Page 2/The Battalion/Tuesday, April 9, 1985
OPINION
Good Friday: is it
a holiday or not?
Three top experts on U.S.-Soviet relations speaking at Texas
A&M, moderated by former newsman Edwin Newman: a won
derful opportunity to hear Soviet experts talking about a topic
of importance to all of us.
An opportunity many A&M students, working for the Wiley
Lecture Series program, spent several months and nearly
$97,000 to bring to this campus.
And then the governor declares a holiday and less than
1,000 people take advantage of this educational experien
ce.There is no way of knowing just how many of the empty seats
in the less-than-half f ull Rudder Auditorium were due to the
unexpected holiday and how many to simple apathy, but the ex
tended weekend certainly didn’t help the attendance Thursday
night.
Pat Wood, president of the MSC Council, said his group
thought about Good Friday last October when they started orga
nizing the program. But they decided since Good Friday was not
a holiday last year, it probably would not be this year either.
Unfortunately, Gov. Mark White had different ideas. On
Wednesday he signed legislature proclaiming Friday a holiday.
It was too late to change the date of the lecture program, or of
the seminars the following day. And months of hard work and
planning were rewarded by an embarrassingly empty Rudder
Auditorium.
The Texas Legislature needs to get its act together and de
cide if Good Friday is going to be an of f icial holiday or not. This
year the decision was made two days before Good Friday. Two
years ago the decision for a half-day holiday was made on Good
Friday itself, which was met with skepticism because it fell on
April Fool’s Day.
Last minute decisions for a holiday throw many people’s
plans out of whack. Holiday plans, which might have been made
with previous knowledge of the holiday, remain unplanned.
The Legislature’s indecision is an unnecessary inconve
nience and downright inconsiderate. C’mon gang, it’s not that
hard a decision to make. Yes or no. All we ask is that you make
up your minds. And not at the last minute.
The Battalion Editorial Board
LETTERS:
A&M students used as
‘fifth wheel’ again
EDITOR:
Well, it seems that once again stu
dents have allowed themselves to he
used as a “fifth wheel” at Texas A&M.
Uy electing Sean Royall Student Body
President, the students have elected a
person who has a history of represent
ing the administration, not the students.
Sean voted for finals for graduating
seniors last year because he believed
that we have to keep “respectability”
with the administration.
As a member of my committee, Aca
demic Affairs, Sean was repeatedly told
to question the core curriculum and find
out its effects on students. Sean wasn’t
concerned about students, but rather
about the administration and his letters
of recommendation.
These “sins” could have possibly been
forgiven, but Sean’s more recent sins
cannot. I firmly believe that the way a
person runs a campaign is a direct re
flection of what he will do in office.
Based on his campaign, Sean’s adminis
tration will be filled with deceit and pet
tiness.
What kind of person allows his cam
paign workers to stress the GSS resolu
tion? One who is intolerant of others
and desperate to get elected.
Sean could not get elected on his own
merits so he and his campaign workers
had to resort to a dead, knee-jerk issue.
Mike Cook could have resorted to cam
paign tactics based on Sean’s votes on se
nior finals and core curriculum, but in
stead he decided to concentrate on his
own record and past achievements.
When Sean was asked about these
controversial votes he evaded the ques
tion or put blame on people no longer at
Texas A&M. When Mike Cook was
asked about he GSS he answered
frankly.
Sean is not the man of integrity he
claims to be. One of Sean’s campaign
workers, Eric 1 bode, has been bragging
that he had “seeded” every part of the
Corps with people to ask questions
about the GSS.
Nixon woidd have been proud; Texas
A&M should not be. We should hang
our heads low that we allowed ourselves
to succomb to a level of politics at Texas
A&M that lingers in the gutter. Sean
Royall is responsible for his campaign
workers and he owes Texas A&M and
Mike Cook a sincere apology.
The “fifth wheels” at Texas A&M will
be watching closely.
Tom Urban
Former Vice-President Academic Af
fairs
Why keep kicking
Corps of Cadets?
EDITOR:
In your April 3 edition, you printed
an opinion expressing your resentment
held for certain members of the Corps
of Cadets concerning their action taken
against a photographer who was taking
pictures of exhausted or unconscious
cadets. While 1 hold your belief in the
idea of protecting the photographer’s
right to be taking pictures in a public
area, I fear I must question your motives
involved.
I wonder if your motives were not di
rected towards stirring up controversy.
Clearly, there are few topics around this
campus as controversial as the Corps of
Cadets. I’m sure you realize there is a
large population of students here that
enjoy hearing of the Corps demise. In
addition, with all the events of this year,
this population has had an incredible
harvest.
