opinion
January 31, !i
Slouch
By Jim Earle
Changes
in Senate
needed
operation
by Steve Gerstel
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Sen. David Pryor of
Arkansas husbands his words with great
care, which, just by itself, makes them
worthy of consideration.
As last year’s “lame duck” session fin
ally staggered toward a close, he chose to
unburden himself, putting into words a
feeling that must have been shared by
most — if not all — of his colleagues.
In effect, the first-term Arkansas
Democrat said the way the Senate oper
ates is an ungodly mess and the “lame
duck” session made the situation even
worse.
“Mr. President, shame, disgust and
ridicule have been visited upon this
body,” Pryor declared.
“Americans are bewildered and sick
ened by the way we have made a mockery
of a once-revered institution,” he said.
“We have no reason for pride as we slink
out of this city.”
He blamed neither the Senate leaders
nor the Senate’s members but the Sen
ate’s “method of doing business.”
“In an age of high technology and in
stant change, the Senate continues to em
ploy obsolete and clumsy procedures,”
Pryor charged. “Instead of lifting off like
the space shuttle Columbia, it pokes
along at the pace of a one-horse shay.”
Pryor did not limit himself to com
plaint but made specific recommenda
tions that would enable the Senate to op
erate and escape what seems to be a per
petual stalemate.
For a starter, Pryor recommended
stricter enforcement of “germaness,”
permitting only amendments relevant to
the bill under consideration. At matters
stand now, there is a no-holdsbarred
rule, which allows any and all proposals
to come before the Senate.
Pryor also called for an absolute end to
the “gentleman’s agreement” under
which one senator can put a “hold” on a
Take another example. The two party
leaders appointed a panel on Jan. 3 to
study ways to change the rules. The
bipartisan group has not yet met.
A serious “germaness” rule would run
into heavy opposition from senators who
fear their pet projects may never get a
vote — except as a rider to a bill destined
for the White House.
Eliiinination of the “hold” provision —
especially on nominations — would run
counter to the gentlemens’ club atmos
phere, a state of mind considered very
conducive to getting anything done in
the Senate. It did, however, get badly
frayed during the “lame duck” session.
And any tinkering with the filibuster
rule — as the last 20 years has shown —
comes only at the expense of a bloodbath
on the Senate floor.
The Battalion
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Playing for all the arms chips
,egi
by Art Buchwald
The trouble with disarmament talks is
that every time one side suggests some
thing, the other side rejects it out of
hand. The reason is that if one of the
parties suggests it, then it must mean it’s
bad for the other side.
This is how it goes:
“Kinzinsky, we’ve decided to disband
NATO, withdraw all American troops
from Europe, and depend on the good
will of the Soviets to remain within their
own borders.”
“This is the most ridiculous proposal
you have suggested so far, Downey. How
can we verify how many troops are facing
us without NATO? Suppose I told you
that my government has instructed me to
tell you that we are willing to tear up the
Warsaw Pact alliance, and let the Soviet
satellites fend for themselves?”
“Threats will get you nowhere, Kizins-
ky. Do you think we would accept the
breaking up of the Warsaw Pact military
infrastructure for one moment? Our en
tire defense strategy is based on its exist
ence. But I’ll tell you what we will do.
We’ll do. We’ll dismantle all our ICBMs
and turn them into plowshares at no cost
to you.”
“I’m trying to keep my temper, Dow
ney, but if you think my country is going
to stand by while you people dismantle
your intercontinental missiles, then we
might as well adjourn these talks.”
“Why do you say that?”
“The only reason your side would turn
its ICBMs into plowshares is that you’ve
developed a plowshare that could do
more damage than an ICBM. You know
very well we can’t turn our SS-20 missiles
into plowshares.”
“All right, we’re willing to give up the
plowshare idea. What if we canceled our
B-l bomber program? Would you accept
that?”
“Yes, but we didn’t thinkvojj
agree to our proposal. Onceyotl
it we realized it was a bad idea?
that you want to put a bombel
range means it’s a much better pi»jP luut
we thought. Did you tell the KrcBKn
are willing to back off of the re p (
Purk nmcrriim?” oif,,riQ
“Of course we would not accept it. We
have spent 200 million rubles developing
a defense against it. Put something on the
table that will at least make some sense.”
“Your side hasn’t put anything on the
table that makes sense to us.”
“What about our agreement to remove
all our Backfire bombers out of range of
Western Europe?”
“Washington thinks the idea stinks.
We never thought the Backfire bomber
was much of a threat to begin with.”
“But you were the ones who brought
up the Backfire bomber in the first
pla<
lace.
Pack program?" allbfl'9
“1 did, Downey, and they xilents
me to tell you if you give up Dei )me thii
a viable weapon, they will cance .pry of
purchases from the United St 'of” 1 e . ac
“Why would they do tlwt, ' n
thought the Soviets were scare® 1 * a "
the MX Dense Pack system.”
