Viewpoint
The Battalion •Texas A&M University • Thursday • July 31, 1979
Army should pledge its help
to unwitting drug volunteers
At the prodding of a civilian organization, a few of
the 2,490 men who participated in an Army drug test
ing program are beginning to step forward and share
the horror of their experiences.
In the 60s and 70s, the Army asked for volunteers to
participate in the experiment. Those who did volunteer
said they were not told they would be testing a drug 10
times more powerful that LSD. Some were told they
would attend chemical warfare school, others that they
would be testing clothing. In exchange for their coop
eration, they were promised extra pay, leaves, steak
dinners, maids to clean their rooms and no KP. Not
only did they get these, they also got shot with a drug
whose effects can last up to 80 hours.
The drug — known as BZ — was part of the Defense
Department s search for the ultimate chemical weapon
that would incapcitate without killing. And incapcitate
it did if the stories told by some of the participates are
true. Reports of flashbacks and suicidal tendencies are
prevalent among the tales these men have to tell.
The department admits the men were not given
follow-up examinations, but said the drug caused no
lasting, harmful effects despite the protestations of the
few volunteers who stepped forward at the request of
American Citizens for Honesty in Government.
The Army showed stupidity and irresponsibility in
using human guinea pigs to test a drug whose effects
are highly questionable and which may have possible
life-time traumas associated with them.
It is ironic that a country whose government officials
seem so anti-drug oriented would condone the trial of a
halluciongenic drug on unwitting subjects.
The men who participated in this experiment de
serve special consideration from the government —
both financial aid if earning ability was impaired and
medical and pyschiatric help if they are still suffering
the debilitating effects of the drug.
The citizens’ group has taken a step in the right di
rection. They have promised respondents to their ad-
vertisments medical exams to check the after-effects as
well as requesting the mens’ service records. A class
action suit is also being considered.
Men who are drafted to fight a war for their country
should not have to fight one against it, too. Everyone
should desire to reach the bottom of this atrocity and to
find out whether similar incidents have occured and
then see that nothing like this occurs again, whether it
be on our own soldiers or our enemy’s. —K.L.R
Construction, construction everywhere
The price of progress is concrete
Like the Gulf Freeway in Houston,
the campus of Texas A&M University
will never be finished.
Everytime the Board of Regents
meet, you can count on another plot of
University land to be torn to pieces to
build another structure. It is just a
matter of time before every square
inch of this campus will be covered
with concrete or “Prarie Film.”
Of course, there is no easy solution
to this problem. New students and
more research facilities are needed
make sure the University keeps its
current rate of progress as an educa
tional institution.
But sometimes it is a pity to see an
old campus structure or a grassy knoll
destroyed for the sake of a new dormi-
By DICK WEST
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Reports from here
and there reveal that spot shortages of
prison cells are developing across the
country.
Several states already have experienced
scarcities, most recently Virginia. Almost
tory or science lab.
The old Board of Regents house is
an example. It is one of the oldest
structures on campus. A fire during
the last spring semester severely
damaged the house. The regents de
cided to tear it down rather than re
store it. In its place, a new modular
dormitory will be built. A gazebo to
commemorate the house will also be
built.
So a situation with no solution
seems to exist. The dorm is needed,
but a historical house has to fall.
It would seem cheaper to restore
the old house, locate the modular
dormitory elswhere, and forget the
gazebo.
But then there would be the prob-
400 Virginia prisoners were paroled ahead
of schedule this week because of over
crowded conditions in the state’s slam-
mers.
So grim is the situation, some
penologists are urging that President Car
ter make a televised appeal to the Ameri
can people to commit fewer crimes.
lem of where to put the new dorm.
The land next to Hotard could be
used, but then Texas A&M would lose
even more of its dwindling greenery.
Maybe there is a solution in the
world of modem architecture. Texas
A&M has a progressive school of ar
chitecture, despite the concrete
monolith they house themselves in.
Surely an aspiring enviromental de-
By DON PHILLIPS
United Press International
WASHINGTON — It was all a
misunderstanding.
