Viewpoint
The Battalion Tuesday
Texas A&M University April 25, 1978
Where is home
of free &
Now Mr. Carter has a diplomatic
triumph, but it is a curious one. It seems
once again Mr. Carter has buckled to the
shim and fancy of a two-bit dictator. The
passage of the Panama Canal treaties was
heralded as the opening of a new era of
relations between the U.S. and South
America. The treaty was to be the start of a
time of friendship, cooling of rhetoric, and
of a partnership.
Readers Forum
Yet no sooner had the U.S. Senate com
pleted action then General Torrijos started
to live up to his reputation of being a
“tin-horn dictator.” Torrijos announced
that not only was he prepared to seize the
canal if the Senate went against him. But
he also announced that the U.S. had no
right to keep the canal open — in direct
violation of the amended treaties — and
his troops would uphold that right. They
would do this by destroying the canal.
Of course Torrijos cannot be held fully
to blame for the sad state of affairs we are
in. During the ratification process Mr.
Carter talked out of both sides of his
mouth to get passage, trying on one hand
to satisfy the Senate and on the other Tor
rijos. In doing so he made most of the
United States rights under the treaty
worthless.
Indeed the question of the treaties
being in the best interest of this country is
mute. For our “partner refuses to respect
even the words on them. However, what
;*• r
shoidd we have expected from one whose
sense of honor and belief in the law is weak
at best. Perhaps the only law Torrijos
understands is a .45 automatic; that’s how
he came to power.
Mr. Carter said Gen. Torrijos was blow
ing off steam. This would fit the image of a
small child who has just bullied his way.
However, there is reason to believe that
there is some bite to Torrijos’s bark. Mr.
Carter knew before the vote that Torrijos
planned action against American forces in
the Zone. Yet he continued to talk of the
start of friendship. One can only wonder
who was the biggest fool in this affair?
The question now is will Torrijos wait
until the year 2000 as the treaties specify?
Or will he tire of waiting before then and
force the issue on a weak and tottering
President?
Finally, what type of precedent does
this set for our other negotiations? Mr.
Carter is scrambling for a strategic arms
limitation treaty. The Russians surely
must think that all they need to do is con
tinue stonewalling. Then based on prece
dent Mr. Carter will give in. At this time
the same cries of how a SALT agreement
must be ratified to keep the credibility of
the administration will be heard from the
White House.
What the United States and its hesitant
leader must realize is that we are the free
world’s leading power. That does not
mean we must push others around or bully
people. For a leader must command the
brave?
respect of his friends not through fear, but
through admiration. It is only those who
wish us or our friends ill who must fear us.
An analogy is that of a policeman. The
U.S. is the senior partner patrolling the
free world’s beat. Today we have more
help than 20 years ago. For example. West
Germany and other countries are there to
give assistance. But we are still the only
country strong enough physically to lead.
And as such the United States should not
let a mugger in Panama or an Al Capone in
Russia order and push us around. It sets a
damaging precedent.
Sure that is a nationalistic stand. The
facts of life are cold and hard to accept. But
there is not and probably will not be
another country who can protect our liber
ties or those of the free world.
It need not be left up to one’s imagina
tion to realize what would happen if the
U.S. abandoned its role. That happened in
the late 30s when a black-shirted, boot
stomping tyrant named Hitler was left
alone by Great Britain and France. It is
not hard to imagine what life, for even tiny
Panama, would be like if we abandon our
role.
That is what is truly alarming about the
last few days events. We have given in to
the threats of a dictator. As a nation we
should never negotiate under a blatant
threat or allow threats to deter our rights.
If we do we are through not only as a free
world’s leader, but as the home of the free
and the brave.
Oler is a junior political science major.
‘Holocaust’ — that none shall forget
By ARNOLD SAWISLAK
United Press International
WASHINGTON — It is always more
encouraging to see a disease prevented
than cured; to hear the affirmative used to
answer the negative.
For that reason, despite sincere objec
tions based on artistic merit or strict his
torical accuracy, NBC deserves credit for
television prime time to “Holocaust,” the
“docu-drama” that depicted the Nazi effort
to murder all the Jews in Europe.
What was shown last Sunday through
Wednesday began almost 40 years ago.
The median age of the U.S. population in
1976 was 29 years. More than 100 million
Americans have no personal recollections
of the period when the maniac Adolf Hi
tler set off the frenzy of butchery that de
stroyed millions of human beings he proc
laimed racially unfit or politically unac
ceptable to the New Order.
