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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1980)
Viewpoint Lc Mic The Battalion Texas A&M University Thursday October 16, 1980 Slouch By Jim Earle “This is the hardest part of the Aggie Blood Drive donors in a voluntary state!” keeping the Senator explains minors bill By PHIL HANNAH This is in response to the articles concerning my bill in the student senate about the recogni tion of minors. This is also a response to the many questions of those thousands of students who are concerned. The bill that I have introduced to the student senate simply states: “Whereas many students have minors outside of their major fields of study, and whereas there is no official documentation of the completion of these minors, therefore be it resolved that the Reg istrar’s Office place the student’s minor, if ap plicable, on the official transcript, in order to insure proper and official recognition of com pleted minors.” The bill was drafted as a result of my concerns and the rightful concerns of my constituents, those students in the College of Liberal Arts. The bill is intended ONLY to give recognition on transcripts of those students who have de clared minors, as approved by their college. It is not my intention to create new minors. In no way does this bill state that any student may independently declare a minor. This is to be rightfully left up the discretion of the student’s college. If the college should decide, in the future, to allow for minors then, by all means, the student should be recognized for his work in achieving that minor. Reader’s Forum A few of my fellow students have come to the conclusion that the bill “is not clear. ” As the bill is written, the only students and colleges who would be affected by this are those who already have minors! This is emphasized by the phrase “if applicable. ” Do not let some deceive you by saying that there are no minors at Texas A&M. Let me refer you to the 1980-81 Texas A&M Catalog: on p. 198 it clearly states, under the section for the College of Liberal Arts: “Goal VI: Minor Field of Study: To ensure additional depth and breadth, all students (in Liberal Arts) must select a minor field of study from depart ments or divisions within or outside of the Col lege of Liberal Arts, consisting of a minimum of 12 hours of course work, at least half of which must be in upper division (300 and 400 level) courses. A second major field of study may be substituted for the minor.” The Academic Affairs Committee, which is composed of students, reported this bill out unfavorably for two reasons: 1) there are no minors at Texas A&M, and 2) theCoors Board in Austin would probably not; with the bill. If th <■ i < ui < no minors at Fexas Atii the College of Liberal Arts is non-exi the official undergraduate catalogisai) student senate, your elected repre: body, is here to represent your views.: of the Coordinating Board in Austin. Fd 12 or more hours of extra work that all arts students are required to take, tlicj official recognition in this Universih. evidence is the record of those classesoj transcript. After looking over hunil| transcripts, a visiting personnel mana| easily miss any concentration in than the major field of study. Is thereti harm in simply stating on the trans JOB: xxxx MINOR: yyyy, for theses who now have minors? I see no logical reason for the irratia sition to this bill. It is very dishearte^ work so hard for one simple goal, onlyt torn apart by petty quibbling, politidd jealousies. I urge you, as future grad| support this bill by attending the student meeting, which is open to all, on We October 22 at 7:30 in 204 HECC. Phil Hannah is a senior senator m College of Liberal Arts. D YOU THINK IM DIRTY? •JOU SHOULD SEE RE/m IVE BEEN HEAPIN'TBHff ON HIM FORMS fo Pro-Myers votes came from intellectual rebels By DON PHILLIPS United Press International WASHINGTON — The 30 congressmen who voted not to expel Rep. Michael Myers, D-Pa., from the House are an odd assortment of House leaders, liberals, minorities and men who are themselves in trouble in Abscam and other investigations. In short, the Myers expulsion was opposed by some of the most respected and the most suspected people in the House. The reasons for their “no’s” in the 376-30 vote, clearly, are different. Of course, almost no one voted against Myers’ expulsion because they wanted to sup port Myers. House members who viewed the videotapes of Myers both accepting a bribe and demanding more were repulsed. And perhaps even more damaging was Myers’ slugging of a waitress in a suburban bar in January 1979. Despite society’s trend toward liberation for women. Congress remains an out wardly chivalrous institution; a gentleman does not hit a woman. To vote for Myers, members had to be spur red by other reasons than popularity. Rep. Charles Wilson, D-Calif., and others who have been disciplined by the House in the “Koreagate” scandal and other such incidents, felt a natural kindredship for someone in the same situation. For those indicted or implicated in the Abscam investigation, the no vote is easy to understand. They almost certainly feel the hot breath of their colleagues on their own necks. If it can happen to Myers, it can happen to them. In reality, probably no other Abscam mem ber will be expelled. Of the three Abscam members who voted “no,” Rep. Richard Kelley, R-Fla., was defe ated in a primary election. Reps. John Murphy, D-N.Y., is an influential committee chairman, and Rep. Raymond Lederer, D-Pa., is not near ly as unpopular as Myers. Two other House members implicated in the Abscam scandal — Reps. John Jenrette, D- S.C., and Frank Thompson, D-N.J., did not vote. Thompson, however, is a popular man with his colleagues and no one believes he would ever be expelled. Jenrette is on trial as an Abscam defendant in Washington, and perhaps is in as much danger as any Abscam congressman. But Jenrette and all the others indicted in the Abscam investigation have one thing going for them that Myers did not have. Their cases will not come before the House with an election only a few weeks away. It was this volatile political situation that