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Viewpoint
The Battalion Friday,
Texas A&M University September 23, 1977
Changes at the Point
United Press International
Things are changing at West Point—at the U.S. Military Academy, that is — and
only the most reactionary and tradition-bound Americans will object.
Hazing of plebes is no more. It’s encouraging that this anachronistic nonsense,
apparently intended as a measure of a newcomer s toughness and ability to “take it,’
is now prohibited.
More importantly, the students’ academic achievements in class will henceforth be
by letter grades, not numerical grades. Expressing an individual’s grasp of a subject is
difficult by any System, but assigning him an “A” is more meaningful than giving him
a 97 percent.
The academy founder, Sylvanus Thayer, might be spinning; he initiated the
number grades in 1817. But West Point cannot stand, in the 20th Century, as a
fortress resisting change and perpetuating policies and practices begun nigh onto 200
years ago.
Pawtucket R.I. Times
The energy man
United Press International
Sen. Richard Lugar, a freshman Republican from Indiana, may have one of the
more essential jobs in Congress this year.
Lugar keeps enough candy in his desk to supply his colleagues with instant energy
during those dreary debates on Capitol Hill.
Scripps-Howard Newspapers
Top of the News
Campus
Yell practice in Lubbock
Yell practice for the Texas Tech football game will be held Fridayat
midnight in Lubbock. To get there, take Highway 84 to Lubbock,
then turn left onto Loop 289. Turn right off 289 to 19th Street, and
drive until you find 4707 19th. That’s John Moore’s house — located
about three blocks off the Loop. Yell leader Jeft Hancock says to "look
for the crazy Aggies.” ‘ ll
Ticket policy changes for Michigan
The procedure for picking up out-of-town game tickets will be
altered for the A&M-Michigan game. The plan, proposed by the
Athletic Department to prevent scalping, will allow one student to
purchase one ticket. Previously, students have been allowed to pur
chase up to 10 tickets. Also, the ticket will not be given to the stu
dent. Instead, the purchaser will be given a receipt and the ticket will
then be marked with his student ID number. Purchasers will be told
where at Ann Arbor stadium to go to pick up their tickets. There, the
student will present the receipt and his ID and be given his ticket.
A&M was allocated only 180 tickets for the game.
Regents to meet Tuesday
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents meet Tues
day to face an agenda dominated by construction. Members will con
sider one contract for the renovation of the Agronomy Building on
campus and six requests for appropriations for future projects. The
Regents also will be asked to approve a $1 increase to $15 in Texas
A&M’s Beutel Health Center fee to help cover salary and other ex- j
penses at the center. If approved, the increase will begin spring
semester.
State
‘Mr. Lance, where did you hide the body?’
Senate
By DAVID S. BRODER
WASHINGTON — The question be
fore us, dear reader, is: Why can’t United
States Senators ask cjuestions? If you won
der why that topic is timely, it is clear you
did not watch last week’s gripping, three-
day televised non-interrogation of Bert
Lance.
Those of us who were either profession
ally obliged or personally masochistic
enough to watch the hearings have no way
of avoiding the issue.
By my rough calculation, rendered hazy
by occasional bouts of sleepiness, the 20-
plus hours which Lance spent on the stand
broke down this way:
Lance defending Lance: 7 hours, 40
minutes.
Senators defending Lance: 2 hours, 20
minutes.
Senators criticizing other senators: 1
hour, 50 minutes.
Senators defending themselves against
other senators: 2 hours, 30 minutes.
Senators explaining past actions and in
actions: 1 hour 40 minutes.
Senators praising Clark Clifford (in case
they ever need his services themselves):
30 minutes, f
Senators prefacing questions to Lance: 3
hours, 15 minutes.
Senators questioning Lance: 45 min
utes.
Now, admittedly, that is a strict in
terpretation of the word “questioning.” It
counts as questions only those sentences
which, in the transcript, will be
punctuated with a question mark. But it
may help explain why the public appar
ently thought Lance stood up so well
under the “battering” of the senators’
questioning.
short course in
question asking
Those of us sentenced to watch the
Lance hearings have thought a lot about
why it took 20 hours for 45 minutes of
questioning.
Veterans of the press corps (including
such prematurely gray youths as this re
porter) were at first inclined to believe it
measured a deterioration in the quality of
United States Senators.
That may be a bit of romanticized nos
talgia, however. When one thinks about
the great Senate inquisitions of the past,
one remembers the bulldog committee
counsels, from Rudolph Halley to Bob
Kennedy to Sam Dash, and the moralizing
chairmen, from Estes Kefauver to John
McClellan to Sam Ervin.
This committee muzzled its staff
lawyers. Its chairman, instead of being a
Southern preacher-type, was that
sophisiticated Yankee, Abe Ribicoff, who
had somewhat compromised his moral au
thority in advance by declaring, with great
vehemence but at separate times, both the
exoneration and the condemnmation of
Brother Lance.
