opinion Battalion/Page 2 April 5 Slouch By Jim Earle 'Z mr &Jr?nA9 PRMCMTfJfZviz FDg sroK^rsfi^A' ]J PZOWSE TOS ®noAJ<=^'^ E£ r,/ocS5 -/mW? yoo^advic- , the Central American crisis. “We hope to convince Fidel Castro that ;* it would be in Cuba’s interest to break off -‘relations with the Soviet Union and to •‘stop supplying arms and military advis- \ ers to rebel forces in El Salvador,” Mayor •; Nathan Windfinger said. Broken Treaty, Okla. — The local school board announced tonight it has completed arrangments for busing stu dents from one all-white school to another. “Despite the fact that no minorities are involved, the board feels it is a form of discrimination to require students to attend schools in their own neighbor hoods,” Superintendent Primbley Bung- lewoof explained. “Besides that, riding across town in a school bus is an education in itself.” South Succotash, Ala. — The Bagatel- £le County Commission has approved a •Jplan backing the sale of arms to Syria. \ “If the federal government won’t let \ the Syrians buy the latest military air- craft, we will sell them some shotguns ■‘from the Sheriff Department’s arsenal, •'said Cmintv M^rmcrpr Fndirnft TVirnnr said County Manager Endicott Torpor- \ bolt. £ Tinker’s Dam, Nev. — The town coun- \ cil tonight confirmed the appointment of Sump City, N.J. — At a town meeting tonight, residents of this community approved plans to convert a vacant lot across the street from the courthouse into a nuclear dumping ground. “The word we get is that nuclear pow er plants across the country are having trouble finding places to dump radioac tive waste material,” said municipal spokesman Banebridge Flickelnurd. “If the price is right, they can dump on us.” Upper Wrought, Pa. — The council of aldermen voted today to prohibit the sale of cigarettes that carry health warnings on the packages. Democrats change rules by Arnold Sawislak United Press International WASHINGTON — Once again changing their national convention dele gate selection rules, the Democrats have moved toward adopting the philosophy of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture — namely, “form follows function.” The outside shape of Wright build ings was dictated by what they was to be done inside. The Democrats, after more than a decade of emphasizing democratic procedures in choosing presidential can didates, now have turned to the more pragmatic goal of trying to assure that their candidates can both win elections and govern successfully. Between 1968 and 1980, the Demo crats cleansed their nominating process of bossism and back room wheeling and dealing. There can be little argument that George McGovern in 1972 and Jim my Carter in 1976 and 1980 were the first choices of the people who actually took part in the long nominating processes. The problem was that neither McGovern nor Carter were widely accepted by the Democrats whose liveli hoods or avocations were tied most close ly to the party. The reason: the new rules had cut many of them out of the easy access to the nominating process they had enjoyed before the reforms were in stalled. In 1972, many Democratic elected officials, party leaders and organizations traditionally allied to the party walked away from the McGovern candidacy. The party reformers had a lot of expla nations for this, but none of them blamed the rules they had written. The problem became clearer when Carter was able to win the presidency but found it almost impossible to govern suc cessfully without the active cooperation of the officials and leaders of his own party. He came to Washington as an out sider; he served his term in the White House as a virtual outcast. He owed little to the other Democrats nor they to him. Some blamed Carter for his troubles, but more thoughtful observers saw a structural problem: the Democrats had built a temple to democracy that had no place for politicians. The Democratic National Committee took several major steps last montliii these vital allies back into the foli, The most important of these^1 create 570 new delegate slots for cratic elected officials and party faM 1 * > These delegates will not havetontgiT 1 T their convention seats nor pledge’ 1 ®'*' selves to any presidential candid; important point for many fessionals who do not wanttobuya in January on a horse thatisnl run until July or August. The new seats are in additional convention slots already in plati, elected officials and party leaden are willing to pledge themselveslo dates early in the game. The ef fect of all this and otheii changes should be togivethepeopid have the most direct stake in tnefom of the Democratic Party a much sit ty voice in the selection of its presi candidate. It is assumed—bi may be a more realistic