opinion
Battalion/Pap
November 10, t
Slouch
By Jim Earle
“I don’t know how he got ’em that high, but I’d sure like to
meet him, or her!”
Will she get what
by Maxwell Glen
and Cody Shearer
Common or not, this story soon may
be an important one. A woman falls in
love with a man and delays her career to
put him through professional school —
only to be jilted after he graduates.
Time was when friends might have
counseled the victim to forget about Mr.
Wonderful. But an increasing number of
the forsaken are demanding legal retri
bution, namely a chunk of their former
lover’s paycheck. If the courts go along,
the trend could alter the way men and
women conduct their romances.
In a matter of days, the consistently
progressive New Jersey Supreme Court
is expected to determine that a profes
sional degree constitutes a form of divisi
ble property. Lawyers for Bonnie Ryan,
34, are asking that her former husband,
Dr. Robert Ryan repay their client for
putting him through medical school. The
lawyers argue that Dr. Ryan’s degree is,
at best, the product of two minds and
therefore jointly owned property.
“We are asking the court to recognize
that a professional education and license
have a measurable value and that posses
sing the training that goes with them is an
economic benefit,” Ryan’s attorney told
the Philadelphia Inquirer. “If acquired
through marriage, that benefit should be
divided in a divorce case.”
Heretofore, most lower-court judges
in the United States have held that pro
ceeds from a professional degree don’t
constitute divisible property. As their
reasoning goes, knowledge acquired
from schooling — not the certificate or
degree itself — makes someone commer
cially viable. Some courts, however, have
compensated plaintiffs who have subsi-
ficed.
If such is the future trend, there’s a
growing constituency for it. More cou
ples than ever before are living together
in the absence of a marriage contract.
Meanwhile, with 60 percent of all
women in the work force (and some of
those earning respectable salaries),
women are becoming economic equals, if
not dominant partners, in many relation
ships today. If anything, women are
more capable of putting a lover through
professional school than they were 20
years ago. This is not to say that males
aren’t footing females’ school bills too.
But, judging from the record, it seems
that women are less inclined than men to
stiff their benefactors.
In any case, personal protection may
be a natural byproduct of the times. New
York’s Doris Freed, a family law expert
affiliated with the American Bar Associa
tion, recommends that couples, married
or otherwise, enter into contracts outlin
ing what each partner expects, particu
larly when it comes to graduate school.
Not surprisingly, the rush to “con
tract” is easier said than done. In the pro
cess of setting one’s expectations down
on paper, tempers are liable to flare. One
New York lawyer reports that even open-
minded couples nearly have come to
blows while discussing contractual
clauses.
Yet it’s somehow fitting that couples
today would confront the prospect of a
long-term relationship only after respon
sibility for graduate school tuition bills
has been resolved. Even in love, the baby-
boom generation seems determined to
get what it pays for.
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member ot
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalistn Conference
Editor Diana Sultenfuss
Managing Editor Phyllis Henderson
Associate Editor Denise Richter
City Editor Gary Barker
Assistant City Editor HopeE. Paasch
Sports Editor Frank L. Christlieb
Entertainment Editor Nancy Floeck
Assistant Entertainment Editor Colette
Hutchings
News Editors Cathy Capps, JohnaJo
Maurer, Daniel Puckett, Jan
Werner, Todd Woodard
Staff Writers Jennifer Carr, Wisan
Dittman, Beverly Hamilton,
David Johnson, John Lopez,
Robert McGlohon, Carol Smith,
Dana Smelser, Joe Tindel, John
Wagner, Rebeca Zimmermann
Copyeditors Elaine Engstrom,
Chris Thayer
Cartoonist Scott McCullar
Graphic Artist Pam Starasinic
Photographers David Fisher, Jorge Casari,
Ronald W. Emerson, Octavio
Garcia, Irene Mees, John
Ryan, Robert Snider
pressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or the
author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of
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bers, or of the Board of Regents.
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77843.
Poor-mouthing superpowers
by Art Buchwald
If there is anything that upsets me, it’s
when the leaders of the two major super
powers start poor-mouthing their own
nuclear weapons capabilities.
