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Viewpoint
The Battalion Monday
Texas A&M University October 17, 1977
Writing for a friend
Dear Lord,
I know I’ve been slow about writing lately, but I wanted to drop you a note
today to put in a good word for a friend coining to see you.
Of course you know I never met him, but I still feel I can call Bing Crosby
a friend. You know how he was.
I can never remember a time he wasn t one of my favorite people. Not a
favorite actor, or a favorite comedian or even a favorite singer even
though he was in a class by himself as all three — but a favorite person.
Now I know that you know what kind of super human being you have
taken from us down here to you up there. Maybe you needed some new
entertainment. But I wanted to remind you of a few things.
Much of the wealth he made from his songs and appearances went to
charities. Most of his concerts in the last few years have been charity affairs.
During World War II he traveled more than 50,000 miles entertaining
American troops. Yet he never stopped being a family man and a good
father.
But most of all he never seemed to tire of people or to stop wanting to help
and entertain people. He could have retired from entertaining long ago,
without ever needing to work again. But he felt responsible for everyone
around him it seemed, wanting to be a provider rather than a user. I know all
this is nothing you didn’t already know. But it’s easy to forget.
So please take good care of him now. He’s taken very good care of us for a
long time.
Thanks,
L.R.L.
Slouch by Jim Earle
“IT’S NOT THAT I EXPECTED TO GET A NOBEL PRIZE, IT’S
JUST THAT THEY NEVER ASKED IF I HAD DONE ANYTHING
WORTHY!’’
China on the move
somewhere
By DAVID S. BRODER
KWEILIN, China —- China is a nation
on the move. That statement is true at al
most every level of meaning, but the sense
in which it strikes the first-time visitor is
the most literal. Almost everyone one sees
is in motion.
There* are, to be sure, landscapes of
brush-painting serenity — misty hills,
lovely treat's, terraced fields and quiet fig
ures. But after two weeks of travel by
plane and train, by boat, by car and on
foot, up and dowri this country, what is
most vivid to the eye is not the serenity
but the' mobility of the' Chinese people.
On your first morning in Peking, you
awake to the sound of blaring horns. You
soon discover why. Broad as the main
streets are, they are not wide enough to
allow the stream of cars, trucks and buses
easy passage around the school of bicycles
or past the' slow-moving carts, tugged by
animals or people. The drivers of the big
ger and faster vehicles use their horns to
intimidate the bikers and cart-tuggers,
producing a cacophony that KTotider eVen ”
than the' martial music on the loudspeak
ers.
The number of private cars on the road
drops sharply once you leave Peking or
Canton, but the bicycles with their jingl
ing bells and the carts are sufficient
provocations for the buses and trucks to
make a racket, even on a country road near
here.
Jay Matthews, the Washington Post cor
respondent in Hong Kong, reported re
cently that every vehicle of public con
veyance in China these days is jammed to
capacity. He is right. From the buses in
Changsha carrying their natural-gas sup
ply in canvas bags on the roof, to the
Viscount jets that fly between here and
Shanghai, there is not a seat to be had.
All this coming and going is the most
visible evidence of the questing spirit of
advancement that characterizes the cur
rent rulers of China — and a pragmatic,
hardheaded group less interested in ide
ological quarrels than in pushing forward
production and economic growth. Vice-
Premier Teng-Hsaio-Ping is a man of such
restless energy that even when he is seat
ed in a quiet conversation he pulls deep
on an ever-present cigarette and puffs the
smoke as high in the air as the factory
smoke-stacks in Chungking.
Most of the travelers are Chinese, but
there is an increasing flow of tourists —
overseas Chinese, Japanese, East and
West Europeans, and not least, Ameri
cans.
Kweilin, whose limestone cliffs, caves
and rivers give it a landscape' of unique
beauty, is s tourist center of growing im
portance even though its leaders insist that
industry and not tourism is central to their
overall plan. A new airport terminal, a
new railroad station and a new 12-story
hott'l have all opened within the past year
and other facilities are being pushed to
completion.
Tourism, of course, can be a valuable
source of foreign currency, which China
needs to finance the purchase of technol
ogy from abroad. But if this city is the
" TOOK if AM! WE'f?E ALMPSrAIR^^ME! "
wave of the future, one has to view it with
at least a tinge of regret. The Chinese have
not resisted some of the worst aspects of
commercialized natural grandeur.
For centuries their artists and poets
have drawn inspiration from the land
scape. The visitor traveling through the
Yangtze river gorges on a steamer or float
ing down the Li-Chiang river here past the
dramatic limestone karsts enjoys hearing
the romantic tales inspired by the strange
rock formations. But in the reed pipe cave
featured in a glossy brochure in your hotel
room and made all but mandatory for the
Kweilin visitor, Chinese taste and re
straint have been overwhelmed hy some
distinctly Disneyland touches.
Neon lights — a garish hlue, orange and
gold — are activated when the guide
shines her flashlight on an electric eye
embedded in the rock. Her recitation is
anthropomorphism run riot. Every piece
of stalactite or stalagmite is a hunter or a
deer, a serpent.or a spider, a lion or a loon.
No rock is allowed to be just a rock.
