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) Viewpoint The Battalion Thursday Texas A&M University Novemrer 9, 1978 Soviets on the move The president is still reserving judgment about deploying the neutron bomb, but at least he has decided to get started on building it. For which small favor, we ought to be grateful. The neutron bomb is not really a bomb; it is a warhead for short-range missiles and artillery shells. It is a nuclear weapon, but it has far less explos ive effect — blast and heat — than conventional nukes. So it does less damage to the area in which it detonates. This new warhead is made to order to deter — and to stop, if need be — the sort of massive armored blitz the Soviet Red Army has always favored for its offensives. Therefore, quite understandably, the Soviet propaganda industry launched a worldwide campaign to portray this as an unthinkable weapon, too terrible to contemplate, let alone build. Not so understandable, but at least predictable, was the next step: Left wing spokesmen around the world trooped right along with this Soviet lead, wagging their tails behind them. Not at all understandable — indeed, dow nright incredible — was the earlier decision of our own commander in chief to bow to this self-serving, Soviet-led propaganda move and put off a buildup of the new and effective antitank defense for western Europe. With 40,000 tanks and armored infantry carriers to match, the Soviets now have the armored might to overrun Europe with one quick thrust. The neutron warhead gives the West a way to stop such a blitz. And when that warhead is built and deployed, it will give the Soviet brass pause, should they be tempted to launch such an attack. As they say in Georgia, and Texas, time’s a-wasting. The Dallas Morning Netvs Campaign ’78 — a modernized bore By DAVID S. BRODER WASHINGTON — It was not until a Saturday night in late October in Waterbury, Conn., that I realized what the campaign of 1978 was missing — the drama, the fun, the passion of real politics. For reporters of a certain age, Waterbury has one indelible association. On the last Saturday night of the 1960 presidential campaign — or really Sunday morning, for it was past 2 a.m. when he finally got there — John F. Kennedy found the Waterbury square filled with thousands of cheering Democrats who had been waiting for five hours in the chill to see and hail their favorite. They were so fired up with enthusiasm that even after he had spoken, they did not want to let him go — or break the spell by leaving themselves. Well, Waterbury was not quite like that on this Saturday night in 1978. But when Gov. Ella Grasso (D) drove into the same square for a labor rally, there was a brass band out to meet her, and the sidewalk was jammed with union families who formed a kind of procession into the church basement, where the rally was held. And, for an hour, while the hot dogs steamed and the beer chilled in the back, Letters to the Editor the air was filled with the old-fashioned Democratic oratory of Grasso and former Gov. John Dempsey (D). They remember that night in 1960 very well. Their words brought cheers from the working families who still believe in the dreams that Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy es poused. But this was a rare moment in a cam paign year that even the candidates found desultory and dispiriting. Most of those running felt they were preaching to stones, and the dearth of eloquence made it a signal event when an occasional orator — like a Ted Kennedy or an Ed Brooke — could lift a crowd by the power of his words. Most candidates this year found them selves cruelly whipsawed by the need to satisfy conflicting imperatives. One was to convince their constituents they were “real people,” not just another of the de spised breed called politicians. And the second was to raise enough money to satu rate the airwaves with their ads during the final two weeks before election. For the congressional incumbents, the first imperative meant hundreds of hours in mobile vans, district offices and town meetings, listening to the voters and help ing them with individual problems. For the challengers, it meant “working” for a day or two at a time beside their con stituents at filling stations, factories or supermarkets, walking the roads of their state or district, or otherwise putting themselves in touch with the daily lives of the voters. For everyone, fund-raising was a time- consuming burden and distasteful negotia tion with hard-eyed guys who were nailing down your position on their issue and who were less concerned with your leadership potential than your standing in the polls. The technological advances of modern campaign communications — television ads, computerized mail, telephone banks and the rest — have not only driven up the cost of elections, they have depersonalized the election process. Ironically, for all their efficiency, they are failing the ultimate test of engaging the voters’ interest. The public is turning away from this kind of synthetic politics. Made-up candidates with made-up TV spots and mass-produced “personal” let ters are contributing to the cynicism of a public increasingly “turned off”'from poli-^ jfics .rtC;-' -*»-»A'*!