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Monday
April 23, 1979
We’ll be watching
A different staff— mostly the same people with changed jobs — produced
the newspaper you are holding.
The staff box in the lower right-hand comer of this page lists them. For
the next two weeks, and one day during Finals Week, they will familiarize
themselves with the duties and problems of their new positions.
Then most of them will leave for the summer, and another, smaller
crew will direct the paper. Karen Rogers is the summer editor.
ON THE FIRST DAY of the fall semester, the staff box below will
reappear; those students will control the newspaper. And they really do
control the newspaper.
No faculty, staff or board member has the authority to censor what
appears in the pages of The Battalion. After the newspaper is printed, no
one outside the editor has the authority to punish staffers, except through
lawsuits.
The Battalion is a free voice. The administration can’t— and hasn’t tried
much lately — to control it.
SADLY, IT’S PROBABLY the most freedom reporters and editors will
ever get in their career. In the “real” world, publishers often bend to
political ana advertiser pressure, bending their staffs to follow suit.
So this staff has the opportunity to report exactly what they see.
But what will they see in 1979-80?
IT WILL BE A YEAR that will make a difference in the future of this
institution. Texas A&M University — and the system is shares — face
crossroads.
Several factors will determine if Texas A&M continues to excel or
stagnates:
—Student enrollment is beginning to level off.
—Dr. Jarvis E. Miller has had two years to get on his feet as president,
during which he has made changes that make the president more power
ful. How Miller uses that power affects the entire System.
—The System still has no chancellor. His selection and the strength of
his position, relative to Miller’s, will influence the direction of the Sys
tem.
—The HEW report on racial discrimination in Texas universities may
appear by the end of this month. Texas Attorney General Mark White
already has warned Texas A&M that HEW Secretary Joseph Califano is
“seriously contemplating” a suit against it over the financial treatment of
Prairie View A&M University.
—The Corps of Cadets must decide how it will treat female cadets.
FOR ALL THESE AREAS, the next few months will be crucial in
shaping Texas A&M’s future.
We hope the news will be good.
If it is not. The Batt will still report and comment on it. That’s why
we re a free press — so we can report the bad news too. For those who
enjoy that rarest kind of freedom, the worst abuse is to remain silent.
—Liz Newlin
Accident sways British
By BRYAN SILCOCK
UUJN — For more than a decade,
Britain’s energy experts have been wrangl
ing over whether to continue with gas-
cooled reactors designed here or switch to
the American pressurized water type for
the country’s future nuclear generators.
But now it looks like the debate could
turn out to be academic. For the nuclear
plant at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island
was outfitted with pressurized water reac
tors, and the fallout from the recent acci
dent there has strengthened the hand of
their British opponents.
The accident inadvertently reinforced
the position of Anthony Wedgewood-
Benn, the Minister of Energy in the wob
bly Labor government. He has been con
tending consistently that the pressurized
water system, though cheaper, is poten
tially more dangerous than gas-cooled reac
tors. He has voiced doubts about the ability
of pressure vessels to resist cracks or corro
sion.
A major criticism of gas-cooled reactors,
which use carbon dioxide to extract heat, is
that they cannot be built in prefabricated
sections but must be constructed on site
which makes them expensive.
Nevertheless, Benn sounded almost
smug on television recently, saying that the
Three Mile Island accident proved that his
decision to stick with gas-cooled reactors
“was the wisest we have ever taken in the
nuclear field.”
When Benn took the decision last year,
however, he was compelled by extremely
strong political pressure to make a big con
cession. He authorized the government-
run Central Electricity Generating Board,
which has been trying to change reactor
types, to order a single nuclear plant with
water-cooled reactors for evaluation pur
poses.
This approach, it is hoped, will not only
resolve the quarrel over the costs of sucb
reactors, but also provide the official Nu
clear Inspectorate with the opportunity to
conduct a full security study.
Bids for the new plant are nearly all in,
and a contractor will probably be selected
in the coming weeks. But the Nuclear In
spectorate must approve the design be
forehand, and there will almost surely be
public hearings on the subject.
The hearings will create problems for
Benn and other partisans of gas-cooled
reactors. They cannot make too much of
possible mishaps, even with a rival reactor,
without courting the risk of playing into the
hands of foes of all forms of nuclear energy.
Besides, Benn and his backers are well
aware that accidents can also occur with
gas-cooled reactors. Indeed, there was a
disturbing “incident” not long ago at the
Hinkley Point nuclear power station, when
the breakdown of a duct temporarily left a
reactor without its supply of coolant gas.
The accident was not even remotely
comparable to the Three Mile Island calam
ity. There was never any danger of a
dreaded meltdown. The reactor was
quickly repaired, thereby bolstering the
claim of supporters of gas-cooled reactors
that they can be dealt with more rapidly
than the water cooled type.
