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Viewpoint The Battalion Texas A&M University Tuesday March 28, 1978 r* — Top of the News Campus Political threats and consequences WASHINGTON — One of the evocative stories of professional football is about the rookie who broke all records for pass receiving in college and expects to do the same in the National Football League. In his first game, he departs the line of scrimmage, gets a skull-shaking helmet slap from a defensive end, a rib-cracking elbow from a linebacker and is knocked flat by a “bump” from a cornerback. As he comes to, he look up into the grinning face of his antagonists and the greeting “Welcome to the NFL.” That story ought to be recalled to some of the senators who were on the losing side in the first Panama Canal treaty vote and rushed off the floor to blame it all on “arm-twisting” by the White House. It is very true that Jimmy Carter, perhaps for the first time since he arrived in Washington, used just about every weapon of persuasion at his command to line up the votes needed to ratify the first treaty. He cajoled, compromised, massaged, flattered and probably made some private prom ises to get the votes. By pressing undecided and anti-treaty senators to come to the White House to talk to him personally about their votes, Carter was putting them — especially Democrats — in the uncomfortable personal and political posi tion of having to say no to the president of the United States. That is heavy pressure and no one should mistake it for anything else. But so far as anyone knows. Carter did not cross the line of accepted political conduct in seeking support. There were no public charges that the administration engaged in the kind of below-the-belt blackmail tactics of the type depicted in some recent Washington novels as par for the course when a president is determined to have his way. Carter played the game for keeps and won the first test. But there still is another treaty to be considered, and it could be the president who is beaten on the next big vote. If that happens, it may be the supporters of the treaties who are disposed to blame the outcome on opposition strong arming. Not the least of these likely would be the open threats, some even printed in newspaper adver tisements, of well-financed political retribution against pro-treaty senators the next time they come up for election. But threatening to “get” a senator at the polls for a vote in Congress after the fact is every bit as legitimate as a summons to the Oval Office to influence the decision before it is made. Both are tests of a senator’s strength of conviction or level of weakness, as the case may be. No senator, or anyone else in government for that matter, is entitled to a free pass on any official action. Public officials are accountable to the public and if those who are not prepared to justify what they have done and accept the consequences should take up another line of work. In the case, politics, rather than sports, provides the homily in the words of Harry Truman: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” United Press International The fall of the Senate’s South By DAVID S. BRODER WASHINGTON — The retirement of Sen. James O. Eastland (D-Miss.) is more than the departure of a familiar political figure, a symbol of the vanished age when the term “Southern Democrat was almost equivalent to saying “segregationist. With his ever-present cigar and his im passive, Buddha-like expression, Eastland seemed a personification of the implacable opposition to any relaxation in the complex rules of racial separation that held say in rules of racial separation that held way in his own Sunflower County when he came Harbor. In fact, he played a more complex role than that — moving slowly, very slowly, and always with a great show of resistance, in response to the cyclone forces of change up leashed by the economic, demographic and political changes that swept the South — and eventually, even infiltrated Sunflower County. Eastland fought the losing fight every step of the way. But he fought it in his own fashion, never risking being overrun, but rather negotiating his withdrawal for the best price he could get. A series of presidents — from Dwight Eisenhower to Jimmy Carter — and their Attorneys General sipped bourbon and branch water with the chairman of the Se nate Judiciary Committee. They learned (if they were patient) what his terms might be for allowing them to have vital parts of their program considered by the commit tee with the broadest jurisdiction in Con gress. Commentary At times, Eastland’s terms were unac ceptable, and the presidents had to chal lenge him in a war of attrition, when his weapons were his delaying tactics in com mittee and, finally, his part in a Senate filibuster. But more often, the canny Mississippian was able to strike a bargain which forced Some concessions on the substance of a civil rights bill or preserved the southern judicial circuits from what he regarded as the contaminating effects of liberal appoin tees. Eastland was powerful for two reasons. The lesser of them was his suppleness as a Mississippi politician who could quietly activate a courthouse network on behalf of a presidential candidate he liked, whether that man was Republican or Democratic. The more important one was that he was part of a solid phalanx of southern senators whose domination seemed inevitably as sured by the inexorable workings of the seniority system. Whatever happened elsewhere in government — whatever heresies