*"*'N - "! • -> .A»,»'■< - vt There is no credible linkage between the posturings of the campaigns and the realities of the decisions that change people’s lives. In the final week of this campaign, the American dollar and the world’s confidence in the American eco nomic system were being subjected to se vere stress tests. And almost nothing or relevance that might help the voters understand their stake in that struggle was being said in the campaign. When the Carter administration suddenly reversed its economcy at midweek, it was not as the result of a public debate but of highly se cret discussions. Nor was this unique. Even the triumph for American diplomacy that was repre sented by the Camp David summit was treated by the President who accom plished it as unsuitable material for cam paign speeches. So the pride and energy that might have been infused into politics by discussing that accomplishment was withheld — even as the economic debate was being conducted in secret in the final days of the campaign. A politics that is as devoid of content as it is empty of tradition, ritual an eloquence is Anything but a healthy politics. And ,thgt„ unfortunately, is what we saw most days and nights in the campaign of 1978. So one is grateful for small favors — like Waterbury. (c) 1978, The Washington Post Company Lebanese crisis multi-sided issue Editor: In response to Diane Blake’s article “Lebanese, Arab students disagree on war,” printed Friday, Nov. 3, I am writing most importantly to help Battalion readers to become better informed and more aware of the situation now existing in Lebanon. Ms. Blake seems to have interviewed only two Lebanese students who both happen to be of the Maronite sect, which contrary to her report’s indication, repre sents the minority of the Lebanese popula tion, known in our homeland as right-wing radicals and isolationists. True, the death and destruction in Lebanon has magnified, but let me try to explain from the point of view of the majority why this has occurred. As known, our country was extremely prosperous for many years but our government was never based on democracy. How democratic can it be when a coun try’s own president and all high officials must be of one particular sect or religion? Can you imagine a country’s president brutally shooting to death 40 civilians while they were in their church?!! This president, Suleiman Franjeih, of the Maronite sect, was in office at the breakout of the civil war. Had the majority of the people been in support of this Maronite style of government, the army would not have dismantled and divided. This division allowed the Palestinians, who had been forced from their own homeland, to gain strength in Lebanon by providing their people with heavy arms. At the Maronite cry for help, the Sy rians intervened to prevent them from de feat. After the Syrians intervened as a peace keeping force, as referenced in the article, they tried to remain neutral until they realized the unjust intention of the Maronite’s militia; being that the Syrian’s peace keeping troops were permitted in areas of other sects yet banned from Maronite territories. At this time a new president and gov ernment officials were elected. This gov ernment, being supported by the majority of the Lebanese people, sees the need of the peace keeping Syrian forces to remain in order to provide safety and protection for all until our own existing government can strengthen and renew its armed forces. Historically, Lebanon is an Arabic coun try. Our native language is Arabic. The Arab nations must work together to find a solution to the Lebanese crisis. —Mohamad Abilmona, ’79 Choice letter crop Editor: Congratulations on a beautiful job. Al though The Battalion can be justifiably proud of every inch of its erudite print, your Letters to the Editor column rates a Pulitzer! It’s superb! Many of them beat Erma Bombeck any day of the week. How do you ferret out such unfortunate souls as the one who rallied to the defense of a poor dead armadillo that some thoughtless clod slothfully sloshed with paint? That armadillo should have held out for beautification or nothing! Especially choice was the letter written by a fellow who is cultivating a nasty crop of worry wrinkles by contemplating the possibility of his pitifully peripatetic, cancer-prone epidermis eventually desert ing him in the blistering face of that big, bad dehydrating Texas fall sun! Maybe he’s an albino who hasn’t heard of sun screen. What’s he wear to the beach, a revival tent? Apparently we gals aren’t the only ones to worry about red noses. Letters directed against that terrible, patriotic, push-up pumping Corps are the best. Who needs men who have a discon certing habit of building muscles and bon fires with equal ease, who shine their shoes, who wear clean clothes, who stand up straight, who don’t talk to the ground through their belly buttons, and who know how to give a girl their arm and refuse to compete with her in the red nose depart ment? If more of these men were around, we gals wouldn’t have time to support ERA, bum bras, or even want to run for presi