1
opinion
Wait a million years,
the crisis will be over
by Dick West
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Proximity is a key
word in the Falklands dispute. Because
they are currently located only 450 miles
off the Argentine coast, the islands
claimed by the British understandably
have aroused proprietary instincts in
Buenos Aires.
I use the adverb “currently” with some
degree of confidence that it is exactly the
word I was groping for.
“Here today, gone tomorrow” is the
latest geographic dogma. That philoso
phy is manifested in a relatively new
theory called “Continental Drift,” which
may be the next best thing to “Shuttle
Diplomacy.”
started out near the Equator, the terri
tory now called Antarctica was covered
with trees and polar ice covered the
Sahara.
And the outlook is for the restiveness
to continue. Present trends will one day
have Los Angeles approaching Alaska
and Australia colliding with China.
In view of all this stirring around, it
may be hypothesized that the Falklands
are headed toward Europe and at some
( joint in time will turn up north of Scot-
and in the approximate position now
occupied by the Orkney Islands.
That could cause a marked relaxation
of the annexation pressures in Argen
tina.
Earth’s surface, science is now con
vinced, is composed of six major plates
and about a dozen smaller ones that
move above on a molten sphere. As the
plates go, so go the land masses and
oceans that rise above them.
It is believed the movement has been
in progress for at least 250 million years.
Before that date, the continents were all
joined together and there was only one
sea instead of seven to worry about.
In consequence, there were compara
tively few border disputes and clashes
over marine rights were similarly rare.
Then what is now South America’s
east coast began splitting off from what is
now the west coast of Africa, and nothing
has been the same since.
There is, alas, no guarantee that the
future direction of “Continental Drift”
will be along the geo-political lines
deemed most promising for world peace.
We could, instead, see Egypt become
part of Scandinavia while Israel drifts
down near New Zealand, thus playing
hob with the Camp David peace plan for
the Middle East.
By and large, however, a game of
“fruitbasket turn over” in most parts of
the globe could only be salubrious.
It is true the traffic moves rather slow
ly — one to five inches a year — but as
Secretary of State Alexander Haig has
pointed out, time can be an ally of diplo
macy.
For instance, Florida was once
attached to Africa, pieces of Alaska
If both sides in the Falklands crisis will
just be patient, geographic conditions
during the next few million years may
change enough to render the dispute
moot.
Slouch
By Jim Earle
“There’s the answer in black and white; but I’ll swear I
don’t remember what the question was!”
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,
JohnaJo 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
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77843.
Ground
is new movemert
by Arnold Sawislak
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Almost 20 years
ago, Washington witnessed something it
had not seen since the depths of the De
pression — thousands of protesting
Americans marching for a cause in the
capital city of the United States.
That, of course, was the 1963 civil
rights march climaxed by Martin Luther
King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. It was
the first of many demonstrations that
would come to Washington in the next 10
years: first for racial equality and then
against the Vietnam War.
When that decade of protest began,
most people in Washington believed that
mass marches, rallies and picketing
would backfire on their sponsors; that
lawmakers and policy makers would re
fuse even to consider the demands of the
protesters while they were in the streets.
Among those who misread what was
happening then were many in the media.
The demonstrations were exciting spec
tacles, but most news people doubted
they would change much. In fact, until
the civil rights and anti-war protests be
gan involving thousands of people, some
reporters and editors downrated their
signflcance and news value.
There still are those who maintain the
civil rights legislation of the 1960s and
the withdrawal from Southeast Asia in
the 1970s would have occurred with or
without the protest movements. But
those who marched and rallied believe
they had an impact and the memoirs of
many who made national policy in those
days confirm that feeling.
Now, a new movement is afoot — for a
nuclear weapons freeze now and a start
toward nuclear disarmament soon.
There have been big demonstrations in
Europe; they haven’t reached that point
yet in the United States.
The demand seems to many in
Washington to be naive andor dangerous
in view of the Soviet Union’s aggressive
military and foreign policy. The “smart
money” in the capital says the president,
especially this president, will ignore the
ous bu<
“Ground Zero” movement and( 10 f ess i c
the policy of trying to match or ^ ns, ^ r
the Russian^ m wraponn.
The smart money may bem;||?j-j ie
President Reagan made a p uc )j el f
agreeing with those who fearniaerof vo
in <>i >11 idio talks and :tualh i
the usual practice of avoiding eficit ir
meetings until there is something ^a.
to agree on, expressed thehopcii
talk to Sonic! Ic.kUt 1 .eonidBrc:“8S este
the United Nations in luue. PP rma
— . . , omnmti
Even more dramatic was thetK:
by Sen. Barry Gold water, who s
had been elected President ini
would have flattened North Vktj
1965, and that he would liketos
with the Russians and pointoi|
there were far more constwf
for their economic resources!