At least that’s what House Demo
cratic leaders say happened when
standby gasoline rationing legisla
tion broke down in confusion last
week, gutted by an amendment by
Rep. Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y.
Only moments before the
amendment passed, a nearly identi
cal one by Rep. James Broyhill,
R-N.C., had been defeated by
nearly the same margin. For some
reason, the sentiment in the House
had flipflopped.
Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich.,
shocked by the strange turn of
events, halted further action on the
bill.
The vote on the Gilman amend
ment — which adds a new layer of
congressional approval to any ration
ing plan — may be reversed later
after Democratic leaders have a
chance to twist some arms.
These factors combined to upset
the rationing applecart:
—Gilman himself is popular
among Democrats as a man who
usually “plays it straight.” They had
“I’m not going to get into a big finger
pointing match over who is responsible for
the cell shortage,” one penal expert told
me. “You could blame the governments
for failing to build enough new jails. You
could blame the courts for sending more
prisoners up the river than the coolers
could handle. Or you could say it is the
sign graduate could show the regents
a way to build without giving up his
torical structures or grass and trees.
But no matter what the solution is,
we should hope it comes before we
lose all of our grass and old buildings.
I would hate to see the campus turn
into a monument to the wonders of
modem concrete construction.
—K.A.T.
no reason to suspect when he ar
gued that with his plan Congress
would not be put in the position of
having a system thrust on it at the
height of a gas emergency. '
—Dingell and his supporters ar
gued a new obstruction did not need
to be put in the way of the bill —
but they did not hammer at the
theme that if the House disliked the
preceding Broyhill amendment, it
should dislike Gilman’s.
—The information sheet on up
coming amendments put out by the
Democratic Study Group appar
ently did not adequately explain the
amendment — at least according to
some members.
—The vote took place at the
dinner and cocktail hour, as the
House worked late to complete the
bill, so many members arrived at
the last minute and had to make a
quick, snap decision.
An analysis of the Gilman vote in
dicates 46 Democrats reversed their
voting patterns.
The embarrassing vote may come
back to haunt the Democrats. Re
publicans already are gleefully wait
ing to compare the first vote on the
Gilman amendment with the next.
robbery
fault of greedy felons who have driven up
the crime rate faster than additional
hoosegows could be provided.
“Whoever is responsible, what it boils
down to is the old supply-and-demand re
lationship. Ultimately, the only solution is
going to be a cutback in the number of
convicts.”
I said, “Do you favor some system of
mandatory controls?”
“If you are talking about rationing, no,”
the penologist replied.
“In principle, judiciary limitations are
fine. We could assign each court a ceiling
on the number of offenders it could put in
stir. Or we could give judges sentencing
quotas that would prevent them from
throwing the book at guilty parties.
“In practice, however, prisoner ration
ing would be an administrative nightmare.
While it might keep police, prosecutors
and judges from overloading the clinks,
how do you restrain grand juries from
handing down indictments and trial juries
from bringing in guilty verdicts?”
I said, “I can see the difficulty. On the
other hand, the results of presidential
exhortations during other shortages do not
inspire confidence that Carter could in
duce voluntarily cutbacks on crime.”
The penologist did not share my
qualms. He insisted that forceful leader
ship from the White House would inspire
a high degree of compliance among crimi
nal elements.
“When people realize that the alterna
tive to reducing the crime rate will be long
lines of lawbreakers waiting for prison cells .
to become available, the pressure to cur
tail transgressions will be overwhelming,”
he predicted.
“This is Carter’s big chance. Maybe his
appeals to the public to hold down wages
and prices and conserve energy did land
largely on deaf ears. But if he can devise
workable guidelines for stabilizing the
prison population, all will be forgiven.”
AkenT
a UTTUB OBVIOUS?
Gas rationing plan
breaks down — again
STATE
Judge trims Weed Eater s patent
Texas-based Weed Eater Inc. has lost its patents for a flexible line
grass trimmer because a federal judge said the ideas for the machine
were not unique. District Judge George Templar said he also re
jected the patents because of inadequate specifications. The decision,
filed Friday and made available Monday, concluded improvements
made by George C. Balias and Thomas N. Geist, on behalf of Wed
Eater of Houston, were not sufficiently different from several earlier
trimmers to warrant a patent.
