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Viewpoint The Battalion Texas A&M University Monday January 15, 1979 Foreign guests should comply with laws While it is generally understood that the United States misread the situation in Iran from the beginning of the shah’s troubles, the Carter administration cannot allow those mistakes to be compounded by the violent actions of Iranian students in this country. Accordingly, the President has directed Atty. Gen. Griffin Bell to initiate depor tation proceedings against all Iranian guests in the U.S. guilty of violence. That’s as it should be. The insanity of the bloody, destructive Beverly Hills riots was an intolerable act of disorder that must be dealt with firmly, and quickly, by federal officials and not just local police. Individuals who are in this country as guests are welcome only as long as they observe the laws and respect the norms of their host, which are neither repressive nor difficult to comply with. Visitors who chose to abuse their privileges can expect to be sent back from whence they came. There are unquestionably many Americans who hold some sympathy for Iranian students in this country, their purpose for being here and the distress of their homeland. But the ranks of the sympathetic grow thinner and less positive as intellectual discourse gives way to rowdy mobs incapable of articulating anything other than an attack on an American neighborhood, rich or poor. We stand hard and fast behind Griffin Bell’s statement of deportation as it relates to any participant in violence such as witnessed this past week. That kind of conduct is simply not to be permitted. Dallas Times Herald Down memory lane By DICK WEST WASHINGTON — When Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia suddenly turned up in the news again last week, I had some difficuly fitting him back into the picture. I remembered the name, of course. But the events that first impressed him upon my consciousness had become a bit hazy. After we were forced out of Vietnam, we were told we should put that fiasco behind us and move on to other fiascos like Iran. As a forward-looking citizen, I have tried to do just that. I am, I think, pretty well on top of the Iranian fiasco. I have learned that the shah’s name is Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and that his sup porters are called shahvinists. I have learned that the new prime minister, Shahpour Bakhtier, is anti-shah, although maybe not anti-shah enough to make his government stick without the help of Aytol- lah Khomeini, whose anti-shahness puts ordinary shahphobia to shame. Then, just as I was getting the Pahlavis, the Bakhtiars and the Khomeinis sorted out, Sihanouk pops up again. Apparently, we cai\, no more put Vietnam behind us than Richard Nixon could put Watergate behind him. So let us see if we can refresh our memories. Correct me if I’m wrong about this, but didn’t Prince Sihanouk have a half brother or a nephew or somebody that we liked better than we did him? Or am I thinking of Prince Souvanna Phouma of Laos? Anyway, I distinctly recall that some where along the way we had a big falling out with Sihanouk. The issue, as it comes back to me through the mists of time, was Sihanouk’s neutralism, which seemed to favor the communists. In the light of all that has happened in Cambodia since, one-sided neutralism would now be a great leap forward. When we first started getting bogged down in Vietnam, I’m pretty sure we rather liked Cambodia. At any rate, there was a big fuss when we bombed it, and later when we invaded it. However, that may have been after Lon Nol took over. Humor Lon Nol — there was a name to conjure with. If I’ve got the sequence straight, he was the one who preceded Pol Pot. At the time Lon Nol came to power, much was made of the fact that his name spelled backward still spelled Lon Nol. (By contrast, Pol Pot spelled backward spells Top Lop.) Apart from being a palindrome, Lon Nol sticks in my memory as less neutral than Sihanouk. This pleased us at the time. If, however, Sihanouk had stayed on, his ex cessive neutralism might have strengthened the Cambodian communists, and they, in turn, would not have been overthrown by the Vietnamese com munists. All of that is water under the dam, how ever. We must deal with realities as they are. And the realities are that the com munists we used to fight in Cambodia are less objectionable than the communists we used to fight in Vietnam. It is, therefore, good to have Sihanouk, however vaguely remembered, back on the scene. His presence makes it easier to understand why we aren’t doing anything about