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Viewpoint The Battalion Thursday Texas A&M University May 3, 1979 Who can we believe about SALT II By JIM ANDERSON WASHINGTON — Herbert Scoville and Daniel Graham are remarkably similar in their careers and background. It’s easy to think of them as members of the same dis tinguished men’s club. Both are retired intelligence adminis trators (Graham headed the Defense Intel ligence Agency, Scoville was deputy at the CIA). Both are dedicated men who served their profession honorably and well through the same Cold War period. As in telligence men, they were trained to analyze situations impartially. Both had access to the highest security information when the United States was setting up its surveillance techniques. And yet, Graham and Scoville disagree totally on whether the United States would be able to verify a SALT II treaty. They even disagree totally on whether the usefulness of a single satellite — the “Big Bird” — was fatally compromised when the Soviets were able to buy a copy of the instruction manual from a former CIA man. Graham says the satellite is now useless and that this is the final blow to any American hope of trying to detect and deter Soviet cheating on a strategic arms treaty. Scoville says, in his no-nonsense manner, that Graham should know better. If two such men as Scoville and Graham disagree so thoroughly, how can a be wildered, undecided senator (of which there are now about 50) make up his mind about voting to ratify a strategic arms treaty? How can a newspaper reader (or, indeed, a reporter) know whom to be lieve? Graham would agree with the argument put forward by another anti-SALT deba ter, former Undersecretary of State; Eugene Rostow: To the Soviets, clear nuclear superior ity is the ultimate weapon of coercive dip lomacy — through which they think they could achieve checkmate without having to fight either a nuclear or conventional war.” In other words, the danger is not the imminent possibility of nuclear war but rather a Cuban missile crisis in reverse, in which the United States would have to blink first in an East-West confrontation because the Soviets suddenly produced a nuclear advantage they had been able to conceal. Scoville would probably subscribe to another point of view, stated by Stanford professor Thomas Bailey: ‘‘The risks involved in limiting arms still seem great, but they should be compared with the enormous risks involved in an un limited arms race in nuclear weapons. The members of the human race — the most dangerous of all animals — must learn to live together as brothers or die together as fools.” No agreement is completely verifiable. Even in the open society of the United States, certain weapons secrets will be concealed from the Soviets that could give rise to suspicions the American govern ment is cheating, or thinking of cheating, on an agreement. The technical arguments about verifica tion are so complex, so thoroughly con cealed behind high walls of classification, that most senators and citizens (and re porters) will probably have to fall back on their political instincts and their own common sense. Thus, the great SALT debate which is now beginning will probably not be de cided on technical points at all, but on a much more basic point of human psychol ogy: can you trust the Soviets? In that sense, Soviet behavior in such unrelated subjects as human rights, Afri can involvement and even trade will prob ably be as important as technical details as the nation makes up its collective mind on SALT II. Going two ways at once By DICK WEST WASHINGTON — Astronomers pro fess themselves baffled by the discovery of an object in space that appears to be coming and going at the same time. One section of its light spectrum indi cates the object is moving away from earth; another section has it apparently heading in this direction. “To be honest, I don’t have any convinc ing idea what this really is, and neither does anyone else,” an astrophysicist who has been studying the phenomenon com mented. I know that feeling well. Although celestial bodies are a little out of my line, I spent a good bit of time observ ing political bodies and frequently have seen them moving in opposite directions simultaneously. Astronomers in recent years have run across all sorts of strange stuff up there in the firmament — quasars, supernovae, dwarf stars, “black holies, “red shifts” and the^ike. What they have hit upon this time, I suspect is a waffle star. With all the millions of stars out there, it is logical to assume that some are ambigu- ou^; i.e., susceptible of multiple interpre tation. If I were an astronomer seeking an ex planation for the two-directional object in the Milky Way, I would try to ascertain whether there is anything in the galaxy comparable to a SALT II treaty. The projected Soviet-American arms control pact has extraordinary effects on the movement of political bodies. The closer the two countries come to final agreement, the more apparent the paradox becomes. It is particularly evident in the U.S. Se nate, where the SALT treaty will be sent for ratification. Examine the statements of certain senators in one light and you will find they appear to be moving away from the treaty at a great rate. But seen in another light, the statements indicate they are moving to ward the treaty at an equal velocity. For comparison purposes, I have distil led some of these statements into one sim ple composite. It appears below. “If you are talking about a SALT agree ment that eases tensions between the two superpowers, lessens the prospects of war, puts a ceiling on the international arms race and frees more funds for badly needed so cial programs, I’m for it. “But if you are talking about a SALT agreement that freezes Russian into a posi tion of strategic superiority, that includes terms in which Soviet compliance is impos sible to verify and that sanctions a whole new round of weaponry development, I’m against it.” Further study may show that polarized pressures in outer space induce a form of stellar vacillation. If so, that would explain the equivocating light rays. Letters to “You know that your diploma comes in a mailing tube. I don’t want to meddle in your affairs, but if I were graduating, I wouldn’t leave that stage until I opened up that tube to make sure the diploma was there.