Page 2/The Battalion/Tuesday, March 29, 1983
opinion
Slouch By Jim Earle
“How do you know my dog’s been in your bed?”
PACs impact less
than anticipated
by Clay F. Richards
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Independent
political groups that spend millions wag
ing negative advertising campaigns
against incumbents may be troublesome
in the American electoral process, but
they apparently aren’t doing much
damage.
In the 1980 Senate race, five promin
ent liberal senators, including George
McGovern of South Dakota, were defe
ated for re-election. In the same year the
National Conservative Political Action
Committee spent millions advocating
their defeat.
That led to some stories that the noto
rious NCPAC had defeated five liberals.
Surely the negative ads played some role.
So did the fact that the senators involved
were among the most liberal in the Sen
ate while they came from generally con
servative states like South Dakota, In
diana, Iowa and Idaho.
Last week the Federal Election Com
mission completed its review of indepen
dent expenditures in the 1982 congres
sional election and found that they had
jumped 143 percent in two years — from
$2.3 million to $5.7 million.
NCPAC alone accounted for nearly
$3.2 million of the total.
But in 1982, neither NCPAC nor any
of the other independent groups were
getting any credit for defeating incum
bents they disliked, or for that matter
electing their favorites.
A look at the FEC report shows the
independent groups spent a lot of money
and accomplished very little.
For instance, nearly $1.1 million —
nearly 20 percent of the nationwide total
— was spent to defeat Sen. Edward Ken
nedy, D-Mass. He won in a landslide.
The second largest amount, nearly
$700,000, was spent to defeat Sen. Paul
Sarbanes, DMd., another landslide
winner.
In the House, $300,000 was spent to
defeat Speaker Thomas O'Neill, who also
had no problems.
Sen. John Melcher, D-Mont., was
thought to be vulnerable because he was
a Democrat with a fairly liberal record
from a fairly conservative state. But when
NCPAC started pouring in nearly
$230,000, he started his own television
campaign about how out-of-state money
was trying to corrupt the Montana cam
paign. 4'he NCPAC campaign backfired.
To be sure, two of the top 10 targets in
the Senate were defeated — Sen. Ho
ward Cannon, D-Nev., and Sen. Harri
son Schmitt, R-N.M. But every analysis of
the 1982 Senate races put Cannon and
Schmitt on the list of most vulnerable
incumbents.
Cannon was nearly def eated in his own
primary, showing that Democrats were
almost as ready to get rid of him as were
Republicans.
Schmitt was one of the few conserva
tive targets singled out for defeat by li
berals. But liberals spent even more
money trying to defeat Sen. Orin Hatch,
R-Utah, and that effort failed.
Neither Schmitt nor Cannon claimed
after the election they had been done in
by liberal or conservative independent
expenditures against them.
Several incumbents — Sarbanes most
notably — said that the added effort by
the groups working against them
sparked them to campaign more vigor
ously, saving them from the complacency
that often defeated incumbents.
It is likely that the independent groups
will heavily reassess their campaign
strategy in the future. It is doubtful that
they will against spend $ 1 million against
someone as popular as Kennedy. And
they are likely to do a lot more polling
before taking on a Sarbanes.
But for now the independent expendi
ture groups have been rendered relative
ly harmless.
USPS 045 360
Member <>l
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion
Editor Diana Sultenfuss
Managing Editor Gary Barker
Associate Editor Denise Richter
City Editor Hope E. Paasch
Assistant City Editor Beverly Hamilton
Sports Editor John Wagner
Entertainment Editor Colette Hutchings
Assistant Entertainment Editor.. . . Diane Yount
News Editors Daran Bishop, Brian Boyer,
Jennifer Carr, Elaine Engstrom,
Shelley Hoekstra, Johna Jo Maurer,
Jan Werner, Rebeca Zimmermann
Staff Writers
Melissa Adair, Maureen Carmody,
Frank Christlieb, Connie Edelmon,
Patrice Koranek, John Lopez, Robert
McGlohon, Ann Ramsbottom, Kim
Schmidt, Patti Schwierzke, Kelley
Smith, Angel Stokes, Tracey Taylor,
Joe Tindel, Kathy Wiesepape
Copyeditor JanSwaner
Cartoonist Scott McCullar
Graphic Artists Pam Starasinic
Sergio Galvez Thompson, Fernando
Andrade
Photographers David Fisher, Guy Hood,
Eric Lee, Irene Mees,
William Schulz
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778 13.
