The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 05, 1980, Image 2

Texas A&M Newspaper Collection

The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 05, 1980, Image 2

Newspaper Page TextSlouch by Jim Earle SICK -pruT*^#- Ripe bakly “When you get down to it, there are no original excuses for leaving early for the holidays. " Opinion Shuttle needed for death ray Trade journals and available government documents re veal that many serious scientists and military weapons ex perts believe the era of “death ray’ warfare may arrive this decade. This latest “ultimate weapon” would then arrive 10 years ahead of schedule. The most likely first use of laser beam weapons will be in a defense from space against intercontinental ballistic missiles (IBMs) and satellite killer weapons. On the drawing boards of American military planners is an 18-station anti-IBM defense system, on which construction could begin in three years, according to Senate sources. To build, maintain and support such a system, which would be “manned,’ we need the space shuttle. The shuttle is just one of the problems which must be solved before we can see the change in the world military picture which would follow the development of an effective defense againgt longrange strategic nuclear weapons delivery. Sherman Democrat the small society by Brickman WMAT/A <ZAfZl? FIZ0/MW& VlNlKZ- WMftJngton Star Syndicate, Inc. The Battalion U S P S 045 360 LETTERS POLICY letters to the editor should ru>t exceed -KH) words <i subject to being cut to that length or less if longt ctlitorial staff reserves the right to edit su<h letters an not guarantee to publish any letter Each letter m signed, show the address of the writer and list a tele number for verification. Address correspondence to Letttrs to the Edittn Battalion. Room 216. Reed McDonald Building. C Station. Texas 77843. nd are The d does ust he phone . The allege Represented nationally by National Educatio tising Services, Inc.. New York City, C'hicag Angeles. ml Ad\ > and I The Battalion is published Mon day through Fridas from ieptember through May except during exam and holiday X'riods and the summer, when it is published on Tuesda> hrongh Thursday. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester. $33.25 per sch<M>l year; $35.00 per hill year. Advertising rates furnished on request. Address: The Battalion. Room 216. Reed McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. United Press International is entitled exclusiveh 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. Roy Bragg Associate Editor Keith Taylor News Editor Rusty Cawley Asst. News Editor Karen Cornelison Copy Editor Dillard Stone Sports Editor Mike Burrichter Focus Editor Rhonda Watters City Editor Louie Arthur Campus Editor Diane Blake Staff Writers Nancy Andersen, Tricia Brunhart.Angelique Copeland, Laura Cortez, Meril Edwards, Carol Hancock, Kathleen McElroy, Debbie Nelson, Richard Oliver, Tim Sager, Steve Sisney, Becky Swanson, Andy Williams Chief Photographer Lynn Blanco Photographers Lee Roy Leschper, Steve Clark, Ed Cunnius, 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. 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. Viewpoint loca The Battalion Texas A&M University Wednesday March 5, 1980 Baylor a dminis tra tion vo tes against free press, students . By ROY BRAGG Battalion Editor The firing of The Baylor Lariat’s editors is a perfect example of totalitarianism pushing freedom of the press aside. On Monday, Editor-in-chief Jeff Barton, City Editor Barry Kolar and News Editor Cyndy Slovak were fired by the university’s 11-member Student Publications Board. As a result, several staff members resigned in sympathy. The whole episode began with the announcement that Playboy photographer David Chan would be in the Waco area to photograph students for a Playboy photo feature on “Girls of the Southwest Confer- At issue is control of the school paper and what it prints. The Lariat’s editors, as do those at The Battalion, felt that the content of the school paper is the business of the editor and not the university administration. Apparently, Baylor officials disagree. The university has the law on its side. All the staff members have is a belief that they were elected to do the job and a strong conviction in the Constitutional guarantees of free speech and press. The publication board’s action poses sev eral questions: — Do the appointed student editors actually have control of the contents of the SEE a Rape OF FREEDOM OP THE ence. At that time, President Abner McCall said Baylor students who posed nude for the magazine would be subject to disciplin ary action. In response, the Lariat published an edi torial saying students should decide for themselves whether to pose for the photo graphs. McCall then decided to show the Lariat who was boss. He issued a warning to Bar ton saying he would be asked to resign if any further editorials and stories appeared about the Playboy situation. McCall based his decision on the fact that the university owns the paper. Since he is the university president, he said, he is the publisher of the paper. First Amendment rights, he added, app ly to the publisher of the paper, not the editors and reporters. Then, on Friday, Barton, Slovak and Kolvar signed their names to an editorial criticizing the university administration. Ralph Strother, director of student publica tions, edited two sentences out of an edito rial that referred to administrative “arro gance.” Strother then told the three they could either resign or be fired by the board. They didn’t resign. They felt that the student editors should be able to cover the news and comment on it as they saw fit. paperr Are the school’s administrators ex empt from criticism? Do they want to con trol the news? Do they want a newspaper or a university-controlled public relations sheet? — Why go through the ridiculous for mality of selecting a student editor to run the paper if in fact the administration is going to dictate editorial policy and news coverage, and advertising content? The answers to these questions are appa rent after the editors’ Monday firing. The student editors don’t control the paper. The Baylor administration cannot be criticized. Baylor University does want to control the news. The university adminis tration does want a daily propaganda sheet. The pretense of selecting editors will con tinue (the publications board has said new editors will be selected soon). If Abner McCall wants to run the paper, then let him do it. It’s his newspaper, after all. If Baylor University administrators don’t care