see inside D.C. operation
weuNfc&UAY, MARCH 28, 1979
By PATTI SHOQUIST
Battalion Report
Jetting off to Washington, D.C.,
over spring break is becoming a tra-
idiHon for some Aggies. This month
tical Forum sponsored its sec
ond annual Washington, D.C., Ex
travaganza, and 35 politically-
mmded Aggies went to see the fed
eral government in action.
: j .The operations of government
! were not all they saw, for most of
^ on tJ.the participants found time to
l ? 0 ' sight-see, visit friends and relatives,
’‘d'esm attend musicals, job hunt, and
can «!i spend many nights out on the town.
Nevertheless, everyone managed
to head in the same direction each
day to meet senators, congressmen,
lobbyists and members of the press.
Noted speakers included Sen. Lloyd
Bentsen of Texas, Sen. William
Proxmire of Wisconsin, Benjamin
C. Bradlee, executive editor of the .
Washington Post, Thomas De-
Frank, a Texas A&M University
graduate, now White House corre
spondent for Newsweek, and U.S.
Rep. Phil Gramm of College Sta
tion.
The students agreed that Wash
ington is a dynamic city. Those who
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also had gone on the trip last year
said they saw how the city changes
as fast as the issues.
When last year s group visited the
Israeli Embassy in the midst of se
vere Middle East tension, they
were under strict surveillance by
members of the embassy. The stu
dents entered the embassy in al
phabetical order and all were strip
ped of purses, cameras, coats and
other belongings as they went
through the door.
However, with the latest peace
accords, this year’s group merely
had to show their ID s before enter
ing the embassy. Three Lebanese
students were admitted with no has
sles.
On the other hand, some of the
students said they were uneasy
about going to the Soviet Embassy.
They said they were suspicious that
they were being watched by hidden
cameras.
As the students sat in a gold-
trimmed room talking to a Soviet at
tache, someone kept opening and
closing a door behind a floor-length
curtain in the room. The students
said they heard someone speaking
Russian behind the curtain, but
none of them understood what was
said.
Though the group did not learn of
any secrets at the Soviet Embassy,
one student accidentally overheard
some top secret information when
he wandered into a closed congres
sional meeeting. He said he sat in
the room listening to some con
gressmen talk for about 20 minutes
before anyone realized that he was
there.
Finally, he was escorted out of
the room by a U.S. representative.
and told to keep secret any informa
tion that he might have obtained
from the meeting. The student ad
mitted he really didn’t understand
what the congressmen were saying
anyway.
Other students happened to be in
the right place at the right time.
One Aggie was walking down the
street when she saw Sen. Alan
Cranston of California. Since she is
also from California she introduced
herself to the senator. He took her
on a brief but personal tour of the
capitol.
“There’s always someone from
home to see in Washington,” one
student said. However, the Aggies
were treated like foreigners by some
people they met.
Peter Goldfarb, an aide to Sen.
Lowell Weicker offConnecticut, an
swered one of the students’ ques
tions by saying , “I’m sorry, will you
repeat your question, I don’t speak
Southern.” Senator Weicker an
nounced his candidacy for the Re
publican presidential nomination on
the day the students met with his
aides.
One student said, “It was strange
to turn on the television in the hotel
room each night and see how close
we were to the center of all the na
tional news stories.”
Most of the students said they
were in awe of all they saw and did
in Washington. They said there was
never a dull moment, and barely
enough time to stop and rest.
Most of them sacrificed sleep to
enjoy Washington’s night life. In
Georgetown they found everything
from a down-home Texas style
kicker joint to an exclusive French
restaurant, where pictures of celeb
rities and politicians who often eat
there decorate the lobby.
On the last night of the trip the
Aggies celebrated by having a party
in the hotel. Highlights of the party
included a traditional Aggie yell
practice and an awards ceremony for
the participants of the trip.
One student was given the “Most
Attentive” award for falling asleep at
every meeting. Another student re
ceived the “Lost in State” award for
missing the bus when the group left
the State Department one day.
Finally, one Aggie Band member
was given a special award for being
the “World’s Best Aggie Joke.”
United Press International
AUSTIN, Texas — The Senate Jurisprudence Committee Tuesday
approved 8-0 a bill that would permit prosecution of a husband who
|apes his estranged wife.
Current Texas law protects a husband from being prosecuted for
|ape of his wife even if they are separated.
Sen. Gene Jones, D-Houston, originally proposed a law change to
[hop any distinction in rape statutes for married men but in the face
bf opposition agreed to rewrite his bill to continue an exemption from
prosecution for married couples who are actually living together.
The rewritten version won committee approval without debate
fonday.
“You can still rape your wife in Texas and not be prosecuted,” said
en. H. Tati Santiesteban, D-El Paso. “You can still rape your
aommate and not be prosecuted.”
Jones’ bill drew opposition from the American Civil Liberties
Jnion on grounds the measure will extend the death penalty to cases
vhere a male rapes another male and the victim is killed.
Under current law, the offender is subject to a possible death
Sentence in a rape case only if the victim attacked and murdered is a
female.
Jones’ bill eliminates gender references in the statute and renames
|he offense an “attack” instead of a “rape.”
“It’s an attempt to take away the degradation and social shame
Attached to the word ‘rape,’” Jones said. “It’s the most unreported
sffense that we have in the penal code. Even those that are reported
re prosecuted with some reluctance. ”
On the otHier side of the Capitol, a San Antonio prosecutor testified
for a bill to remove age and gender limits from the state’s fondling
statutes. >
The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee approved the
bhange in state law to make sexual contact with a child’s breast a
briminal offense. Current laws on child molesting apply only to
jfemales who are 10 years and older.
Rep. Ron Bird, D-San Antonio, said he introduced the bill after
being told of a case in San Antonio in which a grand jury could not
jindicta man who allegedly fondled his stepdaughter’s breasts because
the girl was 9 years old.
MSC
TRAVEL
^ssia w; f „ ^
Want to spend the summer of 1980 in Russia and Poland?
For further information
Call: 845-1515 MSC Travel Comm.
or
845-2124 Dr. Barszap
and
for those of you who plan to travel abroad during the
next year, there will be an Overseas Orientation meeting
March 29, 7:00 p.m., Rm. 206 MSC.
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