Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1980)
The Battalion Monday Texas A&M University October 13, 1980 Amenca i G. Rollie W "‘ reaction of Slouch By Jim Earle “I just couldn’t stay awake beyond halftime, and when I woke up I was locked in the Astrodome. Who won? ‘Despera te ’ Carter needs Chicago’s votes By MARCIA STEPANEK United Press International SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Tattered and bloodied by bitter local rivalries, the remnants of Chicago’s once-mighty Democratic machine are being drafted into national service — this time by a desperate president. It is uncertain, however, whether the neg lected legacy of Chicago’s late Mayor Richard J. Daley can hold up under the pressure. While supporters of both President Carter and GOP challenger Ronald Reagan are calling Illinois a toss-up, it is clear Carter is in trouble. Since mid-August, polls have shown Reagan with a slight lead. In recent weeks, that lead has been blurred by a high percentage of unde cided voters — 35 percent at last count. The candidates have been devoting an in ordinate amount of time to Illinois. Since Labor Day, Reagan has visited the Chicago area three times and his running mate, George Bush, has been in the state twice. Carter has visited Illi nois four times and Vice President Walter Mon dale twice. “Surrogates” for the candidates also have toured the state. “If the election were held today, there is no question Reagan would carry Illinois,” said Car ter spokeswoman Karen Scates. “But it’s not being held today. The key will be all the unde cided votes in the Chicago area.” These votes, both sides agree, are hidden among wavering backers of independent John Anderson who live in the liberal lakefront wards of the city and among the more affluent, liberal northern GOP suburbs. The recent closing of a steel plant on the city’s Southwest Side, said Scates, apparently has turned a large bloc of angry blue collar ethnic Democrats away from Carter. The Rev. James Wall, one of Carter’s earliest supporters in 1976, says, “What worries me is that this whole bloc will turn out to be one big protest vote, with much of the people being liberal and-or regular Democrats.” Anderson has launched a “grass roots” cam paign in Illinois to “keep the undecided unde cided,” said Anderson’s state coordinator David Schulz. GOP state Chairman Don Adams, however, predicts those votes will split. “We’re probably the only state in the union where the major media endorsed Anderson in the primary and they did one super job of boost ing him. Now, a lot of voters don’t know where to turn,” Adams said. Much of the confusion has been blamed on Chicago’s volatile Mayor Jane Byrne. A general attitude of fatalism and frustration, whispered among Illinois’ top Democrats, has renewed old fears Carter will be sandbagged by Byrne in Chicago, devastated by Reagan in suburbia and polished off by downstate farmers. Carter was able to woo much downstate support in 1976 because of his rural and religious background but now faces a growing number of nonbe lievers. Democratic state Treasurer Jerome Cosenti- no — a state party leader — insists the presi dent cannot win Illinois’s 26 electoral votes un til he wins Cook County and makes peace with Byrne. This peace so far has been cosmetic, too little too late, throwing even still more uncertainty into the contest. And while Carter’s recent visits to Illinois have been sweetened by a gush of federal loans and grants, Byrne’s support of the president has vacillated. Byrne, an early supporter of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, is refusing to back away from a Jan. 25 prediction, repeated Aug. 1 and again last month, that Carter will lose in Illinois. Each time she is asked whether she’s changed her mind, she has said only, “He has a lot of work to do It’s no piece of cake in Illinois . I’m working as hard as I will be able to for him, and I think other people are.” Her bitter feud for city control against state Sen. Richard M. Daley — son of the late mayor — has made pro-Carter politics and loyalties in Illinois less stable. As a result. Democratic ward committeemen have been tentative in their backing of Carter and are pushing him merely for the sake of the local ticket, Cosentino said. He said Carter’s decision to phone ward committeemen during his last Chicago visit helped, but Carter’s fai lure to visit the city until late last year has not been forgotten. Secretary of State Alan J. Dixon, who once viewed an easy road to the U.S. Senate this year, now is threatened by the prospect of a Reagan win. The GOP’s quest for the seat now held by the retiring Adlai E. Stevenson HI has has been formidable. “A president can usually control events but this time