shook the Supreme Court, or the White House or the House of Representa tives — the South, it seemed, had a lock on the Senate. In 1959, for example, 10 of the 16 stand ing committees of the Senate had chair men who came from states of the Confed eracy. Eastland, who was 55 then, had a long fixture ahead as chairman of Judiciary. But if anything happened to him, four of the next six spots on the committee ladder were also held by Southern Democrats. Ten years later, in 1969, the picture had barely changed. Southerners still held 10 of the 16 chairmanships. But behind the top three Judiciary Committee souther ners, aged 65, 72 and 73, was an unbroken seven-man line of younger Yankees. Now, the inexorable workings of time have taken their toll of that aging southern Senate hierarchy. Next January, the likelihood is that only three of the commit tee chairmanships will still be held by southerners: Eastland’s colleague John Stennis, Louisiana s Russell Long and Georgia’s Herman Talmadge. Moreover, the seniority ladder is now filled by men from other sections. At the beginning of 1977, three of the four senior Senate Democrats were from the South. None will be back next year. Between Talmadge, who entered the Senate in 1957 and who turns 65 this year, and the next Southern Democrat on the seniority lad der, Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.), there is a gap of nine years in age and ten years of Senate service. Fourteen non- Southern Democrats fill that gap, blocking the South’s return to power. In that period —- from Little Rock in 1957 to the passage of the Voting Rights Act almost a decade later — there was an enormous political upheaval in the South. The region sent either Republicans or short-lived transitional Democrats to the Senate. Since 1966, the new Democrats like Hollings who have won have done so with large numbers of black votes, and are a different breed than Eastland and his gen eration. And they are still several seats and several years away from committee chair manships. That is why Eastland’s retirement, and his replacement as Judiciary chairman by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), really does mark the passing of a political era. (c) 1978, The Washington Post Lasting peace passing by By WILLIAM RASPBERRY WASHINGTON — Israel doesn’t dare take a chance. And because it doesn’t, it may already have let slip away its first genuine prospect for lasting peace. I don’t mean the retaliatory incursion into southern Lebanon, although that clearly didn’t do much to advance the cause of peace. I have in mind the refusal to embrace the Sadat-initiated attempt at a psychological breakthrough on the whole question of the Middle East. Commentary What Sadat’s Christmas visit to Israel offered was the opportunity for Israel to join in a gamble that could break it out of its painful dilemma once and for all. On the one hand, Israel has learned, through painful history, not to entrust its national security to outsiders. Surrounded by hostile neighbors who have questioned its very legitimacy as a state, Israel has concluded that it cannot afford to make military chances. One military defeat, and it’s all over. Israel knows that. On the other hand, preventing military Letters to the editor defeat is not the same as securing peace. Israel can lose once and for all, but it can not win once and for all. It knows that, too. The difficulty is in adopting policies that take both pieces of knowledge into ac count. If anything is clear, it is that peace will not flow from military superiority but only from changed attitudes and relations —- from a changed psychology. But preoccupation with military secu rity prevents Israel from taking precisely the sort of chances that could help px oduce that new psychology. It is excruciatingly difficult — perhaps impossible — to think of peace and security at the same time, even if those two things are, at bottom, inseparable. The emphasis on security, the old ways of dealing, led Israel to view Sadat’s initia tive as the opening gambit in a new round of traditional bargaining. Much of what has happened since then can best be explained as attempts at fashioning counter gambits: hanging tough on the question of the West Bank, for instance, or establishing new settlements in the occupied territories. These can be viewed as efforts to stack up chips to bargain away in future negotia tions. But the impression here is that Sadat wasn’t engaged in traditional bargaining at all. He was trying to cut through decades of psychological hangups, to achieve peace virtually at a stroke. He felt betrayed and frustrated when Israel declined to take the gamble. The whole business is enormously com plicated by the continuing acts of ter rorism directed against Israel. The recent terrorist attack that killed 45 people, for instance, may have evaporated any chance that Israel could agree to the establish ment of a West Bank homeland for the Palestinians. It seems enticingly logical that if Israel cannot be safe from continuing terrorist at tacks as things are now, it would be far more vulnerable to such attacks if Palesti nian radicals were allowed to settle right next door. But that supposes that the Palestinians’ overridding concern is the destruction of Israel rather than the establishment of their own state. If a Palestinian homeland is the principal issue, then it might well be that its establishment — even right next door — would eliminate the incentive for the terrorism. In short, settling of the Palestinian question would