Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1985)
Page 2/The Battalionn"uesday, April 16,1985 """" ; >• OPINION HELLO. TD LIKE TO SPEAK TO PRIME NUNISTER NAKASONE ON telecommunication TRACE BARRIERS... C<- p:. urv;- 'C^Z T/p- 1' ''iv' 1 ' S%\ X;: v ■ if i r;VtV- it & .BEIN& PUT ON HOLD" FOR TWO HOURS 6 A SIGN OF BAD FAITH, nakasoniL / Baseball is upon us and life is worth living once again BALTIMORE — You know the feeling you get watching the stea mier Greek trage dies, when dynas-J ties are falling and sons are marrying their mothers and, everyone is behav ing badly and you are thinking: If Ueberroth’s baseball bolshevism is the bad news, the good news is that our can-do country has gone and done it. It has produced a baseball book that al most contains all the information citi zens ought to be required to master be fore being allowed to vote. The book is “The 1985 Elias Baseball Analyst.” George Will Really, things cannot go on like this. T hat is how March makes proper Amer icans feel. Life is vain, the world is a moral void, the universe is an empty shell. Then proper Americans look to ward April, the horizon where the sun will rise. The sun is baseball. Baltimore is the best place to watch the sunrise. I will explain why, after dealing with this disagreeable business: Peter Ueberroth must go. His reign as baseball commissioner is already six months old and the wicked Designated Hitter rule has not been repealed. Worse — infinitely so — he is talking about taking an opinion poll on the sub ject. The mind reels. The thought oc curs: Death, where is thy sting? Do you have a Gibbonesque fascina tion with declines and falls? The book reveals that the 1984 White Sox were only the eighth team in 50 years to suf fer a decline of 150 percentage points in their won-lost record compared with the immediate preceding season. In 1984 Cleveland extended to 24 its record for the most consecutive seasons (excluding the 1981 strike season) Finishing more than 14 games behind the league or di vision leader. Before the 1984 Milwau kee Brewers did it, the last team to go in just two years from the best record in the league to the worst was during the Johnson administration. The time be fore that, Woodrow Wilson was in his first term. Who needs polls to discover if Miche langelo is superior to Andy Warhol? Some judgements should be beyond the reach of majorities. Democracy has, I suppose, its place, but in baseball? Per haps public opinion must influence gov ernment, but baseball should not be a plaything of that turbulent, hydra- jieaded monster: the mob. Do we sub mit theories of astro physics to refer enda? Surely even in an open society there are closed questions, and this is one: Should baseball be desecrated by the DH rule, which allows degenerate, football-esque specialization? AccDecSyn (Accelerated Decline Syn drome) exists when three criteria are satisfied: a team wins 10 fewer games in season X than in season X minus 1; it had a losing record in X minus 1; it had a winning record in X minus 2. The 1984 Giants suffered AccDecSyn. But enough about incompetence. Let’s go to Baltimore, where last Mon day the Orioles, who will beat the Cubs in a six-game World Series, began what will be their 18th consecutive season over the .500 mark. Only the 1926-64 Yankees have done better, and no team has a better winning percentage (.565) over the last 29 seasons. Why are they so good? Hey, as Ring Gardner, born 100 years ago this spring used to say, you could look it up. George Will is a columnist for the Washington Post. \lyAt- if- THEY Fought &ack.. OK Tf?OOPS, U^ri^WETOOT- liberal’ does not [Ho mean communist on I have been called a liberal, a fool, a race traitor, a left-winger, a rabblerouser, and a multitude of other things, many of which are unprintable. Seve ral “good conser vatives” have told that resist or oppose any changes in these. This definition differs from the “close- minded, self-centered, Bible-toting, conformist” stereotype. Basically, both groups, as far as Texas A&M is concerned, advocate democratic government and freedom for the indi vidual, but the liberal favors change and the conservative does not. AS! Loren Steffy The Elias book says Cal Ripken, the O’s shortstop, has baseball’s best on-base average (.452) when leading off an in ning. With the opening game tied in the eighth inning on Monday, Ripken led off and got on base. Next came Eddie Murray. The book says that last year he batted .459, with a .838 slugging aver age, in late-inning pressure situations with runners on base. On Monday he drove in Ripken with a home run. me t n a t even though I may agree with them on cer tain issues, I’m “still a liberal,” as if liber alism is akin to leprosy. Liberalism at Texas A&M is about as popular as Patsy Cline’s hit single “Never Do a Tango with an Eskimo.” Those of us who have fallen victim to the liberal brand are shunned by the conservative majority as if we’re radio active waste. However, people generally slap these labels around without ever knowing what they mean. So I decided to take a quick flip through Webster’s New World Diction ary in search of the true meaning of lib eralism. “A political philosophy advocat ing personal freedom for the individual, democratic forms of government, grad ual reform in political and social institu tions, etc.,” I read. Hmmm. Somewhat different from the popular definition of “long-haired commie freak-o pig.” Conservative, on the other hand, is defined as: “tending to preserve estab lished traditions or institutions and to If our society is a building, conserva tism gives the building the rigid strength necessary to withstand the el ements. But, just as a skyscraper must be able to bend in a strong wind,society, too, must be flexible when facing poten dally hazardous conditions, and that's where liberalism comes in. Without both viewpoints society would fall apart, so a balance must exist between the right and left wings. Our founding fathers were liberals because they favored democratic reform, but without conservatives to follow them, the United States of America would have been just another revolutionary government which failed. So, in the definative sense, 1 am abb- eral, because I favor change, but only when change is necessary to maintain the democratic ideals this country stands for. The liberal label does notin- elude the words “communist," “anar chist,” or “race traitor.” ■ AUSTIN - (use