Opinion
Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, April 4, 1984
Cougars aren't losers in NCAA
The Houston Cougars’ loss to
Georgetown University Monday night
was heartbreaking for UH fans and dis
appointing to those who simply wanted
the Coogs to win.
proud of. Unfortunately, college athlet
ics has become so competitive it is no
longer OK to have just a successful sea
son. We want champions.
Unfortunately, there can only be one
winner. And it is a shame that teams
such as the Cougars are remembered as
losers.
Not that three consecutive trips to the
Final Four is anything to be ashamed of,
but losing is never fun — especially in a
contest as “important” and well-publi
cized as the Final Four has become.
The Cougars had a successful season.
By most standards, it was a season to be
The NCAA post-season basketball
tournament is an incredible event. Tele
vision has turned it into a gigantic
money-maker. The push for more
teams, more television and more money
has put unbelievable pressure on the
young men who play the game.
Win — and you’re a hero. Lose —and
you’re a failure.
College is not the place to win or lose.
It is a place to experience, to grow and
to learn. In our quest for athletic excel
lence at Texas A&M, let’s make sure we
keep that thought in mind.
Remember, it’s not whether you win
or lose. It’s how you play the game.
— The Battalion Editorial Board
U.S. campaigning baffles French
By ART BUCHWALD
Columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate
When French President Francois Mit
terrand returned from his visit to the
United States, his cabinet was anxious to
find out what he learned about the
American elections.
“Alors,” Mitterrand said. “There is a
lot of bitterness in the campaign. I was
told that Mondale is a big spender, and
a puppet of the large interest groups,
and just another Jimmy Carter. He
would make a disastrous president.”
“But don’t the three men belong to
the same opposition party?” a cabinet
minister asked.
“Mais oui. That is what confused me.
Mondale said Hart is a dirty fighter who
doesn’t have the truth in him. Hart told
me Mondale sold out to the unions.
Jackson told me it doesn’t make any dif
ference which of them was ahead be
cause they both would have to come to
him if they wanted the nomination.”
sition party, spend all their time attack
ing each other, instead of attacking Rea
gan?”
“Pour le moment. Perhaps after the
nomination they will then attack the Re
publicans.”
“Did President Reagan tell you that?”
“No, Gary Hart did. I was also in
formed that Hart was a liar, soft on de
fense, and although he keeps saying he
has new ideas, he hasn’t come up with
one since his name change from Hart-
pence.”
“Who told you that?”
“Mondale. Then I was told that nei
ther Hart nor Mondale would be worth
a sou as a serious presidential candidate
because although they made a lot of
promises, they wouldn’t keep any of
them.”
“What is the main difference between
Mondale and Hart?”
“You’re not going to believe this but it
is a question of steak,” Mitterrand said.
“Le boeuf?”
“Oui. Mondale keeps asking Hart
where is the boeuf, and Hart keeps
holding up a book he wrote and saying
the boeuf is there. Mondale says Hart
has no boeuf, and Hart says Mondale
wouldn’t recognize boeuf if he saw it.”
“C’est formidable,” a minister said.
“What about relations with the Soviets?”
“I heard some joking about getting
the Soviets back to the arms talks.”
“But aren’t they giving President Rea
gan ammunition against themselves?”
“Naturellment. President Reagan has
pasted everything they said about each
other in his briefing book.”
“C’est cannibalisme,” a minister said.
“Non. It is American politics. Once
they decide who will be the candidate,
Mondale and Hart will deny they ever
said such terrible things about one an
other. But at this stage they need each
other. If it wasn’t for Hart, the press
would pay no attention to Mondale, and
without Mondale, they would ignore
Hart. The Democratic Party has to pro
duce un spectacle or the American peo
ple will go to sleep.”
medicine from the
“That’s strong
right wing.”
“The right wing didn’t say it. Jesse
Jackson did.”
“By both Hart and Mondale?”
“No, by President Reagan. He
showed me his briefing book for the
1984 campaign.”
“Monsieur le President,” a cabinet of
ficer said, “are we to understand Hart
and Mondale, the members of the oppo-
A cabinet minister said, “C’est in-
croyable, how they elect a president in
Amerique. You can never choose the
best man that way.”
“One of the candidates told me in
confidence the same thing,” Mitterrand
said.
“Was it Reagan, Mondale, Hart or
Jackson?”
“Non, it was John Glenn.”
Letters
Cable company cuts
its customers' choices
Editor:
One of the local cable companies,
Midwest Video, has apparently decided
it has the right to decide which channels
a viewer can watch.
If you tune in to Houston’s CBS affil
iate KHOU-TV on weekday afternoons
in time for the CBS Evening news, you
won’t be able to watch it. Midwest has
replaced the news with a computer
graphics bulletin board displaying
weather information and local commu
nity news. If you wish to watch CBS net
work news, you must change to KBTX
Channel 3.
This is not the first time Midwest Vi
deo has tried to manipulate its subscrib
ers’ viewing choices. Before KBTX
dropped its ABC affiliations. Midwest
replaced afternoon network program
ming on KTRK Channel 13. However,
one could still see the ABC network
news on Channel 13 because KBTX car
ried CBS programming during that
time slot.
Midwest Video has no right to dictate
which stations I may watch and when I
may watch them. The bulletin board
could easily be placed on channel 14 or
15.
I urge all Midwest Video subscribers
to voice their complaints of this practice
to the company. As much as we pay for
their services, we should at least be able
to choose which television station or
channel we wish to watch.
Jeff Sartain
Class of ’84
have succeeded in electing officials in
favor of punishment by death.
The key word is punishment. What
else is sufficient punishment for a man
who killed his son? Our courts are re
sponsible for punishing criminal acts.
