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“Wouldyou believe that I have been asked twice this semes
ter if I would be interested in being a donor for a hair
Railroad upswing
may be temporary
By DICK WEST
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Although railroad
freight traffic was reported on the upswing
this week, President Reagan’s new budget for
Amtrak proposes further contraction of pas
senger service.
One problem implicit in these figures is
choochoophobia, or fear of training. Before
Amtrak can become self-supporting, it must
stamp out the public’s unfounded anxieties
about rail travel.
If I may offer myself as a case in point, I
recently worked up the courage to take the
train on a recent out-of-town trip. It was to be
my first train ride in about 30 years, and,
frankly, I was a bit jittery.
The last time I had ridden a train, I was
going from Dallas to Atlanta. After locating
my sleeping car accommodations, I sauntered
back to the club car for a nightcap.
In Texarkana, unbeknownst to me, the
train was bisected. Not until bedtime did I
discover that my sleeping car was still Geor
gia-bound whereas my body was en route to
St. Louis.
So shattering was that experience, I started
looking for alternate means of transportion.
When someone pointed out that the front and
rear sections of airliners almost always arrive
at the same destinations simultaneously — or
at least have that objective in their flight plans
— I switched to air travel.
As it happens, one of my colleagues is a
“railroad buff.” That may mean he is a dedi
cated train fan, a sort of choo-choo groupie.
Or it may mean he rides trains in the nude.
I wouldn’t put either past him.
Anyway, when I mentioned my qualms
about traveling by train, he was most reas
suring.
Statistics show that after being taken over
by Amtrak, passenger trains had become
competitive with airliners with regard to both
ends going to the same place, he said.
Braced by his words, I went ahead and
bought a ticket. The trip was remarkably close
to being as he had pictured it.
The view was indeed a lot different from a
train window than it is from 30,000 feet. And,
sure enough, trains go through a lot more
tunnels than airplanes do.
I’ll admit I was pretty tense during the first
few stops. Every time the train pulled into a
station, I found myself gripping the female
bartender so tightly my knuckles turned
white. And anytime I heard a strange noise —
which was frequently — I called in panic to the
conductor to make sure my car wasn’t being
decoupled and rerouted to Omaha.
But after a while I got my nerves under
control and before the trip was over I had
even developed a measure of commuter-like
insouciance.
If Amtrak can continue running both ends
of its trains in the same direction, I would say
rail travel startds a good chance of catching
on. Fear of being seated next to a railroad
buff, however, may never be conquered.
Battalion/Page 2
March 1, 1982
Ideal teacher meets expectations
While most students find it easier to
criticize, rather than compliment, their
instructors, I feel obligated to praise in
print a particular individual who has her
act together.
Surely the ideal teacher would possess
those traits demonstrated by this Texas
A&M faculty member.
An assistant professor, she tells her
classes that she takes her teaching se
riously.
She needn’t say that; it’s obvious. She
talks to her students, not at them. And
she listens to their comments and ques
tions with an interest that wrinkles her
brow.
She knows her stuff, so factual
answers come easily, but her mind is not
closed to students’ comments.
And her students do talk to her. She
literally waltzes into her classroom and
radiates a smile that could solve a power
outage. She vivaciously gestures through
her lectures with contagious enthusiasm
for the subject matter.
It’s hard to complain about all the
assigned reading.
She even offers brief public service
Before the first test she told studenuj
would be a fun test — and she was;
cere.
“You’re going to be able to talkaboa
so much what you’ve learned. It will I
fun!”
After the test she wanted a class revii
of it. She tossed around ideas to niodiij
the format for test #2.
announcements — as she calls them — of
campus events and deadlines of interest
to students.
During the first week of classes, she
requested that students fill out a brief
form about themselves — name, age,
classification, major, job, etc., etc.
“I like to know whom I’m teaching,”
she said.
Her goal for the semester, she told her
students, is to improve her objectivity in
grading tests — so she decided to have
students put their names on the backs of
their blue books. That way she could
grade all the tests and not know which
belongs to which student.
In addition, this assistant professa
already has passed out a teacher evalia
tion. Not the department’s evaluate
her own.
“I really want to know what you alia
thinking about the course.” So studed
evaluated everything from why they tool
the course, to what they’ve learnedthii|
far, back to testing fairness.
Instructors outline their class expecaj
tions in each semester’s sylla bus. Olid
unmentioned are the students’ expect!
tions of their instructors. Such expecti
tions might include enthusiasm, sincetj
ily, interest and knowledge.
It's nice to have at least one teachej
who possesses all of the alxive.
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Letter: Americans should prepare for attack
Editor:
It can’t happen here! Is that what you
think? Nuclear war, that is. It is
documented history that the liberal
democrats in Congress have been unila
terally disarming America now for years.
