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Viewpoint The Battalion Wednesday Texas A&M University . - March 28, 1979 Live house TV coverage: A bore By DON PHILLIPS United Press International WASHINGTON — Dull, stale, sterile, blah. Those words describe the House of Representatives in action on television. For a couple of centuries, the House chamber never saw a TV camera except for the occasional presidential speech to a joint session. On March 19, that changed Z as the House provided full gavel-to-gavel ' coverage of its sessions. To many of us who have watched the ' House for several years from the press gal lery, the dullness of House action during * its first week on the tube came as a mild * surprise. We have seen plenty of debate — dull, * occasionally funny, sometimes exciting — * but it seems that television brings out the - worst, or perhaps the least interesting side Z of a chamber that can be plenty interest- Z ing. The TV picture won’t always be dull, of -* course. From time to time, some reason- - ably powerful debate will flow from that orange and blue carpet which obviously “ was not tailored to TV cameras. But why was the usual run-of-the-mill week so drab when viewed through a Z piece of glass? The answer apparently lies in the phi- ; losophy of the coverage. That philosophy is, very simply, to cover House debate. And as anyone con- ~ nected with Congress can tell you, debate Z is the least interesting and least effective Z part of any legislative body. The exciting part, the significant part, ~ the effective part of Congress takes place « in committee rooms, in cloakrooms and in Z private offices. To the extent that important matters ^ take place in the House chamber, they * happen in small huddles of congressional > leaders, in hushed whispers, in quick £ nods. Just as baseball can be dull unless you know “inside baseball” — the signals and ^ other bits and pieces of behind-the-scenes drama — Congress can be dull unless you ^ know the inside baseball of floor action. Why won’t you see this congressional Z inside baseball? > Because House-paid employees — not *■* commercial television technicians — are C controlling the cameras and they have Z strict orders not to let you see it. ‘ House members are fearful that net- work technicians would do just that — ' - scan the floor to catch strategy huddles or arm-twisting sessions. Why, the networks might even catch members sleeping. Or maybe they would show just how empty the chamber really is. So the camera becomes myoptic, seeing only the facade of floor action, debate. In short. House leaders have discovered a way to do something that few thought possible — rewrite live television, just as the House rewrites its daily written jour nal, the Congressional Record, which often is fiction compared with what actu ally happens on the floor. The networks, unfortunately, have played into the hands of House leaders who wanted to keep them out. For years they have done a poor, often non-existant job of covering the House. To the extent that network television has cov ered Congress, it has concentrated on the more glamorous Senate. Except for high-profile “people” stories such as the impeachment of Richard Ni xon, television has shown almost no inter est in House action. Until just the past year or two, it was rare ever to see a television reporter, much less a television camera, in the vicinity of a committee room where the real work of the House — the nitty-gritty of writing legislation —-Avas taking place. That situation does appear to be chang ing, and all three networks now have full time reporters in both the House and Se nate. But for the most part, television still is content to leave coverage of legislation to wire services. For that reason if for no other, no one could blame the House for wanting its own internally controlled television system. But that is not really the point. If it were, then there would be no reason not to allow two systems. There would be no reason not to let the House have its own internal system and to let the networks discreetly bring a minicamera into the gal lery whenever they like. The point is that the House is afraid to open its full processes to the eye of the public — all the public, not just the press and the occasional gallery visitors. In fairness, the system is new and is just feeling its way along. Changes may be made some year, possibly including occa sional commercial TV coverage. But in the meantime, your tax dollars are being spent to televise a facade. And the greatest beneficiaries are not the pub lic but congressmen themselves who will be sending swatches of videotape of their own speeches back to their local stations. Readers Forums Palestinians* rights By OUSSAMA H. QAWASMI In the analysis of the Camp David peace agreement, which supposedly provides a basis to resolve the Middle East problem, I find it necessary to throw more light