Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Friday
November 14, 1980
Slouch
By Jim Earle
“I’ve heard of flour bombs and soap bombs, but this is my
first encounter with a soot bomb. ”
By JERELYN EDDINGS
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Ronald Reagan, who
stood in front of the nation’s Capitol a few
months ago in a grand show of GOP unity, can
expect a better working relationship with lead
ers of the new Republican Senate than Jimmy
Carter ever had with the Democrats.
Reagan, who worked closely with congres
sional Republicans in the months before Tues
day’s victories and whose campaign was headed
by Sen. Paul Laxalt, can’t possibly expect much
Senate Democratic Leader Robert Byrd, D-
W.Va., spoke out frequently against Carter’s
foreign policy decisions and was often known to
be miffed at Carter’s lack of consultation with
him on important national affairs.
The Democratic-controlled Congress also re
jected several of Carter’s initiatives and over
turned by embarrassing margins two of his 24
vetoes, including the 10-cent-a-gallon oil im
port fee he announced with much fanfare last
March.
Reagan, on the other hand, goes to the White
House on a friendly basis with Republicans in
Congress.
He came to Washington during the campaign
for a special GOP “unity day” and stood outside
the Capitol, flanked by Republican congres
sional candidates and others who were not run
ning. Many worked as advisers to his campaign,
unlike with Carter, who came to Washington as
an outsider.
Leading Republicans, such as Sens. Robert
Dole of Kansas and Rep. Barber Conable of
New York, also had news conferences in
Washington simultaneously with Reagan’s Los
Angeles news conferences to announce Repub
lican programs such as the Reagan-Kemp-Roth
tax cut proposal (named for the GOP nominee
and the bill’s House and Senate sponsors.)
Some of the new Senate Republicans, who
ousted such prominent liberals as Birch Bayh of
Indiana, George McGovern of South Dakota
and Warren Magnuson of Washington, rode
Reagan’s coattails to Washington.
“All of us owe Ronald Reagan and George
Bush a great debt of gratitude, ” Senate GOP
leader Howard Baker said after the election.
Baker, who ran against Reagan for the Re
publican nomination for president, says a much
closer working relationship will exist between
the White House and Congress in the new
administration.
“I used to get along better with the Democra
tic majority than President Carter did, ” he told
reporters recently.
Some leading Democrats will even find it
easier to work with Reagan than they did with
Carter. Veteran Sen. Henry Jackson, D-Wash.,
has agreed already to work on a Reagan transi
tion team and is rumored to be considered for a
Cabinet post.
Baker should be the new majority party lead
er, despite rumblings of a challenge to his
leadership from the far right. Laxalt plans to
nominate him when Republicans caucus in
January, and Reagan gave Baker his full support
two days after the elections.
Reagan could have a tougher time dealing
with liberal House Speaker Thomas O’Neill,
DMass., but O’Neill will actually have his own
troubles with only a 50-vote majority and many
conservative Democrats who already side with
Republicans on key issues.
Next year will be the first time since 1930
that a president has worked with split leader
ship in Congress. The GOP won control of both
houses in 1929, when Herbert Hoover was
elected, but the death of a few Republicans
gave Democrats control of the House the next
year.
The last time voters put different parties in
charge of the two chambers was in 1916.
Don’t believe magazine,
fairy tale view of romance
I’ve taken a wrong turn along the yellow-
brick road of romance. I’m leading a life of
disillusion.
The problem is I always believed all that
garbage in the fairy tales. I was sure that all I
had to do to find my life’s beloved is to slip into
something more comfortable, flutter my mas-
caraed eyelashes and take a nice, peaceful nap
until some reasonably good-looking, All-
American hunk walked up and gave me a kiss.
That always worked for the princesses I read
about.
As fairy-tale fantasies go, this one is false. I’m
not the princess type and it probably wouldn’t
work if I was, so I might as well step into mod
ern times.
But, modern times seem to have the same
kind of garbage. A princess of fantasy days must
now be a fox to get any action. Although it was
hard for me in the old days, being a fox seems to
be just as difficult.
