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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 11, 1978)
Viewpoint Tuesday July 11, 1978 The Battalion Texas A&M University Democratic train year behind schedule By DAVID S. BRODER WASHINGTON — In organizational, financial and political terms, the White House and the Democratic National Committee are about one year behind schedule in their preparations tor the mid-term election now 4-1 months away. They are lagging largely because of the past inattention from the President and his political aides — an oversight they are now making haste to correct. But their exer tions, it became clear at last month’s meet ings of Democratic Party leaders in Wash ington, are coming too late to let Jimmy Carter and his agents make much of a posi tive contribution to the November cam paigns. At this stage, about all that Carter can do is try to ease some of the frustrations party leaders have felt with him -— and then hope that the Democratic candidates’ independent resources, which are consid erable, will enable them to survive the Republican challenge in November. The record of past neglect is positively awesome. Last week, 17 months after Car ter took office, the White House finally got around to the basic political courtesy of having the Democratic state chairmen and national committee members in for a drink and a chat. The gratitude these officials expressed for such small favors as a per sonal photograph with the President and a quick question-and-answer session with some of his aides shows how needless was the past year’s negligence. “We should have done this a year ago,” said Tim Kraft, the newly designated presidential assistant for party affairs. But a year ago, able politician Kraft was man aging Carter’s personal schedule, and neither he nor anyone else on the senior staff could be bothered with anything hav ing to do with the Democratic Party. While the simple act of socializing quieted many of the past complaints from party officials, other damages from the lost year cannot be repaired so easily. The na tional Democratic Party is broke — sad dled with a $57,000-a-month payment on past debts, still forced into short-term bor rowing to meet its monthly $62,000 payroll and rent. Its plans to build a solid financial base by repeated direct-mail prospecting for small contributors have been stymied by the incessant need for quick cash. Its corps of generous Jewish contributors has been thinned by distrust of the administrations’s Middle East policies. Organizationally, the national commit tee is nowhere. Its field organization is nonexistent. Major Democratic campaigns around the country are unable to find ex perienced managers, in part because the party has done little to train such mana gers since Carter took office. The people whom Carter named in 1977 to run the party — and then left to sink or swim on their own — have all departed, unmourned. The new leaders — John C. White as national chairman, Evan Dobelle and Charles Manatt in fund-raising, and Dan Horgan in campaign organization — may be better qualified than what Horgan calls the “B-team’ they replaced. But all four are new to their respon sibilities and struggling to find their foot ing. Horgan hopes to have the start of a field organization in place by September. Dobelle hopes to clear the debt by next June. But both are aware that these long term efforts are much too late to help in 1978. Fortunately for the Democrats, their of ficeholders have not been waiting for the laggard White House and Democratic Na tional Committee. Democratic incum bents (who comprise three-fourths of the governors, two-thirds of the representa tives, and three-fifths of the senators) are doing just fine, thank you, in using the advantage of office to build their own cam paign treasuries and personal campaign organizations. Most of them have also taken the pre caution of separating themselves from those Carter policies which are poison in their states and districts. Only one incumbent Democratic senator whose seat was up this year sup ported Carter on both the Panama Canal treaties and the Middle East jet sales package. That man. Sen. Paul Hatfield, was defeated in the Montana Democratic primary. His loss will confirm the deter mination of other Democrats running this year to go their own way, regardless of Carter’s wishes. By financing and organizing their own campaigns and taking their own policy stands, incumbent Democrats may sur vive. But even a good showing by the party in the mid-term election would not necesarily help President Carter. Because of the past year’s neglect. Car ter now faces a heads-I-lose, tails-you-win situation. A Democratic mid-term victory to which the White House contributed lit tle would only tend to increase the politi cal independence of those re-elected gov ernors and members of Congress. A seri ous defeat would inevitably bring severe scapegoating of Carter and his policies. Either way, the neglect of party affairs the past year will exact a price from the President. (c) 1978, The Washington Post Cooks spoiling Lebanese soup By MICHAEL ROSS United Press International Lebanon in its latest crisis, which threatens to boil over into a more serious confrontation between Israel and Syria, is like the proverbial soup being spoiled by too many