the fiasco in Iran. Britain’s Parliament members deprived LONDON — Early every Friday morning, Phillip Whitehead boards the train for Derby, an industrial city north of here, to perform an unusual act for a member of Parliament. He spends the weekend with his con stituents. British legislators rarely visit vot ers between elections, partly be cause it is considered bad form but largely because they cannot afford it. Many therefore envy their Washing ton counterparts, who appear by contrast to operate in splendor. A broad-shouldered, full-bearded man of 41 who has served in Parlia ment for nearly nine years, Whitehead is a Labor Party “backbencher, ” which means that he does not enjoy the privileges ac corded a government minister of even a senior figure in the opposi tion. If he bounces with energy it is be cause he must. For he heads a House of Commons committee, tries to specialize in European affairs and communications problems, and looks after his 90,000 constituents — all with the help of only one secre tary. Recently, for the first time since he was elected, he moved into an office of his own. Whitehead is in a minority in this respect. Of the 630 members of the Parliament, only 187 have their own offices and most of the rest share space, sometimes three or four to a room. About 30 or so prefer to do without offices altogether. Not long ago, Whitehead dipped into his own pocket to hire an Ameri can undergraduate to aid him as a research assistant. American stu dents, many of them unpaid, have been fulfilling that function for sev eral members of the Parliament for the past couple of years, giving them the only help they have. Two decades ago, only 80 British legislators employed secretaries. Now about half of them maintain sec retaries in London, while the rest choose to use the allowance of $8,000 per year to keep an assistant in their constituency . If that allowance seems small, so is a legislator’s salary. He receives the equivalent of $14,000 per year, a wretched reward even in a country where wages are lower than those in the United States. The other allowances accorded members of Parliament are also nig gardly. They can put in claims for gasoline to cover trips to and from London, their districts and their homes, which are often outside their constituencies. And they get $6,000 per year if they keep a dwelling in London. This frugality stems in part from the fact that the House of Commons voted 15 years ago to spare its mem bers the political embarrassment of giving them selves pay raises by turn ing the control of its wages over to a public agency inaccurately called the Top Salaries Review Board. The Board is expected to boost wages for members of Parliament soon. Even so, there seems to be little likelihood that additional funds will be given to the legislature to recruit research assistants. One reason for this is that neither the cabinet nor the opposition lead ers who hope to be in power some day are keen to strengthen the re search capabilities of the backben chers and thus make their scrutiny of the government’s activities more ef fective. In addition, the wealthy lawyers, businessmen and farmers among the Conservative members of Parlia ment are able to pay for their own staffs, and they are in no hurry to improve the quality of their less affluent Labor rivals. Nevertheless, several members of both parties have supported a pro gram started not long ago by Bruce George, a Labor legislator, under which American students serve as assistants in the British Parliament. George got the idea dpring a visit to Washington, where he was im pressed by the size and efficiency of congressional staffs. “If there is to be one major reform of Parliament, ’’ he told me, “it ought to be more effec tive staffs.’’ Terence Foster, another Englishman who works for a non profit U.S. organization called Edu cational Programs Abroad, helped George to organize project together with the University of Rochester and Catholic University in Washington. Under the arrangement, Ameri can students work as research assis tants in the House of Commons for one semester, and receive credit in political science. Some members of Parliament have criticized the program, and one Conservative called the American youngsters “a damned nuisance.’’ But most seem to feel that, despite their unfamiliarity with British poli tics, the U.S. students provide wel come assistance. All this might serve to remind American congressmen that they are extraordinarily well off compared to their British cousins, who still have a long way to go before their treatment catches up with their respon sibilities. Specious species: politicos By DAVID S. BRODER WASHINGTON — It is hard to face a new year of politics. That is a Candid Ad mission. For some reason, unknown to me, the Candid Admission is one of the Conspicu ous Omissions in an otherwise invaluable guide to such important political and jour nalistic phenomena as the Bloated Bureau cracy, the Mounting Crisis, the High- Level Adviser and even, spare the mark, the Reliable Source. Each of these is among the chapter head ings in a splendid volume called “A Political Bestiary, ” which I found under my Christ mas tree and which I recommend you quickly acquire for yourself. No one should be without it when the State of the Union and the Budget messages are unveiled. It is an austerity book for a Time of Au sterity. Each chapteb consists of two pages. One is a page of text written by a Eugene J. McCarthy ‘and a James J. Kilpatrick. McCarthy is identified as a former Demo cratic senator from Minnesota, but since every schoolboy knows Minnesota does not send Democrats to the Senate, his real identity remains a mystery. Kilpatrick is supposed to be a widely syndicated newspaper columnist and fa mous television commentator, but the newspapers and television networks deny this. The second page of each chapter consists of a drawing of an imaginary beast embody ing the concept, by Jeff MacNelly, the Richmond News Leader’s cartoonist, who is an authentic genius. Since there is no way to convey the de lightful wit of the drawings in words, I am forced to quote some of the prose by the supposed McCarthy-Kilpatrick team to give you a flavor of the enterprise. For example, this year will undoubtedly provide its share of Impasses. The authors note that, “Although Impasses are found in all continents, the most serious Impasse, the most impassive, is to be found in the desert areas of Northern Africa and in the arid regions of the Middle East. For some reason not yet determined. Impasses ap pear to be moving out of their normal range . . . Newsweek in April 1978 reported a fully verified Impasse in Bagdad. It hung around until summer . . . Investigators found that there was no scarcity of food in the normal range of the Impasse. It is as sumed that the Impasse came down to the city to get away from a stale mate in the desert.” It is less likely that 1979 will produce a Consensus on anything, but if it does, McCarthy-Kilpatrick (or whoever they are) have given us a perfect three-paragraph description: “The Consensus is a problem to the natural scientists. It has no before. It has no after. It is a coming together not unlike the aardvark, which did not evolve from any other animal and is not evolving into any other. It follows that it is no easy job to generate a Consensus. “The Consensus also is like the Mandate. It can be compared to a Gathering Momentum that has not yet started to move. It has some of the attributes of the Aura. But no one of these — the Mandate, the Momentum or the Aura — can fairly be said to be like a Consensus . ’’ Another of my favorites in the book is the Qualm: “Qualms are seldom found alone. Usually they travel in a pack ... A few breeders, having caught a pair of Qualms, have raised them in captivity. A most suc cessful group in attracting Qualms and rais ing them are the Liberal Republicans. Lib eral Republicans like Qualms because they can overcome them. Regular Republicans cannot tolerate Qualms.” (That essay is somewhat reminiscent of the musings of an eccentric Irishman who used to hang around press parties in the 1950s and 1960s, making up jokes about Liberal Republicans. I have forgotten his name, but, come to think of it, he too claimed to have been a Democratic senator from Minnesota.) The final item in this sampler is the Last Priority. “Priorities,” they note, “once existed in great numbers, sizes and varie ties . . . given such abundance. Priorities became a fad. Everyone had to have them as pets. . . Now only one Priority remains. This is the Last Priority. . . It lives peace fully in a small corral near the White House Rose Garden, feeding on promises and ask ing only to be loved. President Carter watches it every day.” Whoever MacNelly’s collaborators really are, they have rendered a Signal Service. “A Political Bestiary” comes close to being an Urgent Necessity for anyone hoping to survive 1979. (c) 1979, The Washington Post Company Letters to the Editor Sorry, wrong number Editor: The residents of Hotard Hall, also re ferred to as the Hilton, will be pleased to note that each and every one of them has the same phone number. According to the new A&M student directory, approxi mately 100 students have