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opinion Slouch Earle “How did your first week as an Aggie go? I said, how did your first week as an ... hello?” Reagan returning to political stump by Helen Thomas United Press International WASHINGTON — President Reagan will be hitting the road early and often this fall to campaign for Republican candidates. Deputy press secretary Larry Speakes said that Reagan will be spending “a good bit of time” on the stump in support of the GOP candidates running for Congress and the statehouses. However, he added, “We have not decided on the specifics of the schedule.” “We’re looking at being out quite a bit in several congressional districts and Senate races,” Speakes told reporters. “So there’ll be a fair amount of time on the road.” I f Reagan runs true to form he will strike at Democrats on domestic issues, calling them the “big spenders” while continuing to argue that it is unfair to say that his recovery prog ram is now accountable for the economy. Reagan is likely to blame all the nation’s ills on the past, and to point out that his program is phased in over three years. But aides con cede that at some point Reaganomics has to stand up and be counted. If the past is prologue he will launch an aggressive star spangled banner campaign against the Democrats. The president also will have weekly politic al exposure by resuming his Saturday fivemi- nute radio broadcasts. Such broadcasts almost guarantee him front page stories in the Sun day papers. The polls show Reagan’s personal popular ity has dropped in recent months but there is no doubt that GOP candidates across the country feel he is a drawing card. There also is a move afoot to let bygones be bygones with the conservatives who broke with Reagan on the $98.3 billion tax increase bill. A slight manifestation of the peacemaking initiative was displayed when chief of staff James Baker played tennis in Santa Barbara with Rep. Jack Kemp, R-N.Y., leader of the Republican conservative revolt against Reagan. Reagan’s political activities will be financed by the Republican National Committee, parti cularly hotel and transportation costs. But there is a White House support system that is there no matter what the reason for the trip. Some economies are being instituted at the lower staff level as shown by Reagan’s August vacation in California when many of the second echelon aides and secretaries had to double up in their hotel rooms. The White House political of fice is made up of pros who have been mapping strategy during the dog days for the big push in the fall in close coordination with the GOP National Committee and the campaign committees on Capitol Hill. Keeping the Senate in Republican hands is a top priority with the White House. It is traditional for the party in power to lose some seats in the House in an off-year election. Reagan all but conceded that he is not counting on a majority in the House, saying at a fund-raising dinner for California senatorial candiate Pete Wilson, “I’d like to have a majority in the other House, but in off-year elections, history says that you don’t usually gain in that off-year election. Anyway, we’re going to try very hard to gain.” Vice President George Bush, the adminis tration’s No. 1 speechmaker, is expected to be tapped for heavy duty in the coming cam paign, and members of the Cabinet will be beating the bushes for the party favorites. Reagan is comfortable in the political en vironment. He enjoys playing to the crowds. It’s what he knows best. Barring another ma jor foreign policy crisis that could preoccupy him, the president’s focus will be on politics. Whether the conservatives come back to the fold remains to be seen, but some of them are pragmatists too, and they may realize there is no other place to go. The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference Editor.. Diana Sultenfuss Managing Editor Phyllis Henderson Associate Editor Denise Richter City Editor Bernie Fette Assistant City Editor Gary Barker Sports Editor Frank L. Christlieb Entertainment Editor Nancy Floeck Assistant Entertainment Editor Colette Hutchings News Editors Rachel Bostwick, Cathy Capps, Daniel Puckett, Todd Woodard Staff Writers Jennifer Carr, Susan Dittman, Beverly Hamilton, John Lopez, Bob R. McGlohon Hope E. Paasch, Bill Robinson, Dana Smelser, Joe Tindel, John Wagner, Rebeca Zimmermann Cartoonists John Groce, Scott McCullar Graphic Artist Pam Starasinic Photographers ... David Fisher, Octavio Garcia, Jane Hollingsworth, Janet Joyce, 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 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 matter should be directed to the editor. Letters Policy 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. The Battalion is published daily during Texas A&M’s fall and spring semesters, except for holiday and exami nation periods. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semes 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. 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. 