Page 2AThe Battalion/Monday, April 29, 1985
OPINION
Shultz should read
U.S. history books
Secretary of State George Shultz told State Department em
ployees Thursday Congress’ refusal to aid Nicaraguan rebels
demonstrates the same lack of faith Americans displayed during
this country’s involvement in Vietnam.
“The larger lesson of the past decade is that when America
lost faith in herself , world stability suffered and freedom lost
ground,” Shultz said. “This must not happen again.”
But Shultz is conveniently overlooking the reasons for our
“lost faith” in the Vietnam fiasco. America was concerned be
cause we were not upholding democratic ideals, we were fight
ing a war we could not hope to win, in a country which had
never in its history experienced anything even closely resem
bling democracy.
“Our goals in Central America are like those we had in Viet
nam: democracy,economic progress and security against aggres
sion,” he said. However, Shultz ignored other vital similarities
between Nicaragua and Vietnam.
Recent photographs, taken by a 21-year-old American col
lege student and a Contra supporter who spent time with the re
bels, depicts a Nicaraguan sympathizer digging his own grave
with his hands, lying down in it, and being stabbed in the throat
and abdomen by “freedom fighters.”
As in Vietnam, we are trying to spread our democratic ideals
to a country which shows little understanding of them. Such dig-
youi-own-grave policies used by the Contras are reminiscent of
South Vietnam’s President Diem, who, after being put in power
by the United States, executed his personal enemies for such
reasons as not sharing his Catholic faith. In the Nicaragua situa
tion, it appears “democratic” leadership could be similar to what
Shultz calls “the special ruthlessness of communist rule.”
Faith in Vietnam was lost as Americans became more and
more certain the war was wrong. If Shultz wants to make such
comparisons, he should read the history books first.
In his own words: “How many times must we learn the same
lesson?”
The Battalion Editorial Board
Reagan should have
been in better movies
By ART BUCHWALD
Columnist tor The Los Angeles Times Syndicate
President Reagan has had a great
deal of difficulty in the past few weeks
with the history of World War II. His
first gaffe was to believe that German
and American soldiers were buried in
the same cemeteries in Germany and
could presumably be honored at the
same time. His second one was to say
that very few of today’s Germans re
member the war and certainly none of
the adults now living participated in any
way. And finally, he really flunked the
course when he said the soldiers buried
at Bitburg were just as much victims of
the war as people who died in the Holo
caust.
What is one to make of the Presi
dent’s blunders?
There may be clues in a book titled
“The Films of Ronald Reagan” by Tony
Thomas, published by Gitadel Press
(1980).
Despite being under contract to
Warner Brothers, Mr. Reagan did not
play in as many World War II movies as
one might think. Yet his view of the war
and the Nazis could easily have been
formed by the ones he did appear in.
In 1941 Ronald Reagan went into ac
tion for the first time in a film titled “In
ternational Squadron.” Mr. Reagan
played a daredevil American stunt pilot
who ferries a bomber to the RAF" in En
gland. Once there he witnesses a child
killed in an air raid and joins the RAF to
get even with the Nazis. But Reagan
doesn’t take his flying job seriously and
while he’s messing around with a
French pilot’s girlf riend he misses a mis
sion. His American best friend substi
tutes for him and is killed.
This sobers him up as far as World
War II is concerned. He decides to
atone for his tacky behavior by knocking
out the French pilot and taking his mis
sion. After shooting down several Ger
man fighter planes in a smashing dog
fight, Reagan never got to meet one
personally in the film.
To my knowledge the only time Ron
ald Reagan ever came face-to-face with
the Nazis was in “Desperate Journey,”
made in 1942. He co-stars with Errol
Flynn as part of the crew of a RAF Fly
ing Fortress. In the film Reagan plays a
brash, amusing, irreverent but very
brave Yank.