An alarming fact is that the Russian com
munist leaders are determined to domin
ate and conquer the world, in spite if
their lies and twisted propaganda to the
contrary!
Consider the facts: The Russians have
built the world’s greatest war machine
which is due to peak in 1982. Even
though Congress approved increased
military spending for America, the
money won’t translate immediately into
fighting equipment, because such a pro
ject takes months, even years to material
ize. The U.S. is expected to be at its
Reader’s
Forum
weakest point in 1982, thus creating the
ideal time for the Soviets to press their
huge military advatage! Just recently our
defense secretary admitted the Soviets
have a clear-cut military superiority over
the U.S. However, that statement is weak
in light of what retired generals, admirals
and T.V. documentaries have reported!
r "^edia
IS » JLA14.0JL4. A. * /
When will Russia attack the U.S.? The
next couple of years have to be critical,
with a nuclear attack maybe coming this
year or 1983 anyway!
Do you think Russia is just going to sit
around and wait for America to build-up
our military strength and catch-up with
them? No way!
Soviet Russia has developed a great
civil defense system (shelters, etc.) to pro
tect their people from nuclear war. We
have no real protection for Americans!
The complacent, blind liberals in Con
gress have not seen fit to protect us from
mass execution in nuclear war. This is
true though unbelieveable! We should all
write President Reagan, our senators and
congressmen, insisting an explanation of
why they are ignoring our urgent need!
Will you do this? I mean, do you know
how to prepare for survival? There are
many things we need to know and do
now. Where do we buy sealed, dehy
drated foods, how to purify and store
water, etc. If there is no electricity or
utilities, how do we prepare? How do we
protect ourselves from gamma rays of
fallout?
Two excellent books are available now:
One deals primarily with physical surviv
al — “Christians Will Go Though the Tri-
bulations” by Jim McKeever. (Available
at the Book Shop & Scripture Haven).
The other book must be ordered from:
Personal Christianity, P.O. Box 549,
Baldwin Park, CA. 91706. Enclose eight
dollars for the book and rush postage,
“Latest Word on the Last Days” by Dr.
C.S. Lovett, who is highly qualified in
psychology and bible prophesy.
Bill Graham says: “God will have to
apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah if he
does not judge America!”
Wake-up Americans! We need to take
action now!
Elizabeth Crenshaw
1804 Sabine Court
New Federalism
Editor:
(Regarding Richard J. Gosselin’s letter,
2-11-82)
The would-be common sense of New
Federalism lies in Ronald Reagan’s ver
sion of a balanced budget. A balanced
budget implies that debit equals credit. A
balanced budget does not insinuate more
or less money in the marketplace. Money
supply is controlled by the Federal Re
serve Board.
Inflation may be tied to production
costs, of which wages and waste in man
agement comprise a substantial portion.
Wage demands are a response to the cost
of living and the desire of laborers to
“take charge of their lives.” Waste results
from poor management.
The indifference of salaried manage
ment to the human element in industry,
to innovation in management philoso
phy, and to a conservation ethic is poor
management. Employee ownership of
industry, whereby employees hold a true
charge in management, is a relatively un
tried approach to economic recovery.
Archaic modes of production no longer
share the perspective of the “common
cogs in the Big Wheel.” An educated
blue-collar force needs a voice in man
agement.
Considering waste in deficit spending,
note the use of tax dollars to produce
military hardware that will not be used
or, in being used, will waste life. If econo
mic strength is America’s most important
weapon, then America should manage its
economy more efficiently by utilizing the
minds as well as the hands of its employee
resource.
New Federalism unwittingly seeds
employee ownership. By de-centralizing
legislative power for administrating so
cial programs, New Federalism fuels a
thirst for local control of economic power
as well. Step one is to demand local con
trol of all tax revenue, including that for
wasteful defense.
The blame for failing to exploit the
weakness of New Federalism will fall on
neither Democrats nor Republicans, but
on the ignorance of everyone.
Jonathon Landeck
310 Laurel
Yankee, go home
Editor:
I’m a Southerner and I just read Glenn
Gardner’s rebuttal to someone who drew
a distinction between yankee and south
ern manners. According to him, yankees
have “culturally eradicated” manners,
and don’t care to be considered, or to be
considerate of others. Interesting!
(This has to be the same guy who
objected to the display of the Confeder
ate flag!)
Now I know how the term “Yankee Go
Home” originated.
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 DeLeonJr.
Photographers Sumanesh Agrawal,
David Fisher, Eileen Manton,
Eric Mitchell, Peter Rocha,
John Ryan, Colin Valentine
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