slouch
by Jim Earle
“It may look like lying around to you, but Vm doing research
for a best-seller—and please keep it under your hat! It will be
called ‘The Book of Sleeping.
Opinion
It can’t be ignored
An important article appears on page one today.
It is about a subject everyone would rather ignore. It is
about rape.
The friendly atmosphere of the Texas A&M campus
creates a sense of security for most women. And for the most
part women are safe on the campus, but they should be
aware of the possibility of rape.
With a campus population of 31,000 and combined city
populations — without students — around 60,000, the area
is metropolitan and has metropolitan problems. Rape is one
of the more serious problems.
The story has statistics that show no rapes have occured on
campus this year, and one rape and one attempted rape
were reported last year. In Elryan 10 rapes or attempted
rapes were reported, seven in College Station. Unfortu
nately, no one knows how many went unreported.
Failure to report rape is one of the main reasons combat
ing the crime is difficult.
Victims are afraid to report them. They fear retaliation.
They fear what their friends may think of them. The crime
makes them feel dirty.
Fighting the crime will not be effective until the public
removes its illogical taboo against rape victims. The victim of
the rape is not a criminal — she has done nothing wrong, but
she is made to feel that she has.
Rape trials tend to put the victim on trial rather than the
defendant. It is a sad and sorry situation. Rape itself is
undeserved punishment.
The story outlines ways to stop rape.
And the methods are effective. A person never knows
when or where a rape will occur. It can happen in the middle
of the day, or the middle of the night. No time is a safe time.
The purpose of the article and this editorial is not to create
a rape panic. The problem is not epidemic here.
The article’s beginning describes what happened to one
woman here last week. She was fortunate. She could have
been raped or murdered.
Her story is the perfect example of the suddenness and
violence of rape. Her story illustrates the purpose of the
article and this editorial.
Students here need to be aware of rape. It is an ugly,
vicious and violent crime, but it can be prevented.
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
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Opinions expressed in The Battalion are
those of the editor or of the writer of the
article and are not necessarily those of the
v University administration or the Board of
MEMBER
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Congress
Editor Liz Newlin
Managing Editor Andy Williams
Asst. Managing Editor Dillard
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, Kurt Allen
Photo Editor . . .Lee Roy Leschper Jr.
Photographers Lynn Blanco,
Clay Cockrill, Sam Stroder,
Ken Herrerra
■Cartoonist Doug Graham
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
Thursday • September 13, is;
WASHINGTON
Cabinet shuffle improved leadership,
but may be just ‘whistling in the dar\
By HELEN THOMAS
UPI White House Reporter
WASHINGTON — Things are better at
the White House since the mid-summer
upheaval, but the real test is still a year
away.
With the Cabinet purge completed, and
some of the Carter Georgia loyalists eased
out, aides say operations are smoother and
jurisdictional lines more clear cut.
But, says chief of staff Hamilton Jordan:
“The real judgment will be made a year
from now. The question is, did the changes
improve the Carter presidency or not? I
know we have improved the situation.”
At the 12-day Camp David “domestic
summit,” Carter heard criticism of his
Cabinet and staff. In a series of dramatic
actions, which sent shock waves through
Washington, he asked for the resignations
of his entire Cabinet, and replaced five
members. He also shook up his own staff,
basically keeping intact his close inner
Georgia circle, but lowering the status of
others in the reshuffle.
In the White House, where proximity to
the Oval Office is still the key to power,
staff changes were accompanied by alterna
tions in the physical layout of offices with
new partitions.
Under the new organization, retired
Time Magazine executive Hedley Dono
van is on a par with Jordan as a presidential
adviser, attending the top-secret Friday
foreign policy breakfast meetings.
Other newcomers who have come
aboard are Alfonzo McDonald, a manage
ment consultant, who is taking over the
administrative chores, which, Jordan freely
concedes, are not his cup of tea.
A powerful new face is Lloyd Cutler,
who replaced Robert Lipschutz as White
House counsel. Cutler has more than the
presidential legal work cut out for him. He
also is a key adviser on the selling of the
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty and other
programs.
In the press department, Ray Jenkins, a
prominent southern newspaper editor, is
taking over as deputy to press secretary
Jody Powell and will be handling some of
the news briefings, probably as Powell gets
more deeply involved as a political adviser
to Carter.
Three women have top positions in the
Carter White House: Anne Wexler, who
handles liaison with a wide range of groups;
Sarah Weddington, who has become a top
political adviser, and Kit Dobelle, who
moved from the post of chief of protocol to
chief of staff for Rosalynn Carter. Mrs.
Dobelle also attends the senior staff meet-
cai
A6M
SI
By MIKE
Battal
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The main accomplishments of the recent
upheaval, according to aides, are:
—The quality of ad vice the president re
ceives has been broadened with the addi
tion of outsiders to the inner sanctum.
—The White House is better organized
and the quality of leadership has been en
hanced.
So far, there have been no loud public
complaints about access to the president,
although Jordan’s power has been greatly
consolidated. Carter has said that Jordan
speaks for him, and Jordan as saidtlm
things concerning the White House opt
tion, McDonald speaks for him.
Now that the machinery is in place
Carter is getting a new handle on his
executive branch bureaucracy, thep
dent and his chief advisers would lilt
defer on wholesale politicking until
can steer his energy program and
through the legislative shoals to homepo
But with Sen. Edward Kennedyraalj
overt signs that he will challenge Carted 1
the Democratic crown, the Carter can
may be whistling in the dark. Like Chi »'
mas, the presidential campaign sea*
seems to be a little earlier each6*
around.