After the RAF plane drops its bombs
on Germany it is shot down and the
crew are rounded up by a German ma
jor (Raymond Massey). The German
military in “Desperate Journey” are por
trayed not so much as villains as they are
bumblers and idiots. (The picture was
the “Hogan’s Heroes” of its time.) In
Reagan’s big scene he is being debriefed
alone by the major, who thinks the Yank
will tell him everything he wants to
know about the mission. Instead Ronnie
knocks out Massey, and then sits down
and eats the major’s breakfast.
After this hilarious scene Reagan and
the crew find it a breeze to escape and
make their way across all of Germany,
blowing up half the country with violent
acts of sabotage. In a slam-bang finish
they manage to steal a German bomber
and take off for England with Errol
Flynn at the controls. Having wiped out
Germany, Flynn turns to Reagan and
says, “Now for Australia and a crack at
the Japs.” That, as far as I know, was
Ronald Reagan’s only Hollywood action
in the European theater during World
War II. He did serve honorably in
Burma in “The Hasty Heart,” and in the
Korean theater in an MGM film titled
“Prisoner of War,” which was so bad
that it is said it hastened Mr. Reagan’s
decision to go into politics. The Presi
dent’s finest hour was “Hellcats of the
Navy,” in which Reagan was cast as a na
val commander on a sub in the Pacific
who wreaks havoc on the Japanese fleet.
Not only did Mr. Reagan win the war,
but he also won the girl, a nurse played
by Nancy Davis, who is now our First
Lady of the land.
I detail the films that Mr. Reagan
played in for only one reason. It ap
pears the President’s Hollywood war re
cord, while distinguished, certainly did
not prepare him in any way or shape for
the 40th anniversary of the end of hosti
lities with Nazi Germany. It also might
explain why Mr. Reagan is so ignorant
of World War II history. Even a bit part
in ‘The Battle of the Bulge” would have
made him realize that visiting a German
military cemetery where SS soldiers are
buried is just not the right thing for an
American President to do.
—
How about a PR consultant
for SG’s image problems?
Stuc
By REBE
Sta
As college
Iraduation, ere
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lecurity of estai
liese companie
or seniors andj
“It’s always
hen it’s offere
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isiting prof'esst
t&M.
Pam Spillers
if college accoi
lartment store,
tig for credit i
ious credit re
Itudents are i
arents’ add re
ills need to be
iddress. Paren
layment, Spille
"We’re tryin
hance to exp
my the thin
touldn’t have,”
Students she
lazards of own
hould know 1
elves from ere
on said.
Giving credi
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way card rec<
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type of f raud,
umber, not tl
Cor
Help wanted: PR
person to assist orga- [ T
nization with public
image problem. No Hallett
experience nec
essary. Gontact Texas A&M Student
Government. An equal opportunity em
ployer.
Sound like a good job?
No way! Bailey and Deardourff, the
good Republican political consulting
firm that it is, wouldn’t touch the job
with the proverbial 10-foot pole.
The crux of Student Government’s
problem lies well below the surface of
the image it projects. Image is only the
tip of the iceberg.
Student leaders freely admit that a
communication problem exists between
Student Government and the student
body. For its part, Student Government
suffers, not unsubstantially, from a
trend of student apathy that is gripping
many campuses across the nation, in
cluding Texas A&M. Students around
here just don’t get excited about much
of anything except the Aggie football
team and graduation.
But communication is a two-way
street. Unfortunately, students who care
must travel a road filled with potholes,
roadblocks and detours. Getting
through to Student Government would
be a formidable task even for a suicide
driver from Islamic Jihad.
Not that student leaders are totally in
accessible. Representatives of Student
LETTERS:-
Smuggled artifacts
taint Texas A&M
EDITOR:
When I saw the April 12th edition of
The Battalion I was shocked to read
about the actions of Dr. Michele Ga-
puto, professor of geophysics, regard
ing the way in which he acquired a
group of seven ancient Greek and Ro
man artifacts. He admitted that first he
illegally bought original artifacts and
then had to “hide one of them in some
purchased fish” in order to “smug-
gle”the artifact away from its place of
origin. Next, he admitted that he broke
Italian and United States laws by first
smuggling the artifacts out of Italy and
then smuggling them into the United
States. Not only has he set a poor exam
ple for others, but he also has placed
Texas A&M University in jeopardy
since it is now displaying stolen property
in the Pavilion for others to see.
