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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 1978)
Viewpoint The Battalion Texas A&M University Thursday October 12, 1978 Chilling problem William and Emily Harris smiled broadly after they were sentenced to 10 years in prison for the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst. Harris then expressed his love for “all the folks out there,” as if he were a guest on a talk show. Maybe they had something to smile about: the sentence will probably be reduced to 10 years and eight months under a new California sentencing law, and with good behavior they could be released in 1983. But the Harrris’ real problem does not lie in their future in prison; it lies in themselves. There is something chilling about two people who behave as though they were celebrities after being found guilty of what at least in terms of notoriety — may rank as the crime of the century. Equally chilling were the words of their defense attorney, Susan Jordan, after sentencing. She told reporters the pair are “gentle, serious, consid erate, well-motivated people. They are committed to social change and they chose a very spectacular means to communicate that. The first step in the expiation of a crime is to recognize it. The Harrises do not recognize it and neither, it seems, does their lawyer. That maybe is their problem, but it’s also society’s problem. There is something wrong when kidnapping is a “means to communicate” one’s commitment to social change, and when a terrorist bombing is something to claim “credit” for. We had thought we’d passed the worst of this period of contempt for law. Now we wonder. Chicago Tribune Demise of the Political Label By IRA R. ALLEN United Press International WASHINGTON — If you are a typical citizen, when — or if — you go to the polls next month you will be voting in a differ ent way than your parents did a generation ago. While you may still have their same preference for a candidate of your religion or nationality, the chances are it won’t make a bit of difference what party he or she belongs to. Not as it was in the old days when voters marked a single X or pulled one lever to vote for a whole slate whose views on a wide range of issues could be predicted simply by noting their party label. You will likely vote for the candidate who comes across best on television or who shares your view on gun control, abortion. Proposition 13 or union rights. And by doing so, you will be reinforcing twin trends just now getting the attention of political scholars — the decline of par ties and the decline in voting. By LeROY POPE UPI Business Writer NEW YORK — Despite the confirmed discovery of big new petroleum reserves in Mexico, the world is slowly but surely running out of easily recovered gas and oil, says Sheldon Lambert, manager for energy economics for Shell Oil Co. in Houston. “The Alaskan Arctic supplies look big but the South Alaskan areas are a disap pointment and so far the Baltimore Ca nyon area of the Atlantic is quite a disap pointment,” Lambert said. He said Mexico’s new reserves are much larger than at first suspected but it is not yet possible to evaluate them accu rately. “They probably are at least half as big as Saudi Arabia’s and could be bigger,” Lambert said, “but the important thing is that they are not going to become available rapidly because the Mexicans don’t want to make them available.” Lambert’s assessment was confirmed The American Enterprise Institute, a Washington thinktank, has issued the thoughts of 10 political scientists writing on the theme of “The New American Polit ical System.” The Washington Monthly magazine for October deals with “The Politics of Selfishness.” Washington Window “If one message emerges from the pages of this book,” says AEI editor Anthony King, “it is that fewer and fewer cohesive blocs are to be found in the American pol ity. ” As a result, he says, the outcome of any number of political issues is impossi ble to predict and change is occurring either too slowly or too rapidly. The landmarks of the new system are: lower voter turnout, an increase in presi dential primaries, the growth of well fi nanced single-issue blocs and the inde pendence of members of Congress who defy their leaders at will and who are get- when a high official of Pemex, the Mexican statecontrolled petroleum company, ap peared recently with several other oil ex perts on public television. He made it plain that Mexico would not go into any crash production program, that it would produce all the oil and gas itself and would not readmit to its borders the international oil companies who were expelled in 1938 by President Lazaro Cardenas. Business Others on the televised program said the Mexican government had concealed the size of the new petroleum finds for many months because it did not wish to excite the Mexican people about the chances for a big bonanza and create popu lar pressure for extremely rapid develop- ting re-elected more easily and with higher margins than in past years. Parties used to train candidates, moderate ideological disputes, fix up potholes and deliver Christmas turkeys. They would define issues along broad themes — Democrats for social welfare and Republicans for fiscal restraint. Parties would embrace what would otherwise be sharply antagonistic splinter groups. For example, both blacks and corporate execu tives used to be Republicans and women s rights advocates and anti-abortion Catholics were exclusively Democratic. Now, parties serve only to nominate candidates, and due to low voter turnout and new rules for participation, the oppos ing nominees tend to have sharply differ ent ideological stripes. As a result, issues are coming to prominence as they never did before, the business of governing is getting too uncomfortable for old-time in cumbents and the pendulum of public opinion is likely to swing in shorter arcs — witness the desire of some states to change their minds after a couple of years on the ment of the oil reserves that might upset the nation’s social structure. Lambert said, however, the current im passe over importing natural gas from Mexico is not likely to persist. American buyers, he said, are quite willing to pay the price the Mexicans want for the gas but the U.S. government presently forbids them to do so for fear that would upset all gas price regulation. Lambert also said that, regardless of their desire to go slow in developing their big petroleum reserves, the Mexicans do need to export oil and gas on a steadily rising basis because they have a very high unemployment rate and need money to fi nance development of new labor intensive industries. A much more optimistic picture of world petroleum supplies in years ahead than Lambert’s is presented in “Window on Oil” by Bernardo F. Grossling, a Wash ington geophysicist, who has been a con sultant to the World Bank, the United Na- Equal Rights Amendment. AEI’s Austin Ranney predicts what it will be like without parties: “The candidate organizations, the wo men’s caucuses, the black caucuses, the right-to-life leagues and the like would be come the only real players in the game. The mass communications media would become the sole agencies for sorting out the finalists from the original entrants and for defining the voters’ choices. ” Curtis Cans, in an adaptation of a speech for the Washington Monthly, calls for re-emergence of political parties as means of increasing voter participation. But he has no immediate answer, only a warning: “Whatever is done needs to be done soon, for what we have now — a system where special interests that have come to represent fewer and fewer of us have in creasing power, where single issue zealots have learned to use thier votes to gain a virtual veto-power over local candidates — will only perpetuate the non-participation of the rest of us.” reserves tions, the government of Chile And Standard Oil Co. of California. The study was published by London’s eminent Fi nancial .Times and sells for $110 a copy. Grossling contends that the productive potential of about half the world’s prospec tive areas has been much underestimated. He says the best sources for new petro leum are in the developing countries of Latin America, Africa, south and southeast Asia and the western Pacific regions. He believes anywhere between 1.35 trillion and 4.8 trillion barrels of oil and gas remain to be discovered. World oil consumption in 1976 was only 21.2 billion barrels. Grossling said these so far undiscovered reserves mean we have oil to last at least 76 more years and perhaps 280 years if the annual increase in the rate of consumption can be held to 3 percent. On the whole, he believes Latin America, including Mexico, has four times as much petroleum as the Middle East. Views contrast on oil and gas Letters to the Editor Rednecks? chewers Editor: way and obscene language) was deplora- This letter is in response to Ms. Sulten- ble, the remarks concerning tobacco fuss’ observations of October 11. chewers and rednecks were totally un- While I do agree that the behavior of called for. the “TURKEY” (failing to yield right of Ms. Sultenfuss seems to have a remark- aren’t homogenized able ability for generalizing, and in so do ing, insulting a large group of respectable people. On the basis of this one individual, all tobacco chewers are presented as ob noxious people who throw food at Sbisa, start fights at yell practice and slash tires of t.u. students’ cars. Furthermore, they ex hibit “redneck performance,” obviously something repulsive and disgusting. In the first place, there are many to bacco chewers who are not rednecks (and vice versa). More importantly, Ms. Sulten fuss attacks rednecks by claiming obnoxi ous behavior is a “redneck performance.” There are a lot of rednecks and tobacco chewers who have done, and still do, a lot of admirable things. There are good and bad people in every “group” that can be made, and generaliza tions should not be made on the basis of a few individuals (as it seems is often done). What ever happened to individuality? —Scott P. Lumpee, ‘82 P.S. The Battalion certainly doesn’t help the situation with headlines such as “Plug that spit.” Cheap shots Editor: Let me make a few remarks about the letter from Kjell, Sartor, and Youngblood, in Wednesday’s (Oct. 11) Batt. Those three individuals gave Scott Lane’s letter, which appeared on Monday, several cheap shots. First, they equated Scott’s ridicule of the Corps with disrespect for Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy .Carter, and John Kennedy. I did not read that in Scott’s letter, nor did I read it “into” Scott’s let ter. They continued their “flag-waving” ramble by implying that the Corps was, indirectly, all that stood between freedom and the loss of freedom (God save us). Next, they dragged John Glenn, Jarvis Miller, and Roger Staubach into the mess. Remember that Scott’s letter was directed toward the Corps at A&M. Glenn, Miller, and Staubach are not presendy enrolled here, nor did they all attend Texas A&M. Maturity? Having lived here on the quad for two years, having two roommates that had been in the Corps for several months, and knowing many more person ally, I can say that the Corps has more than its share of immaturity, idiocy, and crudity. I have heard cadet upperclassmen say that, “after all, it’s just a big game.” One ex-cadet acquaintance of mine, knew a United States Army NCO, who had joined the Corps and said that it was “children’s games” compared to “real” army. Obscenity? Nearly every outfit’s “hump-it” has at least one obscenity in it. Those same hump-its would be much more vulgar, had not one outfit mistakenly decided to hump-it in front of distin guished Trigon personnel and parents on Parent’s Day several years ago. And at least one outfit is given to substituting lewd lyrics into the Christmas carols every holiday season. Etc. Lane was attacking the Corps at A&M, not the United~~States-Armed Forces, apple pie, hot dogs, or George Washing ton; there is a difference. —L. Ashley Phillips, ‘80 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 60 characters per line • Limited to 100 lines Top of the News campus Election filing opens in MSC TTilino for the Oct 26 freshman student elections opened today and will continue daily from 11 a.rm to 3 P-m through next Wednesday, in Rooms 216 A and B in the Memorial Student Center. Candidates who file for office must attend a meeting to discuss regulations before they can begin campaigning. The date of the meeting will be given during filing procedures. Students can sign up for any of the follow ing: president, vice president, sectretay-treasurei, social secretary and seven at large Senate positions. The filing fee is $1. Genetics clinic planned Thursday A genetics defect clinic, sponsored by Texas A&M University and the National Foundation - March of Dimes will be held next Thurs day at the Memorial Student Center. The clinic will highlight aspects of diagnosis, treatment and referral. It wi 1 also carry eight hours of category credit from the American Medical Association for Physicians Recognition Awards. Speakers at the seminar will come from Texas A&M’s College of Medicine and Scott and White Memorial Hospital. LOCAL Free fries for hook returns People with overdue books and other materials from the Bryan Public Library can receive a coupon for free french fries if they return them before Friday to either of the McDonalds restaurants in Bryan-College Station. The library has also extended its no-line period to Oct. 20. Afterwards a collection agent will call at the homes of people with overdue books to collect them along with fines. In addition to McDonalds, bookdrops are located at local supermarkets, Blinn Junior College and the Texas A&M University Library. Of the more than 2,750 books lost in circulation in 1977, fewer than 100 have been returned. STATE By Mobil loses bid for injunction | It was all 11-dressel A state district judge in Houston Wednesday rejected Mobil Oil Co. ’s