Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, June 15, 1983
>
opinion
Fountain preacher’s message lost
I saw one again last week.
As I was leaving the Memorial Student
Center, I passed the fountain outside
Rudder. There he stood — a fountain
preacher with a microphone in one hand,
a crowd before him and a message to
spread.
His message was the familiar one ab
out living a good, clean life for God. And
his delivery was like most others who
preached there before him.
Just as I walked by, the preacher and a
young man in the crowd began to bicker
about government funding for AIDS —
or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syn
drome — research. The whole scene was
one which I didn’t care to participate in.
So I walked on.
But as I walked across campus, I pon
dered the scene I left at the fountain. I’m
a Christian, but I didn’t agree with the
preacher’s tactics. Maybe I’m too much a
religious pacifist, but arguing over what
men say God thinks seems useless.
I found myself rejecting everything
the preacher said. Even though some of
his ideas did have merit, his delivery was
a complete turn-off. Surely, I thought,
hope e.
paasch
hope SJi
there’s a better way to spread the same
message. I have never met anyone who
said he gained any sort of spiritual insight
from a fountain preacher.
This particular preacher seemed
more concerned with telling people how
wrong the whole college world is than
with leading people to God. And the peo
ple who passed the fountain showed
much the same attitude that I felt.
Just as I was becoming completely in
volved and frustrated in my train of
thought, I noticed a nice, normal-looking
student. He sat alone on the shady edge
of a brick wall near the Chemistry Build
ing. His backpack sat at his feet while he
peeled an orange. And in his lap was an
open pocket-size Bible.
The serenity of that moment isn’t
something that disappears after the mo
ment passes.
That young man’s peace and devotion
to God was infinitely more contagious
than the message the fountain preacher
was trying to spread.
As I entered the newsroom after my
pilgrimage across campus, I found my
hostile feelings toward the preacher were
gone and the vision of the young man still
filled my mind.
Maybe the fountain preachers and
their sponsoring groups should recon
sider their strategy. Communication is
more than words, after all. Perhaps the
preachers could spend their time more
effectively by showing how they live
rather than arguing the finer points of
Christianity.
BEFORE WE START THE MISSION „ li/£ fiOf TO PROP &0BBV
OFF AT UTHE tfASUE, MOLIY AT HER VIOLIN LESSON AND,
Lots of lawyers needed
to keep other ones busy
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member ot
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
Editor Hope E. Paasch
City Editor Kelley Smith
Sports Editor John Wagner
News Editors Daran Bishop, Brian Boyer,
Beverly Hamilton, Tammy Jones
Staff Writers Scott Griffin, Robert
McGlohon, Angel Stokes,
Joe Tindel
Copyeditors .... Kathleen Hart, Tracey Taylor
Cartoonist Scott McCullar
Photographers Brenda Davidson, Eric Lee,
Barry Papke, Peter Rocha
Editorial Policy
T/ic ButUilion is a non-profit, self-supporting news
paper operated as a community service to Texas A&M
University and Bryan-Colfege Station. Opinions ex
pressed in The Battalion are those ol 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
tor st udents 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 and
show the address and telephone number of the writer.
Columns and guest editorials also are welcome, and
arc 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 (409) 845-
261 1.
The Battalion is published Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday during both Texas A&M regular summer
sessions, except for holiday and examination periods.
Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $33.25 per
school year and $35 per full year. Advertising 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 Art Buchwald
It may be my imagination, but every
young person I met this June is graduat
ing from law school. The question is how
many lawyers can the country support?
The answer is that nobody really knows.
Harlan McCugh, a senior partner with
McCugh, McCugh and Moore McCughs,
is one of those who believes the United
States will never have enough lawyers to
serve the needs of the people.
“T he reason why I’m so bullish on the
law as a profession is that the more
lawyers you have the more business you
generate for each others. We’re the ones
who make the problems for other lawyers
to solve.”
“I’m not too sure I understand.”
“Well, there is a famous story about a
lawyer in North Dakota who hung up his
shingle in town and was starving to death.
Then another lawyer moved in across the
street. Suddenly they were both prosper
ing. The rule of thumb in America is that
it takes a minimum of two lawyers on
opposite sides of the street before one
can make any money.”
McCugh continued, “The beauty of
the American justice system is that one
doesn’t have to do anything wrong to
need a lawyer. All somebody has to do is
accuse you of doing something wrong,
and then you have to seek legal help to
defend yourself. Even if you aren’t ac
cused of doing something wrong, it’s best
to hire a lawyer in advance, just in case
somebody might take a gamble that you
did.
“Another reason I’m bullish on the
law business is that lawyers are taught to
write contracts and legal papers that can
only be decoded by other lawyers. So
when one lawyer draws up a contract, he
or she,is automatically assuring a fee for
another lawyer who has to read it and see
that the person signing it is not getting a
raw deal.
“I had an instance not long ago where
a lawyer for a motion picture studio sent
a one-page contract to a screenwriter I
was representing. I took one look at it
and became furious. I called up the stu
dio lawyer and said, ‘Are you crazy or
something? My client could sign this con
tract today. Where the hell did you study
law?’
“The studio lawyer apologized and
said he had a paralegal draw up the
agreement and hadn’t realized the young
man had written it in plain English. He
promised to send over the studio’s usual
170-page contract right away. As soon as
I got it, we started haggling over it for
three months, and I was able to charge
my client my normal outrageous fee.”