But that point is rather too fine to reas
sure a public generally worried about nu
clear safety. That accidents are possible
with any kind of reactor is further reflected
in the fact that everyone knows that British
nuclear power stations have emergency
evacuation plans, stocks of anti-radiation
pills and liason committees to alert the local
community.
Oddly enough, the misfortune at Three
Mile Island has not provoked massive
demonstrations against nuclear energy
here, as it has in West Germany — perhaps
because the public is too preoccupied with
Irish terrorism and with the forthcoming
elections.
Though a catastrophe was averted, the
accident served to remind people
everywhere, including the British, that a
nuclear disaster can be real. The growing
public interest in the battle over the reac
tors, therefore, indicates the degree to
which sensitivities to the formerly esoteric
subject of nuclear energy have been
heightened — and are likely to remain so.
Letters to the Editor
2-percenter speaks out
New national holiday
Editor:
With the close of the semster coming
nearer, I can’t think of anyone who’ll be
more pleased than I. I transferred to A&M
‘ from Kilgore College this year with high
hopes-of having the, times of my life for the
next couple of years here. Well, things just
weren’t to be, at least not for me. Never
have I seen so many reserved — or call it
shy or stuck-up, to you own preference —
people in all of my life! I realize that living
off campus puts a strain on social activities
on campus, however, this has been to an
extreme.
I have caught some flak from friends
here for apparently being a so- called “2-
percenter.” Maybe this letter will explain
to them and I hope that all of you “Good
Ags” will read this with an open mind.
The first thing the school did was to
somehow record my home address as
being somewhere across College Station
and listed another number and address in
the student directory. One of these days
I’d like to visit San Antonio. I hear it’s
nice. I had no idea of this mistake until I
went to preregister last fall. Then I went
through seven hours of one runaround
after another, including scraping up $30 to
pay a fee that was mailed to San Antonio, I
guess.
Now comes the annihilation of my poor
little sports car. God help me! Last fall
some folks stole my gas cap and a few days
later helped themselves to my stickshift
knob, which I’m sure came in handy on
the column of their ’67 Bel Air. That was
trivial in contrast to the month of March.
First, one night before spring break,
someone backed into the front fender. His
spring break was apparently all ready in
full swing and he wasn’t letting anything
stop it. He wasn’t paying for anything
either. I never saw or heard from a soul.
Six hundred and fifty bucks down the tube
and I haven’t left town. Hey, I’m back
with my shiny car for one week and bang!
This time the guy has no insurance. I hope
I don’t have to pay another $600. I’m
scared to bring the car back now. Believe
it or not I’m still sane, barely. Next comes
the ultimate test that nearly did me in.
Last Wednesday while pausing in the
MSG during some typical weather here at
C.S. — a monsoon — another friendly
Aggie helped himself to my umbrella. Big
deal right, heck I only paid seven dollars
for it, besides I enjoyed the swim.
Now, my advisors finally help me. They
tell me it would be to my benefit to con
sider seeking another major. To this I say
“wrong.” I’ve decided to seek another
school.
I know that not everyone here commits
felonies and tedious little crimes, how
ever, they all seem to follow me like a
cloud. Ob, by the way, it only happens
here, you know like “Nowhere but A&M.”
I can assure you I’m not proud to have
attended this school and none of my
friends or future family will think of enroll
ing if I can help it.
One last word, to you people out there
who have no connections whatsoever to
things like this, I wish you all the luck in
the world. Don’t let them get you down.
—Mark Barnard
GTE strikes again
Editor:
Geee. I just changed apartments —
within the same apartment complex. I
needed two services attended to: the
phone and cable vision.
' I called cablevision. They were out the
next day and hooked up the TV to a pre
viously installed outlet. No charge-.
I called the phone company. They came
out the following week and hooked up the
phone to a previously installed outlet.
Thirty-five dollars! And time and material
were no different.
Where is consumer protection when
you really need it? And where will this
week’s grocery money be next week?
Gee ... no GTE!
—Mark Rubash, ’81
Writing the editor
The Battalion welcomes letters to the
editor on any subject. However, to be ac
ceptable for publication these letters must
meet certain criteria. They should:
V Not exceed 300 words or 1800
characters in length.
V Be neatly typed whenever possible.
Hand-written letters are acceptable.
V Include the author’s name, address
and telephone number for verification.
Letters to the editor are printed as a
service to our readers. Publication of a let
ter is never guaranteed. The editorial staff
reserves the right to edit letters to remove
grammatical errors and to avoid litigation.
Address letters to the editor to:
Letters to the Editor
The Battalion
Room 216
Reed McDonald Building
College Station, Texas 77843
By DICK WEST
WASHINGTON — Each year, it seems,
more and more people join in the obser
vance of Taxmas, the ritualistic income
sacrifice that takes place on April 15.
