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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 1977)
Viewpoint The Battalion Monday Texas A&M University December 12 Married students need homes too The only things at Texas A&M more scarce than dormitory rooms are University apartments for married students. And they’ve been getting scarcer all the time. Year by year more and more of the World War II barracks that have passed for married student apartments are being demolished because they’re just no longer habitable. But some members of the University system board of regents oppose building any more apartments to replace them — even though all the apartments are filled year-around, with a long list of married students waiting to get an apartment. At their November meeting the regents put off appropriating money for design work on 100 new apartments because H.C. Bell of Austin, the board’s building committee chairman, strongly opposed the idea. “I don’t think we should take care of people that went off and got married and then decided they want to come back to school, ” Bell said. He argued that the apartments took business away from local apartment owners; that the University needs dorms, especially women’s dorms, worse than married student apartments, and that the married apartment areas are hard to “police.” But Howard Vestal, University vice president for business affairs, defended the new apartments as a way of helping students as much as possible. The 900 married student apartments are all making money. Vestal said, even though the University charges at least 25 percent less in rent than local apartment complexes. Most of the University’s graduate students are married and those apartments are a real help in getting good graduate students to come to Texas A&M, he said. Bell didn’t receive much support from fellow board members either. Even though the University needs dorm rooms those rooms wouldn’t satisfy the needs of married students, Dr. John Coleman of Houston said. Regent Joe Reynolds of Houston said lots of students wouldn’t be attending Texas A&M if the cheaper married student apartments weren’t available. “I believe it would seriously handicap our graduate and professional pro grams,” Coleman said in warning against reducing the number of student apartments. “I’m not against poor people,” Bell replied. But it’s getting very hard for those poor people to attend Texas A&M, especially if they are married. As Mr. Reynolds said, many future engineers 1m afraid you'll h lr a of ■"" 11' Matured. sruDgN' and scientists and businessmen wouldn’t be here right now if they didn’t have those apartments in which to live. Even now the apartments are no sure thing. Married students often have to wait over a year to get a University apartment. The regents delayed any decision on the new apartments until their meet ing in January. At that meeting University officials will present more detailed information on the married student apartments in hopes of convincing the board to approve the new apartments. It’ll be in the University’s best interests for them to okay those apartments. It’ll also be in the best interests of more than one young family. As regent John Blocker of Houston said, “We’ve got to protect marriage all we can. L.R.L. Sadat no longer ‘spokesman for Arabs" Saudi Arabians may save Middle East By W.G. KIROLOS United Press International CAIRO, Egypt — The rupture of Egypt’s diplomatic relations with five hard-line Arab states casts serious doubt on President Anwar Sadat’s ability to negotiate an overall Middle East peace settlement with Israel. Egypt’s move formalized the split in Arab ranks, which beam, with Sadat’s his toric trip to Jerusalem last month, and may have jeopardized Secretary of State Cyrus Vance’s coming tour of the region. Sadat told the Knesset, the Israeli par liament, and has repeated since then, that he wanted to negotiate a Middle East set tlement on behalf of all Arabs — and had no interest in a separate Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. His aim, he said, is to negotiate an over all settlement, first in Cairo and then in Geneva, and later submit it to a summit of Arab chiefs of state. But the rupture in Egypt’s relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and Southern Yemen, as well as the earlier ex pulsion of Palestine Liberation Organiza tion from Cairo, has all but destroyed Sadat’s ability to act as spokesman for all Arabs. Syria and the PLO already have re jected Egyptian invitations to take part in preliminary peace talks scheduled for the middle of December in Cairo. The break in Egyptian-Syrian relations made it highly unlikely that Damascus would take part in any resumed Geneva talks. Tetters to the editor Jordan has made its participation in the Cairo talks conditional on the presence of other “concerned Arab parties, that is, Syria and the PLO. If Vance’s tour is aimed at persuading moderate Arabs to give backing to Sadat’s peace initiative, his chances of success ap peared uncertain at best. Vance will face much difficulty if he tries to persuade King Hussein, tp budge Jrqm his decision to steer a middle course 1 re- tween the two rival Arab camps. At the same time, the break in relations seemed to rule out overt backing of Sadat by Saudi Arabia. Egyptian officials say Sadat has the private backing of King Khaled’s govern ment but the rupture has made open sup- port difficult. The official Egyptian statement an nouncing the break made it clear it was in retaliation for the decision of the Tripoli summit to.