Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Wednesday
February 1, 1978
Post Office price tag
Postmaster General Benjamin Bailar naturally may be somewhat concerned about
the increasing talk within Congress about taking away one of the independence
granted the Postal Service in the reorganization of 1971. But in a recent rebuttal of
some of the proposals coming forth, Bailar seemed to be locking himself into the
proposition that only constantly increasing rates and service cuts can keep postal
operations afloat.
That is exactly the attitude which is prompting the unrest in Congress. Bailer says
he opposes the idea of more than federal subsidies to the Postal Service because that
would “have individual citizens paying the bill for what is mainly a service to busi
ness.”
But at the same time Bailar said “You can’t wish away all of the rising costs and
other economic trends. You can’t wish that it didn’t cost $16 billion a year to run the
Postal Service.’
It isn’t a case of wishing away the problem. It is a question of how to prevent
further deterioration in an essential form of communication.
THIS 15 CAPTAIN CARTER
SPEAKING. CONT WORRY,MEN...
I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING...I'M AN
OLP NAVY MAN MYSELF .. YER IN
NUCLEAR SUBS.. .SO HERE GOES:
PREPARE TO PIVEl
TAKE 'ER POWN!
Biddeford Maine Journal Tribune
Edwards puts campaign on the road
By JIM CRAWLEY
DIXIE CHICKEN — Off to one side of
the near empty Dixie Chicken, Chet Ed
wards, candidate for the Sixth Congres
sional race, begins to outline his attempt to
win the Democratic spot for the
November election.
Politics
eager, young adults and politically mature
Teague supporters. These campaign
workers conducted a workshop in January
to discuss strategy and campaign tactics for
the final three months of the primary cam
paign.
“We can out-work, out-organize, and
hopeful, out-innovate the other candi
dates. We may not be getting a lot of
money like some candidates, but we re
going out there and out-working the other
candidates, ’ says Edwards.
While a campaign aide drinks beer from
a longneck and twirls his Aggie senior ring
on the tabletop, Edwards points out the
essential element of his campaign. Organi
zation.
Edwards, a former assistant to retiring
Congressman Olin “Tiger Teague, has
been campaigning for the nomination
since early October. Since then he has
built an organization of campaign workers
and friends which Edwards hopes will
provide a base to win the May 6 primary.
The 26-year-old candidate has campaign
stalls and workers in all eleven counties
containing portions of the district. The
nucleus of his organization is a mix of
This grassroots campaign will be aimed
at the average citizens of the district.
While he hopes to receive a lot of his sup
port from young people within the district,
Edwards can’t discount the value of the
farmer and the suburban vote. Young vot
ers have traditionally had poor turnouts at
the polls, while the rural voter is usually
present on election day.
The Sixth makes it difficult to have an
effective campaign without a broad-based
organization. The 200-mile district is not
conducive to a mass media campaign that
is within the financial reach of the average
congressional candidate. Buying television
time in Bryan has no effect on voters in the
Dallas suburbs. While in the multi-district
Dallas-Ft. Worth area, a candidate’s
commercials would be lost in the myriad of
political proclamations on the boob tube.
Additionally, TV, radio, and newspaper
ads are expensive. Multiply this with the
large region to be covered and the results
point toward an $100,000-plus media blitz
or a broad, well-organized grassroots cam
paign.
Back in the Dixie Chicken, Edwards
continues to express his ideas for innova
tion in his campaign. In the near future,
Edwards will begin a series of small parties
called “Chili and Chips and Chat with
Chet.’ This tongue-twister and its cousin,
“Chet-Chat,” his campaign newsletter, are
examples of Edwards’ attempts to out-
innovate the opposition.
Another essential element of the Ed
wards campaign is his push for former
Teague supporters and the support, if not
the endorsement, of the retiring con
gressman.
There is little doubt that there is a con
nection between Teague and Edwards.
Even if it is superficial. One must re
member that Edwards was a staff member
in Teague’s office. Edwards places a high
priority on reminding the voters of this
connection with Teague.
Last month, Teague spoke in support of
Edwards. This can’t be construed as an
endorsement in the truest sense. Teague
has taken great pains to make clear his re
fusal to officially endorse anyone in the
primary. But he has also repeatedly lent
kind words of encouragement and friend
ship to Edwards. This apparent support
has been noticed by politicians, the press
and the other candidate.
