Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Wednesday,
September 21, 1977
Fraternities: Can ‘good Ags’ listen?
Editor:
Hcccntlx 1 attended a fraternity party
here at Texas A<S;M. As I left the party;
three ears passed me. The oeeupants
w ithin, all Aggies, shouted obseenities at
me and made several obseene gestures. As
1 rounded a eurve in the road I saw all
three vehicles lined up aeross the road,
completely blocking it.
1 stopped, and about ten of the occu
pants approached my ear. They asked me
w here 1 was coming from and I replied, "A
fraternitv party. Then they asked me if I
was an Aggie, to which I replied, "Yes.
Then thex proceeded to use very abu
sive language tow ards me and my wife and
then went as far as to threaten me. They
claimed I was not an Aggie, that they
"hated people who broke tradition, and
that iff wanted to belong to a Fraternity, 1
should go to college somewhere else.
1 listened to their remarks, replied
courteousb to their questions, was in no
way abusive towards them, and when the
opportunity presented itself, 1 drove off.
Evidently, there are other persons on
this campus who feel the same* wax’ as
these young men. and 1 would like to take
this opportunitx to respond to their insults
and false accusations.
First. I am 33 years old, married, and a
former Anm Officer ((.aptain) who spent
10 years in the military. I received a
battlefield commission in Vietnam during
my first tour, and 8 of the 10 years, includ
ing tw'o tours in Vietnam and a tour in
Panama, I served as a Green Beret. On
campus, besides having belonged to the
Bridge Club and the Scuba Club, I am an
Readers’ Forum
active member of the Veteran’s Club. I
attend all athletic events that I can, stand
throughout the football games, say
“howdy to persons I meet on Campus,
and would gladly go out of my way to assist
a fellow Aggie in need. I am proud to be an
Aggie, yet you say I am not an Aggie.
The ideals which my Fraternity are
based upon are Friendship, Justice, and
Learning. Traditionally, A6c\I is known
for the Friendship which exists on cam
pus. It has alw ays been highly regarded as
an institution of higher learning. In the
fight against injustice and inhumane ac
tions, particularly World War I, World
W ar II, Korea, and Vietnam, the contribu
tions and the sacrifices of Former Aggies
have been exceptionally noteworthy. Are
the ideals of Friendship, Justice, and
Learning anti-tradition? Do you also feel
that women are anti-tradition? Do the
achievements of Miss Tomes embarrass
you? How' can you say that I am anti
tradition? I am proud to be an Aggie.
During my travels I saw many universi
ties. Because of my military service, I
could have chosen to attend just about any
university anywhere. For me, there was
but one choice and to this day I am firmly
and strongly convinced that I chose the
best university possible to continue my
education. I chose Texas A&M University,
and I wouldn’t trade my university for any
other in the United States. I am proud to
be an Aggie, yet you tell me to go some-
where else.
My wife and 1 are working our way
through college and I feel that I have
earned the right to belong to any organiza
tion I so choose, as long as it is not im
moral, subversive, or contrary to my
Christian beliefs. My Fraternity meets
these criteria. College is more than just a
place to get book learning; it is a time of
growing, meeting new people with new
and different ideas, and a time to learn
how to get along with other people. My
Fraternity gives me these opportunities.
My Fraternitv believes in individuality
and stresses the importance of accepting
other people despite the differences which
exist in temperments, talents, and convic
tions.
I am not asking you to join a Fraternity.
I am not asking you to change your feel
ings toward fraternities. What I am asking
is that you respect my convictions and
allow me to belong to my fraternity with
out the fear of being beaten up, having the
tires punctured on my ear, having my C.
B. antenna snapped off, or having persons
write obscenities on my car. Is this asking
too much?
Finally, if the young men w ho stopped
me and did all these things would kindly
return the “Gig cm Aggies banner which
they stole from the Fraternity House, I
can assure you that no actions will be
taken.
We are all Aggies and it’s about time vx e
realized that differences should not lead to
violence and criminal actions.
We are all lucky to belong to such a
great and traditional institution as Texas
A&M. Let’s extend the hand of friendship
and push forward together to make it even
greater than it is.
The members of the different frater
nities at Texas A&M are extending their
hand. W ill you accept it?
—Lee Torbctt
A proud Aggie and a member of a Frater
nitv
Carter seeing the light of 1980
By ARNOLD SAWISLAK
United Press International
WASHINGTON—For reasons that can
be only guessed, the W'hite House appears
jto be worried about the presidential
primaries of 1980.
No one at the White House has said so,
nit the behavior of its operatives on the
Democratic National Committee’s current
eform commission leads to that conclu
sion.
n 1976, the' party outlawed "winner
take all primaries and called for a system
of "proportional representation’ giving
delegates to candidates in proportion to
the strength they showed in the voting.
