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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1977)
The Battalion Viewpoint Tuesday Texas A&M University October 18, 1977 Voter tells no tales The right to privacy—does it extend into the voting booth and protect the voter’s “secret” ballot? A Michigan court case may decide it does not. Twenty voters in the Ann Arbor, Michigan mayoral election this spring have been subpoened by the losing candidate in that election, which the incumbent won by one vote out of 21,000 ballots. Those twenty voters were technically ineligible to vote in that election and the losing candidate wants them to reveal how they voted, believing that when their votes are disqual ified he will be declared the winning candidate. Two Michigan Supreme Court decisions, both more than 45 years old, give courts the power to compel persons voting in possibly fraudulent elections to reveal how they voted. The first three subpoened voters told the judge how they voted with argument, leaving the election tied. Then University of Michigan coed Susan Van Hattum, took the stand. “I prefer to stand silent on how I voted, ” she told the judge. “I think it is a violation of my rights. I was given the right to vote and I did vote. Im not going to feel good about letting my vote out. I’m violating my own personal rights. ” It would be more than that. It would violate the principle established in the American Constitution that each citizen’s vote is between only he and his God. Without the secret ballot democracy becomes a farce. How can a citizen make an unbiased decision if he knows he may be called into court to explain how he voted? How can a citizen vote his conscience knowing that what should never leave the curtains of the voting booth could be laid out for the whole world to see? The Ann Arbor judge cited Van Hattum for contempt of court, a charge that in Michigan carries a sentence of up to one year in jail. The judge in the case has released Van Hattum to reconsider her decision, but vowed the she will go to jail if she still refuses. The Michigan Court of Appeals is now considering the IKHi Votimg * \ MACHiMfc iV r; i > T AJv-'i 1 \ s\ ^1° DON’T PAY ATTENTION TO ME, I’M JUST MAKING SURE THIS AIN’T NO RIGGED ELECTION A reprimand Van Hattum deserves great praise for her courage and dedication to her rights. But she does not deserve to go to jail protecting rights that should have been safe for 200 years. The appeals court should have enough wisdom to see that she doesn’t. L.R.L. A committee question Wednesday night the Student Senate will take action on whether to keep or rescind a committee it approved last spring, the Committee on Committees. This committee was passed to evaluate the purposefulness of other Student Government committees. But proponents of the rescission bill say the Com mittee on Committees is useless since “there is no need to abolish non producing committees due to the fact that they die a natural death.” Dying a natural death is somewhat vague. Does a “non-producing” commit tee just go away? Are there any formal checks to be sure Student Government doesn’t have yearly appointments to committees that haven’t functioned in ages? *- If there are provisions that would take care of these possible situations in the absence of a Committee on Committees then obviously there’s no use in throwing another ineffective committee into Student Government. But the Senate should seriously consider some form of a committee to check the effectiveness of other committees that may not totally die out with their “natural death” if it is found that such committees really do exist. There have been rumors that there’s still some natural death skulking in the shadows of '■* Student Government. J■ A. Late in the fourth quarter of the Texas A&M-Baylor game Saturday, Aggie place-kicker Tony Franklin attempted a 39-yard field goal. The kick had plenty of distance, but the ball appeared to sail wide of the right goal post. The referee signaled that the kick was no good, much to the dismay of Franklin. After the call was made, the ref was greeted in the endzone by junior yell leader Joe Wright. Wright expressed his displeasure of the call by screaming vehemently at the official, while jumping up and down. The ref, startled by this outburst, told Wright to get off the field. Wright proceeded to fall upon the ground, pounding his fist upon the artificial turf. This display of emotion is inexcuseable for a representative of the Texas A&M student body. A yell leader’s responsibility is to control a crowd, not to incite