cooks. . Israel accuses Syria of the “massacre” of Lebanon’s not-so- helpl ess Christians. Syria insists the uncooperative Christian militias, members of the Maronite sect, iriust somehow be brought to heel. Leba non’s frustrated Christian president, Elias Sarkis, insists that everything will work out all right if everyone else will just leave him alone and let him get on with running the country. To prove they meant business, the Sy rians last week shelled the Christian sec tors of Beirut, killing 170 persons. To prove the Israelis meant business, Prime Minister Menachem Begin sent warplanes to buzz Beirut while his aides spoke omin ously about unspecified “steps” to be taken to save Israel’s Christian allies from defeat. Finallv and more pathetically, to prove he meant business, Elias Sarkis threatened to quit. The Syrian attack and Israeli saber- rattling obsures what is really at stake in Lebanon and the reasons each side has for overheating an already bubbling cauldron. It was Israel’s chief of military intelli gence, Maj. Gen. Shlomo Gazit, who best explained Syria’s intentions in Lebanon in a way that even Damascus radio could not refute. Syria, Gazit told reporters, is out to dis arm the Christian militias and impose a Syrian peace on Lebanon. What Gazit left unsaid was that Syria first sent its troops into Lebanon to save from certain defeat the very same Christians it is now busily attacking in Beirut. That was almost two years ago when the Syrians intervened to stop the carnage of the Lebanese civil war and, more impor tantly for them, to gain control of the Palestinian guerrillas and restrict their movements everywhere in Lebanon ex cept the south, where the Israelis warned the Syrians not to go. Commentary According to the Damascus game plan, Syria was to remain in Lebanon while Sar kis, installed in the presidency in Syrian- managed elections, was rebuilding the government and the shattered army into a Lebanese (albeit Syrian-supervised) force that could gradually take over peace keeping duties. But the self-serving leaders of Leba non’s right-wing Christian militias, realiz ing by then that the Syrians had outlived |y^Jk|--l|\p)e|!«I^^L£Xat.©R60rCWlC , « > 7RBjNE- their usefuless to them, did not play by those rules. After having invited the Syrians into Lebanon, they refused to let them enter areas under their control. Capitalizing on Christian-Moslem distrust, they obstructed Sarkis’ efforts to build an inte grated army from the ruins of what was, before the civil war, a predominantly Christian force. To Syria’s further dismay, the right- wing nTfmias formed a military alliance with Israel in the south and refused Sarkis’ orders to turn over their positions to the U.N. peacekeeping troops dispatched after the Israeli invasion in March. And to spark the latest explosion, they assassinated Tony Franjieh, leader of the one Christian militia still on good terms with Syria and a personal friend of Rifat Assad, younger brother of Syrian Presi dent Hafez Assad. Assad did not take the decision to com mit 30,000 of his troops to Lebanon lightly. He did so only when it appeared that the Christian forces were on the verge of defeat at the hands of the Palestinians in the civil war. It is reasonable to assume that he also does not take lightly his failure to impose the Pax Syriana on Lebanon. To pull out of Lebanon now would be to admit failure, something that would fur ther erode Assad’s prestige and drat could cause his political downfall. It would also force him to forfeit the one arguable advantage he has gained from Lebanon — control of the Palestinian guerrilla movement. This is an advantage Assad will clearly want to press if ever there is a Middle East peace settlement. With Egypt now pursuing its own agree ment, the Palestinians are the only chip that Syria has to bargain with. The Israeli interest in Lebanon is less complicated, but, their legitimate concern for the fate of innocent civilians aside, is no less self-serving. They too have cause to discredit the Sy rians and see Lebanon revert to a Maro nite Christian state. The alternative is to risk seeing Lebanon turn into another “confrontation state” should Egypt aban don its peace hopes and return to the militants’ fold. Nor could the PLO be expected to fare well in a Maronite Christian controlled state. The tragedy in that scenario is that a lot of innocents — Moslems, Christians and Palestinians — would die before that control could be asserted. The tragedy in the present stalemate is that Lebanon may never be rebuilt, at least not as long as the Middle East stalemate persists. But the largest tragedy of all — re peated in Beirut this week — is that inno cent civilians have and will continue to die as long as everyone with an army or a militia uses Lebanon as the pot in which to stir the Middle East’s hatreds. Uncle Sam’s inequality game By ARNOLD SAWISLAK United Press International WASHINGTON — Before we get talked to death about the Supreme Court’s Bakke decision, two facts ought to be rec ognized: The decision did not establish equality in college admissions, and it does not clash with either national policy or practice. In the first instance, the ruling specifi cally endorsed giving minority applicants an advantage in selecting students to fill Letters to the Editor Editor: Is there some mysterious