Page 2/The Battalion/Monday, March 25, 1985
Battalion Ed Board
endorses candidate
Student Government elections will be held this week and five
hopef uls are running. After interviewing Mike Cook, Sean Roy-
all, Brett Shine, Bob Stephan and Madelon Yanta, The Battalion
Editorial Board has decided to endorse Mike Cook for student
body president.
This is an important election. Many people feel it doesn’t
matter who is elected student body president, that it won’t make
any difference. We disagree. The student body president can
make a difference, and Cook is the candidate we feel is capable
and dedicated enough to make that difference; we feel Cook can
best stand up for the interests of the students.
Cook’s financial knowledge and background is important.
He served as MSC Director of Budgets and Planning and cre
ated the Long-Term Financial Planning Committee, a joint com
mittee of the Student Senate and the MSC.
He advocates user fees for the A.P. Beutel Health Center,
low intramural entry fees, improved shuttle bus service and al
ternative funding for MSC services, in order to lessen the MSC’s
dependence on student service fees.
He emphasizes communication — communication between
the Student Government and the student body, communication
between the administration and the student body. He believes
students should have more input in student services. And he
says Student Government should act as a “lawyer” for students,
representing them to the administration.
Cook says all students and all student organizations deserve
representation by Student Government — not just the least con
troversial ones.
Cook answered our questions directly and honestly — with
out avoiding the direct issues. He is personable, and it seems he
would have a good rapport with students.
His knowledge of the issues Texas A&M will face in 1985-86
and his familiarity and willingness to work with other student
organizations, such as the MSC Council, is promising.
He is straightforward in admitting the weaknesses, as well as
the strengths, of Student Government, and he is willing and re
ady to make the necessary changes.
Therefore, on the basis of our interview with him, The Bat
talion Editorial Board endorses Mike Cook for the A&M’s 1985-
86 student body president.
The Battalion Editorial Board
LETTERS:
Tuition increases
will hurt Texas A&M
EDITOR:
As out-of-state students at this Uni
versity, the proposed tuition increase is
beginning to concern us greatly. At $40
per hour, tuition for a year was around
$1,200. However this will be $3,600 per
year, $5,400, and finally whatever 100%
of educational costs arrive at. We realize
that money is needed for state revenues,
but the projected $200 million is not
going to materialize when very few out-
of-state students are likely to consider
Texas for their educaton. For $5,400 in
tuition, we could attend many of the
more expensive private schools, also of
ten beyond our reach.
Admittedly Texas A&M is an excel
lent school with a good educational and
placement record. This fact combined
with an affordable fee range is why most
of us are here. Scholarships were often a
decisive factor. With tuition ap
proaching $6,000 per year, however,
this University will lose much of its ap
peal to the rest of the nation. Students
will seek comparable schools within Fi
nancial reach. This will be unfortunate
for both students and a Fine University
seeking a broader base.
Whatever happens though, we are all
Aggies, and A&M has been and will be
an important part of our education and
future.
Tom Stephenson, ’86
accompanied by 13 signatures
‘S.B.’ stands for more
than ‘sorority bitch’
EDITOR:
Dear Trent Leopold,
Thank you so much for writing such
an in depth, informative, well-re
searched article on SBs. Since I have
been an “SB” for several years now, I
immediately felt the urge to run out and
buy a drop necklace, several chains of
lapis and gold beads, and a Gucci purse.
(I own none of these). How happy I am
that you showed me the light! At last, I
feel complete.
Actually, all sarcasm aside, I’m mad,
hurt, angry, and resentful of you for
writing such an overgeneralized and
one-sided report of sorority life. I could
go on and on like this but I hear my
mother’s voice in the back of my mind
saying, “Barbie, don’t fly off the handle”
and my father’s voice saying, “Judge
not, lest you be judged.”
Trent, I wish that I could make you a
Tri-Delt for a week. (I’d promise not to
steal your underwear). But since I can’t
do that, I want to tell you about some of
the aspects of sorority life that were mis
takenly left out of your article.
