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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 1978)
Viewpoint The Battalion Texas A&M University Tuesday September 26, 1978 Teachers—a matter of supply and demand Striking teachers and those thinking about walking out to protest less- than-generous pay raises would do well, in the parlance of poker players, to check their hole cards. What they find there might not be reassuring. Every year, U.S. colleges graduate from 80,000 to 100,000 more qualified teachers than there are teaching jobs available. The total U.S. teacher surplus is about 500,000. If some teachers walk out, there are apparently plenty of potential teachers willing to walk in. We do not mean to take lightly the struggle by teachers to keep their pay at least in step with the rising cost of living. In fact, our sympathies are with the classroom teachers, those who actually do the teaching, take the papers home to grade, cope with the disciplinary problems and challenge our youngsters to learn and excel. Our complaint is with the increasingly bureaucratic school system, which employs more and more administrators and front office people, many of whom never darken the door of a classroom. And our complaint is also against a teaching system more and more dependent on glossy equipment and experimental techniques and new curricula, which captivate the educa tional theorists but have proven of dubious value in teaching basic skills. Nevertheless, the bitter truth is that there is a teacher surplus. All public employees who ignore the taxpayer revolt and the realities of public finance go out on strike at their own peril. Particularly teachers. Scripps-Howard Newspapers ■iim ■te&JUtv 11 The charge card to politics By CLAY F. RICHARDS UPI Political Reporter WASHINGTON — It soon will be pos sible to support your favorite political can didate by calling a toll-free number and charging the contribution on your credit card. Larry Schwartz, who for years has been the guy at the end of the telephone when television viewers call up to buy a set of golden oldie records or a miracle six-way kitchen gadget, is going into politics. “Until now a candidate has just used television to build his image,” he said in an interview. “Now he can use it to build grass roots support.” Based on his experience in other fields, Schwartz said using a telephone call-in system to raise money is three times more effective than a politician who concludes his advertisement with a plea that a check be mailed to his campaign. The Democratic National Committee used credit card pledging on its national fundraising telethons in the past but Schwartz may be the first to offer such ser vice to individual candidates. He has four candidates for governor or Senate under contract now and plans to have about 20 this year. His company, Na tional Order Systems Inc. of New York, is the only one in the political contributions business, he said. Politics Schwartz has 400 telephone operators answering calls on toll-free lines. They take down the amount of the contribution, the caller’s name, address and other in formation required by law, and either the credit card number, or the amount of a pledge if the viewer wants to be billed. “It’s so fantastically simple — the vie wer doesn’t have to find a pen, or an en velope, all he has to do is call in and give his credit card number,” Schwartz said. The operator also can ask callers for their telephone numbers in case the can didate later wants to contact them to work in the campaign. Schwartz doesn’t coach candidates on what to say or how to raise money. He does show them videotapes of other televi sion ads that have raised large amounts of money. He said he developed the system be cause federal election laws now limit con tributions by individuals to $1,000 per person, cutting out the big givers who often were the largest source of campaign funds. “Thus grassroots support is more impor tant than ever, and television is the best way to reach the grassroots,” Schwartz said. He hasn’t been in the political business long enough to show any results. But he says it’s worth the gamble for the politi cian, since he charges a flat rate per con tribution. And the candidate gets the benefit of the television exposure anyway. Schwartz charges from $1 to $3 per con tribution, depending on how much service is required. When the three percent cre dit card charge made by the bank is added on, he estimates the total cost to the can didate would average five percent of con- . . . , ...... .. f tributions. For $1 the candidate gets a simple cre dit card transaction. For more money the name and address of the contributor is fed into a computer and the next morning a “personalized" Mailgram from the candi date thanking the giver, along with a bill, is on the contributor’s desk. One benefit to the candidate is fast de livery of the money. A credit card slip from a contribution telephoned in can be taken to the bank the next morning and converted to cash. There is no waiting to the check to arrive in the mail, and to clear the bank. There is another benefit to the candi date. He has exclusive rights to the mail ing list of contributors that have given money to his campaign — a list which he can reuse in subsequent fundraising. In response to Schwartz’ request, his system has been declared legal by 21 states. The others