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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 1983)
\\\\ »\\\\«' v mi \\\\\m\\\\n\\ imi,i,,iimifiii///////Ay. Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, November 23, 1983 Thanksgiving: Time to pig out RONM-D REAfiAN MUST REMW LOVE THE POOR... results in a dab of dressing strategically placed on the nose. The human race is programed to eat. I will always remember Mom saying, “You have to eat three meals a day. Otherwise you’ll end up looking like Gumby.” Mom also kept telling me, along with the Cheerios commercials, that the most important meal was breakfast. I believed Mom, plus I’ll take any excuse to eat a couple of donuts. Juicy, golden, roasted turkey; steam ing chestnut dressing made from fresh croutons; smooth mashed potatoes made from real Idaho spuds; cauliflower co vered with creamy cheese sauce; cranber ry sauce that doesn’t come from a can; and pumpkin pie that melts in your mouth. I guess different types of people like different types of breakfasts. Some enjoy a breakfast that looks like it came off a box of Wheaties while some prefer a piece of toast and a cup of coffee or hash browns and yougurt. Still there are those who who like 15 more minutes of sleep for breakfast. Airlines should cut frills i I love Thanksgiving. What other holi- 'day was invented for the sole purpose of eating? It’s great. Nothing is better than gorging oneself then collapsing on a soft bed to digest for two or three days. Thanksgiving is my kind of holiday. I love any excuse to eat. In fact, you could probably say that I live for my next meal. My least favorite meal is lunch. I think the horrors of my public school meals in junior high are still with me. One bright day, the cafeteria at Crockett Junior High served chili dogs. The next bright day, half the students were sick. by Dick West United Press International Eating is an important part of the American lifestyle. To break away from studying, you eat. When you’re bored, you eat. When you’re nervous you eat. When you’re on a date, you eat. My favorite meal is the in-between meal snack: Oreos, ice cream, candy bars. I suppose we could probably blame this obsession with eating on television. Burger King and McDonald’s may be fighting for the almighty dollar, but the innocent eaters of America are caught in between. Eating while on a date can be really embarrassing. I think restaurant owners try to make it that way. Why else would they cut the lettuce into such huge pieces? It is kind of tough to resist the hot and juicy hamburgers that are so readily dis played during the commercials. It is even tougher on the consumer when the com mercials are shown late at night after all of the hamburger places are closed. At least once in his life, everyone has tried to stuff a piece of lettuce half the size of Rhode Island into his mouth while trying to conduct a normal conversation. Trying to accomplish such a task usually Whatever the cause is, I am big enough person to admit that I’m an eataholic. Every year at Thanksgiving I end up making Miss Piggy look svelte. The only thing that is better than Thanksgiving is Christmas. At Christmas, besides getting to pig out, you also get presents. WASHINGTON — With the 80th anniversary of the Wright Brothers flight coming up next month, it is difficult not to agree with the conclusion reached by Robert Orben, the former White House speechwriter. “If Cod had intended for us to fly,” commented Orben, “He would never have given us deregulation.” Despite economic setbacks caused by increased competition, however, there still are ways the airlines can cut costs. One way is to schedule more “no frills” flights. The other is to ask the pilots un ion for wage concessions. Eventually, I suspect, some airline will combine the two. Certainly the ultimate in “no frills” commercial aviation would be a passenger plane that had no pilot at all. If some way can be found to fly without pilots, that palpably would make air travel cheaper and go a long way toward rescuing the carriers from red ink. At this point, I doubt the state of the aviation art is advanced enough for un manned flying. But, as we know, technol ogy no longer is growing by leaps and bounds; its progress increments now are the equivalent of cross-country hops. While pilotless airplanes are being de veloped, automation also could make it possible to eliminate flight attendants and most ground crew members as W'ell. Hungry or thirsty passengers I through the little windows to picb viands and potables of theirdi When the right coins are pokedi slots, out comes microwaved card I" on a tray, just like the stewardess to bring. Meat iwhile, up front at thee I’m just thinking off the top of the terminal here, but as I see it each seat in the deregulated airliner of the future will have a pay-as-you-fly device somewhat resembling a parking meter. Upon leaving the boarding gate, pas sengers estimate the flying time to their destinations and deposit the appropriate amounts in the meters. panel, is an new and improvedaum pilot. I low much contact do we pass normally have with a human pilot' 1 none, save the friendly voice oftk bi tain pointing out landmarks thaic by seen from the other side of thepB in P lor Should a passenger fail to feed the meter correctly, a reel flag appears on the dial when time has expired, and the pas senger is unceremoniously ejected — without a parachute. Just behind the first class cabin, in the compartment now used for food and be verage storage, there would be an automat. On no-frills flights of the futurt information can be imparted overilj ter-com by recorded announce^ There can even be a tape infon that due to heavy congestion inthd pattern it will be necessary to cirti airport a couple of hours beforelai laces, n In sum, I can’t think of anythin; pning s man pilot does that an automat*Imfiec couldn't do as well or better. Exct:| Kle U P. dorse his paycheck. Which isthekB 1 ' 680 * frill passengers can learn to do n( Jackson’s speech has good and bad points ervone dentity, xiild up tyof exj Christ by Eric Marnell Rev. Jackson’s speech was both en couraging and discouraging. It was en couraging for several reasons. First, he pointed out that a war between the Un ited States and the Soviet Union would probably be the shortest, but most costly in terms of human lives, of all wars. From past experience, the horrors of nuclear warfare are brought into our memory. His idea about traveling to Geneva and challenging Yuri Andropov to meet with him to save mankind from itself is an excellent