“freeze” relations with Egypt. Western observers say the fact that Sadat hit back quickly shows he means business and will go all the way in his ef fort to seek a peace settlement. The president is confident of the back ing of his people. Thousands have been calling at the Presidential Abdin Palace in Cairo every day to demonstrate support and loyalty. Egyptian officials always contended that Cairo is the “center of weight” in the Arab world and there can be no war or peace in the .region without Egypt, s They are conjfident that “what Egypt dods today, other Arabs will do tomorrow’’ and that the Syrians and Palestinians will return as allies of Cairo like the prodigal son. This may not happen so soon. Ironically, it depends largely on Israel — as well as the good offices of Arab moderates. If Israel makes concessions at the com ing Cairo talks, Sadat may have something to show to his Arab critics, making them roll back on their denunciations of him as a “traitor.” Also important is the role of moderate Arabs. Reports in the Jordanian press, published before the rupture was an nounced, said Hussein would make an Arab tour to heal the breach. But even more crucial is the role Saudi Arabia can play. As the bankrollers of Egypt’s and Syria’s war machines, the Saudis have great influence in both coun tries. Toward the end of last year the Saudis called a mini-summit in Riyadh, where Egyptian-Syrian differences, then caused by the Sinai disengagement agreement, were reconciled and an end to the Leba non civil war was arranged. The Saudis could conceivably do it again. Time for people to stand behind what they write Editor: This is in response to the letter of Dec. 1 signed J.B. and B.R., both of the class of ’79. I will not reiterate their letter; more than enough has been said about the A&M-Texas game. My complaint is this. I, like many others, do not agree with much of what J.B. and B.R. said. But as you will note, my initials are also J.B. and I too am from the class of ‘79. Because I have writ ten to and for the Battalion in the past, several people assumed this J.B. was me. It was not. J.B. and B.R. claimed the Corps could “dish it out but not take it.” I submit that J.B. and B.R. can “dish it out but not take it” or they would have signed their full name, not just their initials. If this was intentionally done by the Bat talion editors, I regret this deviation from your policy. As I understand the letter-to- the-editor policy, all letters must be ac companied by a complete signature plus class designation. If the initials were printed as a defense against recriminations to the authors, I feel you are in error. Other letters which were just as condemning of Corps and crowd actions were printed with the full name undersigned. A policy in itself, implies that it will be applied in all instances without regard to personal preferences. I wish an exception had not been made with this letter. By protecting the authors you inadvertantly caused me a good deal of frustration. There are lots of J.B. s and B.R.s out here; don’t condemn us all for the pseudo protection of two. Jan Bailey, ‘79 Editor’s note: that all letters be accompanied by a com plete name, address and phone number; however, it has been our policy to print only the initials of a letter’s author or print “name withheld by request” if the author did so request. That was the case with the letter you described. But we have revised that policy. Too many people are writing in and request ing that their names be withheld — ap parently without any real reason for doing so. So we will no longer be printing letters to the editor without a full name printed at the end, unless there are imperative reasons why the author should not be identified. In such a case the author should explain why he should not be iden tified when requesting that his name be withheld. No absolute answers Editor: In response to the letter concerning abortion, I think that Becky Adamietz is being selfish and uncaring. Being closed minded could cause a lot more suffering than her so called “murder. I’m certainly not suggesting an abortion every time a girl gets pregnant and wants her freedom, but there are times when abortions are very merciful. Such as in the case of a pregnancy caused by rape, or if the mother’s life is endangered, or if doctors know for sure there will be deformity or retardation. I would much rather not exist than to “live” my life confined in a bed, or retarded, as a burden to my family. Instead of arguing over the rights and wrongs of abortion, I think that people would benefit more, if greater care con- ceriiiiig birth control and family planning were taken. Leslie Grice, ‘80 Concerts getting stale Editor: Friday night before last the concert was good. As a matter of fact it was awfully darned good. A lot of people had a ball even before the concert started, until the girl in red stole and deflated it. The only people I saw leaving prior to the end were those with a distinctive air about them. This all brings up one question. “What next for Firefall?” If we are to expectthe same performance from our “wonderful” (choke) Town Hall Committee, we will get the same perform ance for next year’s bonfire as we got Fri day. Just because an act is good doesn’t mean we should look forward to it next year. There are lots of good acts in the music world from which to choose. Why, in the name of Heaven, does Town Hall’s calendar look and sound like a television guide in the summer? Sure, Michael Murphey was good. Ron nie Milsap was a fine performer. But even I get tired of A&W Root Beer sometimes. Someone in Town Hall had best pull their heads out. With a budget as large as that commit tee’s and the price of tickets around bonfire time, I think we should and are entitled to expect more variety for all of the Folk, C&W, rock, and other type fans we have here. Come on, Town Hall. Gilligan’s Island is getting real stale and so are y’all. Joel Krouse, ‘78 Aggie against Aggie Editor: Nearing the closing of this semester, ties between CT’s and nonregs once again proves to be an ugly situation. This spite between the two, whom both call them selves Aggies, does not apply to all people, but as Aggie spirit lifts this school far and above any other University in pride and honor, it seems hypocritical that hate has to be so prevalent between any Aggies. Name calling, stereotyping and prejudiced mis- judgment are unnecessary actions taken by both sides. This is a proud school, a school different than any other University. The Texas A&M Corps of Cadets contributes a great deal to making this University unique. As far as traditions, the corps is the oldest, and does an always demanding effort of keeping Aggie traditions which are a main charac teristic of A&M. The Corps itself is a nota ble organization whose actions can not al ways be explained. Those who go through the Corps, and believe in it, find its values priceless. The