The rules also permitted states to establish
a cutoff point—15 per cent of the vote—
below which candidates would not be
entitled to delegates. . ** -
Twenty-six states d’sed cutoffs in 1976.
While there was no great outcry, there
was some grumbling from "New Politics”
Democrats that any cutoff was a distortion
of democratic procedures.
When the 1980 reform commission met
this year Carter’s representatives wanted
the cutoff raised to 25 per cent and
changed from an option to a mandatory
rule..
While final action won’t be taken until
next year, sentiment at a recent meeting-
in Detroit indicated that some sort of slid
ing cutoff may be offered, starting at 15
per cent in the first primaries and increas
ing to 25 per cent in the late tests. White
House political aide Mark Siegel was an
active promoter of this proposition.
The “New Politics” members of the
commission objected to any increase and
tried to make a case for a reduction of the
cutoff percentage. They got little support.
This could be just another of the exotic
ideological controversies that Democrats
seem to be forever embroiling themselves
in. But always the suspicion is present that
some specific goal is in mind when one
faction in politics wants to change the rules
of the game.
Can it be that Carter wants to insure
against a challenge from someone like
Gov. Jerry Brown in 1980? Is the presi
dent worried about fringe "issue oppo-
nents like Ellen McCormick, the 1976
anti-abortion crusader? Both of these pos
sibilities were offered privately at Detroit.
But a chart prepared by the commission
staff of results in 16 primary states showed
that Brown, mostly because of his Califor
nia landslide, would have gained more
than 50 delegates under a 25 per cent
cutoff. McCormick got no delegates from
those states and would have gotten none
with a larger cutoff. Carter actually would
have lost nine of 332 delegates.
However, the chart also showed that
while Brown would have lost about 30 of
170 delegates under a cutoff reduced to 5
per cent, McCormick would have received
a dozen delegates. Other also-ran candi
dates such as Rep. Morris Udall, Sens.
Frank Church, Henry Jackson and Hubert
Humphrey, Govs. George W 7 allace and
Milton Shapp, Fred Harris and Sargent
Shriver would have received more than
they got.
Those figures might put a different light
on the situation. The White House
strategy (if there is one) could be to block a
“New Politics” effort to reduce or elimi
nate the cutoff by pushing for 25 per cent
and then settling for something around the
15 per cent figure of 1976.
That would be a roundabout way to get
what you really want by appearing to lose
what you say you want. But no one ever
said politics wasn’t a devious business.
Portillo’s government still ‘free-thinking
Mexico not supporting canal treaty
By CAROL COOK
United Press International
MEXICO CITY — The government of
President Jose Lopez Portillo has made its
first xentnre into foreign policy with a
pointed criticism of the Panama Canal
treaties that seems aimed at telling the
United States that Mexico still intends to
maintain an independent stance in foreign
iffairs.
Lopez Portillo did not go to Washington
for the signing of the treaties on Sept. 7.
Some observers said his absence was in-
tended to show Mexico’s disapproval of
the fact that the United States is entitled
to intervene militarily to defend the ca
uls neutrality.
When the canal treaties were discussed
it a six-nation Latin American summit in
Bogota last August, Lopez Portillo also ob
jected to a U.S. proposal that the United
states be given exclusive rights to build
another canal in Panama,
So the Mexican president did not go to
Washington; pleading “prior commit
ments." Instead, he sent Foreign Minister
Santiago Reel, who said he was there to
"defend the sovereignty of the canal.
At Mexico s behest, the wording of the
Declaration of Washington, signed by
Latin American leaders as a show of sup
port for the treaties, was toned down. It
merely congratulated President Carter
and Omar Torrijos “for having initiated the
steps that would lead to full sovereignty of
the republic of Panama over the totality of
its territory.
This position is in line with Mexico’s
traditional policy of non-intervention in
foreign affaris. But it also seems calculated
to remind Washington that Mexico under
Lopez Portillo is still as free-thinking —
though more tasteful — as it was under
former President Luis Echeverria.
Lopez Portillo s decision not to go to
Washington for the signing coincided with
his strongest public statement yet on
U.S.-Mexico relations. In his first State of
the Nation report on Sept. 1, he chided
the United States for “importing capital,
but no labor. He also warned his north
ern neighbor to respect the human rights
of Mexican migrant workers, and avoid
"police measures’ against the illegals.
Mexico s objections to the canal treaties
cannot have been welcome to the Carter
administration, which would like to have
Latin American consensus on the pacts.
Nor can it have been agreeable to Torrijas,
who is under fire by Panama’s left for the
wide powers of military intervention given
the United States under the treaties.
