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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 17, 1976)
11 ' 1 ! 1 ' 1 , : ; i i i ? ! > r r \ ; . H; ! , Page 4 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, MAR. 17, 1976 Voice of America —journalism or diplomacy? Associated Press WASHINGTON — Criticism is not new to the Voice of America. The government’s overseas radio net work often has been described by Group wants less control Malpractice suits increase dramatically Associated Press AUSTIN — The Texas Medical Association said Monday it has documented what it knew all along — the number of malpractice suits against doctors has jumped dramat ically along with the size of claims and judgments. Dr. N. L. Barker, president, said the TMA survey was the most com prehensive made in any state. A.S. Pickens, TMA counsel, said 5,300 of some 10,000 physicians in private practice returned question naires sent out by the association. The findings: — Six times as many malpractice suits and claims were filed in 1974 as in 1968. — Of all the malpractice suits and claims in Texas history, 60 per cent were filed between January 1972 and August 1975. — Eighty-one per cent of all the million dollar malpractice suits or claims ever filed in Texas were filed since 1972. Pickens said the findings con firmed the TMA in its legislative program to alleviate the malpractice crisis. This includes a two-year time limit for filing a claim, starting with the date of treatment, a ceiling on recoveries in malpractice suits, and arbitration of claims by panels of doc tors. ALLEN Oldsmobile Cadillac SALES - SERVICE ‘Where satisfaction is standard equipment” 2401 Texas Ave. 823-8002 Embrey’s Jewelry We Specialize In Aggie Rings. Diamonds Set — Sizing — Reoxidizing — All types watch/jewelry Repair Aggie Charge Accounts 9-5:30 846-5816 Moscow as a Western propaganda tool whose newscasts stretch the truth. tempting to report the news fully while at the same time actively pre senting U.S. foreign policy. Today the criticism strikes much closer to home. Serious questions are being raised on Capitol Hill about VGA’s broadcasting and whether it may be too tightly under the control of the State Department. While the Soviets accuse VGA of airing antidetente views, some con gressional critics claim that within recent years VGA has adopted too soft a tone and has shied away from reporting on Soviet dissidents and other touchy topics. One major Soviet newspaper charged that VGA deliberately con centrates on airing anti-Soviet statements by former Defense Sec retary James R. Schlesinger and others “who use any reason to blac ken detente.” Shrugging off the latest Moscow media barrage, officials note that Soviet propaganda aimed at VGA and other Western shortwave broadcasting goes through frequent cycles. “The form of government is not nearly as important as the amount of government,” said Terry Hunt Tooley, chairman of Students for Re sponsible Expression. SRE is a conservative organization which promotes the ideals of less government with more individual responsibility. Its members oppose any form of government which in volves 100 per cent control of human or property rights. The group recognizes a spectrum ranging from anarchy on the far right to totalitarianism on the far left, said Tooley. It believes that along with too much government goes control of people and their property. SRE be lieves that the United States is a re public situated right in the middle. “That mid-point where men are free to do what they want and be governed by laws is the best point, ” said Tooley. The main purpose of SRE at Texas A&M University is to help balance the liberal view. “We have been suc cessful in the sense that we have pro vided the means for students to see this type of thinking,’’ said Tooley. “The key is the education of people. ” The program for the organization includes films, speakers and book sales. At each function, interested students may sign up as new mem bers. Meetings are called when as signments need to be handed out. Two more speakers are scheduled for this semester and a book sale is plan ned. SRE was formed in 1974 by Tooley and the present executive director, Rodney Deschamps, and now has 15 members. The organization encourages people to be with others in order to discuss and share ideas. “Spheres ot influence are bigger than people realize,’’ said Tooley. Diana Totah The rising criticism, however, is only part of VGA’s problems. The network is beset with problems in volving its basic organization and aims, Rinding, high-level adminis tration disputes and poor broadcast reception because of aging transmit ters. “It has its ups and downs,” re marks VGA’s USSR Division Direc tor Eli Flam. The basic problem, according to NBC’s John Chancellor, a former chief of VGA, is that the Voice “has’ been placed at the intersection of journalism and diplomacy” — at- On Capitol Hill, however, Sen. Charles H. Percy, R-Ill., has con tended that VGA last spring pre sented a “totally misleading” picture of developments during the last days before the fall of South Vietnam by failing to report adequately on American evacuation plans. Percy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said STORE HOURS MONDAY-SATURDAY 8A.M. TO 12P.M. SUNDAY 9A.M. TO 10P.M. UNIVERSITY DRIVE AT COLLEGE AVENUE PRICES EFFECTIVE WED.