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Viewpoint
The Battaljon Monday
Texas A&M University . March 5,
1979
Senate scuffles over
possible A&I regent
Slouch
4 1 >*-^1 #
“AND RAREST OF ALL IS MY QUART OF ORIGINAL, UNOPENED
GASOLINE, 29.9c PER GALLON VINTAGE!”
the universal
recognition factor
By DICK WEST
WASHINGTON — The great national debate over who lost Iran is now in hill
cry, especially among presidential candidates who are notoriously attentive to
details of that sort.
But despite the vast number of presidential candidates, it is doubtful the debate
over who lost Iran will match the intensity of the post-World War II debate over
who lost China.
Losing a country like China is not the kind of thing that is easily explained away. It
is nothing like losing a set of keys, or losing a pack of Cub Scouts. When a country
like China is lost, it causes psychological paroxysms bordering on trauma.
In this case the shock was such that it was almost 30 years before the United States
was again able to recognize China.
“It’s that great big country over there just south of Mongolia, the one with the
wall,” the British and French would say, ever eager to be helpful.
Whereupon the United States would squint its eyes and peer as hard as it could in
an easterly direction. But we could never recognize anything fitting that descrip
tion.
“You must be talking about that island over there just north of the Philippines,”
the United States would say. “That looks like China to us.”
Part of the identity crisis was a language problem. There was an old Chinese
saying that “As Chiang goes, so goes China. ” When Chiang moved to Taiwan, the
saying was translated to read: “Where Chiang goes, so goes China.”
Losing Iran is not expected to be that disorienting.
It is true that the United States once subscribed to an old Arabic saying that “As
‘ the shah goes, so goes Iran.” However, the United States is unlikely to recognize
Morocco as Iran.
For one thing, Morocco is a part of Africa, which is a different continent from
Asia, which was the home continent of the Iran we used to know and love.
Moreover, when Chiang Kaishek took up residence in Taiwan, he took a large
part of the Chinese army with him. The presence of all those troops was one reason
the United States kept recognizing Taiwan as China.
But when the shah fled to Morocco, he left behind not only the army but also the
oil. About all the shah took with him was the passbook to his Swiss bank accounts.
In the absence of a large body of Iranian troops, or a large deposit of Iranian oil,
Morocco stands little chance of being recognized as Iran.
Indeed, some debaters argue that Iran wasn’t lost at all, but merely slipped
between the cracks in Soviet-American detente.
Thus it remains recognizable, even if out of reach.
Letters to the Editor
Don’t fumble the
Editor:
I have just finished reading your head
line article (Battalion, March 1) on the pos
sibility of doing away with Q-drops, and I
am outraged that anyone would consider
abolishing the Q-drop option. The present
Q-drop system is perfect; you can select a
heavy load of classes and if “mid-terms
suggest that the load is too heavy, you can
still Q-drop without hurting your grade
point average.
It is virtually impossible to predict how
you will do in the first 18 days of classes,
because those first 18 days are not repre
sentative of the total semester, and I, for
one, hope that the Q-drops are not
abolished. I have never had to use the
Q-drop option (and hope I never have to)
but it’s nice to know that it’s there to fall
back on.
I just hope it will still be there to fall back
on when I’m a senior.
—Billy Henry, ’80
Unhospitable tow
Editor:
During a recent business trip to the Col
lege Station area, my car lost all power on a
street adjacent to the Texas A&M campus.
I managed to roll the car to the nearest curb
and on foot sought out the nearest service
station.
Since the incident took place on a Sun
day evening, I was informed by the station
attendant that I would have to wait until
Monday morning for towing and repair
service. I concurred and authorized the
service station to accomplish the towing
and the repair work on my car.
On the following morning, I rented a car
to accomplish my business. After passing
by the spot where I had left my car the
night before, I noticed that my car was
missing. I stopped by the service station
and to my astonishment learned that sta
tion had not picked up the car by that time
and than shortly after the breakdown the
College Station police department had
summoned a Bryan wrectking company to
tow it away.
To make matters worse, later that day
the Bryan wrecking company presented
me with a bill for $35 (they asked for cash
only) for towing charges.
In my opinion, the bill was totally unfair
and exorbitant.
Unlike cities in other parts of the coun
try, most cities in the south take pride in
the hospitality they afford their visitors.
My College Station experience was one
I’ll long remember and was not indicative
of true southern hospitality. If the twoing
policy of the College Station “Policy De
partment” is permitted to continue, I
would suggest that all future visitors to Col
lege Station do everything possible to avoid
passing through its city limits.
