Viewpoint
The Battalion Tuesday
Texas A&M University January 31, 1978
One man, one vote?
We all remember the lady who won first prize at the state fair for the best
apple pie and then never made another. She quit while she was ahead.
Chile’s President August© Pinochet shares her philosophy.
When the United Nations General Assembly condemmed the Pinochet
regime for abuses of human rights, Pinochet called the motion “international
aggression” against Chile and staged a referendum. He asked Chileans for a
vote of confidence on his way of governing. He got it.
Some 5.4 million votes were cast, 75 percent voting yes in support of
Pinochet, 20.4 percent voted no.
Accepting this handsome victory, Pinochet announced that there will be
no further elections, votings or consultations in Chile. Quite right. He is
quitting while he is ahead.
The Houston Post
Carter’s address: same song, second verse
By ARNOLD SAWISLAK
WASHINGTON — Sen. Barry Goldwa-
ter wins the John Peter Zinger award this
year tor the most telling comment on Pres
ident Carter’s State of the Union address:
“I made that speech in 1964 and I was
defeated.”
But the Grand Old Man of the Right
wasn’t joking. Carter’s first report on the
condition of the country was a statement
that almost any moderate conservative in
either major political party could have de
livered without discomfort.
Four times during the speech Carter
made the point that private business must
provide the impetus for national prosper
ity. Four more times he stressed that gov
ernment cannot solve all the problems of
the nation.
To be sure, the body of the Carter
speech also contained some specifics that
would have warmed the cockles of Hubert
Humphrey’s heart, but the generalities —
particularly in the economic area — were
vintage Gerald Ford.
All of which demonstrates several
things.
First, as noted here before, Carter is not
an economic liberal and never claimed to
Washington Window
be. Those Democrats who now may claim
they were led down the path by candidate
Carter should recall that it took the most
strenuous political pressure to get him to
say something nice about the
Humphrey-Hawkins foil employment bill
in 1976 and that he insisted on substantial
changes in 1977 before he would embrace
it as president.
Second, the economic and governmen
tal theories in the Carter speech were well
within the mainstream of Amercian poli
tics, which means that they are acceptable
to large numbers of Democrats as well as
Republicans.
His repeated warnings against pervasive
government might have sounded like
heresy or Republican doctrine from Ron
ald Reagan a few years back, but the new
crop of Democrats in both Washington
and the state capitals no longer push the
theory that government action can solve
all social and economic problems. The
example is Gov. Edmund Brown of Cali
fornia, who some political observers think
might be riding the wave of the very near
future.
Finally, Carter obviously is trying to
solve an image problem with the speech.
As a Democratic president coming to the
White House after eight years of Republi
can occupancy, he knows many business
people assume he is no friend of theirs.
With Bert Lance and Arthur Bums out of
government, Carter may have felt he
needed to reassure business. The speech
sounded as if it was supposed to perform
that function.
But if the stock market is any barome
ter, Carter’s efforts to cozy up to business
was a flop. The market fell more than eight
points in the first two trading days after
the speech, indicating that it will take
more than soothing words to settle busi
ness jitters.
Which probably qualifies the entire
exercise as a true irony: there is an eco
nomic moderate in the White House pre
siding over a political party that is ques
tioning its own big government dogma,
but business, which prides itself on hard-
headed realism, appears to be trapped by
its own preconceived notions.
Taxation by
misrepresentation
Top of the News
Campus
Daly drawings at MS C gallery
Stephen J. Daly, Texas A&M University’s artist-in-residence, is
exhibiting recent drawings in the Memorial Student Center through
Feb. 3. Daly, winner of the 1974 Prix de Rome award of the Ameri
can Academy, was named in December to receive a $5,000 grant
from the Tiffany Foundation of New York to support his work here.
He was one of 20 persons chosen from 2,200 applicants. He is cur
rently on leave from Humboldt State University in California and
teaches a class in contemporary sculpture at Texas A&M.
'roup
Hal C
Amphibious warfare program
A program on amphibious warfare will be presented Friday, at
Texas A&M by a special Marine Corps team. The program is spon
sored by the Naval Science Department and includes film clips,
slides and special effects. It will be at 1 p.m. in the Rudder Theater.
A 10-member team from the Marine Corps Development and Educa
tion Command at Quantico, Va., will make the presentation on roles
and mission of the Corps.
State
Training jet crashes, crew safe
An F-4 Phantom reconnaissance jet on a training mission from
Bergstrom Air Force Base crashed shortly after take off in a Central
Texas pasture Monday, but the two crewmen ejected safely. Abase
spokesman said the craft developed technical problems an estimated
20 miles from the base. Pilot Lt. Richard Barnes and navigator Maj
Dave Benson parachuted before the plane went down. The plane was
on a routine training mission and cause of the crash will be investi
gated.
