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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 26, 1983)
Page 2/The Battalion/Tuesday, July 26, 1983 opinion Central America feeling pressure by Helen Thomas United Press International WASHINGTON — President Reagan is making several moves on the Central American front when polls show a wari ness of his policies. The drive is to break the back of the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, which he says is being armed by Cuba and the Soviet Union. Responding to congressional de mands, Reagan established a bipartisan commission to look into long-range U.S. policies toward the region. But the views of most of the panel members are consi dered hard line. He named former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to head it and Kissinger, who once participated in the destabiliza tion of Chile, leading to the downfall of leftist President Salvador Allende, is already on record with his view. And Reagan’s own representative on the commission is U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, one of the most vocal foes of leftist-led rebellions south of the border. “If we cannot manage Central Amer ica, it will be impossible to convince threatened nations in the Persan Gulf and other places that we know how to manage the global equilibrium,” Kissin ger said in an interview in Public Opinion magazine some time ago. He also said he would oppose going to war with Nicaragua but would do what ever was needed through covert aid to guerrillas or through a strong presence on the HondurasNicaragua border. Reports indicate those moves already have been made — and more with the United States planning to hold a major U.S.Honduran military exercise near the Honduras-Nicaragua border next month. The administration’s first goal was to halt the so-called Nicaraguan arms supp ly line to the insurgents in El Salvador. But now the picture has changed and it appears that Reagan is not willing to set tle for less than the downfall of the Sandi nista government. The Battalion; USPS 045 360 Member ol 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 Robert McGlohon, Karen Schrimsher, Angel Stokes, Joe Tindel Copyeditors Kathleen Hart, Beverly Hamilton Cartoonist Scott McCullar Photographers Brenda Davidson, Eric Evan Lee, Barry Papke Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting news paper operated as a community service to Texas A&M University and Bryan-College Station. Opinions ex pressed in The Battalion are those of 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 for students in reporting, editing and photography clas ses within the Department of Communications. Questions or comments concerning any editorial mat ter 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 are 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- versitv. College Station, TX 77843, or phone (409) 845- 2611. 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 reproducdon of all other matter herein reserved. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. “There is a vital link between what’s happening in Nicaragua and what’s hap pening in El Salvador,” Reagan said in a speech to the International Longshore men’s Association convention in Holly wood, Fla. “And the link is very simple: The dictators of Nicaragua are actively trying to destroy the budding democracy in neighboring El Salvador.” Reagan insists he is seeking a political dialogue and has said repeatedly that Cuba’s Fidel Castro resisted an overture he made early in his administration. Clearly, Reagan has not been pushing to talk to Castro or the leaders of the Salva doran insurgency or the Sandinistas. That is where the so-called Contadora Group, made up of Mexico, Panama, Venezuela and Colombia have come into the picture, urging the United States and the opposition groups in the region to talk out their differences. Some of the U.S. pressure may be taking hold. Nicaragua has offered to negotiate the question of arms supplies to El Salvador and other regional sticking points. It undoubtedly is feeling the hot breath of American-funded Nicaraguan rebels operating from Honduras on its border. But while the United States struggles to keep Central America in the Western fold, the mistakes of the past are creeping up and need quick solutions. The United States has been aligned with supporting the status quo and the communist coun tries are pushing for revolutions that appeal to the poor people. But clearly time is running out and if the United States wants to make the Mon roe Doctrine work, keeping the other su perpower out of the Western Hemis phere, it must add more of an economic and social wallop to its military assistance. And some members of Congress say that should be in the form of a new massive Marshall Plan for Central America. Letters: Odds favor violators Editor: This letter is addressed to Steven Newman: Thank you for your letter of 7/14/83, (The Battalion, 7/19/83) expressing con cern at the incidents of motorcycles, motorbikes and mopeds being illegally operated on sidewalks and malls. You are quite correct that this conduct is in violation of the Motor Vehicle Reg ulations and I can assure you such acts are neither ignored or condoned by this department. When violators are detected and are able to be apprehended, they receive the appropriate citation. The root of this problem concerns the ability to apprehend the particular viola tor. During a regular day shift we