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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1979)
I I ' Viewpoint The Battalion Monday Texas A&M University , April 16, 1979 Reflections ffcvu^ Parking lot ‘chicken’ Let’s play a game. First, you need a car. Any car will do, but the bigger the better. After all, it’s easier to scare someone driving a VW than someone in a pickup truck. There are two playing fields: Culpepper Plaza and Skagg’s parking lots. The object of the game is to beat your opponent to a front row parking space while ignoring traffic rules, narrowly missing pedestrians and dent ing shopping carts. There are a few rules you must play by: —^Absolutely no turn signals. You must not indicate your intentions to your opponent, thereby giving him an advantage. —Do not check your blind spot. Most people find this the easiest rule to remember since they never do it anyway. —Never look before you back up. But if you feel you must, do it while you are backing out. This is an excellent surprise tactic as your opponent cruises blindly up the aisle looking for a parking space. —Pay no attention to any pavement markings on the playing field. Remember, the shortest path between two points is a straight line. Drive across empty parking spaces or cruise the wrong way up a parking aisle as needed. —When you come to the end of an aisle, don’t check for oncoming traffic before you pull out. Chances are, you can cut off your opponent and shake his confidence by causing a near collision. You may earn up to 100 extra points for making a pedestrian drop his groceries or run madly across the thoroughfare. For each rude gesture aimed in your direction, subtract 50 points. After all, we’re still interested in good sportsmanship. Crashing into shopping carts brings hefty bonus points, especially if you slam them into a late-model car. Subtract 25 points if you did it because you were jealous. Remember, this is an every-man-for-himself game. Should you find yourself on opposite ends of an aisle fighting for a premium parking place, challenge the other guy to a game of chicken. Disregard the person trying to get out of the parking spot. Pull in as close behind him as you can to make sure no one else sneaks in. Subtract 10 points if he backs into you. This is a game of skill. The game is over whenever you have found a parking place. If you beat your opponent, add 100 points. To get your final score, subtract the points as indicated as above and then rate yourself on the scale below: 200-175 —Excellent. You undoubtedly are able to get a parking place in any day student lot on the Texas A&M campus. 174-100 — Good. You occasionally are able to make short trips without having any near misses. Don’t be discouraged. Start studying the experts not only in Culpepper and Skagg’s, but those at Townshire Shopping Center, drive-in banks and football games Kyle Field. 99-0 — Poor. Join the Department of Public Safety and become a driving instructor. This state needs more people like you. c) r*"*on 7 leT's> cleanup disaster Tofo- Crafty ideas for decontrol (President) Carter really had very little choice but to begin removing price controls on U.S. oil June 1 and phase them out entirely by Sept. 30, 1981. It will mean higher energy prices. It will be unpopular; it will be inflationary; it will pinch us — hard — right in the pocketbook. But it is necessary. Allowing the price of U.S. oil to climb to the world price will force conservation and will also provide fresh capital for oil exploration and production. The nation must conserve more, but it must produce more, too, if the U.S. economy is to grow and provide jobs. What concerns us here is Carter’s plan for oil price decontrol. It strikes us as a very crafty one. The issue is not decontrol per se. The issue is what shall be done with the billions of dollars in new profits that will accrue to the U.S. oil companies. And that is the issue that has stalemated Congress for six long years. Carter wants to tax away half these profits and use the new revenues to finance mass transit and intensive research and development into alternate energy sources and to help the poor pay their higher fuel bills. That’s an appealing idea, but it misses the point. The point of decontrol is the increased production of oil in the United States, thereby lessening the dangerous and financially ruinous dependence on foreign oil. We prefer the approach advocated by Sen. James McClure, R-Idaho, who would allow the oil companies to keep their “windfall” profits only to the degree that they use them for increased oil exploration and production. Any excess should be taxed away at truly