Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Tuesday
April 4, 1978
Student election endorsements
President — Jeb Hensarling
Both candidates are qualified and would make
good presidents. But it seems that Hensarling has
more experience in getting things done within
student government bureacracy and has spon
sored a good amount of student consumer-related
legislation. Tucker was a good senate speaker, but
failed more than once during the year to provide
leadership when the senate needed it.
VP for Academic Affairs — J.C. Colton
Colton leads his opponents in experience with
University projects. He favors streamlining the
student academic grievances system and con
solidating University committees. Within the se
nate arena he generally has shown he knows what
he’s talking about — the other two candidates
have not.
VP for Finance — Paul Knudson
Knudson wants to make sure students’ money
is wisely spent; as he says, “I feel it is of
paramount importance to start accounting for the
monies that students pay through their student
service fees.’’ We also approve of his stand on
phasing the Athletic Deaprtment out of receiving
student service fees. His opponent does not seem
to have a grasp of the athletic department situa
tion.
VP for Student Services
Neither Kevin “Potsy” Patterson nor Judy Rip-
pel have the experience or qualifications this job
requires. If voters do not take The Battalion’s
recommendation to vote “no confidence” for this
position, we suggest Judy Rippel as the more ap
pealing candidate. She has worked on the student
services committee.
VP Rules and Regulations — Austin Sterling
Austin Sterling, one of the senate’s most out
spoken members, seems to have students con
cerns at heart. He has served on the rules and
regs committee and knows better than anyone
else what’s going on.
VP External Affairs — Joe Beall
Together with Hensarling, Beall produced
much of this year’s good senate legislation and ran
the external affairs committee. One problem we
hope he’ll correct is his use of parliamentary pro
cedure to delay senate meetings. He’s a good
choice for Texas A&M’s liaison with the cities.
RHA President — Lynne Andrus
Andrus offers possible solutions to on-campus
issues such as drinking,hours extension and din
ing hall dilemmas. Having more RHA experience
also helps. Reasons Randi Mays gives for running
for this office seem somewhat shallow by com
parison.
OSCA President — Jill Hall
OSCA has potential for being Texas A&M’s
strongest organization — but so far this young
group hasn’t found itself. Hall seems to under
stand the real problems of the off-campus stu
dent: rising utility rates, 12-month leases, ir-
reputable firms. Perhaps, under her leadership,
the OCSA can meet the needs of its 20,000 mem
bers.
Carter threatening Democrats’ seats
By DAVID S. BRODER
KALAMAZOO, MICH — It has been 12
years since Rep. Jerry Brown (R-Mich.)
won the House seat from this district, one
of five seats the GOP gained that year in
Michigan as part of a national pick-up of 47
seats.
Not in 12 years have the Republicans
had a congressional victory as big as that
1966 win — not even when Richard Nixon
led them to two successive presidential
victories.
Despite the trouble now besetting the
Carter administration and the evident
nervousness of congressional Democrats,
few in the Republican hierarchy are will
ing to be very bold in their claims about
1978. Yet there are a few signs — discer
nible to some officials in both parties —
that suggest that next November may be
much rougher on the Democrats in Con
gress than most people expect.
The reasons for caution Are, on the sur
face at least, very., strong. The historical
and statistical odds are against a bigi Re
publican victory . As Rhodes Cook of Con
gressional Quarterly has pointed out,
“There was little change in the status quo”
in the four previous mid-term elections
following a change in party control of the
White House.
In 1934 (Roosevelt), 1954 (Eisenhower),
1962 (Kennedy) and 1970 (Nixon), Cook
reports, “The president’s party on the av
erage lost only six House seats and actually
gained an average of four senators.
C ommentary
“The big losses for the presidential
party,” Cook points out, “have come dur
ing the second mid-term election of each
president, his sixth year in power. In the
four mid-term elections that fit in diis cat
egory — 1938, 1958, 1966 and 1974 — the
president’s party has lost an average of 54
House seats and seven senators.
An additional factor weighing against a
serious Democratic defeat is the increas
ing survival power of congressional in
cumbents. With the rich resources of staff,
travel, communications aud constituent
services they have available, at least nuic
of every ten f&Qu&e .nxemb.ers' seeking
reelection in tht* last 2Q-\yea#s have-been
successiul.
Soundings at this time indicate that pat
tern is not likely to be broken. In Michi
gan, Democrats now enjoy an 11 to 8 edge
in the House delegation, almost as big as
the 12 to 7 advantage they held before the
voting in 1966. But William McLaughlin,
the veteran GOP state chairman, says
candidly that only one Democratic seat
looks vulnerable at this point, and Repub
licans have a vacancy of their own coming
up that they have to worry about defend
ing.
