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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 1979)
Slouch By Jim Earle “I’m glad that the University was not interested in selling the Aggie Band to the lady from Kuwait, but just for my own personal information, I’d like to know what her going price is for a trumpet blower.” Opinion The coming crunch A holiday is almost here. That’s good news. Only four remain until finals. That’s not so good. The end-of-semester crunch is beginning. Research pap ers and more tests are piling up in an attempt to cover everything in the course the catalog describes. Our only advice is to keep a sense of humor about the whole thing. Don’t get crunched. Clown Kahn should quit s> When President Carter IV.ed^hiiJf his Q^hjiyet apd shook up his top stafflast summer, he mysteriously let Alfred E\ Kahn escape. Kahn has “chief inflation fighter’ as his title, though he’s done nothing to show he’s entitled to it. Perhaps President Carter keeps him around just for laughs or kicks. Every administration can use a court jester. Instead of spouting nonsense, Kahn should throw in the towel and get off the government payroll. Last March Kahn was candid enough to say that if the inflation rate didn’t begin to taper by the beginning of the summer, he would consider his program a failure. Well, inflation hasn’t tapered and Kahn HAS failed. In the interest of preserving national sanity. President Carter had better dump Kahn as quickly as one could say Ted Kennedy. St. Louis Globe-Democrat the small society by Brickman l* IVAT s' Washington Star Syndicata, Inc //-/<£ The Battalion U S P S 045 360 LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor should not exceed 3(X) 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 Sta tion, Teras 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 xrriods 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 Cornelison 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 Friday November 16, 1979 Analysis Khomeini, once exiled by shah, fill leads Iran as half-king, half-pope By JIM ANDERSON United Press International WASHINGTON — By Islamic tradition and Iranian law, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is half-pope, half-king, with a combination of absolute moral and legal authority that has not existed in the mod ern world since Mao Tse-tung died. The Shi’a sect probably has about 87 mil lion adherents around the world. Khomeini’s sect, called the Ithna Asharis (literally. The Twelve-ers) has prevailed in Iran since 1502, and claims as followers about half the population of Iraq, as well as substantial minorities in the Persian Gulf States and Lebanon. The Shiite believe a council of 12 imams represents the direct descendants of Mohammed’s son-in-law Ali, who died in a dispute with Sunni Moslems in 661 A.D. The 12 imams, of whom Khomeini is dominant, have approximately the same spiritual authority that the pope has with Roman Catholics. From that spiritual authority, the 12 im ams also derive a mystic, regal power: as one of the holy books puts it, “The Imam’s light abiding in the faithful s heart is more resplendent than a sun spreading daylight, because the Imam is always within the hearts of all his loyal people.” The group which took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran goes by the name of “The Loyal Followers of the Imam.” For the past 1,000 years, the Shiites in Persia existed in an uneasy relationship with a succession of weak or brutal rulers. Then the Pahlavi family came to power in 1921 under Reza Khan — a tough Cossack who united the country which had become virtually a joint colony of Russia and Great Britain. Among Reza Khan’s revolutionary ideas was to minimize the power of imams, and there is a story — which may only be a legend — that Reza Khan stormed the mos que in the holy city of Qom, his boots and spurs still on his feet, and threatened the imams for criticizing his wife for going out in public without a veil. That modernization process was acceler ated by Shah Mohammed Rezafc who further reduced the powerofi ams by distributing their churcH part of his “White Revolution, More disquieting to the imams Khomeini in particular, wastheslj cision to import the 20th centuryia wholesale, by bringing in westemts ogy and sending tens of thousands nians to the West to be educated Any religious or sectarian oppo? the shah and his ideas of re quashed, sometimes brutally. After a series of riots in 1963, was exiled to France where he spiritual and political alternative shah and, finally, his nemesis. f/r By RH If Shah Aggie Tin omedy, Dream,’’ laugh lou the theati the one t night, tha ty loud. ‘A Dream” humorou funny. A not only lines, wh themselv and time acters by Energe right vvoi because c ! 1 tab t lA mobile licked to r liool stud fcs is bein students a AkM Univ Tor. Jame location Boject, fui Tm Agency Jure to lungsters fexas whei Ira Dick West New book on world’s biggest lies overlooks Washington fabricatiorff^. pdent (ounty. Miri wa: stin aparti By DICK WEST United Press International WASHINGTON — A new book called “The Three Biggest Lies ’ does a pretty fair job of sorting out and ranking universal prevarication. For example, it identifies the “3 Biggest Parent Lies” as “I) This hurts us more tban it hurts you. 2) We re only looking out for your best interest. 3) Someday you’ll thank us.” By its rating, the “3 Biggest Lawyer Lies” are “1) I won’t charge you for this meeting. 2) Don’t worry, I have the judge in my pocket. 