This disclosure of an antiquities
smuggler among our faculty could not
have come at a more inopportune time.
For fifteen years our Department has
looked forward to the day when we
could offer our graduate students a doc
toral level program of study. The on
site Anthropology Doctoral Review
Team was on the Texas A&M campus
April 12 and 13. Among the list of
prominent anthropologists on that Re
view Team was Dr. James Wiseman who
heads an international committee de
voted to the recovery and return of sto
len artifacts. In addition, our Depart
ment currently holds excavation
permits in a number of foreign coun-
Government have spoken at Sully’s
Symposium, and several student sen
ators have been attending Issues and
Grievances Committee meetings. But it’s
not nearly enough. Neither of the
two draw large crowds. Even though
several student leaders including Sean
Royall, student body president, did
show up at the last meeting of the
year, it was too little, too late. Except for
selecting a speaker and speaker pro
tern, the Student Senate was finished f or
the year, too. If students had a legiti
mate gripe, it would have had to wait.
Neither of the two forums give stu
dents a large exposure to the Senate.
If students want to be sure their voice
is heard then there is only one place to
go — the Student Senate. And thanks to
the Senate’s passage of the student fo
rum bill, students will be able to do just
that, next year.
Speaking before the Senate will be as
easy as baking an apple pie. Just register
with the secretary one week in advance.
That’s right — one week in advance.
Then you’re all set to go. Except one
thing, don’t be verbose, each student is
limited to three minutes.
Tastes kind of sour to me.
Eric Thode, former speaker pro tern
in the Senate, put it best when he said,
“Right now our image is at an all-time
low.” Thode said Student Government’s
bad image has led to student apathy to
ward the organization, which in turn
has a negative effect on Student Gov
ernment’s performance.
tries where authorities are very sensitive
about the slightest hint that artifacts are
being smuggled out of their country.
Even though we enjoy the goodwill and
trust of these authorities, they might
have second thoughts about our activ-
ites if they were to learn that our Uni
versity proudly displays the booty ac
quired by faculty antiquity smugglers.
We hope that Dr. Caputo’s actions do
not jeopardize either our ability to exca
vate sites in foreign countries or our
chances to obtain our most sought after
doctoral degree.
Since these illegally removed artifacts
have been donated as a gift to Texas
A&M University, 1 feel that the Univer
sity Administration has only one valid
option: to set in process a quick return
of these artifacts to the governments of
the countries from which they were ille
gally removed.
Vaughn M. Bryant, Jr.
Professor and Head
Department of Anthropology
Thanks for memories
EDITOR:
On Tuesday, April 16, Dr. Denton
Gooley came to Texas A&M to speak on
the moral and ethical considerations in
heart transplantation surgery. These
who attended were afforded the oppor
tunity of seeing and hearing one of the
greatest heart surgeons of all time. I just
want to thank the Pre-Med/Dental So
ciety and Dr. Cooley for a night I’ll
never forget!
Tracy Fruia
Student Government should keep
Thode’s theory in mind when they kt
gin implemeting Project Visibility.,11
the visibility in the world won’thealst
rious wounds. Legislation like the sio-
dent forum bill won’t make it any bettei
either.
By BRIA
R
Thode, and Royall acknowledgedini
recent Battalion article that
Government has few formal pow
I hode said that though Student G«i
eminent has only advisory powers
those powers are important becauseik
University frequently follows Studem
Government’s suggestions.
And why is that?
“They want to know what studec
opinion is,” he said. “We (StudeniGoi
eminent) are 36,000 people with it
idea."
Following a
sod handling
;orage will ht
Imonella pois
nutrition speck
nee professor.
Marilyn Hag
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Haggard said.
Though a
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the Chicago a
John Hallett is a senior political
ence major and assistant editorialpii
editor for The Battalion.
The Battalion
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Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
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