around, these events in this city are controlling him,” said Consentino. “He desper ately needs Chicago. I just hope it can deliver.” Sit-in protests ridiculousness of late A&M-Houston game two countri The Litth “down unde capacity cro new ones. The warn I was a Bad Ag Saturday night. I sat down during part of the Aggie game. I realize that Highway 6 runs both ways, but I’m not taking it in either direction. I’m going to stay here in Aggieland and confess my sins. I couldn’t help it. About the middle of the third quarter the absurdity of the whole situa tion hit me. There we were, watching the Ags play foot ball on a modified baseball diamond, at 1:30 in the morning, 10 feet from the top of the Astro dome. It was ridiculous, and I was tired, so I sat down. I stood patiently as pictures of UH players flashed across the king-size Lite-Brite Astro dome scoreboard. When the words to the UH school song appeared, I expected a bouncing ball to lead us through it. The little cowboys hopping around above the board are cute, but I was ready to pull the plug on the whole thing when the third Cook Paint commercial came on. A small, brave group of Ags in our section stood, even though we were a definite minority in that half-full section of nosebleed seats. I want to thank the C.T. s standing in front of me, because without them I would have given up a years ago as out smokin’, to a wide va min’ cajun i The Dirt ] versatile voi Sidetracks :‘tr J1K m: By Cathy Saathoff lot sooner. Those Astrodome padded seats looked inviting, even with trash from the Astros game stacked ankle-high around them. Watching the sidelines helped keep me awake and on my feet. Reveille showed a defi nite desire to bite the Houston mascot’s tail off, just like last year. The only difference was that this tail was on the real thing, not a coed in tights and whiskers. I was dying of thirst, but of course I was sitting next to a former Astroworld employee who told me some rumors about Astrodome concessions that made me decide to stay thirsty. When halftime came I was the first one down, and the first one back up when the Aggie Band took the field. They made the cutest little footprints on the dirt left in the middle of the field from the Astros’ game. I guess three years of watching Band has made me lose my acceptaj tain Fantastic band outfits and wi^ on the sidelines. t0 J amaic ^> We have a rule at The Battalia^ 1 r a University of Houston is nottobecalla^Tg^ it ^ High, but the name fits so well 1 co(|j et ’ s .be-gla break that rule. ^ at had G Little plastic footballs thrown outbiijWhen The with ostrich feathers in their blad ^chords of “B brought it all back to me. My high scr. -ended with out little footballs at the games, too ntystified. I stood again after halftime, untillll,, u thing become too much. It was som#scl!. sU ‘ r the two school bands had a play-off toHfri U ir the loudest. (We won.) So I sat down. I didn’t stay down it, exercise jumping up and down, andstxfl/T Ol voice when we made the touchdc'i^T wasn’t-a-touchdown. Around 2:30 a.m., when the ^ losing their battle with UH, thel won his battle with me. I gatheredniyl ings (which did not include a World’sOiF B y BE Day NCAA Football Game T-shirt 1? Batt Sol Astrodome, and headed home to Ageif. The concep on Highway 6. energy from t inderstand, e' iot scientists, ise is not quii Area citizen isk questions s ions of solar e arTown Hall, )e held at 7 p Jrazos Centei The forum series of 31 i lucted by th< iociety (TX-S1 he state ene Energy and Advisory Com The Texas S i non-profit as :ducate the j inergy by pros lublic progran >f the most ex ion and resoi tate. The speakei Most unint inEn United F FORT CF It’s your turn Cuban refugei ■ sh can wr “cheekei Changing of ‘parking situa tion ’ urged favorite clothe Editor: I think something really ought to be done about the parking situation here at A&M. I, for one, am sick of seeing those little yellow tickets on my windshield every time I turn around. I had never had a parking ticket of any type until I came to A&M, and in under one week’s time, I have had two. I have several reasons for this. The parking areas here on the immediate campus are at best crowded and poorly plan ned. Freshmen have few convienent places to park on campus, except across the railroad tracks on the west side. This is inefficient for those on the north side dorms, and impossible for the rest of us, especially those at the Ave. A Apts. Being a resident of Ave. A, I am already far off campus, and am forced to ride bikes as the only means of transportation. We have no shuttlebus service. My class schedule is arranged so that I have straight classes 8-2 on Wednesday and Friday, and I have no time between classes to waste. Add to this the loca tions