Memo on ERA shredder hit list
by Art Buchwald
Memo: To New Head of EPA
From: Glitz, Chief of Shredder and
Hit List Division
Dear Sir,
Assume, in spite of some changes you
will make in agency, you will want up-to-
date information on EPA employees who
are clean air fanatics, pro-
environmentalists, and have relatives
who belong to National Audubon Socie
ty. Your predecessor, as well as the Sec
retary of Interior, found these lists most
helpf ul in serving EPA political interests
of the country as mandated by Congress.
This is updated report for week of
March 7, 1983.
and was overheard discussing acid rain
and its effect on lakes and wildlife along
Canadian border. Two days later same
informant observed her going into movie
theater to see documentary on nuclear
war made by Canadian Film Board. She
failed to report seeing this picture to her
superiors. Meriweather has mother who
lives in Toronto, and could easily be sub
jected to blackmail by Canadian Royal
Mounted Police.
Suggested we eliminate Meriweather’s
job in budget cutback, and turn over her
duties to Sig Dolby, a consultant firm that
now represents the Heavy Sulpher Coal
Producers Association.
waging a vendetta against “How-X
and cited a report Deplatz submilit
EPA without first letting coni|
lawyers edit it. This violates the it
understanding our agency has wit
chemical companies, that they
first crack at changing EPA repoit
fore they are sent to Washingtoi
plat/., a civil service employee, canit
"ired, but there is nothing in therej [ 0 nday night
lions that says he can’t be transfers
Nome, Alaska.
Digby Pester — St. Louis office.ft ormation moi
has requested $500,000 froniEPAtil
dollar Superfund to clean uptoxiu
dumps in St. Joseph, Missouri. design
Duncan Plowright — Denver office.
Was photographed in 1970 at Earth Day
Demonstration while student at Univer
sity of Utah. Wife was once engaged to
leader of “Save the American Bald Eagle
Club” in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Plow
right’s brother Zeth was attorney for class
action suit to remove poison gas from
U.S. Army chemical depot on runway at
Denver Airport. Plowright spends all his
time citing our friends for EPA viola
tions, despite warnings from his super
iors in Washington that Justice Depart
ment does not have lawyers to prosecute
cases. He is extremely dangerous and
could cause trouble in 1984 elections.
Mathilda Meriweather— Detroit. Was
observed by one of our political infor
mants having lunch with a Canadian en
vironmental of ficial, code name Pierre,
Frank Mulch — San Francisco office.
Is considered in Northern California as a
career environmental elitist. Goes back
packing with his family every summer in
High Sierras. Has opposed strip mining
by private sector in Redwood forests. In
tapped telephone conversation he was
quoted as saying James Watt “was off the
wall, and his elevator didn’t go to the top
floor,” an obvious allusion to the Secret
ary’s sanity. Mulch roomed in college
with Thomas Wilkie, a notorious mem
ber of the Sierra Club, and our informa
tion is they still keep in contact. He is the
type of person who won’t be satisfied un
til the White House is turned into a bird’s
EPA political experts turned
request, because it would helpefe
Democrat mayor, Pester went oven on f erence t (, |
heads and contacted “60’’ Minutes.
Mike Wallace was seen sniffingann if the press.
Dr. Edward
exas A&M’s
St. Joseph’s last week with a camerae
Pester is a smoking gun, and ifheis
viewed the fallout could be hazardoi ommunicatioi
President Reagan’s political healths o n f erence by
gest we give St. Joseph $500,OOOim® ‘^hip be
ately even if it means depletingthec 2(4
al of the Superfund.
This is just a high-priority
troublemakers. I am appendingaloi acedasthethi
one of 2,000 names which yousttBon
have in files.
nest.