on the nature of the conflict and the central issues involved. It is a well established fact that the central issue in the Middle East crisis is Palestinian national rights. After the radical transformation of Palestine in 1948, from an overwhelming majority of an indigenous Arab population to an Israeli State — expelling most of the majority and replacing it by Jewish immigrants from 70 different countries — national rights were mainly achieved through Israeli terrorism, sporadic invasions, and forcible piecemeal annexations of expropriated Arab territories. The Sinai, the West Bank, the Golan Heights and Israeli Security are all by-products of the central issue (Palestinian national rights). The waves of violence that have swept the area for the past three decades were the result of Israel’s refusal to comply with the U.N. resolutions concerning the right of the Palestinians to return to their national homeland. Besides denying the world community, Israel continued its genocide against the Palestinians for defy ing and fighting all attempts to liquidate their unity and national integrity. When all peaceful means failed, the Palestinians found it necessary to establish the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), to preserve their unity and carry on an armed struggle against Israel to restore their national rights. Today, the PLO is the official and legitimate representative of the Palestinians. It is reognized by the U.N. and has offices and diplomatic representation in all sympathetic nations. The vast majority of Arabs rejected the Camp David accords as a framework for peace in the Middle East because it failed even to mention the central issue. On the contrary, it gave Israel the basis for future expansion and security, while the Palestinian national rights issue was reduced to autonomy for the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza. Based on this framework, the Palestinians are con demned to permanent loss of their national identity, to permanent exile and statelessness — to a life without national hope. It is worthy to mention here that the Israelis on the “legitimate” settlements now constitute 13* of the West Bank population, also the Camp David accords legitimize the Israeli settlement on the West Bank and forbid Palestinians from returning. Thus, after a five-year period, there will be a substantial Israeli popula tion which makes autonomy nothing but a new form of colonization. On this basis, the Camp David framework contributes nothing to peace, since it is inevitable that a major war will be necessary to undo the Camp David deviation and restore the peace movement to the right track. Oussama H. Qatvasmi is a junior industrial engineering major at Texas A<LrM. 6 Sex sins* still wrong By SKIP LANDIS I would first like to state the I am a Christian and believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God (II Tim 3:16-17). I am commenting on Dr. Victor Fumish’s statement “the Bible does not give direct guidance on the question of homosexual ity as society faces it today” (Battalion, March 21). I would like to remind Dr. Furnish of the verses in Romans 1:18-28 especially verses 24-28. In verses 18-23, God gives the inspired account of paganism. Paganism did not result in man’s search for disobedience and ignoring of God. In verses 19-20 we find that man knew of God by instinct simply from creation. Paganism originated from ejecting divine revelation, and “holding truth” in willful unrighteousness, perversion and apostasy. All paganism can be traced back to Genesis 11-1-4 and the tower of Babel. Men did not choose to recognize God. Nations were not scattered until Satan inflicted the “virus” of a doctrine which is the source of all false religions the world has known. Babylon created a cult that claimed to possess devinest wisdom and secrets. Man though, started out with God and then refused to worship or believe Him. They thought they would be wise without God (Romans 1-22). They began to get “silly ideas of what God was like ...” (Romans 1-2, Living Bible), they relied upon their imagination to create gods out of carved wood and stones. In verse 1:24, God says that He released mankind to do “every sort of sex sin” they wanted. In verse 26, God says that women turned to women for sex. In verse 27, men came unto men, instead of having nomal relationships with women, and did (do) shameful things unto each other. In verse 28, God says that since mankind gave Him up and indulged in sin and evil doings, He gave them up to do every evil thing their minds could think up. So we find that God does not condone or approve of homosexuality (Sodom and Gomorrah). There are three reasons God gave up man: an unclean heart, (verses 21-22); vile passions (versus 24-29); evil minds (verse 28). But thank God, through belief and acceptance of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God and our Lord and