Page 2/The Battalion/Monday, September 9,1985
nPINVON
TDC help wanted:
Experience needed
The problem of violence in Texas prisons does not have an
easy solution. In the past few years killings and beatings behind
bars have increased and show no signs of declining in the years
to come.
Gov. Mark White said Thursday he supports tougher mea
sures to reduce violence in state prisons, including placing re
strictions on mail between inmates. Prison officials suspect in
mates have been plotting prison violence through the mails.
In 1985, inmate violence — especially gang-related incidents
— has been responsible for 175 inmate attacks. Twenty-two in
mates have been killed this year.
But “tougher restrictions” can’t conceal the real problem
which faces the Texas Department of Corrections. The state-im
posed regulations aimed at making prisons more constitutional
required the TDC to increase the inmate-guard ratio to 6-to-l.
Guards with no previous law-enforcement experience were
hired, run through a three-week training program and put to
work. Many will admit they have inadequate training.
Meanwhile, inmate violence is rising steadily and even
guards themselves are becoming involved in illegal activities
such as drug sales to prisoners.
Upgrading the conditions in Texas prisons was a necessary
move, but in doing so the hiring standards for guards were low
ered. The surge in inmate violence seems to be a result of inex
perienced guards rather than lax policies.
Prison violence will not decrease with stricter regulations.
Each time the TDC has imposed rules aimed at limiting prison
ers’ access to potential weapons, the inmates find new ways to
make weapons.
Without more qualified help, Texas prisons will continue to
be a battleground for gang warfare.
The Battalion Editorial Board
Letter to the Readers
What we did this weekend
This is a new col-
umn that we hope Rhonda
m l! ‘ he Snider
editors at Lhe Bat- Editor
talion, to comma-
nicate more effec
tively with you, the readers.
In this column, we will attempt to
answer questions, discuss our policies
and keep you updated on happen
ings at The Battalion.
We, at The Battalion, want to
make our newspaper the best it can
be. We are making an effort this se
mester to learn more about how we
can do a better job at getting well-
written, accurate news to the campus.
To give The Battalion staff a better
perspective on how the campus and
community perceive the newspaper
and its contents, we invited represen
tatives from major organizations to
give us their views on The Battalion.
During a seminar Saturday, they
told us what w£ do wrong and how
we can improve. We received some
valid criticism, but we also recieved
some praise. One seminar participant
gave us an “A minus” for overall ef
fort. Another speaker gave us a “B.”
The seminar was like a good work
out: it hurt, but the results of what
happened Saturday will be great. We
learned our weaknesses and
strengths. We know we have plenty
of room for improvement. But most
importantly, we had a chance to meet
and hear a group of people who are
concerned about what we are doing
here.
Among those who sacrificed part
of their Saturday morning to talk to
us were Col. Donald Burton, com
mandant of the Corps; Wayne Stark,
special assistant to the president;
Gary Halter, mayor of College Sta
tion; Houston Chronicle reporter
Roy Bragg; Student Body President
Sean Royall; Tom Turbiville, sports
information director; Bob Wiatt, di
rector of security and traffic; Fritz
Lanham, Eagle features editor; Dr.
John Koldus, vice president for stu
dent services; and several journalism
professors.
These prominent people gave us a
variety of views of The Battalion. Stu
dent Government has had a very neg
ative view of The Battalion in the
past, Royall said.
Some administrators are scared of
us, Koldus said, because they’ve been
“burned” in the past.
Halter said the community proba
bly has little or no opinion at all of us
because they seldom see the newspa
per.
At the seminar we learned, not
only how we are perceived, but also
what we can do to improve. Most of
the tips were suggestions we’ve heard
before, but needed to be reminded of
again.
One of the most important things
that came out of the sessions was
learning the difficulties that some ad
ministrators face in their jobs. Often
we, as students, see things only as
they affect us.