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. September 3, Government tax cut promise by Art Buchwald I was walking down Pennsylvania Ave nue with my wife when a nice fellow came out of this big White House and stuck a 20-dollar bill in my hand. “What is that for?” I asked. “It’s a tax cut,” the man said smiling, friendly as he could be. “I promised you one, and I always keep my promises.” “Take it,” my wife said, “and don’t ask any more questions.” This nice fellow said: “I’m going to give you one of those every week.” “What for?” I wanted to know. My wife kept tugging on my arm. “So you’ll use it to do some good. I want you to go out and spend it or save it or use it to give someone a job. I want to spread the wealth.” “But if you keep giving away 20-dollar bills, you won’t have any for yourself.” The nice guy smiled. “That’s what you think. The more money I give away to people like you the more I’ll have coming back. It’s a new economic theory and I can’t miss.” My wife was getting angry. “It’s his money and it he wants to give it to us, we should take it.” “There is a catch to it somewhere,” I whispered to her so he couldn’t hear. “No guy who lives in a big White House gives 20-dollar bills away.” “Maybe he’s an eccentric and wants to make other people feel good.” “Next year,” the nice guy said, “I’m going to give you twice as much as I gave you this year.” “I think the guy has lost his marbles,” I whispered to my wife. “Either that or it’s some chain letter scam.” The nice guy was handing out 20- dollar bills to everyone walking by. “1 don’t care what it is,” my wife said. “Let’s get out of here before the police come.” I stuck the 20-dollar bill in my pocket and hurried down the street. A few nights later my wife and 1 were taking a walk around the back of the big White House and a man came out of the shadows and said, “Your money or your life.” I looked around and much to my sur prise it was the nice guy who had given me a 20-dollar bill. “What gives?” I said anj days ago you were handing like there was no tomorrow want to take it away from me! The guy smiled. “I madea gave away more money thanlj had. Now I have to get it bad “Give it to him and don't, lions,” my wife said hysterical “You should be ashamedofi I told him. “I am, but I still wantyouri “All right,” I said. “Here’syol lars.” “I need more than that.’’Hei through my wallet. ‘T’mfiatbJ “You should have thought^ fore you started giving event dollar bills.” “One thing has nothingtodcj other,” he said. “What I doinfnj house is one thing. What I of it is another.” “Don’t take my Social S may need it,” I pleaded. The nice guy just smiled, be too sure of that.” ! doirl k- 1 /*. AM f■ ■/ }W: - A / V \ I >v )C0UGH ?C0U6H' HEV1 HEyt THE EMERGENCY B.XIT SITUATIOM ON THE A4F\ IS LOCKED UP TIGHT. CA/WS Duplicity in brown wrapper by Dick West United Press International WASHINGTON — Want to hear some thing shocking that at the same time speaks volumes about the economic conditions of today? Well, according to Best Buys, which subti tles itself “the magazine for smart shoppers,” many diners-outers who carry home leftover food in doggiebags never feed it to their dogs. In fact — and this is the part that is really hard to believe — a restaurant patron who calls for a doggie-bag may not even own a doggie. Or a hamster, parakeet, guppy or any other type of pet. What he does — get this! — is eat the contents himself. Talk about your false pretenses! This takes the cake, the uneaten portion of which prob ably is carted home with the other leavings. If I were a restaurant owner and I found out that one of my customers had carried off the residue of a meal in a doggiebag without nurturing a doggie, I would strong consider suing him for fraud. But Best Buys says this sort of thing hap pens all the time. It reports the misrepresen tation ungarnished, neither mincing its words nor running them through a Cuisinart. “By unspoken agreement, half of a nine- teen-dollar steak is obviously no longer de signed for Fido’s bowl — but rather for the client’s own lunch or snack,” the periodical matter-of-factly expounds. Where are standards? What has happened to our sense of moral outrage? If that phrase “unspoken agreement” im plies that the waiter himself is a partyto the deception, read on: Not only are fancy restaurants with la-de- da menus handing out doggie-bags without so much as a knowing wink, some of them “have begun to compete by designing more elabo rate or more clever carryaway containers.” Do you get the picture? Must I spell it out for you? What the magazine is telling us in so many words is that the era of “designer doggie bags” is now upon us. It even cites examples, if you think your nervous system can withstand the strain. One eating establishment the publication identifies as a “plush steakery” is said to pro vide “a smart black plastic carrier with the restaurant name lettered in gold.” Another “fabled” restaurant “wraps the lef tovers from their $40 lobsters in a sack with a sepia sketch of the original 1920 emporium.” But what “Best Buys” considers the “ulti mate in doggie-bag chic” is a “midnight-blue velvet drawstring bag lined with vinyl.” And what might the future hold for this particular art form? “Only one conclusion seems certain] gie-bags creative competition is dest escalate,” the magazine warns. I can see it now. Eventually, the< will be more highly prized than thee When that happens, doggie-bags willl> collectors’ items with showings in alltht| galleries. Berry s World ©1982 by NEA, Inc. “Charlie, / told you not to jump, that the market would have its biggest day ever in August, but NO — you wouldn’t believe me. ”