it. Wright’s “temper-tantrum” was an embarrassment, not only to Texas A&M, but to the traditions a yell leader is supposed to uphold. Wright should be reprimanded for his juvenile action. P.A. The SST price tag Take it from a man who should know, the supersonic transport plane has priced itself out of business; Uncle Same’s decision to drop SST development is proving to have been sound. Telling evidence of this was offered last week by Ben R. Rich, director of Lockheed Aircraft Corp.’s advanced development projects. He compared some ticket prices. A flight on the British-French Concorde SST from Washington to Europe costs $1,300. Compare that to the bargain-basement fare of $103 from New York to London one of Freddie Laker’s wide-bodied, subsonic transports — which move right along nonetheless. San Jose Mercury Two sides to the Panama Canal treaties By WAYNE SCHRIER Imagine you just acquired a section of [land from your father-in-law after a lengthy •court battle concerning the title. The land ■ in question measures four miles by one .mile. Your neighbor, who owns the land ;both to the east and west of yours, needs 'access across your land so he can more eas ily farm both sections of land. Reader s Forum a substantial amount of money by using your land. As a result he has been able to live in luxury while you struggle to survive at poverty levels. Would you want to renegotiate the terms of the agreement made with your neighbor twenty years before? An agreement you signed under the threat of blackmail. The story baffles the imagination. But as bazaar as it may sound this same make- believe tale has been successfully por trayed in reality. About the turn of the century Panama had just won its freedom from Columbia following a civil war with the aid of the United States. At this same time the U.S. government wanted to build a canal across Central America and connect the Atlantic '■ For this purpose he required a strip of ^dand 1/4 mile the entire width of your prop- Certy. Furthermore he decides the best . place for this route is through the center of Lyour newly acquired property. In exchange *-for the sole use of this section of land your • neighbor offers to pay you one dollar a year >,f° r 50 years. I’ Of course you don’t agree to the terms of ^the contract. Your neighbor threatens to ' disclose the fact that you’ve been cheating Con your wife, an action which would result in the loss of your land. You have no choice, ?but to sign the contract, c Twenty years pass. . . Your father-in-law ;.and you have become close friends and Cyour wife left you for another man. Your neighbor has made several capitol improvements on the leased land and saved with the Pacific. The U.S. offered to build the canal across Panama if it maintained sole control over the Canal Zone. In exchange for signing the treaty, the U.S. would give Panama mili tary protection from Columbia and pay a normal amount of rent for the zone. If Panama refused to sign the treaty the U.S. would pull out all military support and leave the infant country to defend itself against its neighbors. Needless to say they signed. Today Panama and Columbia are on friendly terms. Panama’s people live largely in poverty surrounding a financially prosperous Canal Zone. Panama is now ask ing to renegotiate its contract with the U.S. If you believe you have the right to re negotiate the contract in the hypothetical ease then in good conscience you cannot deny Panama’s right to a new and fair treaty. In a country which prides itself on its standards of justice and equity for everyone it would be a hypocritical and atrocious act to deny Panama the treaty now before the Senate. Support the treaty. (Wayne Schrier is a graduate student in biochemistry. This column contains his opinions and not necessarily those of this newspaper.) Fetters to the editor To get warmer ‘howdy’, give warmer ‘howdy’ Slouch by Jim Earle ^Editor: Kathryn Goff, your letter in Friday’s Batt -leaves me with the impression that you ishould be a senior in the Corps. Just think, .you have accomplished in one short year as a non-reg what normally takes most cadets -three years in the Corps. You have de veloped the Senior C. T. Syndrome. But why suffer from the affliction that jothers should speak to you first or that ‘others somehow owe you a warm friendly diowdy? Why not be a crusader in the fight -for happier howdies? Why not say howdy to someone else first? Perhaps you can frighten their otherwise “rotten day.” Who knows, maybe they will return your Jiowdy with one just as warm. - You are right about the cold, almost