power that protects Aggies from illness and injury over the holiday weekends? Evidently those at the Beutel Health Center believe so. On Monday July 3 approximately 8:30 p. m., a young lady was injured off campus. Upon arrival at the emergency room at the Beutel Health Center it was discovered that they were closed for the holiday weekend. Since this was not a life or death matter (6 stitches), this delay was more of an inconvenience than the cause of a catas trophe, but the situation could have been different. This raises questions in our minds as to the purpose of the health center, and the corresponding fee. A sign on the door said the center was closed for the holiday and classes with limited space. Justice Lewis Powell, the swing man on the decision, cited admission systems that give special weight to an applicant’s racial or ethnic background along with other qualities such as academic standing, lead ership potential and athletic ability. Such plans, he said, stand the test of “equal pro tection” that numerical quota systems do not. The system the court threw out was like a card game which Bakke could win while playing against other whites, but never care could be obtained at St. Joseph's Hospital at our own expense. Unfortu nately injuries do not stop for holidays and we do not feel our health center fees should cease coverage either. Cheer up Aggies, the University library remained open over the holiday! In an emergency you may check out a medical book and treat yourself. — Steven A. Boone, ’78 F. Harold Hollister, ’79 Slipping by Editor: Recently I visited the A.P. Beutel Health Center and, approaching the desk to check in, an employee informed me that students must have their fee slips in order to receive the services of the facility. Of against blacks. The kind of plan Powell ap proved would require everyone to play in the same game, but permit the dealer to give minority students an extra card. To some people this looks like one of those legal fictions which judges and lawyers love but which defy lay under standing. Why, the non-lawyer might ask, is it illegal to establish a numerical quota for minority students, but okay to establish admission standards that are intended to achieve the same result? Obviously, this isn’t equality. It favors holidays course, she had to make sure that my Health Center fee had been paid. Not being in the habit of carrying around receipts, this necessitated a trip back to the. apartment for me and, con sequently, about a two hour delay in see ing a doctor. A number of other students seemed to be encountering the same prob lem. It is understandable that the Health Center must know you’ve paid for the services they provide, but shouldn’t they have this information instead of relying on students to carry around fee receipts? Would it be that difficult to get a com puter printout of those who have paid Health Center fees? The Library, for example, doesn’t seem to have any prob lem obtaining information on students with overdue books. — John T. Duke, ’79 minorities. And we know the reason: to attempt to rectify the injury of decades during which the benefits of American so ciety were denied to blacks and other minorities in this country. What we need to face is that this policy of giving an edge to minorities is not some whim of bureaucrats or judges, but a commitment of the entire United States government. It is the result of the civil rights protests of the 1960s, the great national debate that they provoked and a series of presidential actions, judicial rulings and congressional enactments intended to end discrimina tion and to varying degrees rectify past wrongs. In one way or another, every element of national government — Congress, the federal courts and the presidency — took part in development of the policy before Allan Bakke ever went to court. The Bakke decision provides guidelines for the appli cation of the policy, but does not change its substance. National policy providing benefits to particular groups is not a new concept. For years, we have given military veterans extra test points in civil service exam inations. We favor American companies in awarding government contracts. We give an edge to economically-distressed states and localities in allocating federal grants. We provide aid to the physically hand icapped. All of these programs help specific people and, in areas where resources are limited, can be said to discriminate against others. We do it because, after examining the values that underlie our society, it is right. Injuries don t stop for Top of the New Campus File graduation applications Iexas A&M University students who expect to completed^ requirements during the second suinmer term must make fun* application to graduate by Friday, July 21. A degree application!> tion will be set up during summer school registration in C. Kul White CoUseium on Friday, July 14. said R H. Baine, assist* registrar. The $8 graduation fee can be paid at that time TV students who do register on July 14 must pa\ the fee in the Coi Building fiscal Office before filing applications. Graducate stud,, applications are in the Graduate College, 125 Teague and uni graduates apply at the Registrar s office in Heaton Hall. W State Organized crime in Te: FI C] H 1< 12 xas up Organized crime activity continues to flourish in stepped up efforts to combat it. the Texas Organized ( Bon Council in Austin has reported. The council he ,dt General John Hill, said i n its annual report that oigam Texans $3.3 billion during 1977 The council \ nd I t dominant form of organized crime act is its Tex ,s ‘ dt'l evidence of organized crime involvement in fe,u ini£ , chandise, prostitution, pornography, theft fraud. 