opinion Slouch By Jim Earle “I can see it in your eyes that you*re ready for football season again.” Letters: Sign-up demolition derby Editor: Have you experienced the latest sport ing event which I call the “Human De molition Derby” or HDD for short? This sport is very similar to the football game called “Kill the Man with the Ball.” Next semester, I am going to start my own business and sell football pads and equip ment to participants. This should be a good investment due to HDDs increasing popularity. It occurs every weeknight at 6 p.m. and if you haven’t guessed by now, the sport is better known as Job Interview Sign-up. Today’s sign-up method is done by randomly placing companies in different lines. At 6 p.m., these companies and line numbers are called out and sign-up is on a first-come-first-served basis. This is very similar to “Kill the Man with the . Ball.” I always believed that the whole pur pose of the interview process was to give everyone a fair and equal sign-up oppor tunity but this is not occuring due to line cutting. There may be only 20 people in front of you during a pre-line set-up but after the line number is called out there will probably be more than 40 people in front of you. (Pre-line set-up is the method of gambling and forming a line prior to knowing what companies are going to be in that particular line. This gambling has become extremely popular as more aand more people try to get in terviews.) The other main problem is the sign-up location. This is on the second floor of Rudder Tower. This room is about the size of a small backyard. Now imagine having a family reunion with about 300 people. I think the problem is quite evi dent. My solution to these problems is that all interview sign-ups should be done by lottery. Dorm sign-up has changed over to this method and it is working quite well. Students would enter their ID num ber for each company they wished to in terview with and some sort of drawing would be held. I sincerely hope something will be done very soon or next year we may be paying to watch students play HDD. Randy S. Reed ’83 Bike stolen Editor: I’d like to thank all the good Ags who saw my bicycle being picked up and car ried away Thursday from the MSC. The wheels were locked together, so it must have been rather obvious to someone that something was going on. The bike wouldn’t be worth much to anyone else. It only has three speeds and has been rebuilt several times in the past 20 years. You see, the bike belonged to my father — he bought it shortly after I was born. When I was old enough to ride it by myself, he rebuilt and gave it to me. Thursday, it was lent to a friend who has no car, no bus pass and no bike, and later it disappeared. If you’ve got it, I hope you can realize that it means more to me than transpor tation and return it to where you got it. If you saw it being taken or have seen it since (it’s red, with a black seat and white handle bars, with a Wichita Kansas bike plate on the back) please let me know. It would mean a lot to me and my father. Tracey Taylor 696-3062 The Battalion USES 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, Jan Werner, Todd Woodard Staff Writers Jennifer Carr, Susan Dittman, Beverly Hamilton, John Lopez, Robert 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 $35 per full year. Adver tising rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. United Press International is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it. Rights of reproducdon of all other matter herein reserved. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. United Press International is entitled exclusively to the use for reproducdon of all news dispatches credited to it. Rights of reproducdon of all other matter herein reserved. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. — — Battalion/Page I September 6,19$| I Painful loss was inevitable — It had to happen. It was painful, but maybe it was inevit able. The Aggie football team and Jackie Sherrill lost. After all the hullaballoo about Sherill’s salary, Aggies everywhere had great ex pectations for the season. The 38 to 16 loss to Boston College Saturday successfully — maybe only tem porarily — brought Aggies back down to earth from the regions of outer space which we had been inhabiting. Already, someone has placed hand lettered signs around campus which say: “Bum, next year buy Jack Bicknell” (the Boston College coach), and “Bum, it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how much you pay the coach.” But, one game doesn’t show a coach’s worth. The players on Sherrill’s team, except for the freshmen, were recruited by Wilson. The seniors have played under three coaches now: Bellard, Wil son and Sherrill. It isn’t always easy to adapt to new systems. New coaches need time to