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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1982)
opinion Always say it like you really mean it By WESLEY G. PIPPERT United Press International WASHINGTON — President Reagan said in his State of the Union address that in a few years welfare will be less costly and more responsive to genuine need. Reagan also said that by fiscal 1988, the states will be in control of more than 40 federal programs. He said the trust fund that is being established will start to phase out and excise taxes will be turned over to the states. Well, now, a lot must happen before those things actually take place. Reagan was making Hat statements about what he is going to do in the future. Like his predecessor, Jimmy Carter, and, in fact, many other politicians, Reagan was saying something WILL happen when what he meant was that he is going to try to make it happen. In his own message to Congress in 1979, Carter said: “The Equal Rights Amendment will provide women with equal legal status in our country.” As the outlook for ERA looks increasingly bleak, it is becoming clear that it will not provide the equal legal status that Carter was talking about. Phis was true in recent months when Reagan said flatly he will abolish the Energy and Education departments, which were created by Congress as cen tral parts of the Carter administration’s government, reorganization plans. The implication was that Reagan him self had the power himself to abolish the departments, that Congress had nothing to do with it — and thus the dismantling was already a fait accompli. Many writers wrote it just that way — that Reagan was going to dismantle the departments. This was misleading, if not outright incorrect. There is much the president can accomplish in reorganization by ex ecutive orders. But Cabinetlevel depart ments are created by Congress and their dismantling also must be approved by Congress. Many congressional observers say Reagan will not be successful in doing away with the Education and Energy de partments. Carter brushed aside Reagan’s statements a few months ago during his only visit to Washington, saying, “He’s not going to do that.” Some would argue that Reagan, so adriot in his dealings with Congress thus far, has made good on just about every thing he said he was going to do and would do so in this case, too. But at the least, Reagan and the other politicians are guilty of the sloppy use of the English language. Perhaps the classical languages of Creek and Hebrew best capture what the politicians are trying to say. In Hebrew, there is something called the “hiphil” tense. It is used to indicate cause, as in the statement, “I cause this bill to be passed.” The Creeks have the conative tense, as in, “He tried to enact that piece of legislation.” If they were going to be precise, they ought to say they hope they can cause something to happen or they are going to try to do something. Or they might use the English subjunctive mood, “Under my proposal, the states would get control of 40 federal programs.” But that might appear to be acknow ledging weakness or fallibility. So to show their determination and presumably their confidence, they simply speak very assertively in the future tense. Letter: Worldwide issues ignored Editor: It is good to see that Aggies have concern and enthusiasm enough for their reputa tion to sit down and write letters to The Battalion deploring the unethical treat ment of Coach Tom Wilson. By openly condemning Texas A&M’s Board of Re gents, these Aggies have asserted to the citizens of Texas and the nation that the questionable actions of a few individuals in the administration are far removed from the traditional Aggie principles of integrity and sense of fair play. Yet just as I am impressed by the out pouring of sympathy for Coach Wilson, I am distressed by the over-occupation of my fellow Ags with University affairs, whether they be social, political, or sports activities at the expense of interest in world affairs. I would expect that in a university of A&M’s international repu tation as a leader in academic excellence, one should find a substantial number of students interested in worldwide de velopments, especially those that could permanently affect the future of this country. Last week the U.S. government vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution con demning Israel’s formal annexation of Syria’s Golan Heights and asking U.N. members to take voluntary sanctions against the Zionist state. The U.S. veto was uncalled for and unnecessary, be cause in real terms, the U.N. resolution was less than a slap on the wrist to the Israelis. On the other hand it demons trated once again to the world in general and the Arab world in particular, that the U.S. was a powerless captor to Israel’s every whim and fancy. Nobody here at Texas A&M, and in deed the