—Robert S. Filarowicz
6337 Inca Road
Fort Worth, Texas 76116
Fire fuss not valid
Editor:
This is in response to a statement made
by Bill Pruitt in the March 2 issue of The
Battalion concerning the fire in the old
Board of Directors Quarters. Pruitt was ir
ritated because he thought the fire could
have been contained more quickly than it
was. He said, “They took at least five to
seven minutes to get the water on after they
were hooked up.”
Any time there is an emergency of this
type, seconds seem like minutes and min
utes like hours. Perhaps Mr. Pruitt and
others who were critical of our tactics don’t
By ANN ARNOLD
UPI Capitol Reporter
AUSTIN — Former Gov. Dolph Bris
coe’s last minute nomination of a little-
known Arlington man to a minor spot on
the South Texas University System board
has stirred the hottest Senate controversy
of the 1979 Legislature and rekindled some
animosity about the pbwer senators wield
over appointments to state boards.
The Senate deferred action on Briscoe’s
nomination of Joe Bishop of Arlington until
Thursday when Sen. Carlos Truan,
D-Corpus Christi, is expected to be back in
the Capitol.
The debate is expected to be so heated
several senators suggested it might be bet
ter to act before Truan’s return in order to
avoid any recurrence of the heart attack
that sidelined the Corpus Christi senator
Jan. 24.
Truan, however, had indicated he
wanted to be present to fight approval of
the appointment he contends was made by
Briscoe “to spite me.”
And Sen. Carl Parker, D-Port Arthur,
who indignantly castigated Bishop’s critics
at Senate Nominations Committee hear
ings, also asked to have the vote delayed so
he can be present to defend the former
lobbyist and Democratic fund raiser.
Appointees normally are officially spon
sored and at least nominally defended by
the senator in whose district they reside,
but Bishop’s senator, Sen. Betty Andujar,
R-Fort Worth, says she is having trouble
deciding how to vote herself.
“I feel this is like a bunch of garbage put
on my doorstep and I don’t like it a bit,”
Mrs. Andujar said. “I feel very uncomfort
able and harassed about it.”
Mrs. Andujar said Briscoe could have
found far better candidates to serve on the
board that oversees operations of Texas
A&I University at Kingsville, Corpus
Christi State University and Laredo State
University.
“I think undoubtedly it was a political
payoff. Bishop is as a big fund raiser for
Democrats,” she said. “They certainly
could have gotten a better candidate if they
had tried. This man’s not a quality man.”
The controversy is complicated, how
ever, by continuing resentment in some
circles against Truan for rejecting Briscoe’s
earlier attempt to name Corpus Christi at
torney J. Michael Mahaffey to the post.
Truan urged Briscoe t6 name a Mexican-
American to the open seat. : r»
“I heard that there were two that he
busted because they were Anglos,” Mrs.
Andujar said. “I don’t want to be used in
the hands of some other senator to blud
geon somebody. There’s a great deal of
politics in this. I don’t want to be used to
settle somebody else’s political problems. ”
The Senate traditionally rejects the ap
pointment — usually in a unanimous vote
— of any nominee submitted by the gover
nor that does not meet the approval of the
senator in whose district the nominee re
sides.
Q-drops
understand the operations that need to be
done at a fire of that size and type. We
began by attacking the blaze from the in
side, where it would be the most effective.
Mr. Pruitt was not along side us searching
for the most advantageous way in, dragging
500 feet of hose and setting up ladders.
Nor was he performing search and re
scue amid black smoke, extreme heat, ex
plosive flammables and debris falling from
ceilings and walls while water was being
applied to the fire. While our first-in
firefighters were accomplishing all of this,
other larger lines by the second and third
crews were being laid, charged and put into
use — a well-executed fire operation.
The chiefs, lieutenants, dispatcher, and
fellow firefighters of College Station are
highly dedicated and trained. I’m very
proud to work with them, whether at the
station or at the scene of a fire or medical
emergency. I have seen these men risk
their lives for the lives of citizens, fellow
firefighters, and property.
Under the conditions, I could not indi
vidually thank all the students, Texas A&M
maintenance people, REACT, and others
who assisted us in various ways. But I’d like
to thank them now. It makes me proud to
work with and to serve good citizens like
these.
—William H. Riley, firefighter
College Station, Tx. 77840
“There’s no question in my mind if Car
los hadn’t rejected two previous appointees
for his own purposes this would not have
occured,” Mrs. Andujar said.
When Briscoe called her in his final
hours in office to see if she would object to
Bishop’s appointment, she said she cleared
the nomination although she did not know
the Dallas-based securities dealer who re
cently moved to Arlington.
Announcement of the appointment
spurred a deluge of calls and letters to Mrs.
