A
Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Tuesday
May 2, 1978
Confession time
This is a confession.
We left a story untold in the belief that telling it would do more harm than
good. But not telling it changed nothing and did no good at all.
The story is that of KAMU-FM, the University’s radio station. The Univer
sity budget for next year has been approved by University administrators and
sent to the board of regents without any funding for KAMU-FM. Without
renewal of the money the station received from the University for its operating
costs this year, KAMU-FM will go off the air Aug. 31. The station is not
providing enough educational opportunities, administrators say.
The Battalion first reported January 18 that the station’s funding would
probably not be renewed. At that time the entire University budget was still
under-going that marvelous crap shoot called the budgetary process. And
everyone “knows” that a story about anything more in that budgetary process
is sure to doom it to banishment from the budget.
So an interesting thing happened. Another story on the radio station’s
budget cut did not appear in the Battalion until April 28, over three months
after the first story. That story reported that University administrators had
made a final decision to cut KAMU’s funds and only the board of regents could
save the station.
The problem is this. The majority of both KAMU’s student staff and the
Battalion stall are in Texas A&M’s communications department. Believing it
would be in the best interest of the station, we said nothing, hoping for a
miracle from the budgetary mumbo-jumbo.
We blew it. Given a golden opportunity to let some light into the musty
closets where most budget decisions are made, we procrastinated when we
should have printed. Would we have done the same for another department’s
budget problems?
So, KAMU-FM seems doomed. The board of regents simply does not make
many changes in the budget which the University administration recom
mends each year.
It seems a shame to cut off the station hardly a year after it came on the air.
Whether more extensive Battalion reporting could have saved the station is a
moot point. But more reporting mignt have better illuminated that budget
process that every single element of Texas A&M must undergo to remain in
exsitence.
—L.R.L.
Krueger, Christie duel
By ANDREA VALLS
Battalion Staff
Texas voters witnessed a political fencing
match on television Monday night. The
prize is a seat in the United States Senate.
And in this match between Joe Christie
and Bob Krueger, Democratic candidates
for Senate, Krueger emerged the winner.
The battle lasted only an hour. Each man
was well-equipped, but with two different
sets ofpolitical armor. While Krueger stuck
'‘his opponent’s mistakes.
Commentary
Christie maintained he was the logical
democratic choice in the primary because
his personal integrity had never been chal
lenged He constantly referred to
Kruegei s 72 percent attendance record in
Congress and said Krueger misused public
funds by campaigning for Senate while on
Congressional payroll.
Krueger calmly told Christie he had not
“done his homework” because Krueger s
only Washington reimbursement was for a
district trip within his official duties.
From the spectator’s view, Krueger won
simply by guarding himself from Christie’s
blows with his past record in Congress and
his title as “Most Effective Freshman Con
gressman.” Even though Christie took a
firm stand on several issues, many of his
comments were shaded with safeguards
such as “unlike my opponent...”
Throughout the debate, Christie main
tained his devotion to his constituency and
stressed more vocational education to
combat unemployment. Yet, when discuss
ing the Panama Canal Treaty, Christie said
regardless of what a public poll showed he
would vote for the Panama Canal Treaty
because it was in the interest of the coun
try, even if it was not what the majority of
his constituency desired.
And in this duel, that contradiction was
his mistake.
The interesting part of the debate was
the final appearance of the two candidates.
Krueger was nearing the end of his rope,
frustrated by Christie’s constant jabs at his
record. Krueger’s only noticeable battle
scars were bulging eyes and a forced smile.
Christie just slumped his shoulders more
and more as the debate progressed.
But this one hour fencing fiasco was ben
eficial in one respect. It forced both candi
dates to take a stand on some crucial issues.
Solo appearances and political campaign
brochures give the voter only a tunnel view
of the candidate. The candidate decides
what the citizen will know and can fit the
size of the tunnel’s diameter to his specifi
cations.
But when candidates put themselves in a
public arena to fight out the issues, a victor
always emerges.
