t „ e ™ Viewpoint
Texas A&M University
Wednesday
March 22, 1978
Opinion perspective
A Louisiana senator is under the gun. It seems a number of the state’s
residents want to oust Sen. Russell Long (D) for his affirmative vote on the
Panama Canal neutrality treaty. They say Long voted contrary to the wishes
of the people of the state. And they’re scouring Lousiana for 600,000 signa
tures of people who share their feelings.
This brings up an interesting point about public opinion. We at the Battal
ion, for instance, have at various time been bombarded with student opinion
(most frequently regarding sports columns). When these opinions are pub
lished in the letters section of this page it often appears that there is but one
view held by the Texas A&M populous. But publicity is deceiving. It is
important to keep in mind that generally those persons upset by an issue will
be the ones to make their opposition known. Those who agree have little
impetus to say so — their views have already been expressed by the writer.
Because of the nature of silent approval, many times the printed reaction is a
distortion of the actual mood.
It’s something to keep in mind whenever group opinions are aired. Public
opinion pollsters make big money trying to find out what people really think.
It’s not an assumption to take lightly. J.A.
Change for the
By DAVID S. BRODER
WASHINGTON —The Carter adminis
tration is now racing the clock in the effort
to meet the self-imposed deadline of having
its long-heralded “urban policy” ready for
the president to announce before he leaves
on his journey to South America and Africa
at the end of this month.
That fact by itself makes people nervous,
for the record of other deadline projects is
not encouraging. Carter insisted his energy
program be ready three months after Inau
guration Day, but 11 months after its un
veiling, the problems that were missed in
that hasty process still bedevil the energy
legislation on Capitol Hill.
In the case of urban policy, there is a
special reason to fear the consequences of
the all-out press to get something — any
thing — for the president to announce. It
was best expressed by Richard Nathan, the
Brookings Institution student of inter
governmental relations, when he said:
“The Carter administration had a very good
urban policy until it announced it was going
to develop one.
What Nathan meant was that the admin
istration, in its first year of office, continued
the rapid increase in the flow of resources
to troubled cities and found some rather
useful ways to deliver that assistance in
forms flexible enough to be of considerable
use to the cities.
Commentary
Carter followed the pattern of his Repub
lican predecessors in providing greater dis
cretion for local allocation of community
development funds. And he added signifi
cant amounts of anti-recession aid to the
already rich stream of federal assistance to
the urban areas.
As James McIntyre, the director of the
Office of Management and Budget, re
marked last week, the political difficulty in
all the advance publicity about Carter s
forthcoming urban policy statement is that
any new urban initiatives will be small-
potatoes compared to what the government
is already doing.
Budgetary realities rule out any grand
iose scheme for a “Domestic Marshall
Plan. ” So the risk is great that those (includ-
sake of change?
ing the big-city mayors) who are looking for
multi-billion aid packages will find the Car
ter response inadequate.
But as a new publication of the Advisory
Commission on Intergovernmental Rela
tions (ACIR) makes clear, the charge can
not be sustained that the federal govern
ment has been niggardly in its treatment of
the cities.
“Direct federal aid to the nation’s big
cities has risen more than tenfold over the
last 11 years,” the ACIR report says. Aid to
the 47 largest cities, excluding New York
City, a special case, grew from $406 million
in 1967 to an estimated $5.4 billion this
year.
Whereas federal aid amounted to only
nine cents of every dollar of locally gener
ated revenue in 1967, this year there will
be 50 cents of federal aid for every $1 those
big cities raise from local taxes.
What is true of the biggest cities is
equally true of local and state governments
generally. Uncle Sam has been accelerat
ing his assistance.
The flow of federal aid to states and cities
grew at an annual rate of 8.9 percent in the
first half of the 1960s; at a 15 percent
annual rate in the last half of the 1960s;
at a 16.6 percent annual rate in the first
half of the 1960$; at a 16.6 percent an
nual rate in the first half of the 1970s; and
at a rate of 18.7 percent a year between
1975 and 1977.
In other words, the Carter program —
whatever it finally is — cannot be much
more than a thin layer of icing on a very rich
cake.