This unofficial support can only help
Edwards. While a picture of Teague stand
ing next to a Candidate for the nomination
might gain some support from the voters,
a statement from Teague saying, “Chet
Edwards is experienced, and he is exactly
the right age to be elected to Congress,”
can be a prayer for Edwards. Not because
it will draw the average voter. Instead, it
could convince many long-time Teague
backers to come off the fence and throw
their support behind the youthful candi
date.
These long-time Teague supporters
could be the key to a successful campaign
organization, and the Democratic position
on the November ballot.
Ag breakthrough: animal masonry
By DICK WEST
In the onward and upward march of sci
entific husbandry, agricultural research
ers have confirmed that eating cement
dust causes cattle to gain weight faster
than normal.
The phenomenon was first observed by
some Georgia farmers who were feeding
the stuff to th eir cattle as a mineral sup
plement.
Although later experiments produced
similar results, the Agricultural Depart-
The Tighter Side
merit cautions farmers against adding ce
ment dust to cattle feed pending further
study.
The department said in a press release
that its scientists still weren’t certain why
dust-fed cattle put on pounds faster than
those on conventional diets.
The department said in a press release
that its scientists still weren’t certain why
dust-fed cattle put on pounds faster than
those on conventional diets.
I know a fellow down the road, Fermus
McAugur, who raises cattle, so I asked
him what he thought caused the weight
“It was like a miracle, McAugur said,
rolling his eyes heavenward. “The next
time I weighed them, the brick-fed cows
had gained five or six pounds apiece.
“Figuring I might be onto something, I
bought a truckload of second hand bricks,
broke them up into bite-size pieces and
mixed them in with the fodder.
“Til be jiggered if they didn’t gain
another 10 pounds almost overnight.
I said, “Have you noticed any difference
besides the increased weight?”
acceleration. He led me out to a split-rail
fence behind the barn.
“See those cows out in yonder
meadow,” he said, waving toward a low
herd. “How much do you reckon they
weigh?”
"Not very much,” I replied. “They’re so
thin you can count their ribs.
“Thin, yes,” McAugur agreed, “but
they outweigh those fat cows over in the
other pasture by about 50 pounds.”
“Land o Goshen! I marveled. “What
ever do you feed them that makes them
become heavier without getting fat?
“Bricks,” McAugur cried triumphantly.
It seems that about six weeks ago
McAugur had built a new indoor steam
bath and no longer needed the old brick
sauna that stood in back of the house. So
he leveled the structure with a
sledgehammer and fed the pieces to his
McAugur said the brick-fed cows had
broken a few teeth, seemed to be sagging a
bit in the stomach area and had started
making a slight clattering noise when they
moved.
Otherwise, apart from getting skinnier
as they gained weight, they showed no
unusual effects from the brick diet.
“This may give you a clue as to why cat
tle gain weight,” he said. “Particularly if
they drink water right after a feeding.
“The only way to be certain would be to
drive them off the deep end of a swimming
pool. If they immediately sink to the bot
tom, youTl know what’s causing the extra
weight.
Tetters to the editor
Get the grade before giving the service
Editor:
Many of us go from day to day at Texas
A&M with the realization or fear that this
semester we may blow it (academically)..
That we may become scholastically defi
cient. The real nightmare would be to post
sub-2.000 grades while holding a student
services office; to have it made known to
all around you and your position taken
away.
No matter how you look at it the situa
tion Mr. Harvey, our Student Govern
ment President, finds himself is indeed an
unenviable one and I feel for him deeply.
However, we and Robert Harvey should
remember what we are here for. Texas
A&M University is a school of higher edu
cation. The Student Government, al
though being a helpful input point for stu
dent concerns and a learning experience
for those who are its members, it should
not overshadow the reason students are
here. Nor should other extracurricular ac
tivities such as sports, clubs, school publi
cations, interest groups, etc.