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WV
Aikin ends legislative career
The father of Texas’ modem school system announced Monday he
will end his unprecedented 45-year legislative career in January. Sen.
A.M. Aikin Jr., D-Paris, said he decided not to seek re-election
because rheumatoid arthritis is making it increasingly painful for him
to walk. “I love the Senate and know I will miss it,” he said. But my
health is such that I am afraid that I could not carry my part of the
load, and that would not be right.” In addition to co-authoring the
Gilmer-Aikin Laws that created Texas’ modem education system in
1949, the 72-year-old Senate dean sponsored more school legislation
than any other lawmaker in Texas.
By DICK WEST
WASHINGTON — As if the Social Se
curity tax increases that hit us this month
weren’t enough of a strain, many Ameri
cans are now finding their credulity taxed.
A tax on credulity is no novelty, of
course. During the latter days of the Nixon
administration, when the Watergate scan
dal was cresting, the capacity for belief in
White House statements was being taxed
right and left.
I know about that because I was one of
the taxes. Or, to use the Latin plural, one
of the taxi.
But with the election of President Car
ter, taxation by misrepresentation was
supposed to cease.
Didn’t Carter repeatedly vow during
the 1976 campaign that “‘I’ll never lie to
you?” And didn’t he assure us that U.S.
attorneys would be appointed on a non
partisan basis with merit the only consid
eration? Yes.
Nevertheless, numerous credulities
have been taxed by the ouster of U-S. At
torney David Marston of Philadelphia.
In fairness, it should be noted that this
outbreak of dubiety does not necessarily
mean that Carter has gone back on his
promises. It could be that Marston’s ejec
tion was indeed devoid of political motiva
tion.
Just because the president is a Demo
crat and Marston is a Republican who re
portedly was investigating two Democratic
congressmen doesn’t prove there isn’t bet
ter U.S. attorney material available.
And the fact that one of the con
gressmen, Rep. Joshua Eilberg, tele
phones Carter urging him to expedite
Marston’s departure doesn’t prove that
Eilberg was taking a partisan approach.
It all depends on the context in which
the call was made. The conversation would
have gone something like this:
Eilberg: Good morning, Mr. President.
Carter: ‘Morning , Josh. What can I do
for you?
Eilberg: Well, I was wondering, sir, if
you might prod the attorney general to
move a little faster toward getting us a new
federal prosecutor up in Philadelphia.
Carter: That sounds like a reasonable
request. What' happened to the old prose-
cutor? t ^
Eilberg: Nothing yet. That’s what I’m
calling you about.
Carter: As you know, Josh, I’m commit
ted to appointing federal prosecutors
strictly on the basis of merit. There
wouldn’t be anything political or self-
serving in your desire to get rid of the in
cumbent, would there?
Eilberg: Good gracious no, sir. That’s
the furtherest thing from my mind. I’m
suggesting that he be removed for his own
good.
Carter: What do you mean by that?
Eilberg: Well, some of us feel that he’s
been working too hard and that if he keeps
up that pace he might ruin his health.
Carter: That’s mighty sweet of you,
Josh. Your concern and consideration for a
member of the other party is really touch
ing. I’ll get Griffin Bell on the matter right
away.
Letters to the editor
Here comes the cavalry for Metcalf & Co.
Editor:
After reading Mr. Harte’s letter saying
that Coach Metcalf should disappear, I
must say that I was damn mad. Obviously
Mr. Harte hasn’t been at TAMU very
long. I have been here since 1974 and I’ve
seen the basketball team win, lose and win
the SWC championship. Yes, I am disap
pointed that the Aggies are not doing well,
but don t blame Coach Metcalf. Yes, we
have talent, but it takes more than just
talent. The players must be able to work
together as a team, too. The Aggies do
that, but of the games I’ve seen this year, I
would say the team’s main problem is that
they miss too many shots. These things
unfortunately happen. No, Mr. Harte, the
solution is not to get rid of Coach Metcalf.
He is not only a fine man, but a fine coach.
Here’s one Aggie who supports him and
the team no matter what they do. All I can
say to them is to hang in there and keep
trying, and do your best.
— Nancy Hansel Robin, ‘78
Hello, Shelby
Editor:
I’m writing in response to Will Harte’s
letter in Friday’s Batt. I just can’t believe
the rude comments he made about wish
ing Coach Metcalf would disappear. But I
will agree with one point you made Mr.
Harte, you surely do not know anything
about coaching a basketball team. And
more obvious, you do not know anything
about A&M basketball in general.
Coach Shelby Metcalf is the most suc
cessful coach in Texas A&M history. His
teams have won the SWC championship
four times including the recent 1975 and
1976 titles. His SWC mark stands at 128
wins — 72 losses, giving him the best win
ning percentage of any conference coach
with a minimum of 12 years service.
