Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Wednesday
June 7, 1978
A court with a handful of pebbles
We’re in another recession.
But it s not an economic recession this time. It’s a recession in free speech,
brought on by a set of recent Supreme Court decisions that seem well-
intentioned enough on the surface; but collectively, those decisions are mak
ing it harder and harder for this country’s free press to do its job.
In the most recent of these decisions, the high court said just one week ago
that police armed with a search warrant can legally make surprise searches of
offices in hopes of finding clues or evidence related to some crime even if no
one at the newspaper was involved in that crime.
That Stanford University Daily, the newspaper involved in the case, ar
gued that the police who searched the Daily’s offices in 1971 should have
subpoenaed the information they believed falsely the Daily had, rather than
come as they did, like thieves in the night. The release of subpoenaed
information can be contested .in court; material seized under a search war
rant cannot.
The Stanford Daily decision follows decisions which: denied reporters the
right to protect confidential sources; limited the press’ defenses against libel
suits; made it easier for citizens to sue for invasion of privacy, and barred the
press from some public court proceedings under some circumstances.
Now reporters cannot promise to confidential sources protection from
either inquisitive grand juries or marauding police on fishing expeditions.
And that promise is sometimes the only bargaining power a reporter has to
uncover a Watergate.
Freedom, like most other things we take for granted, is seldom killed with
one big rock. It’s “pebbled” to death, hit by just one tiny pebble at a time.
The Supreme Court is throwing lots of pebbles at freedom of the press these
days. L.R.L.
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Senate ethics committee back in action
By STEVE GERSTEL
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Eleven years ago
this month, Sen. John C. Stennis left his
office and briskly strode down the cor
ridor. He was on a grim mission.
Stennis, the courtly former judge
known for his personal integrity, went into
the office of Sen. Thomas J. Dodd of Con
necticut to deliver the verdict.
And Dodd, under investigation by the
Ethics Committee for using political funds
to pay personal expensed, was waiting.
As the report goes, Stennis, trying to
ease the impact, said to Dodd: “Tom, the
news is not all good. ”
And it wasn’t. The committee had voted
to recommend censure. Although the Sen
ate later dismissed some of the charges
and softened some of the language, Dodd
was censured by his colleagues.
For many years after that, the Ethics
Committee remained dormant. If there
were any allegations brought against
senators, they have remained a well-kept
secret despite the continuing shuffle
among its membership.
Talmadge has candidly admitted that
during his career in public service —
which spans 31 years — friends have given
him cash gifts of $5, $10 or $20 to help
defray day-to-day expenses.
In a letter to Stevenson, Talmadge said
the gifts “rarely, if ever,” exceeded $25 a
week, a pittance for a man who has hold
ings worth well over a million.
The Georgia Democrat also conceded
that he accepted clothing and let others
pay his hotel bills when he traveled
around the state.
In addition, Talmadge’s office has con
firmed that the Georgia senator filed er
roneous reports with the Secretary of the
Senate on his campaign expenditures.
Brooke’s case differs from Talmadge’s,
but is just as intriguing.
Brooke, who is up for reelection, has
conceded that he made a “misstatement”
on a deposition related to his divorce pro
ceedings when he claimed he owed an old
friend $49,000.
Confronted by the Boston Globe with
the fact that he failed to list the loan as a
liability on his statement of holdings — as
required by the Senate — Brooke said the
sum was really only $2,000.
If Brooke’s downward revision is cor
rect, then he should have no trouble with
the Ethics Committee. Loans under
$5,000 do not have to be disclosed.
The Boston Globe has also unearthed a
maze of financial dealings with a family
fund which may not be subject to the Sen
ate’s code of ethics.
What the judicial system may do and
how the electorate may react, is another
question.
Talmadge — despite the embarrass
ment of being pictured as a millionaire
who is willing to let friends stuff his pock
ets with small bills — may also get a clean
bill from the Ethics Committee.
Senators now are only required to list
gifts totalling more than $100 a year from
any individual with a direct interest in
legislation.
And previous rules, which also would
apply in the Talmadge case, required the
confidential disclosure of gifts of $50 or
more from an individual.