Times have changed again. As I was thumb-
Offhand
By Venita McCellon
ing through my roommate’s November issue of
Mademoiselle, I found the new identity for
women. Right behind the article entitled
“Were You Born To Be Fat?,” I found that to
win a man in life, I have to be a Sex Kitten.
Mind you, I’m not talking about your normal,
everyday kitty cat that chows down on Tender
Vittles. Today’s sex kittens have to be softly
adorable, touchable, lucious and innocent. A
sex kitten. It sounds just a touch ridiculous to
me.
The sex kittens in the magazine were sitting
demurely on a sofa, with seductive sweaters
that would never stand up to a freeze,
women looked as if they wouldn’t even be
to stand up to a nice breeze. But, there theyn
on that couch, waiting for the man of mydret
to walk into their lives.
I’ll never be a sex kitten. By the time 1 mi
it through the day, I always return home 14
ing a little more like a plow horse that’s
hard day in the field than a sex kitten,
Not that I blame the men. When anything!
packaged in such a delectable way and handed
to them on a platter, I really don’t expect then
to refuse. That would be stupid.
So where does that leave me? In the pits
horse category, which is never, splashed on t
pages of magazines or in the minds of men.
But, there’s some consolation. I’m confide®
that some day, somewhere, men are gc
get smart. Then they’ll figure out what hi
known for years. A good plow horse who knot;
her stuff is worth a lot of money. You canhanHj
give a lousy cat away.
Reagan to improve
congressional rela tions
It’s your turn
Misinformed senators defeated beer bil
Editor:
This is in response to your article “Senate
votes MSC Basement suds-less” that appeared
on the front page of The Battalion last week. In
the article, we read of the nice arguments
against beer and wine in the Basement. That’s
all they arguments were; just nice, nice and
wrong. We fail to see any logical reasoning
behind certain senators’ statements against the
bill. “Liquor will lower the quality of entertain
ment in the Basement. ” As you know, the cost
of entertainment is skyrocketing. So far, the
MSC Basement Committee has done a superb
job in finding quality, low-cost entertainers to
bring to the basement. But with budget cuts
and the ever-increasing competition from other
clubs, the Basement finds it increasingly diffi
cult to bring the type quality of entertainment
Texas A&M needs and deserves. Of course,
beer and wine is added income. Since the MSC
Basement Committee is a non-profit organiza
tion, this added income would be channelled
directly back into programming. This would
result in better, higher-priced acts, at a low cost
to the student. Are acts such as B.W. Steven
son, Michael Murphey, Gallagher, etc. a step
down in quality?
“Something must be wrong with the Base
ment Committee if it needs alcohol to survive,”
another senator added. First of all, if this sena
tor had ever been to a Basement production, he
would have known better. The MSC Basement
Committee has been very successful in the past
few years in bringing a wide variety of music
and comedy to the A&M campus. The recent,
sold-out Shake Russell/Dana Cooper Band
show in the 750-seat Rudder Theater was our
largest show ever. On Nov. 21 and 22 we are
hosting the first new wave invasion of Bryan-
College Station. The Skunks will be performing
two shows, and we expect a full house each
night. No, there is definitely nothing wrong
with the MSC Basement Committee, at the
moment.
But, as we’ve already pointed out, increasing
production costs, non-increasing funds and
growing outside competition could meantif
ble in the future. Beer and wine could boost!;
Basement over the competition’s head, I®
agine, outside clubs competing with
ment.
Our point is, there are many outstanii
arguments for and against beer and wine in
Basement. Why weren’t these brought u[
the discussion? Obviously the points bron.
up were products of misinformed senators, ft
bill has already been shot down, so there isrf
much we can do now. We just hope this
incident is not typiqal of all senate decision
Steve Schulte, Chair#
Nicki Wolpmann, Vice Chair#
MSC Basement Comn#
Warped
By Scott McCullar
WHAt'j this
l)
on, SOME OLD SCIENCE
FICTION, LOW-
B0D6E.T TURKEY.
THAT?)
THAT‘5 THE TOKEN
WOMAN THAT M-WfifS
GETS DRAGGED ALONG.
A CARP BOARD
CUT-OPT ?
THE BUP&ET FOR THIS
WAS SO LOW THEY C0ULDN7
AFFORD AN ACTRESS TO
PO IT.
The Battalion
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