Page 2 THE BATTALION
FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 1977
Opinion/Commentary/Letters
Democratic fight may come
' WASHINGTON — A strange re
versal of moods has taken place in
4he congressional cloakrooms. The
^Republicans are surprisingly cheer
ful, and not just because of last
\veek’s special election victory for
the Minnesota House seat vacated
•by Secretary of Agriculture Bob
bergland. They are finding unity in
;their opposition role and enjoying,
in a certain sense, their respite from
power.
Meantime, the muttering is get
ting louder among congressional
Democrats about alleged incidents
of neglect and abuse from the White
House.
A House Republican leader, rub
bing salt in the wounds, told a
Democratic colleague who was
complaining about some slight,
“Well, you guys are learning what
we went through for six years with
Nixon.
This would be no more than a bit
of Washington gossip were it not for
the fact that the developing tensions
between President Carter and the
Democrats in Congress threaten to
deny the country one of the major
David S.
Broder
stimulus package. There’s nothing
tough about asking a Democratic
Congress to cut taxes and increase
spending simultaneously.
benefits people thought they would
get from the last election. By ending
the division of responsibility be
tween a Republican President and a
Democratic Congress, the voters
clearly hoped to break the stalemate
that had prevented effective action
on the country’s problems.
But increasingly, there’s a sense
that Carter and the congressional
Democrats are lining up for a fight —
even though they don’t have much
yet to fight about. The emotions are
getting ahead of the issues, and the
issues will suffer unless things get
straightened out pretty fast.
Carter’s first major proposal to
Congress was the economic
Matters get less comfortable next
month, when Carter’s energy pro
posal goes to Congress. That will
require lawmakers to vote for things
that hurt: higher prices and tighter
restrictions on fuel use. But instead
of smoothing relations in anticipa
tion of that inevitable tussle, there
has been a lot of sniping from both
ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, none
of it very edifying.
The congressmen’s gripes can be
fairly petty, including that hardy
Washington perennial — the length
of time it takes to get a phone call
returned from the White House.
But the underlying attitudes are se
rious. On Carter’s side, the impres
sion he has conveyed is that he still
believes what he said early in the
1976 primaries, that “Congress is
inherently incapable of leadership.”
Slouch
by Jim Earle
He sees Congress, as he saw the
Georgia lesislature, as a body overly
influenced by narrow parochial con
cerns, a playground for the special
interests.
The Democrats in Congress tend
to see Carter as a fellow who is just
waiting to mobilize the public
against them, as he did with the
legislature in Georgia. They re
member that last year Carter ran
successfully against the “Washing
ton establishment” and the presi
dential candidates from Congress.
They expect him to take on Con
gress again.
Congressional anxieties were
given official voice two weeks ago in
a highly unusual speech by Speaker
of the House Thomas P. (Tip)
O’Neill, D-Mass. O’Neill said a
repetition of the Georgia tactic
“would be a glaring mistake.”
As quoted by The New York
Times’ Hedrick Smith, the Speaker
said, “It upsets me when they say,
‘We ll bring it to the people.’ That’s
the biggest mistake Mr. Carter
could ever make.”
O’Neill was echoing the advice
given the Carter legislative liaison
team, in advance, by that other
Massachusetts Irishman, Lawrence
F. O’Brien. He was the acknowl
edged master of congressional rela
tions during his White House serv
ice in the 1960s. O’Brien counseled
caution, on the basis of the political
risks for a President in challenging
members of Congress in their home
districts.
But only two days after O’Neill’s
speech was reported, the Presi
dent’s close friend, Atlanta lawyer
Charles Kirbo, told me that he be
lieved that “in some instances,” at
least, Carter will have to do exactly
what O’Neill and O’Brien opposed,
because “That’s the only way he’ll
get his program passed.
Anitcipating what he called “a
continuing problem” with Con
gress, Kirbo said that President will
have “to get into it himself — just
the way he did in the Georgia legis
lature.”
The bitterness that characterized
Carter’s last two years as governor is
not what the country anticipated
when it entrusted Democrats with
control of both Congress and the
White House. But at the moment,
avoiding a collision between Carter
and Congress looks a little like step
ping between the immovable object
and the irresistible force.
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Money does talk on campu
(c) 1977, The Washington Post
ERA is a real issue
“NOT ONLY DOES IT VIOLATE MY RIGHT TO
PRIVACY FOR THEM TO SEND MY GRADE REPORT
HOME, IT VIOLATES MY RIGHT TO SAFETY!”
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LETTERS POLICY Kd " or ■•••,■ Jerry Needham
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United Press International is entitled exclusively to Cooper.
Editor:
Th e women of Texas A&M Uni
versity must use their power of
number and diversity to prevent
people like Sen. (Walter H.)
Mengden of Houston from demean
ing their education.
Sen. Mengden is fighting to have
the Equal Rights Amendment
(ERA) repealed in Texas. The Hous
ton attorney and oilman seems to be
unaware of the discrimination
women still face in job choice and
legal matters. He claims the ERA
will only bring about homosexual
marriages and unisex toilets. He
entertains reporters with his anec
dotes about going to the restroom
with women in Europe. Somehow,
the real issues get pushed to the
side. This is understandable — in
justice is not funny.
Legislators cannot ignore a large
number of letters from the various
parts of Texas that college students
represent. It is important to de
mand now the tools to control the
future.
