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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 1980)
Viewpoint The Battalion Texas A&M University Thursday November 20,1980 Slouch By Jim Earle HIPPY SLOUCH Nov. 1953 - Nov. 1980 27 Years & 4200 cartoons later Time for GOP to reap the victor's rewards By STEVE GERSTEL United Press International WASHINGTON — An army of Democrats will depart the Senate in January — hoisting high the white flag of surrender — after revel ing more than a quarter of a century in the spoils of war. This is civilized warfare Republicans and Democrats engage in every two years. Casual ties are counted in the number of jobs, not lives, lost. Nevertheless, the news from the battlefield can be grim — and not only for the generals and admirals. One estimate is that some 3,000 Democrats are now looking for new spots. There is no need for them to wait until January because only a few, at best, will be able to hang on. Under normal circumstances — those that Democrats have become accustomed to over the last 26 years — the blow of election defeats can be softened. But not this time. The network of alliances and professional friendships, forged in the incestous atmosphere of the Senate, will not be enough to allow the rank-and-file to move from one job to another without ever stepping outdoors. job-hunting at the other end of the avenue. But those jobs, too, are going to the Republicans. The generals and admirals — the senators who were ousted in the conservative purge or defeated in party primaries — will also be on the streets come January. But there is no chance any of them will go hungry. Election day marked the end an era. Demo cratic dominance is over. And hungry Republi cans want to jobs for their own. The only other departing senator with a chance for a spot in the Reagan administration is Sen. Richard Stone, who lost his primary. It doesn’t mean the Senate will be stripped of Democrats next January. Far from it. The Democrats will still assign one-third of all committee staffers and all Democratic sena tors will have their staffs. The minority leader ship gets its own hierarchy. Democrats can name doormen, elevator operators and pages. Stone, a moderate, is one of three Democrats named to Reagan’s transition team dealing with foreign policy. He could become an undersec retary of state. Several Democrats — Birch Bayh of Indiana, Frank Church of Idaho, John Culver of Iowa and Donald Stewart of Alabama — are young enough to make another try. But the Republicans now have two-thirds of all committee assignments, a huge leadership staff and all the plums the sergeant-at-arms can hand out. In fact, Sergeant-at-Arms Nordy Hoffman, although personally popular with all senators, must also go. The post pays too much to leave to a Democrat. Barry Goldwater of Arizona and Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota returned to the Sen ate after their failed runs at the White House. Not many others have tried and succeeded. Senate President Pro Tern Warren Magnu- son of Washington will dissapear into retire ment unless a law firm wants his name on the door. If President Carter had won re-election, many of those leaving Capitol Hill could go And if tradition holds, very few of the sena tors will return to their states. Washington has become their real home. Warped Preventive cruising, bo re don characterize nights on patrol Jim Huff is a sergeant on the Texas A&M University police force. We all know what that means. He writes a lot of tickets and hassles a lot of students, right? Wrong. During the two nights I rode with him on patrol, we responded to a wreck which sent a student to St. Joseph Hospital. We took an ill man to A.P. Beutel Health Center. We aided three ill students until paramedics arrived. We investigated a malfunction in a fire alarm sys tem in a dormitory. We retrieved a student’s books, which had been locked in the library. No ticket writing, no “busts.” We did a lot of preventive cruising through campus. No racing through stop signs, no doughnuts in parking lots. And between calls we talked a lot. We talked about what influenced him to be- Staff notebook By Jennifer Afflerbach come a cop. “My dad is sheriff of Live Oak County (be tween San Antonio and Corpus Christi). It’s something I always grew up with. It kind of gets in your blood.” We talked about the frustrations of the job. “On campus, a lot of people think our only function is to write parking citations, to harass them. They don’t see the total picture of the services that we provide, until they are needed. I think it’s kind of unfortunate because we do many other functions. The one that is seen or recognized by most is the one that is most un popular — ticketing vehicles.” We talked about the satisfactions. “What the officers really appreciate is for somebody just to say, ‘Thank you. ’ Also, there’s just the satisfaction you yourself get out of help ing people.” We talked about the low pay. “The salary isn’t very good at all. It’s some thing you’re in because you like it. You’ll never get rich at it.” We talked about his opinion of female officers. “A female officer can handle some si possibly a little bit better than a can, especially situations where va another female involved. 