The argument is not that there is inhe
rent merit in reminding people of that
time. Many people feel that compulsive
dwelling on the horrors of the past serves
no purpose except to perpetuate hate and
bitterness.
Washington Window
But there is a constructive reason for
showing “Holocaust” and, about the same
time, the segment on the Nazi death
camps broadcast by CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
The reason is that there is in this coun
try a tiny but loud minority of arrested
development cases who have discovered a
way to get in the papers and on television.
That is to dress up as reincarnated Nazis
and to deify Hitler and his policies of
genocide.
These stunted minds have attracted far
more attention than their cause or their
numbers merit. They do so by demanding
the right to publicly celebrate Hitler’s
birthdate (now past) by parading through a
Chicago suburb heavily populated by
Jews, and more significantly, by a rela
tively large number of survivors of the
Nazi extermination program.
This demand has provoked an intense
debate about the constitutional rights of
Americans to espouse causes that offend
other Americans, even to the extent of ad
vocating the murder of fellow citizens.
Some debaters say what the American
Nazis want to do is protected by the free
speech guarantee of the First Amend
ment, no matter how gruesome the con
tent of their message.
Opponents argue that the Nazis are ex
pressing no opinions that require the pro
tection of the First Amendment and in fact
have forfeited their rights by inciting vio
lence — shouting “fire” in a crowded thea
ter, in the terms of Justice Holmes’ opin
ion on the proper limitations of free
speech.
Thus far, it appears the American Nazis
have the best of the legal argument. They
may get to march in June — which in our
win-conscious society might be taken by
some to give credence to their point of
view.
That is where the quality of response
comes in. Some had hoped that they
would lose their court cases and be re
strained from parading. Others have
suggested that the best thing to do is sim
ply ignore the Nazis. But both of those
solutions answer negativism with more of
the same.
By depicting what happened in the late
1930s and 1940s in Europe, the television
networks have shoXvn just what it is that
American Nazis want to glorify.
There really is no good reason to ob
serve Hitler’s birthday. But if some of our
fellow Americans insist, NBC and CBS
may have found the appropriate way to do
it.
Fetters to the editor
Sherwood nursing official responds to story
Editor:
The nursing home profession is strictly
regulated by the Federal and State Gov
ernment. Not only does the administrator
have to be a professional in the field, but
there are also guidelines set as to the
number of professional nurses or licensed
nurses that are required. For more than
eight years now, a nursing home cannot be
licensed unless it does have a licensed ad
ministrator operating the facility. To meet
the requirements for a licensed adminis
trator, the individual has to have the re
quired education and pass a National and
State examination before a license is is
sued. The license is good for two years and
can be renewed if the required continuing
education hours are met.
Sherwood Health Care Facility is locally
owned by individuals that were born and
raised in Brazos County. It opened its
doors in 1964 as a 60 bed facility, expanded
to 94 beds in 1969, to 128 beds in 1970,
and to 246 beds in 1974. In 1974, the facil
ity also added a modern kitchen and laun
dry. The dietary department is equipped
to feed 400 people.
Myself, I became administrator of
Sherwood Health Care Facility the latter
part of 1967. I hold a professional adminis
trator’s license and have since April, 1971.
Sherwood Health Care Facility is licensed
and approved to participate in the Medi
care Program, the Medicaid Program, the
Veterans Program and the CHAMPUS
Program. The facility is licensed for skilled
as well as moderate care services.
To deliver the best medical care, Sher
wood Health Care Facility employs a
Medical Director, Dr. H.S. Lipscomb,
has 4 registered nurses and 23 licensed vo
cational nurses on the staff along with the
necessary supporting people to deliver the
medical care necessary.
The dietary department has two dietary
supervisors that are qualified by the State
of Texas along with a consultant dietician
who has a Doctorate Degree in Food Nu
trition. They are supported by 15 cooks
and kitchen aides to deliver the proper
diet to the residents according to the
physicians’ orders. To keep a clean and
safe environment, Sherwood Health Care
Facility has contracted this service to pro
fessionals, Servicemaster, Inc. out of
Chicago, Illinois.
This facility also has a Social Activity
Department that keeps activities of differ
ent natures going for the residents’ bene
fits. A copy of the scheduled activities is
enclosed for your information. Sherwood
Health Care Facility also has a Physical
Therapy Department with a full time Reg
istered Physical Therapist on the staff
along with the compliment of aides to as
sist in giving the additional special services
that the resident may need to recover and
return to community life.