Readers’ Forum
Guest viewpoints, in addi
tion to Letters to the Editor.,
are welcome. All pieces sub
mitted to Readers forum
should be:
• Typed triple space
• Limited to BO characters pei
line
• Limited to 100 lines
Slouch
by Jim Earle
The ‘Tiger’ speaks
By JIM CRAWLEY
Olin Teague, the retiring local Con
gressman, did what he promised he
wouldn’t. But no one really expected him
to keep his promise.
His endorsement, Friday, of former
Teague aide Chet Edwards brought obvi
ous joy to Edwards. Disgruntled by the
announcement are Phil Gramm, Ron
Godbey, Don McNiel, Kay Jones, and Bill
Powers. They oppose Edwards in Satur
day’s Democratic Party primary for
Teague’s 6th Congressional seat.
Teague said he was forced to endorse
Edwards because of the “intellectual dis
honesty’’ of forerunners Gramm and God
bey.
THIS LATE ENDORSEMENT can
only help Edwards and take away from the
other five candidates, Edwards’ campaign
needs the boost that the endorsement will
give him in the last week of the campaign.
Teague backers and political allies have
been given the word by their leader. And
the words are “Vote Edwards.”
Several instances of “dishonesty were
cited by Teague.
Politics
Concerning Gramm, Teague said the
Texas A&M economics professor was
“misrepresenting the truth” at several
points duriug the cainpaigp 1 .'Some of these
chargesXve're: Gram'm'elaimed'+he backirig
of Teague supporters and Teague himself,
maintained he worked in Teague’s cam
paign in 1974, and said House Majority
Leader Jim Wright of Fort Worth was in
terested in his (Gramm’s) abilities.
Teague charged Godbey with renting an
unfurnished apartment within the district
for his 1976 campaign against Teague and
Teague said the former TV weatherman
also didn’t vote in the 1976 primary and
general elections.
EDWARDS’ ELATION over the
endorsement was expected. The other
candidates issued press releases, com
menting on the endorsement, which tried
to play the entire situation coolly. Gramm
and Godbey issued separate statements
saying that Teague was incorrect in his
charges of “intellectual dishonesty.”
Gramm stated Friday that Teague’s
charges were wrong. He then attempted
to use the occasion to his own advantage.
Godbey stated that he lived in his
apartment during the 1976 primary elec
tion and that he voted in both 1976 elec
tions.
McNiel said, “Most people I talk to
think that Mr. Teague’s shoes are too big
to be filled by a 26-year-old aide whose
Letters to the editor
only full time job has been on his own fed
eral government payroll.”
Teague’s endorsement wasn’t a shock to
anyone. A few people were surprised that
Teague reversed his earlier decision not to
endorse anyone for his position. But
Teague has been helping the Edwards’
campaign for the past five months.
Since December Teague has “assisted”
and “supported” the Edwards campaign.
He has issued favorable press releases, at
tended campaign fund-raisers of Ed
wards’, and attacked Gramm for Gramm’s
attempt to associate himself with the Con
gressman.
THE ENDORSEMENT may be too
late to get Edwards in the runoff. Gramm
is the obvious leader in the race, but the
all-important second place is still up for
grabs. The current outlook is for a runoff in
June with Gramm against the second-
place wild card.
With less than a week left in the cam
paign, Edwards has to use every second of
his campaign to remind the voters that he
has the support and the endorsement of
the present Congressman. The voters who
equate Edwards with Teague’s record may
make the difference between a win or a
loss this weekend.
Edwards, with his grassroots support,
may be able to pull off such a difficult
last-minute task. Because of his work on
Teague’s last campaign, he has contacts
throughout the district that he has been
using during the campaign. But many of
-these former Teague backers ‘have been
undecided. Some should decide for Ed
wards because of the Friday announce
ment.
TEAGUE WAS WISE to wait this long
before “officially” endorsing his former
aide. First, it minimizes the attacks on
Teague and Edwards from the other can
didates. Second, the endorsement, in the
last days of the campaign, is generating a
large amount of free publicity for Ed
wards. Third, the other candidates can’t
retaliate against the retiring Congressman
because of his position in the minds of the
district’s voters.