term — also will be more likely to work convention choice in the campaii if successf ul, in office. by Kathy R« Battalion R< Jjohn Doe is drh iad listening to tl a familiar buzz bi ogramming. Bi buzz isn’t a t tual civil defei hat happens no Surviving a nuc nds on knowing icrisis situation, p The Brazos Cot Civil Defense am ’anning—f'undei Ians, prepar -pi; ordinates all cou at could be used saster. The state vernments also c urces if needed. Besides nuclea ivil defense office does, radiatioi zardous materi |om train dera ods. "We have a plat ese areas,” Br; Svil Defense D langlose said. jThe Civil Defer Jaff—made up o fense directors of I ty. Bryan, College jTexas A&M Unive iponsible for settir mutee to deal witf iter. A nuclear em< :cur from an accic a U.S enemy r gressor situation [overnment then v Ivil defense offic Tea so the group local citizens. Next, a plan calf adon would b effect. This plan is Battalic wins pi Letters: Petition for Easter holiday Three Battalion s on five awards nnual Southwest ism Congress on / Editor: This letter is in regards to a petition which I sent to President Vandiver be fore Spring Break requesting that April 9th, the Friday before Easter be consi dered a school holiday. Before anyone claims that it has been tried before, I would like to stress that the petition was written with the realization that the school calender could not be changed this year, but that it could be altered in future years. Since I have only been able to reach a very small segment of the stu dent population here at A&M, I would appreciate other’s opinions. The petition reads as follows: “It has come to our attention that April 9th has not been considered a holiday by our school calender. We feel that this day should be a school holiday because it is Good Friday and the beginning of Pas sover Season. We feel that this is a very special time which should he spent with our families. We do not feel that it is too much to ask for you to give us this day as a holiday, because earlier in the year you were willing to give us a holiday merely on the basis of whether or not we won a football game. Certainly, Easter and Pas sover are more important than a football game.” This petition was signed by 400 people. if the crowd is not extremely True, the crowd was not very lively ing the singing. They were quiet very attentive, and held their screai and applauding until after each Unlike the concert which led Lain lin a few years ago to ask for a 3. The Battalion pi of the 17 universit competing. The competiti ! a jWoman’s Universi as judged by st rom the Sacramen he Miami Herald. Greg Gammon lion photo ediu lace in the spot ne phy competition ar Lynne Pusanik ’85 490 Mosher Be critical, not rude sped during his songs. The crotf ln the sports phot Ronnie Milsap’s concert was just thft S ( ' r y; Fran k Ghri of Aggie crowd that I’m proud to^ e “‘ tor ’ won seconc part of. Also, many performers do leys, especially when they have as hits as Ronnie Milsap. With a voice Ronnie Milsap’s it doesn’t reallyffi what he sings, it will always be entert) ame sports story enise Richter, cit; bird place in the j story category. Riel $50 in the scholars tion. Editor: This is a letter in regard to Cathy Saathoffs review on Ronnie Milsap’s concert that was printed in the April 1 issue of the Battalion. I truly hope her review was in the spirit of April Fools and that she was not really serious. I know a critic should be critical, but rude, I would think not. I’m sure her review was an assessment of her opinions and not that of the crowd’s. A singer does not receive three standing ovations and two encores mg. I have seen him perform here The Battalioi three years in a row and would glad(o>' awards for its advei him again, that is if he comes back.W R°y Leschper Jr. but by far not least was Miss SaatH* 2 ^ 6 * n psychological assessment of the wanting Mr. Milsap to fall off the I’m proud to say sorry Cathy,butnod Ag ’ P.S. I wonder if Miss Saathoff joi the other Ags when they stood as sang “America the Beautiful.” place in tne com newspaper ad fora tiser; Steve Cooksey and third place in for series of ads advertiser; Reggie won second place in Andrew Won Editor’s Note: This letter wasaccor nied by 24 other signatures. \ -category; and 'Tex; versity won third pi op ad competition. The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference Editor Angelique Copeland 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, Hope E. Paasch Daniel Puckett, Bill Robinson, Denise Sechelski, John Wagner, 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 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 orfacultj bers, or of the Board of Regents. 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