Slouch
by Jim Earle
“Z will sure be glad when all this Halloween stuff is over
and you settle down and become a person again.”
Opinion
Let Greeks in book
Ten years from now, some former students will pull the
’80 “Aggieland off a shelf and look for a photo of the group
that meant a lot to them. And they won’t find it.
Last night the Student Publications Board decided to
keep a policy that excludes fraternaties and sororities from
the organizations section of the yearbook.
All student groups recognized by the University have
the option of buying a page in that section of the book.
See related story on page 3.
Student groups not recognized may not buy a page for their
picture, according to a Pub Board policy adopted in 1976.
Greek letter organizations are not officially recognized.
The Pub Board is refusing to face reality. Greek organi
zations have about 1,400 members, or about 4 percent of
the students. Few other student organizations can claim
that size.
The issue is not — as the Pub Board argued — whether
the University has formally recognized the organizations.
The issue is whether the organizations are significant to
Aggies and deserve the opportunity to buy space in the
book.
They are and they do.
Holy bat wings:
a Halloween hater
We know at least one student who won’t celebrate this week’s holi
day.
“I hate Halloween,” she said, hanging up Christmas decorations in
her apartment the other day. “I have not liked it since I was little.”
Once on All Hallows’ Eve, dressed as a very small witch, she was
walking from her bedroom to the den — excited about a night of
trick-or-treating.
Then her mother walked up behind her. And she softly said “Boo.”
She did not intend to scare the child half to death, but she did.
“And ever since then,” the college student relayed, “I’ve hated Hal
loween.”
the small society
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The Battalion
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Editor Liz Newlin
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Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Wednesday
October 31, 1979
Analysis
Sweden’s experiment in cheap trawl
pays off for airlines and railways
By CHRISTINA JONSSON
International Writer’s Service
STOCKHOLM — Within recent
months, Swedish airline terminals and
railway stations have been clogged with
record numbers of travelers, and for a
simple reason. Airline tickets and train
fares are being sold at bargain rates.
This is a peculiar phenomenon, since in
flation here as elsewhere has been driving
up the prices of everything else. But Swe
den, which always introduces novel ideas,
is experimenting with extremely low-cost
air and rail transportation. And the innova
tion appears to be working dramatically
well.
Two men are responsible for the effort.
One is Jan Carlzon, a tourist expert who
now runs Linjeflyg, the government-
controlled domestic airline. The other is
Bengt Furback, who recently took over as
head of the State Railway.
Both have been operating on the theory
that long-distance travel must be put
within the reach of more people. In addi
tion, they believe, inexpensive fares and
high volume yield higher revenues.
Carlzon went into action a year ago, first
by slashing airline prices 30 percent.
Then, last spring, he initiated a system
under which passengers under the age of
25 can fly anywhere in the country, on a
standby basis, for the equivalent of about
$20. The only days excepted are Friday
and Sunday, when weekend traffic is
heavy.
This is a drastic cut from the old tariffs.
A round-trip flight between Stockholm
and Gothenburg of some 220 miles, for
example, formerly cost $200.
The gamble is paying off. Air travel last
summer was almost double that of the year
before, and passenger traffic overall has
risen 40 percent. Linjeflyg, which had
been functioning at a loss, is currently in
the black.
Skeptics warn that Carlzon, who has
broked every rule in the book on how to
run an airline, may break his neck as well.
They point out, among other things, that
he may not be able to resist making huge
investments if the demand for air travel
keeps expanding. Given the sums re
quired to buy more aircraft, they say, he
could overextend himself.
So far, though, Carlzon is looking good,
and he keeps coming up with fresh bar
gains. In an effort to persuade Swedes to
spend their vacations in Sweden, for in
stance, he is offering half-price hotel
rooms and half-price car rentals along with
reduced air fares.
His only setback to date, in fact, has
been his failure to persuade the govern
ment to allow him to serve liquor on
domestic flights.
Originally, the loudest protests against
Carlzon when he inaugurated his cut-rate
fares came from officials of the State Rail
way, who charged “unfair competition.”
But then, last July, they counter-attacked.
Furback, who has just taken over as
boss, announced that the government-
owned railroad would match the airline
with across-the-board discounts of 30 per
cent.
He also introduced a special cheap tariff’
card, costing $27 for first class and $16 for
second, with which passengers could get a
further 40 percent discount any day except
Friday and Sunday, the peak periods.
That move triggered chaos in the na
tion’s railway stations. Some 80,000
Swedes rushed to buy these cards during
the first 10 days they were on sale, and
ticket clerks simulated nervous break
downs. Close to 150,000 cards have been
sold so far.
peans, are prepared to have tket"
operate with governmentsul
In this instance, the govei
proved Eire cuts largely because
lated that train passengers »e»
relatively more to maintain!
than motorists were for the us
ways. Thus, it was thought,
railroad traffic would be social
Furback had a more pi
He wanted to fill the State
capacity on the five daysofthe
traffic was slow.
To a large extent,
ments in cheaper air and train
made possible by the n
government coalition
power here after the defeato(
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Passenger traffic on the railroads soared
30 percent during the summer, and the
demand was such that Furback had to bor
row trains from West Germany and De
nmark. But he will have to generate a
steady 20 percent increase in traffic to
compensate for the loss in revenues from
fere reductions.
