Tact doesn't
come with seat
Freshman U.S. Congressman joe Barton demonstrated
Tuesday that tact and concern for democratic ideals don’t auto
matically come with a legislative seat.
Barton attended a news conference to endorse the death
penalty for spies. The Republican from Ennis emphasized kill
ing convicted spies should not be primarily a deterrent for other
spies, but because treason deserves the death penalty.
“Where I come from, what we’d do about it is just take ’em
out and string ’em up.” Barton said. His statement not only
makes Ennis look like a community of vigilantes, it shows a dis
regard for due process of law.
Barton is correct in his statements that treason is a heinous
crime and deserves strict punishment, perhaps even the death
penalty. But a capital conviction for spying can come only
through the proper judicial avenues.
In America everyone, even spies, is innocent until proven
guilty. “String’in ’em up” without even a fair trial is unconstitu
tional.
If Barton is going to play with the big boys in Congress, he
has to learn to use tact in stressing his point. Hearing a congress
man say, “Treason is a horrible crime that endangers everyone
in the nation and therefore deserves stringent punishment such
as the death penalty” has a more appealing effect than “Let’s
string ’em up.”
The Battalion Editorial Board
Romance rampant
during summer
The old saying
goes something
like: In the spring
a y (j u n g m a n ’ s
fancy turns to
love. Trust Texas
A&M to disprove
the cliche.
No, I don’t
mean that young
m e n o r w o m e n
don’t fall in love
Cheryl
Clark
leads to a state of like, followed by casual
lust. The lust develops into an infatua
tion and before the infatuation can bal
loon, there you have it, the end of the
summer.
Lets face it. During the summer in
College Station, there is not that much
to do. So creativity knows no limits as to
what an infatuated couple can dream
up. Isn’t that the secret of a successful
summer affair — impulsive, crazy ad
ventures?
during the spring
or during the rest of the year for that
matter. But for some reason unknown
to medical science, my astute obser
vations indicate that summertime ro
mances at this particular location run
rampant.
You may wonder what is the defi
nition of a summertime romance? Two
people captivated with each other, who
simutarieously lose complete control of
their higher brain functions, are re
duced to frivolous chatter, romantic
sighs and passion-ridden glances. These
people quickly develop tendencies to
walk in the park holding hands, gazing
at the stars and giggling like high-
schoolers with their first crush.
No, I’m not talking about a heavy-
duty, marriage-proposal type of ro
mance. As seniors near their respective
graduation deadline, those type of ro
mances begin to crystallize.
I am talking about a Katrina and the
Waves«type of romance, walking on sun
shine, “Like feeling alive.”
The fun-filled, light-hearted type of
romance that ends as soon as the sum
mer does or when the boyfriend/girlf
riend returns for the fall.
Perhaps you have experienced this
type of romance. It begins at the Grove
during intermissiop and just as quickly
ends at the Chicken with a good mug of
brew.
Folks, summertime romnnces are
great. No conditions, no demands are
made on either party. Both parties are
too busy during summer school to meet
the demands of a full-time affair. Sum
mer school requires everything to be
cranked up to warp speed to complete
the sessions on time. Consequently, you
have to put the romance into warp
speed.
College Station is ideal for summer
time romances. With the majority of stu
dents gone for the summer, people run
into each other much more often. Run
ning into people creates a crush which
- One friend remembered spending a
lazy afternoon sitting in Kyle Field on
the old Ag’s side of the stadium. She
and her friend sat and watched a sum
mer shower. It was a rare, quiet mo
ment between two friends, just watch
ing, listening and smelling the summer
rain.
A friend commented that during the
summer men just seemed more attrac
tive. Perhaps it’s the colorful attire men
wear this time of year — or lack of it. Or
it could be the smell of Coppertone in
the air acting as an aphrodisiac.
Whatever it is that makes men more
attractive to her, she can’t seem to curb
the impulse to flirt. Like the radar on a
plane, she zeroes on men casually strol
ling across campus. Men who are un
aware that they are being scanned for a
potential fling.
This condition is not unusual to my
male friends either. One of them com
plained that what was missing from a
perfect summer was a lady to take walks
in the park with. He didn’t understand
this compulsion of wanting a summer
time friend, but he knows that he is un
happy without someone. Just for the
summer.
He didn’t have many conditions she
would need to meet. She needed to be a
romantic like him, like to hold hands
and like cute, furry animals.
As I wrote this column, more people
came up with their own versions of a fa
vorite summertime romance. They all
remembered their romance with
warmth and a sense of magic linked to
the interlude.