Saviour, we can reestablish a relationship and communion with God. Skip Landis is a freshman wildlife science major at Texas A&M. : : Letters to the Editor ►: ‘Scare tactics’ in press mislead public I- Editor: Z* As a senior in chemical engineering *Z soon to work in the chemical industry, I *Z found the “scare tactic” reporting of the Z recent Crystal City chemical fire an excel- Z* lent example of the source of a misin- £-< formed chemical fearing public. It is time *Z we heard the other side of the story, which Z is in this case the truth. The UPI article which appeared in the March 9 Battalion mentioned a chemical ^ plant, toxic fumes in the downtown area, •Z and an explosion-triggered fire. First, *Z there was no “chemical pipit” involved. *-* The fire occurred at a small warehouse. Z- Secondly, no toxic fumes came near to the Z downtown area or even the town of Crystal ■*Z City. The warehouse was located one half < mile from town, and the prevailing winds Z* carried the smoke in the opposite direc- tion. Finally, the fire was not triggered by *■’ an explosion, and the cause is still under investigation. It is amazing to me that a fire of this »- scale with no injuries or loss of life should Z' receive national attention based upon in- ^ correct facts. We do not need •Z emotionalism. Give us the facts. —Vivian Snodgrass, ’79 < Review ‘unbiased* r* Editor: It seems that there is no place for good *- album reviews at Texas A&M. I refer to a! Victor Sylvia’s review of UFO in the ► March 22 issue of The Battalion’s “Focus” section. It is obvious that Mr. Sylvia doesn’t z< known how to review albums. In his re- *Z view of UFO’s latest album, “Strangers” -Z there is not one word about its musical jl* content. Mr. Sylvia “found it hard to jus- *« tify wasting time reviewing ‘Strangers. ” Fortunately for Sylvia, he didn’t waste •Z his time because he didn’t review the al bum, instead he attacked the members of the group by calling them “slugs” and “quasi-humanoid characters.” Mr. Sylvia should learn how to classify bands into their proper musical niche and I’m sorry that his objectivity was smothered by per sonal bias. —Duke Watson, ’79 Editor’s note: This letter was accom panied by 19 other signatures. Sin doesnt change Editor: In reference to the discussion of homosexuality presented by the Great Is sues Committee on March 20th, we would like to differ with Dr. Victor Fumish’s statement that “the Bible expresses ideas for the ancient world that can no longer be expressed for (today’s) society. ” The Bible classifies homosexualtiy as sin, sin being rebellion against God and what He says is right. Though society has changed over time man’s sin nature has not changed and so what the Bible speaks of in relation to morality still applies to us. With the problem of sin, whether it be homosexuality or anything else, God in His love for mankind offers us total forgiveness in Christ’s dying on the cross. Once we have accepted Christ’s payment for our sin and committed our life to Him, God gives us the enabling power to overcome this sin nature. Indeed the Bible offers no guidance for the homosexual in how to live but says he needs to change. Only God in His forgive ness and power to overcome can supply this. II Cor. 5:17 says: If any person is in Christ they are a new creation; the old things have passed away; now everything is new. —Johnny Stimson, ’80 Willis Hudson, ’80 Top of the News STATE Texaco cuts gas 5% for April Texaco Inc. has notified its customers that it will cut gasoline allo cations to its dealers another 5 percent in April, a company spokes man said Tuesday in Houston. The latest cutback will allow service stations to sell 85 percent as much gasoline as they were selling late last year when the major U.S. oil companies began curtailments. The April 1979 allotment was based on the amount supplied dealers in April 1978. Texaco’s decision to supply less to dealers was made before the decision Tuesday by OPEC oil ministers to raise the price of exported crude oil. Davis data subpoenas explained Tarrant County prosecutors subpoenaed documents from the T. Cullen Davis divorce trial before its conclusion because they had “very little faith in the integrity of that court,” an assistant district attorney in Fort Worth said Tuesday. The subpoenas touched off a series of public disagreements that led to District Judge John Barron, of Bryan, declaring a mistrial in the five-week case and chastising the district attorney’s office for what he called an intrusion into his court room. But District Attorney Jack Strickland said he feared Barron was showing preferential treatment to Davis and his attorneys and that the judge would eventually deny him access to the financial records when the trial ended. Strickland said he needed the records to pre pare the case against Davis on charges he tried to hire a hit man to slay his former divorce court judge, Joe