Page 2
Viewpoint
The Battalion Friday
Texas A&M University November 4, 1977
Letters to the editor
Canal becoming "patriotic symbol’
Editor:
Is it an American canal in Panama or is it
the Panama Canal? Before I continue,
please correct me if I am wrong but I do
not feel that international law respects
“squatters rights.”
Why write a letter about such an over
talked issue? Because it is no longer an
issue, it is being exploited by being called
a new patriotic “symbol. The last patriotic
symbol which I remember being exploited
concerned keeping communists out of
Vietnam. However, Panama is exploita
tion with a new twist, colonialism.
The United States paid for it and now
rents a piece of land severing the country
of Panama. Because it is colonialism it is in
the best interest of the United States to
transfer it back to the Panamanians.
By this, I do not mean all colonialism is
bad. I would welcome any country wishing
to colonize Uganda and Idi Amin. What I
feel is that it is in the best interest of the
U.S. to not abandon dutiful relations with
Latin America.
For the self-made prophets of doom
who speak of the evils of the treaty, I re
spect your views. For now, I will place my
bet with the experts who have forwarded
our best national interests in the treaty's
formation.
—Stan Stanfield, ’78
Marketing God
Editor:
I would like to voice my opinion con
cerning the distribution of Bibles on cam
pus by The Gideons International Associa
tion. Giving away free Bibles may be a
thoughtful gift for some, but when one
cannot walk fifty yards without being im
plored to “accept our free gift” by a man
sticking a small green book in your face,
it’s getting a little ridiculous.
I hope I am not being misinterpreted,
because I do like to think of myself as a
Christian. However, people advertising
and pushing Jesus Christ like a newly de
veloped product makes me a4ittle sick. I
think this approach to conVei^Ioir tui'ns”-’'
people off more often than it turns them
on.
The opportunity to accept God is availa
ble to everyone but people can’t shove
Him down your throat. Why should we be
goaded into accepting something we don’t
necessarily want? Why does the adminis
tration condone these actions?
Although most students at Texas A&M
may be Christians, religion is not a re
quirement, and I, as a student, do not ap
preciate wholesale marketing of it on cam
pus.
—Ronnie Skala, ’81
Give ’em a break
Editor:
Give the Ags a break! They deserve a lot
more respect than they are getting from
the Batt. Paul Arnett said Monday that
“many feel that Arkansas will prove that
A&M is living on borrowed time.” It
seems to me that a 6-1 record is pretty
good for a team playing on “borrowed
time.”
Although A&M is not winning by scores
of 77-0, they are still winning. A come
from-behind 17-point victory is often more
valuable to a team’s morale than an easy 30
or 40 point win over a weak team. A&M’s
statistical performance this season is not as
good as in the past two seasons, with one
exception: 6-1, 4-0 in SWC play.
If it was not for some very poor officia
ting recently, A&M would have beaten
Baylor, SMU and Rice by wider margins.
Against Baylor, Tony Franklin’s fourth
quarter field goal was easily good, but the
official was very out of position when he
called it no good. Franklin as well as
everyone in that end zone knew it was
good.
There were many other questionable
calls in the Baylor game, as well as numer
ous pass interference calls in the Rice and
SMU games, that all went against the Ags.
The point is the Aggies won all three
games despite having two “opponents”
(the officials and the opposing team) in all
three games.
Mr. Arnett also said Monday that he
feels Arkansas is capable of beating any
team in the nation. Well so is Texas A&M,
or any other team for that matter (ask
Minnesota). A&M plays Arkansas in Kyle
Field for the first time in three years, with
a week off to get ready. A&M has only lost
once in the past 19 games in Kyle Field.
With the Ags coming off a 31-0 second
half, and the wishbone working well, it
seems that Arkansas is “living on borrowed
time. ”
One more thing, in reference to the
Cotton Bowl’s desire to get a t.u.-Notre
Dame rematch. I hope they are not too
disappointed when t.u. goes to the
Bluebonnet bowl, cause the Ags are going
to the Cotton Bowl this time!
Beat the hell outta Arkansas!
—Frank Bruce ’79
Editor’s note: As Aggies, the sports
writers would like to see A&M in cotton
like anybody else. As journalists, the
sports writers don’t patronize. As Howard
Cosell so aptly puts it, “We just tell it like
it is.”
—Paul Arnett
Good concert wanted
Editor:
Being a junior and avid listener of
rock-n-roll, I can rest no longer. I realize
now that by the time I have completed my
third year at A&M I will be able to say
there has not been a “good concert here.
Before me lies the ruins of the Hues Corp.,
Capt. and Tennille, B. J. Thomas, Johnny
Rodriguez and Mandril. Who?
Last Spring, Town Hall took a music
survey. It seemed they were on the right
track (excuse the pun). The idea was good,
but too bad nothing came of it. The list of
concerts this year looks just as bad, maybe
worse.
