The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, July 09, 1985, Image 2

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    Page 2fThe BattalionATuesday July 9, 1985
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NASA needs policy
for ‘Lust in Space’
Years ago, tele
vision brought us
the adventures of
the Space Family
.Robinson with
“Lost in Space.”
The show chroni
cled the exploits of
one family, a self-
centered lunatic
scientist and a
boisterous robot.
sexual activity, there will be a lot of rule-
breaking in orbit. And if they say, “Well
you can only do it if you’re married,”
then NASA is imposing a moral value
on space exploration.
Loren Steffy
To solve the problem, NASA has a
team of psychologists investigating the
effects, both pro and con, of sex in
space. All seem to agree that a no sex
rule would be broken, or, if it wasn’t, the
mission would suffer because of tension
resulting from lack of coital satisfaction.
In those days, no one questioned the
“personal” activities of Mr. and Mrs.
Robinson. No one asked if Judy and
Don, the other non-family member of
the group, ever stole away into the alien
woods. And Dr. Smith never seemed to
mind all those years in space without fe
male companionship.
Later, Gene Roddenberry gave us the
now-classic “Star Trek.” But after three
seasons, more than a decade of reruns
and three motion pictures, we still are
left in the dark about the sexual activ
ities of the more than 400 men and
women of the Starship Enterprise.
Sure, Captain Kirk did a lot of
smooching and even got one or two
women in his cabin, but the rest was left
As astronauts' spend more time in
space, more personal needs will have to
be considered. When one man made a
solitary IS^minute space flight, NASA
didn’t have to consider privacy for the
But with space stations, lunar colonies
and years-long trips to Mars warming
up in the NASA bullpen, astronauts’
rights to personal privacy and sexual
freedom have to be accounted for.
But NASA seems to be taking the
problem too seriously. The best policy is
no policy. Even NASA must learn to
turn off the television cameras and al
low their astronauts some time for fun
and frolic.
to our imagination.
Now NASA is faced with a similar
problem. By 1994 America should have
an orbital space station which could sup
port a team of astronauts for months.
Naturally, with the possibility of men
and women being cooped up in a space
station for months, the question arises as
to what to do when the coital itch occurs.
In time, lust in space will be as com
mon place as lust in Hollywood B-mov-
ies, and no one will give it a second
thought.
If we’re going to explore brave new
worlds and boldly go where no man has
gone before, NASA needs to adopt a
hands-off policy on deep-space sexual
interaction.
Nearly all must have good
reasons for false claims
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By ART BUCHWALD
Columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate
If the astronauts are married, there
shouldn’t be too much problem other
than jealousy from fellow space explor
ers. But what if the couple is just casual
friends?
Can NASA expect consenting adults
to float around in a tiny space station for
months and never submit to carnal de
sire? Obviously if the space agency bans
After all, the Federation never told
Kirk he couldn’t fool around. But the
TV cameras did have enough taste to
respect his privacy in the numerous
bea utifu 1-sex-star ved-alien-i n-a-se-
cluded-place scenes.
Loren Steffy is a junior journalism ma
jor and the Opinion Page Editor for
The Battalion.
“It says here in the Wall Street Jour
nal that nearly all the nation’s top de
fense contractors are u^ider criminal in
vestigation by the Pentagon.”
My wife was aghast. “Nearly all of
them?”
“Yup, according to the Inspector
General nearly all of them are being
checked out for making false claims on
costs and labor, kickbacks, and bribing
government officials. Of course we have
to use caution here.Just because they’re
accused of "Wrongdoing doesn’t nec
essarily mean they did it.”
“I could see one company, possibly
two, but nearly all of them? That’s a lot
of companies.”
“Not really. When it comes to the big
boys we’re only talking about possibly
two dozen or so contractors that were
involved.”
rine has to do with whether someone
honest or not. If those people car
make money the old-fashioned waylil
Smith Barney does, they shouldn’t be
the business.”
Dens
the der
rause f
compel
Texas I
seum p
tertainr
The
pull vii
club ca
“Why did it take so long to catch
them?”
“They haven’t caught them yet,” 1
told her. “And with any luck they never
will. But in answer to your question, the
Pentagon has gone soft on whistle-blow
ers. There was a time when, if anyone
blew the whistle on a defense contrac
tor, the country would hang him from
the flagpole in front of the Secretary of
Defense’s office. Now we coddle them,
play up to them and even let them talk
to congressmen. Is it any wonder there
is a scandal in the military establishment
when they can’t even keep a lid on their
accountants?”
“They were making it the old-faM
ioned way. That’s why they’re beingiE-l
vestigated. It was par in the old days ill
pile on extra costs for defense work,anil
everyone accepted kickbacks and bribe
as part of doing business. 1 he reasoniiil
a big deal now is a few guys overdidj
and Weinberger is boiling mad becaust
he can’t get the money he asked for
We’ re making far too much of illegidl
mate overruns. Whatever the gumshool
come up with will be peanuts comparedl
to what the weapons cost us. BesidesJ
there’s always one bad apple in even!
barrel.”
M
“Suppose nearly all the apples art!
bad?”
“I don’t get it. You sound as though
you don’t mind if they overcharged us
and engaged in kickbacks, bribes and
wrongdoing..”
“Most of the companies are guilty of
nothing more than sloppy bookkeeping.
When you’re building billion-dollar
weapons some money has to fall
through the cracks.”
“Whose cracks?”
“The ones caused by using cheap ce
ment,” I said. “It’s easy for the two of us
to sit in this comfortable living room
criticizing people who make subma
rines. It’s another thing to actually build
them.”
“I don’t see what building a subma-
“Would you rather have lotsofweapl
ons and a little hanky-panky —or
weapons and honest bookkeeping?”
