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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1984)
Opinion Page 2AThe Battalion/Monday, April 9, 1984 - No Good Friday holiday this year Classes will not be dismissed on April 20 for Good Friday this year. That’s no surprise. Good Friday isn’t usually a holiday for state employ ees or for this University. Students who had planned to skip class anyway didn’t miss anything. Stu dents who didn’t hear the rumor walked into empty classrooms and wondered what was going on. Last year, the Texas Legislature and Gov. Mark White proclaimed a half day holiday, but the news didn’t reach Texas A&M until 11 a.m. on Good Fri day. We could all have benefited from a little advance notice. Nothing is quite so annoying as the missed opportunity for a little time off. Good Friday was also April Fool’s day, so Texas A&M students who heard the news were wary. Was it for real, was it an unfounded rumor or was it just another April Fool’s gag, they wondered. This year, we have the advance no tice. Classes will be held as scheduled — no matter what. Although a day off would be nice, the decision to hold classes is no big deal. We know there will be no holiday. But we appreciate the advance notice. The result was a great deal of mis understanding and not much of a holi day. So, holiday or no holiday, thanks go to the University administration for letting us know. — The Battalion Editorial Board Hush Money JOU COULD GET A MILLION COUARi) l KNOW WHERE IT COULD EE- GOTTEN... Incur md L> heir C Council nunicif ibout it Boug eated ' icr fou il. Tor wiitics vithin 1 Joughu ieat. Be cached nent. The i ncil M Letters Meese hearings aren't a Democratic ploy Editor: John C. Mills’ letter on Ed Meese’s Senate hearings was a paranoid collec tion of unfounded suppositions. His fanciful allegations were in no way in hibited by facts and rationality. He accuses the Democrats of conspir ing with the press to scandalize the Rea gan administration. Even if there were evidence of a conspiracy, there is no mo tive. With William Gasey’s insider stock dealings, Rita Lavelle’s mismanagement of the Superfund and James Watt’s sweetheart deals on government coal leases, the Reagan administration does a fine job of scandalizing itself without any help from the Democrats. Furthermore, the Democrats had little control over the investigation. Meese himself requested the appoint ment of a special investigator after ques tions were raised during his Senate con- firmation hearings. Hearings are conducted whenever any President, Democrat or Republican, appoints a cabinet level official. Meese came under intense scrutiny, not be cause of a Democratic conspiracy, but because of some very suspicious actions in his past. The facts indicate that the Meese in vestigation is perfectly justified, but that doesn’t prevent Mills from denouncing it as a conspiracy by the wicked Demo crats and that old conservative bogey man, the liberal press. His attitude seems to embody the prevalent theme of a great deal of reac tionary rhetoric: “If the truth disagrees with my position, the truth should be disregarded.” T. S. Drummond Hart Hall should be the choice of the individual. We, as parents, teachers and leaders, should help guide our young people to ward realizing their hopes, dreams and goals without burdening them with our prejudices and fears. Hospital advertising includes free surgery irmng : iff that ir pari ice of m The m :nts will nd. Prei By ART BUCHWALD Columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate Profs criticize Corps If so many professors and counselors downgrade one of Texas A&M’s out standing traditions, do they convince potential students that they can’t make it in the Corps, that the professors at Texas A&M aren’t patriotic or perhaps, that the students shouldn’t attend Texas A&M at all? Mrs. K. W. Varner, Jr. San Antonio Editor: Recently, a young high school friend of ours visited Texas A&M. Before his visit, he wanted to get an engineering degree and fly with the Air Force. Now he is totally against the Corps of Cadets. This young man might not haved stayed in the Corps even one semester, but I began to wonder. I recalled my ex perience during Freshman Orientation with my own son. Death penalty is moral Editor: On April 2 you published the follow ing opinion: “The Battalion Editorial Board agrees with Manganaro that the taking of anyone’s life is wrong.” Four persons responsible for $550,()()() in loans to Meese later re ceived jobs with the Reagan administra tion. Meese violated the Ethics in Gov ernment Act by failing to disclose some of his financial dealings. He claimed to know nothing of the Carter debate briefs, although memos about the docu ments were sent to him. At our orientation, the professors and counselors seemed helpful and en couraging until my son indicated he would be a member of the Corps. Then his past scholastic record and his future potential dropped to “rock bottom.” They implied that nothing good could come from being a part of the Corps. I disagree. In some situations, taking someone’s life is the only proper action. If someone is frying to take your life, should you just die, or should you fight back? The only fundamental right is the right to life. When a person violates your rights, he contradicts the moral premise on which all rights are based and abdicates his own rights. While none of these facts are