« • • *— • i
THURSDAY, APRIL 14. 1977
Dick West
Spending a day with Coolidge, Fillmore
By DICK WEST
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Coming up
next week is an NBC-TV special
called “A Day With President Car
ter.” It should help slake the curios
ity of folks who have been wonder
ing what it is a president does all
day.
Mainly, however, documentaries
such as this make us regret that
television wasn’t invented sooner.
If video tapes were available, the
network could intersperse “A Day
With President Carter” with ex
cerpts from “A Day With President
Coolidge,” “A Day With President
Fillmore” and maybe “A Day With
President Pierce.”
Then we would be able to see
how life in the White House has
changed over the years. If it has
changed. The best way to show the
comparison probably would be
through the split screen technique.
For example, one side of the
screen could show Carter doing
whatever he does in the afternoons.
Meanwhile, on the other side, we
would see Calvin Coolidge taking a
nap.
Coolidge, by some accounts, was
one of the most ardent nap-takers
ever to occupy the executive man
sion. Did his nick-name “Silent Cal”
apply when he was napping?
That is the sort of thing people
thirst to know about their presi
dents — and is the type of question
Gays seek social recognition
(Continued from Page 2.)
try are asking for — sometimes de
manding — equal treatment under
the law and freedom from discrimi
nation in employment, housing and
social contact.
Goldstein attributes the changing
status of gay organizations to a heavy
dissemination of information by the
media and gay rights organizations,
discussions on TV, newspaper arti
cles, and even rap sessions with the
clergy on Sunday morning radio.
The results of this mass education
have been small but noticeable.
ments have enacted some form of
gay civil rights protection.
In January of this year, Miami be
came the first major southern met
ropolis to pass gay rights protections,
prohibiting discrimination against
gays in the areas of employment,
housing and public accomodations.
Opposition to the measure was
heavy and was led by Anita Bryant,
of orange juice fame. Local gay ac
tivists were angered by Bryant’s
vocal opposition even to the point of
trying to organize a national boycott
of Florida orange juice.
Goldstein wrote that, as of April
1973, police surveillance of “gays” in
San Francisco’s bars and public
toilets has markedly decreased. The
New York Police Department ended
“entrapment” of homosexuals and is
sued a statement requiring that the
term “gay” be used in all official
communications and reports in place
of any derogatory names for the
homosexually-oriented person.
In 1972, John Lindsay, then
mayor of New York, issued an execu
tive order forbidding anti-gay bias in
municipal employment. Since then,
roughly 40 city and county govern-
Despite growing acceptance ofi
homosexuals, most states still have
some form of prohibition of sexual
relations between members of the
same sex. Legal sexual activity is
usually confined to heterosexual in
tercourse within the course of mar
riage.
Although many attempts have
been made to legalize homosexual
marriages, the courts still refuse to
recognize such a union.
Goldstein listed four different
views toward homosexuality that are
prevalent in today’s laws:
— 1) Homosexual acts performed
Ross links present
to past U.S, policy
(Continued from Page 1.)
is in the process of change and whose
needs and concerns are evolving.
“I believe that when the United States
forms its new Latin American policy, it
should reflect the realities of 1976 and not
the persisting attitudes of the past’” Ross
said.
The United States must remember
there are dangers when it treats Latin
America as a totality without recognizing
the great differences and variations that
exist in this hemisphere, he said.
in private by consenting adults with
out force or coercion should not be
the concern of the law or law
enforcement agencies.
— 2) Homosexual acts must be
punished severely by strong laws.
— 3) Laws should be available but
should not prosecute severely. In a
society where religious and political
integrity is weakened, laws are the
only way society can express its frus
tration about behavior it deems un
natural. i
— 4) Homosexuality is not crime
but a sickness, and individuals per
forming such behavior should be
hospitalized or incarcerated in men
tal institutions instead of jails. ”
Texas’ laws against homosexuality
are not actually put to work in the
courts very often, according to Texas
A&M student legal adviser Chris
Kling.
“In Texas, homosexual conduct is
a violation of the Texas Penal Code,”
Kling said. It is a Class “C” mis
demeanor and carries a penalty of up
to $200 fine. No time in jail can be
levied for the offense.
The law defines “homosexual con
duct” as deviate sexual intercourse
with a member of the same sex.
“Deviate sexual intercourse” is fur
ther detailed as being contact be
tween the genitals and the mouth of
another person, Kling said.
He added that a bill had recently
been introduced in the Texas legisla
ture to eliminate the offense of
homosexual conduct altogether.
“Nationwide, sexual attitudes are
becoming more liberal,” he said.
The increasing confidence of gay
rights organizations is indicated by
the increasing number of demon
strations and legal suits designed to
acquire more rights for gays.
The suit recently filed by the Gay
Student Services Organization
(GSSO) at Texas A&M is a good
example of this. A&M is being sued
by the group for the right to become
a university-recognized organization
and for the right to use university
facilities for meetings and other club
activities.
that television documentaries an
swer so well.
“A Day With President Arthur”
also would be ideal for television.
Although modern presidents are
pictured as going full tilt from morn
ing til night, Arthur apparently had
some trouble keeping busy. Thus
his day would have left a lot of time
for commercials.
Historians tell us that for the sake
of appearances he kept an “in” bas
ket filled with presidential-looking
documents. Whenever he was ex
pecting visitors, his secretary would
bring the papers into his office so
Arthur could impress them with his
involvement in government affairs
and decision-making.
It is, however, “A Day With Pres
ident Hayes” that would have of
fered television its most golden op
portunity.
When 19th Century presidents
traveled around the country, it was
not unusual for enterprising pro
moters to rope them into product
endorsements. Hayes was among
the more gullible in that regard.
Once during a visit to Philadel
phia, he and Mrs. Hayes appeared
in an advertisement that pictured
them discussing Mrs. Potts Cold
Handle Iron.
Imagine what television would
have done with willing souls of that
nature.
Because she refused to serve al
coholic beverages, Mrs. Hayes was
known as “Lemonade Lucy” which
would have been a perfect commer
cial tie-in for the Florida Citrus
Producers Association.
With the First Lady stirring up a
pitcher of the stuff and the Presi
dent delivering a spiel about the
glories of lemon juice, it could have
been bigger than Anita Bryant.
Pet Portrait Special
11” x 14”
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405 UNIVERSITY 846-2828
Engineers
to honor
professors
More than 4,000 former
engineering students of Texas
A&M University have been invited
back to school to honor three
Mechanical Engineering professors
who have given over 100 years of
service to the University.
Prof. J. Harvey Caddess, Dr. J.
George Thompson, and Depart
ment Head Dr. Clifford M. Sim-
mang will be honored April 23 at a
dinner in the College Station
Ramada Inn. To further honor
these men, three endowed awards
have been established to recognize
outstanding mechanical engineer
ing students.
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