In defense of Town Hall, an article ap
peared in the Batt recently. The chairman
spoke of the trouble in scheduling fall con
certs. I hear daily of groups such as Emer
son, Lake and Palmer, J. Giels Band, Jet
hro Tull and Bob Marley (Who?) touring
the land. Evidently Lynyrd Skynyrd had
not heard of this ride or they would not
have been traveling. You know the rest.
Also in reference to the same article: Why
do you need to know who will play months
in advance and why does a concert have to
be on a home football weekend? There are
plenty of other activites before yell prac
tice, believe me?
The final straw was this past weekend
with Michael Murphy. I can enjoy an even
ing of quieter, gentler music, but must
the Batt devote two articles to his show?
Of course, he is nearly an honorary Ag
since he has been here three times. Three
times? Murphy has come to G. Rollie so
often that he is calling Texas A&M “home. ”
Finally, the statement, “Michael Murphy
and Good Concerts-Nowhere else but
A&M. You really believe that?
In closing, all that I can say is that I am
——
man teaching my son in school, or a les
bian, for that matter.
You may also argue that all the groups I
have mentioned have mental or emotional
problems. But so does a homosexual. For
all you atheists, here is another Aggie who
says that Jesus Christ is the driving force
in his life, and my Bible says plainly that
homosexuality is a sin. A sickness and an
abnormality, no different from incest, hav
ing sex with animals, or any number of
sexual perversions. Man was created to
have sexual relationships with woman, and
only woman. And anyone who believes dif
ferently has psychological and emotional
problems and needs help desperately.
I am awfully proud to be one of many
“narrow-minded, childish Aggies who be
lieve that gays are sick. And I thank my
God that these perverts are a minority and
always will be.
—Tom Copeland ’81
Wage law foolish
Editor:
President Carter s recent move to raise
the minimum wage from $2.30 to $2.65
represents a continuing high in gov
ernmental hypocrisy. Amidst all the claims
of concern over unemployment and infla
tion, Pres. Carter is doing his best to fuel
the fires of each.
Despite the “hopes of some good bene
fits being derived from this increase the
true results are clear, even to the most
simple-minded. First of all, the increase
will definitely mean a decrease in the
number of actual jobs and potential job
opportunities. When the price of labor is
artificially pushed upward the number of
jobs are going to go down, not up. And
those people who lose their jobs are go
ing to be the youth and especially the
black and minority youth.
But what about the newly-derived bene
fits for those who are lucky enough to be
T
We’re surrendering to you,
A virtual flood of letters to the editor this week has provided the Battalion
With far more letters than could ever be run in the normal space allotted for
them on this page. So, today we re turning it over to our readers.
. . for today
But starting next week we’re going to strictly enforce our policy for letters
to the editor as follows:
• Letters should be typed whenever possible. Typed letters should al
ways be typed with 60 characters to the line.
• Letters should not exceed 300 word or 30 lines of 60-character length.
Longer letters will be edited or refused for publication, at the editor’s
discretion.
• Longer letters or commentaries may be submitted as “Readers Forum”
articles, if they are identified as such when submitted. Reader’s Forum
articles should be typed and not exceed 100 lines of 60-character length.
willing to pay for a good concert, anytime,
and please, all that I ask for is just one
concert. Just one of the five or six a year.
Will you easy listeners concede just one?
—Harry T. Lode
(real name withheld on request)
Another kind of grass
Editor:
Hail to the MSC council for being more
progressive than the U.S. Senate by de-
criminilizing’ grass.
—I.C.
Gays are put down
Editor:
I would like to respond to the letter in
Oct. 30th’s edition from David Kotara. It
seems that Mr. Kotara is upset because
gays are discriminated against at Texas
A&M. Well, he’s right. Gays are put down
and sometimes ignored because they are
different. But I believe there are many
other groups that are also discriminated
against here.
I am apalled that we don t recognize
some of our other minorities. Our
psycopathic criminals, for instance. Or
maybe the mentally deranged in general.
Why is there not a booth upstairs in the
MSC for the “Society to Commit Incest?”
What about the “Fathers, Have Sex With
Your Daughters Club? There are no such
organizations, of course. But if there were,
would you, Mr. Kotara, condone their ac
tivities?
You may argue that gays do not hurt
anyone. Well, they usually don’t hurt any
one, physically, although it makes me very
nauseated to see two men holding hands.
Their greatest hurt is psychological. If I
had a son, I would not want him subjected
to any gay influences when he was young
and growing up. I would not want a gay
employed, you ask? There are none. The
increased price of the labor is going to be
passed on to the consumer in the form of
inflated prices and there is no way around
it. Instead of coming out ahead or even the
wage earner incurs a net loss in his pur
chasing ability.
