Page 2/The Bat+aI ion/Thursday, December 8, 1983
lopinion
Changes needed
in crowded library
Something has got to be done about the
over-crowding at the library.
I can take the hopeless lines at the
xerox machines, the dispairing empti
ness of the candy machines. I can even
cope with the hour-or-so wait to check
out a book. But, my God, the other even
ing I was forced to sit and study at a table
with a total stranger—someone whom I’d
never even met before! He was pouring
sympathetically over an Abnormal
Psychology text. Let me tell you, I was
scared to death.
But I don’t need to go on painting
those ugly scenes of the library at around
8 p.m. on week nights; you all have seen
them. I’m just humbly trying to suggest a
couple of solutions to this problem. How
many students are there at this university
now? 300,000? Next year it’ll be a half
million. Something has got to be done.
The problem is that there are just too
many people these days studying at — or,
should I say, just coming to — the library.
Granted, the percentage of those who
actually study has only gone up a frac
tion. I think the biggest reason that lib
rary patronage has skyrocketed in the last
few years is that the precious word has
gotten out that the library is The Place To
Go to socialize.
And that’s OK. After all, very broadly
speaking, the library is a place for an ex
change of information.
The first, and more feasable, of my
two suggestions (the second one is so im
practical that I’m embarrassed to even
print it) is that we be a lot more efficient
in using the library—space-wise and time-
wise. For instance, I know there are a lot
of closets and large air shafts that more
desks could be crammed into. Certainly
half the stools in the bathrooms could be
put to better use. And I don’t see why—
this seems so obvious to me—that we don’t
arrange the students like the books: stack
’em three or four high and shoulder-to-
shoulder.
My second suggestion—and, again, I
blush to mention it—is that, well, only
those who wish to study should go to the
library.
I know, I know. Unthinkable.
Dave Spence
Nuclear war caused
when nobody blinks
By Art Buchwald
I have to apoligize for being so late
with my piece about the TV film “The
Day After,” but I’ve been thinking so
much about it I haven’t had time to do
anything else.
ABC, which produced the picture,
went out of its way not to take sides as to
who was responsible for trashing Lawr
ence, Kansas. They spent $7 million
showing us what could happen after an
area was mushroomed, but not one buck
on what caused the holocaust in the first
lace. I think they owed us just one scene
etween a few survivors discussing the
why of it all.
The scene could have taken place be
tween Jason Robards, who played the
role of a doctor, and the last political sci
ence professor alive at the University of
Kansas.
The men, covered from head to foot in
atomic ash, are sitting on a pile of rubble
that was once a nursery school.
“What the hell do you think hap
pened?” Jason Robards asks the political
science professor.
“Nobody blinked,” the professor re
plies.
“What does that mean?”
“Well, it all goes back to the Cuban
missile crisis. Remember when Dean
Rusk said the Soviets would always blink
before we did.”
Robards says, “I guess we miscalcu
lated.”
The professor, looking over the de
solation, says, “That would be a fair state
ment. What the people in Washington
refused to take into account was the
Soviets considered the missile crisis the
biggest defeat they suffered since World
War II. They booted out Khrushchev
and vowed they would never blink
again.”
“Do you want an orange?”
“No, for some reason I feel nauseated.
In order not to blink, the Soviets started
an unprecedented nuclear arms buildup.
Soon, the military on both sides insisted
the other side had nuclear superiority, so
the arms race was on. The thinking in
Washington and Moscow was the more
deterrents they had, the less chance there
was of someone starting a war.”
“Why didn’t it work?” Jason says.
“It worked for a while. But then the
arms talks came, and both sides engaged
in playing the numbers game. We prom
ised not to put any cruise and Pershing
missiles in Europe if the Soviets reduced
the SS-20’s. The Soviets said we had to
include British and French missiles in the
talks, and we refused. When neither side
would blink, we started deploying our
new missiles, and the Russians walked out
of Geneva.”
“Why the hurry?”
“Because our credibility was at stake.
Had we not gone ahead with the threat,
the Soviets would have said Reagan blink
ed. If they hadn’t walked out, we would
have said Andropov blinked.”