That may not be possible over the long
run. But the Swedes, like other Euro-
ieland. 7
The government told Liujel; If seven c
State Railway to do theirbestt
the red — or least operate
ing increased public subsidies
and Furback are trying to pi
swer.
Besides the sharp increase in
airplane as well as train, oner
of the experiment was areduefe
tomobile accidents duringth
summer vacation. Andthatisa
cannot l>e figured in money.
Jonsson writes /or lb
Dagbladet, the Stockholm
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Care
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Letters
Journalism prof defends coverage
by news media of industry profits
Every se
ears, MS(
ered a sj
burses” o
Bets. This
dtli regist:
hursday.
The shor
One night a
Editor:
I am always disturbed when someone
doesn’t like what the news media reports
and instantly claims bias.
For example, an A&M professor has
charged the news with distortion and bias
in reporting record third quarter profits in
the oil industry. The reports I read in
newspapers, news magazines and on tele
vision merely stated what these earnings
were and how they compared with those of
a year ago. I heard no editorial comment;
the reader or listener could decide for
himself whether they were excessive.
Blitzkrieg bikers
The professor then claimed that the
news media had excessive profits and were
covering it up. I admit that investment in
newspapers and broadcasting is a good in
vestment. He is probably right in figuring
profit in several ways. But return to the
investor? The news release from A&M
said the New York Times had a 51 percent
return to the investor. A check of the Wall
Street Journal at the close of business Fri
day showed New York Times stock selling
for $22.50, down from $26.75 for the same
date a year ago. Dividends paid during the
year were $82.50. Thus an investor in 100
shares had a net loss of $344.50 or down
12.9 percent.
Harte-Hanks, a Texas-based group and
owner of the Eagle, showed a profit of
combined dividends and appreciation for
the same period of 14.7 percent. Captial
Cities Communications, primarily in
broadcasting but also owner of the Fort
Worth Star Telegram, had a profit of com
bined dividends and appreication of one-
half percent. These facts are available to
anyone who cares to read the Wall Street
Journal or his daily newspaper.
Editor:
I would like to bring out the story of the
life-and-death confrontations occuring
daily in the areas of the Academic and
Harrington Complex buildings. I am
speaking of the invasion of two-wheel ar
mored vehicles and their roving con
querors known repectively as bicycles and
bicyclist.
Last week I decided I should write this
letter after my third “close call” for the
semester. This time our “engagement” did
not occur in front of the Academic Build
ing, but near Sbisa Dining Hall while
walking to class. Within the brink of a
brow I suddenly noticed a bicyclist coming
at me head on at full speed ahead. After
my life experiences flashed through my
mind, I was able to dodge the fellow and
thus save both of us a lot of unneccesary
trouble.
That afternoon on returning from class I
became much more attentive of these
pedestrian and nomadic encounters. What
I witnessed was Kami-Kazi fighters utiliz
ing the blitzkreig method on innocent
pedestrians.
These people seemed to make good
sport out of the most frustrating events for
walkers; somewhat similar to the feeding
of Christians to the lions in ancient Rome.
Well chances are pedestrians can relate
to what I have said, but it is them that I
haven’t written this letter to. If you do ride
a bicycle and would like to experience the
same feelings of a member of the Wal-
lendo family I suggest the following:
(1) Pick a weekday morning or afternoon
and begin to walk from HECC to the
Academic Building. If you have made it
this far and still feeling unusually bold you
may want to try for the MSC.
(2) If things seem to be just to easy to be
true wait until about three or four minutes
before the hour and that will begin the last
minutes flight for those who are late and
can’t afford to be late at any cost to others.
Nevertheless, I do hope this letter will
help bring to mind that bicycling has
seemingly become more of an offensive
strategy than a pleasurable means of rec
reation and traveling.
— Gary Bennett, ’80
machine is not a toy. It can M
struetive tool but also a veiyk |
weapon.
I know how a chainsaw worb i 1
the hell out of a tree, but itwillS
hell out of a person. Tell me
happen if in all the excitmentY
ch;iin.saw in hand, youtripin
is at 4:30 a.m.)? I can seethe-' 1
now — “student battles saw,
stitches. This doesn’t soum
me, not a bit.
So please remember, safety W
before spirit, so no one gets W
— Noel JliI®
Saw safety first
Editor:
I was awakened early Saturday morning
by the whine of a revving chainsaw outside
of my dorm. I didn’t mind the noise; it was
the safety factor involved.
It happens that someone has been mis
informed as to a chainsaw’s capabilities.
My chainsaw-wielding friends, your
Writing the ed^
The Battalion welcomes let®
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They should:
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THOTZ
by Doug Oral
Probably the professor, whom Channel
3 reported as being a consultant at one
time to two petroleum companies, is prob
ably right in his other two analyses. But
frankly, I want the media to have profits so
it can remain strong and not be subjected
to the whims of government or pressure
groups.
What would psychologists call this tactic
— drawing a “red herring” across the trail?
— David R. Bowers
Professor, Journalism
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