Corps gives something to all those who partake in it such as pride, self- confidence, respect for the better things in life that are taken for granted by most, and discipline, a lost but very essential and necessary function of society. Behind everything good there is bad, and the Corps is no exception. Yet, the Corps is involved in developing a better person, one who has the leadership and radiance that has to make him stand out from others. As for those few cadets whose personali ties are unexplainable: well, the Corps just doesn’t perform miracles, but the Corps does accept anyone. The thing to remember is that we are all Aggies, non-regs and CT’s alike, and we must all help each other and work hard to preserve the Aggie image of honor, pride, honesty, school spirit, together. Art Cuellar, ‘80 Top of the News Campus Battalion ends 1977 publication The Battalion will publish its last issue for this year Wednesday, The first issue for 1978 will be published January 4, with another issue January 11. Regular Monday through Friday publication will resume Monday, January 16. Walton resident dies Robert J. Mitchell, 22, a senior microbiology major from Houston, died Saturday morning at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bryan. Cause of death has not been determined, but an autopsy has been scheduled, Mitchell was a resident of Walton Hall. Memorial services are pend ing at Waltrip funeral home in Houston. Health Center to begin closing A.P.Beutel Health Center will begin closing its clinic at 4 p.m. beginning Jan. 3, says health center officials. The earlier closing means clinic hours will now run 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, but emergency room service will remain in effect after hours. Veterans to receive extra checks Veterans attending classes at Texas A&M University will receivean early Christmas present in the form of extra benefits. The checks recently mailed contain the new higher rate of assistance of November and October, said a campus Veterans Administration liaison spokesman. A six percent increase was signed into law Nov. 23. The same law increased VA tutorial assistance payments, the hourly rate for VA work-study payments and the maximum amount of a VA educational, loan. About 1,400 veterans attend Texas A&M classes on the GI Bill. State 71 persons to die in Texas accidenh The director of the Texas Department of Public Safety predicts 7i persons will be killed on the state’s highways during the combined Christmas and New Year weekends. Col. Wilson E. Speir said Satur day some of the deaths could be prevented if motorists would drive carefully and participate in the state’s “Light the Way for a Safe Holiday” program. The “Light the Way for a Safe Holiday program urges motoristsin Texas to drive with their low beam headlights on day and night during the holiday weekends. m. Nic kep the A h If yov average prised 1 Texas j buying Cond agricult I semeste vey loo among stores, out to e Amoi dents a surveye widely ton Pos second Theii pends c are listt [but at 1 prefer t Isides t KORA, Only watch while 4 of-town Acco erage : weekly Nation Three guardsmen killed in crash Six Three National Guardsmen were killed Sunday afternoon when their helicopter crashed and fell in a river in northern Arkansas. Killed were Chief Warrant Officer Daivd H. Irvy, 32, and Staff Sgt. Randy Lee Atterbury, 25, or North Little Rock and Spec. 6 William D. Goodwin, 27, of Little Rock. “We don’t know what happened, why they were where they were or anything,” Lt. Cissy Coleman, a public information officer said. She said although a flight plan had been filed, she did not know what was in it. State police, however, said the three-man crew was on a flight exercise from Camp Robinson in North Little Rock to Harrison, Ark. On the return trip, police said, the helicopter was flying low, hit a power line, crashed into a bluff and dropped into the Buffalo River near state highway 65. More than 300 POW’s gather More than 300 former prisoners war had a turkey dinner, swapped stories and “just had a great time” at a Christmas party Saturday night in Jackson, Miss., a Jackson couple who spearheaded the affair said. The prisoners, who came from Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and Louisiana, were invited to Jackson by a former POW and his wife who decided to give each other the party as a combined Christmas and 29th anniversary present. LAP Sunday sunken tempti: Mexico One may no Harper Co., ov Two S helicop Tfmrsd tion by owner 1 tended lauding Harp recove: hour o] to local water, forced surface found. “We belicop don’t tl said. “ find th sure w Haq sume He sai< Weather Cloudy and mild today and tomorrow with southeasterly winds 10 mph. High today mid-60s. Low tonight low 50s. High tomorrow low 70s. 20 percent chance of rain. 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. Reed McDonald Building, College Station, Texas < United Press International is entitled exclusive!)**! use for reproduction of all news dispatches credite^j Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein^ Second-Class postage paid at College Station, TX 11 LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone number for verification. Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, The Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Represented nationally by National Educational Adver tising Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress The Battalion is published Monday through Friday from September through May except during exam and holiday periods and the summer, when it is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per school year; $35.00 per full year. Advertising rates fur nished on request. Address: The Battalion. Room 216, n.uiior Managing Editor Mar)’ Alice Wocx Editorial Director. . . . Lee Rov Lexiif Sports Editor Pull News Editors . . . . Marie Homeyer, Caro!! City Editor Rtuty C Campus Editor K®' Copy Editor fctsCi Reporters Glenna M Liz Newlin, David Boggan, Mad Ptf Photographer Ken H* Cartoonist Don** Student Publications Board: Bob G. Rogers, CM Joe Arredondo; Dr. Gary Halter, Dr, John VIA Robert Harvey; Dr. Charles McCandless; Dr. CIW' Phillips; Rebel Rice. Director of Student hblktf Donald C. Johnson.