Eidson. Barron stepped out of the case after it was revealed he had had two private meetings in his hotel room with Davis in the midst of the trial. NATION Movie stopped after youths shot The movie “Boulevard Nights,” a portrayal of life among the barrio gangs of East Los Angeles, was canceled at a San Francisco movie theater after four Spanish-surnamed youths were shot and another stabbed outside the theater. Owners of the Alhambra Theater on Monday ended the movie’s run after only one weekend, at the re quest of Mayor Dianne Feinstein, who said she felt “the movie was a threat to the safety and well being of the citizens of San Francisco.” Witnesses to Saturday’s attack said the five youths were attacked in front of the theater by a group of Asian-Amerian youths after the movie. Police said three males and two females were being sought in connection with the attack. All of the victims were reported in good condition Tuesday. Police Chief Charles Gain said the violence prob ably was caused by the cinematic portrayal of Chicano life in the East Los Angeles barrios. Two other incidents of violence related to the movie’s showing occurred in San Jose and Palo Alto Friday night, but no injuries were reported. WORLD Begin s Egypt visit delayed Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s reciprocal visit to Egypt, first set for next Monday, has been postponed one week at Egypt’s request for more time to prepare, the state radio in Tel Aviv reported Tuesday. The radio’s Washington correspondent said the Egyptians sought the delay to adequately prepare for Begin’s visit, the first official trip by an Israeli prime minister to an Arab capital. Begin had sought to have the Arabic and Hebrew versions of the peace treaty signed in parallel ceremonies in Cairo and Jerusalem following Monday’s official signing in Washington. But Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, reluctant to go to Jerusalem because of the controver sial status of the city, persuaded Begin Saturday to waive the parallel signing ceremonies. He invited Begin to visit Cairo, to reciprocate his trip to Jerusalem in November 1977. 26 hurt in Paris bomb blast A time bomb set by a group opposed to the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty exploded Tuesday in a restaurant of a left bank Jewish student center in Paris. The restaurant was jammed with about 50 people and police said 26 people were injured, 10 seriously. A telephone call to French news organizations claimed responsibility for the attack in the name of an Autonomous Intervention Collective against the Zionist presence in France and the peace treaty. About 50 Jewish students demonstrated outside the wrecked center after the blast. It was the second attack on the Paris Jewish community since the signing of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. During the night a bomb destroyed a Jewish-owned perfume shop near the opera, causing extensive dam age but no injuries. Ibrahim Souss, head of the Paris office oi the Palestine Liberation Organization, issued a statement denouncing the bombing of the student center. He said the bombing was not the work of the PLO, but instead of a provocation, which the PLO con demns. Amin claims his troops winning Ugandan President Idi Amin claimed Tuesday that his forces had smashed through encircling Tanzanian forces and reopened the road between Kampala and the international airport at Entebbe. At the same time, residents of Entebbe reported by telephone that ex plosions boomed across the area early Tuesday, lending weight to reports by western analysts that a coup was being attempted against Amin’s regime. The analysts said fighting was between troops trying to stage a coup and forces still loyal to the beleaguered Amin. In Dar Es Salaam, Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere said Tuesday that Libya had threatened to join Amin in a holy war against Tanzania unless he called off the invasion of Uganda within 24 hours. Nyerere said he rejected the ultimatum. WEATHER Mostly cloudy skies with mild temperatures. High today 77 and a low of 66. Winds will be South Easterly at 10-15 mph, There is a 20% chance of rain today and tonight. The Battalion LETTERS POLICY setters 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. I 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 KimT)# Managing Editor LizNe»i> Assistant Managing Editor . Andy W Sports Editor David B# City Editor Scott Pendletc Campus Editor Steve I* 1 News Editors Debbie Parse® Beth Calhoun Staff Writers Karen Rogers, ^ Patterson, Sean Petty, W Blake, Dillard Stone, ^ Bragg, Lyle Lovett, Kerf • Taylor Cartoonist DougGrt^ Photo Editor Lee Roy Leschper) 1 Photographer Lynn Bla®* Focus section editor Gary Werf 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-profi t supporting enterprise operated bijmP as a university and community neicsp¥ Editorial policy is determined by thefiW