Page 2
Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Friday
October 14, 1977
Freedom comes first
Freedom of choic e in a free society essentially means the freedom to dissent
from orthodoxy of any kind. Majority opinion requires no protection.
The California Court of Appeal reached this conclusion in upsetting a lower
court's appointment of parents as temporary guardians for young adult follow
ers of the strange cult established by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who
represents himself as the new Messiah before whom all creation yearns to
kneel.
The parents of five young adults, 21 to 25, sought guardianship because they
said their children had been “brainwashed” by Moon s Unification Church.
But, the appeal court said, the appointment of the parents as conservators
violated the rights to religious freedom of Moon’s young followers.
The' court held correctly, in our view, that the assertion of brainwashing was
no substitute for evidence, and, furthermore, “if an adult person is less than
gravely disabled we find no warrant for depriving him or her of liberty and
freedom of action...” To most people the court said, the religious views of the
Moon church “might seem incredible, if not preposterous.” We find them to
be both incredible and preposterous, and we sympathize with the parents of
children who have been caught up in this web.
But we agree with the court that “if those doctrines are subject to tiral
before a jury charged with finding their truth or falsity, then the same can be
done with the religious belief of any sect. . .The First Amendment does not
select any one group or any type of religion for preferred treatment. It put
them all in that position”
The individual is free to choose, and is not bound by any official doctrine.
The choice may not be wise, but freedom of choice means freedom to make a
mistake.
l,o\ Angeles Times
A modern miracle
First, there were fishes and loaves. Then, there w as water to w ine. And
then, last night, the College Station City Council w ent in and out of session in
a mere hour and a half.
Credit for this mirac le of miracles must go to Councilman Jim Dozier, acting
for the absent Mayor Lorenee Bravenee.
He* allow ed none* of the nonsense and unnecessary discussion usually fea
tured in council meetings.
His explanation, follow ing the applause* of his audience, was. “I haven’t
eaten supper yet.
R.C.
Little future in German nuclear industry
By HEINZ MURMANN
International Writers Service
BONN, WEST GERMANY — A few
years ago, I would have advised a young
man or woman with technological inclina
tions to enter West Germany’s nuclear
energy industry, whose prospects then
seemed to be bright. Today, however, I
would be more cautious.
Here as in the United States and other
major industrial societies, the growth of
nuclear energy has been impeded by a va
riety of elements. Opposition by
environmental organizations as well as rad
ical factions has discouraged politicians
from supporting atomic power plants, and
the courts have also issued injunctions
against the erection of nuclear installa
tions.
New orders for nuclear technology from
abroad are also drying up, iri part at least
because of efforts by the Carter adminis
tration to block the spread of atomic
facilities.
The West German nuclear industry has
moved into a defensive position and its
managers, engineers and other specialists
have never been more pessimistic about
its future than they are at present.
This gloominess represents a dramatic-
change from the optimism of the early
1970s, when nuclear energy seemed to
have a splendid future. Experts predicted
that increasing numbers of atomic power
plants would be built at home to reduce
West Germany’s heavy dependence on
imported oil. They also saw the industry
taking over a large share of the world mar
ket, then dominated by American firms.
This forecast was not only based on es
timates of the global need for energy. It
was also founded on West Germany’s nu
clear industry being highly sophisticated
and able to meet tbe many safety regu
lations reejuired by international agree
ments. In addition, the industry had de
veloped rapidly since its start in the mid-
1950s.
The nuclear business appeared here in
the decade following the end of World
War II, when local firms began to.operate
under licensing arrangements with U S.
companies like Westinghouse and General
Electric.
Soon West German outfits became in
dependent. The biggest of them is now the
Kraftwerk Union, which is subsidiary of
the gigantic Siemens complex.
The nuclear industry here in itself is still
small in size, employing only about 35,000
technicians. But it is linked to about 300
electrical, chemical and engineering com
panies, and so these firms are involved to
some degree or another with the future of
atomic power.
The construction business is also con
nected to the nuclear industry, as are
numbers of other companies engaged in
the exploration, mining and enrichment of
atomic fuel and the reprocessing and stor
age of radioactive waste.