brought several respected House members to vote against the Myers expulsion, including Rep. Louis Stokes, D-Ohio, who introduced an unsuccessful motion to delay the Myers matter until after the election. This fear that Congress was becoming a lynch mob because of an impending election spurred others to vote against the first expulsion since 1861, including such respected members as Reps. Parren Mitchell, D-Md., and Robert Drinan, D-Mass. Several liberals voted against expulsion in cluding Reps. Pete Stark, D-Calif, William Ford, D-Mich., Fred Richmond, D-N.Y., and Theodore Weiss, D-N.Y. And in addition to Mitchell and Stokes, num erous black, Hispanic and other minority mem bers voted against the expulsion, including Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., William Clay, D-Mo., Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., Robert Gar cia, D-N.Y., Henry Gonzalez, D-Texas, and Mickey Leland, D-Texas. Two members high in the House leadership voted against expulsion — Rules Committee chairman Richard Bolling, D-Mo., and Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill. One reason seldom given, but which must have ranked high among many members, was the basic question of who should be the judge of who should sit in the House. For two centuries, the House has jealously guarded its image as the house of the people. Unlike the Senate, no one — not even a gov ernor — may appoint someone to fill a House vacancy; only the people of a district may do so in an election. The Constitution clearly says that the House may expel a member on a two-thirds vote. But a 435-member body last Thursday substituted its judgment for the 478,310 people in Myers’ dis trict, and left them without a congressman. That must leave a funny feeling in the pits of 435 stomachs. If then saying “ Texas / Drill Te way. * It s your turn Would columns have run if we’d won? Editor: Call me a Bad Ag or anything you want, but I felt I had to write about the University of Hous ton. I read Sidetracks and Reflections in Mon day’s Battalion and while I agree that their fans were a bit rude I keep thinking of the game here last year and wondering if we were any better. After all, who ripped the tail off the UH mascot last year? I’d also like to comment on what Cathy Saathoff said about the UH band. True, their uniforms are pretty colorful, but that’s typical of most college bands. The Aggie Band is different in that respect — and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I think the Aggie Band is the best but I also think the UH band is very good. Both bands were out on the field to entertain the fans during halftime and both did an excellent job. I’d also like to know why Richard Oliver felt it necessary to lump the Cougar fans, the officials and the players together in one sentence. Sure ly he’s not trying to blame UH for the officials’ bad calls. That seems a little unfair. And while I’m defending UH I may as well ask why people think it’s such a poor school academically. I’ve heard about a lot of their programs and they all seem to be academically sound. Before anyone writes any nasty replies to this letter and asks me why I’m here if I think UH is such a good school, I’d like to say that as good as UH might be, A&M is better. I would never pick UH over A&M but I felt it was time some one defended them. And as something to think about — would we have read the same articles in Monday’s Battalion if we had won the game? Laura Magner ’82 man ye< The s’ brows ir ver’s be strange But c disagree to be a p to any c experiei Perha these ffi er Terr vated ir team’s 1 Estab vin Ree ally crea -I freshme gated tc old Bry uppercl man sck champi< of troph five-yea tween Sul Ross’ statue and the AcademicE- 1 Washin ing). Were the students lined up next ^ tended 11 ' statue supposed to be there? If so, thissl Winr be changed for the benefit of future famili q U it e a students are not allowed to obstruct thev®aid, c the families, why were they not asked to® teams a We were also under the impression thC “Usui intramural games scheduled for the tifflWPPercl Silver Taps were to be rescheduled sotfe lights across the tracks could be turned ^ ^° n l along with the other lights on campus, 1 Warped By Scott McCullar v < . r I along witn tne otner ngnts on campus, iwi Inf, 111 is TapS aCtlOnS disrespectful were these very bright lights left on, but sound of whooping and hollering continue pionshi] through what is supposed to be a verysor drill tea ceremony. We found this to be mostdisruf by beir and disrespectful to the deceased Aggiesb champii honored. with 1? Chris Canteb ,ohn , R ' g £ HewS: diCra., ® Petition Editor: Having recently attended Silver Taps (Oct. 7) as guests of the family of a deceased Aggie, we were disappointed to find the family unable to observe the ceremony. A line of well wishing Aggies had formed between the Ross Volun teers and the area reserved for the family (be- The Battalion 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 editorial 1 should he directed to the editor. teams n there Anaheii Only LETTERS POLICY Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in and are subject to being cut if they are longer. The editor- reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, I s - make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each 1 ': must also be signed, show the address and phone numbt^ writer. Columns and guest editorials are also welcome, subject to the same length constraints as letters. Add#*, inquiries and correspondence to: Editor, The Battalio' Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Staho 1 77843. EDITORIAL POLICY The Battalion is a non-proRt, 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 year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates furnished 0 ' quest. ^ Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Be' Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. United Press International is entitled exclusively t° 1 for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it. B* 1, reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. ^ Second class postage paid at College Station, TX <' .fc *Sp M *Se Jei *Gf Sv A( 809