“You were smart not to let your client
sign the one-page contract,” I said.
“Another reason I’m bullish on
lawyers,” McCugh said, “is that almost
every family in America has a relative
who is a lawyer, and you don’t even have
to leave your house anymore to find one.
Now when a mother calls up her lawyer
son from the hospital and says, ‘I fell on
the sidewalk and broke my hip,’ the first
question he usually asks her is, ‘Were
there any witnesses?’
“There aren’t enough lawyers in
America to handle all the accidents that
are happening all around us, much less
the insurance companies who are refus
ing to pay.”
“You paint a very rosy picture for
young people just coming out of law
school,” I said.
“I’m not making it up,” McCugh told
me. “You’ve got government lawyers
working day and night confusing every
one as to what the legislators had on their
minds when they passed a law or re
pealed one. You have people being
poisoned by chemicals, crime is soaring,
and the simplest business transaction
cannot be consummated without two leg
al minds in the middle screwing it up. I
would say the outlook for the law class of
1983 has never been brighter.”
“What a wonderful message. Can I
print it?”
“Of course, Why do you ask?”
“I didn’t want you to sue me.”
Backstairs at the White House
Reagan still witty
I United
HOIS 1
m-area n
gwnl too
funds
raiisit A
by Helen Thomas
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Maureen Reagan
says “I hope so” when asked if her father
is going to run again.
“I’ve already put in my word and he
said, ‘noted,’” she reported in a brief chat
at the White House during a recent over
night visit.
President Reagan still is batting .500 in
the humor department. The president
and first lady Nancy Reagan recently
hosted a state dinner in honor of Ivory
Coast President Felix Houphouet-
Boigny. The entertainment for the even
ing was the Lincoln Center Chamber
Music group, which evoked bravos from
the audience for a super performance.
After the last number the Reagans
walked us to a small platform in the East
Room to shake hands with each musician.
They separated going to opposite ends of
the platform and came full face with each
other. Reagan stuck out his hands and
shook hands with his wife. Then he went
to the microphone and said, “We’ve got
to stojo meeting this way.”
. w , 0 Rns ol
His daughter, Maureen, 42, ai* want -
Marymount College in ArlingtttHjhe <
for a year; his son, Michael, 37.ate* mess
Arizona State and Los AngefeHe is n<
munity College for a time; Pailc|stonia
attended Northwestern UniventB hy
one year and the University ofSo , ® r ^' vs ’
California for a semester. I . ''
I he Reagans’ son, Ron, 25,anB s
Yale for one year and then drop|tfc ins su
to become a ballet dancer. Hehas ly oters
the Joffrey Ballet and become Mendum
lance writer.
At the State Dinner for the Ivon FATHERS
leader, Reagan noted HouphoutBiw])
the father of his country, and had y MMl
consecutively in the jvresideno S
years. Would you like to do that?Kl
was asked.
The concert of the Young Artists in Per
formance at the White House was staged
in two segments because of heavy rain on
the south lawn when the concert was first
taped. Only 40 minutes of the hour-long
show, which features Broadway tunes,
was taj:)ed before the clouds opened uj).
Guests made a mad dash for the resi
dence and went up to the State Rooms
where ushers and waiters had hastily
moved the food and drinks from the out
door refreshment stands inside.
The day was bright and sunny when
the last 20 minutes of the show was taped.
Reagan looked out at the guests, main
ly White House staffers filling the seats,
and said, “This is a fair weather audience
if I ever saw one.”
4= * *
Incidentally, the Young Artists series
that was aired on the Public Broadcasting
System, with Itzhak Perlman as master of
ceremonies, will be resumed next fall
with Metropolitan Opera singer Leon
tyne Price as the mistress of ceremonies.
President Reagan is making excellence
in education in the nation a cause celebre,
and probably a key campaign issue if he
seeks re-election.
He has a B.A. degree from Eureka
College in Illinois, where he majored in
economics. But none of his children
made it through four years of higher
education. All dropjoed out of coliege.
He grinned, shook hisheadani
“No, I want to read a book again!
* * *
You can hardly find a White Honl
who doesn't believe that Reagan/I
re-election. All systems seem to I
But while he is making like a caul
and traveling like a candidate,tkl
dent is in no rush to announcehisl
But that does not mean thesiral
are not busy paving the waywhenl!
decide, probably in the early fall I
Ed Rollins, chief White House*
al adviser, is carrying the ballj
fence-mending department. Heffl
personal feeling is the presidenil
year is enough” to launch a canfi
he so decides. “I think everyone 1
tied with the time frame,” Rollinl
“He hasn’t told anyone what heil
to do.”
He recently gathered with Ll
Republicans who supported
1980 but have become dissident!!
what they say is a lack of progressol
concerns. Rollins got an earful,anj
afterward, “I think we’re goingll
an ongoing dialogue.”
“We’re not writing any groupj
said, adding that includes womenl
minorities. “We’re laying the f|
work.”
The White House is well
Reagan has some work to do in4
over the women’s vote. The poll
they support him far less thanlf
voters.
Reagan’s strong opposition
Equal Rights Amendment and
neglect on other issues is partoiikj
lent. T here were no women on
mission on Strategic Forces and a!
any arms control advisory capaciii
Slouch By Jim Earl
Sh °P Dill
I think we better sweep the floor soon.