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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 1983)
ip Page 2AThe Battalion/Wednesday, August 17,1983 Dog days of summer everything but by Clay F. Richards United Press International WASHINGTON — 1 hese are the dog days of summer when politicians are sup posed to retire to Martha’s Vineyard, re porters to the the Delaware beaches and the president to Calif ornia and nothing is supposed to happen. The summer before a presidential campaign is traditionally everyone’s chance for a final rest before the non stop grind of caucuses, primaries, con ventions and elections. But the summer of 1983 is breaking tradition. The closest the Democrats got to Cape Cod was Boston, where the AFL-CIO de cided to move its first endorsement of a presidential candidate up to October in stead of December. The seemingly small change in labor’s timetable was a potential $20 million bonanza for Walter Mondale at a time when he seemed to be slippingjust a little from his frontrunner’s status. Labor’s endorsement will bring with it hundreds, if not thousands of delegates to the winner. In 1980, the National Edu cation Assocition had more than 400 de legates who could have swung the nomi nation to Edward Kennedy if they had not stayed loyal to President Carter be cause he had created a Department of Education. The AFL-CIO endorsement is more significant than that. In the dog days of the summer of 1983 the president did not get to California early enough. He stopped off first at a convention of businesswomen and told them if it weren’t for them, men would still be living in caves, wearing skin suits. The summer before a presiden tial campaign traditionally is everyone’s chance fora Final rest before the non-stop grind of caucuses, primaries, conven tions and elections. The working women were not im pressed with his compliments about their domestic abilities, and it is likely that the next round of polls will show the presi dent’s standing among women will slip even farther. And now Reagan will interrupt his summer vacation at the end of the month to address a Republican women’s confer ence in San Diego, where he will try to repair some of the damage. The American military is spending its summer on maneuvers in Central Amer ica and Africa. What happens in the sum mer of 1983 could produce a backlash that is as politically lethal as Vietnam was to Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Hum phrey. Or it could put out a couple of brushfires, reaffirming America’s milit ary superiority and Reagan’s strong de fense policy. During the dog days, unemployment dropped from 10 percent to 9.5 percent. by Tii Batta Round 1. stands Mike of Mike's Di.< the greatest single monthdecreast resen ung m cades. Somewhere, 500,000 A[R.^ 0()C i st0 ne found work during the summer jage shoppir that trend continues, the greatesMj n ^ blockade to Reagan’s reelectioruM removed. ct01 y of c ; p - And during the dull daysof.iMij-esenting Alan Cranston, Gary Hart andXjt Hollings probably are comingiM; ,, , a v< realization that they will be more time on the Senate floorni» H ‘ arve y K and less time campaigning forprtl Ash present Nothing brings home the realitvcB tering campaign than watching poll rating hover between 2 pera I 3 percent. Maybe there wall be timer vacation after the New Hampslriitl| ary next March. | by Mar Ball [Clarence Bli |fgr in sociol te lecture on the bla TirtJ Who is legal B».D. in Saturday. “I was oi physics and college maj an imposs you can’t s [Parks said jpircl in so ning becau read thing* That was t then I beca :ld.” Parks, w sion, receiv gree in 196 State Univi Parks v and he an Vermont w sciences in years. Park liked Veri enjoyed be fjorn relati “I high when you |000 mile tives,” he « able bondi Congress should try living with merit pay system Later, BTexas. by Dick West L, United Press International K WASHINGTON — Reports from • hcross the land indicate that education tnay be replacing the economy as this country’s biggest political issue. There seems to be a consensus of sorts that the federal government has done a pretty fair job of bringing down inflation rates. But the question of how to raise student test scores remains very much unsettled. are realistic enough to serve as platform planks. Merit pay for teachers is one proposal getting weighty consideration. The main bone of contention here is what formula to use to determine which teachers are ing of educational standards. A better plan, however, would be for Congress to emulate the schools and adopt the merit pay system. Already there has been some talk along that line. meritorious. It apparently is as hard to answer as the question of how to bring down in terest rates and the federal deficit. All manners of novel suggestions have been advanced, some of which actually I just hope the schools don’t start look ing to Congress for guidance in this mat ter. Although our lawgivers might get high marks in expressing opinions on such subjects as reducing interest rates and deficits, they almost surely would flunk pay scale fixing. Allowing schoolteachers to fix their own salaries, the way members of Con gress do, might contribute to the uplift- But as surely as there is disagreement over the method of determining which teachers deserve bonus pay raises, sing ling out deserving congressman isn’t all that easy either. “Some people have suggested it would be cheap for the taxpayers of America to give each member of Congress a million dollars a year if they’d balance the budget and pay off the deficit,” he said. There are, however, many other facets of the merit pay controversy that also come into play. uallv molesting congressional paf A third test could be whethenl gressman’s name is mentionedinco tion with FBI investigations oil abuse on Capitol Hill. At a recent Senate subcommittee hearing, a sort of remedial course in pay scale fixing, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, set forth the idea of basing congressional salaries on moves to balance the federal budget. It might, for example, be argued that congressmen who go a whole year with out being