idea whose time has come. Why doesn’t our current administration con sider this option? Second, Rev. Jackson pointed out that racism is a major problem in America and that the work of Dr. Martin Luther King represents only the initial work required to eliminate racism. Third, I agree completely with him in that the mission of our Marines in Leba non is rather ill-defined. Their mission should be not as a “show of force” or a target for Iranian suicide squads bent on violent solutions to diplomatically negoti able problems. Consider what could happen if the Russians simply ignore any treaty or if another party outside of the accord (such as Libya) acquires a nuclear weapon to blackmail America. Even if Rev. Jackson reader's forum On the discouraging side, Rev. Jackson left me wondering what he really said. On nuclear disarmament, there are indi viduals in this country who believe that complete disarmament could be achieved between America and the Soviet Union, allowing the world to reach a state of nir vana. This extremely naive-pacifist view point could be dangerousl their concern with what the West thinks (i.e. KAL 007 being shot down, Afghanis tan invasion, etc.). Certainly Mr. Andro pov isn’t concerned with impressing the average Russian back in Russia! Racism is by no means a one-way street and he should have made this clear. In stead, he worked himself and the audi ence into a racism frenzy. His approach was counterproductive as he alienated a good portion of the audience. Why must it take a black presidential candidate to address the problem of racism? Reverse discrimination does exist. 'as in thi 'St of f fam anon sing them. To make matters won made several economic blunders someone unable to think in anea framework would make. How pie in the audience picked theitiphrist Probably a handfull of indiviri p m be most. One common mistake hema®LS LUt that trade deficits are bad. Onilit trary, they are not bad. The t x in I! re Air iglish. re we swar went to Geneva to meet with Andropov, who is to say he would show up? Have the Russians ever been overly concerned with what the Western world thinks of them? Past Soviet actions demonstrate On a last note, I was discouraged about Rev. Jackson’s lack of attention paid to other issues. For example, economic issues will probably be a major topic and he spent about five minutes or less discus- What the average American ize is that we cannot count on thejfl ment to solve all our problems.TE a ^ o " 11 typical democrat’s solution — toB as more money at a problem as wpt 0 f m toward the total welfare state, tfliito this must help themselves, and wheBBChris can’t, then there is a limited role frying v ernment. jrP.hii (emotion The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism 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 Battalion also serves as 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 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.' The Battalion is published Monday through Friday 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, TX 77843. 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. 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. . Freshmen uppity in Washington “Sonn ihen wa: ■child lep by ming: by Maxwell Glen and Cody Shearer WASHINGTON — It’s the bane of every freshman to be treated like a child. Freshmen are to be seen, not heard. When called upon to do chores, they y must deliver. Hazing by upperclassmen must be suffered magnanimously. In the House of Representatives, the expectations for f reshmen are little diffe rent. In the House, however, when the kids become uppity, the reaction of older members rates national attention. So it was last week as Congress fussed and grumbled its way to adjournment for the Thanksgiving recess. Among the most depressing issues on its last-minute agenda was the federal deficit in general and a vote to increase taxes by as much as $73 billion in particular. Had it not been for first-term House Democrats, Speaker Tip O’Neill might never have let that vote come to the floor. One week earlier, about two dozen Democratic representatives, many of them liberal freshmen, voted against a bill that would have kept the federal gov ernment running under continuing re solution. Their complaint was simple: continuing appropriations would allow election-conscious congressmen to avoid the revenue-raising (i.e., tax increase) re quirement inherent in the 1984 budget. In protest, they were saying that even liberals can be committed to chopping the deficit. House veterans responded with hostile condescension. Speaking for many of his fellow old-timers. Majority Leader Jim Wright subsequently proclaimed that he felt like a football player who, on his way toward a certain touchdown, is blind sided by a member of his own team. Nonetheless, the new members’ action may have done more than any other to revive their colleagues’ commitment to a vote on, if not passage of, a needed tax increase last Friday. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, 37, and’ planning expert and Carter Whitel aide. Like Morrison and others long-struggling Northern cities, contended that a jobs bill targeted S to unemployed rates misses those ers who had stopped looking for 1 Last week’s vote was only the latest in a series of actions for which the freshman Democrats can take partial responsibility. For example, had it not been for their cohesive efforts to make last spring’s jobs bill more equitable, many chronically poor districts might have gone without relief. It was soon thereafter that they threw themselves as a unit into the pits of federal bugetry, succesfully lobbying for a tax increase pledge in the eventual budget resolution. Out of 1982’s freshman class have emerged several stalwarts who deserve all-star mention for level-headedness in their first year. Rising stars can fade as quickly as Guy Vander Jagt (remember the much-hearalded rhetorician who was chosen to keynote the 1980 COP conven tion and subsequently vanished?), but among the unconventional Democrats to watch are: Bruce Morrison of Connecticut, 39, a former chief of New Haven Legal Ser vices. After serving as the first chairman of his freshman caucus, Morrison has continued to be one of its leading stateg- ists. Richard Durbin of Illinois, 39, a for mer lieutenant governer and practicing attorney. The freshman caucus’ current chairman, he played a significant role in delivering votes on the first budget re solution. “Forget the bowl invitatioi What more could we wanttk sixty minutes with the sip* Kyle Field?”