“And that’s when the missile race be
gan in earnest?”
“You could say that. They surrounded
us with all their nuclear warheads and we
surrounded them. We got ourselves in a
spot where any spark could set off
Armageddon.”
“Didn’t both sides realize this?”
“The leaders were assured by their ex
perts that the other side didn’t have the
guts to use their nukes because they knew
they would also be wiped out in the pro
cess. The only way to keep the peace was
to build more horrifying weapons until
the other side came to its senses.”
“So why are we sitting on the rubble in
Lawrence, Kansas, full of gamma rays?”
“I guess we’ll never know,” the profes
sor says sadly. “It might not even have
been a human decision. With a response
time of only six minutes to react, the
whole thing would have been started by a
faulty computer that wouldn’t stop
blinking.”
The Battalion
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Lights out dangerous
Editor:
As I was walking to Silver Taps Tues
day night I saw a member of the Gorps
stopping cars on Houston Street next to
Sbisa and instructing the drivers to turn
off their headlights in respect for the Sil
ver Taps Geremony. In the course of ab
out one minute, I nearly witnessed the
deaths of a pedestrian and a bicyclist be
cause of these lightless cars.
I feel that turning off lights around
campus in respect for the Silver Taps
Ceremony is wonderful, but let’s have
some common sense? Headlights are put
on cars for a very important reason; they
are not dispensable (not even for Silver
Taps!)
I think Silver Taps is a great and hon
orable tradition here at A&M, but I don’t
think we should let a tradition blind us of
all safety and common sense.
Rob Farrell ’86
Save with exchange
Editor:
Students often complain about the loss
of money they suffer by reselling their
books back to the bookstores. This “rip-
off” does not have to happen. Student
Government offers the Book Exchange
at the end of each semester which not
only allow the students to make more
from their books but they can also buy
new ones for less. The system is quite
simple and only costs a small handling fee
of 10£ per book.
During finals week just bring the books
you wish to sell to the First floor of the
Pavillion. Here, you will fill out a few
forms which will be used to contact you in
the spring. Simply set the price you wish
to ask for each'book and then leave the
rest to the Book Exchange. Over the holi
days, the books will be stored safely until
add/drop begins in the spring. As you
find out what books you will need for the
semester, come by the Book Exchange
and buy them at much lower cost from
the other students. You will then be con
tacted within the next two weeks to come
pick up your money.
The benefits this service offers are
many. Students can sell their books for
what they think they are worth, which is
probably more than what they would get
from any bookstore. At the beginning of
the new semester, books can be bought at
lower prices than those set at bookstores.
Finally, students are relieved of the bur
den and worries of buying and selling
because the Book Exchange is in the same
place as add/drop.
To really make the Book Exchange a
success more students need to use it.
Please take advantage of this service and
encourage your friends, as it was de
veloped for the benefit of the students.
Michael Mulcahy
CCF relay win ignored
Editor:
On October 22-23 five girls ran a 24-
hour relay to help raise money for the
Ghristian Ghildren’s Fund. To nelp save
the lives of small starving children, these
girls forced their bodies to withstand the
pain of such a grueling run. And if that in
itself isn’t incredible, what about the
world’s record they broke.
What we’re concerned about is why
the accomplishment of these girls has
been overlooked. The relay was just one
attempt to help raise the
A&M pledged to CCF to feed4
cate 125 children.
A number of universities ai
nation are looking to start their
jects such as ours. Whether or
succeed will have a big impact on
enthusiasm and success of tneiroi
jects.
We are also concerned aboul
thing. The athletic department
much negotiation, agreed to at
the success of the 24-hour relaj
the A&M-tu game. However.ther
up not doing so because the
televised. What’s really stranj
appointing to us is that the relay
on Kyle Field, the girls represei
student body, the glory is A&Ms
athle tic department couldn't
announce it to their own people
an ABC’, commercial break.
World Magazine” and “Sports
trated” were excited about
enough to print it and announceiti
nation. We are sure that thealluij
Hana^ni!
by f
nation, we are sure mat tneauuiij | i
sent at the game would havebeenpl iResearc!
to know that such wonderfulanili are playing
nitarian efforts are being maden of predict!
alma mater to save the livesofliiii poulddoif
dren.
