Viewpoint j The Battalion Texas A&M University Wednesday February 11, 1981 ]N By Ci first i Frt Slouch By Jim Earle TO PAUL XOM BERvMOe&AY Ill bet Harry Truman is turning over in his grave. Military chaplaincies oin By DAVID E. ANDERSON United Press International The military chaplaincy has changed radically since World War II and the Ko rean War, according to a Jewish official who oversees that faith’s chaplains. “The old concept of ‘hatch, match and dispatch’ — bris, marriage and levia or what Christians call baptism, marriage and fun eral — is all over,” according to Rabbi Joseph B. Messing. total He began having an impact on the ethical climate of the service.” In many respects, the changing role of the chaplain reflects both changes in society at large as well as changes in the nature of the armed forces. Messing cited the establishment of the Family Life Center at Fort Bliss as an ex ample. Messing, the first U.S. Army Jewish cha plain to remain on active duty for 30 years, currently serves in dual roles as director of the Jewish Welfare Board’s Armed Forces and Veterans Services and as director of the JWB’s Commission on Jewish Chaplaincy. “The old concept of the chaplain, one that prevailed through the Korean War, was life cycle responsibilities — taking care of the liturgical requirements,” Messing said. “Since that time the chaplaincy has assumed a new maturity and has become more than just a liturgically oriented orga nization,” he said. “This center took into account all of the aspects of family crisis, including marital difficulties, sibling-parent rivalries, sibling sibling rivalries, drugs and alcohol and other maladjustments,” he said. “This was not only a crisis center for per sonnel but an education and preventive center as well,” he said. “We used trained chaplains in the field of political and pastor al education, drug and alcohol abuse, marit al problems. It was a total service system designed not only to meet emergencies but to educate the service family.” “To begin with,” he said, “we began giv ing chaplains training on the various bran ches of the armed forces they were working for. This prevented their working in a vacuum. Chaplains must understand the workings of the military branch they serve to be an integrated part of it,” he said. As one example of the training, Messing said he was sent to the University of Washington to study political science, spe cializing in Soviet-American relations in order to teach the subject within the milit ary setting. In the 1960s, he said, the broadening of the chaplain’s duties matured even further. “He was still a deliverer of a liturgical system, ” Messing said, “but also of a coun seling system and of an education system. The change from the draft to the volun teer Army has also had an impact on the chaplain’s role, Messing said. “We find today that we have a large num ber of married personnel,” he said. “And not only that, but we also have larger num bers of single parent families, both male and female.” In addition, he said, the armed forces are increasingly operating on the basis of a 40- hour work week at some bases, raising the question of what happens to the end of the week chapel program. “If the soldier has any means at all, he’s gone for the weekend,” Messing said. “Therefore, if you want to reach the single man or woman, mid-week programming is a very important item.” “To a large extent,” Messing said, “the responsibilities of the chaplain are becom ing more and more the same as those of any other clergy in a church or synagogue.” Warped Congress not impressive dent < has b< 1981 The ed M cans-. By STEVE GERSTEL United Press International WASHINGTON — President Reagan’s high-powered recruiting team seems to have been little impressed with the crop of talent in Congress. No president — in putting together his team — has relied heavily on the men and women who people the Senate and House. But Reagan seems to have been even less enchanted than most predecessors. To date, he has chosen only David Stock- man, the 34-year-old, two-term House member from Michigan, for a top-level position. pointments to any of the commissions. Although the Reagan selection process has been very much closed-door, it ap pears that the recruiting team did consider some others on Capitol Hill. Sen. John Tower of Texas was under se rious consideration as secretary of defense — the sort of position any former Navy enlisted man would cherish. relate enouj gab better by Congress. For his original Cabinet, hepickedtlti c members of the House — Robert Bergi# p ro g r for agriculture. Brock Adams fortranspor Mu tion and Andrew Young for the Unitedli ceren Stockman, a fiscal conservative with a reputed talent for cutting and pruning, was picked to be the budget director — a Cabinet-level post and an influential one in a Reagan administration. It may well be that Stockman will be the only member of Congress chosen for a posi tion in the executive branch. Tower reportedly was dropped after Reagan was reminded that the Republican margin in the Senate is relatively small and the GOP could conceivably have lost the Texas seat to the Democrats in a special election. tions. Reagan has done somewhat betterbylj mer members of Congress. Sen. Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvaii who decided not to seek re-election, rescued from certain obscurity w Reagan named him secretary of health® human services. And two senators who were defeated who < year. The a list mitte Form Vic achie speak In i Jacob Javits of New York and Richard St?:, body All the Cabinet and Cabinet-level slots have now been filled and members of Con gress have never opted for anything less. A sub-Cabinet post would be a step down in their careers and they have never evidenced any interest in long-term ap- And Sen. Henry Jackson of Washington, a Democrat, who seemingly is considered by every incoming president, was men tioned for defense or state. That, however, fizzled early in the selection process. If there were others — and there certain ly must have been — the speculation was kept secret. That way, a member of Congress is de nied the the glory of being considered in public, but also saved from the embarras- ment of being turned down. Former President Jimmy Carter, more of a Washington outsider than Reagan, did of Florida — are reported in line I appointment. tine n Univc Javits, once considered a possibility! arK ' ^ U.N. ambassador, may wind up witli ambassadorship — possibly to Israel perhaps a Western European capital ing C; Aft< A&M agrici Stone, a Democrat, could win up inti Sen. J He Comn tion F State Department, perhaps as an assist! secretary for Latin American affairs. Carter’s most popular appointment Capitol Hill in 1977 was the namingofit ^ tired Senate Democratic leader Mikeil® sfield as ambassador to Japan Not to be outdone, Reagan has asking Mansfield to stay on the job in Tokyo. Me 1 at Bay and i< Unconventional crooks on the loose Guilty: Carrying a concealed face By DICK WEST United Press International WASHINGTON — Not only is the crime rate rising again at an alarming rate, this time the upswing is accompanied by an ominous trend in modus operandi. Many felons apparently no longer oper ate in the conventional manner. At least three times in this area recently, holdup men have slipped onto the tops of elevators, stopped the cars between floors, opened emergency hatches and robbed the passen gers. Coincident with this innovation has been a rash of dental office holdups — gunmen invading the premises and robbing pa tients, receptionists, dentists, hygienists and all. If I may point out the obvious, a visit to the dentist is a bleak enough experience without having one’s purse or wallet lifted by intruders who don’t even have appoint ments. I say any lawbreakers convicted of such an offense should be sentenced to weekly root canals until convinced that crime doesn’t pay. Perhaps the most disturbing new twist took place in a suburban bank which was robbed by two armed men wearing gorilla masks. Here we have a sinister break with the orthodox technique of wearing ski masks while knocking over banks. The modern era of bank robbery may be said to have begun when chemistry gave the world the nylon stocking. I don’t mean that brigands started rob bing banks in drag or anything like that. Transvestitism is still only a minor part of the bank robbery picture. What happened was that robbers discovered they could dis tort their facial features by pulling nylon stockings over their heads. The first appearance of nylons worn on the head rather than the leg started a crime style that is still in vogue in some circles. Nevertheless, some robbers had trouble adjusting psychologically to this disguise. It must be said, however, that this $ tagem was beginning to wear thin. Some robbers took to wearing ski mas during the summer. Which was a bit tad as well as a tipoff that they were something fishy. Nowadays, as a result of such gaucheri 1 person entering a bank in a ski mask a matically starts fingers reaching for 1 alarm button. By Scott McCullar AH-HA WENCH, you're G0IN& TO MARRY ME AMD BE MINE FOR EVER MORE. ir i'll CHANGE your mi/vp. TAKE HER TO /AY INTO THE QUARTERS LASS The Battalion l S P S