The Aggies under Coach Metcalf play a
very exciting brand of basketball. They are
always well taught, competitive, physical
and fon to watch. I’ll admit this season
hasn’t been as good as everyone predicted
it would be but there is still a half season
left to improve on our record. This team is
capable of playing great basketball as wit
nessed in the Texas game. With the team’s
potential, desire to win and with coaches
like Metcalf, Reuther, Gobin and Davis
the Aggies have a great chance to still
finish high in the conference standings and
go to the SWC tournament in Houston.
Win or lose, the Aggies need the sup
port of the student body. So Ags, come to
G. Rollie and back Coach Metcalf and his
crew. They deserve your support!
— Melissa Kildus, ‘81
Cindy Koldus, ‘83
Courts a mess
Editor: ,
The layout and condition of the Texas
A&M tennis courts is appalling. Their de
signer must have been a golf enthusiast.
For only that could explain the potential
dangers of these courts.
The grass which borders the court sur
face has effected countless twisted or
sprained ankles. The fence (which, on
some courts, is ridiculously less than 12
feet from the playing area) has caused
many bruises. The courts are also in terri
ble condition. Only a few years old, these
courts have numerous cracks, and they are
unusually slippery. Being from the north,
our courts are subjected to four or five
months of coating with snow. Yet, because
they are maintianed, these courts are in
much better condition than A&M’s.
My point is that A&M’s tennis courts
need maintenance. No more than a few
hours per week would be necessary After
all, we, as students, respect our University
(e.g. MSC grass). Should not the Univer
sity return our favor by, for one thing,
maintaining the tennis courts. Very soon,
the construction of twelve new tennis
courts will be completed. Will the Univer
sity allow these courts, also, to dete
riorate? — Colby Atkins, ‘81
Hours useless
Editor:
What really upset this writer occurred
one Saturday morning when our basket
ball team tried to hold a practice. Thinking
we could get a head start on a lot of other
late sleepers, we decided to hold the prac
tice at 10 a.m. This was a failure because as
we now know, the G. Rollie White annex
does not open until 1 p.m. And even then
it is impossible to get a court without a
reservation.
I would like to suggest that during the
intramural volleyball and basketball sea
sons, that the availabe courts be opened at
8 a.m. on weekends to give the teams with
enough intiative court time - since it can
not be obtained on weeknights during this
period until 11:50 p.m. due to intramural
games.
Also, I think that reserve court time
should be extended to one hour; thirty
minutes is not enough time for a good
game or practice. In conclusion, it is a dis
grace that a university of this quality has
such a pitiful lack of basketball facilities for
its students, not to mention such a poor
quality arena as G. Rollie for its varsitv.
— Ken Lamour, ‘79
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Arson suspected in hotel fire
A bulldozer piled up debris from the Coates House hotel in an
effort to uncover bodies believed buried under tons of bricks and
plaster from a devastating weekend fire. Police said 15 bodies had
been recovered from the 19th-century hotel, but feared many of the
20 still missing had died in the blaze. Fire Chief John Waas said it
.. may .take authorities until the end of the week, to find all. the victims
because several parts of the building cannot be searched until parts of
the shaky structure are leveled. Waas said arson was being investi
gated as a possible cause of the four-alarm blaze. “There s some sus
picious characteristics in the building that makes us raise some ques
tions about arson,” Waas said.
Eerie lights cause UFO reports
Eerie bright balls of light raced across the skies from Missouri and
Texas to Florida Saturday and Sunday nights prompting hundreds of
reports of UFOs, falling planes and meteors. The sheriff of north
Florida county flew over dense pine woods Monday trying to locate
where one was reported to have fallen with a loud explosion. Many of
the observers believed the balls of light were meteors or meteroites,
the latter being meteors which fall to Earth. They apparently moved
swiftly across the night skies but not as fast as shooting stars, prompt
ing some observers to believe they saw a plane falling in flames.
World
Mideast military talks to resume
Assistant Secretary of State Alfred Atherton arrived in Egypt
Monday carrying new Israeli “ideas” for a political compromise to get
the stalled peace negotiations started again. Only hours later, Egypt
announced military talks would resume tonight in Cairo — the first
direct negotiations between Egypt and Israel in two weeks. The talks
between the Egyptian and Israeli Defense Ministers, Gen.
Mohammed Gamassy and Ezer Weizman, were interrupted Jan. 13
after reaching a deadlock on the future of 19 Jewish settlements in the
Sinai. Atherton’s visit is viewed as an important prelude to President
Anwar Sadat’s scheduled talks with President Carter at Camp David
this weekend.
1
W,
Weather
Cloudy and continued cold with a chance of drizzle or light
rain. High today mid-40’s. Low tonight upper-30’s. High to
morrow low-mid 50’s. Winds from the Northeast at 10-15
mph. 30 percent chance of rain today & tonight decreasing to
20 percent tomorrow.
The Battalion
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