indicted should be entitled to merit pay. Some taxpayers probably wof reluctant to equate rectitude with! ing the budget; still, there’snoL that walking the straight and narwj mean accomplishment. by Ba Texas $18,000 h Another possible criterion would link merit pay eligibility to whether a con gressman gets through 12 months, or half a term, without being accused of sex- The beauty is that Congress the nation’s schools, already has®! the mechanism for rewarding® rious performances. It’s only a n® transferring payroll jurisdiction House and Senate Ethics Conini® ms to 1 ase the from seisr oil explor; Dr. Tei of geoph) rector, < mic Profili iation cli Bicyclist defends ‘whooshing,’ urges fellow bikers to be careful Backstairs at the White House Editor: Who are these crazy bike riders who WHOOSH through stop signs and run down coeds? Well, I can answer half the question. A stop sign in an empty street is a big temptation. To stop or not to stop? If I | stop, I lose the time and energy it take to get going again as well as the time spent . stopping. It’s hot out on that pavement. In motion I get a breeze at least. So with apologies to our valiant campus police, I mostly treat those signs as yield signs. I don’t weave through crowded foot traffic at 20 mph or ram folks just to see the books spill. Most of us don’t. It seems a few do. Fellow bikers: If we don’t show the foot and auto traffic a bit more consider ation, those always thin-stretched police will have to set so many officers on us that we can’t even get away with a little inno cent whooshing. It’s hot out on that pave ment. O’Neill says Reagan won’t w by Helen Thomas United Press International Doug Hensley 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 Robert McGlohon, Karen Schrimsher, Angel Stokes, Joe Tindel Copy editors Kathleen Hart, Beverly Hamilton Cartoonist Scott McCullar Photographers Brenda Davidson, Eric Evan Lee, Barry Papke 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 versity, College Station, TX 77843, or phone (409) 845- 2611. Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting news paper operated as a community service to Texas A&M University and Bryan-Coliege Station. Opinions ex pressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions ot 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. 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. Questions or comments concerning any editorial mat ter should be directed to the editor. 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. WASHINGTON — House Speaker Thomas O’Neill remains one of a hand ful of political pros in Washington who still think President Reagan will not seek re-election. He is definitely in the minor ity but contends Reagan would have a “hard time” winning re-election and that may deter him from becoming a candi date again. In a recent interview with Cliff Evans, vice president of RKO General Broad casting, O’Neill said he has had “some very prominent Republicans call me, a Republican columnist, a conservative col umnist and say ‘Tip, do you know some thing that we don’t know?’ “No,” O’Neill said he replied. “It’s only instinct.” “He’s got a hard time to win,” O’Neill said. He mentioned the age factor — Reagan is 72 — and said “he’s going to have to campaign in every state of the union. He’s going to have to have open debates.” O’Neill also said the Washington press corps has been “very, very kind to him, extremely kind.” At news conferences, he said repor ters “throw up softballs to him. He fouls them and they tell the American public that he’s done a pretty good job. “When he gets head-to-head out there with the candidates and he meets the press around the nation and they start asking him very intimate questions about the government, he hasn’t grown that much, to be perfectly truthful. His know ledge of the government, in my opinion, is extremely limited. I think at best, he’ll have an awfully hard fight to win.” van, a veteran White House reporter for the U.S. Information Agency, on the eve of Sullivan’s surgery, and had some en couraging words. Sims, a Navy officer, quipp] comers: “It’s a show of force ini’ room.” * * * As they bantered back and forth Sulli van, who has covered the White House for years and traveled the world over, told Reagan, “You can see I’ll do any thing to get out of a trip.” He was referring to a three-weekjour- ney Reagan will make from mid-August until after Labor Day, including nearly a dozen speeches and time out for horse back riding and brush clearing at the president’s mountaintop ranch near San ta Barbara. There was some question whether dent Reagan’s new commission oil ger in America would be cal “Commission on Hunger.” But the powers that be haven a less telling title. It will be the“0 sion on Food Assistance.” Like a predecessor, Lyndon B. Johnson, Reagan is a telephone man. He does not hesitate to make calls when the spirit moves him and often they are very appreciated gestures. He telephoned Peter Jennings im mediately after Jennings’ broadcast the other night when ABC-TV announced Jennings would be the network’s “World News Tonight” anchorman, succeeding the late Frank Reynolds. President Reagan’s son, daughter-in-law, Doria, are plan® visit the home of the Reagan for^ 1 Ireland. The president’s paternal gr John Michael Reagan, was borni®^ ty Cork. His maternal grandfather* Scottish heritage and his maternal? mother was born in Essex, Engl® 1 Ron, who has forsaken a catf ballet to become a free-lance w be on assignment writing about h® ancestors. Most all of his assignments so dealt with his father’s Hollywood!® and subjects that have been cl<® home. President Reagan telephoned A1 Sulli- Bob Sims, spokesman for the National Security Council, showed up in the press room recently in his white uniform when the administration was flexing its military muscle in Central America. The president, who used to avoid! will have more than 50 hours in during his 14-day Asian swi® November. Whatever his past hangups flying were, Reagan has manaf overcome them in the luxury of fly Air Force One — one of the perksp dents miss the most when their House days are over. M