Mr. Harvey owes this student body the
right: 1) to be proud of its elected officials,
and 2) to take upon himself the responsi
bility for doing what is morally and ethi
cally right. Although GPR is normally a
personal matter, as in most things it be
comes public when one accepts the re
sponsibility of elected office. ■
Mr. Harvey accepted the responsibility
of being an elected official. He should
have enough pride in his university and
student body, and sense of responsibility
to have kept up a 2.000. Such a require
ment we can all agree is indeed minimal,
easy enough to meet, and liken to the per
formance to be expected from elected offi
cers. Mr. Harvey by not resigning when
he did not post a 2.000 last semester is
sherking the responsibilities he accepted
by serving in the Student Government (If
not by the letter of the constitution, cer
tainly by the spirit of it). Mr. Harvey’s stat
ing that the constitution is unclear on this
point is simply avoiding the issue and a-
voiding his responsibility both to the stu
dent bodv and to his own conscience.
Again I want to reiterate that I sym
pathize with the situation of Mr. Harvey.
However, no one in public office, espe
cially the Student Government President
should be able to hold office while posting
poor grades. The responsibility of Mr.
Harvey and any other Student Govern
ment officers who may be scholastically
deficient, is clearly to resign and give
some credence to the assertion that the
Student Government is a responsible stu
dent services unit, lead by mature men
and women. To do otherwise would put a
scar on the Student Government, the of
fice of Student Government President and
the University itself.
— Scott Lane, ’81
deliberate following two days of tes
timony. So we came away even.
In our opinion, Chris Kling, who is an
Aggie himself, is a fine representative for
A&M. The services he and his partner.
Sonny, offers to all students are very valu
able.
We wanted other students to know
about our legal advisors who not only do a
wonderful job, but also do not charge for
the valuable services they offer.
— Tish Husak
Assaults covered?
Attorneys helpful
'FIRST OFAU- I'MPB£ScRl»IN&AONE ANP-A-HALr MARTINI lVNCH...“
Editor:
For almost two years now my husband
and I have been in a legal dispute with
Darby’s Garage. Not being able to settle
our problems we contacted the student
legal advisor — Chris Kling.
During the past week, we were repre
sented by Mr. Kling in County Court in an
effort to collect damages we felt were a
result of Mr. Darby’s negligence. As it
turned out, Mr. Darby offered to repay us
for our losses just as the jury was about to
Editor:
This letter is in reference to Charlie An
drews article, “Rape Overlooked, in
Monday s Battalion. Charlie holds a very
good point! I know of one such attempted
rape that occurred last semester, resulting
in serious injury to an A&M student. This
was kept out of the Batt even though the
victim freely offered the information.
I realize that this case, and probably
others similar to it, may have been “ban
ned from the Batt with the intention of
keeping the record clean! These things do
happen. I’m sorry to say, and not printing
them doesn’t change the facts.
I believe that A&M’s student body and
faculty deserve to read about these things
for their own benefit. Charlie, I m glad to
see someone taking a stand on the subject.
— Mark Brenckman, ’80
Ed. note: The Battalion does not have a
policy to exclude stories concerning rape
and assault on campus. Incidents brought
to our attention and substantiated by fac
tual information are considered, and only
an editor’s decision would “ban” their re
lease.
Top of the News
ut
State
Mexican star visits Brownsville
Vincente Fernandez — a star of cinema, radio, television andstage
in Mexico — arrives in Brownsville Wednesday for hit first appearance
as “Mr. Amigo” of this year's Charro Days celebration. Fernandez uil
participate in the Fiesta Folklorico Pageant at Sams Memorial Stadium
Wednesday night and will be honored at several other events during |
the Charro Days fiesta which ends next Sunday. Approximately 9ft
elementary school pupils will perform 23 original Mexican dancesa
the Folklorico.
Murder suspects flown to Houston
Two suspects in the Houston slaying of three persons during a
$200,000 jewelry robbery-abduction agreed to waive extradition from
Colorado where they were arrested, police said Tuesday. MarkB
Cass, 22, and David A. Boeder, 20, both of Houston, have been
charged with capital murder in the triple slaying last week. The pair
were flown back to Houston early Tuesday. The bodies of Dr,
William S. Fitzpatrick, Donald C. Fantich and jewelry store owner
Georgina M. Rose were found near Shiner, Texas, Saturday. All three
had been shot in the head.
Optic
Candidate says Carter helpful
Jim Baker III, a Houston attorney who is running unopposed in the
Republican primary for state attorney general, said Tuesday the Carter
Administration’s “continued betrayal of Texas will help his campaign,
The former undersecretary of commerce told capitol reporters Texas'
chief legal officer should be independent of the political powers that
run the state. Baker, who managed former President Fords 1976
presidential campaign, faces Democratic opponents former Secretan
ofState Mark White and former House Speaker Price Danieljr. forthe
post vacated with Attorney General John Hill s gubernatorial candi
dacy announcement.