It is these trends which underline the
wisdom of the president’s injunction to his
urban advisers to concentrate on improving
the utility of programs already in existence,
rather than designing “bold new initia
tives.”
The problem, politically, is that the
urban policy is likely to be condemned for
the absence of those initiatives. Which is
why Dick Nathan said the administration
was doing fine in urban policy until it
launched this massively publicized search
for something that already exists in abun
dance.
(c) 1978, The Washington Post
The taming of the Congress
By DICK WEST
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Having rushed to
judgment on the first Panama Canal treaty
after only 22 days rtif‘debate; tbe Senate is
expected to move more deliberately in con
sidering the second treaty.
The Lighter Side
Present outlook is that the vote will come
sometime between mid-April and the year
2000, which is when the treaty would give
Panama control of the waterway.
One reason for the studied pace is to
allow both sides time to analyze the first
treaty debate and figure out where the
turning point was.
Several senators, you may recall, were
on the fence right up to the moment the roll
call began. For future reference, it is im
portant to know what made them topple
the way they did.
As best I can tell, the bombshell that
tipped the vote in favor of the treaty was
Democratic leader Robert Byrd’s surprise
Shakespearian quotation.
“There is a tide in the affairs of men
which, taken at the flood, leads on to for
tune,” declaimed the canny West Virginia
drama-lover.
Tetters to the editor
That line from “Julius Caesar” con
founded the opposition and swung several
wavering senators into the pro-treaty
camp.
“I knew they were claiming God was on
their side, but this was the first time I
realized which way Shakespeare was lean
ing,” one uncommitted senator told me.
Byrd’s blockbuster sent treaty foes scur
rying upstairs to the Senate library in
search of quotations to offset or neutralize
the Immortal Byrd s influence. But by
then it was too late.
You may be certain they will not be
caught unprepared next time.
Some senators who voted for the first
treaty have indicated they might vote
against the second. Should they need any
quotations to rationalize the turnabout,
they’ll find Shakespeare equally flexible.
Here, in handy catechism form, are a few
quotations that might prove useful:
A. What do those who want to retain
control of the canal mean when they say
history is on their side?
A. “Look in the chronicles; we came in
with Richard Conqueror.”
Q. Of what use is the Canal Zone to the
United States?
A. “As a moat defensive to a house. A
forted residence. One foot in the sea and
one on shore.
Q. Why do we need to keep troops down
there? What are they protecting us against?
A. “Against the tooth of time and razure
of oblivion. Against infection and the hand
of war. Against the envy of less happier
lands.”
Q. What alternate routes would our
ships have to use if the canal ever were
closed?
A. “There is a river in Macedon, and
there is also moreover a river at
Monmouth."
Q. After havingbeen quoted by a senator
in favor of the treaties, how could Shakes
peare be quoted by senators opposed to
them?
A. “The devil can cite Scripture for his
purpose.”
SG reforms needed after elections
Editor:
An open letter to the student body:
Are we going to have a repeat of this past
year in respect to the entire student gov
ernment?
By this we refer to the rail-roading in and
out of office of various and sundry individu
als and interest groups, be they Corps or
civilian.
This year we, personally, would like to
see an election based solely on qualified
persons and pertinent issues.
Such as, the appropriate and timely revi
sion of the student body constitution, more
effective and equal representation of the
student body (individually and as a whole),
better student-faculty communication, and
an improvement in the investigation and
allocation of student service fees.
Slouch
by Jim Earle
MAH tt -78
“IT’S A PETITION TO POSTPONE THE MAILING OF MlD-
SEMESTER GRADES UNTIL AFTER SPRING BREAK!’’
We do not feel that we are alone in these
beliefs.
We sincerely hope that if this can be
accomplished within the next year, we as a
group of intelligent students will not be
faced with the fiasco that recently befell
t — Owen D. Massey, ’79,
Scott Farthing, ’78
Israel defended
Editor:
I, for one, feel compelled to differ with
Jamie Aitken’s assessment of Israel’s re
taliation to the Palestinian raid that killed
35 Israelis.
Mr. Aitken’s statements exemplify a
fundamental misunderstanding as to the
true nature of peace. Arguments as to just
how far the retaliation should have gone
are legitimate, but I can not accept the
argument that the act of retaliation in itself
was uncalled for, immoral or damaging to
lasting peace. Peace is simply not main
tained through acquiescence, appease
ment or through weakness.
