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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:
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Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $33.25
year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates furnished 0 '
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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 <'
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