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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 1979)
I the small society by Briclcman PAP? n \ O ° O o ° Wasrunston Star Syndicate, Inc. O Opinion The killing season This is the holiday season, but it’s also the killing season. We in Aggieland have a head start, though. This semester 11 students died. Maurice Dennis, director of Safety Education programs here, says the highway death rate for this semester is higher than the national rate for the same time period. In fact, he says it’s three to four times higher. Dennis attributes this to two factors: our semi-rural en vironment, and the fact that “Aggies have been known to drink when they drive. ’’ With all the graduation and end-of-semester parties, the danger is even higher. And when students start home, many are tired and not as alert as they should be. The Texas Department of Public Safety predicts 123 peo ple will be killed on the streets during the Christmas-New Year’s Day weekends. The warnings are old, but they are good: If you’re drunk or tired, take a little extra time. A&M wins one The Rhodes Scholarship is one of the most prestigious and well known awards in America. And now an Aggie has one. It’s been a while since another Aggie won the award. William Altman, a senior from New Ulm, Texas, will study in England next year. He’s thrilled, and the University is also honored. In the past, nobody expected A&M to produce a Rhodes scholar. Maybe he’s started a new tradition... The Battalion USPS 045 360 LETTERS POLICY MEMBER Letters to the editor should not exceed 3(X) words and are Texas Press Association subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The Southwest Journalism Congress editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letti*rs and does * ITrUt R R • ro- not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must he 1 * * ’ ’j. ’ . signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone Associate Editor Keith Taylor number for verification. News Editor Rusty Cawley Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor. The Asst. News Editor W. Scott Sherman Battalion. Room 216. Reed McDonald Building College C Editor Dillard Stone .tation. ,xas < .. , Sports Editor Tony Gallucci Represented nationally by National Educational Adver- t-. j.. Using Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los F ° CUS Editor Rhonda Watters Angeles. Senior City Reporter Louie Arthur The Battalion is published Monday through Friday fn.m Senior Campus Reporter Diane Blake September through May except during exam and holiday vjCneral Assignment Reporters x-riods and the summer, when it is published on Tuesday Richard Oliver and Andy Williams hrough Thursday. Staff Writers Nancy Andersen, Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per 1 ricia Brunhart, Mike Burrichter, school year; $35.00 per full year. Advertisingratesfurnished Angelique Copeland, Laura Cortez, on request. Address; The Battalion, Room 216, Reed Meril Edwards, Carol Hancock, McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. 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THOTZ Viewpoint The Battalion Texas A&M University Wednesday December 19, 1979 DickWest Students in Iran concentrate on cla hopefully, they ll Hunk the final eia United Press International WASHINGTON — In news and film re ports from Tehran, radicals holding the U.S. Embassy usually are identified as stu dents. For this reason, many Americans have developed a strong curiosity about the edu cational system in Iran, particularly with respect to off-campus activity. We find ourselves wondering what kind of school these students attend, what courses they take and how many classes they are allowed to cut without getting an automatic F. The information I have is rather sketchy, but I understand most of the young scholars who took part in the embassy seizure are undergraduates at Khomeini Tech, an in stitution of higher learning previously known as Shah State. KT goes in big for field trips. Its philoso phy of education embraces the principle of having students demonstrate in actual situations the theoretical concepts they are taught in classrooms. Take, for example, Flagburning 120, one of the freshman Courses offered by KT’s School of Applied Agitation. After basic in struction in the rudiments of fabric com bustion, students perform laboratory tests to determine the flammability of various flags; then, in the final phase, they are sent into the streets to incinerate the banners under authentic protest conditions. Among the courses required of sopho mores is Effigies 213. Here, under the gui dance of the art department, they pick up the fine points of designing and construc tion crude likenesses of various world fi gures. They also have a chance to apply the lessons learned in Flag-burning 120, only this time, of course, it is the effigies that are burned. Gesticulations are a branchofltei department, with emphasis on‘in acting. A counterpart in our onn would he the histrionics thatfoolis ers perform in attempts to contim referees they have been forciblyiipj And poster composition comesiajj aegis of the language department. By the time KT students reach their third year, they are ready for more adv anced tutelage. Typically, a junior carries three five-hour courses consisting of Slogan Chanting 313, Defiant Gesticulations 310 and Poster Composition 311. These parts of the curriculum£-| soup, however, compared to (best KT seniors. Candidates for i plied agitation must pass such ii Mob Psychology 420, Cameras 410 and Weapon BrandishmenUlil Since rhythm is so vital, chanting courses usually are prepared by the music depart ment. Thus we can see why those! stormed our embassy in tbe !inij| They were simply doing their li But,H«y! wanna talk Economy, friends? Lets talk Economy... Oi United L'NIVERS | who try h lidays may |y look at i 'I IVf i . 11 list K If you’re t en Chris are proha al,” said listant pr< fc nsylvani£ ’ difficul ”ly feel gui jLook at t lintain you Letter By Doug Graham Iranian students ask about U.S. intentions M:wMK ^ W.LUA»s/Ag;; Doc CTXS sc... SCAV PGttY, l-ELWvGftADE fo. p/HTeiLSo^ t-l-e^ 7*^, cUbK fe Rooai rNgr aulen Acaoe^ any op ujw-^ent rolfm a>c> xve f^RGbrrtv,> MgyTioiy, APftE pi£, u (LW T,^- ax>iA MOM ^ D/th. C-* $ Editor: Due to distorted coverage of the recent events in Iran by the U.S. mass media, the Society of Iranian Students at TAMU feels compelled to present the following facts: — During his reign of 37 years, the ex shah committed numerous crimes such as mass murdering, torturing, deporting, and imprisoning political' dissidents as well as plundering billions of dollars of the national wealth. During last year’s national uprising alone, the ex-shah massacred more than 60,000 unarmed innocent people. He is also bitterly remembered as the one who destroyed Iran’s agricultural economy. — Since 1953, when the CIA engineered a coup which put the ex-shah back into power, the U.S. government has fully sup ported the ex-shah’s autocratic rule and has created his secret police from which the people of Iran have suffered for 25 years. — The unacceptable social, political, and economical situations created by the ex- sh'ah led to the Islamic Revolution under the great leadership of Imam Khomeini. Ever since this victory, the western news media has been busy disseminating dis torted and false information about the Isla mic Revolution. — With the overthrow of theex-i the Iranian people asked all governi not to grant the criminal ex-shahsanctis however, the U.S. government permit him to come here for the so-called “meil 1 treatment. After his arrival, alldiploui initiatives for his extradition to Iran* 1 disregarded by the U.S. govemmeiil was only after two weeks of pleas by authorities that the frustrated students^ over the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Having these facts in mind, we ^ like you to address yourselves to theta ’ ing questions: — Do Americans wish their govern®* \ to support mass murderers? — Wouldn’t this discredit you asana* 1 to so openly support the greatest fina® corruption of the history of mankind? — The Society of Iranian Stud? 1 Editor’s note: The person submittinft letter wished to remain anonymous ini of the current situation in Iran. TheS® ty of Iranian Students, he said, is not a! ated in anyway with the Iranian Stude Association. £