The simplistic trick of artificially increas
ing wages sounds good to those who do not
consider the consequences, hence its con
tinuance. Carter himself is reluctantly
forced to admit that there will be increases
in inflation and that people “might not
gain a job that they would have other
wise, but he fails to present us with any
actual or perceptible benefits.
I, for one, still believe that it is better to
be employed at $ 2.30 than unemployed at
$2.65. If Carter is truly concerned about
poverty, inflation and unemployment
among the youth and minorities he will
end his utopianistic pseduo-logic concern
ing minimum wage benefits which he can
not point out, and attend to ending those
negative aspects which result from gov
ernment interference into the free market.
—Mark Elam
Ags not childish
Editor:
We would like to respond to the letter
written by David Kotara last Monday
(Oct.31). Neither one of us consider our
selves ignorant on the subject of homosex
uality. One of us having had a class per
taining to the subject, the other of us hav
ing known several. Although we don’t
condemn homosexuality we feel that these
people not only have severe emotional
problems, but religious problems as well.
First of all homosexuality has been
going on and known about for centuries
and has never been fully accepted by soci
ety. We therefore feel that students of
A&M who oppose the issue are no more
childish than the majority of people both
past and present. Secondly, we feel that
David Kotara is excluding himself from
Aggie tradition by making such an issue
out of the fact that he is “gay.” Further
more, if there is nothing wrong with
David, we cannot understand his big
hang-up on sexual preference. The fact
that he is more proud of being “gay ” than
being an “Aggie” only emphasizes this
point. We heterosexuals certainly haven’t
tried to form an H.S.S.O.(Heterosexual
Student Service Organization).
We personally feel that if you are more
proud of being “gay” than being an “Ag
gie that you should seriously consider
transferring.
P.S. You might try t.u..
—Cindi Reynolds, ’81
Scott Shafer, ’80
Bus driver ‘great’
Editor:
In recent times there have been many
complaints about the shuttle bus service,
in particular the drivers. As this is our
third year at A&M we’ve seen drivers
come and go. However, there is at the
present a particular driver on the Doux
Chene route who adds a spark of joy to our
otherwise dreary existance. We now wait
in breathless anticipation as the bus
rounds the corner in the hope that we will
spy his baby blues beneath the devil may
care tilt of his greek beanie.
Who else would think to decorate the
bus and himself (we presume he was
masked) on Halloween and give us treats
(bubble gum). No one else can entertain
us with such natural wit. There have been
few drivers to equal this great person. We
salute you and say job well done.
—SIR, CJD, BSZ
More ‘experts’
Editor:
I, like many of my friends, am sick and
tired of reading the rude comments about
the A&M football team made by such “ex
perts as Paul Arnett and company. I read
the trash every week telling how lucky
A&M was to win their game.
Let’s face it, not every team plays great
or even good every game. Look at the Dal
las Cowboys for example: They are 7-0 up
to this point. They are a great team. Yet, I
have seen them display pitiful efforts in
some of their games. There is no team that
plays perfect ball for a full sixty minutes.
I would like everyone to thinks back
about 5 to 6 years ago when A&M was
lucky to win a game at all. The football
program has improved many times over
since Coach Emory Bellard came to A&M.
He has the best win-loss record of any
SWC coach over the past four years. Yet,
there are many people such as Arnett who
are not satisfied with this fact.
There are many who gripe because
A&M does not win every game because
A&M doesn't win by 50 points or more
over teams such as Rice. Yes, it could be
that the conference has improved over the
past few years also! The competition is get
ting stronger. If you don’t believe, take a
look at the UPI and AP polls. Also, take a
look at the conferences record over inter
sectional games.
Aggies are supposed to be proud of their
school. So, why not stop all the stupid re
marks and be glad we win games, no mat
ter by how much. Try to support the team,
not cut them down. Aggies are supposed
to be optimistic. It is just like the old say
ing goes, “Put your heart in A&M, or get
your ass out!”
—Bruce King ’79
Not something to miss
Editor:
Tuesday night I attended Silver Taps
and had a fantastic learning experience.
The style in which they are conducted
simply amazed me. And what is more is
the fact that it really comes off good.
There is supposed to be complete si
lence during this ceremony. I am a talker,
and this was very hard for me. The disci
pline I used by keeping my trap shut was
amazing even to myself. More than my
own will power was the air, filled with
other quiet Aggies. I could practically feel
the “Spirit of AGGIELAND, telling
everyone to represent an Aggie faithfully.
As the Ross Volunteers marched on the
cement only their footsteps could be
heard. The precision which they exibited
showed many hours of practice. Their
steps were about seven seconds apart for
each foot. Between steps each of the Vol
unteers stood completely still. After the
shooting of the rifles, the buglers began to
play. The music they played could be
heard for quite a distance. The buglers are
anonymous. They seek no gratitude from
their listeners.
