Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Wednesday
February 18,1981
Slouch
By Jim Earle SCONA: Sights n sounds
“There's a lot to be said for being broke when the budget is
being cut back. We have absolutely nothing to lose. ”
Soviet congress to be
rubber-stamp affair
By JOHN MOODY
United Press International
MOSCOW — If the Soviet Union is
going to oust its leadership, decide to in
vade Poland or change the direction of its
economy, it will do so at the Communist
Party congress beginning Monday.
But no one expects any of those things to
happen.
Instead, the 26th party congress, already
called “historic” in the Soviet press, figures
to be a rubber-stamp ratification of Presi
dent Leonid Brezhnev’s uninspired ste
wardship.
Western diplomatic analysts who have
been watching the preparations for the
once-every-five-years event agree it will
produce few, if any, surprises.
“It’s going to be 5,000 people getting
together to say glory to Lenin and Leonid, ”
said one European diplomat who was here
to witness the 25th congress in 1976.
Communist Party congresses have not al
ways been such cut-and-dried affairs.
The first Russian communists to meet in
conclave did so in secret in Minsk. It appa
rently was not secret enough — the czar’s
political police arrested five of the nine de
legates afterward.
The next four Communist Party congres
ses met well away from Russia — in Brus
sels, London and Stockholm — and drew
little attention.
Even after Lenin and the Bolsheviks
came to power in Russia, his ideas were not
unanimously accepted. At the 1921 con
gress in Moscow, the goateed father of the
Soviet Union actually was booed by a few
delegates.
This year’s congress is unlikely to pro
duce such high drama. At best, Kremlin
watchers think, it may provide some addi
tions to the ruling Politburo.
Speculation is that Ivan Arkhipov, the
73-year-old first deputy premier, will be
made the 15th member of the country’s
most exclusive club. According to the rigid
rules that control the Soviet hierarchy, the
No. 2 man in the government should also be
a Politburo member, analysts say.
Another possible addition is Vladimir
Warped
Did you see SCONA last week? Sure you
did. The 26th Student Conference on Na
tional Affairs was everywhere — in the pap
ers, on TV, clogging the cafeteria lines and
bookstores.
Visually, SCONA was there, but it was
pretty dull for observers. The real excite
ment was in the sounds of SCONA, and not
just the speeches.
Come listen:
— Potato chips crunch loudly through a'
Singing Cadets concert. The 200 or so parti
cipants don’t seem to notice anything but
the enchanting, crisp voices.
— After SVz days and long nights, several
delegates snore during the final speech, an
economic history lesson.
— Accents, both foreign and domestic,
mingle freely in conversations ranging from
mismanagement of U.S. foreign aid to the
best place to eat in Montreal.
— “Roundtable B, the best you ’re gonna
see, the best damn table in SCONA. ’’Dis
cussion groups made up their own yells,
like Corps outfits, and even “beat the hell
outta” other roundtables. An education on
the practical side from Aggies.
Inside/outlook
By Liz Newlin
— One very frustrated delegate pounds
his shoe on the table, ala Kruschev, to
squeeze his thoughts into the discussion.
We listened.
— A student from Guatemala says Indi
ans in his country were given tractors to
help with their farming. The only problem
is they farm on patches the size of racquet-
ball courts, not football fields.
— A midshipman from the U.S. Naval
Academy praises the review of the Corps of
Cadets as better than what they do in Anna
polis.
— A bureaucrat mumbles doubletalk,
and a scholar waxes philosophical. They
don’t debate.
— A diplomat from the Egyptian embas-
sasy in Washington tells delegates r
leave discouraged. “We focused ontl
things, ’’ the political consul says, “buti
are positive aspects. ... Somehow,
are moving. ” Reflecting on the30-yean
flict in the Mid-East, he adds, “Nowv
beginning to find a way to solve the3
lems. We should not forget there is hop ' 1
the world.”
— Step-by-uncertain-step instruct
guide Texans, Canadians, Mexicans
Kuwaitians through square dances, at
man polka and the Cotton-eyed Joe.
— A Mexican student from ai
wealthy family says she’s glad twoo
Mexican students left early. Theygoti is
gusted because they met oppositionto 1 fll* r
idea that “Yankee imperialism” shoi
blamed for Mexico’s poor economicstai |
as well as most other world problc
Others in the roundtable wished I
stayed, so they could talk it over.
— Laughing and more laughing.