The endorsement did the most damage
to Gramm, because many of the former
Teague supporters would have gone to
Gramm without the endorsement.
Gramm seems to be worried. Friday he
said, “The negative thing about this is that
rather than talking about the issues and
qualifications, I’m having to answer
charges from someone who is not a candi
date.”
Gramm said early in the campaign he
wanted to stay on the road with the issues,
where he feels safe. Now he’s had to get
onto shoulder of the road and into the
gravel and mud.
All pilots aren’t idiots
IF THERE’S ANYTHING I DISLIKE, IT’S A GRADUATING SENIOR!’
Editor:
This is in response to V.S. Wolfson’s
April 25 letter (concerning air traffic
around Texas A&M).
No there is not a convention, a new
training school or students who are intent
on flying circles over campus. If you were
to look on a map you would find that Eas-
terwood field is less than three miles from
campus.
The field is served by three runways of
which there are no less than two different
approaches which require a pilot to fly di
rectly over campus at altitudes between
660 and 1100 feet above sea level. The air
port’s elevation is 320 feet above sea level.
As long as the airport is open to the pub
lic, we will continue to see heavy useage
by both private and military aircraft. Yes
there are some pilots who break rules, but
that does not justify calling all pilots idiots.
You have your facts messed up; the only
recent talk about closing something on
Easterwood is the control tower.
Hopefully you will learn to appreciate
flying some day in the future.
—Donald McDonald
Former president,
Texas A&M Flying Club
Lease problems
Editor:
We feel it is our duty to bring to the
attention of the University community a
problem involving the leasing of apart
ments in this area.
Some apartment managers at this time
are requiring their tenants to give definite
commitments for the fall 1978 and spring
1979 semesters (either to sign a new lease
or to indicate the apartment will be va
cated). If neither is done, the manager as
sumes the right to lease the apartment to
others. This means that even a person with
a lease which expires in August must make
a definite commitment now for the follow
ing year.
To compound the problem, the lease
states that 30 days notice is required be
fore vacating apartments, and this has
caused some misunderstanding. In reality,
the manager may pre-lease an apartment
in which you live for the term after your
lease ends as long as you are told at least
30 days in advance that your lease ends on
the date specified.
As far as we know, this policy is followed
only by the apartments owned by Colum
bia Properties (Sausalito, Sundance, Scan-
dia, etc.). The management felt they were
doing the tenants a favor by allowing them
to pre-lease their own apartments well in
advance.
We understand that Columbia wanted
to be assured that all their apartments
would be rented for next year — that’s
clever planning. But we feel that it is un
reasonable to place such demands on stu
dents, and downright unfair to those ten
ants who aren’t students. We ask that the
managers clearly state their policy with
regard to pre-leasing at the time that a
lease is signed, or better yet, put the pol
icy into the lease in writing.
Let’s face it, students need apartments
in which to live, but there are enough
apartments now available in this area that
students can afford to be choosy for a
change. Such policies cause poor relations
with students who already pay high rents,
and they may choose to move if they feel
that they are being exploited.
—Mike Aucoin,
Julie Peterson,
Ann Woods,
Laurie Larson,
Cindy Price,
Carol Carmichael
Top of the News
Campus
Cofer funeral services held
Funeral services for David Brooks Gofer, 92, of 110 Pershing,
College Station, were held today at the Hillier Funeral Chapel with
the burial in the Bryan City Cemetery. Gofer retired in May 1957
after 47 years with the Texas A&M University English department.
He served as the University’s first archivist and wrote five publica
tions on the early history of the Agricultural and Mechanical College
of Texas. Gofer was a member of the American Association of Univer
sity Professors, the First Baptist Church of College Station and a
charter member of the College Station Kiwanis Club. He is survived
by his wife, Mrs. Sarah Nancy Gofer of College Station; one son,
David Brooks Gofer Jr. of Bryan; two daughters, Mrs. Cedric R,
Landon Jr. of Houston and Mrs. Frank S. Haines of New Orleans,
La., and eight grandchildren.
