Viewpoint The Battalion Friday Texas A&M University September 15, 1978 Time for hard dealing at Camp David The Mideast summit meeting.is one confer ence that must not be permitted to fail. When ambassadors meet and disagree, there is recourse to foreign ministers. When foreign ministers fall into deadlock, a meeting of heads of state is a safety net. When heads of state fail, there is no higher court of appeal, and the gener als start dusting off their contingency plans. Thus there is high risk in Carter’s diplomatic rescue mission. Yet he had no other choice. Begin and Sadat, through inflexibility and error, had brought the peace process to a halt. Before Carter proposed a last-ditch effort at Camp David, Egypt had been studying its military options. On the surface there is little ground to expect a settlement. Carter ought to tell Begin and Sadat the blunt truth, which comprises the following: —The American people are sick of seemingly endless hostilities in the Middle East. They are willing to contribute financially to the area in the context of peace, but they are tired of helping to finance wars between Israel and Egypt. —If Begin thinks he can achieve peace with the Arabs while continuing to occupy the territory overrun in 1967, he is out of his mind. America is committed to Israel’s security within its old bor ders, not to Begin s territorial appetites. —If Sadat thinks Israel will, or should, with draw from the occupied territories without ironclad arrangements for its security, he is being as shortsighted as Begin. —Any idiot or blunderer can make war in the Middle East; it is that easy. It is time for Sadat and Begin to strive for statesmanship, to move toward the peace their peoples yearn for, but do not know how to achieve. And as long as we are delivering unsolicited advice, we have some for the political set in Washington that enjoys carving up Jimmy Carter: lay off him about the Mideast as he tries to avert another Arab-Israeli war. Criticism of his diplo macy won’t help at this time. When a man is trying to defuse a time bomb, don’t jostle him. Scripps-Howard Newspapers When ‘only good news’ bad news By ANDY WILLIAMS Battalion Campus Editor There was nothing particularly alarming about the incident itself. Things like it happen every day on college campuses, always have, always will. After consulting several sources, this is the story that emerged: Shortly after midnight Sept. 7, 18 stu dents broke into another man’s dormitory room. Angered by a remark he’d made about an organization they were in, they’d decided to teach him a lesson. The man was bound, gagged, and car ried from the room towards the stairs. While he was being gagged, he felt fingers slip into his mouth—he bit them and was slugged in the face. As the group got to the staircase, the man’s neighbors were roused by the racket and rushed from their rooms. Surprised, the men dropped him on the stairs and ran. The man’s friends took him to the Uni versity clinic, where he was treated for what the doctor in charge called “multiple superficial abrasions and a swollen right foot. In other words, he wasn’t badly hurt. There were no deep cuts, no frac tures, and no concussion. Discipline was enforced—the man who hit the victim was placed on “conduct pro bation by the University, and the other 17 were required to stay in their dorms for the following three weekends. Nothing unusual—yet. Commentary At most universities, the incident would have been routinely reported to the local media by authorities; it would have rated a small story on an inside page of the news paper and little or no mention by broad casters. Probably less than half the people in the community would have remem bered the incident the next day. And, except for one factor, that is doubt less the sequence of events that would have followed at Texas A&M University. But these men were in the Corps of Cadets, and that made all the difference. The victim’s name is Kevin Cotton. He’s a senior. Somehow he was indiscreet enough to criticize another outfit of the Corps—the Cavalry—and be overheard. The Battalion heard of the incident the same way students did: through rumor, and with considerable exaggeration. It was never reported by any official, and we heard nothing about it until four days after the fact. The first, and mistaken, understanding was that 18 men had gone to Cotton’s room, hauled him out of bed, punched him around, and deliberately thrown him down the stairs. Actually, Bob Kamensky, the Corps commander (who was not involved in the incident but who made his own investiga tion), says the intent of the Cavalry mem bers was to take Cotton well away from the campus, strip him and tie his clothes to a horse. The practice is called “ hauling off," and was outlawed four years ago, though it still goes on with some regularity, Kamensky said. Subsequent attempts by a Battalion re porter to discover the details of the inci dent were blocked. The Guard Room refused to give her Cotton’s phone number, although that is one of its normal functions. Corps Commandant James R. Woodall told her the incident was a “Corps affair," and said it was none of her business. A cadet named Gotten, contacted by mistake, claimed that he was Kevin Cotton and demanded that nothing be written about the hauling off. And Kamensky, finally invited Wed nesday night to a parley with Battalion editors by the reporter, said he was “ proud his men had refused to speak to reporters. While he gave out the informa tion freely, he asked that the Battalion not print anything about the incident. The suppression of information from the media is ugly. It leads to what it led to here: rumors. And it balloons—from this beginning, it would be easy to believe the Corps, or any other group that fears nega tive publicity, would be willing to cover up more