dent! We wouldn’t have to. Keep up your good work. Keep printing all of those anti-Corps, anti-tradition let ters, too. If a stray from UT wanders up here, we would certainly want the little dear to feel at home. Wouldn’t we? —Sally Dennis, ’82 Priorities skewed Editor: On Oct. 16 I was walking along Bizzell Street, and happened to notice this note lying alongside the golf course: Dear Sir: Please do not ticket my car. I would have pqrked across the tracks and walked back since there were no spaces in the girls lot, but 1 heard a girl got raped last Tues day in Kyle Field. She was walking from the tracks also. I promise to have my car moved early in the morning! Thank you. It is written in obviously feminine handwriting and had evidently been at tached to a parked car. I think that it be speaks a condition that exists not only in this community, but throughout Amerika (sic). I would like to know how the local au thorities can justify the expenditure of tax payers’ money to initiate, process, and serve 27 sealed indictments for marijuana-related offenses when decent, tax-paying citizens are afraid to walk from their vehicles to their place of residence. This is not to mention the additional ex pense to the taxpayer that will arise from housing these “criminals” and prosecuting them. It is especially infuriating when the authorities themselves admit that the people arrested are “small-time” and “in significant.” Unfortunately, the expense of enforcing America’s outdated and draconian prhibi- tion statues does not end with the loss of money and valuable police time spent dur ing this process. It takes a far deeper toll in human suffering and lost lives that result from incarcerating otherwise law-abiding citizens for an “offense” identical to that committed by any retail liquor store owner. The bitterness, loss of faith in the American government, and mistrust of your fellow man that is generated by this situation cannot be underestimated. I believe that this society is making a terrible, self-destructive, and possibly fatal mistake in continuing to spend liter ally billions in tax dollars every year to enforce prohibition — federal, state, and local authorities should not be forced to spend their time enforcing statutes against victimless crimes as long as rapists, mur derers, and thieves are roaming the streets. — W.T. Decker Jr., ’79 Talk with Dr. Miller The Battalion is offering a new reader’s letter section to give students more access to the newspaper and to the University. “Talk with Dr. Miller” is a forum for readers to address questions to the admin istration about University policies and procedures. Questions should be addressed to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, and should specify that they are to be used for this column. Names and phone numbers will be required on all questions and Dr. Miller has the option to decline to answer a question or request others on the staff or faculty to answer it. Questions and answers will be pub lished on the editorial page. Top of the News NATION Two Pershing missiles launched Members of the West German Air Force successfully fired two Pershing ground-to-ground missiles Tuesday at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Range officials said the launches were the third and fourth of the current series of Pershing tests. The next firings are scheduled Nov. 20. Roadblocks were placed on U.S. 54at Orogrande, N.M., and Newman, Texas, and on U.S. 380 between Carrizozo, N.M., and Socorro, N.M., during the launch period, offi cials said. ’76-77 Chevettes to be recalled General Motors is recalling all 1976-77 Chevette subcompacts to correct what federal safety officials say are potentially explosive fuel tanks similar to those in the ill-fated Ford Pinto. The company said Tuesday it is voluntarily calling back 320,000 of its hot-selling minicars because the fuel systems flunked National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash tests. However, a GM spokesman said the firm “has found no reports of fires due to impacts involving Chevette gas tanks,” and does not consider the fuel tanks defective. An NHTSA spokesman in Washington said the agency’s findings were “not based on known crashes on the highway, but on compliance tests. We found this one (Chevette) did not comply.” Ferryboat captain investigated Capt. Irving Satler, scheduled to retire in two weeks, had piloted the Staten Island Ferry hundreds of times through a fogshrouded New York Harbor without ever having an accident. But now he faces city and federal investigations for missing the ferry slip by 700 feet Tuesday and slamming the vessel into a concrete wall, injuring 253of the estimated 2,000 morning rush-hour commuters on board the American Legion. “We misjudged,” Satler was quoted as saying. The city opened an investigation Wednesday to determine what went wrong during what should have been a regular crossing. The Coast Guard has scheduled another for today. At least five people were hospitalized, authorities said, and more than 100 others received emergency-room treatment. The ferry slammed into the concrete seawall where the Statue of Lilierty sight-seeing Ixxits