My only regret for O’Bryan is that his
sentence was not carried out quickly and
without such media coverage. Surely he
had this right.
Bert Mcjimsey
Class of ’82
The candidates'
stories revealed
THE LIKE
OF
GARY
HART
Someume in the 19.10s. no one
is sure when. (iur> Hartpence
is horn in Kansas
Ap
for
By LYN
He is .1 bnghl.hul
unotmenliofljl
TffTTOWrff;
Students
lions for po
cellor’s Stud
until April 1
The CSA
board of sti
each of the
the Texas A
tem. Five s
lected to rep
CSAB c:
lings said th<
last spring
communicat
I.ater. bored with an awkward
last name, he changes it
He Mudies hard, becomes a
lawvcr. manages George Mctiovern - '
campaign, and runs lor the Senate
Hut the IMM
I'fiihbl plains
him to ihn icn
d.n
MgOjcnerno vmw
TWT NWrffc JdST
OoefcNT AW
ecus
mi
dents and th
research an<
interests on
CSAB m
Texas A&A
Regents me'
this provide
die chancel
input on sun
Texas AS
hur G. Han
nefits for
,y attending
^ ngs, the sti
lerstanding
he system,
rates much
THE LIFE
OF
FRITZ
MONDALE
Frit/ Mondalc is born it is
said his mother was m labor
lor days, thus contributing to
his passion lor the AFL-CIO
Frit/ is an ucincdiU
and enjoispinicuiii)
his little friends.
-\
/"■"
LUfc PIAT'«
l it ee the shop
ott WARD TOMV
XXIRE NLR&
^C^cmATDR. and
VOU OTHER Wft
CAN 0EA€
RANK AND FIE . .
2
rrl;
pe
By TRI
Si
But a pattern of
behavior emerges
FRITZ/
NDUpaDMisa?
TO MOW THE
lawntco^i/u
r
I KNOW . I Al&O
PROMISED TO Qo
THE wash. MILK the
cows clean mv room
WALK THE CO&, FEEO
THE CKT SLOP THE HOGS
TOm II* MKOC fuse sue
Like Ciary Fiart.
Frit/ also does
impersonations
THE LIFE
OF
JESSE
JACKSON
Jesse Jackson. Uirn in
South C uioliita w,is
shall we sa\. a ralhoi
demanding child
tit OREfaONWa
owm wn«l*»UMS
Edward I
:er of Soutl
(1 tat the
Africa is tc
hange and
encouraginj
between Afr
In the thi
ties on Sout
by the MSC
United Slat
Stale emplo;
proach to ti
area, is to
scenes to t
hication an
itanding.
The ph
that the U.S
I DONT WANNA
EAT THIS UVBR
I WWNA WAVE A
pizm deuverep/
Jesse, like Gars and
Fni/. is also a talented
mimic of |9()0s figures
In 1979. he umvitiingl)
kisses oft the New York
primarv
\nd. just in cusc there
were am .Icmshniltn
who missed it .
r
I WAVE
A
SCHEME
ER...ABW.
DREAM/
THAT 'HTML
bUSlNESb...
Ufu UfU
just nvm
to play,” Fi
we can facil
area. We cai
these count
hind the set
malic persu;
move.”
Fugit said
interested ir:
geopolitical
reasons.
The gee
began when
control of th
and Angola
became inc
states. Fugii
tween the !
emment, wi
icy, and t
Caused ten
raids.
Fugit saic
°f the Unite
Talkaholics now turning to crime
Death punishment fair
By DICK WEST
Columnist for United Press International
Editor:
In response to the letter submitted by
Alice Russell: We have not failed to elect
officials against the death penalty. We
Slouch
by Jim Earle
“It’s a run-off election. It doesn't mean that we actually run
them off! You understand that, don't you?
Several well-publicized reports re
cently have documented stolen tele
phone credit card numbers being used
to run up astronomical long distance
charges.
A local disc jockey, also known as a
“radio personality,” was billed for
$194,656.79 in tolls on 15,000 calls. A
New York woman received a monthly
phone bill listing $109,506.86 in long
distance charges. And so on.
Because the calls were made to divers
points in the United States and foreign
countries, and from phones in scattered
American cities, it was assumed their
credit numbers were fraudently passed
to a lot of different people.
What we are dealing with apparently
is an international ring of talkaholics.
People with abnormal cravings for
strong drink are called alcoholics. Those
who feel compelled to stay on the job for
long hours are called workaholics. And
people with a compulsion to reach out
and touch someone are called talkahol-
It would be a simple matter to arrest
known telephone addicts, but it would
be wrong. I am convinced that more is
involved in telephone crimes than char
acter defects.
they
istenilf
Perhaps incipient talkaholics keep
getting put on “hold,” which prevents
them from slaking their lust for conver
sation. Perhaps the only outside lines
are being monopolized by loquacious si
blings. Perhaps
wrong numbers.
Most likely, though, the biggi
tributor to talkaholic downfall
thing that causes them toseekotii
corner pay booths and credit card
ers — is the answering machine.
Most such devices balk on aci
collect calls. No wonder there
many cases of credit card thefi
lossal bills.
It is easy to see how the victims get
hooked. At first, probably while still in
elementary school, they start making lo
cal calls after class. That’s a form of peer
pressure — playing “chicken” over who
hangs up first — and of itself is harmless
enough.
By the time they get to high school,
however, many of the callers feel a need
for longer stuff. Typically, talkaholics
drop out of school, acquire their own
phones and get jobs to support their
habits. All the money they can earn is
spent on long distance calls. But their
craving for ear-bending still isn’t satis
fied.
That is when they start stealing other
people’s telephone credit cards.
The Battalion
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USPS 045 360
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