demand for a temporary court order forbidding Superior Oil Co. from allegedly hiring away Mobil employees to obtain confiden tial information. State District Judge Arthur Lesher ruled there was not enough evidence to support a temporary injunction against Superior, although the lawsuit also sought damages and remains alive pending final disposition. The ruling came after an 11-day trial in which Mobil lawyers tried to show they lost an offshore oil tract hid to Superior because of information supplied b\' some or all of 39 former Mobil employees. : Memor 1 guys stl j to figuiT ming ffoij ere we ley gathe NATION Carter s mom compliments Ted Mrs. Lillian Carter, mother of President Carter, said in Boston Tuesday that if her son does not seek re-election in 198() she would like to see Sen. Edward Kennedy, D. Mass., enter the race. “I love Ted Kennedy, Mrs. Lillian Carter said. “I won’t say a word against him. Mrs. Carter also said, however, that she knew of no reason why her son would not run. “I don’t know any of his plans. He always tells me not to mess things up.” Carter denies pardon to Estes Convicted Texas swindler Billy Sol Estes’ application for a pardon from President Carter was denied, a U.S. Justice Department spokesman said Tuesday. Spokesman Bob Stevenson said in Washington that Estes’ request for a pardon, filed in February by his son-in-law, Morris Lindsey III, was turned down on Sept. 27. Estes, 52, of Abilene, was convicted of fraud in 1963 for his part in a multimillion-dollar scheme involving nonexistent fertilizer tanks. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. If the pardon had been granted, it would have restored certain civil rights to Estes such as his right to vote. WASH I Israeli pe [eonductec After a [Minister 1 I ell said th [to resolve Carter | Egyptian The tal |enue fror The co I to press < I Departm Althou lend of tl [ ducted ii I supplied Carter WORLD Mystery HI kills 40 Filipinos agreeme [the Wes “Althc ! understr j Minister Carte ! Israeli-E The I ! vitally li sider th dent. fish° US ^ aS ,k^ e< ^ 40 Filipinos in 24 hours in a remote 1 ./ g y ,llage ’ heal th authorities in Manila said Wednesday. The ahout e 840 WaS r 3 ePO r rte r d m TueS , day in p angil-Agan, a tiny island with n,.™l 840 f res,dents 440 m 'les south of Manila. An undetermined f rh 60 t 6 W f re re F°, rted stricken by the disease, prompting Sam Sls r" fl° n r P t0 -ff k help from Mmnla. A five-man medical those affeef- A n ‘ lI ^ g !.ii Agan today to ^ ook into ibe disease and treat health Ss?' v. ^ lbert V Fernan do, a regional director of the sitrmtfim m rh aid the , medical tea m will look into the sanitation investigation intoThe ^ Wil1 3 se P arate WEATHER It will be cloudy to partly cloudy today with a 20% chance of ram. The high will be in the upper 80s and the low in the middle 60s. Winds will be S.E. 10-15 mph decreasing W 5-10 tonight. The Battalion LETTERS POLICY iukvirur Lt-ffers to the editor should not exceed 300 icords and are Texas Press Association Southwest journalism Congress Editor . . Kim 21 number for vertf,cation. Managing Editor LtZ New J Bnttni reSS R 0rresp o°, n / e 2 ce , to Letters to the Editor, The Assistant Managing Editor . .Karen Rog efi tSSnSTm^ •*“«• C °"“' Spw, Editor g ...... David . Represented b , Nelinn,] Ednentlend Adv.,. £ I,Y Ed ' t °' 1 dT'wtiil Using Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los Campus Editor Andy WllH 31 Angeles. ^ News Editors Debbie ParsoiA [ The Battalion is published Monday through Friday from Beth Calhoun September through May except during exam and holiday through & Thursday ,rnmewhe " “ " pi,blished on Tu<:sda > Editorial Director . . Lee Roy Leschper, Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per Wnter * ’ ’ ’ • Mark school year; $35.00 per full year. Advertising rates fur Pendleton, Sean ^ n ,a ddress: The Ba “ali°n, Room 216, Michelle Scudder, Man Reed McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Faulkenberrv Diane Blake United Press International is entitled exclusively to the P aulkenberry, L>ia use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it Cartoonist Doug Gran Rights ofreproduction of all other matter herein reserved. I Photoeranfipr F.d CuM Second-Class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843 EV, P 'l ^ focus section editor Gary Opinions expressed in The Battalion are n , those of the editor or of the writer of tl ■ Agents. The Battalion is a non-profit, article and are not necessarily those of thl ! SMpporff ”S enterprise operated by !itudl University administration or the Board nf i uni f ersiu J and community newspa' ^ * 'Editorial policy is determined by the edt