normally tie up. Merit selection guidelines issued President Carter Wednesday issued guidelines for the merit selec tion of federal district judges, including a renewed effort to find qualified women and minority persons. Of the 525 currently active judges, only 29 are black or Hispanic and nine are women. Carter campaigned for the merit selection of all judges, and soon after his inauguration he set up commissions to choose appellate judges. But he delayed similar action for district judges because of the political difficulties. Traditionally, senators have exercised almost complete control over who was nominated and confirmed for judgeships in their states. WORLD Rock star remains in hospital Rock star Elton John, stricken by chest pains and rushed to a private clinic in Londan Tuesday, spent a “good night" and sleptwell, a spokesman said Wednesday. The singer’s doctor ordered new tests before deciding whether to release him. John, 31, collapsed Tuesday at his Buckinghamshire home, northwest of London, and was rushed to the Harley Street Clinic. According to the spokesmn, the doctor said John’s condition was good but refused to disclose details of the latest medical tests. A clinic spokesman said Tuesday that John, who has made several appearances promoting his new record recently, was suffering from exhaustion and overwork. He denied the singer had a heart attack. John missed a Tuesday appointment in Paris with doctors who performed his recent hair transplant operation. Sadat seeks quick negotiations Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is bluntly warning he will not sign a peace treaty with Israel unless it requires that negotiations with the Palestinians begin within a month after the accord is sealed. Foreign Minister Butros Ghali and Egypt’s ambassador to the United States, Ossama El-Baz, left Cairo for Washington Wednesday with strict instructions from Sadat to stress self-rule for the Palestians when the peace talk resume. Israeli Defense Minister Ezer Weizman, who returned to Washington Tuesday, planned to talk with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance Wednesday in an attempt to resolve serious differ ences with U.S. officials over U.S. aid to the Jewish state. Gunmen kill magistrate in Italy Gunmen firing submachine guns in Patrica, Italy, Wednesday killed a magistrate, his bodyguard and driver in the bloodiest terrorist attack since the kidnapping of former Premier Aldo Moro. Police said one of the terrorists was killed in the attack. Police said the ambush was a carbon copy of the Red Brigades’s abduction of Moro on March 16, when the leftist terrorists blocked the path of Moro’s limousine before opening fire and killing his five bodyguards. No group has claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s ambush. Police identified the dead men as Fedele Clvosa, 59, magistriate from the southern town of Frosinone, hi bodyguard Giuseppe Pag, 29, and driver Lciano Rossi, 29. Calvosa was the third magistrate killed this year and the seventh since 1971. WEATHER Fair to partly cloudy with mild temperatures. High today 74 and low tonight in the low 50’s. Winds light and variable at 5-10 mph. The Battalion LETTERS POLICY MEMBER Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are Texas Press Association subject to beinf' cut to that length or less if Ionizer. The Southwest Journalism Congress editorial staff reserves the rifzht to edit such letters and does F* Hitnr K’m TvsOC not izuarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must be ‘ * ' sifzned, show the address of the writer and list a telephone Managing Editor Liz NewP number fur verification. Assistant Managing Editor . Andy Willia®* Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor. The Snorts Editor David Mil Battalion. Room 216. Reed McDonald Build,np. Collepe , ,7, Station. Texas 77843. City Editor Jamie A* Represented nationally by National Educational Adver- Campus Editor Steve L# tising Services, Inc.. New York City, Chicago and Los News Editors Debbie ParSOHS Angeles. Beth Calhoun The Battalion is published Monday through Friday from Staff Writers Karen Rogers, September through May except during exam and holiday Patterson, Scott PendlelOt periods and the summer, when it is published on Tuesday through Thursday. Sean Petty, iericilc Scuddf’ Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per Diane Blake, Lee Roy Leschpfl school year; $35.00 per full year. Advertising rates furnished Jr., Dillard Stone on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 216, Reed Cartoonist Doug Gn\l0 McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. t>i, . i r-J o „ United Press International is entitled exclusively to the OgrapherS Ed Cun 111 use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it. Lynn Blanco Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. Focus Section editor Gary Wdi Second-Class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. 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. The Battalion is a non-profit, stlf supporting enterprise operated by slmlnh as a university and community lU'icspiipfl Editorial policy is determined by thceiliM