Only if Talmadge violated those limits
— which, if he did, would be extremely
hard to prove — could the Ethics Commit
tee bring charges against him.
U.S. military vs. Mother Nature
By DICK WEST
United Press International
Washington Window
Now, a reconstituted committee which
last year wrote a new code of ethics, has
two cases to investigate.
The senators involved are Sen. Herman
Talmadge of Georgia and Sen. Edward
Brooke of Massachusetts.
Their cases have nothing in common ex
cept that the information which exploded
into national headlines stems from ugly di
vorce proceedings which ended long mar
riages.
Talmadge and Brooke have both con
tacted the Ethics Committee — Talmadge
asking for a quick determination and
Brooke for a “review” of his situation.
The Committee, under the chairman
ship of Sen. Adlai Stevenson, D-Ill., has
already announced it will hold a prelimi
nary investigation into the Talmadge af
fair.
It is certain to grant Brooke’s request for
WASHINGTON — According to Rep.
Robin Beard, the Endangered Species Act
is beginning to endanger military training
plans.
The Tennessee Republican cited several
examples, including a report that six Army
bases had restricted training exercises to
avoid encroaching upon red-cockaded
woodpeckers.
Eventually, he warned at a recent House
hearing, the conflict between national de
fense and Mother Nature “may reach crisis
proportion.” Hmmmm.
Somewhere on the Western Front. Su
preme headquarters of the Allied Neutron
Bomb Force. The commanding general is
standing before a huge map, wooden
pointer in hand.
“All right, gentlemen, this is it — the
biggest military offensive in history. Here’s
our jumping off place — Torpor Bend on
the east bank of Buttermilk Creek. At 0600
hours the 1st Corps will cross on pontoon
bridges and secure the west bank prepa
ratory to an assault on Mt. Balderdash. Any
questions?”
A young lieutenant arises in the rear of
the room.
“Begging the general’s pardon, sir, but
crossing Buttermilk Creek at that point is
out of the question.”
The Tighter Side
The nape of the general’s neck takes on a
roseate glow. On his forehead a small artery
starts to pulsate erratically.
“Whatta ya mean we can’t cross there?
Our recon shows Torpor Bend is the ideal
spot for an operation of this type.”
Droplets forming on the lieutenant’s
upper lip and the twitching of an eyelid
betray a hint of stress.
“Begging the general’s pardon, sir, I
wasn’t questioning the general’s tactics.
I’m Lt. Tiddlehood, 1st Corps
Environmental Officer, in addition to other
duties, and it’s my job to inform you that
Torpor Bend in the sole remaining natural
habitat of the underslung guppy. ”
The general smites himself on the head
above the ear as though trying to clear his
hearing passages of some impediment.
“Thunderation, lieutenant! This is no
time for a nature lecture. We re having a
military briefing here,”
“I understand that, sir, but fdr the gen
eral’s information the underslung guppy is
on the international endangered species
list.”
The general blanches. “You mean...”
“Exactly, sir. Under terms of the Geneva
Convention on World Conservation, no
military action detrimental to an
endangered species is permitted.
“Because of anatomical peculiarities,
underslung guppies are unable to swim
more than three inches below the surface.
Erection of pontoon bridges would there
fore prevent those in Torpor Bend from
reaching their spawning grounds up
stream.”
“When do they spawn, lieutenant?”
“Every 39 minutes, sir.”
Very well, gentlemen. It appears we
have no choice. Have my aide prepare a
message notifying the enemy that the war
has been called off.”
Drug traffic keeping police busy ‘down under’
By John Shaw
International Writers Service
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Th ere was a
whiff of Arsenic and Old Lace in a federal
courtroom here not long ago as two aged
American women were given tough prison
sentences for drug smuggling. Their stiff
punishment, however, reflected less the
magnitude of their crime than the Austra
lian authorities efforts to crack down on a
growing narcotics traffic.
