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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1979)
Slouch “YOU ALWAYS COMPLAIN ABOUT BEING TREATED LIKE A PUNCH CARD THIS TIME OF THE YEAR. FRANKLY, I THINK YOU BRING A LOT OF IT ON YOURSELF.” Opinion Honest, we’re frail Like baseball managers in the springtime, we at The Battalion — as students and journalists — are full of hope for the new school year. But we want to remind you of some things about our modern media world, to keep us all honest. —We journalists are not instant historians. What you read is a partial, often inaccurate sampling of what we heard about or thought we heard about during the last few days. —We are not sociologists or psychologists. We seldom really understand why people do what we report they do — which is why we stick to describing only what we can see or are told. —We are not movers and shakers of the world. The people who do make the important decisions may read what we write, but we cannot tell them what to do. —The promises some of us are quick to make — that a free press will save the world — cannot be fulfilled. Since those promises have not been met by the press, you distrust us, feel betrayed. And we journalists — idealists at heart — disappoint ourselves. But the disappointments are not reason to quit. We keep trying to report faithfully what we know and see. And sometimes we succeed — sometimes things do change because of what we write. So we’re reminding you — simply — to keep in mind our human faults and shortcomings, even as we report yours. Only from that base can we be honest — and that’s what makes great newspapers that truly serve people. Change a-comin’ The editorial page in your hands has changed, as has much of the staff that prepared today’s Battalion. The rest of the newspaper’s format will also be changing soon. Our aim is to create a more readable, attractive “package” for the news. If it isn’t pretty, it isn’t read — no matter how well written it is or how important. Developing those changes will take some time, and they may be startling, but they should ease the flow of news from the world to you. The Battalion USPS 045 360 V 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 is published Monday through Friday from September through May except during exam and holiday periods and the summer, when it is published on Tuesday through Thursday. 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 Newlin Managing Editor Andy Williams Assistant Managing EditorDillard Stone News Editors . .Karen Cornelison and Michelle Burrowes Sports Editor Sean Petty City Editor Roy Bragg Campus Editor Keith Taylor Focus Editors Beth Calhoun and Doug Graham Staff Writers Meril Edwards, Diane Blake, Louie Arthur, Richard Oliver, Mark Patterson, Carolyn Blosser Photo Editor . . . Lee Roy Leschper Jr. Photographer Lynn Blanco Cartoonist Doug Graham Opinions expressed 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-profit, self- supporting enterprise operated by students as a university and community newspaper. Editorial policy is determined by the editor. Viewpoint The Battalion Texas A&M University Tuesday • September 4,191 Broder Presidential pickers should be politicians DEER victim in AChev ship. “The e encourag: Meanw investigat By DAVID S. BRODER For those of us who have convinced for most of this decade that the presiden tial selection system has taken a funda mentally wrong turn, there are a few hear tening signs that the long-awaited rethink ing of the “reforms” of the Seventies is beginning. In the space of six days earlier this month, two thoughtful and influential Democrats weighted in with articles mak ing an essential and little-understood point: The frustration many Americans have expressed with the choices they have been given in recent presidential elections and the disappointment they feel with the performance of recent presidents stem di rectly from the changes that have occurred in the presidential nominating system. Newton N. Minow, a Chicago lawyer and former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, made the case in The Wall Street Journal. David Lebedoff, a Minneapolis attorney and longtime leader of the Minnesota Demo cratic Farmer-Labor Party, wrote a paral lel brief for The Washington Post. While differing somewhat in their suggested remedies, both men put their finger directly on the heart of the prob lem. The changes in the nominating rules made in the Seventies effectively elimi nated any real screening of the presiden tial hopefuls by the people who are best able to judge their talents and shortcomings, namely, the politicians and officeholders who have worked with them over a period of years. “The pros,” as they were called, domi nated the makeup of the nominating con ventions until this past decade. Then, in a spirit of reform and with the belief that broader participation might make the con ventions “more representative,” the