When PLO terrorists violated the status
quo by conducting a raid in Israel and kill
ing 35 people, they became the cause of
the ensuing retaliation and must assume
responsibility for it. To avoid the
encouragement of future violations the Is
raelis were forced to react immediately to
punish the violation.
The question of whether the Israeli re
sponse was proportional to the initial viola
tion is open for discussion. However, it is
perhaps necessary to consider other PLO
violations such as Entebbe, Munich, the
poisoning of oranges, Bader-Meinhoff, the
assassination of Egyptian journalists,
threats on the life of Anwar Sadat and
more.
It may seem alien to many more
liberal-minded individuals, but the fact is
that peace must be maintained through
strength. Appeasement in the face of ag
gression will not bring it about, it will only
encourage more aggression. History shows
that periods of peace are rare, perhaps be
cause the maintenance of peace requires
risks and sacrifices that many are unwilling
to make. Peace through strength is not
alien to morality as many would claim. Ac
quiescence in the face of continued and
unprovoked violence in hopes of a
miraculously imposed peace is hardly
moral. The rejection of all strength and
use of force may sound nice, but as the
Bible says, “Blessed are the peacemakers
not the peace lovers.
— Mark Elam, ’79
No skateboards
Editor:
It may interest you to know that the area,
i.e., the “catwalk” over Welborn Road,
where Mr. McCarthy is “practicing his
skateboard technique,” has four access
ramps.
Each of them is clearly marked with the
following, identical, warning signs:
WALK BIKES.
NO SKATEBOARDS.
Because you gave Mr. McCarthy front
page coverage, no doubt there will be many
more skaters trying to emulate his
“achievement.”
I feel you should inform Mr. McCarthy
and the student community that the place
is off-limits to this kind of “outdoor ac
tivity.
— Frank Vasovski, ’79
Editor’s note: Mr. McCarthy, consider
yourself informed.
Top of the News
Campus
Handicapped can register early
Texas A&M University students who are handicapped, temporarily
handicapped, or have some type of mobility problem can take advan
tage of an early preregistration program offered for the fall semester.
The early preregistration, to be held April 19-20, will allow students
the special schedule they need. Handicapped students should contact
Donnie Albrecht, assistant director of student activities, at 845-1134,
by March 22, if interested in the early preregistration. Information on
the program can also be obtained from the Texas Rehabilitation
Commission at 846-4741.
State
Officers search for missing child
Citizens demand tax moratorium
Nation
Army probes shell explosion
Last years crime rate down
Jazz clarinetist Cottrell dies
World
Israeli cease-fire ordered
French oil spill spreads
Weather
Cloudy with fog this morning turning partly cloudy this after
noon. Slight chance of scattered showers tonight and Thurs
day. High today near 80, low tonight low 60s. High tomorrow
near 80. Winds from the southeast at 10-18 mph. Thirty
percent chance of rain tonight and Thursday.
r \.
Officers searched an area of Northeast Bexar County Tuesday fora
6-month-old baby missing since the child’s mother and another woman
were shot to death. Andrea Milliean, 24, and Mary C. Venus, 25, both
wives of servicemen stationed overseas, were found shot to death
Monday near two automobiles parked on a road. Sherifl s investigator
Bill White said another investigator had talked to the victims several
hours before the shooting concerning a vehicle they had sold and for
which the purchaser had paid with a hot check. White said the victims
were found near the vehicle they had planned to repossess.
A coalition of Houston civic clubs Tuesday demanded a moratorium
on city property tax revaluations pending reforms to equalize the local
tax burden. City Controller Kathy Whitmire has said she will check
into recent revaluations, which Tax Assessor-Collector Casey Fannin
defends as reflecting rising value. But he expresses hope for annual
citywide revaluation by I981. More than 3,000 Northwest Houston
residents, many of whom said they had experienced 300 percent
valuation increase in the last four years, held an anti-revaluation rally
in Delmar Stadium Monday.
