Page 2^6 Battalion/Friday, August 3, 1984
Opinion
Smoke-filled politician!
disappear from scene
By DICK WEST
Columnist for
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Probably no
smoke-filled rooms will be needed to
secure the renomination of President
Reagan at the Republican National
Convention in Dallas this month.
Which may be just as well.
“Do not smoke in a confined space”
heads the list of etiquette tips compiled
by Norman Sharp, president of the Ci
gar Association of America, for the
1984 campaign.
The first smoke-filled room to fig
ure in the presidential nomination
process actually was an elevator.
Buttonholed by a newspaper re
porter in front of an elevator at the
Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York,
Harry Daugherty, who later served as
Warren Harding’s campaign man
ager, predicted that his tiger would
emerge as the GOP nominee from a
deadlocked convention.
The decision, Daugherty pro|jl
esied, would be made by 15 oif v
party leaders, sitting around a bigi.
ble, “bleary-eyed with loss of sleep®
perspiring profusely with the exaf
sive heat.”
Sure enough, the first dayofbaioB
ing passed without any candidateti
ceiving the necessary majority,!®
Daugherty’s prediction came tnlj
more or less as f orecast but with i|
smoke-filled room thrown inforgwi
measure.
The year, however, was 1920,til
month was June and the conventil
city was Chicago. Today, hotel root!
generally have better cooling andve®
tilation.
Moreover, if Harding came
life in Dallas, GOP king-makers,
gardless of what price they paid:
their cheroots, probably would be:
bidden to sit in the non-smoking
tion of the room.
K
S<
Administrative decisions a matter of politics
Forr
L<
There’s always a
lot of talk about
the “real world” in
universities; how
college life differs
from the so called
“dog-eat-dog”
existence we must
enter upon grad
uation. The cam
pus is viewed as se-
cluded, like a
prolonged sum
mer camp.
Yet while we hyperbolically specu
late about the distant lands of danger,
real-world type cannibalism goes on
right under our noses, in the Texas
A&M University System.
That cannot be construed to mean
the system is either bad or good, but
only that it is “real”; that the faculty,
staff and administrators all work in
jobs where they deal with employers
and employees. People are hired and
fired, mistakes are made, political
moves become policy, and jealousy, in
competence and general brown-nos
ing play a big part in what becomes of
the University and its offshoots.
Just like anywhere else.
Were students to peer critically at
the inner-workings of the University,
Letters:
Check cashing policy
chided by employee
Editor:
Thanks for the very informative
column written by Kari Fluegel. I
agree with her, and wish to let the Uni
versity know that I am disturbed by
the new rule of no payroll check cash
ing at the Coke Building. I am One of
the few who do not use the banks in
this area, so every payday I cash my
payroll check at the Coke Building.
If check cashing is discontinued at
the Coke Building then other arrange
ments should be made for those of us
who need to cash our payroll checks at
the University on payday.
Please take into consideration a spe
cial cash line for payroll checks for
those who need it. I, for one, would
greatly appreciate it.
Gladys M. Smith
Secretary, TAMU Biology Dept.
Student disturbed
by library noise
Editor:
To all students who use the MSC
Browsing Library:
I go to the Browsing Library almost
every day. I go there to read. How
ever, many students seem to go there
for the express purpose of tapping
their peticils against the nearest avail
able solid, resonant object. People lis
tening to the headphones do this a lot.
They often drum their fingers and
hum along with the rhythm, too. I find
this intensely distracting.
Pleas^, if you must fidget, do it at
home. After you’ve got it out of your
system, by all means c’mon over and
be quiet with the rest of us. We’ll all be
quiet together. Gosh, what fun.
Ross Miller
they might use it as a crystal ball. It
might teach them what to expect. The
myth of canine cannibalism, or at least
its exaggeration, could be brought into
perspective for a student with open
eyes.
Dogs don’t really eat dogs, but they
do fight a lot. Almost as much as peo
ple do. And when people work to
gether, ambition often leads to aggres
sion.
Whether the problem of aggression
at Texas A&M is worse or better than
other places is irrelevant. It exists;
studying it can slap reality into even
the most idealistic of minds.
And waking up from an idealistic
dream can only help.
There are reasons for this aggres
sion; reasons why politics pervade ad
ministration. Consciously or
unconsciously every administrator
eyes his boss’s job, waiting for a crucial
mistake. He displays himself (or she
displays herself) in as favorable a light
as possible to the kingpins at the top,
taking up the slack in his performance
with whatever personal selling he can
get in on the side.
And all the while, consciously or
unconsciously, he knows some subor
dinate is salivating for his job.
This is, at best, a simplified general
ization. Some organizations aren’t very
political. Some make the Republican
Party look like a class exercise for po
litical science. And the workings and
underlying psychology, regardless of
the scope, are usually exponentially
more complex.
Does this sound sinister? If so, don’t
work for IBM. Or GM. Or Milford’s
Pet Shop, for that matter.
Try the Peace Corps. At least there
when you feel you’ve been shafted,
you’ll have the natives to comfort you
(if you’re not one of their shafts over a
fire).
If you’re guiding your career to
ward administration, there are still a
few quirks you should know about.
People who make big decisions have to
answer to big bosses. And everyone
has a boss. At Texas A&M the regents
pay homage to the former students
and the state of Texas. Politicians bow
to voters, corporate giants woo cus
tomers.