Vera Todd Hays and Florice Marie Bes-
sire, a grandmotherly pair from the tiny
town of La Pine, Ore., had pleaded guilty
to smuggling nearly two tons of hashish
from West Germany into Australia inside a
camper van. They contended that they had
been duped into the operation by Mrs.
Hay’s stepson.
IN SENTENCING THEM each to 14
years in jail, Judge James Staunton noted
that the women had led “worthwhile and
blameless lives” at home. But, he said, the
court was “obligated to show the dismay
and abhorrence of the community as re
gards such offenses.”
To a large extent, the judge’s severity
was symptomatic of a certain panic among
Australians who are awakening to the fact
that a drug culture is beginning to take hold
here.
This may surprise Americans, who have
long been accustomed to a narcotics prob
lem. But trends often arrive late in Austra
lia.
Drugs are not entirely new to Austra
lians, of course. There had been some bac
kyard cultivation of marijuana by advocates
of the so-called “alternative life-style,” and
vacationing students would occasionally
bring in narcotics from Asia. But within the
past few years, the market has grown.
It is estimated, for example, that there
are some 400,000 regular cannabis users in
Australia’s population of 14 million. Heroin
addiction is said to have jumped threefold
over the last three years, especially in the
18-to-24-year-old age group.
Inevitably, the drug business has be
come a big commercial and criminal
venture. Here in Sydney alone, with a
population of 3 million, the heroin trade
reportedly amounts to $50 billion per year.
APART FROM THEIR arrest of the lit
tle old ladies from Oregon, the police
helicopters recently uncovered a planta
tion of marijuana worth some $2 million
tucked away in a valley near Canberra, the
Australian capital. In another instance,
smugglers were caught carrying cannabis
from Southeast Asia to a remote Australian
cattle ranch.
It could be that drugs are being raised at
places in Australia’s vast “outback.” The
police hope that U.S. satellites, which are
used in normal agricultural surveys, can
furnish them with information on narcotics
farming.
The scale of the marijuana industry was
first revealed less than a year ago, when a
prominent businessman and political figure
vanished after suggesting that orange-
growers in the region between Sydney and
Melbourne were also cultivating drugs.
The businessman, who has not been seen
since, is presumed by the police to have
been murdered by gangsters. Government
investigators, empowered to subpoena
witnesses and probe bank accounts, are still
working on the case.
ANOTHER CASE, also under investi
gation, involves a heroin addict who fi
nanced his costly habit by serving as a drug
courier for a major narcotics ring. The
addict, who is still being questioned, has
been code-named “Mr. Melbourne” by the
police.
According to an official account, his first
mission took him to Taiwan, where he con
tacted a local shopkeeper who handed him
a sealed box of photographic film that actu
ally contained heroin.
On his route back, which had been care
fully prearranged by his employers, he flew
a scheduled airline to Bali, switched to
boats that carried him to the northern coast
of Australia, and finally boarded a light
plane to a private landing strip near Syd
ney. His fee for the job was $18,000.
On his second mission, a confederate
met him in Bangkok and guided him to the
Thai border with Burma, where he iden
tified himself to drug traders showing an
Australian postage stamp with its perfora
tions cut off. This time the box of photo
graphic film was packed with marijuana,
and his honorarium was $7,000.
Smuggling of this kind is now increasing,
and ironically, the more contraband seized,
the higher prices rise for drugs and the
more attractive the trade becomes to traf
fickers.
THE POLICE are encountering enor
mous difficulties — partly because of Aus
tralia’s proximity to Southeast Asia, a rich
source of drugs, and partly because this
continent’s extensive shoreline is tough to
control.
Australia, like the United States, has a
federal narcotics bureau. But in contrast
with the United States, which has been
dealing with the drug problem for some
time, the Australian bureau is only now
being strengthened. Present plans call for a
force of 150 agents, plainly an inadequate
staff.
Legislation is being drafted to impose
heavier penalties on traffickers, and pres
sure is also building up to legalize the per
sonal of marijuana, which is already toler
ated by police more concerned with con
centrating on professional smugglers of
hard drugs.
Among other remedies being considered
is the adoption of the British system of reg
istering heroin addicts and providing them
with free drug rations. The concept behind
this approach is to break the underworld
networks that push heroin.