Ms. West has misquoted two of the em
ployees of Sherwood Health Care Facility
in her recent article, (Battalion, “Nursing
home nothingness,” April 12), and one of
the residents by printing false statements.
The resident she referred to in the article
has been in this facility for a number of
years and has never been restrained.
The residents do enjoy the outdoors at
Sherwood and some even have their own
little gardens. In a facility of this type,
there is the 1 percent that have to live in a
controlled environment with moderate
supervision from the social and emotional
standpoint.
Let me say in closing that the article
misrepresented Sherwood Health Care
Facility and the nursing home profession.
We assist people in getting well so they
are capable of returning to their home and
community. So far in April we have dis
charged eight people to return to their
homes.
— E.P. Sulik
Nursing Home Administratorl92
Sherwood Health Care Facility
Editor’s note: The Battalion stands by
its story.
Reagan wasn’t there
Editor:
I would like to apologize to Joe Reagan
for including him among the yell leaders
who did the yell at the Clements rally in my
letter which appeared Friday. He was not
one of them, and it was a gross error on my
part. —Harvey Laas
Aggie air circus
Editor:
Does it seem that recently Texas A&M,
along With the surrounding area, has be
come a crossroads for all of the world’s air-
traffic?
Is there a convention going on at Eas-
terwood (Airport)? Or is there a new flying
school nearby? Or are there a few, possi
ble more than a few students with access
to airplanes which are intent on flying cir
cles, not always at an appropriate al
titudes, around Texas A&M University
and surround apartment complexes?
Not pointing a finger at anyone in par
ticular, it is possible that some of the fu
ture pilots of the Air Force (now members
of the Corps of Cadets) may be in part
responsible. That would explain the mili
tary helicopter missing our apartment roof
by about thirty feet Sunday evening. It
would also explain the large number of
military type aircraft which, as long as
there is daylight, and some hours after
ward, fly in circles around campus.
Of course, with all the recent talk of
closing Easterwood Field, I’m sure the
FAA would be more than happy to speak
with the proper people. But then,
wouldn’t it be nice if most of the idiots who
are intent on breaking FAA rules and also
disturbing the many people who enjoy liv
ing life to sounds other than those of an
airplane engine, would discontinue their
rude flight practices and fly circles some
where else.
— V.S. Wulfson
Rus driver power
Editor:
This is in response to Mr. Fred Elbert’s
Slouch
April 13 letter. In your letter you stated
that anyone so desiring should support the
cause of their choice including the expul
sion of all Communists, hippies, atheists,
Ronald Reagan-haters and shuttlebus
drivers from America.
That’s fine. People have the right to
choose which cause they support But I’m a
shuttlebus driver and I don’t appreciate
one bit being classed with communists,
hippies, atheists and Ronald Reagan-
haters.
As corny as it may sound I am a God
fearing, patriotic, American; proud of my
country and the right to work at the job of
my choice. My job is not always pleasant,
but I do it and try to do it well — the
American way.
The next time you decide to climb up on
your soapbox, think first before you say or
write something that will show everyone
how much of a fool you really are.
— Linda Stanley
by Jim Earle
“YOU DON’T REALIZE HOW TOUGH IT IS BEING A GRADUATING
SENIOR! YOU CAN’T DECIDE WHETHER TO BE OUT PLAYING
OR STUDYING FOR FINALS!’’
Top of the News
State
NASA contacts Skylab
Flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston pre
pared for a late-night radio rendezvous with the orbiting Skylab space
station Monday, their second contact since the scientific mission
ended four years ago. A radio command from mission control was
relayed to the 25-mile high orbiting laboratory from a Madrid track
ing station a few minutes after midnight Sunday and received an
unexpected bonus when Skylab began transmitting data. If the craft is
frilly operable, NASA plans to order the 84-ton space station to
change its orbit in late June or early July to decrease its drag in the
very thin upper fringes of earth’s atmosphere. That change is ex
pected to keep the craft in orbit until the summer of 1980 when space
shuttle astronauts may try to send the laboratory to a higher long-
lasting orbit.
Nation
Space Congress opens
The three-day 5th Space Congress opens Wednesday at Cocoa
Beach with Astronaut John Young, who was nominated to command
the Space Shuttle’s first orbital mission in 1979, among the speakers.
