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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 1977)
Page 2 Viewpoint The Battalion Wednesday Texas A&M University August 3, 1977 Regents made wise choice Our regents have, as an old country boy would say, done good. They have appointed a new University president who seems a worthy successor to the excellent president that now-Chancellor Jack K. Williams was. Dr. Jarvis E. Miller seems endowed with just the right mix of experience, dedication and honesty to be an excellent president. His research experience, primarily in agricultural economics, is extensive and has taken him on international assignments in both Argentina and the Dominican Repubiic. He is a member of several national committees advis ing government agencies on agriculture. He worked his way up, over the last ten years, to his most recent post as director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. He has taught at both Pur due University and at Texas A&M. So he is well experienced in the areas of primary concern to the president. But as important as any experience is the kind of man he is. He isn’t afraid to answer tough questions, and he’s honest enough to admit that he doesn’t always know the answers. He emphasizes again and again the University’s responsiblity, as spelled out by those who founded it as a Land Grant college: to serve the people of the state of Texas. Responsibility is a word he uses a lot, along with the word obligation. “We have to remember that we’re public servants and that we have an obligation to the people of this state,” he said yesterday. Think of that — university administrators and professors as public servants, responsible to the people! Dr. Miller hasn’t worked closely with large numbers of students before, as he will have to as president. But that may be an advantage, instead of a handicap. For he seems determined to listen closer and to try harder to understand the students and their problems. So instead of assuming he knows how students feel, he’ll know. Finally, he has promised to make his administration an open administra tion, accessible to students, to faculty and to the press. Amen. Dr. Miller, you will have our undying support when you are right, our equally undying opposition when you are wrong and our respect all the time. Good luck. L.R.L. The Outsider becomes the Insider good luck President JARVIS E.MILLER Washington summer converts By DAVID S. BRODER WASHINGTON — In the quiet of the summer, Jimmy Carter has passed an im portant psychological milestone. The self-proclaimed Outsider has taken up citi zenship in the capital. He conquered Washington last winter, but this summer Washington seems to have captured him. Summer has a way of doing that to those who experience or endure it here. Sane citizens flee Washington summers, if they can. Those who remain become brethren in spirit — and in sweat. Carter has become one of the group, surviving, like the rest, by pretending to ignore the misery. He plays tennis in humidity that borders on total immersion. And on days when no dog will leave the air-conditioning to walk around the yard, he lunches outdoors or picnics on the White House lawn. After such a summer, anyone — even a President — has been melded, or melted, into the wilting fabric of Washington. I cannot pinpoint the precise moment when Carter himself recognized that he had become part of the sweltering mass — or mess — in Washington. But I can tell you when I knew it. It was at the end of his town meeting in Yazoo City, Miss., when, standing among his fellow-Southerners, Carter suddenly acknowledged that he was no longer one of them (the Outsiders) but one of us (the Washington Insiders). “We are partners in shaping what our country will be,” he said in Yazoo City. “You are partners with me. And I hope that I can serve in such a way that would . . . increase your own confidence in the federal government, which in the South sometimes has not been a pleasant phrase, and that I can convince the Ameri can people that the government in Wash ington is your government. “These hopes that I have are dependent on you for realization,” he said. “If you withdraw and lash out and condemn and criticize your own government as a general proposition because you don’t like one or two things that happen, our whole country is weakened.” But to the extent that you participate in the debates and try to correct mistakes and let us know what you want done in Wash ington,” the President said, “to that extent we will be a success.” Let us know what you want done in Washington. ” That was the phrase that put Carter irrevocably on the Insiders’ side of the line. If you have forgotten how he used to sound, as the Outsider, here are a few lines from a 1975 campaign speech in Bal timore, one of those included in his book, “A Government as Good as Its People.” In my travels around the country,” said the 1975 Carter, “I have found two very basic concerns which I share with the American people. Perhaps you feel them too. One is that our government in Wash ington has lost its basic integrity. There is no representation in our federal govern ment now of what the American people either are or would like to be. . .The other Carter concern is that government in Washington is incompetent to deal with the very com plicated and growing problems and oppor tunities of our people.” As an Outsider, he was scornful of Con gress, calling it “inherently incapable of leadership.” As an Insider, he told his last press conference, “I