the listing 845- 4688, when in fact, the rooms in Hotard have no phones. Actually, this number belongs to a resi dent of Hart Hall. We at the Hilton would like to apologize to our answering service in Hart and congratulate the directory for one fantastic job. — Bryan W. Marshall, ’82 — David T. Finley, ’82 Editor’s note: According to Don Johnson, director of Student Publications and in charge of the production of the di rectory, the phone number that is listed for each Hotard resident came from a general student listing on computer tapes maintained by the Data Base Systems of fice of the University for each student. The back of the directory shows that there are no phones for students in Hotard. Many thanks Editor: I would like to take this time to thank the many people of Bryan and College Station who donated to the Mystery Santa fund at radio station WTAW. A very big thank you also goes to Roger Watkins, WTAW station manager, and to Mrs. Veta Batton, the radio station’s receptionist who coordi nated all of the funds and Christmas gifts for the needy children of this area. I would also like to thank the young folks at Bryan High School for the food, clothing and fiind drive; the folks at the Texas Ag ricultural Extension Service at TAMU; the TAMU Society of Engineers; and Lisa Mar shall at the TAMU Student Activity Center for the food donations. I would like to tell all of the above people that through their generosity and kindness during this Christmas season, a lot of needy families were able to have a happy and joyful holiday. Among those helped was a 7-year-old boy who is terminally ill with an inoperable brain tumor, a seriously ill man who needed insulin, and a 7-year-old child with severe sickle cell anemia. There were many more like these who were also helped. Thank you all for helping me to reach some of these needy families. I thank God that we live in a community where the true spirit of Christmas lives on. —(Mrs.) Irma Benavides, ’73 Social Worker II Texas Department of Human Resources Bryan Top of the NewsTX CAMPUS Shuttle hus service expands washes ites has ; Texas A&M University has added a new intra-campus shuttle bu y leaders route to its system. Installed when time-staggered classes were discon vennnenl tinued on the west campus, the new (Blue) route includes stops neai c,l >p d eta the Soil and Crop Sciences Building, the Rudder Tower-Memorii' l, ld take Student Center area, and the Health Services Building. Two buseswit ves the c be running on the Blue route and an interval of five to six minutesiiMembers expected between them at each stop. The service will be added toth^nt task fo Red and Green routes, both of which run from near the Olin Teague! few day; Building to the College of Veterinary Medicine (one clockwise and one Prim e counter-clockwise). All three routes are free to students, faculty, and®^p our staff and will operate between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. ' approva The publ Government internships offered te , De P ai • ig Carter The Southern Regional Training Program in Public Administration, 1^ ‘ designed to prepare students for careers in government, is now accept- Fj. . .. ing applications for fellowships for the 1979-80 school year. The fellow j™* ( ( ships, sponsored by the universities of Alabama, Kentucky, and Ten- ^ | nessee, have a value of $4,600. Winners will serve a 10-week intern- suffer ship during the summer of 1979 and spend the fall semester at the anc j University of Kentucky; after the Christmas holidays one group wil- < j itions ^ attend the University of Alabama and the other the University o!^ unc j er i Tennessee. Upon completion of the program, they will receive a p orCL . q Certificate in Public Administration. Candidates must be American , n OIC l ere citizens who hold bachelor’s degrees or will receive them by Juneof', ernment 1979. Applications may be obtained by writing Coleman B. Ransotx^H, eII as ] Jr., Director, Southern Regional Training Program in Public Adminis- h the Irar tration. Drawer I, University, Al. 35486. [t j on I gpadmini STATE South Texas dope rings busted At least three major Corpus Christi-area heroin rings have been broken up as a result of a four-month undercover investigation entitled "■ Tj “Operation Smack,” a Nueces County sheriff’s deputy said Saturday J Capt. R. F. Rendon said at least 16 persons had been arrested by late | Saturday, including a 72-year-old cab company owner, while au- Un itc< thorities were searching for "six or seven more” among the 21 namedin JUSTIN 28 sealed indictments returned Friday by a grand jury. “I think with i)3j- em ov the 