Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Thursday
August 7, 1980
Slouch
by Jim Earle Liberal American Tews are
“This is the first time that I can remember that a hurricane was thought
of as an improvement in the weather. “
by DICK WEST
United Press International
WASHINGTON — In lieu of U. S. participa
tion in the summer Olympic games, Americans
are taking up other sports, such as jumping to
conclusions about Billy Carter.
Although no new records have yet been set,
Billy Carter’s registration as an agent for Libya
has attracted a large field of world class conclu
sion-jumpers, among them Rep. Dan Quayle,
R-Ind.
“It is too much to ask us to believe that the
Libyan government paid brother Billy hun
dreds of thousands of dollars because of his
deep understanding of the oil industry gained
through his operation of a service station in
Plains, Ga.,” Quayle said in a press release.
“Obviously, the Libyans paid that money be
cause they thought brother Billy could get some
things done through his connections at the
White House.”
Implicit in that conclusion is the supposition
that if Billy Carter didn’t have a brother in the
White House, Libya would never have loaned
him $220,000. Which may be a leap too far.
Entirely overlooked is the possibility that
Billy Carter’s kinship with the president was
purely coincidental. That is the conclusion I am
leaping to.
It may be, as Quayle concluded, that the
Libyans weren’t necessarily interested in Billy
Carter’s petroleum expertise. There are,
however, other plausible explantions for the
loan.
We all know that oil-exporting nations such
as Libya are constantly on the lookout for ways
to invest the proceeds from foreign sales. It
therefore is logical to conclude that Col. Muam-
mar Khadafy, the Libyan leader, was pressing
his financial advisers thusly:
“OK, guys, the money is piling up again. Any
ideas?”
“This may be a long shot, chief, ” one of them
replies, “but I hear there is a good investment
opportunity in Georgia. I’m told a fellow there
is in bad need of a loan. If we play our cards
right, we might sign him up for a half-million or
“How come he hasn’t gotten a loan from Bert
Lance?”
“Well, Lance has been pretty much preoccu
pied with other things lately.”
“What is the prospective investment oppor
tunity’s name?”
“Billy Carter.”
“Hmmmm. Any kin to the Carter in the
White House?”
“We haven’t checked on that. They have the
same home town but there are a lot of Carters in
that part of Georgia. Related or not, this one
seems to be acting strictly on his own.”
“That’s good. We wouldn’t want to be a party
to any investment that might make it appear we
were trying to buy influence in the United
States. Is there any danger that Iraq or Saudi
Arabia will try to horn in on the deal?”
“They might. To make sure no other country
loans him money, we’ll ask him to register as a
Libyan agent.”
I’d like to see Quayle outjump that.
It’s Your Turn
Editor:
The article “Which building named for
whom?” by Cathy Saathoff in the July 31, 1980,
Battalion has a gross error. The building. Dorm
10, was not named for G. Rollie White, as Ms.
Saathoff said, but for Byrd E. White. Please
correct this statement, since that was what the
entire article concerned.
Tim R. Turner, ’74
Head Resident White Hall 1975
Editor’s note: The book from which the infor
mation was taken. Here We’ll Build the Col
lege by Ernest Langford, reported that the
dorm which is named for Eli Whiteley (Dormi
tory 9) was named for G. Rollie White. Dorm
10 is named for Byrd E. White; no dorm is
named for G. Rollie White.
The Battalion regrets the error.
Correction
A chart giving a breakdown of the Texas
A&M University System’s proposed
budget request in Wednesday’s Battalion
contained two errors.
The table did not list the figures for the
Texas Agricultural Extension Service,
which has a 1981 appropriation of
$20,076,732; a 1982 request of
$29,665,602; and a 1983 request of
$34,159,904.
Also, the correct figure for Texas A&M
University’s 1981 appropriation is
$89,243,973.
The Battalion regrets the errors.
Warped
being embarrassed by Israe
by HOWARD ARENSTEIN
United Press International
JERUSALEM — Recent criticism of Israel
by U. S. Jewry has dampened relations between
the Israelis and their wealthy American
cousins.
The American Jewish community clearly has
been embarrassed by the erosion of Israel’s
underdog image because of its occupation of
Arab land. Its leaders have started nudging the
government of Prime Minister Menachem Be
gin to think about the good of the family as a
whole.
“There is a worldwide Jewish consensus that
supports Israel’s holding onto them (Jewish set
tlements) for security reasons but not for reli
gious reasons,” said Theodore Mann, outgoing
chairman of the Conference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish Organizations.
Mann, one of 56 American Jewish leaders
who recently signed a statement condemning
Israeli “extremists in the public and within the
government,” spoke out during a recent week-
long dialogue in Jerusalem between U.S. Jews
and Israelis.
The tone at the opening was tense as the
senior cabinet member in Begin s government,
Interior Minister Josef Burg, told Mann: “Our
enemies are only too happy to exploit publicly
expressed Jewish criticism.”
