Page 2
Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Wednesday
August 10, 1977
The General
dffliyatuscmue-
“There aren't men like that any more. ”
That’s how a student described Gen. James Earl Rudder. And she’s prob
ably right.
Men from all over America are gathering here tomorrow to pay homage to
Gen. Rudder. Those men are the surviving members of the U.S. Army
Ranger battalions Rudder commanded during World War II. They’re going
to hold the memorial service for Rudder that they could not when he died
seven years ago.
It’s a good day for us to do the same, to pay our respects to the man who
brought Texas A&M from the college he knew as a graduate in 1932 to the
university it is today.
Earl Rudder had enough careers to satisfy several men. Career Army
officer, commissioner of the Texas Land Office, rancher, businessman. State
Democratic Party committeeman, university administrator and eventually
president of the Texas A&M University and System — Rudder did them all.
But it was not that he did them, but the way he did them — with the
determination, courage and energy not only to succeed, but to excel.
While he was president, Texas A&M became a coeducational university,
abolished compulsory military training, more than doubled in size, initiated
the building program that continues today and added five academic colleges
within the university.
If Gen. Rudder had one fault, it was that he worked too hard for Texas
A&M. Let’s not forget that tomorrow. — L. R. L.
Congress wallowing in waste
By DAVID S. BRODER
WASHINGTON — Congress has gone
home, hut the memory lingers on. Some
complained that the lawmakers have done
too little to warrant a month’s vacation.
But in truth, the story of this Congress is,
as usual, a saga of wretched excess.
Not in the big things like the energy
program, although some will complain
that any program in which James
Schlesinger requires 19,000 helpers is at
least 18,999 times too large.
No, it is in the little things that Con
gress’ rampant reflex for redundancy
shows most clearly. Take the Senate ethics
bill, or as it is modestly styled, the Public
Officials Integrity Act of 1977.
This concoction consists of several
hundred variations on the Ten Com
mandments, to be enforced by an Office of
Government Ethics staffed by “Ethics
Counselors, who will supposedly guard
against conflicts of interest by government
employees.
One would think that might be suffi
cient, but not for Sen. H. John Heinz III
(R-Pa.). Heinz proposed that, in addition
to all this formidable bureaucracy, there
should also be an Advisory Commission on
Ethics.
Heinz’ rationale was that “since in this
bill we do call upon Congress, the execu
tive branch, the Civil Service Commission
and the Attorney General. . .to construct
and enforce the code of ethics, it seems to
me we need periodically someone who is
in a position to be totally objective about
how well our ethics laws will work.’’
He might have borrowed the words of
Nikita Khrushchev’s favorite proverb, that
letting government officials check the
ethics of other government officials is too
much like “letting the goat guard the cab
bages.’’ But being in Congress, Heinz ac
tually said (I am not making this up) that
“the reason we need. . .an independent
Advisory Commission on Ethics is because
we do not want to be in the position of the
fox doing oversight on the chicken coop.
If the senator talked to farmers about
foxes “doing oversight” on their chickens,
they would think he was talking dirty. But
that sort of language passes for communi
cation in the Senate, so, sure enough, it
voted to give us an Advisory Commission
on Ethics to help the Office of Govern
ment Ethics improve on the ethics of pub
lic officials.
Wretched excess.
Take, as a second example, another
commission already in existence: the
Commission on Administrative Review of
the House of Representatives.
Just before the August recess, this body
came out with a valuable 110-page report
that is a gold mine of hard-to-get insights.
In its pages, one can learn, for example,
that “a Member’s legislative role is signifi
cantly affected by his or her committee as
signments, and Members of the House
generally develop expertise in those areas
relating to their committee jurisdictions. ”
In addition to such gee whiz items as
that, the report, entitled “Background In
formation on Administrative Units, Mem
bers Offices and Committees and Leader
ship Offices, ” provides an exhaustive list of
the organizations that have sprung up in
the clubby atmosphere of Capitol Hill.
You can find them described on pages 45
to 48, from the Democratic Study Group
to the Hispanic Caucus. And, if you are
forgetful, you can find them again, in al
most identical terms, on pages 93 to 97.
Wretched excess.
Which brings us, inevitably, to the re
port of the congressional Commission on
Federal Paperwork, entitled, “The Role of
Congress in Limiting and Creating Pa
perwork.” In 49 pages, the report proves
quite conclusively that Congress is more
adept at creating paperwork than it is at
limiting it. The reason it takes 49 pages to
make this rather simple point is that the
authors of this report, like their colleagues
on the Administrative Review Commis
sion, apparently believe nothing is true
unless repeated three times.