U.S., seems to have heard the consequences of this latest development on future American-Arab relations. What people here do not know is that Israel’s lobbying groups and allies in Washington are doing nothing less than dragging America’s reputation through the mud of the Middle East. Even Amer ica’s oldest friends in the Arab world are beginning to seriously doubt whether the U.S. government can ever cast off the yoke of Zionist control on its foreign poli cy. For too long now, these Arabs have waited for the American people to take interest in and understand the Arab posi tion in the ongoing conflict. Plainly put, it is the dilemma of 2.5 million Palestinians made homeless by the arrival of 3.5 mil lion Jews from Europe and elsewhere, and the plight of a million other Palesti nians suffering the worst kinds of oppression under the iron- handed rule of the Israelis. Thanks to the latest in ultra- sophisticated American weaponry and massive economic aid (close to $ 18 billion in the last 10 years), Israel has managed to achieve military superiority over its Arab adversaries. Yet, the Israelis know that they cannot maintain this superiority forever. And to guard against the day when the Arab states catch up with them militarily, the Israelis have embarked in a well- planned program of provocations designed to stir up Arab hatred of the U.S. Beginning with the attack on Iraq’s nuclear reactor and the bombing of Be- ruit’s downtown residential district, Israel’s ultimate aim is to put the Arab states on a collision course with the U.S. Arab leaders today have been put into the difficult position of either falling back on the Soviet Union, which gives at least mouthed support to the Arab cause, or pursuing the hopeless avenue of U.S. foreign mediation in the conflict given Israels powerful influence on U.S. fore ign policy. Worse than this, Israel’s ac tions and Washington’s docileness pro vide ample fuel for dictators like Kha- dafy to justify an outright military con frontation with the U.S. Finally, forgive me for ending this letter on a somber note, but is it really necessary for thousands of their youth to die in some far off land before Amer icans can see the forces pulling the strings of their government. Nabil Al-Khowaiter ’83 Secretary of Information Organization of Arab Students Safety should come first Editor: I would like to inform The Battalion staff, the students and the faculty of Texas A&M about a fire in the Petroleum Engineering Lab, Saturday morning at 3 a.m. Saturday morning, a friend and I spotted what appeared to be a fire in the Petroleum Engineering Laboratory. Af ter confirming that it was a fire, we attempted to find a fire alarm switch. There were all kinds of signs informing the public that these laboratory facilities housed dangerous experiments, but iro nically, there were no fire alarm switches. Our next objective was to use an emer- gancy phone located in one of the nearby elevators; that idea failed since no one would answer it (this phone is supposedly monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Finally, we had to get into a car and drive over to the Physical Plant and report the fire in person to the dispatcher. It took us five minutes to report a fire to the au thorities. I can not understand why there are not any fire alarms, emergency phones that work or smoke detectors within the boundaries of a hazardous area. The University was fortunate in that damage was minimal and no one was injured dur ing this incident. I know that money is in short supply (especially after spending $2.5 million on a new football coach), but I wish I could tell my friends back home that I am going to a University that places Safety First. Luke A. Perkins P.O. Box 8680 College Station, TX 77844 Battalion/Page 2 February 2,1982 Slouch By Jim Earl “At least we think it is; there may be a bowl game that we don’t know about!” by Jul Battalio ‘An electron jit spring by i \ Committ until and L lg considei M Siting ;U 1 Fisher, 1 radons for The comu jtermine the pn for the si; He student < niversity sei ieir activities At presem Yective way iming events liners that g |d outside t ;ntj Center Hng to t jn’t really r ntage of tin id. The propo iuld display •ganizations formation c ices, registr ~ents, Fishei RThe cornu Cut welfare if you but save our lunches red placini on t ^dder Tow< lift but thb cted becaiu jt be visibh imnnttee m id. by Dick West United Press International WASHINGTON — One of the most enduring federal tax shelters, seemingly impervious to congressional attack, is the so-called three martini lunch. With President Reagan now talking openly about closing certain loopholes, anti-lunch forces may be embolden to mount a new assault during this session. But Congress, true to tradition, can be expected to retain the expense account lunch in all of its many-splenclored varia tions. If ever you find