Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University ,
Tuesday
April 17, 1979
Reflections
U.S. policy gutless
It is once again time to pick on South Africa to make political brownie
points at home.
This past week South Africa understandably expelled three U.S. military
attaches for suspected spying. Monday the Carter regime replied by expel
ling two South African military attaches, but gave no reason.
Eager to punish the South Africans for their apartheid racist policies,
Carter showed his teeth.
At first. Carter’s action appeared to be a welcome change from his usual
gutless foreign policy. But in reality it isn’t.
His action smacks of two-faced foreign policy. It seems Carter’s human
rights policies extend only to countries small enough for us to push around.
Notice it does not extend to our new “friends,” the communist Chinese,
whose oppressive regime is responsible for untold deaths. It does not
include Russia, the land where concentration camps were invented (Hitler
saw a good thing) and where individual freedom is nil.
Instead Carter picks on the tough guys, like little Nicaragua, South
Africa and Rhodesia.
Russia is destabilizing many nations from the Middle East to South
America, and President Carter spends his time picking on South Africa.
U.S. policy on the whole seems strict with governments it is fashionable
to hate, even as it caves in to others.
Gen. Omar Torrijos, dictator of Panama, is evidence of that. Though he
is a tyrant no better than Somoza of Nicaragua, he has ended up with the
Panama Canal.
After succeeding in getting Taiwan expelled from the United Nations,
and securing recognition from Carter, The People’s Republic of China has
learned of the American deference to strong totalitarian regimes. Teng
Hsiao Ping was the toast of Washington, even though Chinese soldiers
massacred American G.I.s captured during the Korean War.
It is a shame people can’t remember that.
But Carter insists on attacking South Africa. It and Rhodesia are demo
cratic and have elected parliaments. Their crime is that socially, they are
where the United States used to be. Except they never sank to the level of
enslaving blacks like the United States did. Americans don’t seem to
understand that in South Africa the black tribes like our American Indians
are separate nations, except the African tribes were not exterminated the
way the American ones were.
South Africa and Rhodesia’s policies are not right. But the United States
should be supportive, not coercive, in seeking change. Instead, we force
our U. S. solutions on them. Rhodesia has finally moved toward multi-racial
rule (their army, by the way, is mostly black), but Carter still insists on
including the murderers of missionaries and civilians in the new govern
ment.
He won’t be happy, it appears, unless the communist-backed elements
are included in Rhodesia’s new government. He has forgotten what has
happened to most countries that have had that arrangement.
This is not to advocate simplistic solutions to foreign policy. Rather it is to
say that even-handedness should be exercised.
Carter’s spinelessness in SALT II and world affairs is frightening. If he is
willing to sell Taiwan for popularity and foist SALT II on America for
political reasons, he will probably cash in South Africa for the minority
vote.
To juggle the fates of nations and peoples for home politics is disgusting
and short-sighted. It isn’t surprising that this kind of game is played by the
president — Carter is a proven master of the half-truth (He never was a
nuclear engineer, for instance.) and the artificial smile.
“Trust me?”
Carter has done so many things solely for their political symbolic signifi
cance, he has come up way short on substance.
And the United States and the world will suffer.
Slouch
By Jim Earle
‘Oops! Sorry, I forgot about your sunburn.
Get politicking back in
’80 presidential debates
Letters to the Editor
Heroic radio rescuers
Editor:
Last night I returned from my hometown
of Wichita Falls and this is the first chance
I ve had to publicly thank a fantastic group
of guys, the MSC Radio Committee. Upon
hearing about the tornado Tuesday eve
ning, I contacted David McCarty, chair
man of the committee and he immediately
began contacting the rest of his people and
finding out as much information about the
tornado’s path as possible.
They then stayed up all night relaying
emergency information in and out of
Wichita Falls, Vernon, and Lawton, aiding
not only the students affected here, but
answering calls from all over the nation as
to the general area and streets affected.
If anybody has ever doubted the purpose
of Texas A&M funding a ham radio station,
I hope they now realize that the radio is
sometimes a person’s only link to his family
or home. My deepest gratitude goes out to
the radio committee for their unselfish help
to hundreds of people who had family and
possessions in Wichita Falls.
—Scott Terry, ’80
in order to empathize with what takes
place.
Go to see “Equus” partially in support of
a part of Texas A&M which seems to be
coming to its own — theater arts. But go
mostly because you will be the one to miss
out if you don’t go.
—Linda Clark, ’79
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
By DAVID S. BRODER
WASHINGTON — I love the League of
Women Voters, each and every one of
them. And I am indebted to the Twentieth
Century Fund for any number of useful
studies and reports on public policy issues.
But candor compels me to say that I smell a
rat in the recent report from a Twentieth
Century Fund task force recommending
that the League of Women Voters be asked
to sponsor televised presidential debate
again in 1980, as in 1976.
