Viewpoint
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The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Wednesday
February 11, 1981
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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
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