haven't answered yet, except Utah which has a law prohibiting political contributions by credit card. The Federal Election Commission has also been asked its opinion of the system. Lobbyists squeaking around Congress By DICK WEST United Press International WASHINGTON — Over the years, members of Congress have become quite adept at pointing with pride, and about seven times out of 10 will direct attention to something truly noteworthy. But when it comes to viewing with alarm, myopia tends to set in. More often than not, the source of a lawgiver’s anxiety will be a minor or sec ondary peril, which, by pre-empting the congressional purview, leaves a more seri ous threat undescried. A classic example is Sen. William Prox- mire’s alarm over the “legions of mice” that have penetrated the Dirksen Office Building. Proxmire, whose threshold of ap prehension is among the lowest on Capitol Hill, arose on the Senate floor recently to warn of the mouse menace. “From the sixth floor to the sub basement,” he reported, the Dirksen building “has been invaded by a maraud ing battalion of scurrying, foraging ro dents.” The Lighter Side The accuracy of the Wisconsin Democ rat’s observations is not being challenged here. What I question are his priorities. More deserving of alarm viewing, I submit, is the infestation of congressional buildings by scurrying, foraging hordes of lobbyists. Proxmire told his colleagues the vermin invaders include “brown mice, white mice, soft furry mice, spotted mice, shorttailed mice, long-tailed mice, blunt- nosed mice.” That is truly a variegated inventory, but it doesn’t begin to match the varieties of lobbyists that throng Capitol corridors, hideaways and sanctum sanctorums. In just one room in the Dirksen building I once spotted oil lobbyists, gas lobbyists, coal lobbyists; airline, auto, truck, rail and public transporation lobbyists; labor, edu cation and consumer lobbyists; farm, steel, highway and shipyard lobbyists; and civil rights, equal rights, pro-abortion and anti-smoking lobbyists. And that was at a routine subcommittee hearing on a noncontroversial supplemen tal appropriations bill. Proxmire said the mice slip into the building through radiator pipe holes in the walls. I have not definitely established what mode of ingress lobbyists use, but I sus pect they slip in through tax loopholes. If the mouse holes were plugged, Prox mire said, “there would be so much extra room” it would not be necessary to finish the $122 million Hart Office Building now under construction. Yes, and if the space now being taken up by lobbyists were reclaimed, they could close the Dirksen building and move everyone into the old Russell Office Build ing. The mice, Proxmire declared, “are a brazen crew, entirely without fear. No room is inviolate, no conference so weighty as to be spared their squeaky pre sence.” I certainly wouldn’t say that about the lobbyists, however. As a rule, lobbyists don’t squeak. Letters to the Editor Ads should observe A&M traditions Editor: Last Thusday and Friday’s Battalion presented an advertisement from Shear Class Hairdressers with the caption “Shear Class Backs The Aggies” on pages 7 both days. We were stunned to notice that the picture was taken in front of the statue at the MSC and that the staff was standing on the grounds that were declared a memo rial to the former students who gave their lives in the service of our nation. Slouch Before this organization declares their support for our school they should take time to learn our traditions and honor them. We have no objections to photo graphs taken at landmarks on our campus but our memorials should be respected not abused for personal financial gains. Please explain Editor: I’ve been here for 5 years and will graduate in December, but I am still con fused as to some of the terminology used on campus. The term in question is “non- reg.” Maybe some of our fine, outstanding leaders of tomorrow (’s khaki fashion shows) can clarify the meaning for me. I can only find two definitions. In the first context it could be that all of the stu dents on campus are “not regular.” Is this in reference to defecation regularity and sanitation practises? I do not doubt that our Kald Klad Komrades keep such valu able statistics. The other possibility is that, it is refer ring to those individuals on campus that are not regular in appearance and dress. Hummm! The way I see it, being part of the “regulars” (28,000 strong), there are only 2,000 or so “non-regulars” or irregu lars on campus. It is time to correct this obvious misnomer so that regular indi viduals visiting our campus will not be misled about the majority of students in attendance at A&M. Please clarify or correct my interpreta tion. I am extremely anxious to read those letters containing references about tradi tion, bonfire, football, apple pie, and don’t forget. . .Chevrolet. J. Spencer Wendt Please vote Editor: This fall elections will be held to deter mine the next governor of our state and many other vital offices including a senator and congressmen. The participatory ; democracy our country was established upon depends on citizens to register and vote. As I have traveled across the state to colleges and universities, I have continued to be tremendously proud of the Aggies. I’m proud because Aggies are loyal to their school and take an active part in its organi zations