Mind you, I share the view that such
debates are a healthy part of the campaign
and ought to be institutionalized. In fact, I
would go further than the timorous task
force and say they might well be required.
But I am not at all persuaded that they
ought to be negotiated, arranged and man
aged by “a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizen
group,” namely the League of Women
Voters, as the Twentieth Century Fund
says.
It strikes me as logical that the sponsor
ship of presidential campaign debates is
properly the province of the political par
ties. They pick the candidates, and logi
cally, they ought to have the responsibility
for presenting them to the public.
The fact that this rather obvious possibil
ity is not even hinted at in the Twentieth
Century Fund task force report — not even
in a footnote or a dissent — may be related
to the makeup of the task force. It is full of
eminent, high-minded people: two print
journalists, two professors; two television
executives; a pair of campaign consultants;
assorted businessmen, lawyers and civic
busybodies.
But the only name I can identify with any
leadership experience or responsibility in a
political party organization is that of Gary,
Indiana, Mayor Richard G. Hatcher, a
member of the Democratic National
Committee. Hatcher I am informed, was in
no sense serving as a party representative
on the task force.
Having that kind of task force decide the
question of future sponsorship of presiden
tial debates is about as fair as having a joint
task force of the Republican and Demo
cratic national committees recommend fu
ture tax-exemption policies for educational
foundations and nonpartisan citizen
groups. The deck is equally stacked.
Why does it matter who sponsors presi
dential debates, as long as we have them? It
matters, because the sponsors set the tone
of the proceedings. If the sponosr believes
that matters of serious policy should be
discussed in a detached, academic, nonpar
tisan way, then that is the kind of debate
you are going to get.
As it happens, our presidental campaings
are already getting to look too much like
nonpartisan popularity contests. They are
already seen by too many people as a com
petition between individuals operating at a
lofty level, far removed from the crass par
tisan battles of congress or the state house.
That is malarkey, and a dangerous de
ception. What we need to do is tie these
free-floating presidential characters down
to the reality of the party’s history, interests
and philosophy, and not let them promise
policies that will be quickly repudiated in
office.
The obvious objection to letting the par
ties sponsor the debates is that they will
rule out any third-party or independent
contenders. But that is a phony argument.
The blessed nonpartisan League of Wo
men Voters kept Eugene J. McCarthy off
its show in 1976. And the Twentieth Cen
tury Fund task force, by insisting that par
ticipation ought to be optional for anyone,
explicitly acknowledges that either major-
party nominee can effectively veto sharing
the stage with a third or fourth contender.
A different task force might have come
up with a much more straightforward solu
tion to the problem of arranging for presi
dential debates.
It might have called on Congress to sus
pend Section 315 (the “equal time” re
quirement ) for the purpose of permitting
debates between the major-party presi
dential and vice-presidential candidates. I
might also have recommended an amend
ment to the Campaign Finance Act which
made participation in those debates a con
dition for the Democratic or Republican
nominee obtaining public subsidy of cam
paign costs.
It does not strike me as unreasonable to
insist that a candidate who is enjoying a $14
million taxpayers’ subsidy would be re
quired to show up four time in a two-month
period for a debate with his opponent.
Finally, such a task force might have said
to Bill Brock, the Republican chairman,
and John White, the Democratic chariman:
If you want taxpayer fund, you two fellows
get together and jointly select a third per
son to join you on the board of directors for
the debates, and then hammer out the
times, places and formats td be used.
Let the debates be as direct, uninhi
bited, lusty and — yes. Aunt Agatha —
partisan as possible, and let us see if the
shock of that kind of candidate confronta
tion just might rouse a few people enough
to vote.
For those who are too elevated in the
their nonpartisanship to stand the sight,
free eye-shades can be provided. But, for
goodness sake, let us get politics back into
presidential campaigns before we are all
bored to death
(c) 1979, The Washington Post
Company
Experience ‘Equus’
Editor:
Thursday night I had the opportunity to
see the Aggie Players’ presentation
“Equus” and, in my opinion, it was excel
lent. I am not a critic of theater arts, and so
I probably was unaware of technical prob
lems and actors’ blunders — but I know the
play made me think about things I had
never thought of before. And, I know that
it made me feel.
Chip Washabaugh was absolutely fantas
tic as Alan Strang, the stable boy. With his
acting ability. Chip created a character that
tore my heart out. And though Sid Catlett,
who played the doctor, was slow in getting
started — by the end of the second act I
could also feel his pain. I was also im
pressed with the portrayal of the horse
Nugget by Pat Martine.