have learned to re spect the Congress more.” As the Outsider, Carter was not im mune from making sweeping negative generalizations about the federal govern ment. As an Insider, he begs people to particularize their complaints and to rec ognize that many in government are trying their best. As an Outsider, he promised quick re medies. As an Insider, especially a sum mer Insider, he counsels patience. “We are trying as best we can to make progress,” he told the Urban League con vention. “It takes time to change the trends of history and to reverse the bureaucratic mechanism.. . .We have obviously a long way to go.” That is the voice of Washington talking to The Country, of the incumbent prepar ing three years in advance to meet his challenger. It is the somewhat weary voice of worldly wisdom, telling impatient, am bitious youth that it is not so easy as you make it seem. It is the voice of a President who has summered in Washington and who wakes one smoggy, close and humid morning to discover that he is a stranger to its ways no more. (c) 1977, The Washington Post Com pany Abortion finds more favor in Britain By RUDOLF KLEIN International Writers Service LO.NDON — Although Britain liberalized its abortion laws a decade ago, the issue still provokes emotions here as strong as those it generates in the United States. Opponents of abortion recently rallied once again to persuade Parliament to amend earlier legislation, to make the op eration more difficult to obtain. But they were defeated by advocates of abortion, who successfully mobilized to defend the present law. This suggests that the overwhelming weight of opinion here favors easy access to abortion. Surveys indicate that a major ity of the British even support a more lib eral approach on the matter. These views are further backed by professional organi- Editor, I have a random staff parking permit on my car. Recently, I parked in a staff space while waiting for a friend. At the time I was unaware of the difference between staff and random staff parking permits. I noticed a University policeman parked behind me, but thought nothing of it since I believed I was legally parked. When my friend did not come after 10 or 15 minutes, I got out to go look for him, and returned a few minutes later to find a parking ticket on my car. I was confused at first, then angry at the situation. It seems in this case that, niven the opportunity to bo helpful ana informative regarding a somewhat zations like the British Medical Associa tion, which has gone on record against stricter abortion laws. In contrast to the United States, where the question of federal funds for abortions has stirred up controversy, most people here believe that the operation should continue to be performed free of charge under the government-subsidized Na tional Health Service. So the fuss in Britain about abortion does not reflect widespread attitudes, but represents the passions of small, vocal pressure groups. If there were any doubts about abortion when the present legislation was originally passed in 1967, they have been overcome by significant improvements in practice. Gone are the sleazy clinics that adver- ambiguous parking situation, the pa trolman chose rather to give a ticket. I ap pealed the ticket, but the panel was ap parently of the same attitude. I fully realize the necessity for parking tickets to enforce University regulations; however, that is not the sole function of the University Police. They have many opportunities to be helpful to students and staff alike. It seems a shame that they should be reduced to the capacity of ticket-givers, thus de-humanizing their job, and developing an antagonistic rela tionship with the people they are sup posed to be serving. Oussamo Qawasmi tised for patients, charged them outrage ous prices by ruthlessly exploiting their anxieties, and performed the operation on an assembly line. These reforms were car ried out by the Ministry of Health, which has the authority to license medical instal lations. Inexpensive and efficient abortions are now available in hospitals that operate under the auspices of the National Health Service, and in nursing homes set up by non-profit charitable associations. There are problems, however, in the way the public system functions. Under the law, a woman can obtain an abortion in a government-run hospital if her case is approved by two physicians. But in reality, there is a shortage of operat ing facilities. And in some instances doc tors are reluctant to perform abortions, mainly for religious reasons. Conditions also vary in different parts of the country. Large urban hospitals may take an enlightened view toward abor tions. But in rural areas, where attitudes tend to be more conservative, women seeking to terminate their pregnancies can run into resistance from local doctors. For these reasons, most of the estimated 100,000 British women who undergo abor tions annually have them done in private rather than in public institutions. This is also true of the women who come here from abroad for the operation. This has aroused a good deal of criticism — so much that the government not long ago created a committee to investigate the role of the National Health Service in providing free abortions. The committee, which was headed by a distinguished • woman judge. Dame Elizabeth Lane, concluded that there was little evidence of abuse in the system. However, it recommended that the Na tional Health Service extend its facilities to make abortions easier to obtain. And it urged