My question for you is this — Why
keep kicking the Corps of Cadets?
Bloody Cross is a tradition held very
close to many cadets. It is a chance for
them to show their unity as individual
outfits. 1 would hate to label The Battal
ion with T heodore Roosevelt’s term —
muck rakers.
In the future, remember the story of
the little bird who fed off the insects that
gathered around cow chips on a field —
after awhile, he got his beak dirty.
John Andrew Kiser
Class of ’87,non-reg
Texas A&M’s future
important to Aggies
EDITOR;
Dear Michael “The know-it-all-yan-
kee”,
We are sincerely thankful for your
enlightening editorial. We had never
known of the existence of nuclear
bombs, let alone their dangers (but hey,
we’re only unenlightened southerners,
not a northerner of infinite wisdom)!
You mentioned that you wanted a se
rious editorial on such issues as nuclear
arms: Well, here it is. We’ve got ’em,
they’ve got ’em. It’s a fact of life.
Based on the recent Soviet history of
military aggression (i.e. since the Bol-
The T
Symphoni
their fourl
tonight in
High Schc
Bill J. I
75-mem b<
the band
luding m
The fin
“Flight of
two mem
section w
said.
Americans underestimate
Tickets
are $2 ft:
forstudei
The A
School T
concert.
WASHING-
TON — On the
whole, William
Manchester en
joyed his 63 r d
birthday more
than his 23rd,
during which he
thought, r e a -
sonably: How un
likely I am to have
a 2 4th. He was ———————————
born April 1, 1922, and on April 1,
1945, he was among the Marines who
began the last great battle of the war, on
Okinawa. One of his memories of that
experience is relevant to something oc
curring in Washington today.
George Will
The Marmes were amazed by the ex-
traordinary proficiency of Japanese ar
tillery,on southern Okinawa. Every road
and other vital point was brilliantly tar
geted. So amazed were the Marines that
a surmise became widespread: 1 he Jap
anese must have German artillery advis
ers. Similarly, the brillanet of the Japa
nese attack on Pearl Harbor had caused
some American officials to suspect that
the planes had been piloted by Ger
mans. There were other explanations.
Prior to the war, Japan had an artil
lery school on Okinawa. A standard
exerc ise for fledgling officers was to an
swer this question: How would you de
fend the school against attack? A genera
tion of officers had thought hard about
fighting on Okinawa. And beginning in
1931, every graduate of Japan’s naval
academy had been required to answer
one question: How would you execute a
surprise attack on Pearl Harbor?
In the 1940’s many Americans had a
racist impulse to assume that the “yellow
peril” could not be such a peril without
Caucasian assistance. However, the Jap
anese were good warriors because they-
were what they still are: a great disci
plined people, tenacious in pursuit of
their interests as they saw them.
In his marvelous history, “ The Glory
and the Dream,” Manchester recalls the
complacent, condescending American
attitude immediately after Pearl Har
bor, as jukeboxes blared “goodbye
Mama, I’m off to Yokohama.” Scoffers
said that a Japanese soldier on parade
“resembled a poorly wrapped parcel of
brown paper — soiled, crumpled, and
threatening to come apart.” But Japa
nese sharpshooters were accurate at
1,000 yards, infantrymen carried 400
rounds of ammunition (twice what U.S.
infantrymen carried) and five days’ ra
tions of fish and rice. In 1941 their ships
were faster, their guns bigger, their tor
pedoes better and they had more and
better aircraft than the United States.
It has been asked: Who in 1945
would have believed that, a generation
later, Japan and a Jewish state would be
considered a great trading nation and a
great warrior nation, respectively? But
great nations do what they must do. In
1985 it cannot be said too frequently
that Japan, a densely populated nation
dependent on imports, would be a for
midable commercial competitor even if
it respected the rules of f ree trade.
Fret trade tanks just below Chris
tianity and just above jogging on the list
of things constantly praised but only
sporadically practiced. As a cause of the
U.S. trade deficit, Japan’s protectio
nism, although significant, is less so than
the U.S. deficit, which drives up the va
lue of the dollar and the prices of U.S.
exports. Another factor is U.S. restric
tions on such exports as oil and lumber.
Today, Japan is seen not merely as
commercially aggressive or candidly
protectionist. Rather, it is considered
disingenuous, and contemptuous about
U.S. readiness to retaliate. Well, Japan is
disingenuous: It uses dilatory negotia
tions as distractions, and keeps its mar
kets closed with maddening regulations,
such as until recently the stipulation that
American cigarettes cannot be adver
tised in Japanese.
