Viewpoint
The Battalion Wednesday
Texas A&M University February 14, 1979
Constitution reformers
should heed Hamilton
By DAVID S. BRODER
WASHINGTON — In the space of' 24
hours, late last month, two men of judg
ment and experience in serious statecraft
who share a conservative bias on constitu
tional questions recommended to the con
sideration of their fellow citizens a con
stitutional amendment of great conse
quence.
John B. Connally, the former governor
of Texas and present candidate for the Re
publican nomination for President, and
Griffin Bell, the former federal appeals
court judge and current attorney general
of the United States, endorsed the propo
sal for granting future Presidents a single
six-year term, with no possibility of reelec
tion.
The idea is not a new one. As Bell noted
in his University of Kansas lecture, it was
discussed at the constitutional convention,
proposed to Congress as an amendment in
1826 and has been reintroduced some 160
times since then.
That history does more than suggest the
antiquity of the notion; it also hints at its
frailty. One would presume that if this par
ticular change in the Constitution were
really needed, it would have been made
before now.
But this is a time when many are eager
to rewrite the Constitution. Half a dozen
proposed amendments are bumping into
each other on their way to. and from the
legislatures, and, given the eminence of
Connally and Bell, it probably would be a
mistake to ignore their notion.
In both cases, the avowed purpose of
the proponents is to liberate the President
from politics and incline his thoughts to
ward more elevated matters than reelec
tion. As Bell put it, “The single six-year
term would permit the long-term, steady
planning and implementation that our
government needs, plus saving that fourth
year now lost to campaigning.”
Or as Connally argued in his own an
nouncement of candidacy, “Nothing ...
would be more conducive to the restora
tion of the confidence of the people in our
form of government ... than the knowl
edge that an American President from the
day of the assumption of off ice has fulfilled
his political role and has no future except
as the historians view him as a statesman.”
The operative assumption in both ar
guments is that it is politics — specifically
the calculation of strategy for reelection —
that demeans the presidency and under
cuts the leadership potential of the office.
But that argument is buttressed neither
by the experience of history nor the test of
common sense. If it were true that libera
tion from concern about reelection were
the key to presidential statesmanship,
then one would expect to find far greater
achievements in the second term of past
Presidents than the first.
Is that the case? Eisenhower’s first term
saw him end the war in Korea, appoint
Earl Warren to the Supreme Court and
manage the downfall of McCarthy ism. His
second term brought Little Rock, the
Sherman Adams case and the interstate
highway system. Franklin Roosevelt’s first
term created the New Deal; his second
term, the court-packing fight and the Neu
trality Act.
The Connally-Bell amendment would
not strengthen the President’s leadership,
nor would it increase his accountability for
the exercise of his power.
By arbitrarily lopping 24 months off his
maximum term of service, it would limit
his capacity to move policy in a sustained
direction. By taking him off the ballot in all
congressional elections held during his
tenure in office, it would reduce his influ
ence with the legisative branch and make
him even less able to resist the encroach
ment of Congress on his prerogatives.
With a single six-year term for President,
the bureaucracy would respond even less
.tq e*ecutiv,e directipn «pid jaegqpiq even
more dependent on its permanent patrons
in Congress. , . . , ;
The proposal would also eliminate the
use of the reelection campaign as a source
of discipline on the exercise of presidential
authority. By immunizing the President
from receiving the voters’judgment on his
stewardship in office, it would encourage
him to ignore public opinion in the daily
administration of his post.
It is, in sum, exactly as bad an idea as
Alexander Hamilton thought it was when
he wrote in Federalist 72: “Nothing ap
pears more plausible at first sight, nor
more ill-founded upon close inspection
than a scheme which ... has had some re
spectable advocates — I mean that of con
cluding him from it. .. .These effects would
be for the most part rather pernicious than
salutary. ”
Admirers of Griffin Bell and John Con
nally may find it hard to believe they are
not the wisest counsel available on a con
stitutional question. But in this case, be
lieve me, Alexander Hamilton is better.