have but 10 officers at the maximum available for patrol duty operating from six patrol vehicles. Considering their responsiilities throughout the entire campus, including a myriad of other duties, one can readily perceive there can never be a “cop on every corner” and if the operator of the vehicle elects to perform illegally the odds are he can get away with it. This is not to say our officers do not observe these offenders; they do, but this poses another problem. Unless the oper ator exits from a sidewalk or mall onto a street near a patrol car where he can be stopped (and these are the circumstances where our citations are mostly issued) the officer has very little option remaining. He cannot pursue the violator over the sidewalks nor can he engage in “hot pursuit” through the streets in anticipa tion of “heading off’ the violator at another point on campus. He can radio other patrol units to be on the alert for the violator but they are hindered by the same restrictions as he. In such cases, therefore, all we can do is apprehend the violators when possible and, more importantly, maintain hope eternal that our highly educated oper ators of these vehicles perceive that their actions are illegal and dangerous and in gross violation of the conduct standards maintained by most “good Aggies.” Robert E. Wiatt Director of Security and Traffic Editor: To the bikers in front of the C.E. (building: Your definition of “pedestrian” needs a few changes. According to Webster, “pedestrian” means: a) going or per formed on foot and b) of, relating to, or designed for walking. We also hate to knock you off your high horse, but according to state law a bicycle is a vehicle (a piece of mechanized equipment) and therefore must be oper ated on streets. Nowhere does it mention i a bicyclist’s legal right to ride on side walks. Now whose turn is it to pull their heads out? Marcy Basile ’85 Jan Simon ’84 NEW "/VOSE.- GLARE PROTECT /0 V NEW PENALT/ ES' by Eric Eva American dream deferred by Maxwell Glen and Cody Shearer COLUMBUS, Ohio — Sam and Mary Ellen Starr hadn’t planned to buy a house this year. First-time parents but still only 24, they’d recently begun to save for a down payment sometime in 1985. Last month, however, the Starrs disco vered a well-situated Dutch Colonial for $65,000 and their Middle-Western frug ality gave way. With $7,000 from their parents and revenues from the sale of a late-model Volvo, they purchased a 30- year variable-rate mortgage (beginning at 12 percent). Their first mortgage payment will be more than $600; if rates hold steady, the Starrs will own the three-bedroom house free and clear in the year 2013. Total cost, including mortgage and interest: $220,000. As first-time buyers go, the Starrs are lucky. Sam works for IBM and Mary Ellen has family friends at a local savings and loan. On short notice, they were able to mobilize cash and credit to fulfill the American dream. Yet for most young couples, home ownership looks more like the Impossi ble Dream. At an age when their parents probably assumed home mortgages casually, many young adults can’t im agine the idea. Indeed, according to the U.S. League of Savings Associations, interest rates, high home prices and simple demog raphics are reducing the long-term mar ket for homes. League president Leonard Shane, usually bullish about homeowning and its many healing powers, said last week that the outlook for homeowners is much dar ker than current data suggest. While housing sales appear to be leading the economic recovery, he added, they’re un likely to keep up the pace. Bloated federal deficits through at least 1988 will sponge off much of the credit dollars normally available to home buyers. Even as the economy becomes healthier, the price of money is unlikely to decrease. Last week, for example, as economic indicators continued to improve, both the Federal National Mortgage Associa tion (“Fannie Mae“) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) raised their rates closer to 14 percent. Meanwhile, the prices of new and re sale homes continue to hover above a level that the average couple can afford. Since 1979, the median home price has jumped but real incomes have sunk. The resulting “affordability gap” stands today at $20,000 which, even with a respectable Battalion Ref A group of Tex; feors, who also s ■btation reserv 11 si ion put their to work in t 9.9 percent mortgages to tint , r t m ent. chasers on a first-come, first-seiwiim Coppinge charge of the C< )lice reserve unit Nearly everyone associated with the housing industry has a pet solution to the first-time buyer lockout. recovery, will probably go no lower than $14,000 next year and keep home mort gages out of reach for many. Compounding these problems is the size of the potential market itself. Nearly one out of six Americans will celebrate their 30th birthday during this decade. The unprecedented number of adults in their prime home-buying years will send home prices higher (through increased demand) and help keep interest rates out of sight (as they pass through their low- saving years). As Jim Christian, chief economist for the Chicago-based U.S. League says, the generation’s preference for living alone only exacerbates the problem: “Baby boomers look like the pig in the python. We may just have to wait until the pig gets digested.” Here in Ohio, some younger home buyers have at least had a fighting chance. The state government recently offered more than $300 million