sys tem was changed to encourage a lot more amateurs and average citizens to join in the small society by Brickman y&D'LL FINP IT IN THE cStPU leMET ^g^Tl^N - the selection process. The main device was to switch delegates in relatively closed caucuses or conven tions, where past party service and public leadership credentials count, to primaries, where everone’s vote is equal to everyone else’s. There are two things wrong with this switch. First of all, the primaries them selves are very unrepresentative pro cesses. As Minow pointed out. President Carter’s great “victory” in the New Hamp shire primary was achieved with the sup port of 7 percent of the people who voted in the 1976 general election in that state. The second problem is that even that unrepresentative fragment of the citizens has little chance to learn or judge the real qualities, of the candidates they are con sidering. Their exposure consists of a single meeting, a handshake, a glimpse on the television tube. As Lebedoff pointed out, candidates who seek the nomination in such a system quickly learn to display those qualities that are most easily communicated in that brief exposure each possible voter gets. As a proxy for competence, the candi dates show off their detailed knowledge of even picayune issues. As a proxy for emo tional stability, they show themselves de liberately low-key. As a proxy for leader ship, which always risks being divisive, they learn to read and echo the polls. And, as Lebedoff argues, the very qual ities that serve them so well in the primaries — fascination with detail, a lack of passion, a preoccupation with polls — are the qualities for which they are criticized when, as presidents, the people finally have a chance to judge their real abilities. No dan on the bo The point of the Minow and Lelxj Co. refin articles — and of this one — is not toll Saturday more abuse on Jimmy Carter, who I barges, rently is being blamed for moreevilsj Of the any one person could have caused] tilled.Th point is that as long as we have this 1©] body fbui selection process, this is the kindofp missing^ dents we are going to get. psworki It is too late to change the selection) Wapler. tern for 1980. But the discussion rep The tan sented by the Minow and Lebedoffari; explosion cannot begin too soon, if the changes dipping going to be made by 1984. the ship < Because most of the nominating u Coast ( were rewritten and most of the pns laws passed by Democrats, it is appuj ate that the debate begin there. lO But there are also hopeful signsoi if 1 Republican side. The pre-primary pi dential preference poll being conduj by Florida Republicans this fall q sents the ultimate absurdity of the i Ijl 1 system. A lottery is being run amongtl^ ^ who turn out at county meetings ti who gets to vote in the November pra ence poll. Candidate organizations spending thousands of dollars to turn) few hundred bodies at the caucuses, hopes of winning the lottery. No one could possibly pretend tli - anything but a parody of a sensible pi Ihesched dential selection system. And mostot candidates and campaign managers, The A&N urdMond schedule their credit, despise it. T wish wets inizaflons kill the guy who thought of it,” ok them told me, sounding as if he rneanl Don’t kill the guy. Change thesysi “t Uglier If not for 1980, then surely for 1984. (c)The Washington Post Company Here’s the ultimate Good Ag reply By strict wil tra-currici rilities. The new to Assi nance Dor eded to o ilities and There are e new sys ;-apprc rnon-profi eA&M G Dear Editor: To Mr. Miss Mrs. Ms. Thing ., you are full of. ALL GOOD AGS (sound orange tea feathers doo-doo of trumpets) know that .is a tradition here at A&M. (blank should be filled in with appropriate issue in question, e.g. “eating mashed taters with a spoon”) I have went here for three years now and am a GOOD AG (trumpets again). If you don’t like it here (big drum roll) HIGHWAY 6 RUNS BOTH WAYS. We don’t need YOU TWO-PERCENTERS HERE NOHOW. A GOOD AG and proud of it. Class of. ’80 ’81 ’82 ’83 ’84 (name (check your ID)), .(match the numbers on your ring) hi via Editor’s note: This “letter” was submitted by Les Palmer, a Communications Specialist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Letters Students asked to help with A&M government An open letter to the Student Body: As your Student Body President, I must say that I am honored to serve in this capacity. I am very proud of our university and those ideals on which it is based. Maintaining those ideals of a university for the students is our responsibility, not sim ply mine or Student Government’s. I know that the quality of students at Texas A&M is surpassed by no other university. However, A&M as we have known it will be challenged in the coming years. The traditions, attitudes, and values we hold so dear will be questioned. Are we as stu dents ready for that time? Will we stand up for what we believe, to uphold the ideals of