Slouch
by Jim Earle
“AZZ it takes is one hold in one card and your class is changed
from one with 42 to one with 420 students.”
Opinion
Well-read slips
Errors in reporting facts appear everyday.
Those errors often cause sad, embarrassing or funny re
sults.
Wednesday we learned of two fact errors in Monday’s
Battalion that we had not corrected in Tuesday’s paper.
(We are always willing to correct such mistakes in our n^ws
columns.)
One result of Monday’s slips was sad. The other — em
barrassing or funny, depending on your point of view.
In the first. The Battalion announced Silver Taps on
Tuesday for Texas A&M students who have died since last
semester.
The actual ceremony is scheduled for next Tuesday,
Sept. 12.
Silver Taps is one of A&M’s most eloquent and solemn
traditions, and people should take it seriously. .
So even though the flag in front of the Academic Build
ing was not at half-mast and no notices of the ceremony
were posted, about 100 people gathered to observe the
short ceremony.
We apologize for making people come to campus for
nothing, but we applaud their sentiment.
And we hope our mistake does not deter them — and
others — from attending the real Silver Taps Tuesday.
The other mistake was probably a typographical error.
Instead of announcing an organization meeting of the
“Disc Association of A&M,” The Battalion promoted the
event for the “Disco Association of A&M.”
The Disc group is for Frisbee enthusiasts.
The Disco group — which does not exist — would serve
the needs of people who dance to the newest rage in the
music world.
The two groups are not the same.
At least a dozen unsuspecting students — dressed for
dancing — went to the Disc gathering, which was domi
nated by cut-off jeans and tennis shoes.
Right away the newcomers knew something was amiss.
One reports that as he and a friend walked in the room,
one of the Disc fanciers said, “They look like the type, ” and
didn’t smile.
Not knowing exactly what “type” he was, the Disco fan
left quickly.
Again, The Battalion regrets the error.
But from the response, perhaps there should be a Disco
Association here...
The Battalion
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Viewpoint
The Battalion • Texas A&M University
Thursday •September 6,19
Window
Is it foolish to maintain ties with Israel
and avoid all negotiations with PLO?
by JIM ANDERSON
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Like a hidden dis
pute that suddenly erupts to spoil a family
reunion, the Palestinian issue has dis
rupted the close U.S.-Israeli relationship.
In one important respect, the Middle
East has turned full circle. The basis of all
the peace negotiations, U.N. Security
Council Resolution 242, is now accepted
by the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Up until now, the PLO has simplified mat
ters for the United States and Israel by
refusing to accept the resolution, which
also implies acceptance of Israel’s right to
live in peace.
The situation has become immensely
more complicated for the United States
because the Israeli Cabinet, in effect, has
made it clear that it does not accept the
obligation to withdraw Israeli occupation
forces from the West Bank, which is one of
the main pillars of Resolution 242.
This reversal of Israeli and PLO policies
is important because it indicates the PLO
leadership has embarked on a deliberate
strategy to become respectable and ac
ceptable to the United States and the rest
of the world. At the same time, Israel has
embarked on a course of defiance to the
United States.
If those courses are maintained, it
means, says John Ruedy, a Georgetown
University expert on the Middle East, that
the United States policy on this specific
issue is, for the first time, closer to the
PLO than it is to Israel.
That leads Ruedy, and some State De
partment officials, to the further conclu
sion that it is silly to maintain the U.S.
commitment to Israel to avoid direct
negotiations with the PLO.
Ruedy, in an interview broadcast by the
Voice of America, proposes that the
United States inform Israel that since the
Israelis no longer seem to accept the fun
damental basis for Middle East negotia
tions — Resolution 242 — the United
States is no longer bound by its 1975
commitment to Israel to avoid direct con
tact with the PLO.
Such action by the State Department
would certainly create a political furor in
this country.
The U.S.-Israeli policy disagreement
over the Israeli obligation to withdraw its
military forces from the West Bank is
added to another bone of contention: the
U.S. displeasure with the Israeli pre
emptive strikes in southern Lebanon.
In an illustration of the new tense rela
tionship, U.N. Ambassador Andrew
Young — making it very clear he was
speaking in the U.N. Security Council
with the full support of his government —
was impartially critical of both Israel and
Palestinian guerrillas for contributing to
the bloodshed in southern Lebanon.
Such even-handed U.S. treatment of Is
rael and the PLO would have been un
thinkable six months ago, according to
State Department officials who are now
bracing for what appears to be a long series
of confrontations with the Israeli govern
ment.
The public condemnation of Israel in
the United Nations by the United States
was the strongest in memory, a deliberate
step by the State Department to distance
itself from the current Israeli policies.
libs
The next move is Israel’s. It is
come in first-hand contacts in Washing
when Foreign Minister Moshe Day
Defense Minister Ezer Weizman
for a series of talks with U.S. officials
They will have much to talk aboiil,
Palestinians, the Israeli use of Amei
arms in southern Lebanon that
have” violated U.S. laws, the apparei!
raeli refusal to live up to what the Hi
States considers the spirit of resoli
242, and the uncertain future of
Egyptian-Israeli peace talks.
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Issue short-term visas for illegal aliens
San Francisco Chronicle
Sen. S.I. Hayakawa has been asking for
support for his plan for dealing with what
he calls the “large and uncontrolled influx
of undocumented workers from Mexico. ”
We believe the senator may be able to
make a case for Congress’ accepting his
approach. It looks like a hopeful way to
handle a flow of illegal immigration that is
admittedly quite out of hand.
Leonel J. Castillo, commissioner of the
immigration and naturalization service,
put the number of illegal aliens now in the
country at between 6 million and 12 mil
lion. Tens of thousands of Mexicans at
tempt to come over the border each
month to add to this number. Last year
the Border Patrol logged 862,000 arrests.