about real freedom of speech and press, then let them run the show. The Baylor University administration might have the nerve to call the Lariat a 8/IYUlA BARES ALE newspaper. But we can’t consider it one. See related story on page 1 Letters On Tuesi noon, veg< thinkers,” junk food lo across the 3 Ash St. Their des yard shed, c chalkbord, money and food. The r keet house Brazos Vail P-The eooi /3 collectively jt in dts benefi was started vegetarian University : and a handi ing food an ‘ Dwight’s said the g: establish ai enough voh direc tly wit! would then ably by co-< Besides food is org animal or ve pesticides), ated in 197( gled to kee P“It kind Strawn, w! “Now we’i again becai vice. Lord aren’t alwa |‘A lot of e vegetal to be a veg food a litth ilAnd, ind op and loca flours, be •mruit, spic 5’'cheese, te; pens to be 1 co-op is ah KThe ave popular sti groc cries i: co-op it’s 2 hall the co ar < ■sweet p Reader , ^ centsapou s Forum needs clarification | Yellow c Editor: After reading Reader’s Forum in Mon day’s Batt, I felt compelled to clear up some issues presented in “Whatever Happened to the Human Race.” The emphasis on world view is important to understand the parallels that were drawn in the series. Dr. Schaeffer quoted the Biblical statement “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” It is thinking that shapes the way a man be haves. The point is this: remove the abso lute of the Bible, remove God from life, and there is no basis for morality or the unique ness of man. Henceforth we have the Sup reme Court’s arbitrary decision ruling the Black man a non-person in the Dred Scott decision and ruling the developing fetus a non-person in the 1973 abortion ruling. This is the parallel that Schaeffer drew, and it is an accurate one. The parallel between the Nazi extermi nation camps and euthanasia is equally clear from the film. The extermination camps slaughtered thousands of “undesir able” members of German society who were crippled, retarded, mentally ill, or too sick to work. Euthanasia, under the guise of compassion, has the potential for these same abuses. It all goes back to Dr. Schaeffer’s main point: without a basis for morals, man lives under the tyranny of the majority, or worse yet, the rule of a power ful elite. Dr. Koop did not say the church was responsible for the holocaust. The point he made is that the church was painfully silent on this issue, as it was on slavery. He is calling on the Christian, to take action against the abuses that we see in modem society that cheapen the value of human life. The statement by Mr. Spring and Ms. King noting that there was no documenta tion was false. Both Dr. Schaeffer and Dr. Koop quoted articles written in major medical journals. Dr. Schaeffer also quoted sections of the 1973 abortion ruling ver batim. I felt that the scene with the memorial at the end of the series notes an important point. We have the power to make changes to speak against what is wrong in the world. If we fail to do so, then the memorial would be more than accurate. I pray to God we will change. Bill Hobson Soccer ignored Editor: Last semester, the Texas A&M water polo team, ranked 4th in the nation, threatened to leave A&M if they didn’t receive Marvin Tate’s recognition as a var sity team. Well, this problem is not exclu sive to the water polo team. From 1959-’63, the Texas A&M men’s soccer team were state champions, and some think that had soccer been an NCAA- sanctioned sport, the Aggies would have been national champs. Last season the Ags had a .500 record, and this season, with a 2-1-1 record, are in first place in the confer ence and are picked to win the Southwest Conference Soccer Tournament to be play ed here March 28-30. All this was accom plished without varsity status, with the second-lowest budget of any SWC team, no professional coaching, no recruiting or scholarships and virtually no press cover age. That’s quite an accomplishment, isn’t it? Apparently the Intramural Department doesn’t think so. They now want us to do it without a field to practice on! Those are odds one cannot beat. Imagine, the repre sentatives of Texas A&M are not allowed to use the soccer fields! And for what? Well, you say, surely there’s a good reason, right? Wrong. Intramural soccer is what stands between the men’s and women’s soccer teams and the SWC Tour nament. Although we don’t have anything against intramurals or other varsity sports one gets the impression that one of the world’s richest schools is trying to eliminate the world’s most popular sport. It is also important to note that a contract was signed with the Intramural Department giving the soccer team the unconditional right to use the field; not only was this document breeched, but no one was even notified. We think we are good Ags and we want to represent A&M in the competitive sport we play best; soccer. We would appreciate the support of the Intramural Department and Texas A&M. Mark Stromberg ’83 Curtis Eng ’83 Paul Winston ’82 a pound at pound in t as was used throughout thispbjtr ^ C0_0 I such a thing, as degrading astk^ rr V P ow< campus does nothing for the two " and national reputation for * n 8 of quality of Texas A&M Univa*. 11 1 would be interested to b(WlMP ca | ' lea ing: what is the criteria by whidnlUir 8 . ttie Si * mine which plays shall be broui|r^ uc t s campus? Who is responsible P r * c ‘ this decision? What benefit coulil|y^ ea P er ibly expect from exposing youK:^ 1 such vulgar language? 1 am particularly disturbed iofe this is program is part of the En: partment. It would be appallingI: this is indicative of the typeofirs given to students of campus. YKA ‘Good Ags’exist ‘Ryder’ offends Editor: Recently I made the mistake of attending the play, “When Are You Coming Back Red Ryder.” I never knew that anything could be characterized by such continous vulgarity Editor: I wanted to write and letyoub 1 are good deeds being done by I In today’s world, you see fewer] ing a chance or going out ofthti help others. I really appreciate “Rock” and “RockeUe” the good mag ’80 for seeing my car li turning them off. I work all battery would surely havebeendfl what a way to end the day. Thanks for letting me say two nice people. Leslie' Thotz By Doug Grab ARE you CKKzy? tukb notes / LAPP RIOT? BUT \aOE G>C>TTA ueaRn our -Science) ^ YaIERE. not ^ ^ HERE TO LEfiRM, - .‘re here td grado ATtV* OH, H0\d UN ACADEMICALLY

Texas A&M Newspaper Collection

Texas A&M Newspaper Collection

The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 05, 1980, Image 2

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