Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 1983)
jge ] Ui <EV s set 3rie dr i a ] irs h O’E dm2 O’E WSX3 fee 9001 I NO - OTH Dl ie pi NOT OTH NOT Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, November 16,1983 byja Grenadians thankful for ‘rescue mission’ Bate Vith clos jie room n video S supprt jt’im" oo |e“chug-cl by Don Phillips United Press International WASHINGTON — A lot of congress men would love Grenada. They would get a lot more love and respect there than they do back in their home districts. The 14 members of the fact-finding delegation that visited the small island 1,900 miles south of Miami could hardly move without seeing and hearing ex pressions of gratitude from islanders, almost all of whom insist on calling the U.S. invasion a “rescue mission.” “God bless America” is scrawled occa sionally on doorways. Smiles flash across any Grenadian face whenever an Amer ican passes. Almost everyone wants to talk, and judging by the conversations, it would seem that almost everyone has at least one relative in the United States. One must suspend sterotypes. Walk ing through an alley filled with tough looking young men is not a harrowing experience. “Hey, mon, how ya doin’?” they smile. And if you talk with Grenadians — in alleys, in stores, in taxis or wherever — inevitably someone will ask you as an American to intercede with your govern ment to keep your troops on the island. “Please, don’t let your troops go home,” they implore. That attitude is not limited to the men, women and children on the street. The intellectuals, businessmen and other up per crust types join in. “We ask you to stay as long as possible; I think Grenadians are getting to love your troops,” Eric Pierre, a longtime labor leader, told the visiting con gressmen. The U.S. troops return the favor. According to all reports and observa tions, the behavior of U.S. troops has been exemplary, more like Boy Scouts earning merit badges than trained killers. Taxi drivers seem to have formed a separate unofficial league to make Gre- Letters: Placement service is growing Editor: Yes, it has been a rough semester — for both the students and the Placement Office. We genuinely appreciate the pati ence that has been extended to us by the students during our trial semester on the new PGS system designed by Lynn Slater. The Placement Center has undergone phenomenal growth during the past sev eral years, thus making our manual sign up procedures obsolete. The new system was designed to be fair and still give stu dents some control over who they inter viewed with instead of relying on the “so cial Darwinism” of the old systenT. We have learned a lot this semester and will use this knowledge to improve our ser vices in the forthcoming recruiting sca ly and the numbers continue to grow. The staff is proud of what it does and will continue to serve the students with de dication. Suzette Daugherty Clerk II, ’86 Control sprinklers Editor: In order to avoid crowds and lines, students should not come to look at data books and drop bid cards only on dead line days. We also provide each depart ment with a copy of the data sheets according to major. Encourage your de partments to make them available and to maintain them so that they can be a de pendable source of information. Most of the problems which occurred could be avoided by accurately keeping track of bid points, using correct PC numbers and filling out bid cards correct ly. Our staff spent much time correcting rejected bid cards. We never anticipated the human error involved in filling out this simple form. The most important point is that no one should use the Placement Office as their only resource in the employment search. Writing letters, sending off re sumes and newspapers are very valuable tools in the job search process. There are many companies hiring who just don’t use collegiate recruiting to hire em ployees. If students limit themselves to only those people who come to A&M, the employment scope is narrowed drastic ally. Using the available resources, the Placement Center has spent much time and effort in devising a service which ulti mately benefits the entire student body. 25,000 interviews are conducted annual- After walking back from the library last Tuesday night, I was shocked to find myself sloshing across two raging rivers flowing over sidewalks by the Academic building. I thought the rain had stopped around noon that day. I was right! It wasn’t raining at all, it was our famous Texas A&M sprinkler system perform ing its job on a schedule surpassed only by “Old Faithful.” Yes, either rain, sleet, sunshine, drought, famine or lost foot ball