Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas a&M University
Monday
April 30, 1979
Court needs funds
By SUSAN WEBB
Now with the final approval by the
Legislature and the creation of the 272nd
District Court, Brazos County finally has
its badly needed additional court. But
even with that, some problems just never
seem to cease. And with that justice can
not prevail.
Although the idea of this additional
court is to alleviate our overburdened
court system, more problems have
erupted.
County commissioners have to come up
with the adequate space and a competant
staff. They have to find somewhere in the
budget the funds necessary to construct
and operate the new court.
And according to County Judge Dick
Holmgreen, the proper funding simply
does not exist in this year’s county budget.
So, without this funding, Brazos County
is functioning with only one district court.
And the current problem of the im
mense number of court cases will continue
for at least another year.
The people who are affected directly by
the delay are the inmates of the county
jail.
If an inmate is not financially able to pay
the bail that has been set for him, he must
wait in jail, guilty or not guilty, until his
trial can appear before a judge or jury.
This wait can last a month, a year or maybe
longer.
The inmate, while spending time in jail,
loses many things in life as a result.
He suffers emotional distress, financial
drain and at times loss of friends and fam
ily support. And some inmates believe
they will suffer negative repercussions for
a lifetime due to the disgrace and embar-
Reader s Forum
rassment of spending time in jail. Perhaps
with this second district court the amount
of mental anguish and time of an inmate
waiting in jail will be cut in half.
But until the 272nd District Court can
be completely functional, the scales of
courts justice will take time to balance.
Webb is a journalism major at Texas
A&M University.
Thatcher and Kemp have same views
By DAVID S. BRODER
LONDON — No one had told me that Margaret
Thatcher is really Jack Kemp dressed up to look like
Mrs. Miniver. Nor had I been warned before coming -
here to watch the windup of the British election cam
paign that the Tory leader has an on-camera smile
which could chill a daffodil, a tight drawing back of the
lips that makes Jimmy Carter’s tooth-showing exercise
a model of spontaneous friendliness, by comparison.
Finally, no one had suggested that the lady the polls
say is only a week away from becoming Britain’s and
Europe’s first female prime minister is quite the tough
and skillful politician she obviously is.
So there was a triple lesson for this visitor in the
40-minute “Ask Mrs. Thatcher” BBC television pro
gram the other night that served as my introduction to
the campaign.
What I had heard was that if the Tories won the
election on May 3, it would be despite Mrs. Thatcher
and not because of her. Indeed, the polls do show that
Labor Prime Minister James Callaghan is more popular
than, the opposition leader, despite the disenchantment
with the policies of his government. Given her public
stiffness, as symbolized by that tight-lipped smile, it is
easy to see why.
But the woman who showed up for that long, unre
hearsed television quiz show the other night was no
Letters to the Editor
slouch. Quite the contrary. She handled a series of
pointed and probing questions from some obviously
well-coached voters with a skill few American politi
cians could match. Watching her, you could see why
she was one of the youngest Tories elected to Parlia
ment in the 1959 election and the first of her freshman
class to achieve cabinet status.
Listening to her is like hearing a Jack Kemp who had
gone to Oxford instead of quarterbacking the Buffalo
Bills. They are equally convinced that the good society
— to say nothing of the good life — will surely result
from the proper cultivation of the profit motive.
Whereas Rep. Kemp is still struggling with other
young Republicans to convince his party elders that
tax-cuts are more politically potent than balanced
budgets, Mrs. Thatcher has swung the Tories to her
own admittedly doctrinaire economic theories and
seems on the verge of persuading the country that it
must reward the economically strong instead of forever
nursing the needy.
“What I want to see,” she told a viewer asking about
her policies for “ailing industries,” “is Britain building
more successful firms. The help for ailing firms only
comes from successful firms, and if you’re going to
drain away all the resources from the successful firms to
help the ailing firms, what you’re going to get is far too
few people creating wealth and far too many consuming
it. Temporary help is fine, but you can't keep yester
day’s jobs going forever.”