“They were until you offcrel j| c i r ivj
build it. Listen to me, Downey Ijotor ve
to play disarmament you hai fpou rec
chips. It’s obvious every chipfivfer’s 1
offered so far is something ccqpant
need to threaten us.” itelding
“You haven’t come up withiB
of substance yourself.” H. ■
“What would you say ifltolcfc^"'/
will put every one of our m )r t h e c
marines in mothballs, and leu®
the ones you have now?”
"Get off it, Kizinsky. If you
serious about the arms race
something solid 1 can take
Washington.”
m;
bill or a nomination and prevent if from
coming up for consideration.
A third recommendation calls for a
“total reform of the filibuster rules.”
Any one of these changes recom
mended by Pryor — exlcuding several
others he made — could bring some
order to the Senate.
But change — any change — is painful
for the Senate and far from easy to put
into effect.
The House, on the other hand, has
already instituted a partial limitation on
non-germane amendments. But unless
the Senate does the same, it will have little
impact.
To show just how slowly change comes
to the Senate, take the example of efforts
to televise proceedings — an idea pushed
by both party leaders and backed by a
majority of the members.
But Sen. Russell Long of Louisiana
does not like the idea. Long made it
abundantly clear that efforts to bypass his
opposition would mean trouble for the
Senate — in the form of dreaded delay.
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Letters: Campus security profile
Editor:
Well, once again the campus police
has demonstrated its effectiveness at pro
tecting society from that most heinous of
crimes ... PARKING VIOLATIONS. Of
course a few attempted rapes and a stab
bing managed to slip by, but, at least, we
know that our streets are safe for the staff
and alumni to park on.
At first glance it would appear that
there is a serious neglect of student safe
ty. But, of course, the students aren’t im
portant anyway. At least this seems to be
the prevailing opinion of Texas A&M’s
administration and and financial back
ers. Who needs students; we’ve got a
football coach.
In all sincerity, security problems will
exist even with the most extensive safe
guards. However, it would seem logical
to place an officer to patrol the parking
and dorms of the commons since the last
three attacks have taken place there. This
patrol would preferably be made on foot
and should only worry about protecting
the students and not their “quota” of
tickets.
I don’t really expect this to happen
but, maybe, the new head of the depart
ment might be a little open-minded and
remember that police are here to protect
and serve.
victories of any coach. BIG DEAL! He’s
been coaching longer than any other. Of
Guy Lewis at Houston is third in the
country in total victories, but only his last
five or six years have counted in his SWC
total.
;Cou
ay lor ■
udents
Movie blues i"8<te’
one H
Editor:
Shelby has been coaching for 20 years.
He’s still in search of his 200th SWC vic
tory. He now averages less than nine a
year.
to its full
Shelby’s teams historically and some
times hysterically lacked discipline. Who
can forget the time Mike Thomas
stormed off the court and into the locker
room. All this because his coach, Shelby,
took him out of the game. Boo Hoo! Did
Shelby take any action? H-NO. He
started the very next game.
One thing about Shelby, his is consis
tent. Consistently mediocre. He consis
tently gets Texas’ and the nation’s best
players (i.e. Rudy Woods) but consistent
ly finds himself without a bye in the SWC
post-season tourney.
I don’t know who is in charged
duling the movies shown on cat!
“Aggie Cinema.” I do know than*'
condemned Neil Diamond’s
Singer” to Rudder Theater, ins
running it where it could be si
most of all heard,
(namely Rudder Auditorium) ll)l6y ees
son should be forced to listen dy or co
stereo albums on their kid sister’s Rents,
hi-fi record player. The effect#
much the same.
Showing “The Jazz Singer”inil'
Theater is like watching “E.T."#
back to the screen. Those of us* 1
gerly went out into the rainandc'
Wednesday night in order to be*
to Neil Diamond’s fantastic n#
greatly disappointed at the
shown to this extremely 61#
film.
Michael Lane
Aston Hall
This year we are in luck. SWC officials
have voted to institute a 45 second shot
clock. Great! This should keep Shelby
from going into his unique version of the
four corners. The four corners offense is
terrific but can only be ran properly by
the most disciplined players. Something
A&M seems to lack.
Laura L f
Veterinary A"*
Checkbook lot#
Editor:
Coaching situation
Editor:
Who does Shelby Metcalf know and
why is he still head basketball coach
here?
Let’s look at the record. First, Shelby’s
claim to fame — most SWC conference
No need to hear cries of “Bring back
David Goff,” or “We need David Britton
or Vernon Smith.” Just put it simply to
Jackie Sherrill, “Dump Shelby.”
As far as a replacement goes, there is
one clear and obvious choice — ABE
LEMMONS.
This is a letter of thanks to theg 11
found my checkbook in the road*
Northgate. It must have fallenou 1
jacket pocket as I dodged carswh*
sing University Drive, but I didn';
it was gone for a couple of hours
that I had been here when you cal' 1
that you had left your name,
just wanted to say thank you.
Hig|
Sun
Ini
Tom Dobrez ’83
Mike Shipl