Altogether the nuclear field provides
work for several hundred thousand
people, and it is central to the West Ger
man economy.
Ten commercial nuclear power plants
have been put up here and work has
begun on eleven reactors to be linked to
the country’s electrical energy system.
The government has approved other in
stallations which have since been stalled
by various legal proceedings arising out of
protests.
Thus the chances are remote that nu
clear power, which now accounts for eight
per cent of West Germany’s electricity
needs, can be expanded within the next
decade to furnish thirty per cent of the
nation’s energy requirements, as
envisaged in development plans.
The indsutry has made headway over
seas. It has completed nuclear plants in
Argentina, Austria and the Netherlands,
begun work on others in Spain and Swit
zerland, and has orders for still others in
Brazil and Iran. But these sales are not
sufficient to keep the business functioning
at maximum capacity.
Foreign sales, moreover, are dependent
on domestic nuclear expansion, since
technological innovations are developed at
home before they are exported. Potential
customers abroad know this.
Consequently, the industry is caught in
a squeeze between domestic pressures
and an inadequate export market. And this
largely explains the bitter dialogue that
poisoned relations between the United
States and West Germany when President
Carter tried to halt the nuclear deal with
Brazil. *-*■
Whether the nuclear industry can re
gain its former momentum depends on
many factors, including the climate here in
West Germany and President Carter’s
policies. Until these factors show im
provement, the industry is no place for
ambitious young technicians.
GOP governors —new endangered species
By DICK WEST
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Ten of the 12 re
maining members of the Republican Gov
ernors’ Association gathered in New
Hampshire this week for their annual con
ference.
Politically, they failed to make much of a
splash. Which again demonstrates the
basic unfairness of life.
The Tighter Side
If they had been whooping cranes, they
would have been smothered with atten
tion.
It’s something of a mystery why the
GOP governors, despite their rarity, have
not yet become a major anxiety factor in
the conservationist movement.
One of the few naturalists specializing in
gubernatorial ecology is Algernon Ter-
rabuena, who spent a couple of days in
Bretton Woods observing their nesting
and feeding habits at close range.
Asked for a report on the situtation, he
gave this analysis:
“By nature, governors of whatever
stripe tend to gravitate toward liish water-
Letters to the editor
ing places for their conferences. Their in
stinct, however, is to confer on the nesting
grounds of one of their own species.
“This means the GOP association limits
its conference sites to Alaska, Delaware,
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,
New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina,
Vermont and Virginia.
“There are, to be sure, suitable sites in
those states. The fact remains, however
that some of the lushest watering places
are found in California, Nevada, Hawaii,
Florida and Louisiana.
“When a gubernatorial conference is ar
bitrarily precluded from conferring in,
say, San Francisco, Las Vegas, or New Or
leans, it loses a great deal of viability. Or at
least conviviality.”
4
Terrabuena also was asked what steps
might be taken toward protecting, pre
serving and perhaps enlarging the GOP
association. Here was his reply:
“The main trouble is that the guber
natorial count in recent years has re
mained fairly constant. At any given time,
the country will have around 50 gover
nors, give or take a couple who might be
under indictment or otherwise inopera
tive.
"In this circumstance, the number of
GOP governors cannot be increased with
out dislodging a corresponding number of
governors of other species. Which is doing
it the hard way.
“A more promising method, favored by
many of us naturalists and environmen
talists, is to expand the overall size of the
gubernatorial population. There are two
ways to reach that goal.
“One plans calls for having each state
elect the same number of governors as it
does U.S. senators. That would provide 50
additional gubernatorial seats, some of
which undoubtedly would go to Republi
cans.
“The other approach is to increase the
number of states. By admitting, say, 25
new states to the Union, you give the GOP
governors’ association a much better
chance to expand.
Freedom is most revered Aggie tradition
Editor:
In response to the puffed-up publicity
about Greek organizations at A&M, I
would like to offer what will hopefully be a
final work on the subject.
