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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1979)
By Jim Earle "P iff 11 “Just for the sake of conversation, why couldn’t we get the Zachry people to take a hreakfrom the stadium and give us a hand with the bonfire?” Opinion Why no names? No name — not even initials — appears at the end of most editorials in this space. And one reader wanted to know why. The reason is simple: the editor, Liz Newlin, decided this column should carry the opinion of the newspaper. Adding a name to an editorial makes it that writer’s opin ion, not the newspaper’s. Out in the “real world, ” most daily newspapers also leave out names. Newlin writes most editorials, the rest of the staff writes a few, and some come from other newspapers through our wire service, .United Press International. ■ ' Curious reader's ip ay call The Battalion and find out who ^ Avrote a particular editorial. We’re not afraid to tell. But we want opinions displayed here to stand as ours, not those of Texas A&M, its administrators or the Student Pub lications Board. By leaving off the writer’s name we can do that more effectively. Wealth wins this one Both sides spent millions, and the wealthy man won. T. Cullen Davis is free after three trials and two mistrials, cleared of murder and murder solicitation charges. Attorneys from both sides agree his millions were an advantage. As District Attorney Tim Curry noted, “I doubt we will ever have a situation again in which a man of his wealth faces charges of this type. ” Maybe not. But the state shouldn’t shy away from pro secution if it is warranted. If that happens, critics who say wealth can buy justice will be right. the small society by Brickman I IT &0T, ^!f2L&-T. CAP- AKP -$TAV WlTMlM 0\)P - £UT fkrr AT TH^ ^A/V^ TIM^ - Washington Star Syndicata. Inc. //-/3 The Battalion u s p S 045 360 LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are subject 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 hrough 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 use 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 Comelison and Michelle Burrowes Sports Editor Sean Petty City Editor Roy Bragg Campus Editor Keith Taylor Focus Editors Beth Calhoun Staff Writers Meril Edwards, Nancy Andersen, Louie Arthur, Richard Oliver, Mark Patterson, Carolyn Blosser, Kurt Allen, Debbie Nelson, Rhonda Watters 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. VIEWPOINT The Battalion Texas A&M University Tuesday November 13, 1979 Dick West Our monolingual speech pattern not conducive to foreign relation United Press International WASHINGTON — Not all presidential commissions stand out as beacons of dis cernment, but the one on foreign language study appears to shine a light. It reports that part of America’s troubles in the world today stem from our “scanda lous incompetence in foreign languages.’’ Our monolingual speech pattern causes “dangerously inadequate understanding” of international issues and weakens Amer ica’s position in world trade, the commis sion concludes. It notes, for example, that Japan has 10,000 English-speaking businessmen in the United States whereas only a few of the 900 U.S. businessmen in Japan speak Japanese. Other examples can be found right in our own hemisphere. Although we live next door to Mexico, few Americans bother to learn even rudimentary Spanish. And although our northern border adjoins Canada, most of us can’t speak a word of Canadian. If we have gotten along fairly well with both neighbors, that probably is because so many Mexicans and Canadians speak En glish. Canadians, it is true, have a rather com ical accent. But a trained ear usually can make out what they are trying to say. As smooth as our relations have been, it is patent that a grasp of their languages would sharpen our insights with respect to their cultures, national aspirations and political peculiarities. I say this not in the spirit of preachment but of confession. I am as guilty as anyone when it comes to erecting language bar riers. The last time I visited Mexico, I had the devil’s own time communicating even my most basic need — i. e., making a bartender understand I wanted an olive in my mar tini. Have you ever tried expressing some thing like that in pantomime? Marcel Mar- ceau might handle it without creating an international incident, but an American tourist’s explanatory gesticulations only draw police. And believe thee me, being arrested on charges of impersonating an olive is no way to start a vacation. Communicating with Canadians is some what less awkward. If they have not ac quired enough English for mutual compre hension, an American usually can get his message across by grunting. Canadians have a natural flairh preting grunts, although someth lost in translation. But neither pantomiming nor however articulate, satisfactorilysu for learning another language. In financial transactions, a mow American is at a disadvantage even foreigners who speak English, igners are talking business, they\i denly start jabbering away in tongue, usually with sidelong glam way and a certain amount of discree ering. and experienct (), It’s a demoralizing almost invariably winds up costn, money. No wonder the dollar is insi shape overseas. pin a r Fight unemployment before recession hits Lia ( Students student rep Student y representati tions. Cheryl Sv tee has cho. 1 one represe “We plan local level t said. “We ar with the bu: student’s pi Swanzy si direct s Debbie F checking th campus, an “There ai is,” Swan The new one servi David Cc his job will l Business Bi Collins s provide infc ties in the < from studer BBB. “I have t Bureau and Files con operation o sentatives. Collins si and, unless not know w easier and 1 “The one faster servii plus the stu J OU addi By The Bryan solution V ng the title: Brazos Co City Mans e vehicles aunty in th< er fire dep The volunl lid, would a ate on fires le past, the re calls