games, the sprinkler system spillway is opened every evening to make sure our lovely grass gets plenty of needed water. This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for a university whose campus is sup posed to be so beautiful. I mean, to soak an already rain soaked lawn for 30 mi nutes at midnight, only to have 90 per cent of the water drain into sewers and the other 10 percent remain as puddles through the next day. I have almost got ten used to the swamps and mudholes around northside, but to walk by the Academic Building, which is under megabuck restoration, and see algae lawns with standing water is a little too much. Even our sacred MSC grass can’t grow in spots because it is underwater all of the time. On the way to the football game last Saturday, countless students and parents ended up wading through a water- soaked rugby field, even though it hadn’t rained all week. Oh — and how beautiful the field looked after the rugby game! The grass doesn’t need that much water. My parents’ lawn in Houston does great with a sprinkle once a week or so. Is there not a way to water the grass twice a week, every other day, or on some The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member ot Texas Press Association Southwest |oumalism Conference Editor Hope E. Paasch Managing Editor Beverly Hamilton City Editor Kelley Smith Assistant City Editor Karen Schrimsher Sports Editor Melissa Adair Entertainment Editor.... Rebeca Zimmermann Assistant Entertainment Editor Shelley Hoekstra News Editors Brian Boyer, Kathy Breard, Kevin Inda, Tracey Taylor, Chris Thayer, Kathy Wiesepape Photo Editor Eric Evan Lee Staff Writers Robin Black, Brigid Brockman, Bob Caster, Ronnie Crocker, Elaine Engstrom, Kari Fluegel, Tracie Holub, Bonnie Langford, John Lopez, Kay Denise Mallett, Christine Mallon, Michelle Powe, Stephanie Ross, Angel Stokes, Steve Thomas, John Wagner, Karen Wallace, Wanda Winkler Copy Editors Kathleen Hart, Susan Talbot Cartoonists Paul Dirmeyer, • Scott McCullar Photographers Michael Davis,, John Makely, Dave Scott,* Dean Saito, Cindi Tackitt The'Battuliort also serves ns a laboratory newspaper tor students 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 Leiters 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. The Battalion is published Monday through Eriday during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holi day 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, 'EX 77843. 77te Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting news paper operated as a community service to Texas A KM 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. 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. nada the 51st state, or at least a protecto rate. “We’re tired of (Grenadian) politi cians,” a taxi driver told reporters. “Let the Americans run Grenada. You take over.” Once the congressional delegation began wandering about down town St. George's and met the people, it was easy to see that the feeling was real. House Democratic whip Thomas Foley, the leader of the delegation, was stunned. “In a world of Yankee-go-home painted on walls, this is kind of a strange place,” he said. This sort of euphoria won’t last fore ver, of course. As the years go by, the Grenadians will turn their attention to other matters, as will the congressmen who visited them. A rare combination of factors led to the popularity of this invasion, factors that may not happen again in our life time. The assassination of popular Prime Minister Maurice Bishop on Oct. 19 probably left Grenadians in a mood to praise anyone who punished his killers. But there is little doubt that their atti tude, whatever its genesis, had a pro found effect on U.S. foreign policy and on the attitude of Congress. It is far too early to tell, but history some day may mark the Grenada invasion as the begin ning of the end of the Vietnam anti-war era. gressmen in Grenada were emotioij f 1 . 1 ' 111 ' ' enveloped by the “victims” of the ® u F sion. / If anything, the slick militu diplomatic brainwashingeffortinGi da — and there was one — got in the* It is easy to control a briefing ora ing, but once the congressional di tion began wandering about down! St. George’s and met the people, ii easy to see that the feeling was real ® imentary ci intents re it g< can out lombini er. The There were many serious question! be answered in Grenada. Were the dents really in danger? Was thereal(| basis for the invasion? Was it carried* If the congressional delegation was brainwashed in Grenada, as George Romney once said he was in Vietnam, then “brainwash” must be redefined. Romney was brainwashed by a slick