to ban three months I lar to Nazi li I stop the killii physician test But a D; ainst the al png about pn lar to worn eed corn.” Rockdale I Jbortion bill est crowd of t The Kubia [ons in the regnancy (i endangerei portions, ret fetus in somt rental consei to get an aboi “This pro! ignored by tl I'.IVS,” when the U.S. Sup ilizing abor [rinarian. He said th towed states t ibortion. Foi Hattons. “With aln Ser Loren Steffy is a sophomore joum „ I I ism major and a weekly columnist for vT [ The Battalion. U.S. out of line in Central America As Murray began his regal, relaxed lope around the bases (Prince Charles cquld take lessons from Murray about the business of kingly bearing), base ball’s magical mix of science and seren dipity was on display. Sen. Phil Gramm warned last week that the United States A 162-game season is, like life, in study in cumulations. Things tend to even out, and talent tells. Ripken and Murray are gods, but there are lots of lesser but useful talents, and in a town like Baltimore, where they make good steel and sausage and baseball, they know how to make use of scraps. Who led the American League last year in the percentage of runners driven in from third with fewer than two outs? Elias knows: Jim Dwyer, Baltimore. must continue its “program of assis tance” to Central America to pre vent the spread of communism, and to prevent the re sulting swarm of nism. It’s hard for people to worry about being good democrats when they are hungry and miserable. | AUST1P fimerats stay tentatively 1 allow Tex : Tuesday” [, March 198 ft The voi i: Sen. John faction by t | in protest < I A final i needed to > Instead of supplying covert military aid, the U.S. might try supplying more financial and medical aid to Central American nations. I A motio 2|4-7, with Maybe bread and butter will more benefits than guns. Michelle Powe “frantic refugees (who) will begin surg ing north through Mexico and then into the United States.” Michelle Powe is a junior journalism major and the editorial page editor (or The Battalion. Gramm told San Antonio’s Down town Rotary Club the Soviets have sup plied more to Nicaragua in tanks, planes and other equipment than the United States has provided to all of Central America in medical care and equipment. Past performances give rise to aver ages, on which managers calculate prob abilities about future performance. The more you study, the less surprised you are. But no matter how hard you study, you still are suprised agreeably often, and the surprises that come to the stu dious are especially delicious. This is true in baseball and in the lesser stuff that is the rest of life. “I’m tired of all this ‘covert aid’ busi ness,” Gramm said. “There’s nothing covert about it. I want a straight up-and- down vote on providing a small amount of money so these people can preserve their freedom.” The argument put forward by the Reagan administration and supporters is that Nicaragua’s communist govern ment presents a threat to other Central American nations, such as El Salvador and Honduras. If Nicaragua overthrew these governments it would be knocking at Mexico’s back door, and before we knew it the communists would be threatening the security of the United States. But the likelihood of an unstable Nicaragua pulling off such a task is not great. The fact is that the United States’ in terests are not directly threatened by Ni- caraguajand the U.S. has| no right to in terfere in the internal affairs of Nicaragua — or any other sovereign na tion. We certainly have no right to crit icize the Soviet Union for meddling in other nation’s internal affairs, when we are thrusting ourselves into Nicaragua. The U.S. has long worried about the infiltration of communism into its hemi sphere through Latin America. But in its efforts to fight communism south of its border, the U.S. has often alienated Latin Americans even further. If the U.S. wants to befriend these na tions, it should try being a friend instead of an interfering, domineering uncle, whose presence its neighbors resent. It must not sten in to “help” any nation, unless that nation asks for help. The U.S. might w’n more friends if it put an end to its constant support of right-wing dictators in Central and South America. By supporting any anti communist government regardless of its nature, the U.S. has helped put into power, and keep in power, ruthless ty rants who cared not for their people. Poverty and disarray breed commu- The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Brigid Brockman, Editor Shelley Hoekstra, Managing Editor Kellie Dworaczyk, News Editor Michelle Powe, Editorial Page Editor Rhonda Snider, City Editor Travis Tingle, Sports Editor The Battalion Staff Assistant City Editors Dainah Bullard, Kari Fluegel, Assistant News Editors Cami Brown, John Hallett, KayMallett Assistant Sports Editor Charean Williams Entertainment E.ditors Shawn Behlen, Leigh-Ellen Clark Staff Writers * Rebecca Adair, Cathie Anderson, Marcy Basile, Tamara Bell, Brandon Berry, Jeff Brady, Ann Cervenka, Michael Crawford, Mary Cox, Kirsten Dietz, CindyGay, Pete Herndon, Trent LeoDold, Sarah Oates, Jerry(Jslin, June Pang, Tricia Parker, Cathy Riely, Marybeth Rohsner, Walter Smith Copy Editors Jan Perry, Kelley Smith 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 Hurt Photographers Anthony Casper, Wayne Grabein, Bill Hughes, Frank Irwin, John Makely, Peter Rocha, Dean Saito Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper operated as a community service to Texas A&M and Bryan-Collcgc Station. 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, lacull) or the Board of Regents. The Battalion also serves as a lalxiratory newspaper for students in reporting, editing and photography 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 letien for style and length hut will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must oe signed and must include the address and telephone number of the writer. The Battalion is published Monday through Frida} during Texas A&M regular semesters, except torholida) and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $3$.25 per school year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Editorial staff phone number: (409) 845-2630. Ad vertising: (409) 845-2611. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. POST MAST ER: Send address changes to The Battal ion, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843 L t *T A cc