“ the Editor Unfair ticket policy Editor: According to Mr. Thomas Stone all stu dents at A&M are whining, crybaby, kid dies with rich daddies who pamper and spoil them. This attitude in itself shows a certain lack of mental ability. I am putting myself through college on my own, I drive a car I bought on my own, and it is covered with insurance I alone pay for. Yet I have been unfairly ticketed several times during my attendance of this univer sity. The parking situation at A&M is ab surd, the staff in charge of it even more so, and the average quality of the University Police would be laughable if it was not so serious. The KKs could be stopping auto burglaries instead of giving tickets or driv ing by students walking back from the back forty in the rain. They could help women whose keys are locked in their cars instead of having me do it when the officers never show up. The University Police could have the decency to call people back after burglary investigations, and they might even stop their policy of not ticketing cer tain student and staff parking lots (yes I have proof). But then I suppose they would not be able to make a mint ripping the students and staff off anymore. And they might have to get rid of the rude officers like Thomas Stone who walk around with paranoic chips on their shoulders. And I would like to tell Mr. Stone that it does not take guts to sign a letter. —David Ferenz, ’80 Spoiled but gutsy Dear “Ex-Police” Thomas Stone: I, as an Aggie, and a spoiled, filthy rich, money-grabbing, robber baron, whinning, ungrateful student at Texas A&M, would like to offer my sincerest apologies for ask ing you to do your job. I know when you decided to become a policeman, in the real world, that you did not expect to live up to the promises made as a gutsy law enforce ment officer. How dure we ask a policeman for police protection? After all, I know if I were a university cop, I’d strongly object to help ing injured people, the rape victims we hear so much about and jump starting stranded cars. I’d much rather spend my days pursuing hardened parking criminals in their pim- pish Rolls Royces and show off my $450 Colt Python which I use everyday in chas ing bicycle speeders and those bikers who ride with no hands. But I have two questions for you, sir? Why do you tow off cars that need jump starts and has it ever occured to you that spoiled rich kids could afford a car that didn’t need jump starts? Spoiled rich kids don’t drive ’63 Falcons with bald tires. But all in all, I must agreee with the policies of our gutsy, tough, veteran law enforcement organization. I know that when Thomas Jefferson and other early patriots wrote the Constitution, they had the ugly problem of decadent and sinful parking in mind. You’re right! Illegal parkers ought to be sent to the slammer— the big house — up the river without a paddle! It sometimes makes me want to start a vigilante commit tee! And I make a vow to stop my leisurely life in Jamaica, Palm Springs, Beverly Hills and Paris and try my best to get into the real world. I just hope that someday, I, too, will get a Ph.D. and become a KK like I know all of our law enforcement officers have done. After all, Mr. Stone, the civilized tone of your letter shows your advanced I.Q.! I will try to grow up, quit bitching to patrolmen, amend my evil ways and try to have the guts to sign my letter. But seriously, if Mr. Stone is an example of the attitude that the group of people carrying cannons on their hips and who are charged withour protection, called Univer sity Police, I am afraid. Now sir, how is this for guts in signing this letter? —Ronald Charles Bucchi 423 Moore Hall 845-3739 No tickets in Cain lot Editor: Reading Thomas Stone’s letter to Tues day’s Batt, I was prompted to write this letter. Obviously, all students are alike to Officer Stone, none of them any good, all discourteous, and most of all, each letting Daddy put them through. Coming from a member of the Campus Police, this is not an unbelievable story. The students are the enemy. Get ’em! But are the police entirely fair in their policies? I’ve been here for four years and I’ve gotten some tickets I deserved. But I can honestly say I’ve also received some I did not deserve. I have a good example of the unfair policies of the police. On any average day, you can pass by the Wofford Cain parking lot and see several unticketed violations. Directly across the street, you will often see cars parked illegally along the drill field, each wearing a jaunty yellow decora tion. In the Cain lot you can find cars parked in no parking zones; cars without stickers; even cars driven up and parked on the grass! Parking on the grass anywhere else on campus would instantly cause your car to be towed away. Just for grins I took pictures, 36 in all, on three different days. Each shows some violation or another. So much for the fair and equal policies of the Campus Police. The police, contrary to their opinions, de serve only the respect they earn. —Robert Hafernik, ’79 Top of the News L& STATE Car faulty, woman gets $1,163 A Port Arthur woman is entitled to more than $1,163 in damages because the new 1976 Chevrolet she purchased had a two-barrel carburetor rather than the four-barrel advertised in the window sticker, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. A trial jury inti* case said Mrs. George Chadwick had suffered $1,300 in damages because of mental anguish, and the replacement cost of the carburetor on her car was $387.71. Under the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act, she was entitled to damages three times those amounts. But the Houston Court of Civil Appeals overturned the judgment for