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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 1977)
Keeping "foreigners’ out of Waller County Isn't it wonderful how some things never ehange? Take Waller County, home of Prairie View A&M University, for example. The good of hoys in Waller County government are so good at keeping things the same that they've managed to keep Prairie View’s students, almost all of whom are blaek, from registering to vote in Waller County. And they’ve done it in spite of federal and state laws to the contrary. Waller County Tax Assessor-Collector Leroy Symm has for many years required voters he registers to complete a questionaire in addition to the state voter registra tion form. Symm says the questionaire is given to everyone who registers. But it is clearly directed at Prairie View students. For example, the second question it asks is “Are you a college student?’ Not “What is your occupation?’’ Symm decides what is a satisfactorialy completed questionaire. The questionaire has been challenged several times in state and federal court, but no final decision has ever been made. The questionaire seems to be in blatant violation of the federal Voter Rights Act and the Texas Election Code. Texas Secre tary of State Mark White issued an emergency order to that effect Sept. 1, ordering Symm to stop issuing the questionaire because no additional information could be required before registering an otherwise qualified voter. But Symm beat a similar Secretary of state order in 1972. The court in that case said the order was a valid one, but did not force Symm to comply with it. Long-time Waller County residents support Symm, believing that the students are “foreigners’ who should not have any say in the county where they live nine months of the year. As county judge Jack Taylor says, “These are not Waller County people. But they are Waller County people, by every definition the State uses. And they are Texas residents. And so they have just as much right to vote in Waller County as the good of boys who are third-generation residents. Attorney General John Hill has filed suit against Symm to force the tax assessor- collector to stop requiring the voter registration questionaire. Symm will fight this suit, as he has those before. But it’s time for him to lose, and time for Prairie View’s students to stop being deprived of their rights. It’s time for things to change in Waller County. L.R.L. British may lose government funny bone By DAVID WATT International Writers Service LONDON—The news that the British Labor government intends to abolish the House of Lords is unlikely to surprise or horrify Americans, who have always won dered why such a blatantly archaic and undemocratic institution has survived so long. To the British, however, the move ap pears odd because it seems unnecessary. The upper house of Parliament has been fair game for abuse and ridicule and, if it disappeared, would be missed. The proposal to eliminate the aristocra tic body, moreover, has aroused a number of political questions that have inevitably led to controversy. As far back as a century ago, critics were attacking the House of Lords as a con spicuously worthless stronghold of privilege in a class-ridden society.: W. S. Gilbert, of the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership, summed up many feelings in a memorably dismissive verse in “lolanthe: The turning point came in 1911, when the Lords then dominated by the Con servative Party tried to block a radical budget put forth by the Liberals. In the constitutional struggle that ensued, the Lords were defeated and their veto over legislation was reduced to a mere author ity to delay bills. Commentary When Wellington thrashed Bonaparte, As every child can tell, The House of Peers throughout the war Did nothing in particular, And did it very well. But since then, successive waves of re formers have managed to dilute the com position of the House of Lords and clip its power. Today it is hardly worth denounc ing. In the late 1950’s, the influence of the upper house was further curbed when the heredity principle was modified and the concept of life membership was intro duced. No new hereditary peers have been created since 1970. The House of Lords, though^it theoreti-3 cally contains more than a t hop's and niem-;; bers, is actually run nowadays by a rela tively small proportion of peers and peeresses who have the time and the in clination to attend. They number about 150 life peers who have been appointed by one or another of the last five prime minis ters, and they also include a few heredit ary nobles. Under present rules, they have the power to delay legislation for a year and until recently they have been considered a useful addition to the parliamentary pro- They provide a place in which the gov ernment can have second thoughts, where certain private bills can be initiated. where seats can be found for ministers un able to get elected in a democratic rough- and-tumble, and where distinguished gray-beards can debate subjects of general interest. This situation has suited both major political parties. The Labor Party was con tent to have a tame House of Lords, know ing that attempts to abolish it would cause a useless row and perhaps make the body credible again. The Conservatives, who have a more or less permanent majority in the Lords, avoided pressing for new pow ers or exercising old ones out of fear that they might provoke a cry for abolition. During the past 18 months, however, the situation has changed and the House of Lords has been thrust once more into the center of a constitutional battle. The Conservatives, angered by the Labor Party’s determination to push through suchTsocialistp legislation as na tionalization (if the shipbuilding and air craft industries, have mobilized the House of Lords to check these