-SAT., MAR. 17-20 BLISSCRAFT REGENCY 3-WAY PITCHER 2Vj QUART CAPACITY TURN TOP TO POUR STRAIN OR CLOSE. SET OF 3 FREEZER CONTAINERS ■N SET OF 3 1-QT. CONTAINERS. UNBREAKABLE, STACKABLE, FOR STORING OR FREEZING. this kind of “censorship” — respond ing to administration pressure — violated a provision of VGA’s charter requiring that its news coverage be “accurate, objective and com prehensive.” . . . that the Voice of America puts out as objective, balanced, unbiased a news product as you’ll find any where on the face of the earth. I’m very proud of it.” He noted that “through the years, I have listened to BBC the British Broadcasting Corp. and the Voice of America and discussed them with a great many people in our embassies, as well as other embassies.” However well the Voice may compare with other Western over seas broadcasting, VGA officials es timate that it has a regular Soviet audience numbering “in the million- s,” providing them an alternative to government-controlled media. has “Almost universally there been a feeling that BBC is a more credible and accepted news report ing service,” Percy said. Both the Senate committee and a House International Relations panel overseeing VGA’s budget are unde cided about proposals to remove the station from the U.S. Information Agency, as part of a plan to reor ganize American overseas informa tion and cultural programs. “To some degree it’s fashionable, it’s vogue to listen to VGA,” one offi cial commented, noting that VGA has been carrying more popular music and feature programs aimed to appeal to Soviet young people. VGA’s current chief, Kenneth Giddens, concedes that the station tends to be “a little more restrained” in its reporting than BBC. But he adds that “I really believe The anti-VGA broadside pub lished last month in the newspaper Sovietskaya Rossiya contended that the U.S. station has been airing statements “by people known for their hostile attitude toward the res olutions adopted in Helsinki.” The Soviet Union had pushed strongly for the 35-nation accords signed last summer in Helsinki, in effect ratifying Europe’s post World ONE POUND SPOOL DYED JUTE 5-PLY, 180 FEET, JUTE KING. CHOOSE FROM SEVERAL COLORS. SOFT, EASY TO WORK WITH. ASSORTED SIZES WOODEN BEADS ADD BEAUTY TO YOUR MACRAME. PACKAGES OF ASSORTED STYLES AND COLORS. LIQUID SUNSHINE PLANT SPRAY 12 OZ. READY TO USE. INDOOR PLANT SPRAY FOR GREENER, MORE BEAUTIFUL PLANTS War II boundaries as permanent. At Western insistence, the accords also included provisions intended to promote freer East-West contacts. Flam said he believes the Soviet attack is “way off base” in alleging that VGA has skimped on reporting about U.S.-Soviet cooperative re search projects and other positive aspects of detente. At the same time, he noted, “we as the Voice of America reflect the American press’ through editorial opinion roundups. Extensive coverage of the (j issue included regular net items and correspondentrepm the fighting as well as developn in Congress and at theWhiteHj By Even the best program however, is of little value 1113 can reach VGA’s listeners clei VGA uses a network 1 mitters in the United Statesia transmitters abroad. “I think it’s fair to say that during the last year, for various reasons, the American press has raised more questions about detente, has been more critical about some of the de velopments with detente than pre viously,” Flam said. An examination of VGA program logs and transcripts covering Russian language broadcasting for a week- long period in mid-December tended to substantiate the officials’ contention that VGA news reporting is balanced and not slanted toward anti-dente views. But accordi n g to one offi of VGA’s transmitters are ven tiquated. ” As a result, he said try to listen to the Voice ani hardly hear it.” VGA chief Kenneth Giddeis, he believes the networkshoui:; 30 to 40 new transmitters, Giddens also pointed ml while VGA broadcasts abm hours a week in 35 languages, Moscow’s output amounts to 1,950 hours a week in 84 lani “I don’t think that wearedoi adequate job for this nation.' said. However, the prospects up.pen pear to be dim for any sic Mlment, expansion of VGA or upgradinsleavier 1 transmitter facilities. EARLY SPRING SPECIAL COOL-RAY POLAROID SUNGLASSES THE FASHIONABLE GWRE KILLERS. CHOOSE FROM A1 SELECTION FOR MEN AND WOMEN. SHAHER- RESISTANT LENSES. I EAU DE COLOGNE LASTING I SPECIAL! 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