Sorority girls are all unique: Some of
us wear make-up, some of us don’t,
some of us carry Gucci purses, some of
us carry backpacks, some us like movies,
some of us like to go to the park and fly
kites, some us go to Zephyrs, some of us
share fellowship in our bible studies.
Believe me, there are many differ
ences between us, and when we make
decisions, as a group, it takes a long,
long time because there are so many
views.
Now I’m going to employ the one
journalism rule I know, “Know your
subject before you speak (or write).” In
doing this I cannot speak for the Greek
system, I cannot speak for the ten soro
rities at our school, I cannot even speak
for the other members of my chapter, I
can only speak for what I know of First
hand, me!
I didn’t see myself in your article.
Part of me loves mixers and formals, but
part of me likes going to the lake and
having some quiet time to myself. I see
myself, short and terse at times when
provoked, but I strive to be Filled with
compassion. I see girls hurt going
through rush, but there are more tears
and pain behind the scenes I promise. I
have learned, through sorority life, not
to judge people too quickly because I
have been judged so many times just for
being in a sorority.
Trent, I’m sure you are a nice guy. I
want you to see me and my sisters for
what we really are, and you are cordially
invited to share a meal with us whenever
it is convenient for you.
Maybe then you’ll see that SB does
not have to stand for sorority bitches; it
can stand for sorority beauty — the kind
of beauty that is more beautiful on the
inside than the outside.
Barbie Johnson, ’85
Delta Delta Delta
Death penalty advocates Sem
need to reevaluate system pleis
Last week I
watched “Hill
Street Blues” and
I witnessed the
closest thing I’ve
ever seen to a real-
life execution.
The final m o -
ments of the epi
sode depicted a
death row inmate
being strapped
of this argument. Currently, Texas has
193 prisoners awaiting execution, but
merely killing them and getting them
out of the way isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Loren
Steffy
Assistant Attorney General F. Scott
McCown said last week that the state at
torney general defends all appeals of
capital convictions, even to the Supreme
Court if necessary. Here’s where the
taxpayers’ money Figures in.
Of course, this is still cheaper
keeping the prisoner behind bars
rest of his or her life, but if we're
to eliminate these undesirables,itwoi
be less expensive to hire some extrab
yers now than it would betotrytokf
up with the rising cost-of-living b
penses for inmates for the next 3!
years, plus.
spe<
By HOL1
kt
Pleistocene e>
topic of discussii
sponsored by tl
tnropology Soc
p.m.-5 p.m. in 31
Extinction of
can species occu
'le
into the electric chair and getting crispy-
crittered before a small group of specta
tors.
In Texas, we don’t barbeque our re
cipients of capital punishment anymore,
we inject them with nasty corpse-gener
ating substances.
But this is done in the name of justice.
Criminals who commit certain heinous
crimes are deprived of all rights, includ
ing the right to human existence. The
capital punishment controversy has
plagued this country for years. Defend
ers of this policy of killing for justice fre
quently tell me that taxpayers shouldn’t
have to support capital criminals, and,
thus, justify the death penality in the
name of tax dollars.
“One attorney can handle four of
these highly complex cases each year,”
McCown said March 18. We have 1.25
attorneys working on capital cases. The
state of Texas can therefore accomplish
no more than Five executions each year.
More executions require more attor
neys. More attorneys require more dol
lars.” Obviously, if the Criminal Law
Enforcement Division budget is in
creased, the taxpayers will pay for it. If
the budget remains unchanged, Texas
will plod along at an execution rate of
Five per year. At that rate it will take
38.6 years to empty the Death Row cells
— assuming there are no more capital
convictions during that time.