On Page 5, we learn that “the pa
perwork trail leads in many directions, but
ultimately it comes back to the door of
Congress. On Page 9, it develops that “as
the nation’s lawmaking body, the Con
gress is responsible for many information
requirements directly specified in legisla
tion or derived from regulatory systems by
delegation. Consequently, the Congress is
a contributor to paperwork which in many
instances is excessive.”
On Page 47, the amnesiac reader is
jogged with the reminder that, “The Con
gress, as the maker of the nation’s laws,
ultimately stands responsible for a vast
amount of the paperwork that is generated
in the federal government.” And on Page
49, the dogged reader is rewarded by a
final paragraph reporting, in now-chummy
fashion, that “The Congress — let’s face it
— is a vast paperwork mill. ”
"he
(c) 1977, The Washington Post Company
U.S.A., Japan share problem
Free abortions to poor women?
By ATSUKO CHIBA
International Writers Service
TOKYO — American and Japanese so
cial attitudes are strikingly different in
many ways, but they seem similar in re
spect to abortion, which is almost as
touchy an issue here as it is in the United
States.
Within certain elastic limitations, abor
tion has been legal in Japan for nearly
three decades. Curiously enough, it was
made lawful here during the U.S. military
occupation period, long before it became
permissible in America, largely because it
appeared then to be an answer to Japan’s
potential population explosion.
But here in Japan, as in the United
States, government funds are not readily
available for abortions. Here, like in
America, the women who can least afford
to have children are those who cannot eas
ily avoid unwanted births.
This leads to many bargain operations
by dubious doctors, subjecting women in
the lower income brackets to greater risks
than wealthier women.
According to the 1948 law abortions are
allowed for women who can demonstrate
that the child might inherit a physical de
formity or mental illness, that their health
is endangered by pregnancy or childbirth,
that they are victims of rape, or that they
lack the economic means to raise children.
The last of these conditions is open to
the most liberal sort of interpretation,
since it is difficult to verify the living
standards of the candidates for abortion.
Taking advantage of this, more than
650,000 Japanese women had legal abor
tions last year. Considering the difference
in population, that is close to double the
percentage of American women who had
abortions.
Educated estimates are that the actual
number of abortions performed here an
nually is about two million. Most are not
officially reported. These estimates also
suggest that one out of every six married
Japanese women has had at least one abor
tion. .
Health insurance, provided under gov
ernment auspices, does not cover most
women who have legal abortions for eco
nomic reasons. This, the authorities ex
plain, is because poverty is not a medical
problem.
The costs of abortions here naturally
vary according to the competence of the
physician and the quality of the hospital. A
legal abortion performed within three
months of conception usually runs about
$160. Abortions in later stages of preg
nancy are more expensive. The law pro
hibits abortions after the seventh month.
Women able to have the abortion legally
are well treated. They are first diagnosed
by a doctor who is required to offer them
the choice of giving birth. The husband’s
approval is also necessary, but this a for
mality. Women who undergo the opera
tion in this fashion remain in the hospital
for a half-day and are advised to return for
examination.
But not all women have abortions under
such ideal circumstances. Young single
girls who become pregnant, for example,
are often ashamed to ask their families for
money. They sometimes borrow from
friends to seek cheap operations. They also
go to illicit doctors, whose technique and
equipment are poor.
In some instances, poor women unable
to afford the price of an abortion give birth
to babies they either abandon or kill. But
such cases are relatively rare.
Conservative members of the ruling
Liberal Democratic Party tried in 1974 to
seal the loophole granting women the
right to an abortion for economic reasons.
They argued that easy abortions would
stimulate sexual promiscuity and they
were supported by some religious factions.
But the proposed legislation was de
feated, mainly due to the opposition of
both women’s liberation groups and medi
cal experts who argued that stricter regu
lations would promote more dangerous il
legal abortions.
The rather large number of abortions
performed here stems from the fact that,
for a modern society, Japan is compara
tively behind other countries in its view of
contraceptive methods.
The use of uterine devices was legalized
only three years ago, and birth control
pills are outlawed. The Ministry of Wel
fare, which must approve such products,
contends that they are unsafe. Some
specialists claim that there is a lobby
which opposes the pill to protect the
interests of abortionists.
Until contraceptives are more widely
used, there will continue to be many abor
tions, both legal and illegal. And this, in
cidentally, is as much a responsibility of
men as it is of women.
(Ms. Chiba writes on social issues in Japan.)
Letter to the editor
The fireman’s side
“THIS IS MY SECRET SHORTCUT FOR GETTING
READY FOR FINALS! ALL I HAVE TO DO IS KNOW
AIT TBUCF U DUTZ T TT ES AND I DON’T HAVE TO
STUDY FOR \ M s AT ALL!”
