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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1982)
opinion Battalion/Page 1 April 16,13 Reagan has image problem by Helen Thomas United Press International WASHINGTON — President Reagan’s early June trip to Europe may come just in time to give his falling for tunes a lift. In the book of political cliches, it has been true that when a president travels abroad and his leadership qualities are displayed with great fanfare, the country rallies in support, and his stock rises. Reagan’s decline in popularity and performance ratings are viewed by some aides as a traditional drop as a president moves into his second year. The president had warned of sacri fices that would have to be made to cur tail the size of government and its ser vices. But his proposals are hurting more than expected, and there is a growing doubt that there will be an economic turn around by early summer, which he and his aides have forecast. The White House way of dealing with the problem is to isolate the president more and more. As the days go on, his public and official activities are being curtailed. The perception that his top aides have extraordinary power remains, although there are more instances apparent now that Reagan is running his own show. His aides, who never hesitate to go on televi sion to explain what Reagan means or intends, can be and have been wrong. Reagan clearly is a man who wants to keep his campaign promises, and who is determined to stick to his own ideology even when it comes under severe attack. The media coverage of Reagan is now almost totally managed by his aides — obviously with the president’s approval — with stringent new gag rules on repor ters. All cameramen are welcome. Meantime, the speeches that Reagan gives in his radio addresses and to sym pathetic groups he gathers around him in the White House now have a notice ably bitter defensive edge. To religious leaders he had to repeatedly give assur ances that his administration was not abandoning a “commitment to the poor.” The raft of social programs he has tried to reduce, or at least to realign, have aroused public concern, and on that score Reagan finds himself on the defen sive. The subject of college student loans was particularly irritating and he used the unusual forum of a radio speech from Barbados to insist that there was no change in the thrust of the program. As contacts lessen with the president — and on many days neither reporters nor cameramen see him — Reagan appears more and more to be an isolated and insulated president. Even when he goes outside the White House to speak or travels outside of town, the security considerations make it impossible for the old give and take, con tacts with crowds, and the human story of a president. If that persists he will be come even more encapsulated, and more remote. But in the coming months there will be increasing pressure on Reagan to cam paign for Republican candidates, and his political strategists are playing hard ball to keep the troops in line. White House political adviser Edward J. Rollins told reporters “the Republicans have to get back in line” behind the presi dent. He also made it clear there would be penalties for Republican politicians such as Sens. Bob Packwood of Oregon and Lowell P. Weicker Jr. of Connecticut who have publicly criticized the presi dent. Rollins also chided administration officials who have done nothing to dis abuse the public that Reagan makes mis takes. “We’ve done more damage to ourselves than anyone else has.” He stressed no Republican will get Reagan help unless he falls in line. Rollins is urging Reagan to step up his travel schedule and to purchase broad cast time to broaden his audiences beyond the weekly Saturday fiveminute radio programs. The radio speeches have commanded a wide audience and assure the president of coverage in the Sunday newspapers. Reagan now has an image problem. All presidents get to that stage. He is trying to overcome it. The trip to Europe and the scheduled major nuclear disarma ment at the United Nations later in June may help. Slouch By Jim Eai “/ intend to put it in my seat during the last week. I think |Wo^rtl all graduating seniors should have one!” | work with irrxumtivrmm Reader’s Forum: equa means freedom from fe by Kelli Battalion Editor: I would like to compliment Phyllis Henderson on her excellent article which appeared in the April 7th edition of The Battalion on page 2. The article was headlined “Apartment Break-in Causes Unconcious Fears to Surface.” But I would like to point out that the title is somewhat of a misnomer, as Henderson (correctly) indicates their is nothing “un conscious” (she uses the word “subcou- scious'j in a wise woman’s constant awareness of her vulnerablity to harrass- ment and assualt, even in the reputedly conservative, mild-mannered environs of Texas A&M University. Henderson’s experience of fear (un fortunately not unique) corroborates a contention put forth by Susan Brownmil- ler in her book “Against Our Will;” namely, that women in patriarchal cul tures such as ours are held in subjugation by men through what may be an uncoun- scious conspiracy on their part. Women are presented as the most ready victims of violence, as they prof fer the least re sistance in both mental attitude and brute physical strength. It is the popular orien tation that it is up to the woman to secure her own safety and well-being, not up to society to assure her the same f reedom of movement (during the day or the night, to any locale she wishes to frequent), or freedom of choice in her habiliment or even the neighborhood of her domicile, that many men enjoy. In conjunction with the attitude that it is up to the woman to protect herself, if a woman * Battalion V Wir l^ ‘V * 1 port it is often claimed that she siwW' K a , ’’h ''j Brut m both u asked tor it, or was not conscie[* ( | a | )1 . () . l( | s;u enough. Read: It’s her probbiLL,' t | ie head ours. Just how much conscientious n int of Model endured by women in this concert^ fact frequently neglected; it «Elmquist sai women are encouraged to approaqi ired primaril state of paranoia in order toeverkettBst. French i a guard against attack. S ua t? e needed i 'Ehis is not to say that inourp society all memebers — man, cn and the elderly, as well as women- not exposed to smiliar dangers, women as a sex are indoctrinated an early age that it is their responsi. to prevent and not provoke (evem obscure fashion) invasions to theirp cy and bodies. This can be psycholoji ly damaging and burdensome to female, as she is made to feelcontim constrained and set against by sooi instead of society making her feelsft an equal member with full privilege; I think a more peaceful and society