New astronauts introduced
Space agency officials in Houston Tuesday formally introduced35
new astronauts, including the first six women and three blacks. The
introductions were made on the 20th anniversary of the launch of
America s first satellite, Explorer I. The trainees bring to 108 the
astronauts picked since the space program began. They join 27 active
astronauts. In addition to the newness of women and blacks, there was
a liberal sprinkling of long hair, mustaches and beards — uncoinmonin
previous selections — among the 15 pilots and 20 mission specialists.
Some of the new astronauts will make their first flights in 1981 aboard
the shuttle.
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Oil spill threatens Gulf coast
Thousands of gallons of crude oil oozed into the Gulf of Mexico
Tuesday from a 300-foot barge that suffered an 8-foot gash in a collision
with an oilfield supply boat. The spill was about 20 miles from thesouth
Louisiana coast near the entrance to the Atchafalaya Bay. Coast Guard
spokesman A. T. Wolf said most of the 220,000 gallon load of No. 6
crude Oil was lost in the spill. It was classified as a “major oil spill and
pollution threat by the Coast Guard. No injuries were reported in the
collision, which occurred early 'fuesday about 40 miles southwest of
Morgan City. Wolf said a 20-knot wind was pushing the oil steadily
away from shore.
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Carter to answer canal questions
President Carter will go on television at 9 p.m. EST Wednesday to
answer major questions raised by opponents of the Panama Canal
treaties, the White House said Tuesday. “He plans to bring up the
most frequently raised questions’ regarding the treaties and will
respond directly, said deputy press secretary Rex Granum. Such
questions include U. S. defense and emergency warship passage rights
to the canal if Panama takes it over in the year 2000. The fireside chat
will be delivered from the White House library.
Fire destroys historic theater
A glittering segment of Atlanta’s history went up in flames Monday
when fire destroyed Loews Theater. The height of the theaters
glory occurred when Rhett Butler abandoned Scarlett O’Hara for the
first time in the 1939 premier of “Gone With The Wind. The fire,
‘which started on the top floors of the seven-story building, spread to
the adjacent Continental Insurance Building, causing heavy damage to
the top floors of that structure. Fire authorities said at least eight
firemen suffered minor injuries in the blaze. The cause of the fire at the
85-year-old building has not been determined.
Pop group member dies
Gregory Delano Herbert, saxophonist of the American Blood,
Sweat and Tears pop group, died in Amsterdam early Tuesday, saida
spokesman for the group. He was 30. Herbert was found dead in his
Park Hotel room, and “it could be a case of an overdose of drugs, saida
spokesman for the police drugs squad. The squad found a small quan
tity of heroin and cocaine arid also a few injection needles in the room.
A concert scheduled for Tuesday night was canceled, and the rest of
the European tour, which was to include Britain and France, was
uncertain, the spokesman said.
Weather
Cloudy with little change in temperature today, tonight or
Thursday. Intermittent drizzle or light rain today, increasing
Thursday. High today low to mid 40’s, low tonight mid-30’s.
High tomorrow mid-40’s. Winds from the Northeast at 10-15
mph. 20 percent chance of rain today increasing to 50 per
cent tomorrow.
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.
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 docs
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.
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United Press International is entitled excliisivt*l!
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Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein n
Second-Class postage paid at College Station. TX
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,
MEMBER
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Congress
Editor Jamk
Managing Editor Mary Alice WW'
Sports Editor Paul*
News Editors ....’. Marie Hoineyer, CarolH
Assistant Managing Editor Cleima
City Editor K;
Campus Editor
Reporters Liz Nowlin, D
Boggan, Mark Patterson, Lee Roy Lesdiy
Gary Welch, Scott Perkins, Bob
Photographers Susan Webb. Ken
Cartoonist Doug ft
Student Publications Board: Bob G. Boners, ('.Ini
Joe Arredondo; Dr. Cary Halter. Dr. John U
Robert Harvey; Dr. Charles MeCandless; Dr. C/inM
Phillips; Rebel Rice. Director of Student I'nhli^
Donald C. Johnson.
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