Viewpoint
The Battalion Tuesday
Texas A&M University February 28, 1978
Best charter under circumstances
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, after months of delibera
tion, has brought forth a proposed charter for all U.S. intelligence agencies.
It is complex, wide-ranging and hard to evaluate. What the charter does
demonstrate, if nothing else, is the difficulty of imposing legal safeguards on
intelligence operations under a democratic society.
The proposed charter has two principal aims: first, to centralize control
over all intelligence work in one official, the director of Central Intelligence
and to prohibit certain abuses such as assassination, terrorism and torture. It
is in the nature of intelligence work that the first goal is more likely to be met
than the second.
For example, the draft legislation does allow electronic eavesdropping and
even break-ins under certain circumstances when the president and the
Congress approve. It does not bar CIA involvement in activities aimed at
overthrowing nondemocratic governments. And the measure also would au
thorize the attorney general, in certain special circumstances, to give intelli
gence officials provision to violate federal law — such as when counter
espionage tactics were needed.
On balance the measure will satisfy neither the CIA’s most devoted ad
mirers nor its severest critics. This fact is probably the best sign that the
Senate committee has done a responsible job.
Providence R.I. Journal
You’re as good an Ag as you feel
By STEVEN HENRY
It s the “Who’s the good-bad Ag game,’
and it’s suddenly become the newest tradi
tion here in Aggieland. Seldom a day passes
without someone, in all their ipighty wis
dom, declaring someone else to be a bad
Ag-
Yes, at one time I lived in absolute terror
of the thought that someone might one day
walk up to me, stare me straight in the
eyes, and with a multitude of witnesses,
accuse' me of being a bad Ag.
I became obsessed with the desire to be
the “good Ag. More and more, I began to
leave my bicycle at the' apartment: basket
ball game's we're' given a much higher prior
ity than those insignificant final exams. Ye j s,
I was truly a good Ag.
But, like life*, succe'ss is semietimes ac
companied by failure (i.e. chemistry, cal
culus, etc...) and 1 knew something must
change. I had become so obsessed with
conformity, that I was now28,000people' in
one body; and bo\, was it crowded. I knew
I couldn t go.on like 1 this.
Then one day, after an assertiveness
group meeting, I was strolling past the
Readers' forum
MSC whc'ii a ravishingly beautiful, young
lady caught my e‘ye\ Blinded hy passion and
dc'sire, 1 committed the' unforgie cable sin,
I accidentally stepped off the' sidewalk and
onto the grass.
Panic grippc'd me as I nervoush looked
about for witnesses of my crime'. I broke'
into a cold swe'at. What if someone had
seen me? What would 1 say? What would
thc*y say? What would my parents say when
they found out?
Immediately, I boltc'd across the street
and ran, non-stop to my apartment where I
locked myself in the' erappe'r and began
pacing the tiles.
What if someone' reported me? Ileuiel-
lines reading, “Henry found guilty —
awaits sentencing flashed before my eyes.
In desperation, I considered my alterna
tive's. ..
(1) transfer to t.u.,
(2) join the corps, in hopes of redee'ming
im se-lf,
- (3) lead the 1 entire' stuelent boely in a rous
ing chorus of "Farmers Fight, or
(4) e|uad Paul Arnett.
But alas, nothing se'eaneel to ease my
stricken mind.
Then, after a elay or so, sanitx and calm
o\ ercaine me\ I unlockeel the' door, w e nt to
the- kitchen (you get aw fulK hungry in a elav
or so), anel began to analyze* rational!}, the'
good-bael Ag ejue'stion.
I askeel all those 1 people 1 inside' me' for
he'lp; but, with 28.()()() elillereut pie'ce's of
advie't', I found it rather elilfieult to choose
between them. So, I saiel to hell with
everyone e i lses advice anel starteel listening
to myst'lf.
If we are* all inelix ieluals, hoxv can xve
juelge anothe-r s actions to be right or
wrong? If I am differemt, eloe'S that ejualifx
me' for the* bad Ag category? Am I justified
in eonelemning others be'cause they elo not
agree xxith me? No, all I max offe-r in an
opinion, not a juelgment.
Yes, noxv is the' time' for all gooel ineli-
x ielnal to stanel up anel support their right to
be* xxhat the*} are', not xx hat some'one e'lse
xx ould hax e 1 themi be*. Ex e*r\one is a 'gooel
Ag unless the-x, not someone' e-lse', eleclare
themselxe's not to be\ Anel no amount of
whining and complaining xxill e'xe*r alte-r
that.