that jobs be denied to doctors, nurses and other medical specialists who object to abortions on religious or other grounds. These proposals have been backed by the medical profession, which feels that barriers to abortion discriminate against the poor and the ignorant — in other words, those women who are least able to care for unwanted children and most likely to transfer the burden to society. It is worth stressing that nothing in the British experience substantiates the argu ment that free and easy abortions inevita bly and inexorably stimulate a demand for the operation. On the contrary, it is clear that the reverse is true. Despite an increase in the facilities available under the National Health Serv ice, the number of operations performed declined both in 1975 and 1976. The rate of abortion in Britain is also lower than it is in many countries where the operation is costly. In 1973, the proportion of British women between the ages of 15 and 44 who underwent abortions was 1.14 per cent, while in the United States it was 1.65 per cent. All this could mean that the question of abortion has less to do with laws and costs than it does with social attitudes. It may signify, consequently, that apart from a handful of opponents, the British are more open to the idea that women deserve the treatment they want. (Klein, a senior fellow at London’s Cen ter for Studies in Social Policy, writes on social issues in Britain.) Police only ticketers? Top of the News 71 Local Vet school to graduate 135 0 By an A ho« tors tJ Commencement exercises for Texas A&M University’s Collegej Veterinary Medicine will be held Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Ruada (life Auditorium. Dr. Leo K. Bustad, dean of veterinary medicine j An >n s Washington State University, will address the 135 graduating sti lay dents. btls afts an« Ai?M 18th among Foundation schoola Texas A&M University now ranks 18th nationally in volume tl| research, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has reported. Hie NSF figures for 1975-76 show that among the top institutions Tea A&M had the second highest gain over the previous year — 19.5pei | cent — and that it is the leader in the South and Southwest. State Texas highways to get facelift The State Highway and Public Transportation Commission approved a $222.5 million program to repair more than 6,900 milesd state highways. The program will repair extensive highway damage caused by severe weather and a shortage of funds in past years, 4 commission said. Dpme n of ennne to tl he la ect tc for tl Hearing set for underground storage plan ie pla The Texas Railroad Commission will conduct a public hearing Sept. 15 on a Federal Energy Administration plan to store 63 million barrels of oil in underground salt domes in Brazoria County, about three miles southwest of Freeport. The FEA plans to convert four caverns used by Dow Chemical Co. for brine production tooilstor age caverns. Nation Red Adair to the rescue — again Red Adair, oil well blowout expert, extinguished a gas well fire yesterday which burned out of control four days near the Mexican border. He then began capping the well and will likely finish the job today. resent >very to pox litabb agenr and ess u stanc >e pro Is of t decic Ceiling on hospital costs proposed The Senate Human Resources Committee has approved a proposal to place a ceiling on increases in hospital costs. Under the bill, in creases in hospital revenues from in-patient services would be lim ited to about 10.8 per cent in the first year after the bill goes into effect and gradually decline to 8.9 per cent in 1981. Carter proposes decriminalization of pot President Carter has proposed decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana but said he does not propose legalization. “1 means only that the federal penalty for possession would be reduced and a person would receive a fine rather than a criminal penalty, Carter said. He said federal penalties for trafficking would remain in force and the states would remain free to adopt whatever laws they wish about the marijuana smoker. 822-C Nixon aide says Teamster bribe story faht Richard Nixon’s chief aide has denounced as “totally false” a Time magazine report that the Teamsters Union gave the Nixon White House $1 million. The money allegedly was a payment to prohibit Jimmy Hoffa from trying to return to union office and was considered for use in paying “hush money” to the Watergate burglars, Time reported. Teamsters president Frank Fitzsimmons also denied the report. Six injured in New Orleans fire Six persons were injured yesterday in a New Orleans motel fire. It started in a linen closet, destroyed two guest rooms and spread deadly carbon monoxide smoke throughout the Travelodge. All guests and employes were quickly evacuated. Southern Democrats will not stop filibuster A bloc of Southern Democrats told Democratic Leader Robert Byrd they will not help break a GOP filibuster against public financ ing of Senate elections, sources said yesterday. The filibuster began last Monday and the Senate’s other major business has been shut off. The 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 Re gents. The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting enterprise operated by students as a university and com munity newspaper. Editorial policy is determined by the editor. to 5% sales tax. Advertising rates furnishedoo Address: The Battalion, Room 216, ReedMcD®* ing. College Station, Texas 77843. 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