Burg, who heads Israel’s team at negotiations
on Palestinian autonomy, said without elabora
tion that Egypt is trying to exploit U.S. Jewish
dissent to weaken the Israeli position in the
dragging talks.
There is worldwide Jewish consensus on such
issues as keeping Jerusalem united under
Israeli rule and the security of the 32-year-old
Jewish state.
But consensus ends with such announce
ments as the planned move of Begin s office
from Jewish West Jerusalem to the city’s
annexed Arab East sector and government
approval to establish religious boarding schools
in the heart of Arab Hebron on the occupied
West Bank.
American Jews traditionally have been liber
al in their political views and, with the surpris
ing rise to power three years ago of the conser
vative Begin, that liberalism has been extended
to criticism of Israeli policy.
Said Mann: “I speak in the namedl I
Jewish community which believes that|
culiarly the function of wise leadershipi
pen the forces of fanaticism that arise&ijj |
to time in every society."
The former president of BrandeisUm™
Morris B. Abram, said he was notmjH I
signers of a statement condemning ri* I
extremism because “it was written b)K|
and cast in terms of Israeli politics.
“Right or wrong, I did not wish, asani
ican, to be a tail on an Israeli kite.” I
But Abram did reserve some han:|
ments for Israel’s settlement policyinthl
Bank.
“To the extent that this policy is nottl
based on security needs, it fumisheda|
which is very, very effective ... forahmi
tal shift in American policy vis-a-vis b
Although Begin brushes aside advnl
distant cousins abroad, his advisers wl
private. Until now, one Begin aide sal
advice of the American Jewish connmJ
ways has been expressed behind closed!
Jumping to conclusions
on Billy Carter affair
Supreme Court hears growing n umber
Religion cases reflect trend
by DAVID E. ANDERSON
United Press International
At least three dozen cases, either directly or
indirectly involving religious and church-state
questions, went to the Supreme Court during
its last term, reflecting what one court observer
calls a national trend toward more and more
litigation.
Although most of these cases never made it to
the oral argument stage, some which did not —
controversies involving the Worldwide Church
of God and the United Methodist Church —
remain important and potentially significant
church-state cases almost certain to once again
come before the court.
“As was generally the case across the spec
trum of the court’s caseload,” says Stan Hastey
of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public
Affairs, “no clear trend was discernible in the
religion cases.”
“From the viewpoint of the religious com
munity itself, results received mixed reviews,
particularly the decision in the divisive Hyde
Amendment abortion funding case,” Hastey
said.
Perhaps no other case in recent history has
polarized the religious community as has the
Hyde Amendment case that dealt with a con
gressional ban on the use of public funds to pay
for abortions, particularly for poor women re
ceiving Medicaid.
The court upheld the ban on a 5-4 vote.
A large number of mainline Protestant chur
ches and Jewish groups, many of them working
through the Religious Coalition on Abortion
Rights, supported use of public funds to pay for
abortions and were sharply critical of the court’s
decision.
Roman Catholic and evangelical Protestants,
on the other hand, welcomed the court deci
sion, indicating that it would aid in a renewed
effort to pass a constitutional amendment in the
next Congress banning all abortions.
Although the issue of the free exercise and no
establishment clause of religion were raised by
parties in the case, the Supreme Court refused
to consider them in reaching its decision.
“Because of the narrowness of the decision
and the bitterness of the four (Supreme Court)
dissenters, as well as the polarization within
religious circles, controversy over abortion
promises to be a fixture on the American politic
al scene for the forseeable future,” Hastey said.
In what many church and chairtable organi
zation leaders called the court’s other most sig
nificant decision, the justices ruled 8-1 that loc
al municipalities may not forbid charitablfl
nizations, including churches, from solf 01
door-to-door.
The decision struck down an ordini
Schaumberg, Ill., which required
able groups obtain permits to solicit and^p,
to town officials that 75 percent of thelai
raised went to charity and not adminisfa!
costs. ((il|
Religious leaders said it was asolidvict,
their effort to limit government intn®! 1
church affairs, a matter of growing cont! I
church-state observers.
The court has already announced that
hear cases involving unemployment com!
tion for individuals who quit for rel
reasons and the conditions under whid
officials may permanently remove cl«
from their parents.
It is also possible that both the Woi
Church of God and the United Methodist'
involving government’s relation to cl ;
and to what extent government can deftfj
constitutes a church, may come back
court in its next term.
by Scott McCullar
GOOD CORNING
PROFESS OR..
GOT TO START
GOING HOME at night!
The Battalion
MEMBER
u S P S 045 360
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Congress
Editor Dillard Stone
City Editor Becky Swanson
Sports Editor Richard Oliver
News Editor Lynn Blanco
Staff Writers Uschi Michel-Howell,
Debbie Nelson, Cathy Saathoff,
Scot K. Meyer
Photo Editor Janet Golub
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