opinion
Slouch By Jim Earle
“It just must be cheap material. When I was a freshman,
they were baggy.”
Politicians seldom
return home again
by Wesley G. Pippert
United Press International
WASHINGTON — There’s an old
saying that when they move to Washing
ton, they don’t go home again.
George McGovern told a reporter a
few days ago that despite representing
South Dakota in Congress for 22 years he
rarely goes home any niore — or even
back to Capitol Hill.
Two otner unsuccessful presidential
candidates — Hubert Humphrey, the
1968 Democratic nominee, and Barry
■ Goldwater, who represented the Repub
licans in 1964 — did go home to Minne
sota and Arizona. But they quickly ran
for reelection to the Senate and returned
to Washington two years later,
i The exception to this, of course, is for-
' mer presidents. Unlike Britain, where
S former prime ministers and Cabinet
* members keep their seats in Parliament
! and can continue to advise and criticize in
1 official capacity, American presidents
; leave town.
; Jimmy Carter has been back to
Washington only a couple of times since
he returned to Georgia in defeat in 1981.
; Gerald Ford and Lyndon B. Johnson
had carved out much of their adult lives
in Washington — in many respects, they
| were more the products of Washington
than of their native Michigan and Texas.
But when they left the presidency, they
; also left Washington.
Ford did not ^o back to Grand Rapids
but to new digs in California. He comes
back to Washington seldom, the most re-
: cently to go to a dentist. He stopped by
the Oval Office for three minutes.
Richard Nixon left in 1974 in disgrace,
and he, too, has come back rarely — for
the signing of the Israel-Egyptian peace
treaty and enroute to Egyptian President
; Anwar Sadat’s funeral.
But that is not true of most other politi-
| cians.
Walter Mondale moved back into his
Washington, not Minnesota, home after
living four years in the vice president’s
residence on Naval Observatory Hill.
Two former chairmen of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee — Frank
Church, D-Idaho, and J. William Ful-
bright, D-Ark. — have continued to live
in Washington.
So do other former senators —James
Abourezk, D-S.D.; Dick Clark and John
Culver, two liberal Iowa Democrats; Jack
Miller, R-Iowa and John Sherman Coop
er, R-Ky.
Why do they stay? It’s not that they
don’t know their own turf. McGovern re
marked — with probable accuracy — that
he knew nearly every square incn of the
vast state of South Dakota.
There are family reasons. Their chil
dren, often reared here, look to
Washington as their home town. Most of
them probably marry and live in
Washington, too.
There is the power — and accessibility
to it — in Washington. Power generally
cannot be bought even with money. It
may be stronger than even the nostalgia
of past happy days.
McGovern and his wife, their five chil
dren grown, sold their beautiful
Japanese-design home in Washington
and moved into a town house a few blocks
from the White House, which he sought
in 1972.
A former college professor,
McGovern teaches one day a week — at
Northwestern University, American
University in Washington and the Uni
versity of New Orleans during successive
semesters, and Innsbruck, Austria, this
summer. He also gives two or three
speeches a week.
It’s not all work. A pianist when he was
a student pastor, he has resumed taking
lessons and the network cameras re
corded him diligently playing some Scott
Joplin ragtime m his first recital.
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
i
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
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; Associate Editor Denise Richter
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Tindel, John Wagner, Laura Williams,
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J Graphic Artist Richard DeLeon Jr.
Photographers
David Fisher, Jane Hollingsworth
Peter Rocha, John Ryan, Colin Valentine
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Battalion/Page 2
May 5, 1982
Religion should get equal #
<
Editor:
Today, as I was walking from Francis
Hall to the language lab in the Academic
Building, I passed by Harrington Center
which, I have noted, has become a center
for proselytizing the Christian faith on
campus. I stopped and listened for a bit
and then went on my way to do battle
with French.
Later, as I was walking back to my
office, my mind boggled with the myster
ies of le futur anterieur, I noted that
another speaker was on dock. I stopped
and listened for a while and then went on
Reader’s
Forum
my way.
Later, as I was passing on my way to
lunch I noticed that still a third speaker
was spreading the message. I again stop
ped to listen for a bit before going on to
the C. After lunch the scenario was repe
ated.
Let me say most emphatically that I do
not object to the presence of these speak
ers. I do feel that a college campus is a
good place for people to engage in these
sorts of demonstrations. I must say,
however, that I do find them to be a bit
repetitive. I stopped to listen each time in
the hope that something different might
be being presented. Alas, I was dis
appointed. The topics varied a bit but the
message remained the same.
I have noted, in the past, that there
have been letters to the editor both pro
and con the presence of these campus
preachers. There are those on campus
who do not feel that these speakers
should be permitted and there are those
who staunchly defend their presence. As
I said earlier, I tend to believe that they
should stay.
However I would like to suggest that a
concerted effort be made to engage
speakers of a variety of religions and
viewpoints. After all, a university campus
is supposed to be a place in which stu
dents are exposed to the widest possible
variety of ideas. It is quite evident that
there is very little variety among these
campus preachers, all of whom seem to
be of a fundamentalist persuasion.
Surely it must be possible to bring in
representatives of other religions. One
could run the gamut of denominations
and have them all present their alterna
tives to the students at Texas A&M. We
could have a Baptist one day, a Methodist
the next, a Presbyterian the next and so
on. A Quaker would also be nice especial
ly since adherents of that faith tend to
ward silence.