Si even Henri/ is a sophomore hio-
cnciroimientdl science major. Opinions ex-
pressed in this column are the author s onlij
and not neeessarih/ those of this paper.
Top of the News 1
Campus
Scholarship deadline nears n
Application forms for Spring Awards Scholarships may be ob- l|^ r(
tained from the Student Financial Aiel Office, Room 310, YMCA Eg .■
Buileling. All applications must be fileel with the office not later than | an( |
5:00 p.m., Wednesday. Late applications will not be accepted. l* uc |
Volunteers needed for flu study p
Hie Texas A&M University College of Medicine is asking for stu- I
elent volunteers fe>r an influenza prevention study. About 600 stu 1
dents are needed for the study which will last six to nine xveeks. The Ij
use of the drugs Amantadine and Rimantadine xvill he studied. Fur- ||
ther information can be obtained at meetings on Wednesday from 12 1
to 1 p.m., Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m., and Friday from 10 to 11 a.m |
All meetings are in Room 107 of the SLAB.
Local
Board reopens field house bid
In a special meeting called to discuss field house construction, the
A&M Consolidated School Board voted Monday to hire an architect
or engineer to draw up the necessary specifications for building firms
to bid on the construction project. There was $132,000 set aside in
the last bond issue to build the field house, but the architect’s esti
mate was $210,000. A new estimate x\as lower, but bidding is neces
sary to determine the actual cost.
Voter number needs check
ci
b
College Station residents need to check their voter registration
tickets for precinct number. Residents previously voting at Bee
Creek Park, Precinct 31, will now be voting at A&M Consolidated
High School. The Brazos County Commissioners met yesterday and
voted to change the location because the Bee Creek facilities are too
small for an election. In other business. Tax Exemption Status was
granted to St. Thomas Episcopal Church, St. Anthony Catholic
Church, and The Answer, a Christian Counseling Center. Commis
sioner Bill Cooley suggested that an inspection be made of the rail
road tracks in Bryan and College Station because of the increase in
the number of derailments'in the* past year.
State
Hill requests court review
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P
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Texas Attorney General John Hill said Monday he xvill ask the U. i
S. Supreme Court to reconsider or defer its decision ordering reap
portionment of legislative districts in Tarrant County before the May
6 primary elections. The court had issued a brief order iiuplementilij'
a new districting plan for election of 10 House members from the
Fort Worth area. Candidates in each of the races have already filed
under the 1976 district boundaries thrown out by the court, and the
filing deadline has passed. Hill said he- will advise the the secretaryof
state and the Tarrant County Commissioners Court to begin im
mediate' preparations to conduct the Max election using the new
district boundaries.
Civil rights revolution in retrospect
By ARNOLD SAWISLAK
' United Press International
^ WASHINGTON — Ten years ago to-
morroxv, the Kerner Commission con
cluded that the eix il rights “revolution of
the 1960s had failed to bring racial integra
tion to the United States.
“Our nation is moving toward txvo
societies, one black, one xvhite — separate
but unequal, the commission said.
Inherent in the commission’s conclusion
xvas deep fear based on the premise that
only integration — acceptance of blacks by
xx hites as equals — could bring racial peace
to the country.
The feeling was that as long as blacks
were seen as different, they woidd be
treated as inferior. And that, it was
assumed, would assure the continuation
of the violence that had been wracking
the country. The riots that followed the
murder of Martin Luther King Jr. five
weeks after the report was issued seemed
to certify that conclusion.
But there were then, and remiyin tridax ,
both black and white Americans xxho re
garded the goal of integration as unrealistic
in a society steeped in racism.
Washington Window
They beliexed the best strategy for
blacks xvas to unite, rather than try to as
similate, and use the xx eight of numbers to
extract from the xvhite majority the legal
equality, educational opportunities and
economic rewards they had been denied
for centuries.
That was the real essence of Black
Power, the phrase that so alarmed xvhite
Americans xvhen it xvas chorused by march
ing blacks... Some blacks may hax e thought
• they xx cte gqjug tq bijjigxx hite soe jety to its
knees, but gixen the amount of poxxer in
the hands of the majority , that nex er xxas a
realistic possibility.
Whatexer the 1 reason, xiolent outbreaks
began ebbing after 1968, and the thrust of
black poxxer xxas applied to “the system.
This got some results, notably in politics:
the number of black elected officials in
creased bx 264 percent betxveen 1969 and
1977.