worth of According to the Ohio Financing Agency, some 5 qualified for the money (raised'ssoi s are helpin] tax-exempt bonds) and a second &§’> physical fitr of $110 million at 10.65 pera r llie departm< made available next wee/ fcvdg"e One official told our reportt: 'l e College of Duffy that as many as 2,000voting G n a pf buyers were unable to qualifyfaHram to help | ing (many others, like the Stanprove their pi understandably unwillingtocaip. front of a downtown bank fort** to beat the crowds.) | T . Nearly everyone associatedlJ i I housing industry has a petsolu'if*- -ll L vT J first-time buyer lockout. TbR- , League wants Congress to takeilt I q steps, including the creation oiBA^A A A vidual housing accounts,” toalle® baby boom’s capital crunch. MtsBby Robert Iv proposals involve tax or reg 1 # breaks for the savings and loar.i'fe Battalion Banks and other lending ini , T un * 5 J' , Hotel already offer a dazzling — and vanable-interest-rate s i: Jondav but the attract young couples. For eBLbeat them t many lenders guarantee a fixed|ui rsc i a y by am several years, encouraging at le ivn plans for : term stability. ^raton Confe Another, though not necessarij-pbe Hilton pi responsive, approach emploL has been p0! “shared equity” principle, in »jn foe given on broker links cash-poor young ttel with a bull with cash-rich private investors! Diane Olson, turn for a down payment, theippor of Sunl might receive a half-ownershipP/' 1 1 16 recent house. (Unfortunately, probk otels * n t ^ ie Br y legal responsibility and ^SHfobon^aic make the arrangement morel ’ ) saic than it’s worth.) Bsunbelt, a 1 Yet as young Americans i ndmanagemer know, these options barely additn-oposed buildi prices and tight credit, the fund he Texas A& obstacles to homeownership thesF 11 1 hat pro] With price and credit probi:, * t ^ e 1 exas - I 1 1 A * 1 1 •'•■miloH solved, the American dream What ever happened to 1 ruled that the r i j ^* •*. i iilton wanted ferred. In time, it may even dif selling Unive . Pexas law forbi by Art Buchwald My wife and I were sitting on the porch of the summer house the other evening and started to reminisce about people we had gotten to know from pre vious summers. “Whatever happened to that nice man who sold us the television set and said he’d be back the next day to install the aerial on the roof?” I asked. “Was it in 1975 or ’76?” “I think it was 1975, the same year the roofer promised to repair the gutters. I hear he moved to Florida,” she replied. “The TV man?” “No the roofer. I still see the TV man around town. He says he’s coming over any day now to install the aerial for the set*” my wife said. “Did you tell him we bought a new TV since then?” “I didn’t dare. If I did, he might never come back to install the aerial on the set he sold us.” “You know who I think about a lot when I sit in this chair?” I said. “Who is that?” my wife asked. “The decorator who talked us into ordering it. Remember, it came from Grand Rapids missing a cushion support. And he said as soon as he got the piece he’d bring it over and install it. Now every time I sit in it and the chair collapses I wonder how the decorator is doing.” “I called him a couple of years back to ask him where the shower curtains were that we had paid for three years ago, and he told me they would be in at any time. He sounded very harassed.” “I’d love to see him again just to talk about this chair.” My wife said, “Do you know who I ran into in Oak Bluffs the other day?” “The guy who sold us the refrigerator in 1973, and still owes us an ice-cube making machine?” “No, it was Mr. Godsend, who came by four years ago and gave us an estimate on painting the house. When we told him to go ahead he painted half the house and then we never saw him again.” “Did he say when he was coming back?” “That was the funny thing. He thought he completed the job, and gave me his card in case we wanted any more work done,” she said. “Did you tell him his paints and brushes and ladder are still in our garage?” “Yes, I did, and he was very grateful. He said he’s stop by and pick them up if he ever gets a job in the area.” “It will be good to see him again. I wonder what happened to the fellow who dug up our driveway in 1980, and never returned to repave it?” “Someone at Leslie’s Drugstore told me he went bankrupt.” “That’s a pity. What was the story?” “Apparently he was great at digging up driveways, but he never had the time to repave them. People refused to pay him until he got the WHOLE job done.” “That doesn’t seem to be fair,” I said. “Guess who is coming to see us this week?” “I’m too tired to guess.” “The baby-sitter who advertised in the Vineyard Gazette in 1972 and said she’d be right over when we called her.” “Did you tell her the children grown up?” “I didn’t have the heart to. promised her the job.” Slouch Hilton has n l otel will be bi ected to be wi red yards of tb erence Center ted at 925 ire. Constructio n hotel will 1 Monica ce-Matthev aumont pub ’ Monday. T jstory buildin ms and six addition, t onnected to a center - ilities and a 1 600. Tie hotel b located in a •« inecting th« onference c* luded in plan: fking for Trant and a J’Conner - |built prims ; conferer by Texas. John Rich ittd services Jniversity Ce: sity Center iferences ez )00 to 45,C ege Station a |age stay of tferences — lude con fere tidings, sue ’ Agency E pneering ■ Ait $7 mill ide revenue^ J Betty Your the desire to be a hippie, wear it then. 99 ar - ‘Every once in awhile r g e numbe