The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, May 07, 1980, Image 2

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    Slouch
By Jim Earle
“Now that I’m a senior, I have to agree with the old
saying that your freshman year is the most fun. ”
Opinion
Bill Moore is gone —
but the world goes on
Kent Caperton’s victory in Saturday’s Democratic prim
ary calls for an examination of Bill Moore’s importance to
Texas A&M apd the area.
Almost everybody who is anybody at Texas A&M en
dorsed Moore’s reelection — from implicit recommenda
tions by the regents and University administrators to ads
signed by various student leaders.
Their support for Moore as a friend of Texas A&M is based
not only on Moore’s 31-year residence in the senate cham
ber, but also on their belief that Moore is the Great Defen
der of the Peripapent University Fynd. Everyone knows
what the PUF means to Texas A&M, and everyone is con
cerned about maintaining the PUF’s status.
Moore’s white-knight image is appealing — he’s admit
tedly done much for Texas A&M in his senate career — but
isn’t it also a little unrealistic?
The PUF’s backers — friends of Texas A&M and the
University of Texas — are almost as numerous in the Legisl
ature as supporters of the oil industry. Moore’s absence will
hurt, but it’s not going to be the downfall of the PUF.
Texas A&M’s share of power on the state affairs and
finance committees also will be diluted. But Aggies are
everywhere in the Legislature, and it would be very easy for
Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby to give those seats to other Aggies.
Bill Moore is gone. Instead of crying over that spilt milk,
it’s time to concentrate on constructing a firm base of new
power in the senate.
After all, Caperton is an Aggie too.
The first step toward that construction could come with
Caperton’s election in November.
— Dillard Stone
the small society
by Brickman
©1980 King Features Syndicate. Inc. World rights reserved
<3<3af.
The Battalion
U S P s 045 360
LETTERS POLICY
MEMBER
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.
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Congress
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
through 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.
Editor Dillard Stone
Managing Editor Rhonda Watters
Asst. Managing Editor .... Becky Swanson
City Editor Rusty Cawley
Sports Editor Richard Oliver
News Editor Lynn Blanco
Focus Editor Rhonda Watters
Staff Writers Nancy Andersen,
Uschi Michel-Howell, Dehbie Nelson.
Cathy Saathoff, Jana Sims,
Todd Woodard
Photo Editor Lee Roy Leschper Jr.
PhotographersLynn Blanco, 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. 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
Wednesday
May 7, 1980
S taff N otebook
Outfit's loss could be start of Corps' gain
The
itudei
:hang<
heM
By DILLARD STONE
Battalion Editor
The disbanding of an outfit in the Corps
of Cadets is a traumatic experience for its
members. It represents an example of
where poor performance can lead; it also
deprives the affected cadets of ranks and
positions they would normally have held.
I view the disbanding of Company L-l
with mixed emotions. On the one hand it’s
my outfit — the group of people I called
home during my first two years here.
On the other hand, there is some benefit
to the Corps as a whole. Unlike Col.
Woodall, I’d like to view the disbanding of
the outfit not as a beneficial disciplinary
action, but rather as a first step in the
needed consolidation of 42 Corps outfits
into a smaller number.
It’s something I’d mentioned on several
occasions this year. It got nowhere.
Nonetheless, I think it is needed — and the
first step lies in the consolidation of existing
outfits.
The Corps faces severe problems. The
current total strength — about 1,830 cadets
— no longer justifies 42 separate outfits.
Corps leaders agree that under the present
structure, 45-50 cadets per outfit is about
the right number. The current average is
about 40, and many outfits have far fewer.
Decreasing the number within an outfit
means there are fewer qualified leaders to
choose from by the time one’s junior year
rolls around. When a first sergeant and one
or two staff members are selected from
within an outfit, the number of really good
people in the secondary leadership slots
decreases.
The inability of many first sergeants and
company commanders to rely on compe
tent subordinate classmates within their
outfits hurts those outfits tremendously.
By increasing the number of outfits and
simultaneously decreasing the number of
staffs, two advantages will automatically be
gained.
First, since staff personnel will be fewer,
there will be fewer people leaving the out
fits for staff positions.
Second, increasing the number of people
in outfits will give those cadets with mean
ingless jobs more responsibility, and they
can make a positive contribution to the out
fit instead of “dying. ” For example, under
current structure, it’s very hard for a pla
toon leader to take his job seriously when
there are only 12 people in his platoon.
The disbanding of L-l could be the first
step in this Master Plan for Improving the
Corps. But I doubt it. Colonels don’t think
the way cadets do.
I still can’t help but feel sad at the demise
of L-l. Certainly there were wrongs that
needed to be corrected. Under normal cir
cumstances, a probationary period would
have been warranted.
And, although L-l was deficient in many
areas, morale wasn’t one. There are worse
outfits in terms of grades, in terms of milit
ary proficiency, in terms of freshman reten
tion.
Rules violations by cadets in otfia ^ 0
haven’t been viewed as symptomatit y a y n(
vere problems within the outfit in tit j ca j]y,
L-l appears to be the exception, ^ \j
In fact, there are probably two a |an q U
other outfits overall worse than
Brigade alone. But maybe I'm bias
But what’s done is done; the cadets ^ ) ie
Lonestar Company are going toll an g e
make it on their own. There’safutun ier j te(
of them, but just where that will bci
each one.