Mexico s reservations about the treaties
may have the effect of hardening opposi
tion to the treaties in Panama. Panama s
Independent Lawyers Movement recently
sent a telegram of congratulations to
Lopez Portillo.
“Just like you, we repudiate any treaty
that would consecrate the legalization of
American intervention in our country, it
said.
The government’s stands on the canal
and on the immigrant problem also seems
aimed at nullifying political opponents at
home.
There has been criticism from the left,
for example: that the planned gas pipeline
from Mexico’s rich southeast oilfields to
Texas will increase Mexico’s dependence
on the United States.
Lopez Portillo used his report on the
state of the nation to defend the gasline.
But reminded the United States that rela
tions have "not always been steady,” and
called for a new relationship of dignity,
mutual respect and equal treatment.
Decoding the faithful Indian companion
By DICK WEST
United Press International
WASHINGTON — This month’s issue
)f Smithsonian magazine contains a schol-
irly article on the vast amount of research
hat has gone into trying to establish what
onto, the Lone Ranger’s faithful Indian
ompanion, meant by the salutation
kemo sabe.”
Francis Striker, who created the origi-
tal radio serial, apparently never revealed
he secret. That left it up to linguists, an-
hropologists and other specialists to solve
he mystery.
Thus far, none has come up with any-
hing conclusive.
Lone Ranger fans generally took “kemo
abe” to mean “faithful friend” or some-
hing of that sort. But the magazine says
hat interpretation does not square with
ny known Indian dialect.
Probably the closest to it are the Tewa
ndian words “kema,” meaning “friend,”
nd “sabe,” meaning “Apache.”
If seems unlikely Tonto would address
ic masked rider as “friend Apache.” De-
pite the mask, Tonto surely could discern
lat the Lone Ranger was not a fellow In-
ian.
One theory is that “kemo sabe” was
ased on the Yavapai Indian word "kin-
uisaba, meaning “one who is white.”
hat seems out of character.
Tonto simply wasn’t the type who would
sc a term that apparently is the Yavapai
quivalent of “honky.”
The Smithsonian also speculates that
“kemo sabe” was not Indian talk at all but a
corruption of the Spanish “el quien lo
sabe” ("the one who knows”).
That theory won’t wash either.
While Tonto might conceivably have
credited the Lone Ranger with omnisci
ence, it should be noted that the tra
ditional corruption of “sabe” is “savvy.”
But he might well have impressed
Tonto as someone who was frequently
“saturated with moisture.”
In other words. I’m convinced that
Letters to the editor
“kemo sabe” was not a corruption of “el
quien lo sabe” in the sense of’ the one who
knows” but rather in the sense of “the one
who is all wet.”
The Lighter side Ticket scalpers immoral
Why would Tonto have corrupted
“quien” as “kemo and not “sabe” as
“savvy?” Clearly this field of research is
still wide open.
Pending some sort of definitive finding
by the scholars, Lone Ranger fans are free
to form their own theories. Here’s mine:
I can recall many situations in which the
masked man took courses of action that
any prudent Indian companion would
have regarded as unsound.
So when Tonto uttered lines such as
“Turn back, kemo sabe,” I suspect he was
commenting on the Lone Ranger’s mental
ity.
This theory is based on the fact that
Tonto pronounced “sabe” to sound a great
deal like “sobby.” My dictionary defines
“sobby” as “saturated with moisture” or
“related to weeping.”
Okay. The Lone Ranger was the macho
type. Daring and resourceful,” the radio
described him. Certainly not the type who
easily bursts into tears.
Editor:
We would like to comment on the de
plorable action of many of the Aggies on
the scalping situation for the Tech game
tickets. We do not see how anyone can
take a fellow Aggie for granted by making
him pay totally outrageous prices ($20 and
even more a piece) for tickets that cost
them only $4.
What is even more absurd is how many
of these same scalpers used other Aggies
to spend the night for them with the idea
that the scalper needed the tickets for
himself or his friends. We re sure that the
people who really needed tickets and
stayed out the whole night to find there
were not any more, are really thankful to
those “good Ags” who they will now have
to pay exorbitant prices to. Now these same
scalpers are walking around campus, smug
(and unjustly rich) in the knowledge they
have cheated another Ag.
We feel that the ticket distribution
should be changed to discourage this re
grettable behavior or student attitudes
must change.
Diane Marble ’79
Amy Lasche ’78
Barbara Kiker ’79
Scott Hennigar ’80
Rick Stockton ’78
Don Criswell ’79
Frank Anderson ’80
Where’s the light?
Editor:
In response to the article printed in the
9/19/77 Battalion concerning the con
troversy of lighting or not lighting the
sports complex, my only question is: If the
seemingly useless wall built around the
various entrances to campus can be lighted
all night with no benefit to anyone, why
can’t the University system allocate the
funds to light the fields which can be
utilized by everyone!
