Viewpoint
The Battalion
October 15,19S
Slouch By Jim Earle
EHU'C
“Looks like they’ve figured out a way to handle the dormitory
room shortage. ”
Reagan must follow
original programs
By DAVID S. BRODER
WASHINGTON—The testing time is at
hand for Ronald Reagan, not just in one area
on one issue, but on all of the major pieces
of his program at once.
On the economic front, there are clear
signs of congressional reluctance to carry
through the second round of budget cuts.
There are strong hints from prominent
GOP legislators that they might like to post
pone some of the scheduled tax reductions
in order to relieve budget pressures.
In the national defense arena, there is
sharp criticism of his decisions on the MX-
missile basing plan, on the start-up of B-l
bomber production, and on the overall
commitment of funds. The criticism is com
ing from many fronts, including fellow con
servatives, Democratic defense specialists
and even some senior uniformed officers.
On the diplomatic front, there is stub
born resistance in Congress to his plan for
the sale of sophisticated A WAGS aircraft to
Saudi Arabia; a growing risk of direct U.S.
military involvement in the Mideast, in the
wake of Sadat’s assassination; demands for
the United States to take a tougher line
toward Israel; and, at the same time,
heightened Israeli sensitivity to American
efforts to cultivate support in Egypt and
Saudi Arabia.
Complicating all this is the steadily
worsening and ever-more-public infighting
among the President’s national security
aides.
In this kind of situation, a President can
expect to be lobbied vigorously by those
who urge him to be “pragmatic” and those
who urge him to “stick to your guns.”
There is a lot to be said, in almost all
these matters, for taking a second look at
the positions the President is defending. It
is not at all hard to make a case that the tax
cuts are excessive, that the MX in hardened
silos is a hugely expensive and very short
term expedient, that the B-l is more of a
bummer than a bomber against Soviet air
defenses.
It is easy to say, now, that the United
States and Saudi Arabia both might have
been better off had the AW ACS surveill
ance been handled for a few years longer by
American planes and American crews. It is
equally plausible to argue that we need to
The danger in doing anything else could
be described to him by the predecessor
Presidents he entertained briefly at the
White House last week, before sending
them to represent him and the country at
the ceremonies in Cairo.
Even before he was sworn in, Jimmy
Carter wobbled on a key appointment,
backing off his first choice for director of the
Central Intelligence Agency. In his first
nine months as President, he scrapped a
key piece for his own economic program.
Both actions damaged his credibility with
Congress enormously.
Jerry Ford did something the country
never expected by pardoning Richard Nix
on. And then he did a 180-degree turn on
his own anti-inflation program. He never
really recovered form those steps.
Nixon was more persevering and suc
cessful for a time, but the twists and turns of
his Watergate evasions finally destroyed his
backing, even within his own party.
What all this suggests is that Reagan may
have the option of second thoughts on one
or two of the major policy and personnel
decisions that are being challenged today.
But if he tries to cut and run on several of
them, he will be worse off by far than by
trying to stay the course. His gamble has to
be that his initial judgments were not as
wrong as the growing band of critics sug
gest.
The Battalion
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Redpot incidents draw criticism
Editor:
I would like to draw some attention to an
incident that occurred in my dorm earlier.
In the spirit of bonfire, a group of people
assembled and overtook the dorm’s Redpot
so that they could shave his head. As I
watched them shave everything but a patch
shaped like a block‘T’ (the one found on the
A&M logo), I felt sorry for the guy. Howev
er, I found out later that he offered little
resistance and saw it all as “good bull” and a
part of the bonfire experience. The event
that is most concerning happened after this.
The shaving was done in a floor lounge
and all the freshmen, both participants and
observers, were caged in this lounge by the
upperclassmen. They were not allowed to
leave until the Redpot had busted their
rears with his ax handle. I’ve been told that
this ceremony was usually done when the
freshmen went out to cut and as a result
were advanced on the bonfire acceptance
scale because of it. All done in the spirit of
tradition and good bull, of course. The bot
tom line is that physical damage was done!