But they all agreed that what makes
the romance special is that it ended.
How you end it is the important thing to
remember. End it on a good note ant^
later in life you will be able to recall spe
cial moments with an old friend. And
that is the point of a summertime ro
mance — special memories.
Cheryl Clark is a senior journalism ma
jor and a columnist for The Battalion.
Despite ratings, the hostage
crisis show must go on
By ART BUCIJWALD
Columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate
At some point in time, and no one
knows exactly when, the coverage of
hostage crisis becomes as important as
the event itself. Whether we like it or
not TV news is diplomacy and diplo
macy is TV news.
I was therefore not surprised to find
Farley Glitchfield, news director at the
Sky Network Company, in the SNC situ
ation room looking at a bank of mon
itors.
A voice came over the loudspeaker.
“The U.N. Ambassador oflsrael refuses
to discuss what his government intends
to do wath the 700 Shiite prisoners his
country is holding.”
Glitchfield said, “Did you tell him his
government’s position is vital to Bob
Haircomb’s lead hostage story tonight?”
“Yes, I did, and he said things were
too delicate for him to go on the air with
any statement.”
“Then dump him and go to one of
the Carter White House people. How
are our negoatiations going with the ter
rorists in Beirut?”
“The competition is trying to sab
otage us. ABC is telling them they can
get much better Nielsens if they give
them an exclusive interview. ,CBS is
dealing with another faction that claims
it controls all TV rights to the hostages,
and NBC is refusing to let us use their
satellite unless we share our tape with
them. Nabel Kamal, the moderate ter
rorist leader, says when it comes to ne
gotiating exclusives, he will only deal
with you.”
“Get him on the phone. Nabal, I
haven’t spoken to you since your people
blew up our consulate in Tripoli two
years ago. Didn't we treat you right
when you hijacked the 747 over the
Dead Sea last April? And remember five
years ago when you took over the USIA
library none of the other networks
would put you on the air? . . . Who let
you read your demands on camera?
SNC did, that’s who. You owe us, Nabal.
The other networks are sucking around
because you have control of the hos
tages. But just see if they’ll give you the
time of day, much less prime time, once
the crisis is over . . . No. Nabal, we’re not
interested in a joint press conference.
What kind of a news operation do you
think we run?”
“You have two hours to think it over.
If you don’t reply affirmatively we’re
pulling all our TV cameras and lights
out of your headquarters.”
The person sitting next to Glitchfield
in the situation room said, “That’s the
way to talk to him. I hope he knows ter
rorism doesn’t pay unless you deal with
us.”
“You have to talk tough or they’ll
walk all over you in a crisis situation. By
the way, whoever dubbed Kamal a
‘moderate’? He has car-bombed more
than seven buildings in Beirut.”
“We had to to call him moderate to
distinguish him from those who wiped
out all the Palestinians in a refugee
camp last month. Our new guidelines
are if they talk to us, then they’re mod
erate terrorists. If they don’t, they’re
radical killers. If Nabal won’t play, do
you want us to put on the back-up ter
rorist leader tonight?”
“Does he have anything to do with the
hostage crisis?”
“I doubt it, but nobody’s going to
know that.”
“Put him on standby,” Glitchfield
said. “Who else have we got?”
“A terrorist expert from Georgetown
University, an Oxford professor who
wrote a book about hijacking, a former
CIA Mideast operator — and Henry
Kissinger.”
“We had Kissinger last night.”
“It doesn’t matter. People like to see
Kissinger on TV during a national cri
sis. Flello? . . . Just a minute. Itsiif
White House. They’re asking if we hart
any new information as to what’s goin!
on.”
“I told them we’d call if there wJ
anything to report. Why do they keef
bugging us when they know we have!
hostage show to put on?”
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Kellie Dworaczyk, Editor
Kay Mallett, John Halien, News Editors
Loren Steif y, Editorial Page Editor
Sarah Oates, City Editor
Travis T ingle, Sports Editor
The Battalion Staff
Assistant City Editor
Katherine Hurt
Assistant News Editor
Cathie Anderson
Entertainment Editors
' Cathy Riely, Walter Smitli
Staff Writers Karen Bldclt,
Ed Cassavoy, Jerry Oslin,
Brian Pearson
Copy Editor Trent Leopold
Make-up Editors Ed Cassavoy,
Columnists Cheryl Clark,
Karl Pallmeyer
Photographers..../., ^' re S Bailey,
Anthony Casper
Editorial Policy
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