“Tonight wasn’t Halloween? Too bad you weren’t with us,
we had pretty good luck "tricks or treating’ anyway.”
Opinion
Life in the big city
Occasionally an editor hears a story he can t use.
It’s not news, and it’s the kernel of an editorial because it
presents a problem he can’t solve.
Then something else happens, and the first story
amplifies the new story.
The moral of both these “stories” is that Texas A&M is in a
city now — a city of about 100,000 people.
And among those 100,000 are, apparently, men who
murder women.
Another story — the non-news story — also demonstrates
that point. Just because we like to say “Aggiehood” creates
automatic bonds among us, people should not assume
they’re safe.
A female sophomore was in the A&M library studying the
other night and, like most Aggies, smiled at a guy in the
study carre 11 down the row.
The next time she saw him, out of the corner of her eye, he
was exposing<himseIf.. Then the lights in the library went
out, as they always do at 11:45 p.m.
When the lights came on, the scared sophomore looked
around, and the exhibitionist was gone. She did not report
the incident to police, since she figured they couldn’t do
anything.
But she was scared enough to ask a stranger, another
woman, to walk home with her.
The escort was also an editor of The Battalion. She learned
that night that we do live in a city.
World Series a winner
They call it the Fall Classic, and that’s exactly what the 1979 World Series has
been. This year’s Series has been filled with more class, character, emotion,
excitement, bad weather and sadness than any Series in recent memory.
The Baltimore Orioles with Earl Weaver, their spirited manager, have made
unbelievable comebacks to win games. The Pittsburgh Pirates under the direc
tion of Chuck Tanner have shown great courage, determination and together
ness after being down three games to one to even the Series and send it to
tonight’s seventh game.
Both teams are winners no matter what happens tonight.
— S.P.
the small society
by Brickman
The Battalion
U S P S 045 360
LETTERS POLICY
Letters to the editor should not exceed 3(X) words and are
bject 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
gh 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
e 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
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, Nancy
Andersen, Louie Arthur, Richard Oliver,
Mark Patterson, Carolyn Blosser, Kurt
Allen, Debbie Nelson
Photo Editor Lee Roy Leschper Jr.
Photographers Lynn Blanco, Sam
Stroder, Ken Herrera
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.
Analysis
Brezhnev has transformed Russia
from blustery giant to military pm
By D
Ba
Sometime
o rememb<
By JOHN MOODY
United Press International
MOSCOW — Leonid Brezhnev Sunday
begins his 16th year of power in absolute
command of the Soviet Union, with no
clearcut successor and striving to leave a
legacy of peace and prosperity.
His health is in question, but his mental
acuity is not. Nor is the fact that he alone
has final say on all matters that affect Russia
and its allies, a bloc comprising a quarter of
the world’s population.
In was on Oct. 14, 1964, that the barrel
chested, beetle-browed man from the Uk
raine engineered the surprising coup that
ousted Nikita Khrushchev from the key job
of first secretary of the Communist Party.
In the 15 years since, the Soviet Union
has developed in the eyes of the world from
a blustering giant with an atomic argument
for recognition into a military power equal
or close to the United States, and a steady,
if sluggish provider of economic services to
its people.
Presiding over it all has been Leonid
Ilyich Brezhnev, the son of a steelworker
from the town of Dneprodzerzhinsk, two
months short of his 73rd birthday.
“He is, without question, in absolute
control today,’ said a Moscow-based West
ern Kremlinologist. “There is no one to
challenge him and if there was, there would
be no chance of success.”
“He will take his power with him to the
grave. It’s not in the tradition here to hand
over the reins, ” said the Kremlin watcher.
“Brezhnev wants very much to be re
membered as a man of peace. He is build
ing a strong image of a man determined to
do his best to leave behind a peaceful
world. He wants to be known as the man
who prevented World War III, the analyst
said.
He still chain-smokes, though he admits
it is a bad habit, and is widely believed to
suffer from a nonfatal form of leukemia. He
wears a hearing aid and favors his left leg
when he walks.
But, as one observer asked, “How good
is a 72-year-old man supposed to look?’
While there is no certain, or even likely
heir of Brezhnev’s mantle, Kremlin watch
ers are keeping an eye on Konstantin
Chernenko, 68, an old and trusted as
sociate who accompanied Brezhnev to
Vienna for the SALT signing.
Brezhnev’s own rise to power caught
everyone — especially Nikita Khrushchev
— by surprise.
On Oct. 12, 1964, according to one ac
count, Khrushchev was at his residence in
Georgia and had just spoken by telephone
with three Soviet cosmonauts orbiting
Earth.
In Moscow, the presidium of the Com
munist Party Central Committee debated
when and how to relieve Khrushchev. The
committee wanted a stable, experienced
leader who would not embarrass Russia
with flamboyant gestures such as
Khrushchev’s shoe-pounding at the United
Nations.