The whims of these overlords —vot
ers, customers, states and students —
usually guide the administrators in
their decisions. There are times, how
ever, when a decision will be unpopu
lar regardless of its direction. You, the
administrator, then have to ride out
the storm of criticism with confident
..HEALWMS HITS THIS
BAIT THEN, WHEN HE
GETS TO THE SIDE Of
lUfc EOKr, HU HIM WITH
IMfcCEPlH CHARGES...
The Battalion
(ISPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Rebeca Zimmermann, Editor
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Shelley Hoekstra, City Editor
Brigid Brockman, News Editor
Kathleen Hart, News Editor
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The Battalion Staff
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Assistant News Editors Dena Brown,
Bonnie Langford
Staff Writers Ed Alanis,
Kari Fluegel,Bob McGlohon,
Sarah Oates
Copy Writers Karen Bloch,
Cyndy Davis
Copy Editor Tracie Holub
Photographers Peter Rocha,
Eric Evan Lee
'ey
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Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the
Editorial Board or the author, and do not necessarily rep
resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, facult)
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Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Build
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Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843.
Steve Thomas
dignity, whether you were wrong or
right.
The Albritton Bell Tower is a good
example. The press and the public,
with some exceptions, were ready to
offer the regents up for sacrifice be
cause they thought the money could
be more equitably spent. I also thought
it was a travesty; a genuine waste of
good, American currency, because
there were so many other things we
needed.
Then a professor reminded me of a
similar controversy when, a few years
ago, the University decided to spend
some big bucks on landscaping, be
cause Texas A&M “resembled a con
centration camp.”
Everybody and their Scottish grand
mother screamed “wasted money!”
Now, of course, we all brag and ram
ble about how pretty the campus is. He
said the bell tower will be tradition
within a few years, and at no cost to
the University.
I awkwardly capitulated.
But administrators can’t capitulate,
and very often can’t give rock-hard fi
nancial reasons for what they do. A
strong-sell political front is sometimes
their only salvation, if there is any.
This should not elicit pity, though,
because administrators are paid to
take pressure and make tough choice
like ditch diggers are paid to work:
the hot sun. And will be fired if tto
don’t (or, at least, they should be
Their mistakes can’t be excused bt
cause of the glitches that go with lit
job.
Still aspiring to administrationPOix
more little hint. Hard work is m
enough, though you’ll never get am
where without it. There are peopif
who work far above their salary's it
quirements, both in hours and perfoi
mance, who never advance a step (an:
though some like it that way, logical'
some don’t). The formula for ascen
sion, caustic as it may sound, boili
down to one word.
Politics.
The people who know the system
and how to maneuver with it, makeit
and those who don’t, don’t. You havt
to work hard to climb a mountain,bu;
you also have to know how to mourn
tain-climb.
Discouraged? Don’t be. Analyzt
your life and relationships astheyam
now and I think you’ll find the game!
are similar. Only the stakes are differ
ent.
Steve Thomas is a seniorjournalism
major and a columnist for The B
ion.
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Olympics just a job
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Henry
By ART BUCHWALD
Columnist for
The Los Angeles Times Syndicate
Not everybody at the Los Angeles
Olympics is there for fun. Seated in
the bleachers, making notes and rarely
smiling, are scouts for almost every ad
vertising agency in the world. Their
dream is to find another Bruce Jenner
or Mark Spitz to push their products
for the next four years.
I asked Morgan Whiteley, who has
been scouting every Olympics for the
last 20 years, what he looks for in an
Olympic star. “I don’t care how high
he can jump or how fast he can run, he
has to have credibility with the public
to sell razor blades. Other people may
be looking at his legs, but I’m looking
at his face. Some athletes never look
properly shaved.”
“Are you only looking for a gold
medal winner who can sell razor bla
des?”
“No. I’ve got a list of clients who
want to sign up this year’s stars. But
the competition is rough and amateur
athletes are now wise to how much
money there is to be made in going for
the gold. Every time you approach one
on the field he refers you to his agent.
Endorsements don’t come cheap any
more. I could sign up a four-man relay
team eight years ago for what it cost
me for one lousy amateur boxer this
year.”
“I assume that you’re only inter
ested in gold medal winners.”
“That’s the ticket. You’re not going
to get anyuone to buy Wheaties from a
guy who finished 25th in the mar
athon.”
“Are you out scouting the swimmers
as well?”
“Of course. Everyone likes swiiH’
mers. I’ve got a bathing suit client who
is willing to pay $100,000 for an
American breast-stroke champion."
“That shouldn’t be a problem.”
“It is if she doesn’t look good in a
bathing suit. Unlike most people who
watch swimmers when they’re in the
water, I have to look at them when
they’re walking around the pool. Just
because you’re a champion breasi
stroker doesn’t mean you have a
champion’s chest.”
“I don’t imagine everyone who wins
a gold medal is on your shopping list.
“That’s true. You can forget scul
lers, archers and volleyball players
They don’t even make goo American
Express Card commercials. What
you’re looking for is a star. Nobody
cares if an equestrian rider drinks milk
or not, or whether a cyclist uses under
arm deodorant. What I really want isa y
4 ft., 6 in. gymnast who can carry a 35- |
pound computer through an airport :
terminal.”
“Have you ever signed an athlete
and been disappointed?”
“I had a case the other day. I signed
up a 350-pound weightlifter to kick
the hell out of the luggage we rep- ?
resent to show it could take a beating
Then he took a test and they found
out he was using hormones.”
“What a blow,” I said.
“Fortunately it wasn’t a total loss
We also handle a large pharmaceutical \
company which was looking despera
tely for someone to endorse their ster
oids.”