Her economic policy — like that advocated by Kemp
and some of the other “new breed” Republicans — is
based on a sharp cut in income taxes, to be partially
offset, she says, by an increase in consumer taxes.
She takes this line with the same square-jaw, no-
nonsense manner with which she advocates a curb on
unions and a cutback in the immigration of nonwhites
— two other controversial stands on which she is bas
ing her bid for power.
There are some here who want to make her gender,
rather than her policy, the issue. But Mrs. Thatcher is
having none of that. On the television program, a voter
named Ann Hartley-Jones said that, “My husband, al
though a committed conservative, is also a male
chauvinist. He feels a woman’s place is in the kitchen,
not the House of Commons, and I’m afraid he’ll abs
tain, rather than vote for a woman. ”
Mrs. Thatcher, cool as ever, asked Mrs. Hartley-
Jones to remind her husband that “One of our great
success periods in this country was under Queen
Elizabeth I. “Why, great heavens,” she exclajmed, “if
your husband had thought the same thing then, we
might never have beaten the Spanish Armada. ”
And she smiled a real smile that time.
(c) 1979, The Washington Post
Company
Nature treats golden gods and ‘dead fish , equally
Editor:
Summertime, time for the sand and
surf, bikinis, and suntans. As soon as the
sun is out and the temperature up, every
body grabs a towel and heads out for an
open spot on the lawn. The fillies are out
to brown up those flanks and legs. The
guys are out to bronze those rippling mus
cles. All this sunning to acquire a golden
tan that catches the admiring glances of
each other. They are admired by more
than each other, though, but also by the
few cringing, whimpering figures in the
shadows.
Those who are sitting in the merciful sha
are those that have been cheated and
marked for life by their genetic heritage.
They are of the ultra-white sect, those
with skin as white as the belly of a dead
fish. They lack the pigment, melanin,
needed to tan and protect them. If so
much as a bare toe is left in the sun too
long, it will turn into a bright pink digit of
dilated blood vessels and a bundle of pain.
In a few days the epithelium will peel
away in more layers than a dictionary has
pages.
So they scuttle from shade to shade as
though a soldier under fire and dope on
the sun screen as though a bullet proof
vest to keep from burning their white-as-
boiled-cabbage skin. All the while, the
golden goddesses and gods look upon
them as unfortunate white grub worms.
Yet, in the latter years time tends to tell
early on the sun worshippers. There are
those lines and creases at the corner of the
eyes and mough tht show up prematurely.
The sebaceous glands of that lovely tan
skin dry up, and the skin becomes dry and
scaly, giving the appearance of a lizard
basking in the sun. The skin loses its re
silience and hangs loose and pendulous
like a turkey wattle. Most of all, ultraviolet
rays tend to cause carcinomas. The projec
tions of the face are subject to most of the
harm. That persistent lesion on the tip of
the nose or ears turns out to be malignant.
A trip to the dermatologist and “whack,”
off it comes, a middle-aged person with a
nice, dark tan and no nose.
Isn’t it nice to know that Mother Nature
distributes her wares so evenly?
—Curtis Dillon
Aggie spirit?
To the “Good Ag”:
I must congratulate you on a great job!
Last week you graciously ripped off my
roommate’s bike. This past week you out
did yourself and relieved my neighbors of
two more bikes. A feat I thought couldn’t
be topped! But this weekend I fully
realized your true spirit. How thoughtful
of you to bash in the windows of our car! I
couldn’t have done a better job. Thanks.
You have made my stay at A&M one I will
not soon forget.
Could someone please explain again
what this “Aggie Spirit” is?
—Ruth Grant, ’80
Rosie Longoria, ’80
Gerry Simmons, ’80
James M. Casmus, ’81
I
Notice the good
Editor:
In response to Mark Barnard’s letter
(April 23), we would first like to say that
we are sorry about the bad things that
happen here at A&M. Perhaps Mr. Bar
nard should reread his own letter with an
“open mind” as he suggests we do. For
one thing, he should consider that not
everyone living in College Station-Bryan
is an Aggie. He assumed that all of his
mishaps were brought on by Ags. Could
he possibly be wrong?