confiscatory rates, 80 percent, 90 percent, or even 100 percent. What is crafty about Carter’s proposal is that it forces Congress to come to some kind of a decision. He has the power to decontrol oil prices on his own, and he’s announced that he will do so. Now it is up to Congress to decide who shall spend the new money, and for what purposes. Scripps-Haward Newspapers Letters to the Editor Mideast treaty ignores Palestinian rights Editor: Now that President Sadat has bowed to Israeli intransigence, we feel that it is our duty to protest and denounce the treaty and uncover the true consequences and meanings of its terms. We oppose this treaty of capitulation for the following rea sons: —It deliberately ignores the crux of the whole conflict — the rights of the Palesti nians to their homeland and self- determination. During Mr. Carter’s visit to the area, their right of speech and freedom of expression was met by killings and cur fews in the so-called “democratic” country of Israel. —The treaty violates the spirit of the UN resolutions which call on Israel to withdraw from ALL occupied territories. These reso lutions were supported by the U.S. and consider the actions of Israeli occupational forces and its settlements as illegal. —The U.S. will be supplying Egypt and Israel with $5 billion in “aid” which in cludes building several airbases for Israel and supplying both parties with more ad vanced weapons. A country preparing for peace doesn’t arm itself to the teeth. —Implementation of the treaty will cause divisions and sharpen differences among the Arab countries, including those considered moderate and friendly by the U.S. When President Sadat first visited Is rael, Mr. Begin said that he himself would not try to cause division among Arabs. It seems that he has gone back on his own words again. —The fate of the holy city of Jerusalem has been completely ignored and we be lieve that Israel intends to continue its il legal hold over it. We urge all justice-loving people to de nounce this sham treaty which intends to establish “peace” without justice; there can be NO justice without restoration of the Palestinians’ rights. —Amer Sheikh, ’80 President, Texas A&M Muslim Students’ Association Editor’s note: This letter was accom panied by 30 other signatures. Not solo effort Editor: This letter is in response to the letter of April 9 by Mr. John T. Groce. While hardly qualified to pass on the numerous argu ments of Mr. Groce, we strongly feel that one point has been misrepresented. Mr. Groce’s comment “I was in charge of the Aggie Blood Drive” requires and deserves expansion. Mr. Groce was, in fact, not in charge of the Aggie Blood Drive, but one of six co chairpersons charged with success of the drive. His major contribution to the Blood Drive effort was composition of a filmed tape of last fall’s drive. The fact that the recent Blood Drive was only the second Spring Drive to break 1,000 pints is largely due to the anonymous efforts of dozens of men and women, members of Alpha Phi Omega and Omega Phi Alpha, two groups whose contributions too often go unnoticed by those in positions to see. If Mr. Groce was in charge, then why did so many of our people in 20 to 25 hours of work over the three days of the drive? Why did we feel so tired after leaving the Drive at 7 p.m., having arrived at 8 a.m.? How many gallons of juice did he mix, and how many hours did he wear a sandwich sign around campus? How many overflow ing bags of trash did he cart down to the dumpster, and why did the man in charge have to ask me after the drive had ended how many units had been collected? If Mr. Groce was in charge, then we should dearly love to see a project that runs itself. Should Mr. Groce feel that he has been misstated, or should desire to elaborate more fully on his statement, then we ex tend to him an open invitation to respond at his leisure to those who truly worked and made possible a successful Blood Drive. —Mark A. Edmund, ’77 Edward Nash, 80 Debbie Walker, ’80 Aggie Blood Drive Co-Chairmen Editor’s note: To allow John Groce to respond to the above letter, he was con tacted and allowed to reply the same day of publication — his reply follows. Sorry APO, OP A Editor: Dear Members of APO and OPA: In my letter to The Battalion on April 9, I did not wish to state I was in charge of Aggie Blood Drive. I wanted to show my in volvement with the blood drive through Student Government. This point was made to show I had ex perience other than the Student Services Committee which the Aggie Blood Drive is not part of. I understand the blood drive is a combined effort of the three organizations, and did not wish to lessen