1 exas desp • rime Prevu d by Attun* '< d crimed traffic fa| <1 stolen ne n i uitiling d R Woman kills son L A E L S A Tomball woman awakened hv noise and killed what she thought was a'prowle son. I olice said Anne Sebree. 67, heard .38-caliber pistol and fired once in the h house. The man turned out to be her soi Oklahoma City. Okla.. businessman w! his mother by giving her a surprise hii union. 11 i •.'lav 4 out tobek me, tookk ale her4 icoree, Zr.i •d to Mitpn nd family ft SALT talks stressed Secretary' of State Cyrus Vance, sncakii dissidents opened in Washington, said \l negotiations (SALT talks) are so important to other East-West issues Vance told t ne departure for strategic arms limitation Minister Andrei Gromxkn that U S Sox h gravated by the Soviet cumoaitm .o.^t F if two Soil is iimtati ot be lab >n thr tv let Fold e Iwedji Nation Hospital holds visitor When George Price drove a friend to the Wtei Hospital in Providence, R | |,,sf winter S11 didn’t believe he was Just a visitor Price D ,»f P a $2 million suit against the VA Hosoit il i Medical Center in Cranston charging he wax n drugged and held as a patient for four da\s in istrati ipparentl le Shooting investigation opened )r Miami police were looking lor a 72 shooting death of his 73-year-old girlfri another man. Police said Joseph Thom; from the home of Sadie Sheffield, w h wound in the face. Police said the cou year ago, when she asked him to move- downtown Miami. He moved into a corner from her home. "He accused he one else, the homocidc detectixr said. >1.1 id do was 1 died d lived toi He’d been th >cien (!>' ha\ gest ds e\ ons nt oi Chen 1 bk tre I ypep Js ui ERA needs Congress approval nt. Backers of the Equal Rights Amend men s rights demonstration, fanned out across ( ington Monday in an effort to salvage ERA with sion of its ratification deadline. Support, “equality of rights under the law shall i account of sex" concede the survival which returned Monday from a 10-day the ratification period beyond its currt supporters acknowledge they are unlikt proval of 38 states. logic aorta •ft ER tol Hill in Uaw, -x.-n \. sir i*xteftj pr >t be d« pr. iridc. 1. Che \ h, U.tl, . ong ,h< ' W ithout extensiond dline next March 21 luster the ncededi World o Hanoi to exchange embassies Vietnamese Vice Foreign Minister Phan Ilien, in a major polio aboutface, said Monday in Tokyo that Hanoi is ready to exchanp embassies with the United States without a pledge of aid by Washing ton. "Even if the U.S. Congress rejects the reconstruction aid, \« look forward to establishing full diplomatic ties (with tlu> United States),’’ Hien said. Italian President sworn in Italy s first Socialist president, 81-year-old wartime resistance hen Sandro Pertini, pledged at his swearing-in ceremony in Rome It defend the nation’s independence and paid his respects to assassi nated former I remier Aldo Moro. I ertini, elected as a coioproiiiist candidate to save the shaky alliance of the ruling Christian Democrat! with the Socialists and Communists, took the oath of office Sundayl the heavily guarded Chamber of Deputies building. Weather Fair to partly cloudy today, tonight and tomorrow with hot days and warm nights. High today upper 90s, low tonight mid-70s High tomorrow upper 90s. Winds from the southeast at 10-11 mph diminishing tonight. The Battalion Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of tlu editor or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of the University administration or the Hoard of Hr gents. The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting enterprise operated by students as a university and com munity newspaper. Editorial policy is determined hy tlu editor. LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are subject to being cut to tfuit length or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters ami dors not guarantee to publish any letter Each letter must hr signed, show the address of the writer ami list a telephow 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- dsing Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Eos Angeles. Mail subscriptions arc $16.75 per seraeilf school year; $35. (XI per full year. Advert:,' nished on r.-rpu sl Address The Batt.ilra Herd McDonald Building. College Station,Ti United Press International is entitled ndr rise for reproduction of all news dispatchao Rights of reproduction of all other matter ho. Second-Class postage paid at College Statiw MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congrca The Battalion is published Monday through Friday from I September through May except during exam and holiday [periods and the summer, when it is published on Tu I through Thursday. sday Editor I Sports Editor V Jj News Editor |City Editor . Campus Editor j Photo Editor | ( Copyeditor Reporter il a Student Publications Board: Boh G. %iu Joe Arredondo, Dr. (•ary Halter, Dr. C/uirlnf Dr. Clinton A. Phillips, Rebel Hire DimU Publications: Donald C. John, 2(