“Since the last redistricting eight years
ago,” said McLaughlin, “our incumbents
have been pretty well locked in.
That appears to be the general pattern.
In Washington, William Walsh, chief
political strategist for the American Federa
tion of State, County and Municipal Em
ployees union, says polls of 64 marginal
House districts, won narrowly in 1976,
show “there’s hardly an incumbent — Re
publican or Democrat — who’s in trouble.
In almost every case, their name recogni
tion is up and their performance rating is
quite high.”
Such findings focus the attention of
party officials on the relatively few districts
; where the Retirement pf incumbents or
their.capdidaciesrior other.offiQes will upen ;
the sSats fo easier challenge. So far)' there
are 24 such open Democratic seats and 16
seats where Republicans will not be run
ning.
Steve Stockmeyer, the director of the
Republican Congressional Campaign
Committee, says there are “about 20 good
ones we think we can pick up and get back
to the 165 range” from the present Repub
lican strength of 147 seats. That, in turn,
jives with the private estimates of Demo-
cratic National Chairman John White
about his party’s probable House losses.
Why, then, the hunch in a few quarters
that it may be worse for the Democrats
and better for the Republicans than these
experts — and most others — suppose?
The answer, in a nutshell, is Carter and
inflation.
If rising prices drive down the presi
dent’s overall performance rating — as
some of his own political advisers fear will
be the case — the effect could be felt se
verely in some of the suburban districts
Democrats won for the first time in 1974
and held in 1976.
“I haven’t really factored Carter into my
calculations very much,” Stockmeyer said.
“But if he continues to flounder about,
especially on issues that ebunf, like infla-
. tion, he’s got to give us some help.”
“Even 2 points off his standing in 1976
would give us 25 seats,” Stockmeyer
said. And 25, added to the open Demo
cratic seats, could produce a 1966-size
shift.
(c) 1978, The Washington Post
Letters to the editor
Handicapped suffer again with seating policy
Editor:
I attended the student government
meeting Wednesday evening March 8,
1978 and would like to express my ap
preciation of Senator Joe Young and
Senator Linda Sandstedt in their exquisite
demonstration of the Spirit of A&M. They
were the main proponents of a bill, SB78-
053-(ll), which moved the students with
lesser disabilities,, students recently out of
the hospital, pregnant women and stu
dents older than average from the consid
eration section, which was the first five
rows in the upper deck to the “good seats”
behind the horseshoe area.
I am sorry that these representatives of
the students feel that I should not have
served my country in the military and
have broken my leg. I am also sorry that
they feel that I should have been more
careful and not allowed the bones on my
compound fracture to slip back inside the
skin and muscle so it could not be properly
cleaned which results in the possiblity of
developing osteomyelitis in the leg which
within a period of two weeks can cause the
leg to turn red, swell and be amputated.
I do feel gratitude to these two seantors
and the others that did allow three of us to
attend the meeting but felt that we could
not properly express our view or answer
any possible questions. Others were al
lowed to speak later on more worthy issues
than consideration for lesser disabled and
pregnant women.
Thanks again to these senators who rep
resented the student body so well in stat
ing that there were just not enough seats
available for these students. It was
brought out that these students just did
not have quite the same spirit of the more
normal students that could stand and that
our spirit was more closely related to the
alumni who did not need to stand to show
their spirit. I was under the mistaken im
pression that I was also a student at A&M
and fairly loyal for rooting my team on.
Sorry Senator Young and Senator
Sandstedt, maybe you can perform a mira
cle and heal these people and make these
women not be pregnant so that they will
have the Spirit of A&M and not be consid
ered as two percenters.
— Jessie W. Cowan
Graduate student—Entomology
Pro abortion
Slouch
Editor:
I think that the ad for pregnancy termi
nation was most needed. Styre it is all well
and good for you boys tj) scream im-
by Jim Earle
morality and murder but then you re not
having the baby — you aren’t risking your
life for that of another. Some of the aver
age risks involved are:
1) Blood clots - they are nine time
higher in pregnant women than non.
2) Heart attacks - the risk is greatest dur
ing delivery.
3) Eclampsia
4) Kidney infections
5) Anemia
But each pregnant woman runs her own
set of risks. Since this might not bother
you — lots of women have babies. Let’s
discuss constitutional rights — what about
those of the mother or doesn’t she have
any. You are denying her rights to pursue
happiness by wanting her to have un
wanted children — for whatever reason.