serious matters. It indicates an almost paranoiac fear of letting anything defamatory, however slight, get into the public’s view. And that is alarming. The early bird By HELEN THOMAS UPI White House Reporter WASHINGTON — All signs indicate Letters to the editor Band is for men—only President Carter is running for re- election. And the most prominent indica tion is the way he is transforming his new White House staff into a mini-campaign operation. The hiring of image-maker and advertis ing expert Gerald Rafshoon was the kick off. Rafshoon’s changes in the White House setup already are becoming evident as he digs in. AROUND THE TIME that Rafshoon moved into Richard Nixon’s hideaway of fice in the Executive Office Building, ap pointments secretary Tim Kraft took over a political liaison position. Washington Window From his office near the Oval Office, Kraft has organized a series of White House sessions with Carter and other ad ministration aides on a state-by-state basis for Democratic leaders and rank and file party members to improve the lines of communication. On such days, lunch for all is held at Blair House, the president’s guest house. Rafshoon also has become a chief coor dinator in helping the president to put his best foot forward. First to come on board was Anne Wexler, a Democratic party worker since the the days of Harry Truman. An early Carter supporter, it has been her job to line up support for the president’s prog rams — and the president —- among vari ous groups in the country. TO ENHANCE HIS sagging prestige with Jewish leaders and the Jewish com munity, Carter has hired Los Angeles lawyer Edward Sanders to be his liaison chief. He has an office in the White House and an office in the State Department, keeping tabs on administration policy so that there is no further alienation from Jewish voters. The $50,000-a-year job was created by Carter, but Sanders has been put on the State Department payroll. Former Democratic National Commit tee vice chairman Louis Martin also has been named to be Carter’s chief link with black leaders and the black community. Martin is a political pro and well liked in black circles. Carter has a lot of fence-mending to do with black leaders who were the first to complain that he was not living up to his campaign promises. The president also dropped Midge Cos tanza, former vice mayor of Rochester, N.Y., who was on his senior staff and was of his first political supporters, and re placed her with Sarah Weddington, first named as general counsel in the Agricul ture Department. Weddington, a former member of the Texas legislature, has been given her marching orders — to win ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and to be in charge of wo men’s affairs. ON ANOTHER FRONT, Carter has been holding a series of White House din ners, at the behest of Rafshoon, for the top executives of newspapers, newspaper chains and television networks. Since he took office he also has invited out-of-town editors and broadcast correspondents to a Friday interview every two weeks or so. At the end of such sessions, he poses for a photograph with each editor. The president and his wife also have a heavy campaign travel schedule this fall in support of Democratic candidates, and these efforts may pay off in 1980. At some point, there will be the ques tion of whether an aide is devoting full time to politics or to serving the govern ment. Apparently, that comes later. Car ter so far has declined to tip his hand. But it is beginning to look as if he is putting his political house in order. Editor: In reference to the letter written by Miss Elizabeth Stephens appearing in the September 13 issue of the Battalion: Miss Stephens, from the gist of your let ter, you must not realize the long-held traditions at this university, one of which is connected specifically with the Fighting Texas Aggie Band. The band has always, and hopefully will always, consist exclu sively of male members. Aggies take pride in this unit and its outstandingly unique style, which in the opinion of many is beyond compare to any other band. If you honestly feel that you are not receiving a fair shake, why not con sider looking into another university. Be lieve it or not, honey, Highway 6 runs both ways. —Cindy Childress, ‘80 Robin Parker, ‘80 "Because he enjoys if Editor: I’d like to give some special recognition and appreciation to a local businessman. Mr. J. E. Loupot has proved over and over, he is on the student’s side. There is a feeling among some students that merchants in B-CS are out for their money. Mr. Loupot is an honest businessman who is out to help students, simply be cause he enjoys doing it. —Marilyn S. Files ‘Student’ is back Editor: This letter is in response to the distribu tion of Today’s Student at Texas A&M this fall. I am glad the newspaper is again being put out on campus. I enjoyed the paper immensely last year and appreciated the different articles it contained. —Anne Tadlock, ‘81 Spirit dying Editor: As Aggie Seniors, recent events have caused us to become concerned about trends at Aggieland. There is a long stand ing Aggie tradition that has been nearly forgotten. That is, “HOWDY!” Doesn’t anyone around here know what it means? It’s rare enough that you get a smile from anyone—much less a “Howdy!’ If you say “Howdy!” to someone around here these days, a “none of your business” look usually results. Even c.t.’s (who are supposed to embody the Spirit of Aggie land) are guilty of ignoring this tradition in great numbers. Unless things change soon, we are convinced the Aggie Spirit is dying, and this campus is turning into a t.u.