— William M. Seger
Top of the News
Campus
Gift presented to vet project
An anonymous gift of $3,000 was presented to Texas A&M Univer
sity’s Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology Department to sup
port a research project involving dogs with congenital heart defects,
The gift was made through Carl Schumacher Jr., vice president and
trust officer of First International Bank of Houston.
Grant given to program by Gulf
Texas A&M University’s finance program received a $3,000 grant
Tuesday from two representatives of Gulf Oil Company. The check
was presented to Dr. Kerry Cooper, head of finance, and Dr. Donald
Fraser, Brockette Professor of Finance by comptroller Bert H
Knapp and Fred J. Hennes, both of Gulfs Houston operations.
State
Edwards to run for Congress
Chet Edwards, the District Administrative Assistant to Con
gressman Olin E. “Tiger Teague, announced that he has resigned
his position in order to make plans for running for Congress should
Teague retire. Edwards commented, “If Tiger Teague decides to run
for re-election, I w ill do everything I can to support him; because in
working with him for the past three years, I have developed the
utmost respect for his honesty and dedicated service to the 6th Con-
qressional District and to his country. ” He added that his resignation
was effective Sept. 15. Edwards is a 1974 honor graduate of Texas
A&M University, where he received the Earl Rudder-Brown Foun
dation award, given annually to the two top graduates of A&M.
6 Shock involved in testimony
A doctor and attorneys for T. Cullen Davis Tuesday debated the
meaning and effects of “shock, a medical condition which prose
cutors say could explain the memory lapses of a witness in the murder
trial of the Texas millionaire. Dr. Michael Heard has testified Gus
Gavrel Jr., 22, was in shock when he arrived at a Fort Worth hospital
last year for treatment of a gunshot wound. Gavrel, whose right leg
remains paralyzed, has identified Davis as the man who shot him.
During his testimony Gavrel was uncertain of times, distances and
other details of the assault and made statements inconsistent with his
previous explanations.
McKittrick breaks silence
A former prostitute, fearful for her own life and that of her son,
Tuesday broke a self-imposed silence and told a civil court jury how
Texas millionaire oilman Ash Robinson directed a scenario ending
with the death of Dr. John Hill. In a voice barely audible at times,
Marcia McKittrick, 27, related how her sometime benefactress Lilia
Paulus met Robinson in a hospital parking lot near where Hill prac
ticed medicine and in her home to discuss the contract killing of the
wealthy plastic surgeon, Robinson s son-in-law. "They were both sea
ted in the front seat. They appeared to be talking. Just before Lilia
Paulus got out he seemed to hand her something. She put it in her
bag, Miss McKittrick said. Hill was murdered at the front doin'of his
home Sept. 24, 1972.
Nation
Boyle in stable condition
Former United Mine Workers President W. A. "Tony” Boyle, who
suffered chest pains during a retrial for the slayings of his union rival,
Joseph Yablonski, and two family members, was listed in stable con
dition in a nearby hospital. The trial was recessed by presiding Judge
Francis J. Catania until 10 a.m., EDT, Friday.
Laetrile — another test
Dr. Sidney Cohen says he doesn’t believe the' drug Laetrile has any
effect against cancer, but he says it has been beneficial —if only
psychologically— to a 43-year-old terminal cancer patient who asked
to be treated with the controversial drug. Cohen, who only became
involved in the Laetrile issue at patient Howard Walker’s request;
says he thinks the drug —an extract of apricot pits— has no medical
value, but that it can do no harm.
World
Picasso estate settled
Pablo Picasso’s heirs have ended four and one-half years of squabbl
ing over the $250 million estate left by the Spanish artist, the largest
on record for any artist. Picasso left no will when he died in April
1973 at the age of 91, and shortly before had predicted the battle
among his heirs for their share of his fortune would be “worse than
anything you can imagine. Fifty-four months and innumerable court
hearings later, it was announced Monday that Picasso’s six heirs have
reached a settlement on sharing his estate.
Jackie gets more money
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis will receive $26 million from the es
tate of her late husband Aristotle Onassis under the terms of an
out-of-court settlement, a member of the Onassis Foundation board
said Tuesday. This sum is in addition to an annual income of $100,000
originally bequethed to her by her second husband.
Weather
Partly cloudy and mild today. High today low 90s. Winds out of the
southeast at 8-12 mph.Continued partly cloudy tomorrow, high
tomorrow mid - 90s, low tonight high 60s. No rain today or tomor
row.
The Battalion
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editor or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily
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munity newspaper. Editorial policy is determined by the
editor.
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Managing Editor Mary Alice Woodliani'
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