But Japan’s disdain for U.S. resolve is
not unreasonable, give the years of U.S.
tolerance of Japan’s tactics. Besides, a
nation that has no response when its sol
diers are hacked to death with axes (Ko
rean DMZ, 1976) or shot and allowed to
bleed to death (East Germany, 1985)
should expect tougher nations to doubt
its determination.
more letters:
shevik revolution), world peace can only
be achieved if a balance of powei is
maintained. This can only be achieved if
the U.S. is willing to match the Soviet
Union in both nuclear and conventional
hardware.
Now, before all of you nuclear freeze
advocates get out your pens and paper
to reply to this editorial, let a mere fact
be known: Power increases the odds of
survival. We agree that defense spend
ing could be used in better ways — for
schools^hospitals, roads, etc. However,
in a world in which chemical warfare is
currently used oi non-combatants (Af
ghanistan), a nation must be willing to
protect its interests by developing its de
fenses. (But, in the event of nuclear war,
look oh the bright side: maybe the edito
rial board of this “high school” papet
will get nuked!)
Since we can't realistically change
some facts of life, maybe we should try
to change those things over which we
have some control. Although these
small changes may seem to have no last
ing or earth-shaking implications, to-
gethei they do add up.
Some of us do worry about the direc
tion that this University takes, although
this may seem immaterial to you. So try
to understand that people take stands
on issues (i.e. GSSO, Greeks, Women in
the Band, the Board of Regents, Tu
ition increases, etc.) because they are
concerned about this University, its tra
ditions and its future. If you’re not con
cerned about the future of this Univer
sity, just remember Highway 6 runs
North.
Mike Head
Mike Neben
Clay Paulos
Class of’87
Will Aggies ever
accept gays here?
EDITOR;
Before Aggies would accept gays, the
Pope would have a harem.
Bart Braden
If Japan wonders why retaliationn
at last occur, Japan should lisientoHJ
They a
before th<
race Busby, a Washington consuld Consolid;
He notes that as long as the focus ■Dean said
contention was automobiles, U.S.tj
serument was regionally concent™
primarilv in the Great Lakes states.Sol
attention is focused on electronics.!
communications, pharmaceuticals,(
est products and other goods, sot
base of congressional resentmentisu
respondingly wider.
Und
Contact Child
Congress can in good conscie
prod the administration to pustija
toward a more open market. But An
icans should not make the mistakeob
suniing, as was done 40 and45ye
ago, that Japanese successes are tot
explained — explained away, really
without reference to this fact: TheJapiJ
nese do many things very well. Some
they, and we, may be amazed tole
flow little they needed the commeral
trickiness that has become a big
lem.
Osbome
Drives, 1
CB AS
SUPER
manuals
7(
George Will is a columnist for l
Washington Post.
I he Battalion
DSPS 045 360
Member of . V
I cxj.s I’i css Association
Som Invest |oui nalism C onicrence
DATE:
TIMET
PLACI
EVEN'
Office
The Battalion Editorial Board
Brigid Brockman, F.ditor
Shelley Hnekstra, Managing Editor
Kellie Dworaczyk, News Editor
Michelle Powe, Editorial Page Editor
Rhonda Snider, City Editor
I t avis l ingle, Sports Editor
The Battalion Staff
Assistant City Editors
Dainah Bullard, KariFluegi
Assistant News Editors
Cami Brown, John Hallett, Kay Malle
Assistant Sports Editor
Charean Williams
Entertainment Editors...
Shawn Behlen, Leigh-EllenCM
Staff Writers Rebecca Adair.
(lallne Anderson. Marcy Basilc
Tamara Bell, Brandon Bern.
Jeff Brady, Ann ( lervenh
Michael Crawford, Mary Cor
Kirsten Dietz, (indy Gay,
Pete 1 ferndon, Trent Leop
Sarah Oates,Jerry Oslin, |
June Pang, Tricia Parker.
Cathy Riely, Marybeth Rohsner
Walter Sraitk |
Copy Editors Jan Perry, Kelley Smirk
Make-up Editors Karenl
Karla Martin |
Columnists Ed Cassavoy, KevinInda, j
I.orenStefl)
Editorial Cartoonist Mike Lane
Sports Cartoonist Dale Smirk
Copy Writer Cathy Benneli
Photo Editor Katherine Hurl
Photographei s Anthony Casper,
Wayne Grabein, Bill Hughes, Frank Irwiir,
John Makeiy, Peter Rocha, DeanSairo
CINE/
•ttXWTEI.
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