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.
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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.
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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.
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Editor Liz
Managing Editor Andy Willi|
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77843. Focus section editor
Beth Call"
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