But the intention here 1 is not toargue that
the* aehiex emc-nts of the last decade mean
the nation s racial problems are on the xxax
to solution. Nor is it to contend that con
tinuing inequity and discrimination, which
can be amply demonstrated, means that
the situation is getting worse.
Instead, a narrower point: the Kerner
Commission probably xvas right about the
trend toxvard polarization of racial at
titudes, but mistaken about its conse
quences, at least in the short run.
W hat seems to hax e happened is that
society , in its untidy and inefficient xxax ,
has begun to adapt to txxo facts.
The first is that xx lutes xx ill not easily gix e
up their deep prejudices against blacks.
The second is that blacks, accepted as
equals or not, will continue* to press their
claims.
W hat seems to hax o happened is that
blacks hax e unwed axvax from bricks and
firebombs and toxxard the judicial and legis
lative processes to get xxhat they xxant.
And xx hites, xx hatex er their perception
of blacks, generally hax e accepted the out
come of black efforts in those areas.
This adaptation obx iously has both flaxx s
and limits, especially for those of both races
xxho had hoped to see racism rooted out of
the national character. But that does seem
to he xxhat has happened in a less than
perfect xvorld.
Betters to the editor
Two sides and the end of ‘Todays Student’ flap
Editor:
Earlier this semester the Batt ran my
letter in this column concerning “Today s
Student's’ on-campus distribution rights
and their hopeful restraint. Since that time
the “Student has gone as far as to declare
all opposition to these rights as a “loosely
organized coalition of student athiests.
I am not an athiest; I am a Christian.
Since “Today’s Student xvill not acknowl
edge this fact I hope the Batt will. I urge all
Christians (and Ags) to contact the conces
sions committee and let your voice be
heard. (Soon).
— Glynn Echerd, ’81
‘Student' replies
Editor:
As a representative for Today’s Student
in the state of Texas, I would like to respond
to Thursday s letter, “Student underfire.
Although not the writer of the article, 1 xvas
present at the meeting in question.
First of all, the article did not intend to
insinuate the meeting was a special hearing
but, as Ron Blatchley indicated, a regular
meeting of the Concessions Committee. It
was, however, investigative from the
standpoint that the students in opposition
were told they could come to present their
side, and those supporting the paper were
instructed they could do the same. The
obvious intent was to hear both sides —
investigate the pros and cons — before
reaching a decision regarding the distribu
tion of the paper on campus. The writer of
the article, not being an Aggie and unfamil
iar with A&M s various committees, unas
sumingly called it an investigative hearing
because of the nature of the meeting and
the procedure followed.
Secondly, the committee did not make
an official ruling that these grievances were
“personal expressions against God, ’ nor
were those in opposition put under judg
ment for taking such a position. It was obvi
ous to me, as xvell as the writer and I be
lieve the others in the room, that their
opposition to a belief in the living God is
xvhat prompted them to be present. This
xvas not a judgment, but an observation by
the writer, and probably should have been
stated in the article as such.
Our apologies to Ron Blatehley and the
Concessions Com mittee if in any way their
credibility and integrity were questioned.
“Today s Student, being the largest and
most popular national student newspaper
in the United States, is very selective as to
its journalists and journalism. Even at best,
unintentional mistakes are made and unfor
tunate misunderstandings d ex 7 el op. YY 7 e
trust that our apologies will be accepted
and the circulation of the paper xvill con
tinue to increase. The intent of “Today’s
Student is to present an alternative
viewpoint of issues seldom presented in the
classrooms, yet having as much, if not
more, factual credibility based on scien
tific, historic and philosophic evidence. It
has been called “the paper for thinking
people, ’ and we encourage Aggies who
have not yet picked up a copy to do so and
judge for themselves.
— Ron Tewson
“Today’s Student" representative
Editor’s note: Ron Blatchley, who
heads the concessions committee, said
Monday that shortly before the commit
tee’s hearing concerning “Today’s Stu
dent’’ he was in the process of locating the
group responsible for the paper’s distri
bution to advise it of the University’s
permit regulations. Blatchley said repre
sentatives of the paper came to his office
asking about reports that they needed a
distribution permit, and this led to the
committee’s hearings. Blatchley said he
did not “catch up” to the paper’s repre
sentatives, as a previous letter implied.
These viewpoints close this section’s
look into the distribution of “Today’s Stu
dent.”
Slouch
by Jim Earle
“DON’T BE SURPRISED IF YOU SEE A BUNCH Ojr ‘LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR’ IN REGARD TO OUR RELAT IONS WITH
TEXAS TECH!”