If you are convinced of the witness’ in
nocence, then the surest way to maintain
that impression is to ask nothing that
might disturb him. Sam Nunn and Tom
Eagleton have been known, in other set
tings, as good questioners. But when they
looked across at Bert Lance, they got all
sentimental and choked up.
The second reason some senators did
not ask questions is that they were not
sure if the man before them was a smiling
hypocrite or a saint, but they did know he
was budget director and proclaiming an in
tention to stay. If he were leaving anyway,
one might give him an interrogatory poke
to get him moving; but if he were staying,
well, my goodness, there was no point an
tagonizing the arbiter of federal spending,
was there?
But then there were the hard cases —
the senators who looked and sounded as if
they wanted to ask questions but somehow
couldn’t get them out.
They were the sort of detectives who —
meaning to ask, “Where did you hide the
body?” — would instead say: “Mr. Lance,
knowing that you feel as strongly as I do
that President Carter has set a noble goal
of improving the environment and ending
pollution wherever possible, it would
seem to me incumbent upon you to be
fully cooperative in helping the committee
staff locate any possible source of
environmental degradation or hazard, that
you might have come across, and I just
wonder if you think that the fact that there
arle many fresh mounds of dirt in back
yards and parks across America gives you
any special exemption from the duty all
citizens share — senators as well as com
mon people — to help the environmental
movement? I know you’ve been on the
stand a long time, and I see Mr. Clifford
speaking in your ear, and he knows how
much I respect him, but I would ap
preciate it if you would supply your
thoughts on that subject for the record.”
Of course,” says Mr. Lance.
The reason that senators act like that is
that they are senators. And being a senator
means you already have the answer for ev
erything. So why ask?
(c) 1977, The Washington Post Com
pany
Jody Powell pulls a no-no
By HELEN THOMAS
UPI White House Reporter
WASHINGTON — Jody Powell hurt
his image as White House press secretary
by passing along to several leading news
papers a rumor that would have discred
ited a senator investigating Bert Lance.
When it turned out to be wrong, most of
the newspapers ignored it. But the
Chicago Sun-Times identified Powell as
the aide who tried to peddle the report
and the result was an apology by Powell to
Sen. Charles Percy, R-Ill.
Somewhat chagrined, Powell described
his action as “dumb and “inappropriate.”
He later told reporters he consulted
some of his predecessors when he took
Slouch
by Jim Earle
over as White House spokesman and
learned there were ways of dispensing in
formation outside normal channels.
Most times Powell’s penchant for biting
characterizations of other politicians has
been protected by reporters—even when
Washington Window
he didn’t put his remarks “off the record”
or “on background.”
The press secretary sometimes leaks
news to ingratiate himself with a reporter,
but always for political or personal reasons
or to enhance the President’s image.
He admits it and sees nothing wrong in
it. Working on that premise, he or his
aides have divulged reports from the Na
tional Security Council and information
from an FBI report, among other things.
Did Powell view the Percy matter as
“dumb” because he got caught, or because
he now feels it is improper to pass along
unsubstantiated allegations for the pur
pose of damaging someone’s reputation?
Powell has been riding high. He is well
liked, intelligent, articulate, and creates
an atmosphere of relaxed good feeling. He
also has disarming wit and provokes conta
gious mirth.
There is none of the hostility of the
Watergate era in the White House press
center. But few have any illusions that the
33-year-old Powell, who is almost like a
son to Carter, is not a totally partisan
fighter. He clearly feels he serves a consti
tuency of one—the President.
Letter to the editor
Powell has said many times there is no
reason the White House cannot retaliate
when it feels it has been dealt with un
fairly. More than many of his predeces
sors, he calls reporters to complain about
their stories, despite this, he conveys no
sense of being anti-media.
Press relations with both Carter and
Powell have been generally good. Carter
has been fairly accessible, and usually an
swers questions during informal circum
stances. He holds news conferences every
two weeks, and conducts himself deftly
and with candor. He does his homework
and rarely is caught unawares.
Powell, too, has shown fancy footwork
on the podium. He readily admits when
he is hedging or cannot elaborate. Carter
said last week Powell has learned he will
have to be “more cautious.”
Better advice might be never to get
himself into another Lance-Percy bind.
I have decided to take a positive approach, like ‘Yes, you should forego
your dental appointment in Lubbock,’ and ‘Yes, your grades will suffer if
you cut!’ How can I be more positive?
Info there for the asking
Editor’s note: the following is in response
to Ana Quintana’s letter on Monday, Sep
tember 20, and the response by the
O.C.S.A. on Tuesday, September 21.
Editor:
I have been fortunate enough to live
on-campus for two years and am now
enjoying living in an apartment. I looked
forward to this semester because I grew
tired of living in one open room with no
personal privacy and people constanty
coming in and going out. But I do not feel
like I am uninformed about activities that
are going on on-campus just because I live
off-campus. Like anyone else at TAMU, I
have to walk to class, from building to
building, and I am constantly passing bul
letin boards. I have breaks between
classes and I always take time to stop and
see if there is anything going on I would be
interested in. I also try to pick up a Batt
every day and it tells the student what dif
ferent activities are going on.