Even though we are
have not lost faith in our fellow
CCF 1 Village of Hope will haveat
up during dead week at the
encourage everyone to go byandt
bute what they can. We’d
thank those who have supported!
far, including the athletes, Wei
make a difference in the livesofd
dren.
iveloped
ichard T
Selina Mendieta
(Editor’s note: This letter mi
nied by 30 signatures.)
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Election year appointments
set stage for conservatism
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From
lobinette
by Maxwell Glen
and Cody Shearer
Washington — Election-year appoint
ments generally offer presidents the
chance to repay political lOUs and collect
new chits as well. For Ronald Reagan,
however, they may also help to lay a con
servative foundation for the future.
That possibility was suggested by two
appointments in particular: those of R.
Bruce McColm to a seat on the Inter-
American Human Rights Commmission
and J. Harvie Wilkinson III to a seat on
the fourth Circut Court of Appeals. Both
encountered negligable opposition in re
ceiving confirmation.
Critics have questioned the qualifica
tion of both McColm and Wilkinson for
the posts they’ve snared. The human
rights commission, which functions
under the aegis of the Organization of
American States, normally includes
members who have a deep background in
international law; likewise, trial experi
ence is generally a prerequisite for feder
al judgeships. The appointments of
McColm, a staff writer for the conserva
tive group, Freedom House, and Wilkin
son, a law professor and former editorial
ist with no trial background, go against
tradition.
Yet the administration’s intent behind
these appointments may involve more
than filling vacartcies. Anxious to leave a
legacy that will outlast his administration,
Reagan will be looking during the next
year for vacancies in offices that are im
mune to the usual quadrennial house
cleaning. He can also be expected to put a
premium on youth and ideological com
mitment.
At the OAS, McColm, only 33, will
serve a four-year term, with an oppotun-
ity for re-election. Wilkinson, only 39
himself, can serve for life. If they are an
example of what Reagan has in mind of
the next year, the president has already
begun to sow ideological seeds for the
rest of the decade, and perhaps the cen
tury.
Filling a vacuum? No single theme has
emerged for the 1984 campaign, a fact
that plays into the hands of both Ronald
Reagan and conservative activities. Much
has already been made of Republican
Party plans to inundate the airwaves with
footage from the presidents “heroic”
efforts in such places as Grenada and
South Korea. Meanwhile, independent
groups are massing war cheats for pro-
Reagan hopla.
The National Conservative Political
Action Committee (NCPAC), by far the
wealthiest “independent” group, ahs
already produced a 30-minute movie
hailing Reagan’s record. It also plans a
200-page book (tentatively titled
“Reagan: A Presidents Succeeds”) and
television commercials involving various
celebrities.
Ronald Reagan, the actor-turned-
president, now stars in a weekly revies of
his activities brosdeast on a slosed-circut
shannel throughout the White House
and to selected Executive Branch offices.
Compilied by a navy film crew, the hour-
long tapes will eventually rest in a Reagan
presidential library. The White House
has no exact figures for the production
costs.
Part of the nation’s student loan
machinerey came to a standstill Nov. 1, as
Congress refused to approve further re
lief funding for graduate students who
have unusually high debts. Under the
affected two-year-old program, called
“loan consolidation,” aome 32,000 stu
dents have been able to repay their loans
in 20 years instead of 10.
Despite lobbying by the higher educa
tion community, Congress may not
change its mind. One Senate critic of the
loan consolidation program, Republican
Robert Stafford of Vermont, says it
favors would-be doctors and lawyers over
other students, and costs too much.
The price of deficits: Treasury De
partment figures for federal S[K
during the 1983 fiscal year, wW
last month, reveal the draint
financing on taxpayers. As I
cent departmental report, the#
ending categories were S<
141 billion), interest on thedet(
billion), Medicare ($35 billion),afi
operations and maintenance (P
lion).
The report also noted thatsf*
levels had increased by atleastlOf'
in 20 of the top 35 programs. Agi* 1
price supports, up more thanHDf 1
over the last year, enjoyed thelai?
crease.
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