Finally, though, you listen but you a
hear the most important sound thatS
NA produces — the sound ofutifl
standir
ling.
IUG |
tscl
n
Dolgikh, 55, an expert on heavy industry
who has received much favorable attention
of late. His accomplishments in developing
the crucial energy industry of Siberia make
him a serious candidate to join the top-flight
leadership, and his relative youth inevit
ably causes speculation that he may even
tually sit in Brezhnev’s chair.
The same rumors apply to Grigory Roma
nov, at 57 the youngest voting member of
the Politburo. Romanov heads the Com
munist Party apparatus in Leningrad, the
nation’s second largest city, and analysts
expect him to be named to the secretariat,
where he would have a larger role in day-to-
day decision-making.
Brezhnev, at 74, is going nowhere.
Although a party congress might be the
logical and appropriate place to announce
his retirement, there is no indication the
man who has ruled the Soviet Union longer
than anyone but Josef Stalin is thinking of
calling it quits after 17 years.
After Brezhnev’s opening speech, the
congress technically will break into free
wheeling debate on the nation’s policies
and future course.
In reality, the major decisions have been
made by the small elite with offices in the
Kremlin. Even the speeches Politburo
members make to the congress are cen
sored for content to insure an uninter
rupted flow of unanimity.
Prime Minister Nikolai Tikhonov will re
port on the domestic economy and lead the
chorus of approval for the 11th five-year
plan announced in November.
The one area where some variations
could show through is the prickly situation
in Poland and how best to contain it.
Political analysts believe that if the
Soviets decide they must intervene militar
ily, it would be better to do so after the
congress, to show the world Russia is acting
with the concurrence of Communist parties
throughout the world, almost all of whom
will have delegates in Moscow.
“You would not compare the Communist
Party congress to a Democratic conven
tion,” mused one veteran diplomat, “unless
you are a Republican.”
THE CHECK
FROM
AMERICA
FOR THE
TOBWAS
JU5T MARKED
'INSUFFICIENT FUNK
It’s your turn
Greeks a threat to fraternal spirit
Editor:
Texas A&M has long held the reputation
of being a truly unique institution, and
rightfully so. While virtually every other
major college and university have blended
together with the sameness that comes only
from imitation and a lack of purpose, A&M
has remained as special and as unique as it
was intended to be. As Aggies, we pride
ourselves on being different, and not only
different, but right as well. And now, be
cause of the efforts of a few, we are about to
join the ranks of all the other schools that we
so desperately try not to emulate.
rivalry, the competition, and the “We’re
better than they are” attitudes that almost
certainly follow. Instead of being Aggies
first, we will be Greeks first. Aggies second.
This is already happening in many inst
ances, with fraternity and sorority functions
occuring during university events.
says,
we.’
“We are the Aggies, the Aggies a ni0n
There is no need to say more.'
John B. Ws
Apologies due
The push by the Interfraternity Council
and Panhellenic to obtain University recog
nition is definitely a step in that direction.
Obviously fraternities and sororities fill a
need on our campus; if they did not, they
would have no membership. However, to
recognize these groups as viable campus
organizations not only gives them the right
to use campus facilities, but also gives them
the support they need in order to recruit
and grow. And as these groups take hold as
campus organizations, we will have the
Hopefully the Student Organizations
Board and Dr. Koldus will realize that
Texas A&M is different, and let us stay that
way. The long-standing. Ivy League image
of well-to-do Greeks excluding those who
don’t belong is not needed here. Our stu
dent body is one giant fraternity, and as
A&M grows it will be harder and harder to
keep that brotherly spirit. Let’s not make it
even harder by recognizing the Interfrater
nity Council and Panhellenic. As the song
Editor:
I desperately ask this appeal be submit’
ted to the student body. After tonigfc
game, and after several blunt words wetf
exchanged between myself and a girl jni
stands — I very emotionally and unjus
struck this same girl. I want sincerely
extend my apology to her for my actions^
to beg her forgiveness.
Richard M
By Scott McCullar
OH NO. I 'tA AWAK£
THE- ALARM’S GONE OFF
A&AJN. THIS time it doesn’t
matter though, you
stupid clock.
|'N\ ALREADY FULLY AWAKE,
ALERT AND READY TO GET
UP FOR /AY 8 O’CLOCK CLASS,
SO YOU'RE NOT GOING TO
SHOCK ME AWAKE TODAY.
The Battalion
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