Andujar from Kingsville faculty members
protesting the selection of the man who
served as executive director of the Texas
A&I alumni association in 1968-73 and as
vice chancellor of the university system in
1973-75.
“I’ve been drawn into this against my
will,” Mrs. Andujar said.
Critics accused Bishop of mishandling
alumni funds and running up large debts at
the association and continuing to draw par
tial pay from the association for three
months after he went on the state payroll as
vice chancellor.
Two former presidents of the association,
however, appeared at Nominations Com
mittee hearings to defend Bishop and say
he acted under their directions.
“They apparently let the man do just
almost anything that he wanted to do,”
Mrs. Andujar said. “(But) I wouldn’t say
there aren’t people already serving who
haven’t done the same thing.”
Mrs. Andujar, the only woman in the
31-member Senate, said she was surprised
her male colleagues were so little con
cerned at questions raised about Bishop’s
morals and an incident involving a co-ed
while he was vice chancellor of the South
Texas University System.
“I thought they would be shocked, but
their attitude was veiy nonchalant,” said
Mrs. Andujar, who distributed to senators
a petition from 77 Texas A&I faculty mem
bers opposing Bishop and copies of a letter
from a former professor accusing Bishop of
improper personal conduct.
“This didn’t boil down to a question of
was he the best man for this post. The
discussion was, was he felonious or wasn t
he. Not really proving that he had done
anything criminal they seemed ready to
accept him,” she said.
Clayton says
primary wish
is early — only
By ROLAND LINDSEY
UPI Capitol Reporter
AUSTIN — Speaker Bill Clayton is hint
ing that if he cannot push through legisla
tion establishing an early presidential pri
mary date for Texas in 1980, he may opt for
a bill blocking any presidential primaries at
all.
Clayton and Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby have
backed a bill setting the presidential pri
mary in March, but opposition to that plan
is growing.
“I’d like to see Texas with its 26 electoral
votes be a trend state,” Clayton says. “I
think we re an important state and I would
like to see us be first in showing who might
be the leading candidates.”
Republicans have indicated they plan to
conduct a presidential primary next year
even if the Legislature fails to agree on new
legislation.
That expression is apparently what
prompted Clayton to suggest his second
alternative: a ban on all primaries.
“This would just ensure that we didn’t
have part of the people saying they have a
primary and the others don’t,” he said.
“Everybody would just be in the same boat
again.”
When the House State Affairs Commit
tee last week considered legislation giving
the governor authority to appoint a budget
overseer for each state agency, some mem
bers expressed concern that the budget
supervision would also carry with it the
power to affect policy decisions.
“This state operates under the golden
rule,” said Rep. Emmett Whitehead,
D-Rusk. “He who controls the gold makes
the rules.” Rep. Clay Smothers,
D-Dallas, was irate last week because a
reporter who overheard his conversation
with another lawmaker quoted him as say
ing he hated United Nations Ambassador
Andrew Young and referring to Young as a
“son of a b .”
Rep. Craig Washington, D-Houston,
suggested the House General Investigating
Committee look into the issue of whether
conversations between legislators were
public statements, and Rep. W. S. Heatly,
D-Paducah, who was presiding at the time,
told Washington to discuss the matter with
investigating committee chairman Rep.
Dick Slack, D-Pecos.
“Will my conversation with him be sub
ject to being printed in the newspaper?”
Washington asked.
“Possibly, if you say it loud enough,”
Heatly responded.
Sen. A.R. Schwartz, D-Galveston, sur
prised some of his Senate colleagues last
week by beginning a filibuster against a bill
he opposed.
Filibusters ordinarily are effective only
in the closing days of the legislative session,
and some senators questioned why
Schwartz, one of the Legislature’s more
talkative members, would attempt to talk a
bill to death with three months left in the
session.
“Schwartz just does it because he loves
it,” Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby said.
Top of the News
r
LOCAL
1«
Sorority gives $500 to hospital
St. Joseph Hospital Auxiliary is $500 closer to purchasing needed
supplies and equipment, thanks to a recent gift from the Xi Kappa
chapter of Chi Omega at Texas A&M University. The gift was from
profits from the first annual Songfest, a singing competition organized
and sponsored hy Chi Omega for other sorority and fraternity mem
bers last November. Participants in the first competition induded
Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Phi, Delta Zeta, Kappa Alpha Theta,
Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Mu and Zeta Tau Alpha sororities, and
Delta Tau Delta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi and Sigma Phi
Epsilon fraternities. Plans for part of the gift include purchase of
books for the pediatrics ward to make the hospital stays of young
patients more endurable. “Every child and parents and children at
the hospital will be indebted to these college students for their
generosity and kindness,” said Mrs. Clarence C. Andrews, president
of the auxiliary.
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Presnal named to national groups
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State Rep. Bill Presnal of Bryan has been asked to serve on com tiliz.
mittees of two national legislative organizations by Speaker of the Hgg
House Bill Clayton. Presnal will have responsibilities on the Science zatit
and Technology Legislative Committee of the National Conference of
State Legislatures (NCSL) and the Fiscal Affairs and Government coni
Operations Committee of the Southern Legislative Conference of tl
(SLC). The NCSL panel will undertake studies of state legislatures Mai
ability to deal with scientific and technological issues. It provides in d
guidance to the scientific and technological activities of the Confer- in g
ence. These projects include MISTIC, the State Science, Engineer-HB
ing and Technology Program, and the Science and Technology News- non
letter. The SLC committee is composed of legislators from the 16 Hu
southern states in the conference. The committee identifies and ing
studies issues and problems facing the states. Presnal is serving his con
sixth term in the House. He is chairman of the Committee on Ap- that
propriations. wht
T
NATION
le
a\
Jury selection begins in influencKj
trial M
South Korean rice dealer Tongsun Park, the key government «itB||
ness in the bribery and income tax evasion trial of former Rep.
Passman, D-La., is expected to be on hand today for the beginningol^H
jury selection. Park was the free-spending businessman whoal ome
legedly paid Passman $98,000 in bribes for his help in steerin' 0 ??
.additional shipments of U.S. rice to South Korea in the early 197(k^H
Park testified last year he doled out $800,000 to several current anc^ 0 '
former congressmen, including Passman, as a private citizen andnoi^H
as a representative of the South Korean government. Attorneys
agree on a 12-member jury before the trial begins this week iT 31
Monroe, La. Passman, 78, was indicted by a federal grand jury k l i|l ua
year of conspiring to accept $213,000 from Park in exchange Cor
clout in sending additional shipments of rice to South Korea. a
le s
WORLD
mt I
yncl
Amin loses, then regains vital tou'fr
Uganda Saturday admitted opponents of President Idi Amin li ^
seized the key border town of Torero, but said loyal troops in ..j
tured the town and massacred the invaders. Diplomatic sourcess
Amin’s troops captured and executed on the spot at least six Uganda:H|
exiles who took part in the attack. Three guerrillas who eseapedsai^B
the scene was a bloodbath. Despite that victory for Amin, the embal-Hj
tied dictator faced another threat from the south, where TanzanisH^
troops have captured the Ugandan cities of Masaka and Mbararaaik |
were reported to be marching north toward the capital, Kampala
without resistance. Three guerrillas escaped across the border fa
Tororo into Kenya after Ugandan forces recaptured the town Frida)
night with warplanes, tanks and armored personnel carriers. The]
told authorities most of their 50-man attack force was wiped out. The;
said their force of Ugandan exiles had attacked from Tanzania, cros
sing Lake Victoria in boats. They seized control of Tororo with the
help of mutinous troops belonging to Uganda’s Air and Seaborne
Regiment based there. The successful counterattack by Ugandae
troops, who were believed to have been rushed from the town a
Jinja, near the capital of Kampala, provided Amin with some critical
breathing space to cope with advancing Tanzanian forces movingoi
the capital from the south. Tororo is vital to Amin’s survival in office
because virtually all traffic from the Kenyan port of Mombasa musl
pass through there to reach Kampala.
Venezuela to increase oil prices
The price of Venezuelan crude oil will be raised by 52 cents a
barrel beginning April 1 in accordance with the recently adopted
pricing formula of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Coun
tries. An additional $1.20 a barrel premium will take effect on the
same day due to the present market situation as a result of the Iranian
oil shutdown, Energy and Mines Minister Valentine Hernandez said
Saturday in Caracas, Venezuela. Under the pricing formula adopted
at OPEC’s ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi last December, the
cartel’s base price for 1979 will be boosted by 14.5 percent. OPEC:
current standard price is $13.40 a barrel. Venezuela, South Americas
largest oil exporter, is a major source of U.S. foreign oil supplies
Approximately one million barrels a day of Venezuelan crude
refined products are shipped to the U.S. Eastern Seaboard market for
home and industrial use. Another 250,000 barrels a day goes to
Canada.
The Battalion
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Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, The
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MEMBER
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Congress
Editor Kim
Managing Editor . . . . Lizfl[
Assistant Managing Editor .Andy "
Sports Editor David
City Editor Scott Pe»
Campus Editor . . Ste*
News Editors Debbie
Beth Calhoun
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Blake, Dillard Stone
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Taylor
Cartoonist DougO
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Photographer Lynni
Focus section editor Gan "
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Editorial policy is determined by thf