It should be a joyous occasion. Beating
the filing deadline, unburdening one’s self
of IRS: forms for another year, sharing in
the support of democracy — those surely
are activities to gladden the heart.
Yet you can tell from the Taxmas Night
photographs published last week that the
throngs gathered at post offices to mail
their returns weren’t in a festive mood.
Some had faces longer than the lines they
were standing in.
Clearly, Taxmas lacks something —
something that keeps it from generating
the good cheer and fellowship manifested
on such occasions as Christmas, Easter,
Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day.
The missing ingredient, I believe, is
symbolism.
Christmas, Easter, et al, are symbolized
by jolly little fables and figments that add
to the gaiety. Who can resist Santa Claus,
the Easter Bunny, Cupid, the Great
Pumpkin and so on?
Before Taxmas can similarly fill its adhe
rents with merriment and warm glow, it
must acquire some cutesy, adorable
folklore of its own. Here’s one way to get a
legend started:
A young girl writes a letter to a news
paper asking whether there really is a
Fairy Auditor.
The girl, whose name can be Virginia,
or maybe North Dakota, says she has
heard that the Fairy Auditor dwells some
where in the far recesses of the IRS. On
Taxmas Night it flits out through the
loopholes to protect last minute filers from
the Martinsburg Monster, as the IRS
computer is called.
She also says she has been told that if
the filers claim the proper deductions,
don’t forget to sign their returns, address
their envelopes properly and apply the
right postage, the Fairy Auditor will bring
them a rebate.
Isn’t that a lovely legend? Once dis
seminated, it should put the Fairy Auditor
right up there with St. Nick, the Easter
Bunny and the Tooth Fairy in philan
thropic symbolism.
But fable alone isn’t enough; To com
pete with the other figmentary benefac
tors, the Taxmas symbol will need some
sort of visual personification.
Perhaps the IRS should commission the
Disney studios to create a cartoon version.
Then, on Taxmas Night, post offices that
remain open to accommodate 11th hour
filers could add to the fun by displaying
cardboard cutouts of the Fairy Auditor.
Those waiting in line to mail their re
turns could drink toasts to IRS Commis
sion Jerome (Soft-hearted Jerry) Kurtz and
sing carols like “Away in a Tax Shelter”
and “O, Little Town of Leavenworth.”
Few would be so credulous as to expect
an actual rebate, of course. It’s the spirit of
Taxmas that counts.
Talk with Dr. Miller
The Battalion’s new reader’s letter sec
tion gives students more access to the
newspaper and to the University.
“Talk with Dr. Miller” is a forum for
readers to address questions to the admin
istration about University policies and
procedures.
Questions should be addressed to The
Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, and
should specify that they are to be used for
this column. Names and phone numbers
will be required on all questions and Dr.
Miller has the option to decline to answer
a question or request others on the staff or
faculty to answer it.
Questions and answers will be pub
lished on the editorial page.
Top of the News
CAMPUS
Debaters most successful
ever
Texas A&M University’s debate team had its most successfulsej.I
son ever this year as two of its members placed high at the Natal I
Junior Varsity Debate Tournament. Sophomore Michael Shelbyhajl
the 7th highest number of speaker points at the meet, while freshman I
James Starr finished 12th. There were 118 speakers on59tems|
Shelby and Starr had a winning percentage of 72, the best ever for an I
Aggie team.
NATION
Gas well fire extinguishes self
An offshore gas well that blew out in the Gulf of Mexico off south
west Louisiana extinguished itself without the help of firefighters,
officials of the U.S. Geological Survey said Sunday. The $25millioi
rig, the Salenergy II, was destroyed by the fire that erupted earlf
Saturday. The raging fire, which sent flames 100 feet into the air,
extinguished itself late Saturday. No one was injured. Wild-wel
fighting teams from the Houston-based Red Adair Co. watchej
passively as the well snuffed itself out. Earlier, officials of McMoBan
Offshore Exploration Co. said it might take several weeks to control
the fire. Three other rigs located within about a mile of the burniij
hole were not in danger during the 16-hour blaze. All 40 crewmei
aboard the rig were evacuated when they received advance waminj E
that gas pressure was building up.
Pu
546 bodies to he returned
The bodies of the remaining 546 victims of the Peoples Templt
mass suicide will be shipped overland from Delaware to Caiifomii
beginning next Thursday, according to the State Department. Hit
bodies are now at Dover Air Force Base, Del., where they were
flown from Guyana on U.S. Air Force aircraft as part of an operation
that cost the federal government $4 million. A total of 913 persons,
including cult leader Jim Jones, died last November at Jonestown,
Guyana, in a mass suicide that followed the killing of Rep. Leo Ryan,
D-Calif., and members of his party. The department said about20M
298 bodies that have been identified will be shipped next Thursdayin
moving vans to Oakland Army Base in the San Francisco area. Hie
remaining identified bodies will be transported to Fort MacArthur,
near Los Angeles. Another 248 bodies at Dover remain unidentified,
of which about 210 are children. The unidentified bodies will te
taken to the San Francisco Bay area for burial.
