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SLOUCH
by Jim Earle
‘I heard you made a swing by Padre Island for a swim.
Opinion
Howdy, canary
A student — like a canary in a cage full of cats — can be
lonely in a crowd.
And a lot of that is going on around here.
A week of school has passed, and the first-day jitters are
gone.
For many freshmen — and other students, especially
transfers — now is when the loneliness begins.
Empty hours, boring hours, stretch all the way to De
cember and Christmas.
Some of the hours will be filled with classes and books, of
course, but only so many. The others can be very long, and
sometimes even dangerous, for people who have nothing
else to do.
Texas Aggies have one built-in advantage. We encourage
people to say hello — “Howdy” if you’re a traditionalist —
and that is good.
But often the effort stops there. People go back to just
staring at each other in halls, in classes or elsewhere on
campus.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Lonely canaries usually want to make friends — all they
need is an opening out of their cage.
EDITOR’S NOTE: An editorial like the one above is usually
categorized with pieces to enourage voting, giving to the United Way
or watching for children on bicycles. The editor has little hope his
effort will do any good, but he feels obligated to write it anyway. In
this case, however, there is hope, because building a new friendship
takes so little effort — and the rewards are great. And after you’ve
done it once, it’s easier to do the next time. It might even become a
habit.
Thoughts on Thotz
With this issue, The Battalion begins a comic strip — Thotz — drawn by
Doug Graham.
Graham, a senior in journalism, discusses his creation:
One ambition of all shade-tree cartoonists is to draw their own strip.
I chose dinosaurs, mainly because I have loved those extinct beasts since I
was a kid. That is why each one of my characters is an actual species. For
instance, the duck-billed one, Cheeseworth, is a trachodon.
Also, dinosaurs give me freedom — and freedom is what I need to probe the
way people think and act. I hope Thotz doesn’t turn into just a gag strip. I want
it to mean something overall.
It is my version of the Wright Flyer. My first attempt, FEEM, which was a
ground-borne strip about roaches and rats, was such an abortion, Right-to-Life
couldn’t have saved it.
Thotz has been around a while, running once a week, then twice a week.
Finally, starting this week, it will run five days a week. I kind of feel like
Wilbur and Orville right now. I want my biplane to soar.
The Battalion
U S P S 045 360
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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
j 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
c;
The Battalion • Texas A&M University
Monday • September 10,1
| "■ i a ^ T TTi yC TTl@ tTltGfVlClttOYKll SystGfTt
READER S t ORUM for ratingfema i e looks
By CURTIS DILLON
Among the many pursuits of the male is
the company of a female that is pleasing to
the eye. The male goes thru adolescence
dreaming that he will meet and go through
life with a beauty pageant queen that will
do no less than make men salivate on their
boots. Not only must the girl make his own
heart flutter, but also turn the heads of
other men in order to heighten his own
prestige.
Such is the desire of the male, that a
rating system has been set up, so that
members of the virile sex may know the
quality of the merchandise before inspect
ing it. This rating system is of great value
when being conned into taking out a
friend’s sister who could not hire a date to
go to the prom, or being set up on a blind
date with a girl often mistaken for a contes
tant at a dog fight.
The system is based on ten and ranges
from one extreme to the other. Descrip
tive information is supplied with each in
order to better understand the quality of
each score.
10. Gorgeous — Being the top rating,
this is the most desired. It is unfortunate
that there are few of these, and therefore
impractical that the common male should
have one for a girl friend. She makes the
male sigh in realization of the hopelessness
of pursuit. If the male is lucky enough to
get a date with a gorgeous girl, it is neces
sary to carry a baseball bat to beat off all
the other males. This type of girl has her
own pick of the elite males. She is the
head cheerleader, dates the captain of the
football team, marries a millionaire, and
lives a leisurely life dabbling in diamonds.
9. Beautiful — The beautiful girl is sim
ply breath taking and always has two to
three beaus whimpering at her feet.
Muscling in on the circle of admirers re
quires trips to the back alley. When gain
ing the favor of a beautiful girl, she must
not be left unattended for even a moment,
or the male will be quickly replaced by
one of the competition.
8. Pretty — It is more practical for the
male to set his sights on this type as how
they are easier to keep as long as the male
keeps the complements flowing. Pretty
girls never have trouble getting dates, so
the male must please her to be the one
that takes her home at night.
7. Cute — These girls are categorized
by a dimpled smile and are always giggl
ing. They tend to be little girlish in ap
pearance, are easy to please, and not to be
overlooked when found.
6. Nice —- When observing this type of
girl there is no discernible great quality
that can be pointed out, yet there is a defi
nite feminine charm. Nice girls make up
the highest percentage category and will
accept a date from any decent male.
5. Plain — Nothing good can be seen in
the girl of plain looks, but then there is
nothing bad to be seen either. These girls
are found sitting as wall flowers at dances.
They have been known to grab a male by
the hand, waltz him onto the dance floor,
and then ask him if he would like to dance.
4. Homely — A forlorn look defines this
class, somewhat like a large tired plow
horse. The destitute look comes from
being passed over too frequently, but will
brighten up when in the vicinity of any
thing of a masculine nature.
3. Ugly — There are very few ugly girls
in this world, and it is fortunate indeed.
They resemble the cartoon character
Broom Hilda. Males walking alone at night
on dark streets must be wary of this kind,
because most are known to carry hog tying
string for such occasions.
2. Grotesque — There are even fewer
beasts of this group. They are typically
employed by the horror movie industry,
live in deep recesses of the earth, and fan
tasize about kidnapping the Dallas Cow
boys and ruining their reputations.
1. Freak — This oddity
once in a millennium, but itissaid|
everyone there is a mate, and beautji
the eye of the beholder (Quasimodo’s^
The'trouble is getting them born i
same life span.
While the rating system isai
to the males, it can be a rather (
ing experience to a female tol
she has been rated at. However,!
to the male population, the
have a rating system of their own.
Perhaps rather than basing theirsj
on looks, it is based on character.!
that judge women on their looks miM
be on the bottom end of the female’stj
scale. One thing is for sure, a femal
never rate a male as high as his egotS
he should be.
A girl is born into her beauty asm
the person that she is. Make-upcani Cadets
little to change the way she looks,!
harsh word about looks can hurt tliei
ings and tear down the well-beingofi
not so blessed with beauty. A girl m#
be able to change her looks, butamal pi <
change his character for the better.
— Dillon is a senior biomedical mj
Texas A&M University
i
DICK WEST
If many countries non-align themselve
with Vietnam’s non-alignment, watch 01
By DICK WEST
WASHINGTON — This year’s confer
ence of non-aligned nations in Havana fea
tured a row over which side they should
be non-aligned with.
Fidel Castro of Cuba, the host country,
which is firmly non-aligned with Russia,
welcomed the delegates with an unbiased
review of world affairs from the Soviet
point of view.
His attempt to commit the movement to
pro-Soviet non-alignment was resisted by
President Tito of Yugoslavia, who used to
be non-aligned with Russia himself.
Tito took the position that the only way
non-aligned countries could stay non-
aligned with each other was by adhering to
a policy of neutral non-alignment toward
the aligned nations.
Meanwhile, Yasser Arafat of the Pales
tine Liberation Organization, which is
non-aligned with everyone who is non-
aligned against Israel, spoke out in favor of
breaking off non-alignment with Egypt.
And so it went.
Officials of certain aligned countries,
who were attending the conference as ob
servers, were properly horrified by these
proceedings. Their tactics, however, were
questionable.
The aligned observers made a point of
walking out of the conference in protest
whenever some speaker was advocating
non-alignment against their side.
Some diplomatic experts felt the pro
tests would have been more effective had
the aligned observers remained in their
seats and clapped their hands over their
spiciously continue to refuse to listen in
definitely.
Another impressive technique is for the
observer occasionally to remove one hand
from his ear and use it to hold his nose.
Be that as it may, the time has come
look ahead and answer the question:
whither non-alignment?
My reading is that the answer will be
found in Asia where Vietnam’s non-
alignment with Russia crosses Cambodia’s
non-alignment with China.
If a majority of the 95 nations repre
sented at Havana non-align themselves
with Vietnam’s non-alignment, watch out!
It could be a signal that militants who favor
:op seniors
1979-80 Ui
Fellows Pn
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for classro
Friedman,
This yea
licks off al
more aggressive non-alignmentp Sept. 12)
have gained the upper hand. Whici acuity adv
tainly would be a pretty kettle offisl lergraduati
There is such a thing as pushing neettodisi
alignment too far, you know.
The danger is that the aligned nai rom diffei
will get together and form an allian ’earrepres
combat it.
The theory is that once a protesting ob
server walks out, he is both gone and for
gotten. But if he remains in his seat with
his hands covering his ears, he can con-
Yell Pra
50
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Fifty of
line of the
To be e
tudents y
WaGDMETOUIE
NON-ALIGNED
SUMMIT.
k "■ yi r ■ lr T 1 TT 1 o Bicyclists should respect traffic rules;
1 J Ij X X XLj X\ O motorists should respect cyclists’ rights
Editor:
I have thought of writing this letter from
the first time I drove on campus a year
ago, yet now I feel I must.
Although I do not ride my bike on cam
pus much, every time I do ride it, I obey
fully all the laws of the road a bicyclist and
motorist are to obey (i.e. yield right of way
to pedestrians, use a front and rear light
during dark, give legible hand signals
when times come, follow the line of traffic
which also includes not passing cars at a
stop on their right).
I just bought a new bike three days ago
and have to ride it as my transportation to
and from wherever. As I respect the laws
on my bike, I expect motorists to respect
me, too, in such ways as to not plow me
over or pull out in front of me as the car
ahead of me turns onto a side street.
Such was my ride over to campus
shortly ago today. A girl in a light blue
truck pulled out in front of me forcing me
to wear off some new tread on my tires.
Try to put yourself in the place of the cyc
list sometimes, motorists. Respect has to
be mutual, not one way.
—Mary Wilson
neither foreign aid or the ARC do anything
to alleviate the day-to-day suffering of the
boat people.
His account of 30,000 Vietnamese
people fleeing to Laos is unclear. If, in
fact, Mr. Bucchi’s information is accurate a
possible explanation of this would be that
the Vietnamese people are fleeing into
Laos as a stopping point for further travel
overland into Thailand. The only other
method of overland travel is through
Cambodia, quite a risky venture in itself.
It is also true that Laos is a client state of
Socialist Vietnam with a large garrison of
Vietnamese troops there — I do not be
lieve the North Vietnamese would flee the
economic straits of Vietnam to go into
equally strapped Laos. Mr. Bucchi’s so-
called “ironic point’’ is unclear.
His assertion that the Vietnamese share
racial, political or cultural likenesses with
Russia, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma
and China is completely false. For cen
turies the Indochinese have battled among
themselves primarily due to racial differ
ences. It would be very difficult for the
Vietnamese to assimilate into any of these
cultures of which Russia, Laos, Cambodia,
Burma and China are socialist/communis
tic states — the very type of social system
the refugees are fleeing.
The suffering of the boat people is con
tinuous — from the time they must bribe
Vietnamese officials with at least $3,000 in
gold per person to flee Vietnam, to being
raped, beaten and killed by Thai pirates,
to the endless red tape facing them once
they do get to a safe haven. Yet they still
try to escape from a system of political,
economic, religious and physical oppres
sion in leaky, dilapidated boats.
I don’t argue that we have “our own
needy people — in Appalachia, ourj
sick, unemployment” in the Unitedf
but I have heard this argument for)|
These needy people have had a I
opportunity for years to find ajob(i
themselves through our welfare m
You don’t have to tell the refugees
find a job — they come here and]
hard. Their values of the work etM
what made this country what it is t
In closing, I would like to sayj
months spent in the Marines in Vif
taught me one thing — people a|
people, they hurt, cry and laugh i
the world. These refugees are
something a lot of us in this counti
for granted — freedom.
By they way Mr. Bucchi, when did]
ancestors come over on the boat:
Europe?
— Mike (I
Viets are people
Editor:
I am writing to take exception with Mr.
Bucchi’s letter regarding the Vietnamese
boat people. I found his letter entirely
without logic.
First, he praises foreign aid and labels
the American Red Cross as an “admirable
organization.” The point being that
Thotz
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