Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 1982)
-opinion Battalion/Page 2 October 14, 1982 Slouch By Jim Earle “I think I have the proper balance between problems with no answers and those with several answers. This may be the best test that I’ve ever made. ” Lunch box — food for thought The political fear factor an issue by Clay F. Richards United Press International WASHINGTON — The Republican Party would like to convince American voters that, as Franklin Roosevelt told them in the nation’s last great economic crisis, they have “nothing to fear but fear itself.” Fhe “fear factor” is becoming a major issue in the closing month of the 1982 election campaign. The phrase, coined by Democrats, de scribes the “fear” that voters may have of soon being out of a job, or being unable to buy a carma new house. Democrats be lieve that while those hard economic realities have hit only a portion of the voters, the fear will spread wider and re sult in Republican defeats across the na tion. Republicans are banking on the hope that Americans don’t think things are that bad — that they are willing to give the Reagan economic program more time to work. And the GOP is trying to convince voters that Democrats caused economic problems so severe that it is just taking Republicans a little longer than expected to work things out. “I think the American voters will say it is better to stay with Reagan’s econommic policies for the next two years than it is to go back to the Democratic policies,” sayd Rep. Guy Vanderjagt, R-Mich., the chairman of the House Republican! cam paign committee. That optimistic view may get a jolt Oct. 8 when the new unemployment figures come out. Many are predicting that un- the small society employment will hit a postDepression high of 10 percent. “When unemploymennt goes over 10 percent, people are going to wonder whether or not they’re next,” said Rep. Tonny Coe 1 ho, D-Galif., the head of the Democratic House campaign committee. Republicans and Democrats agree that elements like the “fear factor” make the 1982 electionns very hard to call. The so-far silent voters across the nation have not yet made it known whether they feel Reagan has so badly mismanaged the economy that they will vote Republicans out of office. Many members of Congress — espe cially from the Northeast — haven’t been taking any chances and have been mov ing away from their image as “Reagan robots.” Even in the South and West, where Reagan’s popularity is the strongest, some GOP congressional candidates have asked that lie put off making a deci sion on whether to come into their dis tricts until the new unemployment fi gures are out. “Up to now the voters really haven’t been that disturbed about the economy,” says a leading Republican campaign strategist. “If we had a parlimentary form of government there would be no elections because there would not have been a no confidence vote in the admin- nistration.” “Whether we can get through Novem ber with that is another matter,” she said. by Brickman YoD /AAY && &DT Y&D A&2D& WITH -STATI^T/^ - T'/A WITH STATISTIC'S- T'tA A£6»irt& WITH YOD- X ©1981 King Features Syndicate, Inc. World rights reserved. 6 9 'gfiCtCvAgS The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference / Editor Diana Sultenfuss Managing Editor Phyllis Henderson Associate Editor . . 1 Denise Richter City Editor BernieFette 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, Johna Jo Maurer, Daniel Puckett, Jan Werner, Todd Woodard Staff Writers Jennifer Carr, Susan Dittman, Beverly Hamilton, David Johnson, John Lopez, Robert McGlohon, Hope E. Paasch, Carol Smith, Dana Smelser, Joe Tindel, John Wagner, Rebeca Zimmermann Copyeditors . Elaine Engstrom, Bill Robinson Cartoonist Scott McCullar Graphic Artist Pam Starasinic Photographers . . . David Fisher, Octavio Garcia, Michael D. Johnson, Rob Johnston, Irene Mees, John Ryan, The Battalion is published daily during Texas A&M’s fall and spring semesters, except for holiday and exami nation periods. Mail subscriptions are f 16.75 persemes- 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. by Dick West United Press International WASHINGTON — The Agriculture De partment, which is nothing if not timely, has helped get the new school year off to a hygienic start by issuing a set of “safety” rules for packing lunch bags and boxes. ‘just as there are certain rules of con duct in school, there also are basic food safety guidelines for packing school lun ches,” a department news release points out. “The rule of thumb is: Keep hot foods hot, cold foods cold and all foods clean.” It is good to have philosophical dif fer ences such as this brought out into the open. There is always a small minority of lunch packers who insist on icing down the hot food. Any students whose parents belong to the latter group and who plan to file grie vances now have federal support for their cases. If I may apply this rule of thumb to other digits, I direct your attention to a recent commuter survey made by a manufacturer of plastic food containers. This poll shows that “brownbagging” is on the rise among