MSC
mg more weapons.
None of this means nucleard
ment is coming. But it maymeai
ican politicians this time can seeii
can’t dismiss a potentially massnt
demand for change out of hand
Letters: Literacy in letters helps
Editor:
Bert Mcjimsey’s recent response to
the handgun control article was very en
lightening. I do not refer to the content,
it was full of the same old arguments, but
rather to the style. Perhaps Mr. Mc jimsey
is too emotionaly involved with hand
guns to take the time to write a literate
letter. It was quite difficult to read some
of the misconstructed sentences. Argu
ments are much more persuasive if sent
iences such as “An excellent point used by
many pro-gun control advocates.” are
left out. I hope that drawing attention to
this poorly written material will encour
age people to take the time to write letters
which are grammatically and syntactical
ly correct. I am better able to decipher
the minds of the Aggies if their thoughts
are put on paper in a literate form.
does. As the old saying goes, when guns
are outlawed only outlaws will have guns.
Personally, the thought of not being
able to defend myself against burglars or
other criminals scares the hell out of me.
So why don’t you and your dog “Spot”
(what a joke) go and find some other
crusade to cry about.
Scott Ashmore ‘82
‘Good’ frats vs. ‘bad’ frats
Editor:
Bruce Babcock
Department of Agricultural Economics
Gun control reaction
Editor:
In reference to the article by Gary
Barker in the April 22 issue of The Batta
lion. The second amendment to the Con
stitution states: “A well regulated Militia,
being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and
bear Arms shall not be infringed. “
I totally disagree with his bleeding
heart liberal utopian ideas. I myself am a
gun owner. The guns I own are used
strictly for sport and nothing else. The
freedoms we have today were not won by
using slingshots. True, I believe in the
registration only of firearms for private
use, but a moratorium on hand gun pro
duction? Get real, son, this would be a
major constitutional question and be in
the courts for years.
People are killed every year by drunk
drivers. Does that mean that we should
ban liquor or automobiles? No, the prob
lem is in the judicial system. Many cri
minals are given light sentences by the
courts. If the maximum sentence possi
ble was mandatory for conviction of a
crime where a gun was used, maybe then
such crimes would decrease. Guns don’t
kill people, it’s the person behind it that
I am not in a fraternity nor desire to
be. I believe there are two types of frater
nities. The “good” kind of frat, a brother
hood, provides friendship, support, and
love for its members. “Bad” fraternities
proliferate in number and status breed
ing conceit through rejection and scorn
for outsiders. A “bad” f rat pervasion can
fracture a university’s cohesion, tradi
tions, and friendly atmosphere. Texas
A&M must not isolate, reject, or suppress
its fraternities and sororities; doing so
aids the “bad” frat proliferation and is
self-disesteeming and hypocritical.
Aggies detesting seeing A&M labeled
“Frat town of the ‘bad’ order” attempting
to isolate frats from the University’s main
life and activities will only gratify those
wishing to reject A&M’s traditions
through self-isolation. Thus, suppres
sion provides an additional incentive for
some to join Greek societies increasing
their proliferation.
Those opposing frats reasoning that
they ruin the University’s cohesion imp
ly: “I don’t believe the bond between
Aggies is strong enough; I fear for tradi
tions disintegrating and ‘bail
flourishing.” This attitude holdJ
opinion towards A&M’s prize(l|
Still others believing frats areap|
ate only at large, impersonalunbf|
vehemently reject the idea that.U]
sires Greek societies. Perhaps the'!
that A&M is a highly esteemediitst
but instead see a vast, anonymous!
college where the lost meanderfj
amongst masses. Rejecting fratss
inadequacies within the University
defeating.
Claim some spirited Aggies:“ft
no frats here because our majof
Aggie traditionalists already
large, unified fraternity.” Is
frat a “good” one if it rejects andsiti
ses minority factions (frats)?
Some Ags spurn frats and “fa
contending that proliferatingfraid
at A&M eradicate its unique,'
and open atmosphere. Are friei
and tolerance between Aggies t
conditional? Why do some,
Aggies to be the nation’s friendliest 1
gians, also insist that any fraternit'
composed of fellow Ags, is a “bat
The University’s harmonious
phere disintegrating will probably!
through the “moral” majority’sn
of frats, not conversely,
solely responsible for the state oftl
versity’s harmony is unfair.
If A&M’s traditions are stroi
thing will af f ect them. The bond
Aggies being true, frats cannot
them. Those lacking faith inABbj
fear frats. A&M must not reject its
nities and sororities because di
hypocritical and self-defeating.
Richard.'! I
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