V* OT,vW.M
opinion
Battalion/Page 2
February 26,1982
Slouch By Jim Earle
People should behave
While many students have focused
their attention on the actions of Texas
A&M administrators, perhaps some
should focus on their own behavior.
Mosher, Krueger and Underwood
halls recently gave an All Guys Free Party
at The Lakeview Club. The party cost the
halls a total of about $1,500 — no small
price. Whenever dorms hold parties, re
nting a place, buying beer, etc. can really
run into bucks.
Lots of men came. (What man is going
to turn down a free party with free beer?)
Lots of women came, too. (What
woman is going to miss a party where
there are lots of men?)
Turnout was great. Too great.
Somebody — lots of somebodies —
spilled beer on the dance floor.
cyndy
davis
And whatever happened to||
the Aggie Code of Honor
“An Aggie doesn’t lie, cheat or® J
will not tolerate those who do"!
ta
There seems to be a lot old
stealing and tolerating goingc
here. Incidents such as the on
view include cheating, stealing
ating of the same which only &
the student body.
State
ijCubiak
Sthe jur
Inent Ui
|f u nded
approP
venue •
“I’ve decided to make myself available to do some under
cover investigation work. Now if I could only get someone
to give me a large sum of money in an unmarked envelope,
I’d have a starting point, and a very good time.”
And somebody stole beer signs off the
wall.
And somebody walked off with beer
pitchers.
And somebody broke about five pool
cues.
And somebody ....
Needless to say, the owner of the club
was not too pleased. Who would be
pleased to have someone spill beer all
over his carpet?
In fact, he was not too pleased to the
tune of $11,000. I t’s not yet certain who
will pay for the $11,000 worth of dam
ages.
Residence halls just don’t have that
kind of money.
At the beginning of each semester, hall
residents pay up to $25 in optional activ
ity fees to attend activities programmed
by their hall councils. In a hall of 250
students, that’s only $6,250 to pay for a
year’s worth of parties and activities —
half of what the Lakeview party ultimate
ly might cost.
No residence hall can afford to pay
$12,500 so a bunch of students can
drink free beer, get drunk and destroy
Lakeview or any other place.
Perhaps the Lakeview
would be happy never to seei
Aggie again. But then, whaii
Beer Night at Lakeview without,!;
And what are Aggies withoutikj
tional Thursday nights atlakwj
He s
jvould t
Interest
jpover
candi
kioner,
|ers at tl
la Inn:
“Th<
The women of Mosher, Krui
Underwood halls should not be
for the club’s damage. Nor shot
University be held responsible for
lions of the relative few
damage.
But the actions of those people
fleet on the whole student body.,!i
student body is the party whomij
fer the consequences.
University students owe it to
selves to behave responsibly,tobt
sentative of the fine, outstanding,!
able group to which they belong
tre go
hdditioi
Senators view
Reagan budget
By STEVE GERSTEL
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The dimensions of
President Reagan’s problem in convincing
Congress to swallow his deficit-swollen
budget is well illustrated by a pair of news
releases that quietly surfaced in the Senate
Press Gallery last week.
One came from the office of Sen. Charles
Grassley, R-Iowa; the other from the dupli
cating machine of Sen. Dan Quayle, R-lnd.
Neither Grassley nor Quayle should be
mistaken for a Capitol Hill power — they are
not.
But what they said about the 1983 budget
— after letting the figures sink in — must be
extremely disquieting to the White House.
Grassley, embracing an idea first broached
by Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., endorsed the
concept of freeze on both spending and furth
er cuts in taxes. Only he wants to hold fast for
two years.
Quayle, falling all over himself to proclaim
continued loyalty to Reagan, said neverthe
less that he would send the .chief executive
“specific recommendations” on how to prune
the deficit — now seemingly certain to top
$100 billion in the next fiscal year.
Grassley and Quayle, politically, are almost
identical twins.
They are young (as senators go), Midwest
ern, Republican, conservative, former House
members and sit on the Budget Committee.
They are also a pair of rookies whose opin
ions do not yet count for much. Why then
should their pronouncements, made in the
stealth of a recess, disturb the White House?
Because if Reagan has lost the Grassleys
and the Quayles of the Senate in the 1982
battle of the budget, then there can be little
hope of sustaining the brilliant victory streak
the administration put together last year.
Grassley and Quayle should be the last to
jump ship.
ideologically, they are both Reagan
offspring; they endorse Reagan’s economic
policy; they went down the line for him last
year; and they are four and a half years safe
from the voters.
The Grassleys and Quayles are Reagan’s
Senate shock troops. If Reagan cannot count
on them, the game is over.
Reagan can haggle in the Oval Office with
the Senate GOP leaders; he cannot expand his
energies on the rank-and-file.
To bring the Grassleys and the Quayles
back in line, Reagan will have to make major
concessions. Starting with defense.
Both, judging from their news releases, are
most concerned about the projected deficits.
One of the few — perhaps the only area that
can be cut — is the military.
Although Grassley is not specific, his freeze
implies that the Iowa Republican is willing to
accept a $33.6 billion cut in Reagan’s prop
osed defense budget.
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Letter: Openness isn’t artificial
the Col
Editor:
Now a four-year veteran at Texas A&M,
I have seen few letters which have
burned me up so much as the one written
by Glenn Gardner ‘84, which appeared in
The Battalion, Feb. 23.
I will freely admit that I am slightly
prejudiced against our friends on the
other side of the Mason-Dixon, but if Mr.