NATION
Prison returns to routine
Walpole State Prison in Massachusetts returned to "normal
routine” Monday, less than eight hours after inmates released five
hostages they held at knife point for more than 10 hours to protest
living conditions and visitation rights. A guard at the state’s only
maximum security prison said the facility had returned to a “normal
routine” and no general lockup was in effect, but would not elaborate.
Spokesmen at the Corrections Department were not immediately
available for comment. The five hostages, including Superintendent
Fred Butterworth, were released tired and shaken shortly after mid
night from the old death row cellblock. None of the hostages was
seriously injured, according to corrections spokesmen.
Americans healthy, but SG not happi
Although Americans generally are healthier than ever, an unprec
edented survey of the national health by the surgeon general called
for a second public health revolution to stem the death toll from heart
disease, cancer and accidents, much the way polio, tuberculosis and
other infectious diseases were tamed in the past. The report said the
U.S. death rate has dropped from 17 per 1,000 persons per year in
1900 to fewer than nine per 1,000, while infant mortality rates drop
ped to a record low of 14 per 1,000 live births in 1977. A major reason
for these improvements, it said is the vast reduction in deaths from
communicable diseases, but deaths from degenerative diseases such
as heart ailments, stroke and cancer have increased sharply and now
account for 75 percent of all deaths in the United States.
The times they are a-changing
Joan Baez, a voice of social protest in the ‘60s, found herself the
target of protests during the weekend. About 40 demonstrators at
tended her concert Saturday night at the Paramount Northwest Thea
ter in Seattle to give Baez a hard time about her recent denounce
ment of the Vietnam government for its treatment of the “boat
people.” Members of the Vietnam Support Committee demonstrat
ing outside the theater said recent statements by Ms. Baez, citing
human rights violations in Vietna., were unfounded. The protesters
carried signs reading, “The CIA loves Joan Baez.” They also passed
out leaflets pointing out what they believe are inaccuracies in her
statements.
I Nevada says return to sender
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The state of Nevada Monday refused to accept a shipment of
radioactive wastes for burial, saying it contained liquids and thus was
unacceptable. State Radiological Health Officer John Vaden said the
liquid was found in canisters in a shipment of radium liquid waste that
arrived by truck at the dump site in Southern Nevada from Texas.
“We loaded it up and sent it back,” said Vaden. He said it would be
returned to the Todd Shipyards in Houston. He said the company
contended it had inspected at least 50 packages of the waste and
found no liquid. Nevada does not accept radiocactive wastes for burial
in liquid form.
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Firewoman wants breast for her chih
The Iowa Civil Rights Commission began hearings Monday in the
case of firefighter Linda Eaton, who contends the city fire depart
ment discriminated against her by prohibiting her from nursing her
son at work. Attorneys for both sides said the courts eventually will
have to decide whether women should he allowed to breast feed their
children while at work, regardless of the outcome of the commission’s
week-long hearings. Jane Eikleberry, Ms. Eaton’s attorney, said the
complaint has been changed to include an allegation the city has
retaliated against Ms. Eaton and harassed her since she filed the
original complaint in late January. Ms. Eaton, 26, has been allowed to
breast feed her son, Ian, twice a day at the station under a temporary
court order.
WORLD
New York to London for $99
New York to London for $99 will be only one of the startling new
realities in the unregulated commercial aviation of this decade, says
an economist. “With new airplanes and greater numbers of passenger
seats to be filled, the last half of the 1980s will see better air fare
bargains than anyone ever guessed,” says David R. Raphael, a senior
economist at SRI International and chairman of the Subcommittee on
Aviation Assumptions of the Transportion Research Board. The board
is a unit of the National Research Council and operates under the
authority of the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering.
Raphael thinks elimination of government regulation of routes and
fares and subsequent competition among airlines will drive fares
down, increase personal travel and airport congestion and result in
boosted airline profits in the last half of the 1980s.
The Battalion
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Editor Karen Ro? e
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