Page 2/The Battalion/Friday, June 7 1985
f
i'i
OPINIOlNf
A vital message
for South Africa
The United States may soon be sending an overdue, but vi
tally important, message to South Africa — America will not
support apartheid.
The House of Representatives approved Wednesday a bill
that would put economic sanctions on South Africa until it ends
its apartheid system of racial separation. The Senate Foreign
Relations Committee Tuesday approved similiar legislation.
The House bill calls for bans on U.S. bank loans to the South
African government, new commercial investments in South Af
rican business, new imports of Krugerrand gold coins into the
U.S. and sales of computers or nuclear fuels, equipment and
technology to South Africa.
This legislation would be a step in the right direction.
Without foreign investment, apartheid will crumble, and the
people who have been oppressed for too long will have an active
voice in the government.
The time is now to tell South Africa that apartheid will not
be supported with American dollars.
The Battalion Editorial Board
Homes won’t ruin
‘stable’ community
Gov. Mark
White has once
again demon-
strated his supe
rior talents as a
manure spreader
and his inade-
quacy as a commu
nicator. To over
come objections in
residential neigh
borhoods, White
Loren Steffy
proposed locating homes for the men
tally retarded in “industrial areas.”
“You don’t just go out there and
move them in next door to a stable
neighborhood in which it would tend to
diminish property values or endanger
the stability of the neighborhood,”
White said Thursday.
If the homes were located in “indus
trial areas,” residents of the homes
would have difficulty learning how to
interact with “stable” society.
White failed to clarify what consti
tutes a “stable” neighborhood, or how a
home for the mentally retarded might
“destabilize” it. In some cases. White’s
statement might hold some merit, but
such a general comment merely appeals
to the stereotype of mentally retarded
citizens.
The problem with a halfway house in
the neighborhood is not what detri
mental effects it would have on the com
munity, but how many people would al-
low themselves to be blinded by
misconceptions.
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest.Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Kellie Dworaczyk, Editor
Kay Mallett, John Hallett, News Editors
Loren Steffy, Editorial Page Editor
Sarah Oates, City Editor
Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
The Battalion Staff
Assistant City Editor
Katherine Hurt
Assistant News Editor
Cathie Anderson
Entertainment Editors
Cathy Riely, Walter Smith
Staff Wl iters Karen Bloch,
Ed Cassavoy, Jerry Oslin,
Brian Pearson
Copy Editor Trent Leopold
Make-up Editors Ed Cassavoy,
Karla Martin
Columnists Cheryl Clark,
Karl Pallmeyer
Photographers Oreg Bailey,
Anthony Casper
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or the Board of Regents.
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ion, Texas A&M University. College Station, Texas
77843
John Murphy, president of the Texas
Association for Retarded Citizens, said
studies show homes don’t hurt property
values, and retarded citizens actually
benefit from living near residential
communities because of the close prox
imity of typical families.
When White was presented with this
idea, the governor whipped out another
stereotype.
“Probably the problem many of them
has is they didn’t have very good fami
lies to begin with in some cases. That
may be part of the problem. To put
them back in the area that created the
problem is not going to solve their long
term situation,” White said.
Mental retardation has myriad forms.
Possibly, family problems could result in
some mental disorders in some people.
However, mental retardation can also
be the result of an assortment of other
complications which are unrelated to
family environment. Many good par
ents, who head “stable” households have
children who are mentally retarded.
Because the eventual goal of many
homes for retarded citizens is to get the
individual to be a self-sufficient member
of society, locating them near the com
munity they eventually will try to join
seems anything but a problem.
The problem is the unwillingness of
people to aid the less fortunate. If resi
dents, and for that matter the governor
of Texas, can’t let go of their stereotypes
and help the mentally retarded enter
the community, then maybe they’re the
ones who should be shipped off to “in
dustrial areas” for safe keeping.
Portfolio
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.CHECKS AND BALANCES?
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...BALANCED CHECKS?
WHAT ARE THOSE?
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Why we have a deficit.