All this indicates that Australia has got
ten into step with the rest of the modern
industrial world. Thus, as America discov
ered, progress has a price.
(Shaw, a columnist for the Sydney Sun,
writes on social and political issues in Aus
tralia.)
' OR
Top of the News
State
Judge pleads for defendants
Nine persons in Houston refused to enter pleas Tuesday tofelom
riot charges filed against them in a May 8 disturbance near Moody
Park. A state district judge entered innocent pleas on the defendants
behalf after the nine persons read identical typewritten statements
saying they disputed the legality of the indictments.
Military nixes three discos
The military in San Antonio has put three local discos on the "of
limits” list because of racial discrimination against black GIs, daiminj
that conditions in the clubs are detrimental to the health, welfarea
morale of the troops. Representatives of the clubs appeared before
the board and protested the move, saying the only reason they turned
anyone away was because the club was filled.
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Attorney General John Hill said today in Austin he will meet
Monday with about 30 state agency heads to outline his plans
curtailing state spending in 1979. Hill said he invited the executive
directors of 30 of the largest state agencies to the luncheon meeting
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Montoya to be buried
Former Sen. Joseph M. Montoya, the son of a gold miner'
grew up to become one of New Mexico’s most powerful political!
figures, will be buried Thursday in Santa Fe near where his pu
service career began four decades ago. Montoya, a Democrat'
gained national attention as a member of the Senate Watergale!
Committee, died Monday at the age of 62.
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Warning issued on fryers
Texas
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More than a quarter-million Great American Frying Machine|g*‘We hi
have faulty wiring and should be returned to the manufacturer,
the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It said the deep-fat fryeii-ieiiry, “j
may pose a potential shock hazard because wiring inside them couldi onc halan
move during use and make contact with the metal housing. So farta' ec t s of
shock injuries have been reported, it said. Neither were serious. “Whi
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Cattle shipment restricted
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Shipment of cattle into Texas from Arizona and New Mexico is The hr
being restricted because of an outbreak of screwworm in the two fegan Jun
states, officials reported Monday. There were 73 confirmed casesc:’' The ne^
screwworm in seven New Mexico counties during the first five dipt to c
months of this year, marking the worst outbreak in 15 years. There net eoroh
were another 559 cases reported in Arizona and 19 in California. not he
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Governor vetoes Laetrile bill
New York’s Gov. Hugh Carey Tuesday vetoed a bill that would
have permitted the use of Laetrile in treating cancer patients. Carey,
who vetoed a similar bill in 1977, said there is presently no greater
justification for legalizing the use of Laetrile than there was a year
ago.
Carter to speak on policy
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President Carter is expected to enunciate U.S. policy of coopera
tion and competition with the Soviet Union in a commencement
address Wednesday at the U.S. Naval Academy. Press secretary Jody
Powell said Carter has completed the draft of the speech, which will
sum up his view of East-West relations and reaffirm his current
policies.
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Search on for chimpanzees
Authorities Tuesday searched a forest in Bisenti, Italy, for two
chimpanzees that mauled five children in this central Italian village.
Officials said the animals escaped from a traveling circus camped
outside Bisenti Monday and attacked the children, biting and scratch
ing them over most of their bodies. One of them, 11-year-old
Graziano Modesti, was severely scratched in the face and was hos
pitalized.
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Terrorists made a bomb attack on a U.S. Army installation last
week in Bonn, West Germany, but it misfired and no one was in
jured, an Army spokesman said Tuesday. An explosives device went tor remj
off May 31 at the American Arms Hotel, a transient billet for soldiers ricane.
in Wiesbaden, the spokesman said. Damage was slight.
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Weather
Slight chance of thunder showers this morning with decreas
ing cloudiness this afternoon. Partly cloudy tonight & Thurs
day. High today mid 80s, low tonight upper 60s. High tomor
row mid 80s. Winds from the east-southeast at 5-10 mph.
20% chance of rain today.
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The Battalion
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Editor Debby^
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Student Publications Board: Boh G. Rogers, Ch
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