Young is chief of the Astronaut Office at Houston’s Johnson Space
Center and is a veteran of space flights, two aboard Gemini spacecraft
and two aboard Apollo spacecraft. Young will also take part along with
astronauts Deke Slayton, Vance Brand and Joe Engle in a panel
discussion Thursday night, moderated by Lee Schere, director of the
Kennedy Space Center. Discussions will be held on space transport,
technology transfer, energy, advanced technology and the future of
space flight.
Satellite re-enters atmosphere
A non-nuclear Soviet satellite re-entered the earth’s atmoshpere
late Sunday and either burned up or fell jnto the ocean south of
Africa, scientists said Monday. A spokesman for the North American
Air Defense Command’s Space Defense Center in Colorado Springs
said the satellite, one of 4,550 orbiting the earth re-entered the
earth’s atmosphere about 6:30 p.m. CST Sunday. “There were no
visual sightings so we dont know if any pieces of it came down in the
ocean or not,” said Capt. Tom Koch. “It is quite possible it burned up
in the atmoshpere. Officials originally estimated the satellite would
have crashed somewhere north of Australia.
Vance returns from London talks
Secretary of State Cyrus Vance headed home to Washington
Monday following a five-nation London conference that a U.S.
spokesman said produced compromise proposals for the future of
South Africa. Vance’s return home marked the end of a 25,000-mile
swing that took him to southern Africa, the Soviet Union and Europe.
Vance made no statement on his trip, but an American spokesman
said he and four other Western foreign ministers had agreed on com
promise proposals for South West Africa, which is to become the
independent nation of Nambia. Vance and the foreign ministers of
Britain, Canada, France and West Germany met Sunday night and
agreed that South Africa should turn over power to the black majority
in the former German colony of South West Africa by the end of the
year. A U.S. spokesman said the five ministers also agreed on a
formula for the preservation of law and order in South West Africa.
World
Jet survivors brought home
A south Korean relief plane dropped off its Japanese passengers
and flew on to Seoul Monday, the last leg of a long trek homeward for
the survivors of the Korean jet that strayed over Soviet territory and
was attacked by MIG jet fighters. Officials said 58 passengers, most of
them Japanese, disembarked in Tokyo before the Korean Airlines 707
relief plane took off again for Seoul with the remaining 54 passengers
and crew. Yoshio Otani, a 50-year-old photography shop owner kept a
diary of the ordeal. “The compass gave false readings four hours after
the plane left Paris,” said Ontani. “When we got in over Soviet
territory, the captain said he tried to talk to Soviet air control but he
received no answer. All of a sudden it seemed like there was a rain-
shower in the seats in the left rear. Then there was a lot of smoke and
the plane began to dive. The pilot told us later we dropped from
33,000 feet to 5,000 feet.” The pilot, who managed to straighten out
the plane and land it on a frozen lake near the town of Kem, 230 miles
south of Murmansk, was later taken into custody along with the
navigator. The Soviets said they wanted to hold them for questioning
as to why the plane had strayed so far off course.
New demands set by guerrillas
A new message purporting to come from the Red Brigades guerrilla
group Monday in Rome named 13 ultraleftists whose freedom was
denied for the life of kidnapped ex-Premier Aldo Moro. The message,
received by newspaper office in Rome, Milan and Genoa, did not set
any new deadline after the Red Brigades let a previous death ul
timatum elapse in silence. “If this is not done, we will immediately
draw the due consequences and execute the sentence that has been
passed on Aldo Moro,” the new message said. It demanded the re
lease of Red Brigades founder Renato Curcio and several other stand
ing trial on terrorism charges with him in Turin, plus some members
of a Genoa terrorist cell and Cristoforo Piancone, a member of a
commando group who was wounded in the fatal ambush of a Turin
prison guard last week. The message, “Communique No.8, was the
first time the Red Brigades has named the prisoners whose release is
sought in return for Moro. Investigators said they believe the mes
sage to be genuine.
Weather
Mostly cloudy in the early morning hours today becoming
partly cloudy. Slight chance of thundershowers this morning.
High today low 80’s, low tonight mid-50s. High tomorrow
near 80. Winds from the north at 10-15 mph, diminishing
tonight. 20% chance of rain this morning.
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The Battalion
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Southwest Journalism Congress
Editor Kim 7)^
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