—Johnnie Hendon, ’79
Editor:
The saying, “highway 6 runs both
ways,” is a very good slogan, be
cause people who bad mouth A&M
every way imaginable, and really
didn’t want to go here are, in my
opinion, welcome to leave any time.
However, some people carry this to
extremes. They feel that if you say
anything against A&M, you should
be removed forcibly.
Since this is my third letter to the
editor, that should qualify me to be
removed, right? Hell no! I love
A&M more than anything, and if I
say something about it, it’s to make
Aggieland even better.
I realize that there are some
things that one does not take sides
against, such as the sports program,
the profs, or the Alumni, but that’s
just who I’m fed up with.
I’ve been here since last semes
ter, and I have been able to witness
the Alumni at the football games,
and afterwards, and on weekends
when they come for meetings and
reunions.
I cannot believe some of the
things that the Alumni do. I con
stantly see them litter the campus
when they were only a few feet from
a garbage can. In the MSC cafe
teria, where everyone is asked
to bus their own trays, huge tables
of forpier students, and their wives,
eat, talk, and promptly leave all
their trash, trays, and whatever, all
over the table. Those signs do mean
everyone, you know.
Also, they seem to think that only
present students should respect the
MSC. They have to be asked to re-’
move their hats, and again, they lit
ter worse than the students.
I know that the Alumni is re
sponsible for many of the things on
campus, because of their large do
nations to the school, but I think
they should remember that those
donations were for the betterment
of the school, not so that they could
get away with disrespectful and
un-Aggielike conduct.
When one looks over the campus,
it almost seems that some of it was
fixed up and renovated for the
Alumni, not the students. After
all, this university is for the students
isn’t it? I wish money didn’t talk so
well on campus.
For Battalion Classified
Call 845-2611
-Charlie Andrews, ’80
and proud of it
A&M University
DIRECTORY
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216 Reed McDonald Bldg.
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University Bookstore
TRI-STATE A&M
SPORTING GOODS
“AT THE TRIANGLE”
OLD COLLEGE RD. 846-3280
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Counseling does
need improving
Editor:
I am a May 1976 graduate of
Texas A&M and I am writing this
letter in response to the “Counsel
ing is Inadequate” letter by Henry
Miller ’79 in the Battalion on Tues
day, Feb. 15, 1977. I feel Mr. Mil
ler made a very important point, es
sentially that student academic
counseling at the University is in
adequate and that the situation
should be improved. In the four
years I attended A&M, enrollment
increased from 16,000 to 25,000 and
with that phenomenal growth a cor
responding worsening of academic
counseling occurred, especially in
larger departments. Of course this
is part of the growing pains that
must be borne by all of us but not be
ignored. If Texas A&M is going to
continue to provide scholastic lead
ership and attract high quality stu
dents positive action must be taken.
I am not blaming any one in particu
lar but merely pointing out the fact
that there is a lack of professional
academic counseling at Texas A&M
and stating that the problem needs
to be alleviated.
— Robert M. Gomez, ’76
The Corps was a big help, ak
Don Broach and his compai
(G-R-l) marched most ofoneaiea:
Bryan. Without them wewoulim
have collected the $700 t
contributed.
Again, thank you from
children born and unborn who*i
have a chance to lead better Ih
because you cared enouj
—Joanie Wii
1977 Chairman, Mothers March
Birth Deb
Stereotyping
is degrading
March of Dimes
gives thanks
Editor:
On behalf of the Mothers March
on Birth Defects, I’d like to say
thank you for all the support you
gave us last month. The articles
printed were of a great help in in
forming the University community
about Mothers March.
The University is very fortunate
in having several groups of young
ladies and gentlemen on the cam
pus. These are the sororities,
fraternities, and the Corps. They
were a tremendous help during our
March. With the help of the frater
nities and sororities we were able to
triple the contributions collected
from the many apartments in the
community.
Editor:
On our campus we havei
GSSO (20 students) claiminglli
their constitutional rights aretei
stepped on, but what about
rights of the other 28,000 studi
at Texas A&M University?
They may claim that it
bother them to be stereotyped
other people. I for one do can
my reputation and the reputation
Texas A&M.
If the GSSO is successful
suit, in the eyes of our nation it
not only stereotype them.butd
whole student body. Despite#!
the CSSO may say, our societyco :
demns homosexuality as imm
and it is illegal in our state "1
should the rest of us be exposedl
such a social downgrade for the!
tions of this minute minorityi
which some of its members refiisel
he recognized?
—Jim Hanraha/il
tl:
Readers' fonrn
Guest viewpoints, in addi
tion to Letters to the Editor
are welcome. All pieces sub
mitted to Readers’ foruic
should be:
• Typed triple space
• Limited to 60 characterspei
line
• Limited to 100 lines
Submit articles to
McDonald 217, College Sta
tion, Texas, 77843. Authori
name and phone number it
accompany all submissions.
LEGALIZE FREEDOM — Are you tired of a governmenl
that “redistributes” our income, taxes us to death
volves us in foreign wars, spies on us and tells uswM
we can eat and smoke? We’re the third largest
party in the United States and we’re tired of it too. If yo«
are interested in becoming a campus activist,
call collect or write to:
Bob Meier
Libertarian Party
1516 ‘P’ Street N. W.
Washington, D. C. 20005
(202) 232-2003
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