Besides, with the lack of room in Me Pleistocene
TDC units, a smooth, continual ®fyearsaeo.
tion flow would make a lot more allien debate
available for the new arrivals. a .* )<)ut t l 1 ! e c . ause
tions. I he issue
two main views:
Advocates of capital punishnit*|lolvement am
seem to have assumed the bizarre tienvironmental
ory that lethally injected inmates are® te changes a
effective and financially sound “uhe
justice, and perhaps they are. Bull seminar
these guys have to rot in prison beltla Idebate forma
they rot in the ground, the purpose/ant, head of tl
the death penalty is defeated. pamnent at A&
erator.
H Bryant has r<
I he taxpayers lose money acmjinterests in arc!
dating these doomed prisoners. Bmi (the use of poll*
real losers, of course, are the flits rjnmental and
corpses themselves, who havetowaitl n ' )l,otan y j 1 * 11 ’ >
years before finally being killed. 0 I*" 15 b >' ™
A closer look at the Texas Depart
ment of Corrections Death Row situa
tion, however, demonstrates the futility
Keeping a doomed prisoner alive al
ready costs taxpayers $7.17 per day per
inmate, according to Larry Barnesworth
of the TDC Research Department.
We’re talking $505,095.65 this year to
keep these people alive so we can kill
them later.
Capital punishment is not calledi
slow death penalty. If these guystj ‘The
going to get the needle, the leastwea
do is stick them quickly.
Loren Steffy is a sophomore jounii
lism major and a weekly co/umnisi: -
onU
The Battalion.
A visitor is o
President letting Congress do dirty work
fins a new and
of themselves a
Reagan playing Tom Sawyer
WASHING
TON — A wit
once defined a ba
rometer as an in
genious instru
ment that reveals
the kind of
weather we are ex
periencing. If you
have no barome
ter, you can con
sult the Senate
Ronald Reagan is playing Tom Sa
wyer, who was the quintessential Ameri
can, which means he was something of a
sharpie. Tom, a cunning rascal, grew up
about 185 miles west of Dixon, Illinois.
Cunning rascals sprout like corn out
there.
That is one reason why Japan has#!
tween $50 billion and $100 billion slali
ing around the world, looking for thiol
to buy. America has debt to sellatall
count. Call that the American ad™
tage, comparatively speaking.
I Today Dr.
present what h
ral theatrical
Visitor,” a moi
experiences SI
is sponsored I
Programs Con
CTht purpoi
to help Amerk
how others see
piro says. “It
George Will
Budget Committee. It, like a barometer,
measures climatic pressure.
The committee has rejected the Presi
dent’s budget. That is “rejected” as in:
Russia rejected Napoleon. The vote was
17-4 and reflected the fact that among
the 535 members of Congress there
probably are not 35 who would vote for
the President’s program of continuing
the defense buildup at the pace he pre
fers, avoiding all tax increases and sig
nificantly cutting middle-class domestic
programs.
Not since Tom tricked the other boys
into whitewashing Aunt Polly’s fence for
him has there been anything as nifty as
Reagan’s way of getting others to do his
disagreeable chores. He says to Con
gress: Here is the division of labor: I’ll
look after the Marine band, Air Force
One and Camp David. You folks cut the
social programs.
George Will is a columnist for M
Washington Post.
Sen. Pat Moynihan has a modest pro
posal for a one-shot cash infusion to
trim the deficit without cutting any pro
grams. His idea for slicing a substantial
piece off the government’s debt is: Sell
it. Part of the debt, that is.
Less than six months ago the Presi
dent got a mandate to keep on keeping
on — to continue the policies of the First
term. That is not surprising. The public
rather enjoys getting a dollar of govern
ment spending and being charged only
75 cents in taxes. Last week there was a
languorous White House discussion
about sending the Great Communicator
back onto the campaign trail to commu
nicate (as he forgot to do before the
election) his zest for all those specific
program cuts. But his aides then
thought: He would be campaigning
against most Senate Republicans, 40
percent of whom face re-election in 19
months. Reagan would not be able to
campaign for a “live legislative vehicle.”
(Sorry. They talk like that.)