1 definitely^ mind having a female partner to ride We talked about whether he eti scared. “You don’t really get scared until afte thing happens. Yes, 1 have been scat I ’ve been more scared after 1 sit downs the report.” We talked about the incident thats most in his mind after a year on the One night last fall, he got a call thata| jjfiat cated student was in a dorm chasing around with a butcher knife. “I went up there with three other We tried to talk the knife away Finally, after 10 to 15 minutes ofreasoi him, he put it down. No one got hurt, will forget that.” We talked about why he likes pol “It’s always changing. You don trei what to expect.” I know what I expected. An episi Baretta. Instead, it was more likeAi No flaunting of authority. Just mannered public assistance. Most are well-off, some wealthy and more than one qualifies as a legitimate millionaire. And the doors are usually open — to law firms, lobbying groups, universities and corporation board rooms — for former senators. No experi ence needed. ‘Fish-Zi Peoph 'eal their . hey might f nnoying ha THE SECRET OF SATURN'S RING PATTERNS REVEALED... It’s your turn By BA Ba te un exas A&M Mary Cox. Sen. Jacob Javits of New York, although 76 and ailing, is open to an offer from the Reagan administration. 1 ‘Exceptional’ classes well worth search he Depart sychology, queto get Several dc itional psyc ypnosis to I faints rangi iting. Cox inictohelp hough the most over, robably sta It (hypno Rich with th Jo he open t( The point lypnotized. red and ge abit." They owe him something. His refusal to bow out let conservative Republican Alfone D’Ama- to win the Senate seat. And he campaigned for Reagan in Florida, New Jersey and New York. There has been some talk — not much — of an ambassadorship, perhaps roving, perhaps some Western European nation or perhaps Israel. Editor: It is pre-registration time again. In the spirit of quality education, I set out to compile a list of the “exceptional” classes and their professors. I must admit, so far the search has been a failure. ( The reasons for the failure seem worth not ing. The problem is not that there are no excep tional teachers at this university — there are many. McDermott in philosophy, Adams in history, Bryant in anthropology, all come high ly recommended and that list is by no means complete. In fact, the number of good profs is part of the problem. It is hard to be recognized as superb when everyone around is pretty darn good. The size of the University also hampered me. I tried to limit my search to those courses you might take with an elective — mainly liberal arts. I came nowhere near checking all of the possibilities, must less checking all of the de partments. It was also hard to find students who had strong opinions about their classes. Many of the students were interested solely in their major. Others wanted their electives as easy A’s. Many students don’t even look for a good prof when they pick their electives. To me the last reason for failure is the greatest failure. It would be unfortunate if a student left this school without taking a good elective just for education’s sake. It is worth the search to find a prof who teaches like Dickson in archeology, or Stacell in environmental design, or Dale in English. The looking ain’t easy, but the payoff makes it well worth it. Dave Witzel Wilson needs board support Editor: An Open Letter to the Board of Directors, Texas A&M: “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise” — is an admonition that speaks pointedly at this time to all of us who love Texas A&M. With rumors, and rumors of rumors, running rife concerning the A&M foot ball situation, wisdom with strength is urgently needed, and there is no better place to start than with the A&M Board of Regents. A unanimous vote of confidence publicly espoused by the board at this point in time for Coach Tom Wilson, would be the greatest sing le catalyst to continue opr football prof the positive direction recently startedl)) , Wilson at great personal risk to hiitf family and his career. Such undertali Coach Wilson required just such wisdoi needed by the board now to back him fullest. What Coach Wilson has done this )i quired soul searching of mountainous pi tion and quality found in only the occasional public figure. What Coacl did looks far beyond this season, but success with quality for years to come. What is needed now is wisdom will set solidly with him. Let’s get about il together — beginning with our gents. Coach Wilson has started us on which leads to greatness — but it require! pline, integrity, hard work and devoti* great school. Coach Wilson has put hinis his career on the line for us and mi excuses. Isn’t it time we stood firmly w* man? Dan R. Sutherland, Ml ran thletes t Cai1 .J)! dcoordin; also h and ski Cox said s yoking to ers from p receptiv from 30 ie °pl e , Cox it 6 diffei Board* tl* ast; By Scott McCuttar The Battalion U S P S 045 1360 MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Questions or comments concerning any editorial ^ should be directed to the editor. 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 Jennifer Afflerbach, Kurt Allen, Nancy Andersen, Marcy Boyce, Jane G. 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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 Acuity members, or of the Board of Regents. The Battalion is published daily during Texas A&M'v- spring semesters, except for holiday and examination |* Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $33.25p« year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates famished* quest. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald fb' Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, United Press International is entitled exclusively toil® for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it, W reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX Hypnotisr iy kind of I MAh M y Cor e sted in Jggies t “e exec |ype ind have a s frve com Position ooreer w income c °Pportur infilling n°me 0 1 p 0R pef CA JHOM J' 0 - DRA £? LLEgi (7i 3) 696-7 IS!> *1