A magnificent natural cavern is lighted
and described as a “crystal palace.” And
sure enough, on its 200-million-year-old
walls some fool has inscribed in iridescent
paint, “Long Live the Friendship of the
Chinese and Laotian People.” As you walk
on the artificial concrete steps that cover
the natural rock, you almost expect to see
a candy bar wrapper at your feet.
Unless this Hollywood revisionist trend
is halted, the day will come when a
monorail carries visitors along the Great
Wall, and Nimbo the Whale performs
every hour on the hour in the moat of the
Forbidden City. Please, Chairman Hua,
don’t let it happen here.
Letters to the editor
Battalion letters high point of the day
Editor:
I really must pause and give thanks for
the Battalion’s Letter column.
I come into my room after a hard day of
skipping classes and checking mail boxes
and I need a break. I need something that
will lift my spirits and help me to escape
my humdrum existence even if only for a
few brief moments.
I find that thrill on the battle-letter
page. Every day I eagerly open the paper
to see which group has declared war on
which. Will it be another spine-tingling
episode between the pedestrians and the
cyclists? Or will it be a new scene from
Everyone vs. the Greeks? Even the Non-
regs vs. the Corps will do as long as it
keeps bad blood flowing. The less logic the
better. (A good example of this is the
sparkling, brand new definition of a “Good
Ag ”, which seems to come out daily.)
I must admit I wasn’t enchanted with
th ese battles at first. I actually believed in
the defunct idea that Aggies were a com
plex group of different people idealogieally
united in their belief that A&M is a great
university and educational center.
But I’ve seen the light. It’s much more
fun when people don’t accept one another.
Expecting many replies,
—Robert Strahan ’80
Fight noise
Aggies:
Are you having trouble studying be
cause the bass on your neighbor’s stereo is
reading 7.3 on the Richter scale? Have you
memorized the lyrics of his favorite rec
ord? If you have experienced similar situa
tions and have not taken action, read on.
You have a right to privacy, like anyone
e ^ se — let the fact be known. Bang on the
walls, ceiling, or floor to show the
noisemaker you are annoyed. He may not
realize his music is bothering you.
Call or visit him if your first attempts
fail. If he is indifferent to your efforts, con
tact your room adviser or apartment man
ager. They can take action or guide you in
your quest for silence.
Remember, you have a right to privacy
— don’t let inconsiderate people infringe
upon that right.
—Chris Cain, ‘80
Corps parking poor
Editor:
The parking situation for all Corps
members is in poor condition. Every cadet
is required to have a special Corps parking
sticker on his car. The sticker contains the
person s name, dorm number, and room
number, which is not very intelligent be
cause it advertises the information to any
one who wants it.
Another problem is the Corps freshman
parking situation. Parking lot number
forty is a freshman-sophomore parking lot,
but the freshman cadet cannot park there.
To be fair about the problem they should
let all the freshmen park there, or not let
any of the freshmen park there.
The best solution is to eliminate the
Corps responsibility in the parking matter.
That way all cadets and non-cadets will
have the same parking opportunities.
—Peter K. Goggin
Warning primitive
Editor:
I would like to deliver this comment to
the Director of the Library. The present
system of switching off the lights in the
entire library momentarily as a warning of
closing time is a ridiculous system. It is
frustrating to an individual to have the
lights turned off on him while he is in the
middle a sentence with full concentration,
and have to wait in the dark for the lights
to come back on. It practically forces him
to leave the library at that very moment.
Now, the library is supposed to facilitate
research and learning which is going on in
this institution and, with the facility open
for such a limited hours as it is, users of
the facility should be entitled to the very
last minutes of its opening hours without
being forced to leave by the primitive
warning system.
I suggest that a more tolerable warning
system be employed in place of the miser
able system of switching off the lights in
the entire library.
Speaking of zzzs
Editor:
Regarding Gail E. Smila’s letter in
which Cepheid (deliberately?) was
misspelled: while we zonsider Zepheid
Variable to be like a zo-ed fraternity
(sozeity), there are zertain distinztions
whizh we feel deserve zomment.
In the first plaze, Zepheid Variable is an
MSZ zommittee, not a zlub. Sezond, our
primary funztion is programming szienze
fiztion and fantasy related aztivities suzh as
films, AggieZon, and lezturers. Third, our
membership is open to anyone interested
in szienze fiztion regardless of sex, raze,
zreed, or zolor.
Our zommittee gets its name from the
type of star zalled “zepheid variable.”
Suzh star types are alternately bright and
dim whizh deszribes our behavior per-
feztly.
—Betty Zrozkett
Ruth White, Kimberly Weber,
Jeff Morgan, Bezky Matthews,
Don Zravens, Stephen D. Poe,
John Joyze, Trazy Villareal
members Zepheid Variable Szienze
Fiztion/Fantasy Zommittee
Sticky problems?
Editor:
I certainly hope that Renee Pevoto’s let
ter of October 6 concerning those who
chew and dip tobacco got the people it
concerns to think. There is one other
group I would like to call attention to who
fall in a general category with the above.
Those who chew gum in the classrooms.