—at College Station. Another Aggie tradition is being ig nored, seniority. Now sophomores share red sticker status with the juniors and seniors, and seniors are having to park out where they parked when they were fish (lot 40). If they’re going to break the park- ing lots up into freshmen and up perclassmen, why don’t they go ahead and break it up completely into the academic classifications—letting seniors have the closest spaces to the dorms, letting juniors have the next closest, etc. The way things are going, if were lucky, senior football tickets may actually be in the stands this year.... —Jim Guerra, ‘79 Frank Dunn, ‘79 David Phillips, ‘79 Bruce P. Cummings, ‘79 Michael A Deck, ‘79 Daryl E. Taraba, ‘79 Bill Ellington, ‘79 Top of the News Campus Football highlights for new faculty New faculty are invited to view films of highlights of the 1977 Aggie football season. The sceening is set for 8 p.m. Thursday in the lounge at Wofford Cain Hall. If members of new faculty have made reserva tions, they are asked to confirm them with the dean of faculties office. Other new faculty also may make reservations with that office. Israeli aide to speak at A&M Arthur Avnon, Israeli vice consul, will speak at Political Forums first program Tuesday. Avnon will discuss "Israel’s Future—Swords or Plowshares.” The program will begin at 8 p.m. in Room 601 of | Rudder Tower. State Mob linked to Houston arson Houston authorities Thursday disclosed suspicion of organized crime links to a dozen local arson eases. W.M. Rothgeb, local agentin charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said he sees an organized crime influence in some of the arsons. Leonard H Mikeska, Houston’s chief arson investigator, testified Wednesday be fore a U.S. Senate Subcommittee investigating arsons. Mikeskasaid. "You can find an arsonist to burn down anything in Houston at any number of bars in town.” Mikeska blamed insurance companies for overinsuring clients and prosecutors for putting inexperienced lawyers on arson cases. He said arson was “out of control” and blamed organized crime for 30 percent of it. bu Houston men linked to oil fraud WA= (nitecz uring= icre ~ :port- ther \_ [riffin Mo= Four Houston businessmen, along with three Florida busineessmen, were indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on charges of participating in an illegal scheme to inflate fiiel oil prices to a Florida-based utility outfit during the 1973-1974 oil crises. The four men, James B. Clark, president of Larcon Petroleum Corp. Houston Ronald Pruitt, Houston attorney; John L. Bums, former executive with charter International Oil Corp. Houston; and Raymond F. Cran- lund, Houston oil broker, were charged with 12 counts of mail fraud and fraud by wire. The indictment charges the defendants with rais ing oil prices that was sold to a Florida power plant. rme iddle BI'sC port- izes a_ Cons may be heading for Texas Two of the four Tennessee convicts, who shot their way to freedom during a prison bowling outing in Dickson, Term., Wednesday were captured near the Missouri border. The two men, George Bonds,24, and Floyd Brewer, 28, tried to crash their way through a police roadblock. The other two missing convicts, Ronald Lyons and Larry Chism, were believed to be headed toward Texas. The ;e in J dice The ordin bring ompa^ "Eve Nation Congressman faces payoff chargt J Hit. u I ( COJ ws. The House Ethics Committee filed charges Wednesday against Democratic representative Joshua Eilberg of Pennsylvania. The committe filed a three-count “statement of alleged violations’ acefe- ing Eilberg of improper conduct in receiving more than $100,000as^ payoff for helping guide federal funds to a Philadelphia hospital Consulates moving to Houston The closing of New Orleans third largest consulate was announced Wednesday by Consul General Peter van Resburg during a meeting of the International House Board of Directors. South African officials said they will close their consulate in January and move to Houston. Ecuador also announced their intention of moving to Houston. One Houston official said the moving of the South African and Ecuador consulates was a complete surprise. World i Castro meets guerrilla chief Rhodesian guerrilla leader Joshua Nkomo arrived Thursday in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa for talks with Cuban President Fidel Castro. The escalating war in Rhodesia was the expected topic of discussion. Manila plane crash kills 30 A Philippine presidential plane carrying celebrators from President Marcos’ birthday party crashed near Manila airport Thursday, killing 30 people. A presidential spokesman said neither Marcos nor any ol his family were aboard the plane. Witnesses said the plane was trying to land in a rainstorm when it clipped the tops of four trees and crashed through 20 homes and exploded a mile short of the runway. Weather Mostly cloudy today with showers and thundershowers. High near 90s and low in the mid-70s. Southerly wind at 10 mph. Probability of rain 60% today, 20% tonight and 30% tomor row. The Battalion LETTERS POUCY Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone 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 tising Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress The Battalion is published Monday through Friday from September through May except during exam and holiday periods and the summer, when it is published on Tuesday through Thursday. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per school year; $35.(X) per full year. Advertising rates fur nished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. United Press International is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it. Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. Second-Class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. Editor Kim Tvs) Managing Editor Liz New Assistant Managing Editor . .Karen 1 Sports Editor David I City Editor Jamie Aill* Campus Editor AndyWillial News Editors Carolyn I Debbie Parsons Editorial Director Lee R