Gardner’s attitude is typical of north
erners, I can feel all the more proud of
calling myself a Confederate. A good
friend of mine once shared his apart
ment with three others, all of them yank-
ees. Just for good bull he announced that
“I was 13 years old before I realized that
‘damn yankee’ was two separate words.”
They almost threw him out the window.
Now such a remark takes on new
meaning.
denly ceased to function for some reason.
Along came a “knight in shining armor
on his maginificent steed” (the knight
was a fellow Ag, the steed was a pickup) to
rescue the damsel from her plight. That
isn’t too uncommon.
I have in my possession a book called
“Aggies: Ya’ll Caught That Dam’ Of Rat
Yet?” by Joseph G. Rollins ‘38. In it he
describes the days at A&M while he was
here. One thing he mentions is the fact
that there were no women on campus
during his day. Consequently, when
women did visit A&M, they were treated
royally. I believe this tradition has been
passed on, and I see nothing wrong with
it.
If saying “howdy” to people you don’t
know is indicative of an artificial open
ness, then as an Aggie I must take part of
the blame and for that I sincerely apolo
gize. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
Over the Christmas holidays I had the
opportunity to meet quite a few Aggies —
most of them former students who I had
never met before — while vacationing in
Colorado. I met on Aggie in, of all places,
a resti'oom in a greasy-spoon cafe in New
Mexico. He recognized the patch on my
jacket and my short haircut confirmed
his suspicions. He and I spoke to each
other as if we’d known each other since
the first day of our fish years, talking
about the “good old days” at A&M when
he was here and of what was going on at
Aggieland presently. No “artificial open
ness” here.
Nor is there any artificial openness on
campus. I have in my scrap book a letter
which appeared in the Batt some time
ago. Apparently a female “second class
citizen” was riding her bike when it sud-
I have rambled on long enough. It has
been mighty tempting to just say “High
way 6 runs both ways,” but you have
probably heard it all before. Nor would
that change your point of view. The
Aggie Spirit is real, not just something
dreamed up by the propaganda depart
ment. You can catch it if you honestly
mean it when you say “howdy,” and treat
people as potential friends instead of
strangers. I’ve been here long enough to
know.
seats remained empty. These vacant
seats echoed an obvious sentiment to
ward women’s athletics here on campus.
I feel that the amount of time and
work that these ladies put into their
sports deserves much more student body
support.
This women’s basketball game was fil
led with excitement, as were all of the
regular season games. The few fans that
did attend this game were rewarded with
intense play and a great victory for the
Aggie Ladies.
I would like to extend a personal in
vitation to everyone to attend just one of
their games. I am confident that after
seeing one of their games you will return
time and time again. And now, as the
season draws to a close, I would personal
ly like to congratulate the women’s bas
ketball team for a fine season.
I would prefer that the faithful of
Ayatollah Brooks use these media outlets
because then I can turn them off. I can’t
turn them off on my way to class, or for
that matter, anywhere in a quarter-mile
radius. This group’s imposition of its cult
gobbledygook is in direct violation of my
freedom from an official state religion as
guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
Texas A&M has no right to force me to
listen to sermons on the way to class. If I
had wanted Big Brother to mind my busi
ness for me, I would bloody well have
gone to Baylor, not to the greatest institu-
Thursc
hour nr
Ron
ciates,
Jequesi
)lleg<
tage f
lamilie
tion of higher learning in the
Texas.
As a student of Texas A&MLW Bess ar
ty, I hereby call on the students Nevelo]
pass a resolution reaffirming free- ilomini
speech on the Texas A&M caiB|«‘ r F>sts $
also banning the use of PA systeS Apropos
side the auditorium.
Rice, either get rid ofthePAotj pL (j °U
c hHOmr
in. Highway 6 runs both wap,sol ^
trucking. Iran ain’t half full.
God save the Constitution, t
Lewis f
Jim LePage
Tim Howard
Steve Crandle
Aston Hall
Megawatt religion
Alton Meyer ‘82
Dorm 7
Editor:
Women’s basketball
Editor:
Last Friday evening as I sat in the
bleachers of G. Rollie White a feeling of
disappointment overcame me. It was not
the performance of the women’s basket
ball team, for this was one of their most
exciting games. But rather, it was the fact
that the yell leaders’ shoes had to be filled
by a spirited fan, and despite promotions
to attact a larger crowd, a vast number of
1 am quite willing to defend to the
death, as my forefathers, the freedom of
speech of anyone, be they Rice Brooks,
Adolph Hitler, Ronald Reagan or Bozo
the Clown. This is not to say that I am in
favor of 500 watts of fascist fundamen
talism being blasted at me from some
cult’s PA system on my way to class.
There are over 100 churches in Bra
zos County, and within the Rudder com
plex a myriad of facilities for Rice and his
suckers to experiment with Megawatt re
ligion.
In addition, there are two student
radio stations, KANM and KORP, that
are open to freedom of speech.
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
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 Gary Barker,
Phyllis Henderson, Mary Jo Rummel,
Nancy Weatherley
Staff Writers Jennifer Carr,
Cyndy Davis, Gaye Denley,
Sandra Gary, Colette Hutchings,
Johna Jo Maurer, Daniel Puckett,
Bill Robinson, Denise Sechelski,
Laura Williams, Rebeca Zimmermann
Cartoonist Scott McCullar
Graphic Artist Richard DeLeon Jr.
Photographers ........... Sumanesh Agrawal,
David Fisher, Eileen Manton,
Eric Mitchell, Peter Rocha,
John Ryan, Colin Valentine
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N