3) If we have to go to trial, we ll win hands down in front of a jury.” And so on for more than a hundred other categories. But even the author, Howard Smith, admits the book doesn’t begin to touch all the classes of mendacity. Following, although not necessarily in groups of three, are some Washington-type fabrications he overlooked. Four Biggest Senate Lies: 1) I shall have a few brief remarks. 2) Men of good will can disagree without being disagreeable. 3) I have the highest regard for my disting uished colleague’s ability and integrity. 4) Politics aside,. Four Biggest House Lies: 1) My position would be the same even if there were no defense plants in my district. 2) The cost of the program will be more than offset by the additional revenue it generates. 3) Actual ly, I work harder during a recess than when Gongress is in session. 4) The main reason for not seeking reelection is because I want to spend more time with my wife and family. Three Biggest Government Switchboard Lies: 1) I’m sorry, he is out of the office at the moment. 2) Would you “hold” for just a second, please? 3) If you leave a number, he will call you right back. Three Biggest News Conference Lies: 1) Frankly,. 2) I don’t know the answer off hand but my staff will look it up and give you the information in time to meet your deadline. 3) That’s a good question. Three Biggest State Department Lies: 1) We have had a very informative and useful exchange of views. 2) A crisis of this sort can best be handled through normal diplomatic- channels. 3) Campaign contributions had nothing to do with his appointment as ambassador. m a waite Three Biggest Bureaucrat Lies: 11» His bo count all of the unpaid overtime Ipot«40,000 b In the long run, having a chaulftcused 0 | limohsine at my disposal saves moKj The increase is necessary to keep from taking higher-paying jobs in|i business. Three Biggest Congressional Lies: 1) My wife was able toaccompa at no additional expense to the taxpav There is no substitute for a first handls problems overseas. 3) The stopoveriid | was arranged without my knowlecfe Single Biggest White House Lit president’s trip is nonpolitical. Singlt gest Journalism Lie: Newspapermen; | such interesting people. Letters A vote of confidence, for a change, in Carter’s handling of Iran crisis Un REN( ,no long owner ] [Ranch. Confc Wednes student hostage Confo Editor: Although I have yet to be really impress ed by anything President Carter has done in his administration, I must say that he is handling the Iranian situation very well. Ordering deportation of illegal Iranian stu dents is a sound move to prevent anti- American demonstrations by Iranians. I commend Carter for this action and also for his continuing to reject use of military force to free the Americans hostages. At this time there is no need for such force. I wish the anti-Iranian protestors would follow his ex ample in keeping cool heads. It’s nice to feel the country uniting in this crisis, but those who keep issuing threats of war are speaking irrationally. I must say it’s been scary to read the threatening anti- Iranian signs posted around campus this week. It seems that some Aggies would like to declare war. If America does declare war, Aggies, we’d be the ones to go — and it wouldn’t be a sight-seeing trip to Iran. Think about that the next time you threaten another Iranian. We need to join together in partriotism, but we also need to remain rational. Amer ica can show the rest of the world we’ve got going for us by acting responsibly — not by issuing threats of war. — Jane Brust, ‘83 said that it’s better to look at a problem from a distance, and that’s where we are. Therefore, we know better than they do. It’s obvious that we know what is right, but they just don’t want to listen. I think it’s horrible that the Uraniums might kill millions of Americans just be cause we won’t give them the Sham of Uran. They say he killed a few Uraniums, but they probably deserved it. He’s not like the Nastys that we executed after the war — we had a right to. I’ve heard that the half life of Uraniums is about 2,000 years. That’s a lot of Americans they could kill if they lived a full life of 4,000 years. Also, where can we deposit the Uranium’s wastes? Terrorist groups like the Palasternum Liberation Orgasmization might steal the Uranium’s wastes and kill a lot of Juice and Americans. And the Juice have a right to be there, even if they don’t believe that Vita min C has already been born. They’re the chosen people anyway. Since the Egypsums don’t want to share their oil with us, and also hate the Juice, they must be communists too. Anyone who wants communism must not want demo cracy, and then their people don’t get 1 they want. Therefore, we should kill all ofttie niums, Egypsums, and Palasternumli ation Orgasmizationists. Then, evei would be safe and happy. — Larry Cliii 1 C orrection A story in Tuesday’s Battalion about the Class of ’80 gift to Texas A&M contained several errors. The Association of Former Students is not paying the Class of ’80, nor any other class, $1,000 per year. It donates $1,000 to each class at its formation to give it a sound financial foundation. No concrete plans for displaying (lie miniature 12th Man statues in the Association of Former Students lounge have been made. E. KingGi niece is Bettie Nicholas, and the total cost of the gift is estimated at while the statue alone costs The Battalion regrets the errors. ■ Thotz By Doug Grahai the hype who si Khomei: brothel. From nian stu Mustanj releasee nounce Iranian shootini ‘Sham of Uran Editor: I’ve been hearing a lot about those Com- mys overseas lately, and quite frankly, it’s really got me stirred up. My Dad always T G CHI s O] 1] 5: