Viewpoint The Battalion Friday Texas A&M University December 12, 1980 Slouch By Jim Earle “Could you graduating seniors continue your countdown until gradua tion in minutes instead of in seconds? It would be appreciated by those of us who are not graduating. ” Adversaries review election campaign By DAVID BRODER CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — For the third straight election, the managers, pollsters and media strategists for the presidential candidates gathered this past weekend, under the friendly auspices of the Institute of Politics of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, to review with each other the deci sions they made while they were adversaries. Representatives of three Democrats, six Re publicans and one independent who sought the presidency were brought together for the weekend. It was, for the most part, an extraor dinary demonstration of the essential civility of the relations among political professionals in this country, a mixture of good manners and genuine camraderie that would baffle anyone from a society where politics is viewed as a form of personal or ideological warfare. The substance of the round-table discussion must remain private, under the ground rules, until Harvard University Press publishes the edited transcript of the conference in book form next summer. It will make interesting reading. But for those of us who watched the conference unfold, the real fascination was the personal chemistry among the victors and vanquished, as they re viewed a struggle that played so central a part in all their lives. Some of Jimmy Carter’s key players did not come, the role reversal from 1976 apparently being more than they could publicly endure at this point. But those who did — including such key figures as Tim Kraft and Pat Caddell — were generous in their admiration of the win ning Reagan strategists, led by Bill Casey, Richard Wirthlin, Peter Dailey and Lyn Nofizi- ger. So were the representatives of the various losing Republican contenders and so was the man who called himself “the biggest loser of them all,” John B. Anderson. In that respect, the atmosphere of this con ference was much more like that of 1976 than of 1972. In 1976, the admiration for the Carter group’s at^men came unforced from defeated Republicans and Udall-Jackson-Brown Demo crats alike. It was very different in 1972, when the shadow of the unfolding Watergate stroy clouded discussions between the McGovern Warped Christmas gifts I don’t want As Christmas approaches, stones in the media about gifts pop up daily. Often it is a chance for these media types to knock out a story and indicate what they want for Christmas at the same time. Syndicated columnist Dick West has one saying what he does not want. Andy Rooney from 60 Minutes has one too. Since there are a lot of gifts I do not want and there are a lot of people who want to give me gifts, I think it only fair that I have one, too. First of all I do not want a T-shirt that says “I’m proud to be an Aggie” with several botch ed spellings of Aggie crossed out. This should not be construed as anti- Aggieism. However I do try to be selective about what I wear in public, and if I am given one it will join my “Luv Ya Blue” and “My Notepad By Glenn Krampota Parents Went to Las Vegas and All I Got was This Lousy T-shirt” collection in my teasip goodwill box. That taken care of, I do not want anything advertised on television after 10 p. m. and that is ordered through the mail from Houston or Atlanta. , I do not need any help in preparing the pizzas I send out for nightly, and I also dok cards that tell all about Americanhisbj have completed both History 10E Electronic games are out too. 1 thing with batteries I cannot keepkt| the top of the battery to see if its Furthermore, I do not want to her? blurting out in amazement Awcom| in there!? whenever I lose in elect ey, football, basketball, baseball, orso Finally, I do not want ababyvai wants a pet that will end up bitit connected-to-the-shoulder-connectd arm-connected-to-thc-hand that fcedii| Just what do 1 want? Well, it is toll no surprise, but here’s a hint: wrong inside a hank, jewelry store,] dealership. envn and Nixon forces, and no one could mistake the tensions between the secretive Nixon group and their supposed fellow-partisans from the Republican National Committee. This year’s conference resembled 1972’s in only one respect: The enmities between rival factions inside the Democratic Party are very sharp after this defeat, just as they were after the McGovern rout eight years ago. The most emotionally tinged exchanges in the meeting involved Carter and Kennedy spokesmen, re living and re-justifying the tactics they used on each other in the winter primaries and in the summer maneuvering that kept the nomination fight going until the August convention. Since this was a gathering of political profes sionals, it will not surprise you that the hero of the weekend, the man whose work was most widely and spontaneously praised, both at the table and in private conversations, was Repub lican National Chairman Bill Brock. His comments on the developments in the Republican nomination battle, the convention and the fall campaign were sparing but excep- It’s your turn Stanislav’s remarks‘without substaim Editor: This is in response to the letter by Paul Stanislav, published in your December 10 Bat talion. tionally candid. They struck me as the words of a man who had done the job he hired on to do superbly well and felt completely secure about his own place in the political history of this period. Without bragging, Brock can claim that from 1977 on, he kept Republican eyes focused on the economic issue and led an unprecedently well-conceived, well-organized and well- financed media and political campaign to use that issue to break apart the old Democratic coalition. With powerful reinforcement from the equally disciplined and focused Reagan cam paign, Brock saw his efforts achieve the greatest Republican victory in a generation. And he did it in a way that won admiration untinged by bitterness from the Democrats he defeated. Bob Keffe the Democratic pro who had a large hand in the 1976 Tennessee campaign that defeated Brock for re-election to the Senate, told him here, “I think I did your party a favor by making you available for the chairmanship.” The one thing on which the quarreling Demo crats might agree is that they would like to find — and hire — a national chairman like Bill Brock. Personally, I do not take your letter too seriously, Mr. Stanislav, because I know many of the grievances you have with the Corps are without substance. Unfortunately, the uniniti ated reader may not, and hence may actually believe you. This, I cannot tolerate. I shall,/ therefore, respond to your letter despite the fact that you will doubtlessly hurl me into the ranks of the Corps “hypocrites.” Your letter, Mr. Stanislav, is fundamentally incorrect. You unfairly represent the Corps when you say that discrimination and prejudice run rampant on the Quad. Let us examine some facts. There are approximately 85 female cadets in the Corps. Of this number, four have achieved the rank of cadet major or above, one is the commander of the Fourth Battalion, one is in Parsons’Mounted Cavalry, and one has been named best drilled cadet in the Corps two years consecutively. The “Waggies” also won the Butch Baldridge Wing drill award, again, last year. One cannot feasibly deny that there are disparities, but one also needs to be aware of something. Texas A&M is a school seeped in tradition; the University was all-male until 1963, and the Corps was all-male until 1975. If you relate these facts to the position of the Waggies, you will see that they have made tremendous strides forward. Your remark that the Corps discriminates “worse than the Klan” is shrouded by the many achievements of the racial and ethnic minorities within the Corps. Face it, you’re barking up the wrong tree. The theme of your letter which I find most unsavory is your continued reference to the quality of leadership produced by the Corps. For the record, Mr. Stanislav, the Corps always has and always will produce leaders of the high est caliber. Leadership training is one of the primary purposes of the Corps. Beyond this, however, the Corps provides valuable friend ship, comraderie, discipline, life-crisis experi ence and enjoyment. The Corps prepares its members for life by providing what many con sider to be the “complete” education. The Corps, Mr. Stanislav, is beneficial, not perni cious; I’ve learned that. I came from over 1,000 miles away to go to Texas A&M, and I knew virtually nothing about the Corps when I got here. The many positive things I heard about the Corps convinced me to join. I, however, do not consider myself a victim like you do. I have profited from the Corps. Tens of thousands have done so before me, and tens of thousands shall do so after I’ve gone. You may have your personal qualms with the Corps, but I cannot fathom them. The Corps has taught me and many more a great deal about people, and about life. Therefore, I deem your appraisal of the Corps wholly inaccurate and unnecessary. You have the right to your opinion, though. So do I, and here you have it ... you’re wrong. A closed mind is iTUE p.n i Aui " 0ASI,‘ »tue am: Editor: To people who think (especial Albanese’83): I too grow wearisomeolm tre carping about traditions at A&M, hi tone of your letter gives you away. Tradition for tradition’s sake is nlffROE but what is worse is a closed midi are quite sympathetic guys, butv you think.”) Your attitudes, “many” you speak for, miss your letter correctly, you advocatethf! of putting a moratorium on A&M. If the people who foundedtf their successors) had your mentality,« still be a “cow college instead of tk university we are today. Reassessment of your life goals seemi- order, Do you want to leave simply passed the status quo want to at least try to make it a little H' Finally, please don’t take these rep personal attack. I’m sure you just thinking clearly when you sat down in hand. Wainoft Bk fifCHRI fUN Buzz Steiner ’83 P.S. I don’t write Mom. LongdistaiS next best thing to being there—afteti the 20th century. By Scott McCullar THIS is THE fLAWET SATVRtf. VOYAGER 1 SftOWEP US THIS, A A/D THATWO/VDER A/VD mystery still exist l/V OUR UNIVERSE... THIS IS THE PLANET EARTH. SOME PEOPLE THINK WE 1 HAVE NO BUS/NESS LEAVING IT UNTIL WE SOLVE ALL OUR PROBLEMS... WE ALL LIVE ON THIS PLANET, FENCED, APART, PIVIPED INTO OUR SEPARATE COUNTRIES AND FIGHT OVER THEIR BOUNDARIES FOR VIE TKEFER TO LIVE AS NATIONS, RATHER THAN AS A SPEtlEE ARE 3UT, FROM SPACE,THERE WO BOUNDARIES, AO INDIVIDUAL countries, and all humaaa- KIA/P LIVES ON THE SAME PLANET TOGETHER... 5PAC£ WILL- TEACH VS THAT The Battalion I’ S P S 045 360 MEMBER Texas Press Assoeiation Southwest Journalism Congres Questions or comments concerning