We saw a disgusting example of this
last week when Leonid Brezhnev stood
up in front of 500 of his marshals and
generals and told them the United States
was ahead in the arms race. He promised
his military leaders he would do every
thing to rectify the situation by spending
more money for ngw weapons.
thing Brezhnev told his generals the
other day? Can you imagine the leader of
a superpower claiming his country was
No. 2 when it came to wreaking nuclear
havoc?”
acai
Applebaum said: “Brezhnev was only
trying to save his own skin. If he told the
Soviet military they were No. 1, then that
meant he wasn’t going to give them more
money for new weapons. He had to pla
cate them by saying they were way behind
The Brezhnev revelations came as a
surprise to most Americans, who had
been told by President Reagan and De
fense Secretary Caspar Weinberger that
the Soviets were ahead of the United
States when it came to weaponry, and we
were the ones who had to spend the
money to keep up with them.
I was so angry at the Brezhnev speech
that I went to see my disarmament ex
pert, Prof. Heinrich Applebaum of the
Armegeddon Institute for Limited
Peace.
“Didn’t you think that was a lousy
I said, “Okay, but why did Weinberger
come right back and say Brezhnev was
lying and we were a weak No. 2 in the
arms race?”
“Weinberger had to say it or Congress
would cut his next defense budget to rib
bons. If Weinberger said we were No. 1,
he wouldn’t have a military leg to stand
on when it came to building an MX mis
sile system.”
“So you think they were both giving us
a snow job?”
“Not necessarily. The fact of the mat
ter is that neither superpower has any
idea who is No. 1 or No. 2. When both
have the capability of blowing u|
world, the question becomes
anyway.”
“Then why would Brezhnev go
the trouble of saying his weapons
technologically inferior?”
“Because when you’re in an arms
you always have to say the otherp
ahead. Otherwise Brezhnev wouldi
hard time persuading the Soviet!
he still had to buy more guns before
got any butter.”
“So you think it was wiseofRe
and Weinberger to call Brezhnev
by saying we were the ones whi
playing catch-up?”
“They had no choice. Our r
arsenal is second to none, but jus
cause we can pulverize them and thet
pulverize us isn’t enough of a deter
any more. You have to developai
generation of weapons to wipeout
other guy’s stuff before he can
“Then how can you stop it?’
“There is only one way. Onesided
declare its nuclear superiority over
other, which it will never do, becaii
will he too much of a threat totheotl*
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Letters: Keep religion out of classe
Editor:
A recent article in T he Battalion
stated that Professor Walter Bradly from
the Department of Mechanical Engineer
ing was enlisting student support to
pressure professors in having outside
speakers come to the campus to present a
Christian point of view. I am concerned
about this development at our University
for the following reasons:
1. We are a campus of 37,000 stu
dents, not all of them Christian. A clas
sroom should not be a Sunday School
room.
2. The Christian point of view as seen
through the eyes of Dr. Walter Bradly is
not necessarily the point of view of other
Christian groups.
3. State-supported universities should
adhere to the policy of separation of
church and state.
4. It is not the mark of a great universi
ty to force-feed religious doctrine to stu
dents in a classroom.
The good name of Texas A&M Uni
versity is being hurt. The appropriate
forum for a Christian point of view is the
evening lecture series which this group is
sponsoring.
their comfort and support. Their en
couraging words really meant a lot to me.
I would also like to thank the para
medics who took care of me on the way to
the hospital as well as Dr. King and the
medical personnel at the TAMU Health
Center.
In this day and time, it is nice to know
that there are still people who care
enough to lend a helping hand, even if it
is just a reassuring word,
everyone who helped me to know
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will never forget their kindness tome,1 'iontoX-r
each and every one of them, I offerJ
thanks.
Jennie Mae Clu
Texas A&M Maintena®
Crew I
Carol Parzen, Director
B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation
Jewish Student Union
Thank you for caring
Editor:
I would like to say “Thank you” to
some special people who came to my aid
in a time of need. Last month while on
the job at Texas A&M, I had an accident.
As I lay waiting for the ambulance to
arrive, I realized just how much an assur
ing word can mean for someone who is as
afraid as I was that day. 1 would like to
express my deepest appreciation to my
supervisor and to my co-workers for
Berry’s World by Jim Berry
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