Also I would like to point out that a
child’s “unalienable rights’ do not begin
until it can survive outside of the womb.
The abortion laws allow legal abortions up
to 20 weeks. Up until that time the fetus
has no rights because of the fact it cannot
survive without the mother.
Most unwanted children are abused by
the parents for destroying their lives —
espicially if they had to get married. Is this
right to the child? What about raped
women that conceive? Should they have to
have that baby — a constant reminder of a
horrible thing done to her? I suppose it’s
better to put the family through financial
and emotional trauma.
, Last but not least 9 times out of 10 the
woman assumes responsibility for the
child no matter what their circumstances
of having the child were. All too many guys
leave the responsibility of birth control on
the woman’s shoulders. Okay then, if
women want abortions, for whatever rea
sons she shoidd not be denied the right to
do so. A woman’s body is her own just the
same as a man’s is his own.
— Ruthanne Taylor, ’80
bat out of hell trying to make the light on
University Drive. I feel that the campus
police should periodically stake this area
out and enforce both the speed limit and
the stop signs.
— Bob Hugman
AngryCon
Traffic control
BJ.tU.ff- k '-tO l. ^
J.PA./C '/-7f
NOW WE NEED A CANDIDATE FOR CLEAN-UP MAN!’
Editor:
It may not be long before there is a
pedestrian hit at one of the crosswalks to
the student parking lot behind the Zachry
Engineering Center. The signs instructing
drivers to stop for pedestrians in the
crosswalks are ignored by many drivers
who feel that if they drive fast enough, no
one in his right mind would step into the
street.
I suspect a large portion of the violators
are non-students who are taking a short
cut across campus. I have had several close
calls with middle-age types driving like a
Editor:
Congratulations! We didn’t think that it
was possible, but you managed to surpass
last January’s WarCon article. Monday’s
article on AggieCon contained the most
varied assortment of mistakes and clouded
half-truths that I’ve seen in any recent Batt
article. I’m not one to complain, however I
felt that these mistakes should not be left
uncorrected.
Item #1: CRAB Nebula is an off-campus
science fiction society. It is neither a part
of nor recognized by Texas A&M Univer
sity. Furthermore, CRAB Nebula, as an
organization, had nothing to do with Ag
gieCon.
Item#2: Louise Seguin paid $28 for
three dealers tables.
Item #3: All three of the films listed
in the article were nighttime films, not
nighttime and daytime films as was in
dicated in the article.
Item #4: Only one writers’ seminar
took place at AggieCon.
Item #5: The article implied that there
was only one guest author at AggieCon,
Texas writer Joe Pumilia. The article failed
to mention AggieCon s Guest of Honor,
Damon Knight, a well-known science fic
tion writer and editor; AggieCon’s special
guest, Alan Dena Foster, author of the
Flinx and Star Log series; AggieCon’s
Toastmaster, Wilson Tucker; and the six
Texas writers and artists in addition to
Pumilia, who attended the convention.
I could list at least five other errors, but
I won’t. Negligent journalism like this is.
typical of the Batt. I feel that journalism
students should be more professional
when they write articles to published in
the Batt. Indeed when journalists write
anything that will influence the public,
care should be taken to make certain that
the facts are reported.
— Becky Matthews
Chairman-elect, Cepheid Variable
Editor’s note: Congratulations to you,
too! It’s good to know you read The Battal
ion so carefully. A daily critique of our
typical negligence would be very useful.
Perhaps you could give us some examples.
Our office is at Reed McDonald 216. We
stand corrected on the AggieCon story.
Top of the News
Campus
Films, panel set for library week
In celebration of National Library Week the Sterling C Evans I
Library will present a program of animated films tonight in Room 226 1
beginning at 7:30. Dr. Harriette Andreadis, assistant professor of I
English, will present the program. On Thursday at noon there willk [
a panel discussion on the role of the research library in meet
research, teaching and community needs. Panel members will be Dr,
Roscoe Lewis, professor, biochemistry and biophysics; Dr. Norman]
Thomas, associate professor, sociology and anthropology, and Dr
Paul Crawford, assistant director, Texas Petroleum Research Com ]
mittee. After the discussion, a special award will be made to a faculty]
member who has contributed to the development of the library in
terms of collection development and library use.
wm
State
Appeal on horse racing issue >•
Opponents of legalized horse race gambling in Texas asked the 3rd H
Court of Civil Appeals Monday in Austin to require a Travis Count) I
district court to reconsider attempts to ban the issue from the May 61
Democratic primary ballot. Randall Wood, attorney for the oppo- I
nents of the pari-mutuel betting referendum, said he expects the K
appellate court to act within one or two days on the appeal.