your involve ment in the blood drive. Please, accept this apology in all the sincerity it is meant and I hope it clarifies any misunderstanding which may have been caused by my letter. I look forward to working with you again. (The above letter is the same that I sent to APO and OPA Friday). —John T. Groce, 80 Innocent first Editor: As J. Wayne Morrison’s representative before the J-Board I feel obligated to com ment on some of the issues raised by Mes sers. Abbe and Verdepool in their letter of Friday, April 13. The Battalion reporter covering the J-Board hearing did a good job. I wonder how Abbe and Vanderpool arrived at some of the statements they made in their letter based upon what was reported in the Battalion. First, apparently Abbe and Vanderpool have forgotten that in the U.S., as in other democratic countries, people are pre sumed innocent until proven guilty. For this reason to say that a ballot was stolen is based upon a supposition of guilt and is thus a slightly prejudical statement. Second, I take issue with the statement that this indi vidual was “guilty of violating Texas statute and election commission decisions.” Ap parently Abbe and Vanderpool are stu dents of the law and can interpret and apply the Texas Open Records Act to Student Government elections at Texas A&M. I find this interesting inasmuch as the attor ney general’s office has not yet decided whether student organizations are in fact an entity of the State of Texas and thus within the provisions of the Texas Open Records Act. Furthermore to clarify another issue raised by Abbe and Vanderpool, no cam paigning was done until an appeal had been filed with the Judicial Board. This is analagous to the situation in which a person accused of a statutory violation posts bond; at which time they are free to continue their activities. Again, this is the premise of innocence until proven guilty. I was especially interested in the state ment urging “the election officials to be more resolute in dealing with infractions of this magnitude.” I would challenge Abbe and Vanderpool to cite a specific example of a violation of election regulations. Finally, I would suggest, in the future, that these gentlemen verify their facts be fore speaking. Perhaps they would have been better informed had they attended the J-Board meeting Monday evening. In summary, the J-Board met to hear the case and found no cause for censure. I think the decision speaks for itself. " —Ronald A. Woessner, ’79 Good judgment? Editor: This past week’s question regarding the actions of one of the candidates for student body president fails to raise what I consider a significant point. As the judicial board ruled, Mr. Morrison did not break a spe cific rule but his attempt to obtain a master ballot did violate the intent of the regula tion and therefore justified the election commissioner’s decision that he could not campaign further. What was not brought out in last Tuesday’s Battalion article was that twice Morrison had been instructed that he could not have the ballot, yet he proceeded to get one anyway. This obvious failure to consider other al ternatives put him as an officer in Student Government, and more specifically as a candidate for another office, into a danger ously compromising position. Good judgment is an essential charac teristic which each student body president must have. Whether or not good judge ments was exercised in this instance is something that only the voters in Monday’s election can decide. —J.C. Colton, ’78 V.P. Academic Affairs Sorry, Mosher Editor: This letter is written to the girls of Mosher Hall regarding their jock raid of Hotard Hall the night of April 11. We the undersigned very much regret the actions taken by some unidentified members of our dorm. Hotard has received much adverse pub licity and this incident does not help our reputation at all. We only hope that the actions of a few members of Hotard will not serve to discredit the otherwise amiable and well-meaning members of our hall. —Paul R. Harris, ’82 Editor’s note: This letter was accom panied by 36 other signatures. Top of the News LOCAL B-CS residents aid Wichita Falls Residents of Bryan and College Station donated about $2,000along with food and clothing this weekend to tornado-devastated Wichita Falls. Although the donations were coordinated by radio stations KTAM and KORA, Ben Downs, operations manager for the stations, played down the stations’ role and praised the Bryan-College Station community for its cooperation. Employees of the stations drove two loaded 24-foot trucks to Wichita Falls Sunday morning, the last of several trips made to the area since Thursday. Downs