The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, June 23, 1976, Image 2
THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 1976 Page 2 Editorials Congress involved in more than sex scandalsL_ Editor ' s joj Approval of bond issues recommended for progress The Battalion recommends that College Station voters pass all nine of the capital improvements bond is sues on the June 29 ballot. The Battalion’s city staff, through its coverage of the city’s governmen tal body meetings during the past year, is satisfied that all of the pro posed improvements are badly needed. These bonds would provide re medies for problems which have re ceived mention at frequent intervals at City Council meetings during the past year. The proposed move away from Bryan for utilities can only be hailed as a step in the right direction. Bryan’s seemingly unjustified an nual rate increases are taking money out of the pockets of College Station residents. With a partially indepen dent electrical system and a wholly independent water system, less money would be taken from College Station residents and more of the profits would remain in College Sta tion. In light of the tremendous popula tion growth. College Station resi dents have to make plans and put those plans into action in order to stay a step ahead of the problems. It’s nice to communicate We would like to thank the Administration for so promptly informing us of Dr. Williams’ release from Houston Methodist Hospital last Friday. The Administration’s secrecy about Williams’ con dition had prompted last week’s editorial. We now wish to commend the Administration not only for notifying us so promptly but also for notifying us first. Aspiring journalists offered opportunity Aspiring journalists, budding ace reporters and shutter-happy photo- graphers should sharpen their pen cils and clean their camera lenses. The Battalion is searching for vol unteer reporters and photographers for the remaining summer months. Positions are open for feature writers and campus and city reporters. All applicants would be asked to do one or two stories per week and would be able to work on their own time.' Stories would be submitted to the Battalion in time to meet the weekly deadline. Any student with a little free time and a desire to see his name in print should call 845-2611 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Applicants may also leave their name and phone number with the Student Publications secretaries in Reed- McDonald 217. WASHINGTON — Just in time for the summer doldrums, there is a genuine sex scandal breaking on Capitol Hill. The newspapers are mobilizing their investigative re sources in the greatest display of moral outrage since Watergate. Platoons of top-flight reporters are going down the names in the congressional staff directories of re cent years, looking for the former secretary who will spill the beans on her boss. Predictably, they will find her and her sisters, and the result ing exposes will provide enough headlines to compensate for the ab sence of a contest at the Democratic convention. In time, there will—be remedial legislation proposed. The same re formers who thought the answer to abuse of power in the executive branch was to cut off private sources of campaign financing will undoub tedly argue that the remedy for the sins of Congress is to cut the mem bers off from intramural sex. A bill will be passed and some scoundrels purged at the polls. Everyone will relax with the warm glow of a moral triumph. And all the serious problems of Congress will still remain. That is not to say these men do not deserve the censure they are getting. Of course it is an outrage if some old goat of a congressman keeps his girl friend on the payroll and procures his pleasures with public funds. Of course it is an affront to de cency if the hiring policies of some congressional offices reflect the sex ual appetites of the boss rather than the competence of the prospective employees. But one cannot help btit being struck by the selectivity of the in dignation the press and public dis play on this question. These scan dals, gamy as they may be, are tangential and trivial compared to the real abuses of power on Capitol Hill. Wayne Hays had been a chronic violator of the standards of political behavior for years before any allega tions were raised about his private conduct. Elizabeth Ray, for all her headlines, is not the first woman on Capitol Hill to cross Hays’ path. As House Minority Leader John J. Rhodes (R-Ariz.) writes in his new book on Congress, “The Futile Sys tem,’’ there was an incident last year that should have — but did not — receive equal publicity. “During debate on a controversial Cbe Battalion i Opinions expressedin The Battalion are those of the editor or , .. ,, , .. ^ ... . „ ,. , ■ r i .7 7 .7 ? 7-7 Kepresented nationally by National Educational Advertising Servic- of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of the es Inc New York City> Chicago and Los Angeles. u niversity administration or the Board of Regents. The Battal- ion is a non-profit, self supporting enterprise operated by stu- Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per school year; dents as a university and community newspaper. Editorial $35.00 per full year. All subscriptions subject to 5% sales tax. Advertis- policy is determined by the editor. ing rates furnished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. LETTERS POLICY Rights of reproduction of all matter herein are reserved. Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas. subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial Editor Jerry Needham staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guaran- Managing Editor Richard Chamberlain tee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, show the Sports Editor Paul McGrath address of the writer and list a telephone number for verifica- Campus Editor Lisi Junod Photographer Steve Goble Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room Layout LeAnn Roby Susan Brown 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Reporter Sandy Russo MSC Recreation Committee presents Ice Cream Eating Contest and Ice Cream Social Rudder Fountain Area Thursday, June 24 3 p.m. contest at 3 p.m. ice cream sales 12 - 4 p.m. Please sign up for contest first floor MSC Battalion Classified Call 845-2611 David S. B voder pay raise for members of Congress, ’’ Rhodes writes, “Hayes . . . had a spirited exchange with freshman Republican Millicent Fenwick of New Jersey. The high point. . . oc curred when Hays threatened to cut off the staff allowances of Republi cans who objected to the pay raise. T think,’ Mrs. Fenwick said softly, ‘that we have heard some thing here today for which we are all going to be sorry and ashamed.’ But the next day, Rhodes notes, there was not a trace of Hays’ threat in the Congressional Record. The Ohioan had used his privilege to re vise his remarks right out of exis tence. That story had both the elements — abuse of power and coverup — of Watergate, but it was a one-day item in the press. Before that, the Democrats in the House had created an obvious con flict of interest situation by allowing Hays to serve simultaneously as the chairman of the House Administra tion Committee, which writes the election finance laws, and as chair man of the Democratic Congres sional Campaign Committee, which raises and spends the funds to keep Democratic congressmen in office. Hays’ flagrant efforts to sabotage and obstruct campaign finance re form legislation over the last five years were documented in this col umn and in many other places. But the Democratic party which controls the House did not disci pline Hays for that, any more than it rebuked him for his threat to Mrs. Fenwick. On the contrary, when the House Democratic steering committee last year summoned the courage to recommend Hays’ dis missal from his committee chair manship, Hays was rescued by a vote of the Democratic members of the House. Today, many of those same Dem ocrats are complaining of the injus tice of being tarred by the Hays’ brush. They are right, for the amor- ality of his demonstrated public rec ord and his alleged private life is not the norm on Capitol Hill. But will they now have the cour age — as they did not last year — to discipline Hays, not on the shaky grounds of the allegations of a re- jected lover, but on his demon strated record of abuse of official powers? Will the press that is so vigilant in tracing the activities of his one em ployee devote comparable re sources to the story of the millions of dollars being squandered in the mushrooming bureaucracy of con gressional subcommittees — one of which provided shelter for Miss Ray? Will the public learn — in the de tail it has learned of Miss Ray’s loves — which of the men now running for House majority leader led the 1/5 carat diamond mounted in your ring. 1/8 carat diamond mounted in your ring $110. $60. 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Or will we see that, once the summer scandal has been mined for all the headline sensations it can furnish, the press once again forgets about the existence of the House of Representatives and its Members relax into business as usual? © 1976, The Washington Post Company For those of you who obscure corners for facts andfigM / to engrave upon your memory,n these: Slightly over more thanlp cent of the 9,528 students em for the first summer session at 1(| A&M are women. This translato 2,910 to he exact. One-thirdofj total are graduate students (3,111 McLaughlin’s of corpus christi £ THE BEST HAIRCUT OF YOUR LIFE . . . OR YOUR MONEY BACK. We truly believe that no other men s or ladies hair stylist in College Station is so dedicated to the art of beautiful hair sculpture as McLaughlins We cost a little more (Artists don t come cheap But we are very good. For proof we make this offer: Let us cut you 1 hair. Wear it for 10 days. If you re not showerec with compliments we'll happily refund your money 1403 UNIVERSITY DRIVE COLLEGE STATION Call 846-5764 for appointments Top of the Tower Texas A&M University Pleasant Dining — Great View SERVING LUNCHEON BUFFET 11:00 A.M. - 1:30 P.M. Each day except Saturday $2.50 DAILY $3.00 SUNDAY Serving soup sandwich 11:00 A.M. - 1:30 P.M. Monday - Friday $1.50 plus drink Available Evenings For Special University Banquets Department of Food Service Texas A&M University “Quality First”