Opinion/editorial
Editorials
Seniors beware: Finals
may not be sacred
Something ominous has been going
on while students weren’t watching —
ominous if you cherish the thought of
no finals your last semester here.
The Texas A&M Faculty Senate will
vote today on a resolution that will re
quire graduating seniors to take final
exams — at the scheduled time. This
woidd probably require moving com
mencement dates, a problem that the
Senate considers in another resolution.
The additional resolution says
“necessary and appropriate changes”
should be made in the semester calen
dar so grades for degree candidates will
be reported at the same time as other
students. The resolution recommends
that “ef f orts should be made to maintain
timely and meaningful commencement
and commissioning ceremonies.” The
policy is to take effect no later than De
cember 1985.
The Faculty Senate has been study
ing this proposal in its Academic Stan
dards Committee. The report of the
committee and the motion to vote today
on the issue was decided at the Senate’s
final 1988 meeting.
'Falk about stacking the deck. Stu
dents, who were taking final exams
when the decision to vote today was
made, are probably unaware of what’s
happening. And if they are aware, they
haven’t had time to settle in and regroup
before the vote.
Pretty sneaky.
Good arguments exist for both sides
of the issue. Professors seem to feel stu
dents get more out of class when they
have to take finals to tie the class
together. Students enjoy the special
treatment seniors have in Aggieland.
But The Battalion Editorial Board
objects to the timing of the vote. Enough
students haven’t had time to make
meaningful comments, whereas the
members of the Faculty Senate have had
ample time to study the topic. And even
though the St udent Senate has come out
against the resolution, the timing of the
vote still hampers organized student
opposition.
The Faculty Senate doesn’t have Final
say on the matter. If the vote passes —
and it is expected to easily — it still is
subject to recommendations from vice
presidents before it is proposed to
I exas A&M President Frank E. Vandiv- >
i for final approval.
Even so, an issue that affects students
will have ''een slipped past them with a
minimum of student input and a max
imum of student ignorance.
— The Battalion Editorial Board
The ‘new’ Battalion:
We want your help
The Battalion you are reading is dif
ferent — renovated, you could say.
From a new headline typeface to an “ex
panded” editorial page, The Battalion
has undergone several changes for the
spring-semester.
There is a reason for all this. For too
long, The Battalion has operated in a
vacuum, oblivious to the student body it
represents. We want to be the student
newspaper of Texas A&M, not a news
paper simply put out by A&M students.
The typeface changes are purely
cosmetic — we realize that. But other
changes have been made to improve our
product, including a reorganization of
our staff, complete with a new editor
and a new editorial board.
Here’s the catch. We want your help.
In order to serve the University com
munity, we have to know what the Uni
versity community wants, how it feels,
what it thinks is important. We want you
to make this your newspaper.
We are accepting ideas, suggestions,
letters and columns, and we encourage
your participation. If you feel the need
to get something off your chest, write us.
If world events concern you, write us. If
we don’t live up to your expectations,
write us.
A newspaper needs input from its
readers. The Battalion is no exception.
— The Battalion Editorial Board
An interesting candidate
Alexander Haig, president of Texas
A&M University? It could have been.
T he former U.S. Secretary of State was
on the list of candidates for the job that
Frank E. Vandiver finally got.
That’s the only interesting news re
ceived when the University released the
list of candidates to the Bryan/College
Station Eagle, ending a three-year cour
troom battle over the right to publish
candidates’ names.
The Eagle filed suit against the Uni
versity in 1981, and the Texas Supreme
Court ruled Wednesday in favor of the
paper. A slight victory for freedom of
the press?
The Eagle thinks so. The University
doesn’t. Either way, the fact that Haig
was on the list made an old story in
teresting. And the next time A&M
chooses a president, candidiates as “dif
ferent” as Haig will be made public
knowledge — before the decision is
made.
— The Battalion Editorial Board
Slouch
by Jim Earle
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Phone bills: the future
By ART BUCHWALD
Columnist lor The Los Angeles Times Syndicate
Now that the local phone companies
have received their rate increases, people
are going to have to make some very hard
choices before they call someone they
love. If you think your telephone bills are
going to be out of sight in 1984, just wait
and see what happens in 1985.
“Hello, Momma, this is George.”
“I don’t know any George.”
“George, your son.”
“Oh THAT George. You hadn’t called
in so long I thought you had joined the
Foreign Legion.”
“Don’t be that way, Momma, I called
you last year.”
“So that’s such a big deal?”
“Do you know what a local call costs
thdse days?” ,
“Of course I don’t know. I can’t make
one anymore.”
“I was going to telephone you a month
ago, but instead used the money to buy a
car.”
“Naturally a car is more important
than calling your mother.”