mechanical howdies uttered by many jcadets as being irritating and discouraging. ‘Likewise, I would certainly agree that C. T.s in general need to put a little more -feeling and warmth in their howdies. How ever, maybe you could borrow a uniform Ifom a friendly fish and wander incognito about the campus as a C. T. Then you could experience the frustration of speaking in a friendly manner to a non-reg, only to get a Blank stare or barely audible reply in re- lurn. Really though, that is not the norm ]and most non-regs and C. T.s will happily return a friendly howdy. As unbelievable as it may seem, some of us here at A&M (non-regs and C. T.s alike), do honestly try to put some warmth in our greetings regardless of whether we wear a uniform or not. Kathryn, your search for that warm friendly but seemingly illusive howdy isn’t as difficult as you might imagine. Have faith, out there on the paths of Aggieland someone may just be waiting for you to make the first move by saying howdy with a smile. —Mark Toppert ‘78 ‘Changing library Editor: While at the library on October 9th, I saw a little bit of illogical thinking of the library staff (or should I say “Head Hon chos). I needed to copy an Organic Chemis try test from last year. I went in my pocket for a bill and found one. I proceeded over to the good old (permanantly broken???) coin and bill changer. Realizing that the machine was not going to give me anything but a blank stare, I then proceeded to the main desk for change. I was told “I can’t give any change.” I realized something that maybe the om- nicient Head Honchos overlooked: If a stu dent needs to copy something and he can’t, then the book, most likely, will be missing several pages. I guess they need to keep their change at the expense of a book. It sounds very illogical and I believe there is a change needed. Come on. Head Honchos wise up! —H. C. Hering, Jr. ‘80 THEY’RE NEVER SATISFIED. THEY COMPLAINED WHEN I DIDN’T SPEAK, AND NOW THEY COMPLAIN WHEN I DO! Si Top of the News State Un houst [Texas nei linenlal illn jtion to a c leventuall I machines Political office — all in the family Mark White Jr. resigned as secretary of state Monday in Austin, and began his campaign for attorney general with accusations that opp 0 . nent Price Daniel Jr. is attempting to ride his father’s name into the office. White said Daniel’s political record is one of failure, accused the former speaker of being arrogant, and said Daniel is tiying to win the office through voters’ familiarity with the name of his father, a former governor and now a member of the I exas Supreme Com t. I think the voters of this state are fed up with cases of mistaken identity and they want to vote for the best candidate, not the best known name,” White said. Dr. Jon Ifessor of iMedical lelectrochei Icausing Ischizophr eality- Itechniqm jfaulty circu Ifixed. “We’re a Jright now, ■can gain on ■functions o lof the hrai leloser to d lean balance But I wouldnt want to live then A global population of 11 billion, “a world none of us would wantto live in, ”is a possibility unless immediate steps are taken, Roberts. McNamara, president of the World Bank in Washington D. C., told the Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons Monday in Dallas. He cited population control and poverty reduction as the major problems of developing nations, and said although economic growth in even the poorest countries is feasible, such efforts are dependent on reduction of fertility rates. He said governments should encourage couples to desire smaller families and provide parents with methodsof birth control. Gl Nation Unit) TULSA, hounded for ■or IporarV jobs Icity this m Ibeginniuu. ■worldwide St. Louis sniper sketches drawn Authorities in Missouri and Texas are circulating police artists sketches of two young men in the investigation of a sniping at a suburban synagogue in St. Louis. The second sketch depicts a man who paid $2(X) to a man in Irving, Texas, four weeks ago for the hunting rifle that was used in the shooting Oct. 8 in Richmond Heights, killing Gerald Gordon of Chesterfield as he stood on the Kneseth Israel synagogue’s parking lot after a bar mitzvah. William Lee Ash of Akron, Ohio, was also wounded by the sniper. Lt. Thomas H. Boulch, headof the Major Case Squad’s investigation of the case, said police are uncertain whether the man who bought the rifle was the same man who fired the shots from a grassy knoll near the parking lot. The or ■the., fon ■Pauline 1 |tired of v would hi no make Private family services for Bing American officials said Sunday Bing