(c) 1979, The Washington Post Company
Letters to the Editor
Merge coupon services
Editor that is, that it was dedicated to the Ags
I’m writing in reference to the article in
Monday’s Battalion (Feb. 12) on the
“People Book versus Student Purchase
Program. It is evident from the data col
lected from the local merchants that the
“People Book” is superior in its function of
encouraging contact between students and
local businesses.
The issue of whether or not a private
firm should be allowed on campus is irrel
evant in this case. Both books are attempt
ing to provide the same service — free of
charge to the students.
The “People Book” is by far a bigger
success. Instead of student government
fighting the distribution of the “People
Book,” why not join forces to provide a
better service to students, after all isn’t
that what student government is about?
—Mary Hutchinson, ’80
MSC mine field
Editor
After reading the recent controversial
articles concerning the MSC grass, my
roommate and I have a suggestion to
make. We are staunch traditionalists; we
firmly believe in the importance of pre
serving the MSC grass. We agree that
planting a hedge on the outer perimeter of
the grass is a good idea.
We have a proposal, however, that
would insure proper respect for the grass.
In addition to the hedges, we propose that
small calibre land mines be planted under
several spots of the grass. The initial pro
cess would entail some defacing of the
grass, naturally, but we feel that the efforts
would be beneficial to preserving one of
the most sacred traditions at A&M. If Ags
aren’t considerate enoueh to respect the
that died during the wars — then we feel
that they too must die.
If by some unfortunate instance, some
inconsiderate Ag does choose to step on
the grass, the mine explosion would deface
the MSC green somewhat; however, we
firmly believe that the mines would pro
duce such a scare within the student body
that no Ag would dare try again.
For those Ags who refuse to heed the
warning and step on one of our mines, let
there be no Silver Taps for the inconsid
erate two-percenter! Strategically placed
signs could warn visitors of the potential
hazard of subverting Aggie traditions —
thus they could spare themselves from the
mines. These two consequences would not
be too severe for someone who refuses to
respect the traditions at A&M.
—John Barber, ’81
—Chip Landry, ’82
Jock identity crisis
Editor
Do the A&M athletes have an identity
crisis? They all seem to wear a football jer
sey, a baseball windbreaker or some other
piece of clothing normally reserved for the
playing field. Seems to me if someone is
any athlete at all, people would recognize
them without a program.
When was the last time you saw Earl
Campbell wearing his jersey to a banquet?
Incidentally, something even more
ridiculous to me is the non-athletes (in
formation types, trainers, et al) wearing
the windbreakers, etc.
—Les Palmer
Tfxas A&M staff
Lower the flag,
on road accidents
By KAY WALLACE
Another Silver Taps.
Within one week, another Silver Taps.
It isn’t known whether Pamela Jean Forest attended Silver Taps last
Tuesday for the late Richard S. Gaines, but whether she did or not, she
certainly never suspected that this week the flag would he lowered for
her.
The number one cause of death for college-aged students is accidents.
Accidents such as the one Pamela Forest was in Saturday. Senseless, all of
them.
If just one person had been driving slower, or more alert, or less
cafeless... if, if, if.
Anyone who stands outside the Academic Building as Taps rings out
will get the gut feeling that is inherent in any ceremony for the dead. It’s
an empty, helpless and scary feeling. The feeling, “It could have been
me.”
Hopefully, enough people will take time to think about the tragedy of
all Silver Taps we have. Slowing down, taking time to think before we
possibly endanger ourselves — whether it be in a car or crossing the
street — could save us a ceremony that could be for you.
Use your brains — think before you act!
It’s a sickening feeling to think we all have worked so hard to get
through school, to make something out of life for ourselves, only to lose it
before we can really have the chance to enjoy it.
Kay Wallace is a junior journalism major at Texas A<LrM and a Battal
ion production assistant.
Key to U.S. inflation
stop deficit spending
By TOM GLASS
SCON As topic this year, “America’s
Economic Environment” addresses the is
sues that probably are the most pressing in
America today. Basically, the speakers at
the conference are discussing the govern
ment’s effect on the public’s pocketbook.
Many effects of government today are
painfully obvious regulations. But there is
one effect of government that is less obvi
ous and more controversial. That effect is
inflation.