Seventh cruise missile crashes
A Tomahawk sea-launched cruise missile crashed Saturday on tlie
Fort Irwin, Calif., range shortly after being launched from a U.S.,
Navy A-6 aircraft, the Defense Department announced. The missile
caused no damage and there were no casualties, a spokesman said. An
investigation of the wreckage and the telemetry is under way to
determine the cause of the crash. This was the seventh failure oftlie
Tomahawk missile in the 41 test flights conducted,
spokesman said.
Nuke plants change operations
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission directed the operators of
reactors in six states Saturday to revise operating procedures in a
to prevent an atomic accident similar to the Three Mile Island mis
last month. The NRC’s staff outlined the new regulations in directives
sent to the operators of reactors manufactured by Babcock and
cox, the firm that made the Three Mile Island facility. The sii
utilities, including the operator of the Three Mile Island facility, were
given 24 hours to reset instruments so that their reactors would shut
down at a lower pressure than previously required. In addition,
operator was given 14 days to “develop procedures and train person
nel to manually shut down the reactor when certain unusual events'
take place.” The “unusual events” were loss of primary cooling water,
shutdown of a turbine, closure of a main steam isolation valve, lossof
off-site power, low water level in a steam generator and low water-
level pressurizer reading.
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WORLD
Palestinian terrorists kill four
A four-man seaborne Palestinian terrorist squad struck the north
ern Israeli coastal resort ofNahariya early Sunday. Four Israelis were
killed in the attack and a shootout with security forces on the beach,
military sources said. Two terrorists were killed and two others were
captured in the 3 a.m. (8 p.m. EST Saturday) attack, the military
command said. The command said four Israelis, including two chil
dren, were killed and four others wounded.
SALT II treaty discussion to end
The final details of a SALT II treaty will be discussed early next
week by Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and Soviet Ambassador
Anatoliy Dobrynin. The intense series of discussions — 19 so far this
year — were suspended for the weekend as Vance took a short coun
try holiday in Virginia. He met Dobrynin for about 40 minutes Friday
afternoon, but by mutual agreement there was no information given
out later about the meeting. Carter said he expected the next
Vance-Dobrynin meeting would take place early this week. The basic
text of the complex Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty is reported to
have been completed, although exact language must be drafted on
two key articles. One covers the upper and lower limits for modifying
the size of missiles. It has been agreed, according to diplomatic
sources, that an increase in size of 5 percent would, by definition,
constitute a new missile. Each would be permitted to develop only
one new type of missile in the course of the treaty. Neither side
would be permitted to encode the telemetry information being sent
back by missiles during testing. Both sides say the other has resorted
to such concealment, giving rise to suspecion of potential violations of
the arms agreement.
WEATHER
Partly cloudy and mild with a high today of 70 and a low of
60. Wind will be N.N.E. at 5-10 m.p.h.
The Battalion
MEMBER
LETTERS POLICY Texas Press Association
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are Southwest Journalism Congress
subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The Editor Liz Newl
editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does Manaoinp- F.Hifnr Andv 1
not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must be a * tn-ii jp
signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone ASSt. IVianaging Editor Dillard StO
number for verification. Sports Editor Sean Peti
Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, The City Editor Rov Bra
Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, College ^ rp j*. T r L
Station. Texas 77843. Campus Editor Keith Tayb
Represented nationally by National Educational Adver- News E itors Michelle BlIfiOWtf|
Using Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los Karen Comelil
Staff Writers Doug Grah# j
The Battalion is published Monday through Friday from Mark Patterson, Kurt Abratul’- J
September through May except during exam and holiday i Carolyn Blosser, Richard Oliver 3
periods and the summer, when it is published on Tuesday T 3 . ^ o1 , w j|
through Thursday. J udle Port ’ Diane Blake > MeI l
Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per Edwards, Lyle I/JVCtt
school year; $35.00 per full year. Advertising rates furnished Editorial Directors Karen 1
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M ^ted d p Build . in t g ' C ° Ileg< ; S,a,i, : n ( ; T exas . . Cartoonist Doug Crabs 1
united Press International is entitled exclusively to the , t oT hl
use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it. Photo Editor Lee Koy Lescnperjl
Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. Photographers Lynn BlanCO. 1
Second-Class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. Clay Cockrill
Focus section editor Beth Calhoun j
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are Regents. The Battalion is a non-profit, i
those of the editor or of the writer of the supporting enterprise operated by i
article and are not necessarily those of the as a university and community ne
University administration or the Board of Editorial policy is determined by the editi