Crosby’s remains would be flown to New York Monday from Madrid, Spain, aboard a commercial jet and from there to Los Angeles where simple Roman Catholic funeral observances w ill be held today. The 73-year-old “Der Bingle died of a heart attack Friday after finishing a round of golf in Madrid with three Spanish friends. Crosby will have a private “family” service at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Los Angeles and Mrs. Kathy Crosby, the singer’s second wife, has asked for privacy at the funeral. Crosby,a Catholic, is to be buried in a family plot at Holy Cross Cemetery near his mother and father and his first wife, actress Dixie Lee, who died in 1952. Mrs. Bl; ■based orgai ■needed ■G 001(1110 a I llnlsa, ()I<1. land will op Idianapolis. ■doesn’t ki vork for C T would and I won WOO,” she [they ] Th [older [lions- [to tl ■task NowboardinginN.Y. . . Concorde Air France and British Airways were given clearance by the U. S. Supreme Court Monday for the Concorde supersonic jetliner to land in New' York and said they would begin test flights into Kennedy Airport Wednesday. I he airlines said they planned to begin full com mercial service on Nov. 22. The Supreme Court ruling, which re moved all legal barriers to immediate flights in and out of the airport, brought immediate denunciations from community groups and local politicians who have fought the Concorde because of its noise. Only the weather can stop the flights now,” Gov. Hugh Carey said. jmmmmmmmrnm w— World Moscow cites arms progress The Soviet Union says Moscow and Washington have drawn closer to curbing the nuclear arms race and are “on the road” to a new Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. “It is possible to say that the two powers have embarked on the road leading to an agreement, the Soviet Communist Party newspaper Prauc/a said Sunday. Meanwhile, the official government daily, Izvestia, charged the Carter adminis trations reorganization of the U.S. Information Agency was an at tempt t° widen the ideological and psychological warfare” against the Soviet bloc. Hero Day” hails Castro “a giant Fidel Castro arrived in Kingston, Jamaica, Sunday to a 21-gun salute and awarm welcome from leftist Prime Minister Michael Manley, who piaised the Cuban leader as “a giant” of the Communist world. In celebration of Jamaica’s national holiday, “Hero’s Day, Manley pres- ented Castro with the “Order of Jamaica” — the nation’s highest award ailing the sacrifices of the Cuban people in the face of economic sanctions imposed by the United States in their effort to overthrow the Castrp regime, while also denouncing the 1961 American-backed Bay ot Pigs inglorious invasion.” The trip underlined the rift between Manley s Jamaican Peoples Party and the opposition Jamaican Labor Party, which branded the Cuban leader “a Communist dictator and aoycotte his visit as an insult to the Jamaican people. Weather Fair and partly cloudy today and tomorrow. Southeasterly winds today 8-12 mph shifting to northeasterly tomorrow at • Hi S h toda y ^ ovv 80 s and tomorrow high 70s. Low tonight low 50s. No rain. ~ The Battalion ~ eenti The Bn,, J Board of Re- United Press International is entitled exclusively' 1 . enterprise overtit n" f */ twn ~ f)ro f lt - supporting usv for reproduction of all news dispatches tre 1 mumtuneZvZlef rili T" r' “ '''“'V <"'<< „f reproduction of all other matter herein W* editor. W hditorud policy is determined hy the Second-Class postage paid at College Station, TX u „ m POLICY rJUSflS- -*« ”S editorial staff reserves the riftht to edit such letters and dues 1 M ?" aging FMi,or Mar >' ,* l,C< j, sc t 1 p«l not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must I, ' Edl, oria! Director Lee Roy , J f - V' Wr " VV I^Ztoni - ^editor r C S % number for venficatum. H . News Editors Marie Homeyer. ^ Address correspondence to Utters to the Editor The 1 £ lty Edi, ° r KWiVI Battalion. Room 216. Reed McDonald Building Colli e, Cam P us Editor ih C* 1 Station. Texas 77843. gl Copy Editor ® \tti# 1 Photographer Ke "Z ^ Cartoonist '- )ou ^ . September through May^-ept"d!',ri, Er, j * y fr ' ,m | Student Publications Board: Bob G. periods and the summer, when it is published onVt h °''' ay J oe Arredondo; Dr Gary Halter. Dr. John ... Wednesdays and Fridays. ’Mondays, Robert Harvey; Dr. Charles McCandless; Dr. ^ jj Mail subscriptions are S16 7a ra..r ' Phillips; Rebel Rice. Director of Student u , ■ school year; $35 00 per full v, semester, $33.25 per ' Donald C. Johnson. Production Coordinator- —^ ■ pei y, ar Advertising rates (hr- i Sherman 0 cj‘