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
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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.
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Law
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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.
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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
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MEMBER
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Speights. (Henna Whitley, Darndl hmford. b* ;
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