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Editor:
An open letter to Miss Melanie Zentgraf:
Dear Miss Zentgraf:
Please allow me to congratulate you upon
your graduation Friday night and to apolo
gize for my behavior. If I had had any idea
that you would be treated with such abject
rudeness by a man whose presence at your
commencement exercies should have rep
resented Texas A&M and the honorable
state of Texas, I would have been on my
feet, applauding you and your courage on
behalf of future women.
Dr. Jarvis Miller:
Your conduct toward Miss Zentgraf at the
commencement ceremonies was deplor
able and beneath the dignity of your office.
When the final legal decisions have been
made — in her favor, as I’m certain they
will be, I should expect that you would
demonstrate the same integrity which was
behind your decision to attempt to demean
her publicly and step down from the office
of president.
there is up, and there is down. Do you
think housing prices will ever go down?
History shows that every great specula
tive boom has ended with a crash. Soon
there will be an historic crash in the hous
ing market. Millions of home prices will fall
far below their mortgage balances, plung
ing their once-proud owner deep into debt.
Millions of greedy homeowners are plan
ning to cash in on your ignorance (even
after they could have taught you better in
school). So warn all your friends: Don’t buy
a house until after the prices crash, and
even after a crash, there are always two
directions that the price of anything can go:
there is up, and there is down.
Contrary to popular belief, prosperity is
caused by investments for income, and
never by investments for capital gain.
the person or people who did it must have
directed it towards me.
The only logical conclusion that I can
arrive at is that evidently some patriotic
American mistook me for an Iranian and
proceeded to revenge the hostages on me.
Or maybe it was a terrorist who decided
that he didn’t like my bike. Whatever the
cause and whoever the doer, it says very
little for the character of the Americans
who are currently trying to get the world to
condemn the Iranian act of terrorism. I just
hope that there are very few Americans
that are this irrational.
I’ve been teased about my accent, bit Jpduri
er has anyone held that against me,
I have found, on the whole, thatTi
are some of the warmest and friem wanted
This
% ba
people (much more so than Northtn
and that goes triple for Aggies. I have
lished as many friendships down ha ir
two years as in all my years up Nori oil n
I’ll look forward tol coming
August.
Marc, I hope that you’ll take a« Jgahij
look at yourself. Maybe you’ll find thi hat he
problem is you won’t accept Texans-
the other way around. Aggies are so( warded
— Ednan R. Lodhi
Texans are friendly
the most terrific people I knowandll
hope you don’t waste anymore timeioi ideally,
ing that out. it c
didn t ki
— Kathleen M. Smil World w
Alan D. Phipps
Bike destroyed
— Margery Jones Tipton
Apartad 4064
Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela
Editor:
House boom may bust
Editor:
I am writing to you students for the pur
pose of saving you money. Nowadays there
is a great speculative boom in housing. Mil
lions of homebuyers are stretching their
budgets to buy the biggest houses they can.
In fact, they use so much leverage that their
outstanding mortgage balances remain
approximately unchanged for many years.
Little do they know, there are two direc
tions that the price of anything can go:
I am an international student at A&M
and have been in the states for about four
months. Up till now I had formed an excel
lent impression of the Aggies in particular 1
and Americans in general. But most unfor
tunately, something happened Thursday
night that has made me change my outlook
drastically.
I woke up on Friday morning to find that
my bike had been utterly smashed and
twisted out of shape by someone who ob
viously knew what he was doing. Recover
ing from my initial shock and surprise, I
took a closer look and found that somebody
had used a heavy cement block to vengeful-
ly and most carefully destroy each and very
part of the bike. Since no other bike in the
vicinity had been touched and the job was
simply too systematic and thorough for any
drunkard to have done it, I concluded that
Editor:
I am writing this in response to Marc
Roger’s letter in Friday’s Battalion.
I refuse to believe that what Mr. Rogers
says is entirely true. He claims that because
he is a “Yankee,” he has not been accepted
by the student body here at A&M, and has
been the butt of many jokes concerning his
accent.
Mr. Rogers, I would like to know how
you deal with the people who belittle you
for being a Northerner. Do you immediate
ly become defensive? Does your “brash”
style come across as obnoxious? Do you
naturally assume that everyone who makes
fun of your accent is acting in a malicious
way? Maybe if you’d stop to consider how
you are coming across to other people,
you’d find the answer to your problem.
I, myself, am a Yankee, coming from
New Jersey. Next week, I will have com
pleted two years at A&M and will return
home for the summer. I will be leaving
behind many friends — people I have come
to know and care about deeply and who like
me for who I am and yes, even for where
Tm from, because that’s a part of me. Sure
Thanks, CAMACfi
Editor:
A big “thanks!” to TAMU, the
Committee and especially to CAMAd rary,”h
the fine family entertainment tonighlP ®ajorin;
30) at Rudder Theater—and it was 1
For one hour, five children, ranj,
age from three to eleven years, wereK ™ated,
ly entertained by the “Estudiantes 9 Ve zoc
Taller de Danza del Instituto Mexicali wfour
San Antonio. ” The children, as wel
their parents, were dazzled by the coin ^ nayn
costumes, precise footwork and handii* j) xono f
appearances of the dancers. The musit
the regional folk dances communi?
the exuberant spirit of our next i
neighbor — Mexico. And the handsofl
dancers extended to members of the®
ence to join them for an exhilarating"’
to a “fast two-step” reaffirmed the waif
and friendliness we feel for our neigl
to the south.
Thank you again for a fun, festive
perfectly marvelous evening.
— Kathleen W
thotz
By Doug Graham
Howi
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