said the money collected was converted into food items purchased at Kroger Family Center, which gave a 20 percent discount for items sent. Officials in Wichita Falls indicated the biggest need to be for food items, and Downs said the donations were well-received. STATE Texan found innocent of murder A Texas man on trial in the March 1, 1977, ambush slayings of two men at a Lake Texoma fishing camp near Platter was found innocent of first-degree murder. George Edward “Pete” Kay, 39, of Huntsville was charged with two others in the slayings of Ernest “Catfish John” Fielder and Junior Metcalf, both of Calera. The defense attorney, state Sen. Gene Stipe, concluded his final argument by urging the jury to reach a verdict that would allow Kay to return to his family in Huntsville. Rabies rampant on Rio Grande Health officials are fighting an outbreak of canine rabies on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border, where more than 80 people have been exposed, the national Center for Disease Control said Saturday. The rabies cases are concentrated in El Paso County, Texas; DonaAna County, N. M.; and in the area around Juarez, Mexico. The CDCsaid that since the first of the year, 27 cases of canine rabies have been reported from those three areas, with 10 known cases occurring in El Paso County in a 30-mile area close to the Rio Grande River and its interconnecting canals. NATION Reactor temperature is stable Temperatures in the Three Mile Island reactor core were allowed to stabilize Saturday as officials pondered the next step in the cautious cooling process. Operators began reducing core cooling water temper atures Friday at a rate of about 5 degrees an hour. The nextcoolingstep will be to remove more heat through a steam generator serving as part of a secondary coolant water loop. In perhaps a week, technicians wil reach a point at which they can shut off the main reactor pump. Nuclear power interest is high Books on nuclear power are “selling like hotcakes,” and Americans are very interested in the prospects of a man-inspired catastrophe since the Three Mile Island crisis, a nationwide survey of book store owners and libraries showed Saturday. “They’re just asking for any thing on the subject” said Abe Fiss of a New York bookstore. Mean while, “The China Syndrome,” a nuclear diaster film, has grossed $30 million in its first month, and is on the was to becoming on of Colum bia’s biggest pictures. At the same time. Three Mile Island delayed publication of a five-year study on energy by three members of the Harvard Business School faculty. GM to ‘help out’ Chrysler General Motors has agreed to sell safety and pollution control equipment to the financially ailing Chrysler Corp. However, the Center for Auto Safety is charging the plan violates a federal court order that restricts the exchange of emission control technology be tween automakers. A Justice Department official said the court order in question contains a provision that allows a firm to purchase technol ogy from another manufacturer and that Chrysler “is not forbidden from obtaining information on another company’s products.” Botha blasts U.S. decision The State Department announced Friday it was expelling South Africa s two top military attaches in retaliation for Pretoria’s expulsion of three U. S. Air Force men, allegedly for taking spy photographs with a camera built into a U.S. Embassy plane. In Johannesburg, South Africa s fiery Foreign Minister Pik Botha heavily criticized the action, which he said most Americans would find objectionable. “I believe the United States government ought to apologize,” Botha said. But a U.S. government spokesman brusquely rejected the apology demand Fri day, further infuriating the South Africans. WEATHER Partly cloudy skies with mild temperatures. High today of 80° and a low in the upper 60’s. Winds are southeasterly at 5-10 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. 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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 MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Editor Kin,T)j Managing Editor LizNfl) Assistant Managing Editor .Andy Win Sports Editor David City Editor Scott Pei* Campus Editor Stevel^ News Editors Debbie Parsool Beth Calhoun Staff Writers Karen Rogers,^ Patterson, Sean Petty, Ditf Blake, Dillard Stone, RoyB4 Lyle Lovett, Keith Taylor : Cartoonist DougCialtf Photo Editor Lee Roy LeschperJ Photographer Lynn Bland Focus section editor GaryWea Regents. The Battalion is a non-profit A supporting enterprise operated by stub as a university and community newspupf Editorial policy is determined by the die