Opinion
So long — for now
The “we” of The Battalion will be me today, as it has been
the rest of the semester. But this time I (Liz Newlin) will be
saying farewell to the University — at least for a while.
During the spring I’ll work for Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah,
in Washington. Sears, Roebuck and Co. sponsors a program
for about 15 college journalists a year to work on congres
sional staffs. Next fall I’ll resume my college education here.
This has been an interesting semester, though not a terr
ibly exciting one. Here are a few observations:
Texas A&M University is growing and — sometimes re
luctantly— changing. That creates problems, but the insti
tution seems to be dealing with them.
One of the most serious problems facing A&M is how it
will define the “univeristy tag it took in 1963. Does it want
to be a university, or a technical school?
As a land grant college, A&M’s responsibility has three
parts: education of students, research, and extension ser
vice.
The emphasis seems to be turning toward two parts of the
triad, research and extension (especially on the international
scene). That’s where the money is, and where President
Miller’s background is. It’s natural he thinks that’s impor
tant, but that approach can leave out the traditional purpose
of a university — teaching students the liberal arts.
Generally the College of Liberal Arts is not complaining
— because of progress made the past few years. But the
current rumblings could erupt, especially if programs there
are ignored.
Texas A&M faces other challenges as well. The difficulty
in recruiting minority students — and the current lack of
them — is the one that may cause A&M the most trouble
from the government. Women are finding their place here,
but some rough spots remain, as letters to the editor illus
trate.
Even with these problems, the institution still does a lot of
good.
Texas A&M is at a turning point. I hope it turns for the
better.
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The Battalion
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LETTERS POLICY
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Opinions expressed in The Battalion are
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045 360
MEMBER
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Congress
Editor Roy Bragg
Associate Editor Keith Taylor
News Editor Rusty Cawley
Asst. News Editor W. Scott Sherman
Copy Editor Dillard Stone
Sports Editor Tony Gallucci
Focus Editor Rhonda Watters
Senior City Reporter Louie Arthur 4
Senior Campus Reporter Diane Blake
General Assignment Reporters
Richard Oliver and Andy Williams
Staff Writers Nancy Andersen,
Tricia Brunhart, Mike Burrichter,
Angelique Copeland, Laura Cortez,
Meril Edwards, Carol Hancock,
Kathleen McElroy, Debbie Nelson,
Steve Sisney, Robin Thompson
Chief Photographer Lynn Blanco
Photographers Lee Roy Leschper,
Sam Stroder
Regents. 1 he Battalion is a non-profit, self-
supporting enterprise operated by students
as a university and community newspaper.
Editorial policy is determined by the editor.
Dick West
It opens cans, tells time, detects
smoke and never needs winding
cil
United Press International
WASHINGTON — I went into a store to
see about buying a wristwatch for someone
on my Christmas list.
“Sorry,” the clerk says, “we don’t sell
watches.”
“What are those things?” says I, pointing
to a shelf laden with what appear to be
timepieces.
“Those are solid state digital chrono
meters,” the clerk explains. “This particu
lar model is called ‘The Hamburger. ”
“Why is it called ‘The Hamburger? ” says
I, who have a way of leaving myself open.
“Because it has everything on it,” says
the clerk. “It has the hour, minute and
second. It has the day, month and year. It
has two time zones for the benefit of travel
ers. It has a lap timer for joggers. It has a
stop watch, a five-note alarm and a light for
night visibility.”
“What about the temperature?” I ask.
“Does it have that?”
“That’s all very well,” says I, “but when
you are talking about that kind of money it
seems to me you ought to be able to ascer
tain the wind-chill factor as well.”
“If you want a chronometer with a ther
mometer, you will have to pay a bit more, ”
says the clerk, naming a figure.
“Does it also tell you the humidity?” I
ask. “Sometimes it’s more the humidity
than the heat.” .
“The only chronometer we have with a
thermometer and a hygrometer also has a
barometer,” says the clerk. “Should you
wake up in the middle of the night and want
to know what the atmospheric pressure is,
all you have to do is press the light button
and the barometric reading becomes
visible. ”
“Aha!” exclaims the clerk. “You are talk
ing about a chronometer that records wind
direction and velocity and combines it with
the thermometer reading to calculate the
cooling effect of moving air on the human
body. We have in stock several models that
include that feature. Would you like it with
the Air Quality Index or without?”
chronometer for perchance a:
When I reply in the affirmative,fei
suggests I might want to choosnij
that has a smoke detector connectd'J
five-note alarm.
“Suppose, after setting the alanul
certain hour, the person goes tosletpi
a lighted cigarette in his hand andsej
bed on fire. The smoke sensors will*
the alarm immediately, waking li.
time to avoid being burned todeat^’
clerk explains.
“With, by all means. I figure anyone who
would want to know what time they were
freezing also would want to know what time
they' were being polluted.”
“Speaking of air pollution,” the clerk
says, “is the person you are purchasing the
I say, “Shopping for a wrishm.
days is more fun than a Roy Hop
bar. But I’m not sure I can remeinki
the things that come with it.”
“You don’t have to,” the clerk if]
“Just say gimme the works. ”
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By DAVID S. BRODER
There are relatively few matters on
which John B. Connally and Edward M.
Kennedy agree. But in the space of a few
hours, one day last week, they uttered
strikingly similar interpretations of Presi
dent Carter’s sudden surge in the public
opinion polls.
said that the plaudits the President is re
ceiving for his handling of the hostage situa
tion in Tehran could easily turn to brick
bats, once that crisis is resolved.