Everybody today is aware of inflation.
Constantly rising prices affect every per
son in the society. The words “inflation”
Reader’s Forum
and “inflationary” are used in the news
and by every politician. But, what is infla
tion? What is inflationary? And what is the
cause of inflation?
Inflation is a long-term rise in most of
the prices of goods and services in an
economy. When the price of coffee rises
because of a freeze in Brazil,, that is not
inflation or inflationary. This price rise is
not long term and all prices do not rise
because of this.
Inflation can only be understood when
the relationship between money and
wealth is comprehended. Wealth is the
goods and services that people want.
Money is a medium of exchange and value
that represents this wealth. Money is used
to facilitate exchange of unlike goods in a
society.
At any given time there exists a total
amount of wealth and a total amount of
money. Prices of each individual good and
service are determined by the supply and
the demand for each in relation to the total
supply of money.
If the total money supply were $100,
each item would have a price proportional
to another items’ price so that all wealth
would be represented by $100. Note that
if the supply of goods and services and the
supply of money stays constant, one price
can only rise if the price of some other
commodity drops.
If the total money supply were $200,
and the same wealth existed as before, all
prices would be proportionately twice as
much. This example shows that inflation is
caused by the relationship between money
and wealth. Inflation can only be caused
by an increasing difference between the
total money supply and the total wealth.
This growing difference is caused by a fas
ter growth rate of the money supply than
the growth rate of goods and services.
Again, any individual price rise in a con
stant monetary environment cannot be in
flationary because that price rise has to be
counterbalanced somewhere else in the
economy. Monetary growth faster than the
growth of wealth is the essence of infla
tion.
In America, the body that totally con
trols monetary growth is the federal gov
ernment. It is responsible for inflation-
today because it has constantly created"
money to finance its budget deficits. The
only way to stop inflation is to stop gov
ernment deficit spending.
Inflation has many undesirable effects.
The most obvious is that the poor and
those on fixed incomes are robbed of
spending power. More subtly, inflation
causes people to save and invest less in
enterprises that create new wealth and
jobs and more in nonproductive assets
such as gold, antiques and land.
In our present tax structure, in
flation actually causes the total taxes paid
by its citizens to increase. As the wage
earner’s salary rises, he must pay a higher
percentage tax, although his earning
power has not increased.
In the long run, inflation threatens to
destroy our civilization by destroying the
incentives to produce wealth. It also in
creases governmental control over the so
ciety, thereby decreasing individual free
dom.
Government causes inflation by its defi
cit spending. We must balance the federal
budget and halt inflation before it is too
late. For though we may try to have more
than we may produce in the short term,
sooner or later we must eventually pay the
price.
Tom Glass is a senior chemical engineer
ing major at Texas A&M and a delegate to
the Student Conference on National Af
fairs (SCONA).
Slouch
By Jim Earle
SMOW YDUR
VALENTINE
SPIRIT/.
SEND
ME A
K.IS5J
( ladies
OMLY. ,
PLEASE!)
pes
Top of the News
CAMPUS
Contest to be held to name group
A contest to name a new Texas A&M University women’s choral
group is under way. Organized this year, the 37-member group per
forms classical and popular music. Entries in the campus-wide con
test will be accepted through Friday at the vocal music office in the
Memorial Student Center. Each entry should include the persons
name, address, and phone number. The winner will receive $10.
Jobs for grad students available
The Graduate Student Council has positions open for graduate
students in the colleges of engineering, liberal arts, and geosciences.
Duties for the positions are “mainly information dissemination."
Candidates must be honaflde graduate students in the colleges need
ing positions and must be degree candidates taking at least eight
hours of course work. Interested persons should contact Bobby
Parker at 845-2620 or John Kennedy at 846-8766.
STATE
Urban managers grant available
The Texas City Management Association is sponsoring the Clar
ence E. Ridley Scholarship for graduate study in public administra
tion affairs witb particular attention to students contemplating careers
in urban management. Personsjnterested in the $4,000 grant should
contact the Texas City Management Association (1020 Southwest
Tower, Austin, 78701) for additional information and application
forms.
Mexican-American named judge
President Carter Tuesday nominated two men — one of them
Hispanic — to be U.S. district judges in Texas. Carter nominated
James DeAnda, 53, of McAllen, Texas and George Cire, 56, of Hous
ton to fill new judgeships created by the last Congress. If confirmed
by Congress, both would sit in the southern district of Texas. De
Anda, an attorney, has been in private practice since 1951 in Hous
ton, Corpus Christi and McAllen. He would become the second
Mexican-American to serve as a federal judge in Texas, joining Judge
Reynaldo Garza of Brownsville.
Chavez to make Texas union play
Cesar Chavez, who has concentrated most of his organizing of
farmworkers in California the past decade, will make another pushto
unionize Texas Farmworkers beginning with a convocation Feb. 23
the Lower Rio Grande Valley, it was announced Tuesday. Rebecca
Flores Harrington, director of the United Farm Workers Union i
Texas, said Chavez called the convocatin “to formally recognize the
union’s organizing committees that have been established in Texas
and to set legislative priorities for 1979.
Witnesses scared of cycle gang
A U.S. attorney reports witnesses in a massive criminal investiga
tion of a motorcycle gang fear their lives will be threatened if they
testify before an El Paso grand jury. “A nqmbef of witnesses have
already expressed fear for their personal safety,” said Uc Attorney
Jamie Boyd. But he warned federal officials would not tolerate threats
against witnesses in the investigation of interstate racketeering,
gambling, prostitution and narcotics trafficking allegedly involving
the Bandidos motorcycle gang.
i
Loya
helped
North 1
Majo
Auditoi
tured h
held ca
Rays
morale,
oners
confess!
The]
ment, 1:
bei
the Noi
The ]
tion tha
They
wouldn
prisone
deep ei
and lac
Ray s
hire, tl
POWs
without
enemy.
Ray <
and onl
)im be<
Americ
m
(
Unit(
etroit
ntine
ght wit
amacy.
Rhc
he
prc
his Sii
ited lo'
len.
hope
ler,” 1
NATION
Indictments sought in jail death
The chairman of the Mexican-American legislative caucus says he
has asked President Carter to recjuest that the Justice Department
seek indictments in the death of Ortega Lozano, an Odessa jail in
mate Mexican-American leaders claim was beaten to death. Rep
Paul Moreno, D-El Paso, Monday said he planned to deliver to Car
ter a letter from the caucus complaining an assistant U.S. Attorney
general had been holding evidence in the case for more than three
months. Dizano died in the Odessa jail Jan. 23, 1978. Odessa officials
contend Dizano inflicted his own injuries by beating his head against
his cell, but Mexican-American leaders and others argue he was be
aten to death.
WORLD
Ambassador to Afghanistan killed
U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Adolph Dubs was kidnapped by
terrorists in the Afghan capital of Kabul today and shot to death,
embassy officials in Pakistan and the State Department in Washing
ton reported. Embassy officials said the seizure of Dubs did not
involve an assault on the embassy as in neighboring Iran. The State
Department said Dubs, 58, a native of Chicago, was seized on his way
to work and taken to a hotel in Kabul, where he died of a bullet
wound. The police rushed the Hotel Kabul, killing one terrorist, but
officials in Washington said it was not known whether Dubs was
killed by police bullets or by the terrorists. There was no clear iden
tification of the terrorists, or details on how many took part in the
kidnapping.
WEATHER
Overcast skies, partly cloudy and warm with a high of 80°
and a low of 60°. Winds will be southerly at 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 furnished
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 ' KimTytf
Managing Editor '. LizNe^
Assistant Managing Editor .Andy Ww
Sports Editor David B#
City Editor Scott Pendle®
Campus Editor Steve
News Editors Debbie
Beth Calhoun
Staff Writers Karen Rogers,
Patterson, Sean Petty, Di*
Blake, Dillard Stone,
Bragg, Lyle Lovett
Cartoonist Doug Grail*
Photo Editor Lee Roy Leschpert
Photographer Lynn Bias?
Focus section editor Gary Wed
.
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.»
supporting enterprise operated by stuit
as a university and community newt0
Editorial policy is determined by the edit