Texas A&M? I know that we can, through open lines of communication with the administration and surrounding community, state and na tion, show that we are ready and able to undertake the reponsibility. I hope you will join me in this by becoming more in volved with, and expressing your opinions and suggestions to your representatives in the Student Senate. Student Government will work for you; but remember, it is your Student Government, and the respom ity for its success rests on us, as student 1 would encourage you to become morel ive by serving on one of several cow® tees within Student Government your involvement, we will be one closer to maintaining the Texas we’ve known and loved—Ronnie Ka| Student Body Presidf 9 .1 t ! ok ‘ At Analysis Baker faces hard fight to stay GOP floor leader By IRA R. ALLEN United Press International WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans are grumbling among themselves over Sen. Howard Baker’s intention to remain GOP floor leader while running for presi dent, but he is not likely to be ousted in the current session. Baker himself may find it difficult to keep doing an effective job in the Senate — which requires compromises — while wooing support from conservative Repub licans he needs to get the 1980 GOP pres idential nomination. The Senate leadership job, however, gives him a lot of free publicity, so the double burden may well be worth the ef fort. Baker was elected Republican leader in 1977 by just one vote and has been effec tive in making sure the minority GOP members have an influence on legislation and procedural matters in the Senate. While there is a growing body of con servatives who would like to see a more hard-line idealogue in the leadership post. the consensus is that Baker's job is safe — at least until January when the second ses sion of the 96th Congress convenes. He is expected to formally announce his candidacy for the GOP nomination this fall. A spokesman for Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan., another GOP presidential con tender, said that — contrary to reports — Dole is not leading a dump-Baker move within the caucus of 41 Senate Republi cans. He said there is no “overt effort” to remove Baker now but, “There may be an appropriate time” later. The spokesman also noted there are “coalitions within the Senate interested in having Baker step aside,” a reference to the Ronald Reagan contingent, which in cludes Reagan’s campaign chairman, Sen. Paul Laxalt, R-Nev., and his 1976 would- be running mate. Sen. Richard Schweiker, R-Pa. That group feels it is unfair for Baker to use the leadership position as a daily forum for his views. But there also are pitfalls in being Se nate GOP leader. Baker alienated con servatives last year by helping President Carter win passage of the Panama Canal treaties, and made no new friends in spon soring a Federal Election Commission nominee opposed by half the Senate Re publicans. Thus, hanging on to the leader ship post — with more controversial ques tions sure to arise — could be damaging to his ambitions. Baker has said that after the autumn Se nate debate on the strategic arms limita tion treaty, he will “step aside” — not down — and let assistant GOP leader Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, run the minority inter ests on a day-to-day basis. That, however, does not sit well with some members. Despite Stevens’ popular ity, he was not elected leader, and would not win if he ran for the post, according to one line of thinking. If Baker should be challenged in the Se nate, his spokesman said, he can count on at least 30 votes — enough to ward off a successful challenge. “I know of no effort to do anything,” the spokesman said. “There’s no effort to screw with it now, but I don’t know what requ frtain crash tanks havi s country lares. Volkswage ■ak during ke Passat, j * Dasher, nk can ho] be ben 'an metal kesman wtictank" acrashtes e more tl NHTSA’s Petition 1 'kick, the a ipi ''n tatic tanks naddress tl “dtospecij stands 'e to mee I: will happen at the first of the year. “All the precedent is in favor of minority leader or the majority le** keeping that post (while running for p® 1 dent),” the Baker aide said. hop tidd all. In feet, there is not much prececM Sew camp a jj Only one floor leader has ever run president — Lyndon Johnson in Hall childr files’’ i n Elected b and despite his legen Johnson in 19tv b dary effectivenff “l s an( ' h the Senate, he did not succeed in his f idential campaigning that year. Joan Clay fio “alHigh v Correction safeh par eri Stage Center will be showing one-act play Thursday, Friday and Si day nights, not just one. They are, “ in the Wind, ” “17 Seconds” and “Ctf Crazy Papa.” Show starts at 8p “Crazy, Crazy Papa” will not run later 1 ' ,r ained i the season as stated. l'nii e , 'vashin Eat said s Serabl, 'Hats. et An unrej •t of a ear ueu 0] 3s a p be rear : Small r ‘king missi] Qaybroo] : enly thj r