build prog rams, and players need time to adapt to new systems. Eventually, Sherrill may guide an A&M team to some sort of cha- pionship, but in the meantime we have restrain ourselves from expecting mira cles. rebeca zimmermann Even experienced sports writers ex pect great things from Sherrill and the Aggies this season. Sports Illustrated picked the Aggies 15th in the nation in preseason top 20 picks. Skip Bayless, sports editor for the Dallas Times- Herald, picked Texas A&M to finish the year as national champions. After years of losing seasons or just barely missing a conference champion ship, it’s difficult to remain rational in the face of stellar hopes for a talented new coach to turn the team around. But, for our sakes and the football team’s sake, we have to try to remain ra tional. Sherrill seemed calmer after the game than most fans. And although the team lost, Sherrill scored a major victory with the student body — he kept the football team on the field for the traditel^ game yell practice Aggies holM loss. ■ I’ve been going to Aggitb games since 1969, and thiswiHq'ow, game that I can remember ger be staying on the field for yellpnlattract Student body reaction totlalclrnmi vious approval and delight. V. in per louder at the post-game yell Draa» a ^ an during the game. . OK, Sherrill lost his firstgiMr m the fans, were disappointed-Jj|L s j c dously so. Everyone except By p resen lege was disappointed. lent at But, we, as Aggies, can for|j4 since t everything at the sight of ti ence ir team and the head coach “sawl is eum ty’s horns off” with the restof end of the game. It made you feel proud tos team and a coach who had ei %S8nmn to stay for yell practice, despitel||| t hou gust and jeers. It was quite irnpii you’d t So, we’ve come down f romoa enterta and landed with a thud. Nowi telltha stop screaming for national ( this tin ships. Sherrill needs a chanceMj ( , )u , w itti his team, strengthen thegoJr** 0 ’, and work on the bad points. The familiar cry of “NextyniB. eseil here” isn’t valid yet, but somedt songs r We’re Aggies; we always hoji dttern Saturd bands. “Wt at this time,” Owen Se lion rain. THERE V0U HAVEIf, PAN,..TESTIMONY FROM A MAN lf| CLAIMS TD HAVE FLOWN BEFORE M WRI6HT BROTHI Reaganomics: Is it working? by Donald A. Davis United Press International Democrats who are hoping to make Reaga nomics the major issue in the November elec tion might want to start thinking up an alter nate strategy. For when President Reagan comes down from his California mountaintop next week, he will have in his pocket some strong num bers to back up his argument about how the economy should be run. Interest rates are falling fast and inflation is down, giving Republicans solid statistics to cite. While Democrats will continue to hit hard at the tremendous unemployment rate and other unattractive parts of the president’s program, the man in the street will react posi tively to the recent economic developments. It is at this moment that Reagan plans to start his attack on the campaign trail, to keep reminding voters that their wallets are getting fatter. However, even while administration sources are claiming “a moderate recovery is under way,” the president is playing a cau tious hand. Continued good economic news could work wonders at the polls two months from now, but he knows well that the numbers that have shifted so quickly in his direction could just as easily boomerang before election day. He will make no statements that might come back to haunt him. Economists disagree — as they usually do on most things — on the reasons for the sud den improvement in important indicators. Few, however, assign the success to the presi dent’s financial austerity program. That alone will not prevent Reagan from telling voters that he must be doing something right in Washington because his policies are bearing fruit. The administration has carefully laid the groundwork for defending the high rate of jobless America by calling that particular sta tistic “a lagging indicator.” In other words, most of the rest of the economy must be bub bling healthily along before the administra tion can be brought to task for the nation’s unemployment woes. In the meantime, Reagan will continue to express sympathy for those out of work in order to defuse the problem on the campaign trail. In all, Reagan is resuming his rolea )ubli( of the Republican Party at a particu/arf time. While no seasoned political would dare claim the Republicans will big sweep of House seats in Novembal borderline candidates are sleepingf knowing that Reagan’s economic polii out of the doghouse as long as thei rates remain lower than they have fern Berry s World Hi B * Hi WFA / ) 1982 by NEA, Inc. “He’s just returned from a wonderful camp that emphasized self-expression. ’’