberhard and the other students arrived there early Friday morning. John Nash and Jerri Ward, the past and current SG vice presidents of external affairs, represented A&M as delegates to the National Student Lobby (NSL). Nash said there was only one bill he wanted to back through lobbying efforts: a tax break for parents of students. Since Congressman Olin E. Teague of College Station has already favor ed the law, Nash said he couldn’t justify the expense for two days of lobbying. Ward spoke to Teague Friday on the topic for the next annual A&M Student Conference on National Af fairs (SCONA). Nash and Ward stayed for the workshops and gen eral sessions, but left before the' actual lobbying efforts began. The NSL convention took place just be fore the House considered an edu cational appropriations bill. This gave the lobbyists a chance to push for last-minute support of amend ments which would increase fund ing for student grants and insti tutional aid. The bill is scheduled for vote on the House floor today. Carol Moore, an A&M student member of the NSL Board of Di rectors, did not attend because of a mix-up with student govern ment over who would pay her ex penses. Russ Usnick, another A&M student, paid his own fare so that he could run for NSL executive di rector. A new director has not yet been announced. Other Texas delegations from Houston, Lubbock, and Dallas remained in town for Monday’s and Tuesday’s lobbying efforts. To Corps staff Enforcement is unfair with no notice Editor: This is an open letter to Corps staff. I feel your insistence upon the 2.25 GPR requirement for Stidf pos itions, including Commanding Of ficer and First Sergeant, is well and good. However, I DO NOT feel those restrictions should be placed upon those persons in question for positions pertaining to 1975-1976. I feel the enforcement of that re quirement at this late date is unjust and unfair to both those on Staff and to those who have been under sur- vejlLaqoe,/(>ji.At.aff po^Hj)^, Jf sbplKMrwM es an$ .iiwjibii.s* Ead v been informed of this restriction in the fall of 1974, I would be in com plete agreement with the require ment. However, those who are the most qualified may not quite have that GPR and the ones who DO hold that ratio or higher may not be qual ified in the least for these such posi tions. This is why I feel your request is unreasonable at this late time. If made a requirement for all sophomores and juniors of 1975-1976, the Corps of Cadets would obtain a higher standard of qualifications. I believe the Corps of Cadets is the most admired and re spected organization on campus and it IS the backbone of TAMU. But enforcing those restrictions NOW could create unnecessary hostilities within the Corps AND wihtout, and ruin the Corps reputation for unity. I hope you will reconsider your request. Jana Stockton ERA explained Editor: As Executive Director of Stu dents for Responsible Expression, I have been questioned by several people about the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution. A bill to rescind Texas ratification of the ERA is now in the Texas Legislature. The proponents of the bill have pointed out several cogent arguments in favor of rescinding the ERA, so as a matter of public infor mation I will here enumerate some of the arguments which have been presented. (1) Most state laws now prohibit marriages between persons of the same sex. Because these laws dis criminate on the basis of the sex of one of the partners, these laws will be invalidated by the ERA. “The stringent requirements of the prop osed Amendment argue strongly for removal of this stigma by granting marriage licenses to homosexual couples ...” (Yale Law Journal, Jan. 1973) (2) Sex crimes which are based on the idea of protecting women will be outlawed under the ERA. “Seduc tion laws, statutory rape laws, laws prohibiting obscerp®guage in the presence of women . . . The Equal Rights Amendment would not per mit such laws, which base their clas- Slouch sification ... on social stereotypes.” (Yale Law Journal, April 1971) (3) The position of both the Jus tice Department and the Defense Department is that women will be subject to the draft under the ERA. (Congressional Record, March 22, 1972) Even though the draft has been suspended, it can be reacti vated at any time. Yale Law Journal, April 1972, states that “Women will serve in all kinds of units, and they will be eligible for combat duty.” If this is the ERA that everyone thinks they are for, okay. But if there are people who are alarmed about these developments, they should write their state legislators. Jim Earle And we encourage everyone we know to join SRE in a hearty “Beat Koozat the Hell Out of ERA!” Terry Hunt Tooley Agency. God was granted a temporary permit for the heavenly portion of the project, but a cease-and-desist order was issued on the earthly part. Upon completion of his construc tion permit application and en vironmental impact statement, God appeared before the agency to ans wer questions. When asked why he began these projects in the first place, he simply replied that he liked to be creative. This was not considered adequate reasoning, and he was directed to substantiate this further. He was advised that the agency