be a crucial part of the new psychology. But Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, in town this week for talks with President Carter, apparently is still insist ing that the establishment of a Palestinian state would increase, rather than obviate, the threat to Israel. And if that is what he truly believes, then he would be a fool to do other than what he is now doing. The irony of all this is that, until a few months ago, it was the Israelis who in sisted that the barriers to peace were largely psychological, not military. It was the Israeli view that the crucial break through would have to be Arab acceptance of the legitimacy of the state of Israel. That is precisely the breakthrough Sadat hoped his visit would achieve. He gam bled his prestige, his credibility and his political future in the effort. There is very little he can do just now. Whatever prospects for peace still exist will depend on Israel’s willingness to take a gamble. That may be asking a lot. But the jackpot — permanent peace for a tiny, beleaguered nation — strikes me as well worth the risk. (c) 1978, The Washington Post Close call brings loud call for changes Editor: Imagine this scene for a moment. Third and fourth floor residents of a dorm on the TAMU campus begin smelling smoke in their rooms around midnight. They dis cover a fire on first floor in the trash chute and alert the head resident adviser. At approximately 12:15 the R.A. calls the emergency number on campus. The police arrive in a little over five minutes. The fire truck rolls up at approximately 12:40, after what seems like an eternity since the phone calls. A problem arises. The trash chute door is locked and no one present has a key. After a discussion of the situation, it is de cided to break the door in. A second problem arises. Poles blocking the entrance to a road in front of the dorm make it impossible for the fire engine to get close enough. The key to unchain and remove the poles cannot be found so the chain is cut. The fire is finally put out, almost an hour after the smoke was first smelled. No, this was not a scene from a Three Stooges movie. This actually happened at Hughes Hall last Wednesday night. For the second time this year, residents of Hughes Hall have had a bad scare. Last semester a second-floor popcorn popper which was left on caused thick smoke that filled third and fourth floors. It could have been tragic if the popper had caught on fire. Again we can be thankful that the fire last week was small and caused no harm. But what must happen before safety precautions are taken? Does there have to be a tragic incident? The missing keys and late fire engine were bad enough. But worse than that, there are no fire alarms in the dorm and no fire escapes. A year ago, money was ap propriated for smoke alarms but where are they now? Even with buzzers that would sound if smoke filled the building, what good would they be if there were no way to get out. I shudder when I think of the effect a large fire could have on our dorm in the middle of the night. —Rhodema Spearman, ’81 Legalize the races Editor: I am writing you in response to Natalie Ornish’s letter about pari-mutuel betting in Texas. She says, “it bring suffering to people who can least afford to lose.” Does she think people aren’t already betting at the horse races? If she does, she appar ently has not recently gone to the racing tracks. There are people who regularly bet at the races, and not just small wagers. But this is all done under the table and the state doesn’t see one penny of it. If, now- ever, pari-mutuel betting was legalized, the state would receive its share of the money in tax revenue. So let’s not let the state of Texas, and the taxpayers, be rip ped off any more. Let’s support the legali zation of pari-mutuel betting. — Billy Edwards, ’81 Drilling detour Editor: While walking along the sidewalk in front of Sully on Saturday, and being re routed to the grass to make room for the junior rotsies drilling there, I was re minded of the many times the same thing had happened with the larger body of that type which resides here on campus. This caused a great inspiration to take form in my mind: why can’t they do this drilling on the breezeway in front of the MSC? It’s the only place I can think of where they would disturb more people! — George Welch, ’79 Questionnaires, pictures due Candidates for the position of yell leaders, OCSA president, RHA president and all student government executive positions should fill out questionnaires and have their pictures taken no later than 5 p.m. Wednesday. All questionnaires should be completed and turned into the Battalion no later than 5 p.m. Friday. Drug survey reports due Participants in the influenza drug survey are reminded to turn in their weekly reports and pick up their final two weeks drug supply at the reception desk Thursday and Friday at the University Health Center. State Bell rate increase delayed The Public Utility Commission (PUC) in Austin Monday voted to delay for at least 120 days implementation of a $214.3 million rate increase requested by Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. The com mission scheduled formal hearings on Bell’s request for higher rates to begin May 22, and Commission Chairman George Cowden asked all parties involved in the hearings to do all they could to accelerate the proceedings. A 1976 hearing on Bell’s request for a $298 million rate increase took more than a month. The commission eventually authorized Bell a $57.8 million increase at that