I strongly urge my fellow students and
staff to see “Equus. ” But if you do go, see it
with a respect for the actors’ abilities and a
very open mind — for the subject matter is
not typical of A&M. But more important,
see it with a willingness to feel — to feel an
intensity of emotion you probably have not
ever felt before. And remember you do not
have to agree with all that is said in the play
Top of the New
; s
LOCAL
Silver Taps for Tidwell tonight
Silver Taps memorial services for Lee Matthew Tidwell are to
night. Tidwell, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Tidwell of 826
Sharpshire, Grand Prarie, and Jerrel Glenn Hyde, 19, died Sunday
in Grand Prarie when the dune buggy they were riding went out o(
control and turned over on them, investigators said. Tidwell was a
sophomore finance major and the 11th student fatality of tie
academic year. Hyde was not a student at Texas A&M University,
Ao
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STATE
Former Daily Texan editor
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Michael Eakin, 28, a former editor of the University of Texas stu
dent newspaper, died Sunday from gunshot wounds suffered Satur
day in a Houston nightclub parking lot. Eakin died during surgery to
remove a bullet from his chest. Also wounded in the shooting was a
woman companion, Dila Davis, 42, of Austin, who was shot in tie
jaw. She was in critical condition Sunday at Ben Taub Hospital.
Police said they have no motive for the shooting in the parkinglotof I
the Texas Opry House in southwest Houston. Eakin was editor of Tlr “
Daily Texan in 1973-74 and later worked for the Austin Sun.
am<
Co
Windshield shatters on airplane
jire
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An outer windshield shattered on a Braniff 727 bound for Dallas-
Fort Worth Regional Airport, forcing the pilot to make an emergency
landing at a smaller airfield. Braniff officials said they do not know
why the windshield shattered. “It’s the first time we’ve had one,
spokesman Lou Garzia said Sunday. The plane, flying from Houston
to D-FW, landed safely at Love Field Sunday afternoon. No injuries
were reported and the 39 passengers aboard were transported to
D-FW by shuttle bus.
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rise
New pipeline to bring Texas gas
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Af
Northern Natural Gas Co. Monday announced plans for a $30 mil
lion pipeline project to connect new supplies of natural gas from tie
Matagorda and Mustang Island areas off the coast of Texas to tie
mainland. Northern said if approved by the Federal Energy Regu
latory Commission, the 42-mile, 24-inch pipeline would meet Chan
nel Industries Gas Co.’s pipeline located onshore in Refugio County
and have a capacity of 150 million cubic feet of natural gas daily. If
timely federal regulatory approvals are obtained, Northern said it
anticipated initial deliveries from the offshore Texas pipeline to begin
during the 1980-81 heating season. The Omaha-based gas supplier
serves 71 utility customers for distribution in 1,094 communities will
a total population of 6 million.
NATION
Guards shot; $1 million taken
Three security company guards Monday were found shot to deatl
and at least $1 million stolen from a bullet-riddled brick garage of
Percolator Security Inc. in Waterbury, Conn., police said. None of
the guards were immediately identified. An FBI spokesman said
more than a millon dollars was taken but would not speculate on the
amount. He called its a “massive loss.” “They’re still trying to figure
out how much was taken. But I think it’s going to be big,” said the
spokesman. “It’s a major, major amount.”
Customers may share nuke cost
Power company officials say they expect their customers, investors
and employees to help pay for the accident at the Three Mile Island
nuclear facility. William G. Kuhns, chairman of General Public
Utilities Corp., a holding company that operates Three Mile Island,
said Sunday replacing the Three Mile Island power supply will cost
$800,000 a day or $24 million a month. “In view of the magnitude and
major financial impact of this accident, it is apparent that there will
have to be a sharing of this burden among our customers, our inves
tors and our employees,” Kuhns said. He did not estimate the
cleanup cost of America’s worst nuclear power plant accident. Kuhns
indicated he expected the plant to resume operations some day, but
did not say when he believed that could be possible. The U.S. Nu
clear Regulatory Commission has said it could take several years to
make the facility safe to operate. General Public has 1.5 million cus
tomers. The Three Mile Island facility, owned jointly by Metropoli
tan Edison Co., Pennsylvania Electric Co. and Jersey Central Power
& Light Co., cost $780 million to build. The Pennsylvania Public
Utility Commission starts hearings today on whether MetEd and
Pennsylvania Electric may pass on the outside power purchase costs
to their customers.
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Social Security almost bankrupt
Unless there are legislated cuts in benefits, the federal government
said Monday Social Security taxes should not be reduced through the
next decade because of the system’s tottering financial position. As it
now stands. Social Security will come perilously close to going into
the red in the next two years, so a tax cut or prolonged economic
downturn would threaten it with bankruptcy. Such a failure was
avoided in 1977 by hefty tax increases. In its annual report, the
government’s Board of Trustees for the Social Security system, said
the current balance between income and expenditures is “quite
fragile. ” If Congress votes a tax cut anyway, the trustees said, it must
then follow the administration lead and reduce some of the benefits
or devise “alternative financing arrangements.”
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WEATHER
Cloudy with 50% chance of rain today, 20% tonight, and30%
tomorrow. High in upper 70’s and low in upper 40’s.
The Battalion
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