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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 1982)
opinion Battalion/Page 2 I July 29,1982 ■■■ USTeN, WMiTe Hou§e, I oRoeReD a RecoVeRY aii^o&T two YeaRS aeo! iT’c) iN THe HaiL. ROCKY mtn. N£W§> NEA •>82, € Aggie friendship — touchy issyfe I wish the Board of 'Regents would make up its mind. The Regents have got to decide whether they want the best of everything for Texas A&M and the System — as they have avowed, repeatedly — or whether they just want to play favorites. During Monday’s portion of their three-day meeting, the regents seesawed dangerously on the brink of a serious ethical dilemma. Regents Royce Wisen- baker and William McKenzie wanted to reject a firm recommended as the most, qualified by System planning staff to/ award a hefty contract to a better friend of Aggieland. architect, and Preston Geren is a architect. He opens up his purse gives us money Sorry — I didn’t know financial® butions were any indication of ti expertise. Wisenbaker and McKenzie and tugged at the other Regenis The contract in question was for de sign of the $21.5 million engineering/ physics building scheduled to be com- leted in 1986. The design fee comes to 980,000 — no small potatoes. Reagan holds steady In a briefing to the Regents, System planning chief Wesley E. Peel put it like this: all other things being equal—criter ia including technical competence and the quality of prior work done both for the System and other customers — de sign work would be awarded to the firm with the most Aggie connections: Aggie- owned, lots of Texas A&M grads em ployed there and a history of financial contributions to the University. But, that’s supposed to be after a thor ough weeding-out process based on tech nical criteria to whittle the number of interested firms from over 100 to three. Those top three would be the ones brought before the Regents, in order of precedence. Regents Planning and Building Com mittee Chairman H.C. Bell praised the procedure as “taking the politics out” of the system: before the present procedure was instituted in 1979, firms lobbied indi vidual regents. But when the design contract for the engineering/physics building came up, Wisenbaker wanted to give it to Preston Geren Associates of Fort Worth — fourth on the planning staffs list and therefore not even on the list presented to the board. Wisenbaker extolled Geren’s virtues: he had been instrumental in the design and contruction of Cain Hall and the lib rary, he was a past president of the Aggie Club, and other Aggie support. “I’m telling you,” Wisenbaker told Peel, “Preston Geren’s grandfather was a great architect, his father was a great Regent Norman Moser faced upioj issue: “I don’t think Preston Geren formed all those valuable servicesiii'L pectation of any favors,” he told mavericks. Regents Chairman H.R. “Bum called the move “a bad mistake, ajun action” — and the effort to stepoui the bounds of due process was then squashed. Even so, System Chancellor Artkl Hansen was left with a directive toost| judgment in applying “some extra sideration” to those felt to be Aggieland. Got all that straight? Good. Nowtl about it, carefully. If a state or federal governing body did something like that, it won! called favoritism, nepotism or somei uglier: corruption. The Regents didn’t really stepoi line. T hey didn’t actually award a tract due to non-technical factors-M iarc { y they really thought about it for a wKt 0 f Some of the individual regents ifc affa each other how terrible that almostnitv Veter Ever, w Tpt. 1 « 'fveteri he aw: nadoi meric Assoc ip Assoc arians cogni. veterii nt of Let’s hope a word to the wise is si cient. on economic course by Helen Thomas United Press International WASHINGTON — President Reagan plans to stay the course with his current economic policies, but that does not mean his aides are not worried about the fall elections. A White House official indicated that the worst thing for Reagan would be to become “Carteresque” and to appear un decided, as Jimmy Carter’s opponents liked to perceive him. The official in effect said it would hurt Reagan’s image as a true believer in Reagonomics if he suddenly decided it was not working with 9.5 million unem ployed and workers, from blue collar to top corporation excutives worried about their jobs all over the country. The president has proved stalwart and unflexible. Despite the pleas of the hous ing industry he refused to give a helping hand with a bailout for mortgages. While he quotes Calvin Coolidge that the “busi ness of America is business,” he also be lieves in sink or swim, survival of the fit test when it comes to free enterprise. He believes the government shackles business and without restraints the U.S. economy would be soaring. But it is not. Something is wrong. His top aides admit it but they say nothing will be done until after the election. “We are obviously concerned about the economy,” said White House counse lor Edwin Meese. “We think it will pick up this year. There are some favorable signs. “At the same time, we’re in a pretty serious situation,” he added. “We’ll have to see the impact of the tax cuts.” Chief of s'taff James Baker concedes that the White House is conducting a wide ranging review of economic poli cies, but says Reagan does not intend to announce any changes in those policies before the election. He believes there is too little time be fore the election to effect a turnaround even with new approaches, and feels it would be politically damaging for Reagan to seem to waver to the financial community and the voters. But Baker indicates that after the elec tion, there will be some “adjustments” if the economy does not pick up. Reagan’s aides also believe the presi dent has money in the bank because polls show the majority of people, even among the unemployed, do not blame him. Reagan has hammered away at one theme that he expects to hit even more forcefully on the hustings this fall. The theme is that he inherited all the econo mic ills and that he needs more time to straighten out the country. According to his aides, the polls show people are willing to give him more time. But they do admit that since July 1, Reagan must take some of the credit or demerits for what happens to the eco nomy. It is his show now. From time to time, there are signals that the Treasury Department is making a study of the role of the Federal Reserve Board. Much is made of the fact that it is an independent agency. But there are also advocates who would like to put it under the Treasury. Former Treasury Secretary John Connally for one has thought it might not be a bad idea. As