across campus, and bad weather, especial ly rain, which frequents this area. Many of us here, especially the engineering and architec ture majors, have large drawing pads and de sign kits to carry. Several of us have been tick eted while attempting to pick up class materials to bring home. I feel that the main reason for this large amount of ticketing is negligence on the part of the University Police to inform students where restricted areas are. All parking lots on campus are at best only badly marked — signs are vague and far separated. No information in form of pamphlet regarding parking areas has been given to most students, although a map is avail able at the police station. Many students are simply unaware or confused of the regulations of these areas, and hence are justifiably mad when ticketed. As an example, an incident occured at Ave. A earlier this week. Police threatened to give tickets to cars parked in spe cifically designated parking areas, because of an attempt to start a lawn there. The fact is, no prior warning had been given. Here again, the police fall back on the “Ignorance of the law is no excuse ...” cliche, and regarding on campus parking, make some curt reply “You should have seen the map ...” (as in my personal ex perience). However when maps are not distri buted, we can’t help but feel that entrapment is the case. Warped By Scott McCallar The Battalion instructors, bt that most of th little interest i Daily “survi With the revenue acquired on these[|waiting^rese violations, I feel that several things «>t»nsolidated ii done. Firstly, more limited time parkiiiitelocation cen such as those marked for 15 or 30 w But instruct should be designated. New signs desijjrftherefugees exactly where restricted parking areaPu-hourlesso possibly with the use of a simple coloN® ™ se . r ^8 istl system, should be designated. A better e e e . ra mation program on the part of the Udi^ ^ ^ Police should be distributed, logically * p oriner L itt time of car registrations. Possibly the pendent Dr. multi-level parking garages at key !oc%g the langu such as the present site of Lot 60 near the volunteer ager complex, facilitating student and conv®d sponsors conference parking needs. The moneyhj^dest on ph in by these tickets should be used t°war^ at ‘ east terment of this terrible parking situation, 1 ^ ^ ^ we happen to see shiny, new police JEerstandTln semester, we’ll all know where it went ^ t ^ e i angua Tom Kostelf' quiring the re Editor’s note: This letter was accompa^only would bri 10 other signatures. disruptive” e ■brooms. Instruction U S P S 045 360 MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Editor Dillard Stone Managing Editor Rhonda Watters Asst. Managing Editor Scott Haring City Editor Becky Swanson Asst. City Editor Angelique Copeland Sports Editor Richard Oliver Asst. Sports Editor Ritchie Priddy Focus Editor Scot K. Meyer Asst. Focus Editor Cathy Saathoff News Editors Lynn Blanco, Gwen Ham, Todd Woodard Staff Writers Kurt Allen, Nancy Andersen Marcy Boyce, Mike Burrichter, Pat Davidson, Jon Heidtke, Uschi Michel-Howell, Kathleen McElroy, Debbie Nelson, Liz Newlin, Rick Stolle Cartoonist Scott McCullar Photo Editor Pat O’Malley Photographers George Dolan, Brent Frerck, Jeff Kerber Questions or comments concerning any editoriil < should be directed to the editor. Johnson said a Pparently are Spanish-speak leave Fort Ch many oth dtem out of cl LETTERS POLICY Letters to the Editor should not exceed300 words in and are subject to being cut if they are longer. The edit( reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. £* must also be signed, show the address and phone numbe' 1 writer. Columns and guest editorials are also welcome, subject to the same length constraints as letters. bwF inquiries and correspondence to: Editor, The Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College StotW 77843. EDITORIAL POUCY The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper op erated as a community service to Texas A&M University and Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or the author, and do not necessarily repre sent the opinions of Texas A&M University administrators or faculty members, or of the Board of Regents. The Battalion is published daily during Texas A&M! spring semesters, except for holiday and examination Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $33.25 pf' year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates furnished 111 quest. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald B' Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, United Press International is entitled exclusively toK for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it. reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX Tm