Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Thursday
March 29, 1979
Give people their say
Conformity is the key word.
Conform to established ideas, traditions and opinions and you’ll get
along fine with everyone else here at Texas A&M.
If you don’t like it Highway 6 runs both way. But then, so do most
highways.
The Brazos American Civil Liberties Union chapter bought a full-page
ad in Wednesday’s Battalion headlined “To Dispel A Myth.”
The “myth” they spoke out against was a feeling at this university — by
students and faculty alike — that freedom of expression is not allowed
here.
The ad stated that the group is “troubled by the belief that new ideas —
which inevitably challenge and criticize old ideas — are not welcome at
Texas A&M.”
The ad cited fear by administrators, faculty and students to be critical
lest something happen to them or their jobs. A member of the Union
refused to elaborate on the ad, saying “I prefer to let the statement speak
for itself.”
Freedom of speech, freedom of expression — basic rights guaranteed
under the U.S. Constitution. However, people must choose to exercise
these guaranteed freedoms — something that can still bring criticism.
Remember the McCarthy communist trials during the 1950s?
I read with amazement the quotes from on-lookers at the Iranian pro
test at Rudder Tower on Monday. “Communists,” one said.
And remember last semester when a student sat on the Memorial
Student Center grass, against the tradition of recognizing the grass as a
memorial. “Communist,” some said. Amazing.
But the more common response might be “Highway 6 Runs Both
Ways.” That phrase has been said hundreds, if not thousands, of times at
A&M when someone voices an unpopular viewpoint — addressed to
students and faculty alike.
And “love it or leave it” can drive out some who get frustrated by the
close-minded atmosphere. One disgusted freshman wrote The Battalion
last year, saying he was leaving to find a 20th century college.
There have been no consistent pattern of punishment taken against a
student for saying what’s on his mind. But peer pressure is another mat
ter.
When a student writes a letter to The Battalion, he takes a certain risk
— especially if his opinion is not that of the majority. Fellow students
have been known to use tactics such as phone threats to “scare” the writer
into changing his ways — which is one of the reasons The Battalion
receives some letters requesting the writer’s name not appear in the
newspaper with the letter.
But the real question is whether there is freedom to voice a minority
opinion. Fear of reprisal may keep students and faculty from expressing
their true feelings on controversial subjects.
This is coercion. What this university needs is maturity, the ability to
let others have their say, and people who aren’t afraid to come out of their
shells and say what’s on their minds.
— K.T., K.R.
Window on Middle East:
Death without an epitaph
United Press International
CAIRO, Egypt — The conclusion of the
Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in effect tolls
the knell of the Geneva Middle East peace
conference, a non-starter that survives
only on paper.
The treaty and its parent Camp David
peace framework accords have practically
superseded the conference, set up two
months after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war to
seek a comprehensive settlement under
the co-chairmanship of the United States
and the Soviet Union. Camp David elimi
nated Moscow as a partner in negotiations.
Diplomats believe that even if other
Arab parties seek a negotiated settlement
at a later stage, it probably will be done
within the Camp David framework or
some variation of the Geneva conference.
The Geneva conference held a two-day
ceremonial opening session in December
1973 and has been dormant since.
levels, the bottom one for water and
power lines, the middle for traffic and the
top for ventilation. It is being built with the
help of the British firm Tarmac Overseas at
a cost of nearly $100 million.
Work began in January 1977 and was to
have been completed by the end of 1980,
but the government now wants to finish
the job by this June. It says the tunnel will
be of immense value in the economic re
habilitation of Sinai following Israeli with
drawal under the Egyptian-Israeli peace
treaty.
Israel and the F16s
Experiment in Gaza?
Letters to the Editor
Disheartening bike theft
Editor:
The “spirit of Aggieland” was in action
over the weekend in the northside dorm
area. Someone decided to steal (or “bor-
row“) my bike on Friday night. The bike-
steelers have good taste in their selection
as my bike was bought in France and had a
unique sentimental value behind it.
These bike-stealers must also be hard
workers as I had a thick chain and padlock
securing my property. It’s becoming in
creasingly hard to be proud of our “unique
and wonderful” school by such actions.
If these fellow Ags have any feelings for
sentiment at all, I would appreciate them
returning something that has a lot of mean
ing to me and renewing my faith in the
people at this school.
—A.L. Gardner, ’81
ditches on the trail and sprained his ankle.
The pothole-filled streets are bad
enough without having a special jogging
trail with ditches in it. If the University can
afford to construct a trail they should at
least be able to light the whole thing in
stead of just a few parts (which are probably
lighted because pedestrians also use these
portions).
If this is not possible, please try to keep
the trail as ditch-free as possible as I will
continue jogging at night due to work and
school during the day. Also, who is liable
for this neglect?
—Karl V. Springer, ’80
GAZA, Israeli-occupied Egypt — Gaza
Mayor Rashad As-Shawwa will go to Be
irut during the next few weeks for talks
with Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) leaders on the autonomy plan in
cluded in the Egypt-Israel peace treaty.
Shawwa, in marked contrast to West
Bank Arab mayors, has not totally
excluded his participation in such a plan,
saying he would go along “only if it will
lead to the full self-determination of the
Palestinian people.’
The plan appears to have more of a
chance of succeeding in the Gaza Strip,
which once was under Egypt’s control,
than in the West Bank. One suggestion
has been to start the plan in Gaza as an
experiment.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel will receive
American F16 aircraft 18 months ahead of
schedule and the early delivery will mean
a massive organizational effort by the Is
raeli air force.
Preparations for the jets will be compli
cated by Israel’s need to build three new
airbases in the Negev desert as a result of
its peace treaty with Egypt.
Defense Minister Ezer Weizman re
ceived a promise from U.S. Defense Sec
retary Harold Brown that the first planes
would be delivered in about a year.
Israel had planned to put some of its
own systems into the aircraft, but it is now
doubtful that local manufacturers will be
able to meet the early delivery date.
Sinai land link
SUEZ, Egypt — The government is
speeding up construction of a tunnel
under the Suez Canal which will be the
first land link between mainland Egypt
and Sinai.
The tunnel, 150 feet below the canal
bed, will be two miles long with a diame
ter of about 36 feet. It will consist of three
Army moves in
BEIRUT, Lebanon — When Saudi
Arabia announced it was pulling its
peace-keeping battalion out of Lebanon,
most analysts feared the move signaled
another round of fighting between the
Christian militia and the Syrian army in
Beirut.
Then the commanders of Lebanon’s for
gotten army spoke up and said they were
capable of taking over the Saudi positions
between the hostile Syrians and Chris
tians.
The betting is still against peace for the
war-scarred city. But when asked his opin
ion on the Saudi withdrawal. Prime Minis
ter Selim Al Hoss said, “It’s not the end of
the world.”
Other side to U.S. energy use
Bible not obsolete
Editor:
I urge anyone who claims that the Bible
offers no guidance on modem homosexual
ity to read Romans 1:26,27 which states
“For this reason God gave them up to dis
honorable passions. Their women ex
changed natural relations for unnatural,
and the men likewise gave up natural rela
tions with women and were consumed
with passion for one another, men com
mitting shameless acts with men and re
ceiving in their own persons the due pen
alty for their error.”
In response to Dr. Fumish’s statement
that “the Bible expresses ideas for the an
cient world that can no longer be ex
pressed for society,” I would refer him to
Matthew 24:35 which reads “Heaven and
earth will pass away, but my words will
never pass away.”
The Bible also offers a warning in John
12:48 which reads “He who rejects me and
does not receive my sayings has a judge,
the word that I hve spoken will be his
judge on the last day.” “The word of God
is living and active, sharper than any two
edged sword ...” Hebrews 4:12.
It is not obsolete and will never change.
It is as binding on us today as it was in the
first century.
—Greg Hargis, ’81
One of the heaviest indictments directed at the United States and the American
people is that we have only 5 percent of the world’s population, but use nearly 30
percent of the globe’s energy resources and oil. The implication of this charge is
that we are a society wrapped up in ourselves, hung up on materialistic comforts,
and determined to get ours regardless of how much suffering it might bring the
rest of the world.
But the apparently appalling consumption figures deserve to be balanced by
America’s production figures. The United States also produces 23 percent of the
world’s energy, and creates a gross national product that is one-quarter of the
gross global product.
Now, in all fairness, the United States does not create so large a national
product by using abacuses in its think tanks, hand tools in its factories, rakes and
hoses in its giant agribusinesses, and horses and wagons in its market deliveries.
To produce all these goods, especially food stuffs that continually make up for the
Soviet Union’s harvest shortfall and India’s periodic droughts, America admittedly
uses up a great deal of energy.
Speaking of selfishness, we might ask what others do when they have a chance
to help themselves or to help others.
OPEC and the oil prices for example. By quadrupling oil prices and worse, the
OPEC countries created far more distress and suffering among oil-less, im
poverished Third World countries than America, with its foreign aid programs,
ever accomplished.
‘Nuff said.
Newport (R.I.) Daily News
Correction
It was incorrectly reported in
Wednesday’s March 29 Battalion
that the United States is experienc
ing a shortfall of 700 barrels of crude
oil a day. This should have read
700,000 barrels a day.
The Battalion regrets the error.
Readers’ Forum
Guest viewpoints, in addition to
Letters to the Editor, are welcome.
All pieces submitted to Readers’
forum should be:
• Typed triple space
• Limited to 60 characters per
line
• Limited to 100 lines
Unknown protest
Editor:
I propose a massive sit-in on Kyle Field
for all Texas A&M students. The reason?
To protest against ignorant people who
protest without knowing why!
—George Rooney
Off the beaten trail
Editor:
Tuesday night my friend and I were jog
ging on the jogging trail between G. Rollie
White and the Corps dorms, and he fell
down and sprained his ankle. When I went
back to see why he fell, I found a ditch all
the way across the trail. While I was waiting
at the Quack Shack for him to get his
X-rays, another student told me that a
friend of his had slipped in one of those
Top of the News
LOCAL
Brine from oilfields radioactive
Discharge of salt water from oil fields into bays and estuaries re- p
suits in local ecological damage, but these effects are regarded by the r
government as acceptable, an oil company scientist said in a Marine I
Fellows lecture at Texas A&M University Tuesday. Atlantic Richfield f
Co. science adviser D.W. Chamberlain said there is some radiation L
in salt water from drilling in radon and stronium, both part of the S
complex chemical makeup of brine. Chamberlain defended brine I
discharge into bays, saying that most of the water is reinjected into I
the earth. c
NATION
‘Weary Willie 9 to rest at age 81
Emmett Kelly, a one-time newspaper cartoonist who became 1
world-famous as “Weary Willie” the circus clown, died Wednesday at 2
the age of 81. A medical rescue squad called to Kelly’s Sarasota, Fla., |
home rushed him to Sarasota Memorial Hospital where he was pro- I
nounced dead. Kelly was a newspaper cartoonist and illustrator be- f
fore he joined the circus. He created the wistful and ragged character
of “Weary Willie” in 1921 while drawing illustrations in Kansas City,
but it was 1937 before he used it in his circus act.
Carter delays energy proposals
President Carter, facing “largely unpleasant” options from his top
energy advisers and weighing the impact of the latest foreign oil price
rise, will wait until next week before proposing new energy mea
sures. The president originally planned to address the nation this
week, but Tuesday ordered changes in some of the proposals. Some
of the steps the president has in mind will require congressional
action, Press Secretary Jody Powell said. Carter is expected to favor
lifting controls on crude oil prices — most likely through a gradual
approach, with total decontrol by September, 1981. During a White
House meeting Tuesday, Carter told Energy Secretary James
Schlesinger and other administration officials he was “less than com
pletely satisfied” with some of their recommendations. The OPEC
decision for a 9 percent increase plus surcharges by individual mem
bers caused major complications for Carter’s plans.
Rationing unlikely — Schlesinger
Energy Secretary James R. Schlesinger, in Dallas Wednesday,
predicted spot gasoline shortages this summer but said gasoline ra
tioning probably would not be introduced despite OPEC’s decision to
raise crude oil prices 9 percent. Schlesinger, in a news conference
following an address to the National Association of Broadcasters con
vention, said the government would move to implement gasoline
rationng only under “developments far more severe than those of the
present time.” He said an occurrence such as the partial closure of
the Persian Gulf could cause the implementation of gas rationing.
During his address, Schlesinger called on broadcasters to help per
suade the American public the current energy situation was critical,
rather than focusing on dollar-a-gallon gas prices or gas rationing
timetables.
WORLD
Arafat hardest on ‘snake’s head
As Arab leaders met in Baghdad Wednesday to mete out punish
ment to Egypt, Israel and the United States for making a separate
peace, Arab radicals took matters into their own hands and struck at
Egyptian and Jewish targets around the world. Conference sources
said a separate session of Arab foreign ministers agreed on political
sanctions to isolate President Anwar Sadat’s regime. The sharpest
words Tuesday were reserved for, in Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat’s words, “the snake’s head — the United States. Taking puni
tive measures against Sadat are not enough. We must punish the
engineer of the Egyptian-Israeli treaty — we must punish Carter,”
Arafat told the Arab ministers. “If you are not prepared to cut oil
supplies to the United States,” Arafat pleaded, “at least cut produc
tion by 30 percent and increase prices by 30 percent.
Iran rebels continue bloodshed
Marxist guerrillas and Turkoman tribesmen took control of the
southern half of a city in northeast Iran Wednesday and besieged
government positions, reports reaching Tehran said. The left-wing
forces were “firing 200 shots a minute” at the southern end of
Gonbad-e Quabooa and in factories surrounding the city 296 miles
northwest of Tehran, a resident said. Three persons were killed, rais
ing the death toll to 23, reports reaching the capital said. Latest re
ports said between 40 and 75 persons have been injured.
Sadat seeking weapons, cash
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat met Wednesday with banker
David Rockefeller and then planned a meeting with Defense Secre
tary Harold Brown to discuss his nation’s defense needs. U.S. sources
said Sadat wants to buy up to $2 billion worth of F16 fighter planes,
tanks, artillery pieces and armored troop carriers. Sadat Tuesday
urged Congress to approve a new U. S.-Egyptian military relationship
to help counterpossible Soviet and Cuban intervention in Africa and
the Middle East. The Egyptian president also has used his treaty
signing visit to the United States to press for increased economic aid
— both public and private.
WEATHER
Mostly cloudy skies with thundershowers and mild tempera
tures. High today 70 and a low of 50.40% chance of rain today
and 60% tonight. Winds will be S-S.E. at 15-25 mph.
■The Battalion
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