bills. The left wing of the Labor Party, react ing against this, has called for elimination of the House of Lords. And the Labor gov ernment, which has a small majority in the House of Commons, has been sufficiently irritated by the Conservative action to ac cept in principle that the Lords be abolished. It is easy to argue that none of this really matters. The delaying power of the Lords, which is rarely used, is scarcely worth a fight. As for the practical functions of the upper chamber, they could be assumed by the House of Commons. But what worries constitutional experts as well as many thoughtful politicians is the prospect that, with complete abolition of the House of Lords, the British legisla ture will have an important gap. Like the House of Representatives in the United States, the House of Commons is large and cumbersome. Its method of election, through single-member con stituencies, has tended to give power to the party machines. There may be a case, therefore, for hav ing another chamber that represents interests in a different way. It could reflect wider geographical groupings than narrow districts, as the U. S. Senate does. Or it might comprise representatives of power- fill factions, like the trade unions or indus trial corporations, whose voice is barely heard under the current system. The problejn, of course, is that another chamber that is democratically elected would challege the House of Commons—which the House of Lords cannot do effectively. And it is hard to see Britain’s politicians, who are frustrated and anxious, willingly creating new headaches for themselves. Closing down the House of Lords, con sequently, may raise more difficulities than it solves—not the least of which would be the loss of an institution that has served to inspire the British sense of humor. (Watt, an editor of the Financial Tunes of London, writes on political issues in Britain,) Letters to the editor University’s off-campus students need love too Bed hug saga Editor: What’s happening on campus? Well, if you are an off-campus student, you proba bly don’t know. This is because of the lack of information distributed to off-campus residents. There are enough disadvantages to living off-campus without being ignored by the University as well. The only way many of us find out about campus activities is by reading announcements in the Bat talion or by seeing them posted in friends’ dorms. This feeling of being left out can be frustrating and disheartening. We do live off-campus and many of us feel the need to get involved in order to be part of the University. But if we are unin formed, this task is difficult. My solution is to post more publications at bus stops, laundry rooms and day student parking lots. There are some already there, but not nearly as many as there should be. I realize this is a difficult job and may re quire extra time to accomplish, but we too are students of Texas A&M University and want to know what is happening on our campus. —Ana Quintana Class of ’80 Editor: As a white, blue-eyed, middle-class American I feel an obligation to cry out to the public about the current state of affairs in my room. Since I moved on campus two weeks ago I have had the nagging distinction of being the sole beneficiary of the jaws of some hungry little insects who share my bunk bed with my roommate and me. For de spite my efforts to remove them, they have persisted and still lovingly display their affection on me. And so I have ac quiesced to their companionship and plainly irritating lifestyle. Slouch by Jim Earle Walkers beware Editor: As I was walking to the Reed McDonald Building, somebody pulled a girl ahead of me from the street to keep her from being hit by a car. The car was traveling in the protected bike lane within inches of the curb. Fortunately, a tragedy was avoided. But why does a near tragedy have to occur before we realize there is a problem? This university has provided protected lanes for bikers. Pedestrians should not have to watch for cars in these protected lanes. Students have enough trouble avoiding cars in the streets. I am not suggesting banning au tomobiles on the campus. But, if cars would stay clear of these protected lanes, it would be less hazardous. As the number of students has increased, so has the need for cooperation between pedestrians and motorists. — Chris Piccione Class of 1980 Now, to get to the point, what is bother ing me is that my roommate, who is an international student, has all along been deprived of this dubious honor and thus has not gotten his full share. What I mean, is that as a l?ona-fide student at Texas A&M, he should receive all the benefits that anyone else gets. This obvious fa voritism by “our” Aggie bedbugs toward my chalky white skin smacks of the worst kind of discrimination I have seen in a long time (if you don’t believe me, you are wel come to look). As conscientious human beings how ever, I think we should not look just at the surface but beyond to the deeper underly ing causes and possible international im plications. Therefore, as a good Aggie, I humbly beseech the Battalion to impart some of its journalistic wisdom, in the great modern American tradition, to my problem or direct me to someone who can. A possible solution to this injustice that I’ve thought of might be to import some Indian bedbugs to equalize the situation (although my roommate informs me that Indian bedbugs don’t like him either). In any case, I have now fully confessed my involvement in this dirty affair to all you Aggies out there and I trust that I will, hereforth, be able to sleep with at least a clear and unblemished mind. —Stephen Rich ’79 ‘A CB — WHAT ELSE?’ Correction In "Authorities advise pre professionals to study with tests,” a story that appeared in Friday’s Bat talion, we incorrectly reported that Kaplan Educational Center provides students with material that appears on standardized tests. The article should have read, “the tests are designed to review and inform students on the hinds of material on the real tests. The Battalion re grets the error. Ren ining Campus Research exceeds $50 million tract u The chedi mt ws lie se net. i ten p )ctob< Hou re re pillion enova Texas A&M University conducted a record $51.2 million wortho( nateri research in 1976-77, the first time a single-year figure exceeded the $50 million mark. The increase over 1975-1976 was nine percent Since 1965-66, one of the earliest years for which totals are available, the volume has increased more than 2.5 times to its present level Currently, Texas A&M is ranked 18th nationally and first in the South and Southwest by the National Science Foundation in terms of the annual research volume. Carter s energy plan attacked Two Texas A&M University professors who have analyzed theol and gas pricing portions of President Carter’s National Energy Flag (NEP) contend it includes no incentives for exploration or better recovery techniques. Drs. J. S. Osoba and W. J. Lee of the Depart ment of Petroleum Engineering and the Texas Engineering Experi ment Station make their assessment in the latest of a series of mono graphs examining various portions of the NEP. Their conclusion is that oil and gas prices should be decontrolled. Metal may stop heart attacks New research shows that aluminum, in amounts you could get from a couple of dill pickles, eaten after a meal, might help prevent heart attacks. Joseph Nagy vary, a Texas A&M University professor of bioehemistry and biophysics, presents a theory that small amountsof aluminum in the diet may help lower cholesterol in the bloodstream. The idea that /Vagyvary is testing is that the aluminum combines with such products as algin (in seaweed) and pectin (abundant in fruits anil vegetables) and forms a "trap for cholesterol ingested in many foods standard to the American diet. State Bullock wont support Smith Comptroller Bob Bullock said yesterday he will not support th effort of his former boss, ex-Gov. Preston Smith, to oust Gov. Dolpl Briscoe next year. Bullock, who served as Smith’s secretary of state, said he thinks the former governor could cut into some of Briscoe’s support but would have an extremely tough time winning. Bullixl said the strong support Briscoe has was a factor in his decision not to run for governor. Lesl he rei acce he cm lendit Stag low b< noble atiom Joe ifA&l he di' ess or Zem ontra late hi 977 w nas If as no ween io\v b racted Law epres Bell juror stops deadlock The foreman of a San Antonio jury that awarded $3 million ina slander suit against Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. switched his vote on the last day of deliberations and prevented a hung jury in the case. The Dallas Times-Herald reported yesterday. Perry Penn, i schoolteacher, changed his vote in favor of two former Bell executives to avoid a deadlock in the $20 million civil case against the company. nderg: le mo pJj]) tl ensive gonizf ating t They nd — SEV ansv y ope ve sti loused ig on I progi ntranc ents f lostly iety, a Stuch tall aw scl ents. "Lav hase, raduat Jiard. 1 rd,” ,&M.’ Aftei ents t rators raduat Law wain, ne-in fright laylor ilieatic 70 ant [uarter "The aw we Iroppii Nation Cooley urges artificial hearts T( Dr. Denton Cooley, an internationally known heart surgeon, said he hopes patients will be given artificial hearts within the next 10 years. While attending a three-day international meeting on eovcmiuy artery bypass surgery in Cleveland, he said progress in the quest for an artificial human heart is being “unnecessarily delayed by fear of such a “bold step. Tut exhibit visitors not late Latecomers at the opening of the King Tut exhibit in New Orleans walked in without waiting yesterday because early publicity scared away thousands who were expected to queue up for hours, museum officials said. Two University of Tennessee seniors camped out 13 hours to be first in line when the museum opened at 10 a.m.,’ they could have walked to the door any time during the day. Campus Weather Mostly cloudy and mild becoming partly cloudy and warm this af ternoon. Fair and mild tomorrow with a high today in the low 90s, low tonight in the upper 60s and a high tomorrow in the upper 80s. 10 per cent chance of rain. 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. LETTERS POUCY Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are subject to Iteing cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone number for verification. Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, The Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Represented nationally by National Educational Adver tising Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. Mail subscriptions an* SI6.75 per scmeshT, v -f ] school year; $35.(X) per hill year. Advertising ^ nished on request. Address: The Battalion. M Reed McDonald Building. College Station. Tru> United Press International is entitled eu/oji^ 1 use for reproduction of’all news dispatches cntW Rights of reproduc tion of all other matter hen-inn Second-Class postage paid at College Station.ft MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Editor Jan* Managing Editor Mitrv Alice Editorial Director Lee Roy Lrtdf Sports Editor News Editors Marie Honieyer. Reporters Musty (indru Speights. (Henna Whitley, Darndl hmford. b* ; Photographer The Battalion is published Monday through Friday from Septeml>er through May except during exam and holiday periods and the summer, when it is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Student Publications Board: Boh C. flogm. (kf 1 Joe An edondo, Dr. Cary Halter. Dr. John "■ ^ Robert Harvey; Dr. Charles MeCamllm; Dr. ('& Phillips; Rebel Rice. Director of Stmlcnt Pnlftf Donald C. Johnson. Production Coordinator: W ^ Sherman