mental anguish, saying there was no provision in the Deceptive Trade Prac- tices Act for such damages. By j. TRI| ■ Battl fho says v| nothing? for the pasl •mphonj m called ss high scl its the oppl ts free, anl - is one of " cets for nej iinc the idreds of d, and th ns to spoi its fhe mone\ I corpora] TV reporter gives new evidence A television reporter has testified he saw a dissident facing riot incitement charges scream “Get the pigs through a bullhorn shortly before the newsman was stabbed. The testimony Tuesday was the first time Jack Cato of KPRC-TV has said he saw Travis Morales at Moody Park in Houston during the Mexican national day disturbance on May 7, 1978. “Nobody asked me,” Cato replied when asked why he never reported seeing Morales before. Cato and fellow KPRC-TV reporter Phil Archer both were stabbed during the riot. When asked why he had not spoken up earlier, Cato said, “These people were charged and indicted almost before I got out of the hospital. I have a standing agreement with the police. I don’t do the policing and they don’t report for television. >gal Australian wants Texas weeklies Australian newspaper magnate Rupert Murdoch, owner of the New York Post and San Antonio Express-News, plans to buy a chain of Texas weeklies, an official said Wednesday. Chester A. Achord, vice president and general manager of Benson Printing Co., said a letter of intent had been signed between his firm and News America Inc., owned by Murdoch. Benson owns eight Houston area weekly news papers with a combined circulation of 128,000. Achord said negotia tions began about two months ago. Dom Krummerfeld of News America said local management would be retained and current plans call for continuation of all Benson operations. REG1 Ba jjph the aj ||tors, the Rinake ins Bible to ai ym Ke board i NATION Publicity idea: gas sold for 26.9 There were some who did not believe their eyes — gasoline at 26.9 cents a gallon — but it was not long before there were enough believers trying to get to the pumps at Edward Essa’s Shell station in Las Angeles that a massive traffic jam reached for more than a mile down Sunset Boulevard. The low price was a publicity idea for radio station KPOL’s anti-inflation campaign and the radio station picked up the price difference, paying about $2,700. About 200 customers got 3,339 gallons of the cheap gas, which was selling for the same price it went for in 1964. Bomb kills policeman in Alabama A bomb, believed hidden in a box that was sent through the mail, exploded in the police commissioner’s office at Bessemer, Ala., City Hall Wednesday, killing a police lieutenant and injuring three others, 1 including the commissioner and an aide to the mayor. Hill was killed, and Williams, 30, and Eugene Lint, 53, the executive secretary to the mayor, were seriously injured. A custodian working outside the office in a hallway was treated for minor injuries. Bessemer is a suburb of Birmingham, where police struck Tuesday night in a dispute over changes in medical insurance policies. Mayor Ed Porter said neither Williams nor anyone else in the city government had received any threats. Dissident calls trade 'deception Alexander Ginzburg, one of five imprisoned Russian dissidents freed in a swap with the United States for two Soviet spies, says his release had “nothing to do with human rights.” Ginzburg, Tuesday, 1 told ABC-TV s Barbara Walters in New York the trade was a deception and that he would be willing to return to prison at any time. “I believe in a way the swapping was an effort to deceive the U.S.,” he said through an interpreter. “This exchange has nothing to do with human rights or the Soviets' respect for human rights. I believe the Soviet Union did get something in the course of the swap,” he said. It got back two of its spies. It got rid of certain people from inside the Soviet Union who were in the way.” WORLD Workers support phone strikers University and nuclear industry workers have threatened to go on strike to support telephone workers who walked off the job April 25. In Labor Day speeches Tuesday, leaders of the Federation of University Workers Unions and the Nuclear Industry Workers’ Union said they could go on strike if their members favor the action. Workers of the state-run Mexican Telephone Co. called a nationwide strike to demand a salary increase of 25 percent. The telephone company has offered a wage increase of 13.5 percent. WEATHER Severe weather outlook, decreasing cloudiness, and a 50% chance of rain. High in the mid 70’s and a low in the mid 60’s. Winds South-Easterly at 10-15 mph. ten .ill ■AUSTIN Ben deatl By. ■The hill ■spontan mined to b prevent detl Bn, the ble cessati Blhe bill provides tl means of si ■Protectii prohibiting under the t on a physic ■The bill, passed the ■The com Bich woul for mental death of || Sen. Bill Biount par failed befor H 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. Represented nationally by National Educational Adver tising Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. The Battalion September periods through Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per school year; $35.00 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. United Press International is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein reserved Second-Class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Editor Liz Managing Editor Andy Willi| Asst. Managing Editor P A Sports Editor Sean f ( | City Editor B°y Campus Editor Keith W News Editors Michelle Burro"' Karen Cornel'; Staff Writers Doug Mark Patterson, Kurt Abraham, Blosser, Richard Oliver, Diane Meril Edwards, Lyle Lovett, Moehlman, Robin Thompson Editorial Directors Karen Scott Peno 1 ^ Cartoonist Doug Gmq Photo Editor Lyrm Photographer Clay G* ^ Opinions expressed 77843. Focus section editor Beth Call" , 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 Regents. The Battalion is a non ~P r0 fi supporting enterprise operated by us a university and community ne f >S ^M Editorial policy is determined by the