This large number was willing to face
the risk of arrest in older to get jobs paying
up to 13 times as much as could be earned
in their own country. Hayakawa proposes
to establish a temporary worker’s visa pro
gram which (would) admit Mexicans as
non-immigrants to work in the United
States for 180 days a year.
This measure assumes such workers
would not want to stay permanently in this
country; that they have a short term need
to supplement their incomes, and that
farmers and business are unable to I
domestic workers at the minimum
would end the pressure to settle here,
Since we have to try something,
not legalize what otherwise would kt
legal and see if the free operation of
law of supply and demand for laborw
not cure the depressing, unscrupii
traffic in human beings that nowgoesi
Could Nicaragua be a second Cuba?
some similarities, but more differetice
by EDUARDO CUE
United Press International
Will Nicaragua turn into a second Cuba
and become the first Communist domino
in Central America?
One of three of the factions making up
the ruling Sandinistas is admittedly Mar
xist and some socialization of the economy
has taken place since the revolutionaries
ousted President Anastasio Somoza.
Banks have been nationalized and there
has been a government takeover of the
commodities export market, expropriation
of the vast Somoza family holdings, harsh
criticism of the United States and a warm
new relationship between Managua and
Havana.
Proponents of the second-Cuba theory
also point out that when Castro first came
to power he maintained good relations
with the United States in order to get
badly needed American assistance, a game
the Nicaraguan junta may be repeating.
Those who see red also point out that
some of Nicaragua’s powerful new leaders,
such as Interior Minister Tomas Borge,
are of Marxist persuasion. Borge recently
traveled to Cuba to celebrate his 50th
birthday with his good friend Cuban Pres
ident Fidel Castro.
The revolutionary junta has greeted
Cuban aid with much rhetoric, while
complaining that the United States took
too long in getting food and medical
supplies into the country.
But there are significant signs Nicaragua
will not become a second Cuba, unless it is
isolated by American policy. And the
United States, recalling its experience in
Cuba 20 years ago, seems to have realized
the best way to insure a moderate regime
in Nicaragua is to help rebuild the country
without political tutoring.
Nicaragua’s revolutionary leaders have
proved they are pragmatists above all else.
They accepted and even sought out the
broadest possible base for their rebellion
against now ousted President Anastasio
Somoza, welcoming help from segments as
diverse as wealthy businessmen and
radicalized peasants.
If there are similarities between the
Cuban and Nicaraguan revolutions, there
also are clear differences.
Unlike Castro, who executed hundreds
of opponets after he came to power, the
new Sandinista leaders have killed none of
some 3,000 national guard members in
their custody. Many have been released
where there are no criminal charges
against them.
The government has promised a “mixed
economy” and respect for private property
— except for Somoza family holdings, es
timated at about 60 percent of all arable
land in Nicaragua.
Massive destruction during two years of
sporadic fighting has served to moderate
the leftwing tendencies of the new five-
member junta and the nine-member San
dinista Directorate.
The government appears aware that, no
matter how symbolic the help from Cuba
may be, only the United States has re
sources to help rebuild the Central Ameri
can nation of 2.4 million people.
Interior Minister Borge even asked the
United States to help supply and possibly
train the embryonic Sandinista Army, a
request seemingly so outlandish that re
porters thought Borge was joking when he
first told a press conference he had made
that proposal to U.S. Ambassador Lawr
ence A. Pezzullo.
There is widespread resentment
Nicaragua of the American role inii
ing and then supporting to the en
Somoza family dynasty. But this
ment is moderated with an acknowlfl
ment that the popularity the Sandii
now enjoy will last only as long as
improvement in the lot of the ave
Nicaraguan.
The Sandinistas know this will be:
ble only with massive American
tance.
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Letters
Brigham Young vs. Texas A&M:
game in Houston, yell practice here
Editor:
I hate to start the year off on a discon
certing note, but I feel it is my duty as a
somewhay “Good Ag” to ask a question. Is
the BYU game a “home” or an “away”
game?
My perplexion arises as a result of find
ing out that we will have midnight yell
practice this Friday night. If it is indeed a
“home” game, why did I have to suffer the
economical oppression of having to fork
out $4.25 for a student ticket, and a
ridiculous sum of $8.50 for a “guest”
ticket?
The obvious answer, is simple: Dammit,
it’s an away game! Ha! Chortle! If it is an
away game, why - in the name of heaven -
are we having a midnight yell practice?
Half the people (This is perhaps a gross
exaggeration) going to the game will be in
Houston Friday night. If you have any
sense of duty, righteousness, or fair play,
as sure as there is a God in heaven, you
will end my confusion with your explana-
fi° n - -Mike Murphy, ’81
Unsung heroes
Editor:
We of Fowler Hall would like to show our
appreciation for some of the most dedi
cated and least thanked students of A&M:
Ronnie Kapavic, student body president,
and four of the yell leaders.
These people took time out, after going
to All University Night, to come to the
Fowler All Dorm Meeting and talk to all
the girls. These men gave us the most val
uable thing in the world — their time and
energy.
Ronnie Kapavic gave a very inspiring
talk, and those of us who are lucky enough
to know him, realize what a truly great
leader this campus has. The Yell Leaders,
Pete Greaves, Brian Hill, Mark Outlaw
and Jeff Smiley, all delayed previouspl'
and made a very special effort to at^
They not only kept us entertained,”
also gave us all the inspiration to try 1
as active as they are.
If all Aggies could be as devoted 1
less and spirited as these men — the'" 11
could be pretty near perfect. Once at*
our heartfelt thanks and appreciate
some of our finest heroes.
Marianne Lamkin,
Fowler Hall Presii