and traditions. Because Aggies do this on our own campus it would follow that you would want to extend this partici pation to your own government. Part of college life is learning to cope with and handle the responsibilities of adult life. One of the mose important re sponsibilities is to help determine who will lead us in the coming years. I urge you all to register and vote. Whether you’re a freshman, graduate student or faculty member, please register now. Voter re gistration cards are available now in the Student Government office and various other places on campus. The deadline for registering is Oct. 6th. Please don’t be caught without being registered. Take part in your government as Aggies, as responsible citizens, so that we can con tinue to be proud of A&M and its graduates. Why not start a new tradition of being the Texas college or university with the largest number of registered voters?? -Laura Brockman, ’79 Off-Campus Undergraduate Senator Correction It was inaccurately reported to the Bat talion that the winner of the Corps bash Jalapeno contest was from Squadron 6 (Battalion, Sept. 25). The winner is in Squadron 7. -Paul Pausky, ’78 Ted Slemmons, ’78 Amando Ramirez, ’78 by Jim Earle “I WONDER WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR POT PLANT? IT’S BEEN SICK EVER SINCE YOU TOOK UP CHEWING TOBACCO.” The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will ob serve its 20th anniversary Sunday by honoring six former as tronauts at Cape Canaveral, Fla. President Carter will present the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Charles “Pete” Conrad, John H. Glenn and Alan B. Shepard. In addition, one medal will be presented posthumously to Virgil I. Grissom, who was killed in the 1967 Apollo 1 fire. Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon as commander of Apollo 11. Borman commanded Gemini Tin 1965 and the 1968 flight of Apollo 8. Conrad participated in four space flights from 1965 to 1973 when he commanded tbe Skylab 1 mission. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth, and Grissom was the second American in space. He also com manded the first two-man Gemini mission in 1965 and was killed in a flash fire at what then was Cape Kennedy in the Apollo 1 spacedraft during ground tests in 1967. Shepard w , as the first American in space and commanded the Apollo 14 moon flight. Nation Adair extinguishes gas well fire Thei Patt effoi Red Adair successfully smothered the largest natural gas well fire in Ohio history Monday using a mixture of mud chem icals and salt water. The high pressure gas well caught fire during capping efforts last Friday burning eight men, three seriously. The fire consumed $20,000 worth of natural gas daily and spewed flames as high as 60 feet in the air and 100 feet along the ground. he 51 rid V iemi surr Ithe . Kissinger may run for senate Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said Monday in Washington he may run for Sen. Jacob Javits’ seat if the*New! York Republican retires. But Kissinger said he has done ’’abso lutely nothing” about trying to get the GOP nomination. My view is that as long as Javits is playing tennis, he’s going to run for the Senate,” Kissinger said. “And he’s still playing tennis.” World prisoner exchange plans negotiated A second round of negotiations between American and Tur kish officials on a prisoner exchange treaty begins in Ankara this week, the Oregon Journal in Portland reported Sunday. If an agreement is reached, five Americans might be brought back to the United States by Christmas. All the Americans in Turkish jails are being held on drug charges. Two other Americans in Turkish jails and seven Turkish nationals in U.S. jails could be exchanged if a treaty is signed. Indonesia to shelter refugees Indonesian officials announced today temporary shelter will be given to more than 1,200 Vietnamese boat people who endured 11 days at sea while nations in the area argued over their fate. A foreign ministry official in Jakarta said Monday the refugees, including more than 500 children, would be given transit status and sheltered in the Jakarta Rambutan Refugee Camp or in the Tanjungpinang Camp in the Malacca Strait. He added that Indonesia has received promises from Australia and the United States that they will eventually ac cept the Vietnamese. Weather Partly cloudy with mild temperature. Some showers and thundershowers expected for this evening. High today mid- 80s low in the mid-60s. Probability of rain 20% for today and 40% for tomorrow. Winds will be east and northeasterly at 10 to 15 mph. The Battalion letters policy 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. 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; $35.00 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. MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Editor KimTys® 11 Managing Editor Liz Newli» Assistant Managing Editor . .Karen Rogers Sports Editor David Bogg® City Editor Jamie Aitk 1 Campus Editor Andy Willia* News Editors Carolyn Blosser. Debbie Parsons Editorial Director . .Lee Roy Leschper.J> Staff Writers Mark Patterson, Andre) Vails, Scott Pendleton, Sean Petty, Michelle Scudder, Marilyn Faulkenberry Cartoonist Doug Grahafl Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of the University administration or the Board of Regents. 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