By the end of Fiscal 1986, the govern
ment will have outstanding loans valued
at (which does not mean “worth”) $280
billion. That is three times the size of the
loan portfolio of Citicorp, one of the na
tion’s largest banks. This federal portfo
lio is scattered around the government
and managed by bureaucrats paid less
than a Citicorp branch manager.
Many loans are at far less than today’s
interest rates. Under Moynihan’s plan,
they would be sold at a discount reflect
ing their real market value-today. Even
assuming that the value of the $280 bil
lion in paper is now just, say, $75 billion,
that is the real value, no matter who
holds the paper, and the government
would get a cash inf usion of $75 billion.
What the budget committee ap
proved might bring a blush to the presi
dential cheeks. It would have cut the
deficit by more than the President’s
budget would have done. Furthermore,
the committee plan would confound
skeptics by freezing Social Security ben-
eFits for a year. Of course all this is in
the subjunctive tense because the com
mittee action binds no one. The only
thing mandatory is that we pay the in
terest on the national debt.
The loans were made to students,
small businesses, large corporations,
farmers and many other groups includ
ing foreign governments. The point was
to let Congress spare those groups the
torture of paying market rates for
money. But selling the loans to private
insitutions would not change the terms.
The people owing the money would just
send their checks to a different address.
Moynihan’s plan has an international
dimension because of the doctrine of
“comparative advantage.” According to
that, different nations do different
things well and each nation should
prosper by swapping goods and services
according to its comparative advantage.
The debt, without major policy
changes (the likelihood of which has
gone from “not very* to “are you kid
ding?”) will increase about $1 trillion in
the next four years. If so, every year for
the rest of the history of the Republic
taxpayers will pay about $100 billion in
interest just on this four-year addition
to the debt.
Japan, for example, is good at mak
ing cars and cameras and television sets
and many other things. The United
States, too, is gifted at making many
things, but it is especially, even incom
parably, gifted at making debts.
The Japanese save 20 percent of their
wages, about triple the American rate.
The Battalion
CJSPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Brockmanr Editor
Shelley Hoekstra, Managing Editor
Ed Cassavoy, City Editor
Kellie Dworaczyk, News Editor
Michelle Powe, Editorial Page Editor
Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
The Battalion Staff
Assistant City Editors
Kari Fluegel, Rhonda Snider
Assistant News Editors
Cami Brown, John Hallett, Kay Malleil
Assistant Sports Editor
Charean Williams
Entertainment Editors
Shawn Behlen, Leigh-EllenClarl;
Staff Writers Rebecca Adair,
Cathie Anderson, MarcyBasile,
Tamara Bell, Brandon Berry,
Jeff Brady, Dainah Bullard,
Ann Cervenka, Michael Crawford,
Mary Cox, Kirsten Dietz,
Cindy (Jay, Pete Herndon,
Trent Leopold, Sarah Gates,
Jerry Oslin, June Pang,
Tricia Parker, Cathy Rich,
Marybeth Rohsner, WalterSmitlr
Copy Editors . Jan Perry, Kelley Smilli
Make-up Editors Karen Bloch,
Karla Martin
Columnists Ed Cassavoy, Kevin Inda,
Loren Steffy
Editorial Cartoonist Mike Lane
Sports Cartoonist Dale Smith
Copy Writer Cathy Bennett
Photo Editor Katherine Hun
Photographers Anthony Casper,
Wayne Grabein, Bill Hughes, Frank Irwin,
John Makely, Peter Rocha, DeanSaito
Editorial Policy
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operated as a community service to I'cxhs A&M and
B ryan-C '.ollege St at ion.
Opinions expressed in The Battalion arc those uf ik
Editorial Board or the author, and do not necessarily rep
resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, fatull}
or the Board of Regents.
ewspaf
students in reporting, editing and photography dasses
within the Department of Communications.
Letters Policy
Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in
length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit klters
for style and length Inn will make every effort to maintain
the author's intent. Each letter must be signed and must
include the address and telephone number of the writer.
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