Natural gas price increases
The complex settlement plan in the LoVaca Gathering Co. con
troversy will mean immediate increases of more than 1 percent in
natural gas prices for millions of customers, officials revealed Monday
in Austin. LoVaca’s rates would increase 2 percent in the second year
of the plan under consideration by the Texas Railroad Commission
The cities of Waco, Irving, Abilene, Denison, Dallas, Richardson,
Duncanville, Rockwall and Crystal City and several private industries
protested the proposed settlement.
T1
dent
Stud
Pres
bloo
Mill
Heroin best for cancer pain?
Two government-sponsored studies will begin soon to see if heroin
is more effective than morphine in relieving severe pain experienced
by cancer patients, it was reported in Houston Monday. Several
approaches to relieving pain are being investigated across the coun
try, including neurosurgical destruction of pain pathways to the
brain, hypnosis, electrical stimulation of nerve cells and experiments
with various pain-killing drugs. Heroin Inis long been used in En
gland to treat chronic pain in cancer patients, but it has been out
lawed in the United States for clecndt's.
Nation
Park denies offering bribes
South Korean businessman Tongsun Park, telling his story in pub
lic for the first time, Monday identified for a House committee the
congressmen he paid about $8()(),()(X)-nioney he said was used solely
to conduct private business. Park, the accused middleman in an al
leged scheme to curry favor for the South Korean goverqjpent among
influential members of Congress, told the House Ethics Committee
in Washington he was sorry for “certain things that I did, but he
denied he acted improperly. Most of the money he paid out. Park
said, went to men no longer in Congress. But he insisted he always
acted in his capacity as a private businessman, not as a South Korean
government agent paying bribes.
Wayne undergoes heart surgery
Academy Award winner John Wayne, who lately said he had been
losing his “zip,” Monday underwent successful open heart surgery
during which a valve in his heart was replaced with one from a pig.
The 70-year-old actor underwent a three-hour operation at Massa
chusetts General Hospital in Boston, which began at 7:15 a m.
Monday, was to replace a mitral valve which controls the flow of
blood between the left atrium and the left ventricle of the heart. “The
valve which was replaced came for the heart of a pig,” said Dr.
Roman DeSanctis, head of the MGH cardiology team. “It is a fairly
common operation, not uncommon in older people.” The operation,
conducted by a team of cardiac surgeons headed by Dr. Mortimer
Buckley, was termed “uneventful.” Buckley said the new valve will
function the same as the original and can easily be repaired and
replaced if need be. Although very early in his post-operative
course, his condition is satisfactory,” a hospital statement said.
Wayne, who lost a portion of his left lung to cancer 14 years ago, will
remain in the intensive care unit for two to three days, doctors said.
Doctors said Wayne will remain at the hospital 12 to 21 days.
• \A
Wheat donated to Vietnam
The Antiochia, the first American ship to enter Vietnam’s waters
since the end of the war, set sail Monday with a $2 million cargo of
wheat donated by American farmers for the hungry citizens of that
country. The project was undertaken by the Church World Serivce,
the international development and relief arm of the National Council
of Churches and by CROP, an anti-hunger organization. The bulk of
the wheat was donated by financially hard-pressed Midwestern farm-
• I
Weather
Partly cloudy today, tonight and Wednesday with consider
able early morning cloudiness. High today mid-80s, low to
night mid-60s. Winds from the southeast at 15-20 mph. 20%
chance of rain on Wednesday.
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.
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subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The
editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does
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Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, The
Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, College
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MEMBER
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Congress
Editor :... J:
Managing Editor Mary Alice
Sports Editor l^
News Editors Marie Ilomeyer. Uin't]
Assistant Managing Editor Clcnnii
City Editor kinvi
Campus Editor ^ I "
Reporters Liz Nowlin.
Mark Patterson, Lee Roy DvschptTjb
Welch. Jim Crawley. AntM'
Paige Beasley. Bold'
Photographers Susan Wehb. Daviib'
Cartoonist I^ 1 '
Student Publications Board: Boh (.’. Roget'x.
Joe Arredondo, Dr. Gary Halter, Dr. Charles Mdf"
Dr. Clinton A. Phillips. Rebel Rice Durctoroj
Publications: Doruild C. Johnson.
'■ . ■ •