for the elections, unemployment could hurt candidates who run on Reagan’s program. But the president has other irons in the fire to keep his politiical image up front. The public launching of the campaign for an amendment requir ing a balanced budget put him four square against the red ink spenders. He also is taking credit for a cost of living increase in the Social Security checks that he tried to block several times. In addition, he is leaning toward a “flat tax” rate that he finds tempting and may be politically saleable as well. In short, the economy is in the dol drums and there is no longer any hope at the White House for a bright new pros perous world by fall, but Reagan has other irons in the fire that he believes will save the day for the Republicans. United Pr ILENE new 98 las eas< oblem |ng in restrit new p officia son di ic 104i Sheri Tuesc tment the qii' ifter t closet es last ie restr een in t offic it couni tion o facilitie ecause Boar es, and sieriffs, 1 ontroll fstelle s € spc Hunt is lifted which Have a nice day — anyway The Battalion Letters Policy USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference Editor Diana Sultenfuss City Editor Bernie Fette Sports Editor Frank L. Christlieb News Editors Tracey Buchanan, Daniel Puckett Diane Yount Staff Writers Cyndy Davis, Susan Dittman, Terry Duran, Colette Hutchings, Hope E. Paasch, Joe Tindel Jr., Rebeca Zimmermann Copy Editors Gary Barker, Carol Templin Cartoonist Scott McCullar Photographers .... David Fisher, Octavio Garcia John Ryan, The Battalion is published three times a week — Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday — during Texas A&M’s summer semesters, except for holiday and ex amination periods, when it is published only on Wednes days. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $33.25 per school year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on request. _ ^ . Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length, and are subject to being cut if they are longer. The editorial staff 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. Columns and guest editorials are also welcome, and are not subject to the same length constraints as letters. Address all inquiries and correspondence to: Editor, The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M Uni versity, College Station, TX 77843, or phone (713) 845- 2611. 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 or faculty mem bers, or of the Board of Regents. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for students in reporting, editing and photography clas ses within the Department of Communications. Questions or comments concerning any editorial mat ter should be directed to the editor. United Press International is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it. Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. [ by Art Buchwald The trouble with most people is that they never seem to leave well enough alone. The other day I said to H. Boyer Royal: “Have a nice day.” “Are you asking me a question?” he wanted to know. “No, I’m telling you.” “What business of yours is it what kind of day I have?” “It really isn’t any of my business. As a matter of fact, I really don’t care what your day is like. I was trying to say good bye to you in a friendly fashion.” “Then why didn’t you just say, ‘Time is like a fashionable host, that slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand, and with his arms outstretch’d as he would fly, grasps in the comer; welcome ever smiles, and farewell goes out sighing.’” “I don’t know why I didn’t say that,” I told him. “It never occurred to me.” “People always tell you to have a nice day, but they never tell you how to have one.” “I imagine they assume that each per son should know how to do it. A nice day to somebody may not necessarily be a nice day to another. The farmer may want it to rain; a lady who just bought a new bathing suit may want the sun to shine. Having your kid away from home could be a nice day for some people, while others will settle for a parking place in town. When you tell someone to have a nice day, you’re not responsible for how it turns out.” “Has it ever occurred to you,” Royal said, “that when you tell someone to have a nice day you might be putting a curse on him?” “I don’t believe it has. Would you care to explain yourself?” “Well, until you said it to me I wasn’t giving any thought to what kind of day I was going to have. I was going to take it as it came. But now that ypu’ve planted the idea in my head, I’m going to keep think ing about it. When I return to my office I’ll worry that Rosalie Caplan hasn’t re turned my call. I’ll stew that Ann Bodner in personnel is working on a new ‘reduc tion in force’ for the company. I’ll won der how much traffic I’ll have to fight to get home. And when I get to the front door I’ll be nervous about what mood my wife is in. I know the odds of having a nice day are stacked against me, but until you wished me one, I was able to ignore it. People should not say to anyone ‘Have a nice day,’ when they don’t know what that person is up against. It’s like putting the evil eye on them.” “I believe you’re reading too much into my goodbye,” I told him. “When someone says, ‘Have a nice day,‘ he is only wishing you good luck.” “Then why doesn’t he say: ‘May the road rise up to meet you and may the wind be always at your back, and may you get to heaven before the devil knows you’re there?”’ “Because most people are in a hurry, and that takes too long to say, unless you’re leaving an Irish bar. Why are you making such an issue of a simple thing like this?” “I guess it’s a question of sincerf Everyone tells you to have a nice day how many people do you know real care if you do or not?” “Royal, you’re a cynic.” “I am not. I know a department stoJ and they train their employees to sa ‘Have a nice day’ to everybody." “Well, wouldn’t you rather have the say that than tell you what’s really® their minds?” “No, I think people should level will you. They should tell you what’s on the. minds. How can you know whomtotn^ when even the people who working post office tell you to have a nice day! “Well, Royal, I’m sure you realized® when I wished you a nice day, I meant from the bottom of my heart.” “How can I be sure you weren’t jut trying to get rid of me?” i “Because I never say it to someboJ unless I truly like and admire them.I you don’t want to have a nice day that'sil right with me, too.” “There you go,” Royal cried. “Yoiit putting the evil eye on me again." the small society by Brickman ©1961 King Fwturat Syndicate, Inc. World right* rxerved. IAC&-&PY/ I To - IM T\)4T A PI<£IT lM TH£ - /