time, and the tele phone company has challenged the commission’s decision in court. In the new request hearings Monday, the commission approved a mo tion by PUC general council John Bell to delay any implementation of the new rates until Aug. 12. Bell may implement the rates at that time if the commission has not acted on the request. Sentencing today in Torres case Three former Houston policemen convicted of violating the civil rights of a drunken Mexican-American who was beaten and drowned in their custody face possible life inprisonment at a sentencing hear ing in Houston today. A federal court jury Feb. 8 convicted Terry Denson, 27, Stephen Orlando, 22, and Joseph Janish, 24, in the death last May of Joe Torres, 23. All three officers were fired after the incident while a fourth officer, Louis Glenn Kinney, whose case was severed when his lawyer complained of prejudicial testimony, is still awaiting federal prosecution. Torres was arrested on a barroom drunk complaint May 5, 1977. His body was found in Buffalo Bayou downtown the next day. Testimony showed he had been beaten be fore he drowned. The jury convicted the three officers of violating Torres’ civil rights which resulted in his death. The crime is a felony carrying a maximum possible penalty of $10,000 fine and life impris onment. The jury also convicted them of beating and intimidating Torres, a misdemeanor carrying maximum penalties of one year in prison and a $1,000 fine. Nation Winter of ’77-record cold The National Weather Service in Washington says this past winter appears to have been colder east of the Rockies than the frigid winter of 1976-77. All the temperature records aren’t in yet, but the weather service says a sampling of reports collected by the National Climatic Center at Ashville, N.C., indicates average temperatures from De cember through February hit a new low. January 1977 still stands as the coldest month east of the Rockies since record-gathering began in the late 1800s. And the service said the average temperatures for this past winter combined with the previous one undoubtedly set a new low for back-to-back winters in the East. But the West was warmer than usual both winters. The weather service said record cold weather average temperatures were reported this past winter at such places as Galveston, Cincinnati and Nashville. World Riot delays airport opening Riot police in Tokyo firing tear gas and water cannons Monday stormed a 62-foot steel tower atop a concrete fortress built by leftist radicals to block the opening of Tokyo’s new intercontinental airport. Using a rock-crushing drill to break one side of the four-story con crete fortress, police were able to reach the leftists inside the struc ture. Police promptly began tearing down the steel tower and con crete fortress, built on private land at the end of the new airport’s second runway. The police attack came about 25 hours after the firebomb-throwing radicals seized the control tower of the new air port and smashed radar and other sensitive equipment to try and keep the airport from opening on schedule Thursday. Premier Takeo Fukuda appeared to have no choice but delay once again the opening of the airport built at an estimated cost of $2.6 billion more than six years ago. The airport has remained idle until now because of opposi tion from farmers who lost land to the facility, leftist student activists and environmentalists. Regarding the attack, police said 20 radicals spent the night in an underground sewer system near the airport, emerged through a manhole Sunday, and stormed the control tower while police battled hundreds of other demonstrators nearby. Five of the radicals made it to the control room gutted a communications center along the way with a firebomb, then spent two hours smashing every piece of equipment they could while police watched helplessly and television cameras recorded the event with telephoto lenses. By the time police broke into the tower through its large windows, the radicals had little left to destroy. Thirty-four riot police and 22 radi cals were injured in the battle. Weather Fair and partly cloudy and warm today. Partly cloudy and continued warm tomorrow. High today upper 70s, low tonight mid-50s. High tomorrow upper 70s. Winds from the south at 10-15 mph. Partly cloudy with a chance of showers on Thursday. 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 by 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 a nd 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. Tlie 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; $35.00 per frill year. Advertising rates furnished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843 United Press International is entitled exclusively to^ use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited^ Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein resent- Second-Class postage paid at College Station, IX 77$ MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Editor Managing Editor Sports Editor News Editors Assistant Managing Editor City Editor Campus Editor Reporters Jamie Aitfr* Mary Alice Woodlu®* Paul Antftfj Marie Homeyer, Carol Mej* Clenna Karen Bo^ KimW . . Liz Newlin, David Bogp 5 1 Mark Patterson, Lee Roy Leschper Jr.,Gtf| Welch, Jim Crawley, Andy WiHa^l Paige Beasley, Bob Ashfid* Photographers Susan Webb, David Cartoonist Doug Grab* Student Publications Board: Bob C. Rogers, Chaimii Joe Arredondo, Dr. Gary Halter, Dr. Chades McCaiuiksi- Dr. Clinton A. Phillips, Rebel Rice. Director of Studd Publications: Donald C. Johnson.