would benefit every one,li think it would radically alter thestaffi women, as in this reguard itaspfl problem they confront. Following vote, birth control, and economicvil ty, I think the next big step toward equality in rights, expressed in red bewteen men and women is the ret lion of this problem of women to be where they want, with whonti want, in what they want, without inf vant intimidation. Jude K. Swank' Philosofl Letters: Students mean more than quotas for colled Today I attended a gripe session where the Deans of the College of En gineering tried to explain the problems they faced as the largest engineering school in the nation. Each administrator who spoke complained that there were too few instructors and too few funds to accomodate the 10,000-plus students in their jurisdiction. Yet, they continue to actively recruit more students by promis ing the use of excellent facilities (which the administrators admitted are not ade quate for the number of students cur rently enrolled in engineering) and won derful faculty (Texas A&M as a leading research institute). According to their own statistics of competency levels in Mechanical En gineering 212, the quality of engineering students entering has risen, while the abi lities of the students leaving the class has dropped considerably during the last 10 years. Dr. Page, the dean of engineering, said, “We are not trying to flunk out stu dents.” I believe he is telling the truth. Instead they are trying to meet quotas. They are not dealing with students, they are dealing with enrollment num bers. Failure is recognized as part of any competitive system, but the false hopes given to prospective students regarding Texas A&M Engineering is fraud When I asked Assistant Dean of Engineering Stan Lowy about methods the College of Engineering uses in recruiting, Lowy’s reply was that they are “old enough to vote” and they are “old enough to drink,” they should know that what we tell them (prospective students) is “PR” (prop aganda). Case in Point: Wednesday, I saw a computing science professor taking a pair of prospective students through Zachry. He was expounding on the be nefits of Texas A&M Computer Science, showing them the computer facilities on campus. He failed to mention that the approximately 30 terminals in the in dustrial engineering lab (about 12 MV 8000s, 3 Eclipses, 15 Wylburs) were being used by many of the 10,000 students en rolled in engineering courses. Nor did he mention that the waiting time for a ter minal usually runs between 30 minutes and an hour at prime time. He even failed to mention that computing science majors are not assigned advisers during their first two years of study. It is too bad that a glut of engineering students exists at Texas A&M, too many for the system to handle at the present time, but someone needs to warn these prospective engineers. Even though some students need to modify their de gree plans, is it really necessary to banish students from the University because of low grades they receive in engineering? Couldn’t the Engineering Department develop a program where students are treated as individuals, rather than parts of a 43 percent failure quota? A former CS major turned journalism by choice rather than failure, Donn Friedman ’84 Letters policy '"■4 _ tpffcefL&itfcr JftAtild n& dbcIQl $00- words in l^agth, and a& subject to being cut if they are longer. The editorial stj$f reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must also be signed, show the address and phone number of the writer. Articles for Reader’s Forum are also wel come, and are not subject to the same length constraints as letters. Address all in quiries and correspondence to: Editor, The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas J A&M University, College Station, TX ’ 77843. Write your representative Editor: As a concerned citizen, I am writing this letter to ask you (as a student at Texas A&M University) to write to your con gressman to oppose House bill HR 5158. The legislation is not in the best interests of either the Bell System or the nation. There are several important reasons why this bill must be opposed. First, there is no reason why Congress has to speed up this legislation. It is only an attempt to restructure the Bell System before the court has time to rule on the divestiture proposed by the Department of Justice. The bill disregards the interests of three million Bell System share owners, most of whom are individuals with small hold ings. It is also a threat to the jobs of Bell System employees. What is most alarming about this bill is that it is patently unfair to the Bell Sys tem, giving its competitors virtually every bread. The bill would continue to saddle Bell customers with the burden of sub sidizing Bell’s competitors. The con- and your hometown congressmanw# straints placed on AT&T’s ability to com- be most effective. Congressman F pete would put in question this nation’s Gramm’s address is: continued leadership in telecommunica- 1721 Longworth House Ofi tions. In short, this bill will make telecom- Building munications service in our nation poorer Independence N.J. Avenues, SI | and ultimately more costly. Washington, D.C. 20515 With this in mind, I urge you to join me in opposing this ill-conceived bill. Writing to Congressman Phil Gramm Richard J. Gosselnf 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 Texas A&M University administrators or faculty 0 bers, or of the Board of Regents. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory nmfif for students in reporting, editing and photograph) & ses within the Department of Communications, j Questions or comments concerning any editoti;.: matter should be directed to the editor. Letters Policy Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words* length, and are subject to being cut if they arelongd; The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters fo style and length, but will make every effort to ntaintn the author’s intent. Each letter must also be signed,sto* the address and phone number of the writer. Columns and guest editorials are also welcome, aid are not subject to the same length constraints as letieM Address all inquiries and correspondence to: Ediw, The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M Uni versity. College Station, TX 77843, or phone (713) SIS' 2611. The Battalion is published daily during Texas AW ! fall and spring semesters, except for holiday and exanii j nation periods. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 persemes-j ter, $33.25 per school year and $35 per full year. Adver tising rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. 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. 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