State
Nuclear waste plant opposed
Gov. Dolph Briscoe said Monday he will not permit construction ol
any nuclear waste disposal facility in Texas that could endanger the
health and well-being of residents. He said preliminary geological
studies are under way in Texas and a number of other states to locate
possible sites for disposal of nuclear wastes. My position is and
always has been that I must start out as being opposed to locating any
such facility in Texas,” the governor said. “My office has been
monitoring the progress of these preliminary studies and will con
tinue to do so.” He said his office has been instrumental in making
experts available to local and regional governmental entities to review
the studies.
Weak pipes cause Hyatt flooding
Dallas fire officials said structural weakening in iron piping proba
bly caused a water line rupture in the new Hyatt Regency Hotel. The
break Sunday flooded four floors and created spectacular waterfalls in
the open elevator shafts that rise from the lobby below. Damage
estimates were unavailable but hotel spokeswoman Nancy Leitstein
said between 50 and 75 rooms, some of them occupied, had been
flooded. Occupants of affected rooms were moved to different quar
ters. There were no injuries. Leitstein said an eight-inch pipe that
feeds the sprinkler system for the $75 million hotel ruptured about
10:30 a. m. in a service stairwell. Most of the damage was confined to
floors 16 through 19, but a second floor restaurant also was damaged
by water cascading down an elevator shaft. Fire Capt. John ftoaz
attributed the break to structural weakening under the weight of nine
stories of iron piping above the 19th floor.
Nation
Radioactive shipments blocked
Thirty demonstrators, including former Pentagon analyst Daniel
Ellsberg, spent their second night camped on the railroad tracks
leading to the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant to block incoming
shipments of plutonium. An estimated 5,(XX) protestors gathered dur
ing the weekend but most had left Sunday night. Judy Wilkerson, a
leader of the small group calling itself the Rocky Flats Truth Force,
said they will remain on the tracks indefinitely to block future ship
ments of radioactive material to the 11,000-acre plant, located 16
miles northwest of Denver. “The point is to try to block the
plutonium, ’ she said Sunday night. “ We re not trying to interfere with
the workers at the plant at all. We want them to be retrained for new
jobs.” Ed Young, security director at the plant, said Sunday he would
allow the demonstrators to remain on the tracks, but did not know
what would happen when a train eventually needed access to the
plant. Yound did not say when the shipment was due.
Oil firm sold for $300 million
An agreement in principle has been reached for a $300 million
acquisition of a Texas-based subsidiary of the Union Pacific Corp., it
was announced Monday. Under the agreement announced by the
Union Pacific Corp. and Shenandoah Oil Corp., the Champlin Petro
leum Co., a UP subsidiary, would acquire Shenandoah Oil for an
estimated $130 million in cash and assume an existing debt of $170
million. The estimated $130 million in cash woidd be distributed to
Shenandoah shareholders in exchange for their common stock valued
at $40 per share.
World
V.N. soldiers killed in Lebanon
Three U.N. peace-keeping soldiers and two Palestinian guerrillas
were killed Monday in a land-mine explosion and a crash near pos
itions just vacated by Israel in southern Lebanon, U.N. officials said.
French U.N. troops some three miles inland from the southwestern
port of Tyre fought a gun and grenade battle with a group of guerrillas
seeking to cross U.N. lines, a U.N. spokesman said. Later, three
Senegalese U.N. soldiers were killed and a fourth wounded when
their jeep detonated a land mine near Bayada, some seven miles
south of Tyre, the spokesman said. The explosion was the second
since U.N. troops took up positions between Palestinian guerrillas
and an Israeli invasion force in March, and the fifth fatal U.N. casu
alty.
Weather
Cloudy skies today with thunderstorms, some possibly se
vere. Continued cloudy and cooler on Wednesday. High
today mid-70s, low tonight upper 50s. High tomorrow upper
60s. Winds from the east-northeast at 10-15 mph. 60 per
cent chance of rain today, 70 percent tonight and 40 percent
tomorrow.
The Battalion
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or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of
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Editorial policy is determined by the editor.
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Editor KimT)^
Managing Editor Karen R^-
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