in r The two ' •e targeted iture. The t iie county fc A few cou The jump in the nation’s unemployment rate, up 200,000 over the previous month, would seem to offer strong evidence that the U.S. is indeed in a recession. Not unexpectedly, the latest round of layoffs has struck hardest on women and blacks, reflecting the longstanding inequal ity of hiring and promotional within the U.S. labor market. For the moment there is a wait-and-see attitude on the part of President Carter and members of Congress regarding action to cut unemployment. Their caution is based not so much on conflicting data, but their political concern over the effects of infla tion. practices The unemployment issue is far down the list of concerns expressed by most Amer icans to their elected representatives. In flation is at the top of it. But unemploy ment, which is double-digit among minor ities, is a pressing social problem. It pre sents once again a classical election year confrontation, placing politics up against economics. Neither the President nor members of Congress is going to act until push comes to shove, when the social prob lem outweighs the economic problem. That is why the administration has he! line on employment-related spend! creases and Congress voted against cut to stimulate the economy. Unfortunately, that means him: ment will continue to increase J3 minority Americans and government wait until the middle of a recession | deciding to do anything about it. Dallas Times Herald Letters Article on divining provokes 37 Ag to tell ‘water witching experiences COURT! SHG “Exp sh 104 C N 84 Editor: Relative to the article “Divination — Valid or hoax” in your Oct. 30 issue by Clay B. Cockrill, my answer to that is “I wish I knew.” This subject has always intrigued me and I have some experiences to base an assumption on. Going back some 35 years, my cousin got married and his father-in-law gave them a farm. Before building their home they wanted a water well. A “water witcher” was brought in who had a great reputation for locating sources of water. The only tool used was a fork limb cut from a peach tree. For about an hour he wandered over the land and it began to look like a lost cause. Then suddenly the peach fork bent down with great force. The man said, “Here is your water well. ” The well is still produc ing water today. That witching was all very strange and new to me. I thought it was kind of funny. I asked to try it. The man showed me how to hold the peach limb and what to do. No thing happened until I came over the marked spot. I could not believe what was happening; the downward pull was so great that the bark was stripped from the peach limb. Many of the family in attendance tried this but it only worked for about two of them. This left a lasting impression on me and I always had a subconcious interest in this mystery. Literature and reading matter is very scarce and what little there is, is very general and hazy. This lead me to another incident in my adult life. Some 10 or 12 years ago, interstate highway 40 was being built across the Panhandle ofTexas. On the Eastern outskirts of Amarillo a site was selected for a Highway Department Tour ist Bureau. The right of way was about 300 feet wide and it was necessary to lay two pipes underground ahead of all construc tion, one for the future water supply and the other for the electrical connections. Some four or five years later work was completed on Highway 1-40 and work was started on the Tourist Bureau Building. No one could remember where the two pipes were placed. After two days of digging, probing and searching, wc wished that we could give up —— but we couldn’t. Mr Reuben Bewley, maintenance fore man, remembered that he had a man who could “witch” for and locate the pipes. He used two welding rods bent in an “L” shape and within a matter of minutes located both lines. To my amazement later I “located” the pipes about a dozen or more times. In 1971 the Highway Department de sired to make the roadside park on the White River, five miles east of Crosbyton- on Hwy. U.S. 82, truly an oasis in the arid country, by installing a sprinkler system in the picnic area. To install a new system was prohibitive in cost, but if we could tie on to the existing, partial sprinkling, or rather water distribution, system the cost would be reduced by half. We were fortunate to find a blue print of the original park layout which was built in 1936 with W. P. A. Labor Forces. We anticipated no problem tying to the existing water lines, even though they were placed some 35 years ago. The project was approved. One of the very first needs was to locate the existing water “main” and make a “key” connection. We hunted, we dug by hand, machines were brought in. In desperation I was hesitant to make a fool of myself by suggesting that I could locate the pipe by “divining” for it. We didn’t have too much to lose. Anyway two welding rods were secured and I started walking: within 15 minutes the “water” main was located 57 feet north of the loca tion given on the original plan. We located other water lines that were not shown on the plan but added later (see story in April 1971 issue Texas Highways, Page During the noon hour the men ded proof positive that this was notafi fluke or show off. With a jacket ov head the men would hide a metal bar tall grass and then watch me find it time it was 60 feet from the starting There was no way that I could see tk bar in the knee-high grass — and (lit would cover it with more grass. I used this same procedure in some “lost ” water lines while rehab® a roadside park two miles southofLa'j I have located many gas and water but somehow I do not have any ing water. I don’t know what all of this proves all of my years of experience and woi philosophy came to be “you’re lookinl you can’t argue with it.” — Ben J. Lednicl Brownwi THOTZ by Doug Grab 4 LET'S LEAVE THE ALUMONSTER- YEH, HE WANTS TO SACRIFICE ANOTHER COQCH-d