milit ary and diplomatic sideshow; the con- properly? Those questions still have been fully answered. But after meeting these easygi friendly people face to face, it was ac ret by Kir Battal . free co liliable fc cult not to rejoice that they no loii ty meml were under the control of madmen They made “justified” much easiei say. lencing :ss. The Fa am, wl r, is ai lor probl serious in of the sDr. Car |'We fed ’t get f ges foi ions,” Li of the ram, s t know afraid < A^r ckof other time schedule? Isn’t there some way to stop the watering when mother nature has done it for us? How many minerals are being washed away in the run-off? How much money is the Univer sity losing with all that water — and how much beauty? Tom Reilly ’84 Equal time asked Editor: In response to Lenny Depalma, other homosexual sympathizers and homosex uals at Texas A&M and surrounding communities: We “homophobians” of this fine Uni versity demand equal time by showing our disapproval of homosexuality. We now declare Monday, Nov. 21, as “Anti-Gay Day.” If you believe in our views please show your support by wear ing blue jeans on Monday. Those persons who wish to continue to show their non-support for the gay movement, please feel free to wear jeans as often as you like. Quit stereotyping Editor: Ronald Claiborne ’84 Allen J. Baiamonte ’84 Mr. J.V. Carrao please read Wl Macevevic Ill’s letter (Nov. 15). ft open your narrow mindandf stereotyping. Also in response to the Gay Stndi Services’ “Bluejean Day.” It’ssadthati gays are actually going to remove® and hopefully thousands of others’jei I think we might see a lot of overexp# people on Wednesday. T.J. U Illegible signature an asset for a career in Washington by Dick West United Press International WASHINGTON — The second annual “celebrity doodle auctions” are being held this month to raise money for worthy causes. Without taking anything away from these charitable endeavors, permit me to point out that hen-scratching is seen in the U.S. Senate much more frequently than once a year. Only instead of doodles, they are cal led cloture motions. Take a look at the celebrity signatures on any cloture petition — a parliamen tary device to break up incipient filibus ters — and you get a good idea of who the movers and shakers are. The movers — Sens. Bob Packwood, f R-Ore., Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., and Robert Jepsen, R-Iowa, among them — usually sign their names in a manner than requires no translation. On the other hand, such shakers as Sens. Lowell Weicker, R-Conn., and Mark Hatfield, R-Ore., affix signatures that are totally indecipherable. On cloture motions sent to the press gallery, fortunately, some helpful soul usually prints the last names of the sig ners after the signatures. Otherwise, we might never have known that one of the signatures on a Nov. 2 petition to close debate on a motion to proceed to the consideration of the natural gas dereg ulation bill belonged to Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, D-La. Johnston’s signature consisted almost entirely of squiggles that seemed to loop back on themselves in the manner of a snake swallowing its own tail. On a similar petition the previous day, by contrast, the name of Sen. Jennings Randolph, D-W.Va., took out in pristine clarity. It is possible that Randolph, who first came to the Senate in 1958, has been around so long he no longer feels moti vated to write illegibly. But in the execu tive branch, as opposed to the congres sional arm of government, careers have been stymied for less. I recall talking several years ago to a federal official who had been passed over for promotion because he formed the let ters of his name so plainly anyone even half-literate in English could read his signature. “Once you are important enough to have your own secretary, the executive squiggle becomes imperative,” he ex plained. “It shows you are too busy mak ing vital decisions to waste time writing your name. “I just couldn’t get the hang of it. I even tried writing my name with my eyes shut. It still came out recognizable. Con sequently, nobody took my memos se riously.” Recently, that same bureaucrat was on Capitol Hill testifying before a congres sional committee. It being apparent that his star had risen, I asked how he: managed to overcome the legibility^ icap that had so crippled his govern® career in its earlier stages. “Simple,” he replied. “I quit sign my name to inter-office memos and gan marking them with an ‘X.’” If senators tried that techniqueon ture petitions, the debates might be® shorter. “My parents are constantly get ting into trouble — peer pres| ure, I guess!”