Also, the University system is run by
humans, and therefore not completely in
fallible. Unfortunately, mistakes can and
do happen, but Mr. Barnard, these did not
affect you just because you are you.
Please, be more reasonable.
On the other hand, Mark, did you ever
notice anything nice about this place? We,
too, are new to A&M this year, and
couldn’t be happier. But we do not only
look at the bad things. No one ever said
the world was a bed of roses, so you just
keep taking what comes and role with the
punches, and if you’ll pardon the phrase,
keep on truckin’. Presumably, they call
that optimism.
Yes, Mark Barnard, you notice the good
things, not the bad. You respect the tra
ditions, attempt to meet people, make
friends, get your education, and learn to
love A&M. Perhaps, then, you could be
happy. In other words, get out and do
something about your problems instead of
sitting back and feeling sorry for yourself.
—Leah Whitby, ’82
Susan Engelke, ’82
Susan Moseley, ’82
Burned by Ags
Editor:
I know this letter isn’t going to help me
find the guilty party, but I feel it should be
written. I was at G. Rollie playing vol
leyball for an hour or so and during this
time my car (a convertible) was parked on.
Houston Street. When I was finished 1
came down, got into the car and much to
my suprise, found that someone had put
their cigarette out on the seat of the car.
My complaint isn’t the cigarette burn in
the seat but the inconsideration shown by
my fellow Ags. This is just one instance of
uncalled for actions. Since I was writing
this letter some friends asked me to men
tion a few other instances where we should
be considerate of other peoples’ property.
Leaning up against someone else’s car and
possibly scratching the paint, not opening;
the car door carefully enough not to dent
the car next to you, and just having some
consideration for other peoples' belong
ings. So Ags, I’m asking you to be a little
more considerate of someone else’s prop
erty...
— Mark Montgomery, ’80
Correction
In the series of foreign investment arti
cles that were published last week the
Texas Real Estate Research Center was in
correctly identified as the Texas Real Es
tate Research Commission. The Battalion
regrets the error.
Top of the News
CAMPUS
Command surgeon to speak to
night
By
jdgt
Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Wesp, command surgeon at Randolph Air
Force Base, will address Texas A&M Cadets today in theannualAir
Force dining-in. Wesp, a 36-year military veteran, attended Texas
A&M three years, then entered Baylor college of Medicine and
graduated in 1947. The dining-in will involve senior and junior cadets
and Air Force personnel assigned at Texas A&M. It will reviveanold
tradition, the Air Force Ball, to be held immediately following the
dinner, according to Col. Kenneth Durham, professor of aerospace
studies at Texas A&M. Wesp, who serves in the Air Training Com
mand at the San Antonio base, enlisted in the reserve in early 1942
while an advanced ROTC cadet at A&M. He was called to active duty
before graduation and was sent to medical school under the Army
Specialized Training Program. He was reviewing officer for the Corps
of Cadets’ Kyle Field review before the Baylor football game last
October.
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Animal Science endowment made
Corpus Christi rancher and oilman Richard E. ‘ Dickie’’ Haashas
given Texas A&M University more than $300,000 to establish the
Litterst-Haas Cattle Teaching Endowment Fund in the University’s
Department of Animal Science. The gift will also be used to establish
the Mr. and Mrs. Richard E. Haas President’s Endowed Scholarship
in Animal Science. The $25,000 endowment funds an annual $1,St#
scholarship to student majoring in animal science. In addition, a
portion of the gift will establish the Mr. and Mrs. Richard E. Haas
Unrestricted Endowment within the Texas A&M Univeristy De
velopment Foundation, reports Boh Rutledge, Texas A&M’s director
of development. Haas is a 1945 graduate of Texas A&M. Frank Lit-
terst, a 1943 graduate, manages the University’s beef cattle center
and is an instructor in the Animal Science Department. He said the
teaching endowment will be sued to upgrade livestock and equip
ment at the cattle center.