office workers. What this means is that office workers as well as schoolchildren are in bad need of some “food safety guidelines.” But first, a word about definitions. “Brown-bagging,” like the ubiquitous “three-martini lunch,’ is a generic term. Not all workers who bring their lunch to the off ice transport the goodies in brown bags any more than all executives who dine out order precisely three cocktails during the noon hour In fact, according to the survey, most office workers “pref er to pop their lunch into a briefcase or oversized purse.” In carriers of this sort, it adds, “a leaky container or squashed f ood oozing from foil or plastic wrap could sj^ell disaster." Amen to that. Let it also be noted that lunches jjo|4- ped into book satchels are likewise vul nerable. Anyone who has ever carried a lunch to school can tell you it is unsafe to comingle arithmetic homework with peanut butter sandwiches. Regardless of how it is transported, one thing both schoolchildren and brown-baggers should beware of is the frozen sandwich. The good news is that “freezingsand wiches ahead of time w ill help keep foods cold until lunch.” Now comes the moderator: “Don’ overdo the butter or mayonnaise, be cause the bread may become soggy dur ing thawing.” Yes, and lunch bags themselves also can become soggy, causing the oranges to seep out and roll down the corridor. The brown-bagging survey recom mends packing lunches so that “nothing! will spill or drip onto papers, wallet,’ cosmetics or other important items' (such as arithemetic homework). To that I also say amen. And in the spirit of reciprocity, here is; a school lunch tip from which brown-; baggers can profit: “Don’t put your lunch; in a warm place ... in direct sunlight or on; a radiator, for instance.” Additionally, I would advise office; workers against leaving their lunch on- top of a copying machine. To do so- almost certainly means someone will| come along and Xerox the oatmeal! cookies. Letters: Give Sherrill a chance Editor: This letter is in response to Mark Matthews letter on Oct. 6. Gome on Aggies you haven’t-even given Coach Sherrill a chance. A man cannot come into a program and say you will win. He must first associate the players already in the program with his philosophies and game strategies. Second and probably most important, he must recruit people that can play the game he wants. I am not saying that A&M’s present players can’t, but these people were not recruited by Coach Sherrill to do the job. Third, the players he did recruit this year are only freshmen and therefore lack experience. In time, Coach Sherrill will show A&M what a winning team is. If the Aggies will give him the chance. A perf ect example of a coach needing time to build a team is LSU Charlie McClendon retired after the 1979 sea son. The year before he retired he re cruited players. Then Bo Rein was hired to take his place. He too also recruited players. Unfortunately Coach Rein was killed in a tragic plane crash. That is where Jerry Stovall stepped in. For the first two years LSU struggled under new Head Coach Jerry Stovall. Now people who he has recruited are sophomores and juniors who are ready to play. T hey have learned his system right from the start and they are the people he WANTS FOR THE JOB. That’s why LSU is 4-0 this season. If the Aggies will give Jackie Sherrill the same chance, he too will bring his team to the top. Also, he did not just wake up one morning and have the No. 1 team in the nation at Pitt. Coach Sherrill I’m behind you 100 percent. Randy J. Patrick Graduate Student Thanks for the help Editor: I’m writing this letter to thank a great group of hard workers: the Texas A&M emergency care team, especially those who were on duty Oct. 2 during the T exas Tech football game. I’m sorry this is delayed, but I’ve been real busy trying to keep up my strength. I’d like to thank Laura in particular. You did a great job. T hanks. Much suc cess to you in Sociology. We really don’t appreciate these peo ple until we find ourselves on their stretchers; but they’re always there whenever the necessary time presents it self. Emergency care team: Gig ’em and Denise Silver’8 thank you. Heroes Editor: I would like to say Lawrence Sullivan Ross is still a hero in my eyes. Ray Clopton ’85 “...And if all that news isn’t depressing enough for you, it says the woolly bear caterpillars indi cate we’re in for a long, dark winter. ” r Hi [lo ]01 by 1 Texas j one of th< default n lege or i and prof . the assist Office o Aid says. Alvin Texas Al National Loans is 3 well beloi of 16.37 | alaveragt percent. I The 1 come urn - cause of e rates. T1 Educatiot leges and er goverr program delinquer ’ cent or hi The 1 money schools < however. • money be mer stuck the mone the U.S. 1 The each scho terminer! ment cons of availabl must man 10 percei funds. Th Joh Rea United 1 CARLAS Glenn, D-O administrat 0 f its pron massive buc tinue. Glenn, w suburb Tu for Demot candidate stressed the national def 't as the “Nc He caller economic p Wonderlam budget can j taxes are rt spending in . Glenn, i turned as a ha & ( 8 9 « J- \ f) \