Stop and think a moment about A&M’s
most respected and revered tradition. I’m
not referring to Twelfth Man, ‘humping-
it’, saying ‘Howdy’, Silver Taps, or kissing
your date at Yell Practice. This tradition is
what our university was founded upon and
what former Aggies fought and died
for.. .Freedom.
A&M stands out not only in Texas, but
nationally as a bulwark of freedom. During
101 years, we have contributed more ded
icated officers to the armed forces than any
school in the nation. Freedom is the one
tradition that Aggies have so seriously
fought for, yet now treat so lightly regard
ing Greeks.
When are we ever free to break up all
social clubs at A&M or exclude groups that
don’t add to the homogenization of 30,000
students? Is this for the sake of standing
apart from other schools and being
unique?’ I’ve always considered A&M
‘unique’ because of our strong traditions of
spirit and friendship, not because we don’t
have Greek organizations on campus.
We can exemplify our true uniqueness
by offering the freedom to be individuals
within the traditional Aggie system.
—Andrea J. Vails
Class of 1979
Say it with feeling
Editor:
Gail Zieshang’s letter in the Tuesday
Battalion laments glum-faced reactions to
her “howdies.”
I find some “howdies” irritating. Some
people, particularly cadets, barely utter a
brusque “hoddy” to others they brush by.
I hardly feel up to returning such an
apparently perfunctory, even compulsory
gesture—especially on rotten days, when
an unrestrained “hello!” could cheer me
up considerably.
Aggies, give me a warm greeting any
day, and I’ll be glad to return it.
—Kathryn Goff ’80
No drunk serenades
Editor:
As the date of the Michael Murphy con
cert draws near I feel I must express a pet
peeve which I failed to express after the
last concert held at G. Rollie White Col
iseum.
It’s irritating to pay to be entertained by
a professional singer and then end up
being serenaded by some intoxicated jerk
sitting next to you who thinks he’s God’s
gift to music.
This was my experience at the last con
cert.
I don’t condemn anybody for drinking,
but there is a right time and place for ev
erything. Also, I enjoy singing along too,
but not to the point where I drown out the
performer.
Everybody should “do their own thing.”
But when that “thing” encroaches on the
rights of others, something should be
done.
So, for those few who attend concerts
and annoy others, some words of advice:
Try to hold it down. You may sound great
singing drunk in the shower, but
remember—not everybody has to listen to
you there.
—S.J.H., ’79
Correction
We goofed.
On page 15 of the sport section of
Wednesday’s Battalion we identified
Jeff Booth as Mike Mosely in a foot
ball photo. The Battalion regrets the
Top of the News
Campus
Safety class offered for Bonfire
There will be an organizational meeting for off-campus students
interested in helping with Bonfire, Thursday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m.in
Room 108, Harrington. Because of present regulations, off-campus
men interested in working in the cutting area must attend a safety class
and receive a safety card. These classes will be held Oct. 10-13, 17-20,
and 24-26 from 5 to 6 p. m. in the Animal Industry Pavillion. For more
information, students should contact Dani Reardon at 846-6006, Mary
Hutchison at 779-9425, Brandon Goleman at 693-2000, or sign up j n
the Student Programs Office in Room 216 of the MSG.
Co-op program holds meeting
Students interested in a plan of study where they can gain work
experience and still pursue their degree objectives, should attend a
meeting of the Co-Op program at 7 p.m., Oct. 27, in Room 308
Rudder.
State
Walter Coleman goes on trial
The trial of capital murder suspect Walter Joe Coleman has been
scheduled to begin March 27, 1978. Coleman is accused of the Jan. 12
robbing and shooting of Larry Baugh, a graduate student and English
lecturer at Texas A&M University. The announcement was made
Wednesday by 85th District Judge W. C. Davis. “This was the first
open period of about three weeks,” Judge Davis said. The judge saida
motion to restrict press coverage at the trial was still being held under
advisement. Coleman, who had his bail lowered from $20,(KX) to
$15,(XX) during an Oct. 6 hearing, is being held in the Brazos County
jail.