I do not really mind if you chew gum, I
mind what you do with it afterwards. In
the past few weeks I have stepped in your
gum, sat in your gum and gotten it on my
books.
There are enough garbage cans in the
buildings and around campus that if you
would wait for a few minutes, one would
surely come along. I realize this might be a
slight inconvenience, tasteless gum is bad,
but please remember, you might be the
one to step or sit in it next.
’)
Top of the News
'ro£
top
Campus
Taps to be held for Cunningham
Silver Taps will be conducted in front of the Academic Building
tonight at 10:30 p.m. in memory of Claudia Kay Cunningham, whose
tOll 1^111 ill AIGOY7 in. in - ^ ’
death occurred Wednesday, Oct. 11. Cunningham was a resident of
Mosher Hall.
FSO exam applications due
Texas A
io are te
an<
A competitive written examination will be given Dec. 4 for Foreign
Service Officers and Foreign Service Information Officers. Applica
tions for the examination must be received in the examination center
no later than Oct. 21. Information and application forms to take the
examination may be obtained from Dr. J. M. Nance, Department of
History, Room 426, Academic Building.
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State
Lawyers ask for new trial
Lawyers Mike* Ramsey and Boh Bennett in Houston Saturday filed
motions for a new trial in the death of Joe Campos Torres Jr. Former
policemen Terry Denson and and Stephen Orlando initially were
charged with murdering Torres May 6, by beating him and throwing
him into a downtown bayou, but a Huntsville jury two weeks ago
reduced the charge and found them guilts of negligent homicide and
put them on probation. Ramsey, who defended Orlando, said in the
original trial he should have been allowed to enter Torres previous
arrest record to show the jury he had a history of fighting.
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‘Economy problem,' Brock says
\\ illiam Brock, a former senator from Tennessee and head of the
Republican National Committee, says the* economy still is the higgest
problem facing politicians today and one which Democrats have clone
nothing to solve. While addressing the Texas Republican Executive
Committee Saturday in Austin, Brock said economic conditions were
making it impossible for many people' to attain goals such as employ
ment, home ownership and college educations.
Dance Ar
iOG. Rolli
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Smith claims polls support
Former Gov. Preston Smith claims his polls show a minimum of 28
percent of the voters will support his re-election bid. Smith, in an
intt'i vit'w with a panel of reporters on “Capitol Eye* in Austin, dis
puted suggestions by another candidate that he will not be' a signifi
cant factor in the' race' for governor. “We'Ve' had some* surveys mack'
and we know wherein we stand pretty well in so far as polls arc
conce'rne'd. Smith said. \\ e* haven t any polls showing us less than
28 pe'r ce'nt. Smith said his polls inelicate' Attorney Ce'neral John L.
Hill would be a stronger opponemt than ine-umbe'nt Gov. Dolph Bris
coe.
Money makes difference?
Mai vin Collins, one' of four Tarrant County prose'eutors in the
murde'r trial of millionaire' T. Cullen Davis, says the- bigge'st difier-
e'lie'e* be*tween this trial and any othe'r is Davis bank account, and the
attoi new he* could hire' to ele'fenel him. In Amarillo, Collins said he- felt
the* state already had suffie'ie'ntly provem Davis murdered his 12-
year-old step-daughter, but said attorney Richard “Racehorse'
Hayne'S should not he* unde're’.stimate'el. “If mone'y e'an ge't you off, he s
the' man who can do it, Collins said. “The're* isn t anvthing being
done' difle'i emtly in this trial that couleln t be* done' in any othe'r trial,
except for the defendant’s pocketbook.”
Nation
Opposition ‘lacks logic’
Sen. Lloyel Bt'ntsen, D-It*x., says Presidemt Carter’s opposition to
e c i regulation of natural gas price's lacks logic” be'cause' it implies
continuc'd payments to fort'ign produce'i s for emergy which could he
proeluced domestically. In a commentary written for Unite'd Press
International anel released Sunelay in Washington, Bentsen said de
regulation would encourage domestic energv exploration which
would produce jobs.
Spring 18
MSC
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Bridge G
Electrical
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World
Mexico's prisoners fear riot
American prisoners caught in last week’s bloody riot at the Jalisco
State Penitentiary said Sunday they fear being taken hostage if new
violence erupts in Guadalajara, Mexico. “As soon as the visitors are
under control, told UPI, “It could bh
rioting because I don’t have enou
admitting
1 blow up any minute. I can t stop
gh guards or arms to do it.
Weather
Feir a nd warm today and tomorrow with southerly winds 5-8
mph. hhgh for today and tomorrow low 80s. Low tonight low
50s. No rain.
The Battalion
Opinion* expressed in Tin- Battalion are those of the
editor or of the writer of the article and are not necessariln
those of the Universitij administration or the Board of Re
Kents. The Battalion is a non-profit, self-support inn
enter,,rise operated by students as a unwersity and eo.n-
mumty newspaper. Editoricd policy is determined by the
editor. •’
LETTERS POLICY
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Sccoiul-Clttss poshi£t' p;ud at laillrjlt* Shitinn*
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subject to beiup cut to tint le„ K th or less if lonper The
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not guarantee to publish any letter. Lath letter must In
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