grounds for criminal charges, they should cer tainly be looked into before we give Ed Meese control of the Justice Depart ment. My question is, should an employee of any organization be permitted to be so outspoken in criticizing the most fa mous and outstanding segment of that organization? Should the professors at Texas A&M discourage prospective stu dents from becoming members of the Corps of Cadets or any other accepted organization? If someone uses force against you, he violates your rights. Anything you do to retaliate is self-defense. Personally, I do not advocate the mili tary as a career. However, I do think it Anything that is moral for one person to do is moral for a group to do. The morality of punishment given to an in dividual who has violated the rights of another is never in question. This in cludes the death penalty. John Hall Class of ’84 The latest news from the medical world is that hospitals are having more difficulty attracting patients. Occupancy rates are down, and many institutions are now resorting to advertising and hiring marketing people to get patients to use their beds. The competition is getting fierce, and no one can predict what kind of perks a hospital will offer to get a patient to use one of its rooms. I visited a marketing consultant who works for one of the major hospitals in the Washington area. He was very excited about a new idea he had just come up with. “What do you think about an ‘Opera tion of the Month Club’?” he asked me. “It sounds good,” I told him. “What do you get if you join?” He showed me a full-page layout he had designed. Bannered on the top: “SAVE ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS ON EVERY OPERATION. Join the Operation of the Month Club.” Then there were photographs of different parts of the body and large type: “WHEN YOU JOIN YOU ARE ENTI TLED TO ANY ONE OF THESE OP ERATIONS FREE.” Then in smaller type: “All you have to do is have four operations a year and you will be enti tled to another AT NO COST TO YOU.” “Wow,” I said, “that’s really a buy. How does it work?” “Every month we will have a distin guished panel of surgeons choose the ‘Operation of the Month,”’ he said. “Let’s say the main selection for April would be an appendectomy. You would get a notice in the mail that it is being of fered. If you don’t return the card within ten days, we’ll send an ambulance to your house and wisk you off to the hospital and perform the operation for one-half of what it would cost if you just went in and asked for one.” “Suppose I don’t want an appendec tomy?” “T hen you will have the choice of 30 alternate selections, anything from a tonsillectomy to implanting a pace maker, at the same low prices. And re member you only have to chose four a ilire am ans can year, and you get a free one as a “What an ingenious marketingpl know as a member of the ‘Bookof Month Club,’ 1 always forget to send card back and I’m stuck with then ipartme selection. I’ll bet the same thing pens with the ‘Operation of the Mi ■ Club.’ Will major medical pay fa membership?” F°r st |L indeed who a hr United KERR 1 aited t< und at; d the iyce Elk $100 arges c Greeso w inves ie of tb reed to orker wi “Those the crit they’re “I’m working on that now,” he me. “The savings f^om our opera! as a club member should beveryat live to all the medical plans.” “How do the doctors feel about it: re e pec “Most of them are very excited. I 1 cause they’ll get a large advance.Fol^.P 101 ample if an artificial hip is chosen!\y es |Py eration of the Month’ the hip specifn, w es j stand to make a fortune, particular! the surgery becomes a bestseller.” My friend showed me the mod the “Operation of the Month News] letin.” “When you become a member)i receive 15 issues of this beautiful ored, illustrated magazine outlining various operations the hospital forms and biographical information the surgeons who perform them, also have live reveiws by medicalcri of the various surgeons’ techniques. Ereeson “Here’s one on Dr. Paramedic,pave that viewing his skill at removinggallstoi My friend read it to me. “Dr. medic has performed 2,000 gab operations in his time. Once scalpel in his hand he can’t put it cl Fast paced, and riveting, a Paran gallstone operation is a must for s( one who is looking for an excitingo| ation, with no pain, the New Times says, ‘When it comes to a stone, Paramedic is in a class by self.’” “You’ve got this all thought out said admiringly. “If the ‘Operation the Month Club’ catches on, he will never have to worry about their beds again.” He seemed pleased with my reacU “I’ll tell you what. If you sign upas first member I’ll arrange a hernia of ation for you for nothing.” “But I don’t need a hernia opt tion,” I told him. “Then choose one of the altern; It’s all the same to us.” “If the' ;ation w Greeso The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference Editor : Rebeca Zimmermann Managing Editor .John Wagner City Editor Patrice Koranek Assistant City Editors Kathleen Hart, Stephanie Ross News Editor Tracey Taylor Assistant News Editors Susan Talbot, Brigid Brockman, Michelle Powe, Kelley Smith Editorial Page Editor Kathy Wiesepape Sports Editor Donn Friedman Assistant Sports Editor Bill Robinson Entertainment Editor Shelley Hoekstra Assistant Entertainment Editor Angel Stokes managing editor, city editor, news editor, rial page editor and sports editor. 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