On the morning of Oct. 14, even
ing press in the Soviet Union
Newspapers, magazines, books
thing — was scruntinized by cei
banished the name of Nikita Kli
from their pages.
When the three cosmonauts
they received a congratulatory
— but not from Khrushchev.
The voice belonged to Leonid]e:
Brezhnev.
Alexei Kosygin became premier,
head of government, and Bn
emerged as Communist Party seci
holder of the real power. A
N ikolai Podgorny, became pre:
in 1977 Brezhnev sacked him and
title for himself, too.
“ It’s a good time for the Soviet!!
Western economist said. “Brezhnev
the people to l>e happy and has bee
to give them what they want. Thei
law that says a communist can’t Ir)
tent. ”
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There are enough conservation i tQ
to last until the twenty-first cent
By
By DICK WEST
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Originally pub
lished privately, but now available in a
commercial edition, a book called “The
Best of Helpful Hints’ has sold more than a
half-million copies.
Its success demonstrates how desperate
folks are for advice on how to cope with
whatever it is they are up against.
Included in the collection are upwards of
1,000 hints, and that, mind you, represents
only the “best.” The number of culls
(second-rate, or semi-helpful hints) proba
bly runs into the millions.
The energy field alone generates tips by
the hundreds. Hardly a day passes that I
don’t come across a new list of conservation
hints, most recently one compiled by a firm
of travel consultants.
It contained 16 energy-saving sugges
tions of which the most ingenious probably
was no. 10. When patronizing self-service
stations, that one advised, “avoid gasoline
spillage at the pump.”
“Now why didn’t I think of that?” I asked
myself when I read it.
The idea that gasoline could be saved by
not filling the tank to overflowing simply
had not occurred to me. Yet, when you turn
it over in your mind a few times, it makes
haven’t already been published. But such is
by no means the case.
America still has vast reserves of fuel-
easy to save energy.
Here are a trio of time-savingti
can be used to good advantage:
A tip like that might give some people
the impression that we have reached the
outer fringes of energy conservation — that
there aren’t many ways to save fuel that
saving tips, enough by some estimates to
last well into the 21st Century. It’s just a
matter of digging them up and bringing
them to public attention.
Here are a couple I recently discovered
without even trying hard:
—If you drive to work, or school, or
wherever you are going, park the car 400
feet from your destination and walk the rest
of the way.
—If your office is on the 9th floor, take
the elevator only as far as the 7th floor.
Efficiency is the key. Consumers who
tailor their daily lives to make the most of
their time also will find it that much more
—When writing letters, signonl|
first name.
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find that it is j ust as easy to do thing::
and with minimal energy expend#® 1 Jherwise
is to cleave to your old sloppy
terns, such as spilling gasoline'
stop at a self-service pump.
—Save time on telephone calls
say “Goodbye. Just hang up.
—Save time on your lunch honi' jjt
pay the check.
Letters
If students ‘slide’ through science,
the slide is uphill — associate dean
Editor:
I was pleased to see your editorial about
the Academic Council’s consideration of a
proposal to allow nine hours of free elec
tives in all curricula. I fear, however, that
the inaccuracy of one statement will send
liberal arts majors clamoring into my office
to discover those easy science courses that
they purportedly can take.
The College of Liberal Arts requires all
majors to take a minumum of nine hours of
science courses. Since one course must be a
lab, more typically our students have to
take ten hours of science at the very least.
These courses must also be the same as
those that science majors are allowed to
take; we count science courses taught sol
ely for liberal arts or non-science majors or
from a cultural or historical perpective only
as electives.
Majors in curricula leading to a B. S. de
gree take up to fourteen additional hours in
math and science — and the science
courses must meet the same criteria as
those taken for the basic college require
ment.
any lack of rigor in our requirements. From
the lamentations I hear from students
struggling their way through Biology 113,
Chemistry 101, RNR 205 and other science
courses, the science courses they take do
not lack rigor either. If they are on a slide,
they re going from the bottom to the top.
By requiring students to fulfill goals in
various academic areas, we hope to achieve
the breadth of education and the “balanced
knowledge’’ which your editorial advo
cates. Science is certainly a critical part of
that knowledge.
— Diane W. Strommer
Associate Dean
Ranked, unranked
Editor:
In reply to D. Kerr concerning the
ranked and unranked: the saying goes,
“Highway 6 goes both directions” and
you’re more than welcome to go to
Mississippi State and support Eif*'
lard.
As for me and a lot more people"'
port Tom Wilson and the Aggiesf' ;
they win or lose! I feel it is ir
support your team ALL THE W
just when they are ranked or winnil
proud of the fighting Aggie team.
— Sussi
Editor’s note: The saying goes,"
6 runs both ways.”
Thotz
by Doug Gray:
If any “liberal arts students can slide
through academic life without taking a de
cent, difficult science course,” as your
editorial claims, the fault does not lie with
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