Your predecessor tried to get ridii College Statii
Hubert Deplatz — Newark office. We
have received five complaints on Deplatz
from the “How-Now Dioxin Chemical
Company,” located in New Jersey. The
Chairman of the Board claims Deplatz is
many pro-environmentalists in the
cy as she possibly could. Butunfoi
ly she was unable to finish the job.
greatest tribute you could pay her
pick up the torch and take upw
left off.
ress C
Lt
by David
Battalio
Four local of
irectors of
ress conferer
recognition i
The Societ
ournalists, Si
reedom o
ronth, and \
unications,
nderstanding
Bryan Mayi
The Wrath
of Ron
lalter, Braze
ick Holmgr
Ml Board
ihairman W
uizzed Bryai
,agle Editor i
iattalion Edit
iiss, KAMU
panne Non
ews Directo
reir policies i
McKenzie c
,te, “Build tl
ick of truth
less," and ask
sentatives if
hat philosoph
at they did.
But when
romgoole wl
Letters: Serenade stopped unfairly
Editor:
Something happened last night which
really bothered me. I live in McFadden
Hall. About 10:15 p.m. three Aggies
stood on the path between my dorm and
Haas Hall and began to sing. The three
were talented singers, who, with their
guitar, presented quite a show that was all
the more enjoyable because they were
singing for the mere pleasure it brought
them. People in the doorways of both
dorms stopped to listen as did several
girls at dorm windows.
The concert was soft and if one was
not at her window or outside, it was diffi
cult to hear the music. Unfortunately,
after 10 to 15 minutes two University
policemen came over and advised the
men to leave the area which they willingly
did.
I suppose the singers were bothering
some people (the ones standing at the
windows who could hear them). The
policemen were only doing their job. My
complaint comes when I think about all
the times that large numbers of male stu
dents stand outside our dorm for longer
times at later hours. It doesn’t take very
many male college students yelling to
make enough noise to wake a person up.
Where are the campus police at these
times?
What were the policemen doing when,
bef ore spring break, a mob of boys from
Dunn Hall paid us a visit at 11:30 p.m.
and yelled for our panties for the next 30
minutes? But I forgot, that was “good
bull” as is chaining a birthday boy to a
lightpost between the dorms by his
underwear heralded by a bugle.
I wish the of ficers had left the singers
alone but if they must stop them from
making “noise”, the least the policemen
on this campus can do is give the mid
night quadclers and panty raiders the
same consideration.
Leslie S. Hyman ’86
Easter quotes
Editor:
As we approach the celebration of
Easter Sunday, irrespective of the rub
bish in the Buttalion, comments by the
early 20th Century Biblical historian,
Philip Schaff, continue to provide re
levant insight into the person of Christ:
“This Jesus of Nazareth, without money
and arms, conquered more millions than
Alexander, Caeser, Mohammed and
Napoleon; without science and learning,
He shed more light on things human and
divine than all philosophers and scholars
combined; without the eloquence of
schools, He spoke such words of life as
were never spoken before or since since
and produced effects which lie beyond
the reach of orator or poet; without writ
ing a single line, He set more pens in
motion, and furnished themes for more
sermons, orations, discussions, learned
volumes, works of art, and songs of
praise, than the whole army of great men
of ancient and modern times ... Systems
of human wisdom will come and go, king
doms and empires will rise and fall, but
for all time to come Christ will remain
‘the Way, the Truth, and the Life.’”
Shane Sanders ’80
Graduate Student
Parody complaints
Editor:
distributed around our campusandi I
munity I feel some constructivecrili I
is in order. 1 will make no preteffi I
being the best of Christians butJl I
same time confine my remarkstoson I
the articles in the paper regarding^ I
While I believe we at A&Mcaniii I
find things to laugh at together I fid I
humor in the irreverence of somed I
articles in the Buttalion. Therearefl I
of aspect s of Aggieland we can maid I
of and do so in a manner that fortfiti I
part will harm no one. As foranysll
religious belief s of any kind thereisi I
lately no place for them in any put I
tion. Individual preferences toward I
gious beliefs should be treated I
utmost seriousness, respect and 81
ence.
It is true that a publication of #_
ture can be quite humorous whennii I
in a proper fashion. In future pud
lions I would hope that the writers^
paper will ask t hemselves some si
questions before publication; Istfi*
the benefit of the University andi [
munity? Will this paper take lightjl
belief s and convictions of the put
Upon reading the recent publication
Frank A. Hai®
I
Berry s World
“Say, here’s some more good news — prices for home-video cassette
are expected to drop.’’