Caravan decends on Amarillo
A caravan of farm tractors began a 165-mile drive, Thursday, from
Colorado to Texas to participate in a rally today in Amarillo to protest
the nation’s agricultural policies. American Agriculture, a newly
formed farm group based in Springfield, Colo., says it will call a strike
for Dec. 14, unless farmers are guaranteed prices equal to their costs of
production. During the strike, they will sell no products and buy no
agricultural supplies or equipment. Allen Smith, a Goldwater, Texas
farmer, stud, "A lot of us can’t afford to strike and can’t afford to farm
either.”
Hill wants state law revision
Attorney General John Hill, in Austin, is recommending state law
be revised to provide for felony prosecution of civil rights violations
after an investigation of the beating and drowning of Joe Campos
Torres. He has asked the U. S. Department of Justice to investigate the
Torres case since federal laws permit felony prosecution of law
enforcement officials who violate a prisoner’s civil rights with punish
ment up to life in prison if death occurs as a result of the civil rights
violation. The only existing state law under which civil rights violators
can be prosecuted is a misdemeanor provision carrying a maximum
punishment of one year in jail and a $2,(XX) fine.
Nation
Congress approves airbags
Airbags or other passive safety restraints will be required in every
new car in the United States by 1984 now that Congress has upheld a
Gaiter administration decision. The House Comme rce Committee
blocked a resolution of disapproval from reaching the House floor and
the Senate upheld the decision on a 65-31 vote. Though opponents of
the device called for more testing, they now must resort to legislation
to overturn the decision.
One test left for space shuttle
The space shuttle Enterprise performed so well in its most impor
tant test Thursday at Edwards Air Force Base, Galif., that only one
more test flight will be flown. The 750-ton space shuttle hit a maximum
speed of 330 m.p.h. and landed going 212 m.p.h. on a dry lake bed in
the Mojave desert in only 2 minutes, 40 seconds. Astronaut Richard
Ti ulv, one of the craft s two pilots, said the flight “went awfully fast and
I don t remember hardly half of it.” The Enterprise will land on a
regular airstrip on its final test flight Oct. 26 instead of on the
desert. Then it will be shipped to Huntsville, Ala., for more testing,
before it is rocketed into space for the first time in March 1979.
Balloonist wants to try again
i t wu W Colo 1 r ? do balloonists said their landing in the stormy Atlantic
felt them cold, wet, and tired. Dewey Reinhard and Steve Stephenson
Se ,. < }i lt r m B T harbor, Maine, Monday to cross the Atlantic, but bad
weather forced them to abandon the attempt Wednesday. The two
W T T ° f the wate1 ’ by the Canadian Coast Guard about 80
World
Soviet Union gives jets to Laos
The Soviet Union has given MiG-21 jet fighters to Laos in what is
believed to be its first major weapons shipment to Indochina since the
end of the war there, government sources reported in Washington,
Thursday. Arrival of the MiGs gives the Laotian air force its first jet
aircrafts which will apparently be flown by Laotian pilots who have
undergone training in the Soviet Union. In the past, the Laotians have
- »>- whkl
Weather
Fair and mild today and tomorrow with southeasterly winds 5
mph. High today mid-80s and low tonight mid-40s. High to
morrow high 70s. No rain.
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Opinions expressed -/■/„. B„'tali',,, arc- these- of
ejetor or of the- unu-r of,he ar'icle and arc- no, nc-cc-lcol
those of the- University administration the Board of Re.
I*cuts. I he Battalion is a non-nrofit v if ^
cntcnnisc operated by students as a unir^tya^Z
mnnity necespaper. Hditoria, po,ic V ,, detecJnmlhyZ-
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nished on request. Address: Tlu
Heed Mc Donald Building. College Station.
United Press International is entitled
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Texas Press Association
Editor J ll,n ' 1 ’ |
Managing Editor Mary Alice "'»*
Editorial Director
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News Editors Marie Homeyer.
City Editor
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. • • I'' 11 ' : ,n
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i>„> ill
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Cialu 1
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