By IT
Many “homes” are actually halfway
houses designed to teach mildly men
tally retarded or emotionally disturbed
people how to survive independently in
society. They are not asylums for raving
lunatics who might escape and nail chil
dren’s foreheads to the underside of
Dodge Ram Vans, if they were, commu
nity concern would be understandable.
The idea is to integrate these people
into a community setting and away from
the institutional environment.
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By ART BUCHWALD
Columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate
sell a tax reform program than to set up
all the straw men in Washington who
are against it?”
Kuestioi
make is to take seriously anything Rod should
aid Reagan says on the road.”
A bunch of us Washington sophisti
cates were lurking around a bar the
other day when President Reagan, who
was barnstorming the country selling his
tax reform, came on the air.
“Hey,” said Beaver. “There’s Ronnie,
the people’s lobbyist.”
The President had the crowd in his
hands when he attacked the “special in
terests,” “bureaucrats” and “so-called
experts” who had “forgotten about the
America that exists beyond the Poto
mac.” Mr. Reagan got everyone riled up
because he told them Washington didn’t
care about them. His message was that it
was just the voters and him against “the
government.”
Dumberton said, “I haven’t met any
one who is against tax reform. I’ve met
people who are against parts of it. But
hell, most of them are Reagan’s best
friends. The housing industry, the oil
lobby and the fat cats have been his big
gest supporters. I don’t think the Presi
dent has ever addressed a lunch or din
ner for less than $1,000 a plate. If
special interests didn’t buy those tables
I’ll eat all the food left on their plates.”
Dumbarton said, “It makes Ronffl'
happy to pretend he has nothing todi
with what goes on here. And I’mone^
those who believes that anything tluj
makes Ronald Reagan happy isgoodfej
America.”
Capehart said, “Boy; he sure looks
mad.”
Beaver laughed. “He isn’t mad. He’s
putting on an act. There’s nothing that
plays better in Peoria than a President
of the United States who hates Washing
ton.”
Capehart said, “But he is Washing
ton. All those buildings out there are
filled with Reagan bureaucrats. His peo
ple have been here for five years. Why
does he make it sound as if he doesn’t
know who is running the country?”
I said, “Knowing the President as well
as I do I’m sure he is just resorting to
Pat Buchanan’s rhetoric. When Mr.
Reagan attacks Washington he really
means the Democrats in Washington
who are interfering with his programs.
And when Mr. Reagan says he wants the
government to get off the people’s back,
he really means he wants Tip O’Neill to
get off his back. The President’s strategy
is to turn the American people against
their elected officials. Being the guy on
the white horse is the role he plays the
best.”
Capehart was still the dissenter
have an exception. By demagoguiiii
against this town he takes no responsW
lity for the fact his Administration istt<|
‘Washington’ he is attacking. They’re
‘so-called experts’ that are running
country.”
I could see Capehart didn’t get tK
big picture, so I tried to explain it
him.
“The President has discovered
get no ovations from the American [#
pie when you defend their governmeiti
But he knows he can set them on fire !>'if
making them think everyone in V
ington is a crook. When Reagan rave*
and rants about the ‘special interest*
he’s just invoking his ‘make my day’s)! 1
drome.”
Loren Steffy is a junior journalism ma
jor and the Opinion Page editor for The
Battalion.
Beaver said, “Because he just struck a
political gold mine. Everyone is against
‘special interests,’ ‘bureaucrats’ and the
‘so-called experts.’ What better way to
“Well said,” Beaver told me. “We
must always keep in mind that those
special interests he’s flailing are the ones
he and Nancy keep inviting over to the
White House for dinner. And those tax
reform stonewallers that he holds up to
ridicule are the very corporation types
that keep meeting in the President’s
kitchen. The biggest mistake we could
Capehart wasn’t convinced. “There
something wrong with all this. Wit'
doesn’t he level with Americans and te*
them how much it really costs to run tit 1
country?”
Dumbarton said, “If you had a Jl’t 1
billion deficit and your Defense Depart
ment was paying $600 for an ashtra'
you would only talk about tax reforff
too.”