Army officials said Tuesday the type of 90mm anti-tank shell that
exploded in a trailer home, killing two persons and injuring five others,
has not been used at Fort Riley since before the Vietnam War. Vaughn
Bolton, Fort Riley public affairs director, rejected theories the shell
recently had been shot from a base gunnery range into an area near the
trailer but had not exploded. 1 le said the fort’s ammunition dumps did
not contain any of the shells. A soldier told Riley County authorities
late Monday that he took the shell from a tank gunnery range and
dumped it in a ravine. Al Johnson, assistant director of the Riley
County police department, said the shell apparently was found in the
ravine by one of the two persons it later killed. Johnson refused to
release further details on how the shell was retrieved or the identitiy of
the soldier, but said he was not being held by authorities.
Serious crimes during 1977 dropped four percent helow 1976, de
spite a slight upsurge in violent crimes such as rape, assault and
murder, the FBI reported Tuesday. However, decreases were smaller
for rural areas than for populous areas. Rural areas showed a one
percent decline compared to four percent for suburban areas and five
percent for cities with more than 25,()()() populations.
VVA
lesd
mbi
illar
ho{
dgr
ring
The
ho
bei
A
Kn<
by
A
thai
per
plel
I
the
bui
pla:
1
1
pro
abc
Clarinetist Louis Cottrell, a fixture of jazz as the white-shirted,
rotund leader of the Onward Brass Band died Tuesday. He was 67.
Cottrell and his band traditionally opened Mardi Gras festivites witha
walk from uptown to Canal Street and the French Quarter.
Israeli Defense Minister Ezer Weizman ordered Israeli forces to
observe a total cease-fire in southern Lebanon Tuesday. The cease-fire
announced by the Israel Defense Ministry was ordered after Israeli
jets and artillery pounded Palestinian positions near the Lebanese
towns of Tyre and Nabatiye. A U.N. general cautioned that it maybe
some time before his 4,000-man force can enter southern Lebanon to
enforce a cease-fire.
Strong winds and high seas pushed a 70-mile-long oil slick onto the
beaches of Brittany Tuesday and France asked for American, British
and Japanese help in cleaning up what experts said was history’s worst
oil spill. More than 110,000-tons of black crude spilled from the wreck
of the supertanker Amoco Cadiz, and spread rapidly along
the coast of Brittany, blackening more than 70 miles of coastline
and spreading over a 250-square-mile area of the English Channel.
The oil, pushed by winds which broke floating booms set up by
rescue crews, hit the pink granite coast and white sand beaches
of Roscoff, one of the areas badly hit by the previous worst
oil spill, the 30,000-ton slick spilled by the Torrey Canyon
in 1967.
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 Regents. The
Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting enterprise oper
ated hy students as a university and community newspaper.
Editorial policy is determined by the editor.
LETTERS POUCY
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 t)erification.
Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, The
Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, College
Station, Texas 77843.
McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 11$
United Press International is entitled exclusivel)'* ,l
use for reproduction of all news dispatches credit^ 11
Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein re
Second-Class postage paid at College Station, TC A
Represented nationally by National Educational Adver
tising Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los
Angeles.
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 furnished
on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 216, Reed
MEMBER
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Congress
Editor Jamie ^
Managing Editor Mary Alice Wot#
Sports Editor PdV
News Editors Marie Homeyer, Carol V -
Assistant Managing Editor Glenna^ 5 *
City Editor KarenM
Campus Editor Kim '
Reporters Liz Newlin, David
Mark Patterson, Lee Roy Lesehperjr 1
Welch, Jim Crawley, AndyWi>
Paige Beasley, Bob
Photographers Susan Webb, in He'
Cartoonist DougC^
Student Publications Board: Bob G. Rogers, Chef 1 '-
Joe Arredondo, Dr. Gary Halter, Dr. Charles
Dr. Clinton A. Phillips, Rebel Rice. Director of St^ 1
Publications: Donald C. Johnson.