Editor:
In response to D.C., K.W., J.W., G.S.,
Z.M., T.V., J.C., D.D., B.N., J.N.,
T.M., B.C., P.E., B.L., A.C., J.S., M.R.,
S.D., F.M., B.R., K.R., M.B., T.S.,
C.W., C.C. and their collective comment
about the “Firefighters’ overabundance of
attention towards females:
Were you all writing in to complain or
brag?
Names withheld by request —
B.C., B.S., M.S., R.C., N.E., J.G., S.C.
Editor’s note:
The letter above is in response to a let
ter to the editor The Battalion carried
Aug. 1, in which a group of women com
plained about the behavior of firemen at
tending the annual Fire Training School
at Texas A&M. In that letter the women
said they had been “verbally slandered,
visibly assaulted and insulted by lewd and
provocative gestures” from firemen. We
continue to maintain that some firemen
did get out of line in their behavior, but
that those firemen were in the minority of
the 2,000 attending the school.
Top of the News
Local
Firemens schools end Friday
The Texas Engineering Extension Service is conducting two con
current training sessions this week, one for Spanish-speaking firemen
and one for municipal inspectors. The two schools combined have
some 500 participants. Training sessions will be completed Friday.
Engineers to discuss hydraulics
The national meeting of the American Society of Civil Engineers
begins today at Texas A&M University. The theme of the 25th Hy
draulics Specialty Conference will be “Hydraulics of the Coastal
Zone” and is expected to attract more than 200 experts in this field.
The featured speaker will be Dr. Hunter Rouse of the University of
Iowa. His address will be given at a banquet Thursday night in the
Memorial Student Center.
State
Escapees recaptured
Three inmates escaped from Walker County jail Monday afternoon
but were captured 25 minutes later, authorities said. Sources said the
men broke out at 3:25 p.m. after attacking a jailer. The inmates took
the jailer’s car but were found after wrecking the automobile on
Highway 75. Authorities said the three men will be charged with auto
theft and escape.
State to push energy savings
Texas has been selected as one out of 10 states to participate in a
pilot project designed to encourage energy conservation among
homeowners and small businesses, Gov. Dolph Briscoe has an
nounced. Briscoe said the 16-month project, funded by a $1.1 million
federal grant, will offer energy saving techniques coordinated by
Texas A&M University’s Center for Energy and Mineral Resources.
Nation
Grounded tanker afloat again
Cocaine use increasing
Rep. Lester L. Wolff, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Select
Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, has said that cocaine is
rapidly catching up with marijuana as the most popular drug among
students between the ages of 13 and 18. A stud^y by the committee of
New York City schools showed that cocaine is “the recreational drug
of choice for millions of Americans,” Wolff said. Wolff blamed the rise
in its popularity on police concern for heroin.
Panama Canal Treaty negotiated
U.S. and Panamanian negotiators are working on a new treaty that
will give both nations joint control of the Panama Canal until the next
century. There is a rush to come up with a mutually acceptable treaty
draft since the six-month appointment of U.S. negotiator Sol
Linowitz expires today. The major problem in the negotiations thus
far is reaching an agreement on how much the U.S. will pay for use of
the canal.
Arab peace vital to U.S.
Peace in the Middle East is necessary because another oil embargo
would be a war the United States cannot win, Wayne Swearingen, a
member of the National Petroleum Council said Monday. “We ha
ven’t enough oil to fight a conventional war,” Swearingen said. The
country is in a state of crisis because it has not recognized politically
that the era of cheap energy has ended, he said.
World
}
Swimmers give up channel try
Rough water in the English Channel forced Americans Stella
Taylor and Jamie Stewart to abandon their attempts to become the
first women to swim the 21 miles between Dover, England, and
Calais, France, both ways nonstop. Stewart gave up her effort in the
water after about eight hours and Taylor after about 10 hours. Both
women have swum the channel one way.
Catholics object to Queen s visit
Roman Catholics protesting Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee visit
to Northern Ireland blocked streets with bonfires and clashed with
police in Belfast and Londonderry yesterday. More than 40 vehicles
were reported hijacked and set ablaze in Belfast. The Queen arrives
today for a two-day visit, her first to Northern Ireland since 1966.
10
A Norwegian tanker that ran aground off Miami with 4,000 tons of
explosive gas aboard has refloated itself after 500,000 gallons of the
ship’s diesel fuel was removed to lighten the ship. The tanker Bow
Elm was en route from the Netherlands to Houston. Capt. Jan
Johnsen of the Bow Elm said the explosive gas cylinders were not
endangered by the grounding. Johnsen said the grounding was
caused by a nagivational error.
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