yourself wondering how this write-off acquired its protected status, it may be because you only think of lunch as an occasion for the intake of nourishment. To grasp its real role in our society, you must think of lunch as a venerable institution, almost as politically sacred as apple pie and motherhood, as formid able in its way as the anvil lobby and the military-industrial-footstool complex. In that regard, permit me to introduce Louise Bernikow. I don’t know whether Miss Bernikow would take kindly to being identified as “the voice of the expense account lunch.” But a reading of her recent book, “Let’s Have Lunch,” might convince you the title is richly deserved. As the subtitle, “Games of Sex and Power,” suggests, there is, or can be, a great deal more to the noon meal than mere ingestion. Ini additio Anyone acquiring this book ka sign of i naive expectation of learningsi TTppmpr about food is in for a clisappoirf wt ' r ’ w * 1 ‘ c * The subject is barely mentioned | d center for What Miss Bernikow is imp Another p some of the fine points of luncnn ie S1 , n 1S or “ They don’t teach lunchingintJ^o' iy ou i e . school but they ought to,” saysikfelt in Iron lisher, Harmony Books. oliseum, Fis It is this educational gap thatMsps east, it v nikow apparently is striving tooap| “Fashions change, markets f|p hemlines rise, waistbands tighte.|.’ ; lunch goes on,” she writes. And when a waiter appearsoifo horizon, can a tax break be far tip f-* T ^ “Nearly everyone who goes in[ij^: time lunching lias an emergenoib names that come to life only ond^ by C forms,” the author confides. Bait “It is smart to keep the listcum^Texas AS pay particular attention to theotffiP a reco1 columns.” he :em mcrea Miss Bernikow seems to be rtiijion ge that the IRS frowns on the pratijccprding t deducting lunches as businessexpdidy. the guests are deceased. \ An inc That strikes me as a fairly namn u . sec * die terpretation of the tax code, bull y im ' ! 1 she knows whereof she speaks. ; n( While I can’t say for certain "l 1!: H oun u n L tion the administration will take Taylor saic issue, there is one bit of advice I tnarily res] Miss Bernikow would endorse: Mpe. Tf want to help keep the deduction ^bunted take a dead congressman to lundiF enL the increase. (Taylor s the small society by Bricla mandate w percent im Q' Texas / I \ 'act fi igur< '87 millior dents. Ft account foi dent’s cont clothing, sc I KhltfW. fi^t y^iJ j Unitec .Today i: of 1982'w €>1980 King F—tuf» Syndicate. Inc. World rights rervd. /2-Z The The Battalion irst quai phase. The m 3iry, Yen iaturn. There Those USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion also serves as a laborulotynt'A for students in reporting, editing and photoptf 5 ses within the Department of ComnninkaMjl Questions or comments concerning any edm‘1 ter should he directed to the editor. Editor Angelique Copeland Managing Editor JaneG. Brust City Editor Denise Richter Assistant City Editor Diana Sultenfuss Sports Editor Frank L. Christlieb Focus Editor Cathy Saathoff Assistant Focus Editor Nancy Floeck News Editors Cary Barker, Phyllis Henderson, Mary Jo Rummel, Nancy Weather ley Staff Writers .... John Bramblett, Caye Denley, Tim Foarde, Sandra Cary, Colette Hutchings, Johna Jo Maurer, Daniel Puckett, Bill Robinson, Denise S. Sechelski Laura Williams, John Wagner Cartoonist Scott McCullar Graphic Artist Richard DeLeon Jr. Photographers Sumanesh Agrawal, David Fisher, Peter Rocha, Colin Valentine Letters Policy Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300*4 length, and are subject to being cut if thepatu, The editorial staff reserves the right to edit W. style and length, but will make every effort to i ,1 the author's intent. Each letter must also be sigw'j ’ the address and phone number of the writer. Columns and guest editorials are also wclcoi are not subject to the same length constraintsai*| Address all inquiries and correspondence to: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas ABj versity, College Station, TX 77843, or phonj.fflj 2611. Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting news paper operated as a community service to Texas A&M University and Bryan-College Station. Opinions ex pressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M University administrators or faculty mem bers, or of the Board of Regents. The Battalion is published daily d it ring Texas ‘ fall and spring semesters, except for holiday anikj nation periods. Mail subscriptions are $16.75pcr s | ter, $33.25 per school year and $35 per full year 1 j tising rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed Mil'S Building. Texas A&M University, College ScpB 77843. United Press International is entitled exilnsiq the use for reproduction of all news dispatchesn'T. to it. Rights of reproduction of all other matletj reserved. Second class postage paid at College Siaiii® J 77843.