“Are those my only choices?”
“If the top defense contractors can’ll
have a little fun while they’re building]
weapons systems, they just might goi
of the business.”
“I think you’re putting me in an i
possible position. You’re saying just bfj
cause they make things that kill people
they should get away with murder.”
“I’m not saying anything until all the!
facts are in. It wouldn’t surprise mei
when the Inspector General gets fin
ished nearly all of them will have a good]
reason for doing what they did.”
“Nearly all of them?”
Today’s youth can rediscover 1960s’
idealism on Hoffman’s Nicaraguan trip
DO IT!
That was the
call to arms for the
youth of the
1960s. Today the
youth aren’t doing
much calling to
arms. To be hon
est, today’s youth
aren’t doing
much.
some progress in achieving equal rights,
the voting age has been lowered to 18,
and youth have some say in what goes
on around them. However, the cultural
revolution is not over. Once the ball be
gins to roll there has to be an effort to
keep it moving. It is up to our genera
tion to keep that ball moving. We
haven’t been doing a good job.
tionary ball rolling. But without exercise
the country will not stay healthy, and
exercise is never comfortable. Despite
what some choose to believe, America is
still having problems. There are still
some things to protest.
Karl
Pallmeyer
During the i
1960s Abbie Hof
fman and several others led thousands
of young people to do something about
the problems America was having. They
protested many things: American in
volvement in Vietnam, the draft, unfair
treatment of blacks, unfair treatment of
women, the voting age, governmental
policies and, most of all, the way Ameri
ca’s youth were being ignored by the es
tablishment. 1 he youth of yesterday
wanted to change their world so there
vyould be a tomorrow. It was the begin
ning of a giant cultural revolution.
In the 1960’s the youth shouted
“Don’t trust anyone over 30,” “Give
peace a chance” and “Revolution for the
hell of it!” Today the youth shout “Don’t
trust anyone under $30,000 a year,”
“Give Reaganomics a chance” and “Per
rier for the hell of it!” The youth of yes
terday listened to great songs like “Blo-
win’ In the Wind” and “Eve of
Destruction.” The youth of today listen
to songs like “Material Girl” and “Mo
ney Changes Everything.” The letters
LSD meant a lot in the 1960s. The let
ters BMW mean a lot in the 1980s. The
hippies went to see their favorite heroes
at Woodstock. The yuppies watch their
favorite heroes on “Richard Dawson’s
All-Star Celebrity Family Feud.”
Last month, after much prompting
and threatening from President Rea
gan, Congress approved $14 million in
aid for Contra forces in Nicaragua. Rea
gan and his ilk say the Contras are “free
dom Fighters,” Fighting the Marxist gov
ernment set up by the Sandinistas with
help from the Soviet Union. Others say
the Contras are a group of murderers
who are trying to overthrow Nicaragua’s
properly elected government, the Sand
inistas, and replace it with a facist
dictatorship. Many people are afraid to
get involved, fearing a situation similar
to the one we faced in Vietnam. Many
people have not formed an opinion on
the situation in Nicaragua because they
don’t know who to believe.
Vietnam, is leading a group to protest
American involvement in Nicaragua.
Hoffman has organized Amistad (which
means friendship in Spanish) to go and
see the effects the war that has been
sponsored, in part, by the United States
has had on Nicaragua. Armistad is an
attempt to make friends with the people
of Nicaragua. Once you have made
friends with the people you have made
friends with the government.
Amistad will leave Mexico City for
Managua, Nicaragua on August 13.
Once in Managua, you will be able to
visit marketplaces and museums, attend
social events and workshops, inspect the
war zone and tour the countryside. You
will also be able to speak to government
officials, agricultural workers, social
workers, military leaders and the citi
zens of Nicaragua. Translators will be
provided and you will be in no danger.
You will have eight days to learn, First
hand, the truth about Nicaragua.
The American youth of today owe a
lot to the youth of yesterday. Today, as a
result of the ’60s’ “revolution,” we are
no longer at war in Vietnam, there is no
draft (however there is draft registra
tion), blacks and women have ’made
Some may say the youth of today
have nothing to worry about so they
should try to become more comfortable.
The country is strong and healthy so
there is no reason to keep the revolu-
This summer you have an excellant
opportunity to find out for yourself
what is going on in Nicaragua. You have
an excellent opportunity to do some
thing about the situation. You can go to
Nicaragua with Abbie Hoffman
There is still time to get involved with
Amistad. You have until July 19 to make
your reservations for the trip. If you are
interested in this noble experiment, call
me at The Battalion for more details.
DOIT!
Abbie Hoffman, who led thousands
to protest American involvement in
Karl Pallmeyer is a senior journalism 1
major and a columnist for The Battal- ‘
ion.
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Jt>urnalisni 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 ii
Katherine Hurt
Assistant News Editors
Cathie Anderson, Trent Leopold
Entertainment Editors
Cathy Riely, Walter Smith
Staff Writers Karen Bloch,
Ed Cassavoy, Jerry Oslin,
Brian Pearson
Copy Editor !.Trent Leopold
Make-up Editor Ed Cassavoy,
Columnists Cheryl ClarK,
Karl Pallmeyer
Photographers ^reg Bailey,
Anthony Casper
Editorial Policy
The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper
operated as a community service to Texas A&M and
Bryan-College 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, /aim)
or the Board of Regents.
The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for
students in reporting, editing and photography classes
within the Department of Communications.
T he Battalion is published Tuesday through Triday dur
ing Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday and
examination periods. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per se
mester, $33.25 per school year and $35 per full year. Ad
vertising rates f urnished 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.
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battal
ion, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
77843