Interspersed with representatives of
the Christian faith, we could perhaps
have speakers for some of the other of
the world’s major religions. An occasion
al Buddhist or Moslem would certainly
add to the cosmopolitan atmosphere of
Texas A&M and would be in keeping
by Cl
with the concept of a “world unii u m*
In addition to these, we a . ^dT
representatives of other f;
that Moonies are under a git jgg^ bet
fire these days but if we can tolH^id r (
Gordon Liddy on campus wecaiii e teorolo
ly tolerate a Moonie. SomeHaij, A $71
nas would be nice especially-budget ce
sure that they would includlpW cou ^
attractions such as drums, belkipf llu
bourines. Perhaps we could eveW c F °
old Druid who would be willinjB^^the
sent his viewpoints. Surely thereE^ enn e
an old Druid wandering about&jfpA n e nc
somewhere. E| 0 f rest
Of course, in the interest of h proposed,
well as the basic principles oft search an<
equal time should be given toil tam at It
alternative viewpoints. We m| The
overlook atheists and agnostics £ f sta “ is u .
should be given their day. Per«S te . ^
could even have an anonymousOTjj an(
(as defined by Hugo Rahner).!rj’ exas AS
’W
fol
1GDUHW& WWW©***' worcMoimie NM.MWowtwc
come to campus anonymously yersities r
Speakers representing a va:program,
faiths and views would certainlfeThe Se
life here at Texas A&M and i about $3
much to improve the educatioi®
Aggies. Many of these speakers*®
of course, members of distinci|
ities; perhaps even less than2p
We would therefore have tobevd
ful to refrain from the phrase,“H®
6 runs both ways. ” They wouldhi®| (^)
greeted with tolerance and olHj
and I am sure that the results*®
most beneficial. I Uni|e
: HOLS'
Samuel lark critici:
Department of Recreation i]l5-memb
by Polic<
which ha
off-duty
from can
“That’
Police Pal
dent Bob
“In Hous
in a comp
duty) on
made nu
Brow i
the Natio
uncil <
-memfc
bed by
rtment
Dorm asks for student cooperation
Editor:
Howdy Ags! As this semester comes to
a close, we at Davis-Gary Hall invite you
to look forward with us to an outstanding
1982-83 school year. At a recent Davis-
Gary council meeting which consisted of
both the outgoing and newly-elected
council members, we discussed the con
tributions that we as Aggies can make in
the coming year to insure that 1982-83
will be one of the best years ever for
Texas A&M.
We’re fired up! We have some great
things to look forward to next year: Jack
ie Sherrill and a highly motivated Athle
tic Department, a new chancellor with
some excellent long-range goals for the
University, a record incoming freshman
class with their enthusiasm and burning
desire to be Aggies and an opportunity
for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the
ideals that our University was founded
on.
Next year, in particular, national
attention will be focused on Texas A&M,
and we should capitalize on this oppor
tunity to enhance the image of our Uni
versity and make amends for some of the
negative press we received this past year.
The image of our school is a direct reflec
tion of our attitudes and values as indi
viduals, and the realization of this fact is
the first step in establishing a Texas A&M
that we can be even more proud of.
A definite need exists for the total
cooperation of all Aggies, both corps and
non-regs. The increasing enrollment in
our school in turn increases our indi
vidual responsibility to maintain the fel
lowship that is the basis of Aggie spirit.
We can no longer tolerate division
among ourselves. We at Davis-Gary in
tend to channel our energy into the con
solidation of Aggies and the continuation
of Texas A&M traditions in the coming
year. We encourage everyone to take
pride in what we nave and contribute
whatever it takes to maintain the unique
ness of our university.
Gig em!
1982-83 Davis Gary Council
University of Texas
student comments
Editor:
Enclosed is an article that appeared in
the April 27 edition of the Daily Texan. I
am certainly glad these seven Aggies
have nothing better to do (i.e., study)
than to deface Veteran Memorials in Au
stin. Surely this prank was directed at the
teasips, yet the result was damage to
Memorial Stadium, a structure dedicated
to WWI veterans. Names of those UT/
TU students who died in action during
WWI are placed here. Later the stadium
was dedicated to all war veterans.
I know the students of Texas A&M
honor and respect the memories of their
fallen comrades in defense of the United
States. How would the Texas A&M stu
dents feel if teasips tried to steal or deface
something dedicated to one of the for
mer Texas A&M Congressional Medal of
Honor recipients? The Corps of Cadets
would have something to say about it, I’m
sure.
If these seven or other Aggie!j
something to steal from the Univel j
Texas, I have prepared a list off!
you can have:
1. Abe Lemons
2. Government Professor A1 Waif*
3. All parking meters on campus||;
4. The recipes of Jester Center Cal!
These seven Aggies should bet
manded by fellow Texas A&MsJ
and all veterans of the U.S. 1
Forces.
Mark!
Civil Engifll'
University of Texas atflj
‘Save the grass
a failure
Editor:
The people who initiated the!
The Grass” campaign had great if
tions. We all would like a morebeai I
school, and I thank them for inert' I
the student awareness of “cattle trail I
campus. But in the end, the support 1 1
this campaign have made fools oftJ
selves. Now, at many locations onl
pus, there are wooden stakes and!
metal plates laying on the “cattle trail
remnants of the “Save The Grass 1
paign. Good intentions are great,Wl
cerity is more appreciated.
Steve Scannd