As is his habit, Connally used language
that was blunter than need be, calling Car
ter’s improvement in the polls “an aberra
tion. ’’
It is not aberrational. In fact, both Ken
nedy and Connally noted in their com
ments to groups of reporters and editors,
international crisis — particularly those
threatening the loss of American life —
almost always calls forth at the outset a
feeling of patriotism and a sense of national
unity that causes people to rally around the
President.
Every' professional analyst of public-
opinion has made the point that it is that
surge of spontaneous patriotic sentiment —
as much as of public disapproval in which
he had been floundering for months.
What both Connally and Kennedy said
was that once the hostage situation is re
solved, inflation, high-interest rates and
the woes of the economy will once again be
uppermost in people’s minds, and, as Con
nally put it, “Carter’s polls may fall as
they’ve risen.”
There is an obvious element of self-
interest in those predictions, because both
men are seeking the job Jimmy Carter
holds. But the fact that they have their own
motives for discounting Carter’s remark
able resurgence does not, by itself, prove
their skepticism is ill-founded.
To the contrary, there are valid reasons
for thinking that time may prove them
right.
The upheaval taking place in Iran — of
which the hostage situation is part — does
worsen the economic problems facing this
country and the rest of the industrial world.
Oil prices are going up again, and oil sup
plies can more easily be disrupted. That
means more inflation and a greater risk of
recession, and those are the forces which
were dragging down Carter in the polls.
There is not certainty how long this
course of action will be able to contain the
growing frustration in the American public,
whose nerves are being rubbed raw by' con
stant repetition of provocative and disturb
ing television scenes of the smug jailers and
the tense captives in what was once the
American embassy in Tehran.
There is a point at which a policy of pati
ence will verge into a failure of will, and
self-restraint will be perceived as a confes
sion of impotence.
This crossover point may be weeks away
— or only days. But it is particularly peri
lous for a President like Jimmy Carter, who
has been seen, far too often in the last three
years, as a man of good intentions, incap
able of achieving important objectives.
Finally, even if the hostages are re
leased, Carter will almost certainly policy
choices which are acutely painful and poli
tically difficult for him.
;thi
The focus on the 50 Americans-
erly our first concern now — insonw
obscures the historic import ofwhatiil
pening. The most important counl
vital portion of the world — the
Gidf— is sliding ever further toward!
na 1 chaos and demagogic!
Americanism.
The likelihood is growing that, in
to counter this fundamental threatt
national interest, there will have
increased deployment of American
in the Persian Gulf region — either
and methodically, to contain the sit
or suddenly, to deal with a crisis.
It is not going to be easy tobeth
post-Vietnam President to order an 1;
ican military deployment, and ifw
against Carter’s instincts, even more
woidd against those of other men
to deliver that message to the peopk
The hardest tests — and the
times — of his presidency lie aheadfl
in the coming months. Today’s
importance compared to that prosped
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Letters
The 12th man will not miss the 13th m
Editor:
This letter is addressed to the 13th Man,
those people, who maintain a majority rule,
at Texas A&M, who care not for the 12th
Man.
Let me first clarify the differences by
comparing and contrasting the two. Both
appreciate Aggie traditions; the 12th Man
by his understanding, learning, and partici
pation, making his purpose the advance
ment of Texas A&M 100 percent, win or
lose. The 13th Man has no understanding,
no learning, and participates in only the
important events — watching Bonfire
burn, and humping it at the game, with his
hat on — he cares less about Texas A&M,
The Spirit of Aggieland, and backs A&M
only when they win.
I have graduated, and as I look back at
my five years at this great institution, I
treasure more than just the excellent edu
cation I received; I value the friendships
and acquaintances I acquired; I hold close
the tender emotions I felt at Silver Taps and
Muster; I cherish the moments of brother
hood I shared with the 12th Man, ex
periencing Aggie traditions to the fullest.
All these have made me proud to be an
Aggie, all these but the 13th Man.
As a graduate. Class of ’78, tradition
would have it that I did not need to extend
myself past the student state. However, as
in previous years, I was filled with the en
thusiasm of the 12th Man; and when Bon
fire time rolled around, I helped the 12th
Man cutting, hauling, stacking, forfeiting
my time for the Spirit of Aggieland. Where
was the 13th Man?
At 7:30, November 30, I went to Duncan
Field, proud to be an Aggie, knowing the
12th Man would be there too. All those
hours of toil and strain, sleepless nights,
and brotherhood, stood majestically. The
12th Man was there, so was the 13th Man.
Where were they before? Yet now, they too
proclaimed, “This is my Bonfire. ”
As the 12th Man looked on in amaze
ment, the 13th Man proceeded to do its
usual job of destroying the image of A&M.
The drunken euphoria that the 13th Man
made of Bonfire ruined my evening. As one
of the most valued traditions of A&M went
up in flames, the 13th Man mocked it by
carrying all forms of alcohol, bottles and
cans, kegs and quarts, in to the most sacred
of our traditions. Where was the 13th Man?
He was there in full force and as the 12th
Man, past and present, looked on, the 13th
Man was tearing down all that A&M stood
for.
ie
I left in disgust, hoping to return*1
the 13th Man had left. He never
2:00 a.m., certainly past the
bedtime, I returned only to find
creature still very much around,
the mass of garbage, bottles, beercansi
the like, the 13th Man had passedoutli
and there, made “passionate ” love by
stack, had driven its cars and trucls
close “to better see her burn,”
tinned to laugh at all the 12thMansti
for.
Now that I have left A&M, I will las
lot with me; traditions, spirit, memorif!
good times and bad. One thingIwon’ltil
and will be glad not too, is the
seeing the 13th Man, in its pathetic
destroying Texas A&M.
— Tommy Bruns
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