As for Carter’s mood as Democratic^
gressional leaders are either jumping
or sitting on the fence, an aide said: “
assume the worst. We’ve assumed
would not escape oppositions. It was!
ficult to get here and we never
would be easy to stay here. If the presi udents and
decides to run we’re going to have toy\l Univer
for it.
5 mmv imaz tg>trMp/cnie&,-naBi»j2:.
DICK WE ST
Lone Ranger and other TV westerners
don’t compare with movie counterparti
By DICK WEST
United Press International
WASHINGTON —The recent unmask
ing, or demasking, of Clayton Moore as the
oldest established Lone Ranger puts a vet
eran western fan in a comparative mood.
This transition period, during which the
world awaits anointment of a new Lone
Ranger, seems a good time for a definitive
appraisal of how television cowboys in gen
eral stack up against their movie counter
parts.
Although the Lone Ranger made it big
on the tube, he was first and foremost a
radio cowboy. The series you saw on televi
sion was essentially a radio serial transfer
red to a visual medium. Except for the
pictorial personification, television did lit
tle to advance the basic concept. It is,
therefore, as a radio cowboy that the Lone
Ranger should be judged.
I rank him, by Moore’s interpretation, as
a journeyman horse opera hero at best. By
that I mean that such basics as horseman
ship, marksmanship, dare-deviltry and
sense of honor were barely above average,
when rated on the world class level.
The Lone Ranger was a sharper dresser
than most. I’ll give him that. Nevertheless,
I remain convinced he could never have
achieved superstardom on cowboy skills
alone. Let’s examine that a bit further.
Radio-televison heroics are by nature
episodic. I’m not just talking about the
Lone Ranger here. This applies to Marshal
Dillon, Paladin, Wyatt Earp, The Rifleman
and all the others who rode the television
range in the golden age of electronic oaters.
Those guys could shoot their way out of
tough scrapes all right, and otherwise ac
quit themselves admirably, but they rarely
had to prevail more than 60 minutes at a
stretch, less commercial interruptions.
And some had half-hour shows.
Would they have had the staying power
— the stamina, steel nerves and all — to
substain that hard-riding, straight
shooting, two-fisted pace throughout full-
length movies without commercial inter
ruptions? There’s the true test.
The Lone Ranger did make at least two
movies. Both starred Clayton Moore, who
is now, because of his advancing years,
under court order not to wear his mask any
more for personal appearances, lest hep
the Ranger a senility image.
But neither film was a critical, artisticn Center. Pai
financial success. Which reinforces
By 1
Batti
The plans
exas A&M N
“The feder
30,856.10 in
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Each club
littee whiel
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“Students
cholarship i
nember o
lometown t
lecessary p;
live out twe
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times a year
being planni
view that most television cowboys, wkifltems to
uggestions
ncreasing
capable of giving good accounts of then
selves for relatively short periods, i
survive the feature length crucible inwlid aising mon
such movie cowboys as Tom Mix,
Gibson, Ken Maynard and Gabby Hay
were tried.
In my heart of hearts, Clayton Moos
will always be the Lone Ranger. It is, ho«
ever, my considered judgment that bah
not been for the mask mystique
catchy little theme song, the progriJ
would have been cancelled after the irt
Letters
Yelling woo when Woodard’s not playing
is putting Aggie spirit in the wrong ploi
Call
Editor:
At the BYU football game, I was very
upset to hear the fans calling Woo-Woo for
George Woodard when he wasn’t on the
playing field.
I have the greatest respect for George
Woodard. He has made great accomplish
ments for A&M, being the second highest
gainer in our school’s history. He has made
great personal accomplishments, losing
over 50 pounds to get down to his playing
weight. But it seems to me that the A&M
fans are forgetting someone who has also
made great accomplishments for A&M.
Respect at Taps
Editor:
I am addressing this letter primarily to
the student who rode his bicycle in front of
Bolton Hall during the playing of Silver
Taps Tuesday night. I cannot understand
why anyone, especially an Aggie, would
purposely disrupt the solemnity of this
memorial ceremony.
I sincerely hope that what you did was
done in ignorance of what Silver Taps
means to all Aggies. I would like to think
that you are new here, and that you really
were not aware of the true meaning of
Silver Taps.
Silver Taps is a final tribute paid to an
Aggie who, at the time of his death, was
enrolled in classes at Texas A&M. Silver
Taps is a memorial service for a departed
Aggie; it is a solemn occasion for all Aggies,
and all Aggies observe it as a gesture of
Aggie friendliness and unity.
I think most Ags would respect yourdf-
cision not to participate in the Silver Iff
ceremony. In return we want you to re
spect our right to willingly observe
Taps, and to pay tribute to our fellowAg!
gies and our fellow men. L
If anything, I ask you to remember te J
Silver Taps could one day be heldforyou-
tt-kicki
MA
«MAN<
if so, we would rendef the same respectand £
courtesy to your memory that we are ash?
of you now.
—Michael Boyd SI
{The IV
{Star V
{North
David Brothers has been a starter since
he was a freshman at A&M. He has played
almost every game since then and has many
times been the leading rusher in the game.
He has played consistently well and neither
Emory Bellard nor Tom Wilson has ever
complained (at least not publicly) about his
desire or his abilities. Tom Wilson has
stated many times that Brothers is the start
ing fullback.
THOTZ
by Doug Graham
1 think the fans owe Brothers an apology
for treating him like he’s second string.
If Woodard can take the starting spot,
more power to him. And if he gets put into a
game for whatever reason, I’ll Woo along
with everyone else. But until that happens
I think Coach Wilson knows best who can
play where. The fans should support the
whole football team.
—Sam Melton, ’80
SK
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