NATION
Mrs. BayKs rebirth celebrated
National and state leaders and hundreds of ordinary people Satur
day joined in fulfilling Marvella Bayh’s last request for a celebrationo(
rebirth, not a sorrowful tribute to her death. Sen. Birch Bayh (D.-
Ind.), her husband of 27 years, closed the unusual service for the
courageous woman who fought an eight-year battle against cancer
and, in the process, taught others how to live with it and, ultimately,
showed thousands how to accept death with dignity. Mrs. Bayh died
Tuesday in Washington. She was 46. “She had definite ideas about
what we should be doing on this occasion,” Bayh said. “She said let
there be hope in the air and so there is. We commemorate not death
but rebirth of one we love.”
Judge quits snake assault case
A Los Angeles municipal court judge has withdrawn from the
Synanon rattlesnake assault case, further delaying a preliminary hear
ing for the aging founder and two members of the drug rehabilitation
group. Court sources said a new judge will be assigned to the case
Thursday, and testimony will have to start again to determine if
Charles Dederich, Lance Kenton and Stan Musico, should stand trial
for plotting to kill an attorney who opposed Synanon by planting!
rattlesnake in his mailbox. Municipal Court Judge Vincent Erickson
made the decision late Friday after a closed session with prosecutors
and defense attorneys to discuss a private meeting he held last weelt
with Dr. Findlay Russell, an expert on snakes who was calledasa
prosecution witness. Erickson and Russell apparently talked for about
an hour after the herpatologist finished his testimony and Russel
then made a3I-m\nute tape recording, discussing both his comments
in court and his private talk with the judge. In the tape, which ke
mailed to prosecutor John Watson, Russell said he thought he had
been too vague in some of his testimony and specifically referred to
the issue of snakes’ hibernation periods. The discussion apparently
raised the possibility that whoever planted the rattlesnake in attorney
Paul Morantz’s mailbox last October may have been trying to scare
the attorney, not kill him.
tha
ion.
VW raises prices of all models
Volkswagen of America is raising prices on its entire Volkswagen,
Porsche and Audi lines an average 2.5 percent effective immediately.
The price increases, announced Friday, include a $102 increase on
Rabbits built at the firm’s plant near New Stanton, Pa., and a $273
increase on imported models. Prices on optional equipment are un
changed. A spokesman said higher prices were needed to offset “un
favorable international exchange rates as well as increases in material
and production costs.” Under the new schedule, the basepriceofa
U.S.-built Rabbit goes to $4,799, a $102 increase; a Rabbit Custom
Diesel to $5,599, a $202 increase; Dasher to $7,228, up $278, and
Scirocco up $240 to $7,090. The new price of the Audi 5000 is $9,725,
up $330, and the Porsche 911 SC climbs $750 to $22,960.
WORLD
Mexico studies illegal aliens
Mexican Foreign Minister Santiago Roel will visit U.S. detention
centers and Mexican consuls along the border to survey the situation
of undocumented Mexican workers, the foreign ministry said Satur
day. A press bulletin from the ministry said Roel will leave today fora
visit from Brownsville to San Diego, Calif., at the direction of Presi
dent Jose Lopez Portillo. Roel will also visit other Mexican consulates
in California and in Seattle, Wash. The bulletin said that Roel will
hold meetings with Mexican consuls to tell them they should give
priority to the protection of Mexicans without neglecting promotion
of trade, culture, tourism and science, adding that Roel will meet
with with 25 Mexican accredited consuls.
WEATHER
Mostly cloudy and warmer with a slight chance of thunder
showers. High today 70 and a low of 60 with winds from the
East at 10-15 mph. There will be a 40% chance of rain today
and a 30% tonight.
The Battalion
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Managing Editor Andy Wi!^
Asst. Managing Editor DiiyS 1 * 1
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Campus Editor Keith ¥
News Editors Michelle Bu#* 1
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Staff Writers DougGtah 11
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Blossar, Richard Oliver, Diane
Meril Edwards, Lyle Lovett, M
Moehlman, Robin Thompson
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