was unable to see any practical use for earth since “the earth was void and empty and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” Then God said, “Let there be light!” This action was in gross error since one member of the agency was active in the Sierrangel Club and immediately protested, asking, “How was the light to be made? Would there be strip mining? What about thermal pollution? Air pollu tion?” God explained that the light would come from a huge ball offire. Nobody in the agency really un derstood this, but to disguise their ignorance, they issued a provisional acceptance assuming: (1) there would be no smog or smoke result ing from the ball of fire, (2) a sepa rate burning permit would be ob tained, and (3) since a continuous light would be a waste of energy, it should be dark at least one-half of the time. So God agreed to divide light and darkness, and he would call the light, day, and the darkness, night. The agency expressed no interest with in-house semantics! When asked how the earth would be covered, God said, “Lettherebe firmament made amidst the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. ” One ecologically radical agency member accused him of double-ti but the agency tabled action sine* God would be required first to file for a permit from the Angelic Bureau of Land Management and further would be required to obtain water permits from the appropriate agencies involved. The council asked if there would be only water and firmament, and God said, “Let the earth bring fort! the green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit of the tree yield ing fruit after its kinds, which may have seen itself upon the earth. ’ The agency agreed, as long as na tive seeds would be used. About future development, God said, "Let the waters bringforththe creeping creatures having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth.” Here again the agency took no formal action since this would re quire approval of the Game and Fish Commission coordinated with the Heavenly Wildlife Federation It appeared that everything was at last in order until God stated he wanted to complete the project in six days. He was sternly advised that his timing was completely out of the question as the agency would re quire a minimum of 180 days tore view the application and the environmental-impact statement Then there would be the public hearings! No final action could be expected before ten or twelve months. Slowly God picked up the vol uminous documents before him, and as he turned away was heard to mutter, “To Hell with it!” By Nguyen Dziem LIBRARY WFEK kPglL 13-19 I always celebrate Library Week by checking in past-due books!” Cbt 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. Editorial policy is determined by the editor. LETTERS POUCY ‘ Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are subject to beingcut to that length or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guaran tee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone number for verifica tion. Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Members of the Student Publications Board are: Bob G. Rogers, chairman; Dr. Gary Halter; Dr. John Hanna; Roger P. Miller; Dr. Clinton A. Phillips; Steve Eberhard; Don Hegi and John Nash Jr. Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising Services, Inc., , ,New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. MEMBER The Associated Press, Texas Press Association The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is published in College Station, Texas, daily except Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods, September through May, and once a week during summer school i Mail subscriptions are $5.00 per semester; $9.50 per school vear; $10.50 per full vear. All subscriptions subject to 5# sales tax. Advertising rate furnished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room ^17, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous origin published herein. Right of repritduction of all other matter herein are also reserved. Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas Editor Assistant Editor Managing Editor Assistant Managing Editor . Sports Editor Photo Editor City Editor News Editors Greg Moses . . .Will Anderson . .LaTonya Perrin . . . . .Roxie Hearn Mike Bruton . . . .Glen Johnson Rod Speer . . . Barbara West Douglas Winship SIS' UKJ vEfrS i rr au-ssis (across from Texas A&M) At North Gate STK. IN ON THURS. AND SAT. Reporters Paul McGrath, Gerald Olivier, Rose Mary Traverso, Steve Gray, Judy Baggett, Alan Killingsworth, Sayeeful Islam, Cathryn Clement, Cindy Maciel, Jim Peters, Don Middleton, Mike Kimmey, Jerry Geary, Jim Crawley, Jerry' Needham, David Walker. Photographers Douglas Winship, David Kimmel, Gary Baldasari, Jack Holm, Chris Svatek, Steve Krauss, Kevin Fotomy, Tom Kayser, David McCarroll. Columnists Bill Sheen, Mike Perrin, John Vanore, John Tim Cowden Artists and cartoonists Dr. James H. Earle, Nguyen Dziem,j Brad Foster, Rodney Hammack, Tom Brents, Scott Morgan. 1 <0U BROKE UP MY ROMANCE 3EF0RE IT EVEN 60T STARTED' u)H t f can't you Does HELP PEOPLE INSTEAD OF BE INS SUCH A NUISANCE?.' UiELl,THERE'S THIS LITTLE MATTER OF NOT BEINS ALLOWED TO VOTE, SEE...