But, to be able to look off of the bal-
coney of the dome of the Academic Build
ing and see so many people looking up at
you is sure to give them a good feeling. I
walked away in silence when the buglers
stopped.
As the tradition reads, not a word
should be spoken. When I got back to my
apartment I exploded. I looked at my
roommate who was formally asleep and
said, “That is something you really can’t
afford to miss.”
—Jeannette Allbritton, ’81
Top of the Newwr
Campus
Bowl queen applications
Applications for the 1978 Cotton Bowl representative from Texas
A&M University are now available in the Student Activities Office
room 221, in the Memorial Student Center. Any interested female
student who has completed one semester at Texas A&M andhasat
least a 2.25 GPR is invited to apply. The deadline for applications iso
p.m., Nov. 11, in the Student Activities Office. The selected appli
cant will represent Texas A&M at the Cotton Bowl parade and post
season football game in Dallas to lx? held on New Year’s Day. For
more information, call 845-1134.
Freshman officers chosen
A 50 cent
attending ll
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available at
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Freshmen voters chose two class officers in runoff elections Thurs
day. Jess Mason was elected vice president and Kay Whitcombewas
elected social secretary.
Vh<
State
Deregulation of oil prices urged
The Texas Energy Advisory Council, comprised of 10 top of
ficeholders, Thursday, in Austin, approved a resolution urging de
regulation of crude oil prices to allow the marketplace to control
production and consumption of domestic oil. The group urged (fie
congressional negotiators to reject President Carter’s plan to give a
rebate preference to home heating oil users. “This preference is
nothing more than an attempt to make Texans subsidize the fuel hills
of New Englanders,” the resolution said. It went on to say any national
energy plan should strive to ease the burden of high energy costs on
home owners and business.
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Steak dinners offered as prizes
Jerome Chapman, state human resources department commis
sioner, said Thursday in Austin he would reprimand a regional offidal
who offered employees steak dinners as prizes for adding the most
persons on welfare rolls. House Speaker Bill Clayton said rcgrnsl
welfare officials offered the steak dinners because they apparently
were fearful of staff cuts. Chapman said the regional official has not
paid for any steak dinners and did not plan to buy the meal with state
funds. He said he does not condone conducting contests among em
ployees and the person who began the policy will receive an official
reprimand.
Minister plans boycott of ‘Soap
A state district judge in San Antonio Thursday dismissed a lawsuit
asking that the local ABC television affiliate be prohibited from
broadcasting the series “Soap" in prime time. District Judge James
McKay ruled his court had no jurisdiction to hear the suit filed by
local Baptist minister, the Rev. Ed Human. Human, who has pro
tested the show at several ABC affiliated stations across the country,
said after the ruling he planned to launch a nationwide boycott of
corporations sponsoring “Soap,” which he contends is obscene and
vulgar. He said it is “a patently offensive program that tends to
undermine the parent-child relationship.”
Guard says job too dangerous
Narcisco Mendoza, 24, a guard who earlier this week foiled an
escape attempt at the Bexar County Jail in San Antonio quit his job
Thursday complaining of “unsafe conditions.” Mendoza said a pris
oner planned to strike him over the head with a 16-inch toilet brush
and grab his keys so other “hard core” prisoners on the seventhfloor
could use a 60-fbot ladder made from mattress covers to escape. 1
could have been slugged over the head and beaten to death,” Men
doza said. He complained there were not enough guards on duty at
the jail and he was alone on the seventh floor until 11 p.m.
Lombardo in critical condition
Band leader Guy Lombardo Thursday was in “critical but stable
condition Thursday in a Houston hospital with lung, heart and kidney
problems that have complicated his recovery from major arterial
surgery five weeks ago. Lombardo, 75, had a weakened and bal
looned section of a major blood vessel removed Sept. 23. The opera
tion was declared a success and he was released from Methodist
Hospital in “excellent” condition Oct. 18, but he was readmitted Oct
27.
Nation
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The Senate Thursday approved federally funded abortions in the
case of rape or incest or if the woman might die or suffer severe health
damage. The vote was 59-29. The controversial legislation was sent
immediately to the House where there was no assurance the newest
Senate language would be acceptable. A quick House vote was ex
pected. “If the House doesn’t accept this language, then God save
them, said Sen. Edward Brooke, R-Mass., who opposed any restric
tions on federally funded abortions but voted in favor of the com
promise to end the raging dispute.
Weather
Fair and mild today and tomorrow. High today mid-70s. Low
tonight mid-50s.
The Battalion
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the
editor or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily
those of the University administration or the Board of Re
gents. The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting
enterprise operated by students as a university and com
munity newspaper. Editorial policy is determined by the
editor.
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Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, Tlw
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Editor jamir'
Managing Editor Mary Alice Wool
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