21 we broke at least three good organizations, Rendon said umittee < H'-elect: ■ to go NATION p Gar manufacturers raise prices 5ion bees , Bed ov American Motors Corp. and Volkswagen of America, citing rising red or n costs of building and selling their cars, announced price increases on nrent po: most of their 1979 models Friday. AMC, in its second price increase in unong tl two weeks, said it will raise costs on its passenger cars and Jeeps an ims of C average $144, or 2 percent, effective Monday. Volkswagen, in its first imittee : price increase since October, raised prices an average 3.7 percenton Sullivar Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi models. i|;been dronmen Voters to help finance campaki1 r J son, D-l Lawmakers have decided the first bill in Congress to be give Health a priority consideration is one that, if passed, will help pay for thecosti session, getting elected. The first bill to be introduced in the House at thestait^bivant of the new session Monday will be a proposal for partial public finant *ker can ing of House election campaigns. It’s basically the same one thatwiT the enc introduced but failed to win approval during the last Congress. Candi ’ion, the dates would be eligible to receive funds from the government to matcl^st wher contributions from other sources of $100 or less. The matching fund n <> chan< could not exceed 40 percent of the spending ceiling. BReyes up oppo Br of is WORLD ie . Cambodia, Vietnam to meet Vietnam and the new Cambodian regime installed by Vietnam's 20-day blitzkrieg announced Saturday their two leaders would meet “soon” in Phnom Penh to end officially their border war and negotiatea friendship treaty. The Vietnamese-led juggernaut captured the lastW^^T two major Cambodian cities still held by Khmer Rouge forces of the J fallen Pol Pot regime, including the temples of Angor Wat. The United Unite States went before the United Nations Security Council Saturday to lONG denounce Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia and demand the immediate Urday c withdrawal of Hanoi’s troops. U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young threw ts for th< his support behind a long list of Western and nonaligned spetikers who I Innoun during three days of debate left no doubt that the majority favored a t wool resolution condemning the Vietnamese invasion. ufod by 'aries” to New Iranian government designers" ^ The shah and Premier Shahpour Bakhtiar Saturday reportedly 1000 Vie agreed on a five-member regency council to replace the shah and pave country the way for his imminent departure from Iran. In Tehran, several fover in hundred thousand anti-government demonstrators marched peace-Booled fully through the capital chanting “victory is near” and “death to the ^nation shah. ” There were no reports of violence and many banks, shops and I 0 * - s ten: businesses opened for the first time in weeks. r Ie blam WEATHER || Increasing cloudiness with warmer temperatures. This morn- e pohe ing temperature at Easterwood was 23 degrees. High today tnam’s la of 50 and a low of 40. We have a 20% chance of rain today 01 those with southerly winds at 10-15 mph. 0UI l ced , ‘ nmcial: —— ■ ' ———*ple's Co f ! , B'dc ele The Battalion capitals, LETTERS POLICY MEMBER jrovince; Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 worcls and are Texas Press Association , , subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The Southwest Journalism Congress Tin II S a editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and docs ^ Km l es was v i not guarantee to publish any letter. Each tetter must be Editor Y 01) S (' TV( signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone Managing Editor k'* rtjii. ’ number for verification. Assistant Managing Editor .Andy WWnam s pi Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, The „ Frlitnr David B n the CO Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Buildinf’, College sports realtor l|v ~ Y nrhi< Station, Texas 77843. 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Lynn Blanco med vif'l Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. r^,,,,,,..rlitor .Gan’ . , Second-Class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. fOCUS Section edit ....... ■hacked , - Brecentl idering Opinions expressed in The Battalion are Regents. The Battalion is a »iw/i-/>romlekseekin those of the editor or of the writer of the supporting enterprise operated bi/sMiargo shij article and are not necessarily those of the as a university and community HOf^vved to University administration or the Board of Editorial policy is determined hy ll^' Phil