Nation
Gas rate hike approved
The Supreme Court let stand Monday a multibillion-dollar in
crease in natural gas rates— the largest in history—approved in 1976
by 7 the Federal Power C Commission. The court turned down appeals
by 7 both public interest groups and producers from the nationwide
rate hike. Consumer groups, states and cities, public utility commis
sions and farmers told the Supreme Court the rate hike could have a
devastating effect on consumers. Producers said the cost of finding
and producing natural gas has risen dramatically , and argued it is in
the interest of the consumer to provide an incentive for nexv explora
tion and reproduction.
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Electromagnets heal bones
A new type of electromagnetic therapy—applied from outside the
body—has healed leg bones that failed to unite after .surgery, aeeonl-
ing to a report to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
Dr. C. Andrew Bassett of the Columbia University College of Physi
cians and Surgeons said the new therapy, xxhieh stimulates hone
growth by pulsing electromagnetic fields, averted amputation in leg
bones that otherwise failed to heal. “Although the success rate in this
study exceeded 70 percent, recent changes in pulse characteristics
promise even greater effectiveness in the* future, Bassett said iiu
report released Monday. The treatment is conducted at home for
three to six months. The patients feel no sensation xx hile plugged in.
Bassett said.
World § I
Prisoner swap negotiated
Negotiators in four nations are attempting to arrange a sxvap of
political prisoners, including two leading Soviet dissidents, an
American who spied for Moscow, an Israeli pilot and a group of
Chilean communists. The negotiations have been conducted in
Chile, East Germany, Israel and the United States. The prisoner
swap negotiations were disclosed by American Jexvish officials ami
other sources in West Germany and Israel. The negotiations were
indirectly confirmed by Deputy Assistant Seeretarv of State W illiam
Luers, who said he was aware of the proposals but stressed the U.S.
government was not formally involved. Other sources said the
negotiations were being conducted by private individuals. The
American prisoner is Robert Glenn Thompson. 43, of Bay Shore.
N.Y., who was sentenced in 1965 to 30 years for spy ing for RusSui.
Weather
Mostly cloudy today with fog, turning partly cloudy and
warmer this afternoon. High today mid-70s, low tonight
mid-40s. High tomorrow mid-60s. Winds from the southeast
at 10-18 mph. Cloudy and cooler on Wednesday.
The Rattalion
Opinions expressed in The Hatta!ion are those of the
editor or of the writer of the article and are not neeessarih/
those of the Vniversitt/ administration or the Hoard of Re
gents. The Battalion is a non-profit. self-snpportoig
enterprise operated by students as a university and eom-
munity newsihiper. Editorial policy is determined hy the
editor.
LETTERS POLICY
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are
subject to heinp, 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 he
signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone
number for verification.
Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, The
Battalion, Room 210, Reed McDonald Building, College
Station, Texas 77H43.
Represented nationally In National Educational Adver
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Angeles.
The Battalion is published Momlax through Eridax from
September through Max except during exam and holidax
periods and the summer, xvhen it is published on Momlax s.
Wednesdays and Fridays.
Mail subscriptions are $1(S.75 per semester. $33.25 pci
school year; $35.00 per full xcar Advertising rates fur
nished on re«|iiest. Address: The Battalion. Boom 210.
Heed McDonald Building. (.'ollcgc Station. TcU*
Initcd Press International is en tit lull (■\i-lii.'iu , l) ^
use for reproduction ol all nexxs disputvlies hviM* 1
Bights ol reproduction of all other matter luTniirv^'
Socond-Ulass postage paid at (.’o I lege Slalum. I\
MEMBER
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journah'sin Uonptw
Editor . Janm-3*
Managing Kditni . . \larx Al'uvAh**^
Sports Editor I'aulA*
Nexxs Editors . Marie llomexrr. (aiol^
Assistant Managing Editui (•fcnitt.U
(.'itx Editor kannM
( aimpus Editor . kiiid l<
Hcporters biz Nexv lift. Davklfttf
Mark Patterson. Lee Box I.rHli|»rrJr u
Welch. Scott IVrlxius. \mh
ruin.- ivasi.-i. ia v*
Photographers Susan NVebli. krn IP*
(.'artoonist DniicfirJl
Student Tuhlieations Hoard: Hob (l. Ite^nw. ( hii^
Joe Arredondo. Dt Cary Halter. Ih /o/m \l I/*' 1
Hobert Harvey. Dv (Tiavlcs MeCamlless. Ih CliulA
Thillips. Hebei Hire. Din thn of Shulrnt I'hIiIh
Donah! (' Johnson.
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