Of course, I understand that some
people do not have breaks between
classes. Yet, they could take time before or
after class to see for themselves the various
activities that are posted. And the MSC is
the greatest means of communication be
tween student and activity. There are al
ways flyers posted, signs hanging, and the
televised listing of activities. Also, the
posters by Town Hall and the Aggieland
Cinema list concerts and movies and their
dates and times. These are free to any stu
dent.
As for the OCSA, I feel it is a very
worthwhile organization. After all, being
uninformed of campus activities is a rela
tively minor problem of being off-campus
students, as far as I’m concerned. I wish
the OCSA good luck and offer any help I
can give. But, as far as being uninformed
goes, I feel some people do not try hard
enough to find out “what’s happening.
—Bruce Bradley
Class of ’79
Ags still honest
Editor:
I am taking this opportunity to praise
the honesty of students on this campus.
Last Saturday at a mixer, I lost a James
Avery Sanddollar from my necklace.
When I realized that it was gone, the disc
jockey was kind enough to ask everyone to
look for it, and a girl immediately came up
with my charm. I didn’t know who she
was, but I am grateful to her for returning
it. To me this incident is a true example of
Aggie spirit.
—M. P.
Class of ’81
Mennonites gain time S
Five hundred Mennonites, who have been trying to establish a
permanent colony near Seminole, have been granted additional time iai
in their fight to avoid deportation. The Immigration and Naturalize f
tion Service in Washington Thursday gave them until Oct. 1 to prove Ie
that forcing them to leave woidd cause them unecessary hardship. pi
Nation
Shell workers to undergo tests
The Shell Chemical Co. said Thursday that 44 employees of its
Rocky Mountain Arsenal plant who worked with a worm pesticide
linked to sterility in men have volunteered to undergo fertility tests
A Shell spokesman said results of the tests would be compared to
those conducted on 28 other workers not exposed to dibromochloro-
propane, called DBCP. The Denver-based Oil, Chemical and Atomic
Workers Union has blamed DBCP for the sterility of six workers atm
Occidental Chemical Co. plant in California.
Valentine’s Day killer convicted
Roger Drollinger, accused mastermind of the Valentine’s Day
killings of four brothers, was found guilty Wednesday of four counts
of first degree murder by a jury in Hartford City, Ind. The jury
deliberated for only an hour before reaching a verdict. Three more
defendants are awaiting trial for the slayings.
EPA checks for Chinese fallout
The possibility of radioactive fallout in the United States from a
Chinese nuclear test has prompted the Environmental Protection
Agency to take milk samples Monday in Missouri and other states. A
Kansas City, Mo. EPA office spokesman said Thursday the milk test
are designed to check for higher-than-normal levels of radioactive
fallout. The Chinese test produced a cloud of Iodine-131 estimatedat
40,000 feet high, moving fast in an easterly direction. The EPA
spokesman said the cloud, extending from Oklahoma to the Canadian
border, would traverse the nation in two and one-half days. Tests will
be taken Monday because it would take at least four days for any
possible radioactivity on plants to get through the cows and into the
milk. The samples will be sent to Montgomery, Ala., with results
expected back by the middle of week. Bill Brink, a radiation protec
tion specialist with the Kansas City EPA, said it is unlikely that any
high levels of fallout will occur because the cloud is so high that only
severe thunderstorms would release the radioactivity. He said if the
tests revealed increased radioactivity in small amounts, the EPA
would suggest that formers take cattle off pasture grass which may
have been contaminated and switch them to stored feed. “ Another
measure would be to store the milk for a few days to allow the
radioactivity to decay away,” Brink said. “Another, more stringent,
measure woidd be to convert the milk to ice cream or cheese and
store it for a much longer period. And finally, if it were very heavily
contaminated, the milk woidd be destroyed.”
World
Haitian political prisoners freed
One hundred four political prisoners were released Thursday from
Port Au Prince prison in Haiti to mark the 20th year in power of the
rulers of that country. The amnesty was announced Wednesday
President Jean-Claude Duvalier ordered the release to commemo
rate the 1957 election of his father, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier.
Jean-Claude succeeded Francois who died in 1971.
Israeli troops fight in Lebanon
Israeli armor and troops are deep inside Lebanon and hammering
away at Palestinian and leftist forces. They are reportedly pushing
periously close to Syrian troops in the southern war zone. Palesti
nians have retaliated with a rocket barrage on an Israeli border town,
while Israeli gunboats have reportedly blockaded the ports of Tyre
and Sidon to cut guerrilla supply lines.
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Weather
Partly cloudy and mild today. High today low 90s. Winds out of
the southeast at 10 mph. High Saturday 93 degrees. No rain
today or tomorrow.
The Battalion
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