“I need a car for work. Then I was
going to telephone you on your birthday,
but Carol’s tuition bill came in on the
same day, and I had to decide whether to
wish you a happy birthday or let her fin
ish her sophomore year.”
“You made the right decision. Educa
tion is much more important than calling
one’s mother. I thought I might hear
from you last summer, but your sister
tells me you went to Nantucket instead.”
“Momma, I promised the family a
vacation, and besides, it only cost us half
as much to go to Nantucket as it would
have to call you.”
“It didn’t bother me. You made the
right decision. Your sister went to Eas-
thampton, but she also had time to ring
me.”
“Her husband makes $250,000 a year.
Doris can afford to make 35 local calls
and not even feel it. Don’t put her in the
same class as me.”
“So what would it hurt if you called me
from the office and let the company pay
for a call?”
Momma, we’re not allowed to make
local calls from the office any more. Ev
ery local call we make has to be autho
rized by two officers of the company.”
“Are you trying to tell me a big com
pany like yours can’t af ford to let an em
ployee call his mother?”
“You’re talking about millions of dol
lars, Momma. T he company is now fac
ing a stockholder’s suit because they
found a woman in the accountingdep
ment who was telephoning herbabysi
every afternoon.”
“So where did you get the moneytoij
me today?”
“The banks are now giving localt
phone call loans to their favored cua
ers. Can we talk about somethingi
besides what this call is costing me?"
“Why not? It’s your dime.”
“That wasn’t very funny, Mommaj
what’s going on with you?”
“Mrs. Fisher’s husband died, andi
her sitting pretty with 47,000 share!
Standard Oil of New Jersey,
$500,000 in municipal bonds.”
“What is she going to do with it'
“She’s thinking of selling italland[
ting a Princess phone in her bedro
Some women have all the luck.’
“Listen, I’m going to hang upinaa
nute. I only took out a bank loan ford
call. Is there anything you need?
“No, I’m Fine. It’s nice to hear«<
voice. So when will you call again.'
“I’m not sure. Sally hasn’t spoken
her mother for six months, and shes
the next local call we make hastobej
her.”
“It doesn’t surprise me. Your wife!
ways struck me as a woman who w
care how she spent your money.
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Signs foreshadow elections
By DICK WEST
Columnist tor United Press International
Tired of relying on polls and punditry
to identify the front-running presidential
candidates?
( ) Yes. ( ) No.
Like to try a little “political mysticism”
for a change?
( ) Yes. ( ) No.
If the checkmarks above are in the
affirmative column, perhaps you should
get in touch with Emily Prager, an in-
house magazine soothsayer.
She has just finished appraising a size
able part of the 1984 presidential Field
according to “the ancient Chinese astro
logical calendar.”
It could be, as Prager suggests, that
predictions based on such intangibles as
“random fate, yin and yang, subtle vibra
tions and birth aura” are more reliable
than forecasts founded on such mun
dane considerations as voting patterns,
platforms and political machine power.
I, however, found Prager leaping to
some conclusions I am not yet prepared
to jump at. Therefore, be warned that the
Chinese astrological calendar can be sub
ject to more than one interpretation.
To get the facts out of the way as
quickly as possible, there are 12 animal
signs in the Chinese horoscope. The
beasts so honored are the rat, ox, tiger,
cat, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monk
ey, rooster, dog and pig.
I his, the Final year of the 1984 elec
tion campaign, is a Year of the Rat. All
clear thus far?
( ) Yes. ( ) No.
Then let us proceed.
By reason that 1911 was the year of his
birth, President Reagan may be said to
have been born under the Sign of the Pig.
“The Pig has a vintage year in the Year
of the Rat,” Prager tells us. “The only
thing he has to watch out for is the
Snake.”
The only astrological Snake in the
race, it turns out, is Jesse Jackson, who
was born in 1941.
By Prager’s lights, Jackson apparently
would be a more formidable Democratic
nominee than Walter Mondale (1928, the
Year of the Cat), John Glenn (1921 the
Year of the Rooster) or Gary Hart (1937,
the Year of the Ox).
Maybe so. But if we dig a bit deeper
into the Chinese calendar, certain ques
tions arise.
For instance, the 1980 election that put
Reagan in the White House came during
a Year of the Rooster. Does this mean
that Glenn, himself a Rooster, waited
four years too many to mount his bid for
the presidency?
And to your average confused voter, a
Year of the Rat would seem an ideal
period for Mondale, a Cat.
And what of Alan Cranston (19ly
Year of the Tiger) and Ernest
(1922, the Year of the Dog)?
Both are among the announced^
dates for president, and Tigers and
normally are a match for Pigs- T 1, ,
ger makes no mention of them w
predictions.
Too bad tor Democrats, none of
above were born in 1915, 1927 or
all Years of the Dragon. A hre-breaH
candidate may be just what the 112
needs in 1984.
The Battalion
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