Readers
Forum
One person, afterward, complained that his
butt was bleeding, which I didn’t believe
until he displayed his “good bull” to those of
us who were just hearing about it. He was
not lying and it was a sight that I wish I had
been spared. He was hit about four or five
times and for the amount of bruising, bleed
ing, and swelling that I saw, they must have
been solid shots! One other victim com
plained of welts. Fortunately, the Head Re
sident had stopped the ceremony before all
had been hit.
What kind of University is this where a
person pays good money to get decent
housing and a good education
must suffer the pressure of doing
thinks must be done to be accq
that apparently being physically
Some argue that the freshmen shot
just refused, but these people doni]
the amount of pressure involved,
same pressure delivered by many!
ties on campuses around the natia
pressure has caused many people,
frat hazings, to consume inti
amounts of alcohol that in some a*
led to death. The pressure is real,
case, a hard blow in the wrong plan
have resulted in spinal injury.
A system that allows people to|
consequences of such pressure ii
madness. I wish that those individuy
see this behavior as acceptable
spirit of tradition would drag their
out of the dark corner of ignoi
Neanderthal reasoning to clearly
stand the inhumanity involved. Thai
Eric .\||
Class of ‘84
Elm
(JOTUOU, muOKKflJGi
0W MY &OOH /
be more sensitive to the sentiments of our
neighbors and our European allies.
And a lot of folks, at high levels in
Reagan’s official family, make no bones ab
out the fact that they would like to start with
a clean slate in filling the top jobs in the
Pentagon, the State Department and the
National Security Council.
“I co:
hy gra
ind sail
But conceding all that, the lesson of his
tory is quite clear: At this stage of his term, a
President needs, more than anything else,
to show his steadiness, his purposefulness
and his perseverance in the face of
pressure.
And that means, on most of these mat
ters, Reagan is going to have to play out the
hand he has dealt—not try to pick up his
cards and reshuffle them.
ays w;
!lmo tl
Elm<
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It’s your turn
Student upset with yell leaders
Editor:
I am the daughter of an Aggie, a graduate of
A&M and a current graduate student here
at A&M, so I have seen my share of Aggie
games over the years. I have at times be
come discouraged with the teams or even
the fans, but I have always been proud of
the band and the yell leaders — until this
year. The band seems to ever improve upon
perfection, but what happened to the yell
leaders? The first game I chalked up to
inexperience, but after this week’s game, I
was really upset. Not only are they “off” at
times, but they seem unorganized and not
sure what to do. What was the absolute
worst were the critical time outs when they
just stood there! Were they too absorbed in
the game to yell? Everyone around me was
screaming their lungs out and wanted badly
to be led in a yell — a simple “Gig ’em
Aggies” would have sufficed. They also
omitted the yells after both scores. I realize
that problems arise with such a large,
spread-out crowd, but I think with a little
work and thought they could overcome
that. The enthusiastic Ags make their job
much easier; the yell leaders just have to
take advantage of them. Everyone around
me seemed to be of the same opinion. I
think we have a great season ahead and
would like to more effectively help inspire
the team to the Cotton Bowl!
change the tire, two young men stofl
and insisted that they change the tirefo
It was a hot afternoon, but in less till
minutes the tire was changed. Thesel
young men were Aggies on their wayto
to Potb. They were proud of being A$
they certainly are a credit to Texas M
We thank them for their help and
their enthusiasm for Texas A&M.
Dana Perry ‘76
Carl E. FJ 1
Thanks to Ags
Correction
Editor:
I want to thank two Aggies for their assist
ance. Last Friday afternoon, October 2, my
wife and I were returning to Austin from
the Annual Judicial Conference in Corpus
Christi. Unfortunately, we had tire trouble
south of Luling. As I was preparing to
Texas A&M student Karen LynnCl
who was involved in a wreck last wed
mistakenly reported as being from
ton when in fact she is from Cypress.^
Marie Gilligan attends Moody Collf?
Galveston and was not involved in thef
7 collision.
Warped
By Scott McCulk
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