For instance, Wiatt reminded us,
as he paced about the seminar room
reading a letter from an irate staff
member, that the faculty and staff
are as upset about the parking situa
tion as students are.
Koldus reminded us that when ad
ministrators won’t release informa
tion, it’s not necessarily that they are
trying to cover up something. It
could be that the issue is involved in a
legal battle or is a discipline case and
-they cannot release the information.
Royall reminded us that Student
Government and The Battalion
should think of each other as stu
dents and not as institutions.
We also learned some unexpected
bits of trivia. We learned:
• President Frank Vandiver’s car
has been towed three times in the re
cent past by the police department.
• The U.S. Army is the largest
employer of Texas A&M graduates.
• Halter says he has given one Ea
gle reporter permission to make up
quotes and attribute them to him be
cause Halter says he was doing it al
ready.
• Koldus generally works from
6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.
• About 450 people are involved
in Student Government.
• Football players are punished
for missing classes and are regularly
tested for traces of drugs in their
bodies.
The seminar was a success because
it helped us get a better view of ou-
selves and the consequences of our
actions. Knowing that, we can Con
tinue to improve and make The Bat
talion better.
Rhonda Snider is editor of The Bat
talion
Subscription film series offers
foreign movies as art form
Three weeks
ago a new theater
opened in College
Station. Those of
us who enjoy see
ing good quality
films were hoping
that the new the
ater would start
showing some
good quality
films. We were
disappointed.
I’m sure that there are a few other
film fans who would much rather see
Francois Truffaut’s “Jules and Jim,”
Ingmar Bergman’s “Seventh Seal,” Luis
Bunuel’s “An Andalusian Dog,” Fede
rico Fellini’s “SVa,” Michelangelo Anto
nioni’s “Blow Up” or Sergei Eisenstein’s
“Potemkin” than “Rambo: First Blood
II,” “Fright Night,” “Return of the Liv
ing Dead,” “St. Elmo’s Fire” or “Godzilla
1985.” The theaters in College Station
and Bryan don’t offer much choice. But
there is an alternative.
In the fall of 1984 Larry Hickman, an
associate professor in the philosophy
department, started the Alternative
Cinema subscription film series. This
fall Alternative Cinema, now in its third
season, will be showing 10 classic for
eign films including Marcel Game’s
“Children of Paradise,” Ingmar Berg
man’s “Virgin Spring,” Jean Cocteau’s
“Beauty and the Beast,” Luis Bunuel’s
“That Obscure Object of Desire” and
Leontine Sagan’s “Maedchen in Uni
form.”
Alternative Cinema differs from Ag
gie Cinema’s Suhday International Film
Series in that Alternative Cinema is
available to everyone while Aggie Cin
ema is only available to the students and
faculty of Texas A&M. For the most
part Aggie Cinema tries to bring in
huge audiences by showing the most
popular foreign films made in the past
ten years.
Alternative Cinema, which relies on
subscriptions instead of box office sales,
shows the older foreign films consid
ered to be classics. Alternative Cinema is
not trying to compete with Aggie Cin
ema. By showing films that preceded
and influenced later movies, the Alter
native Cinema films compliment the
films Aggie Cinema is showing.
Despite most of the crap coming out
of Hollywood, film is a valuable art
form. During its relatively short history,
film has been used to ask important
questions and provide intuitive answers
about mankind and the world he lives
in. There have been many film mas
terpieces, just as da Vinci’s Mona Lisa
is a masterpiece of art, Beethoven’s
Fifth Symphony is a masterpiece of
music and Shakespeare’s “Hamlet’’ is
a masterpiece of literature.
Film is often a more accessable art
form than painting, music or litera
ture. Film combines aspects of paint
ing, music, literature, history, socio
logy, psychology and philosophy.' A
well-educated person should know
something about film ‘as well as paint
ing, music, literature, history, socio
logy, psychology and philosophy. A
person should become “film literate.”
Many schools offer degrees in film-
making and history. Even Texas
A&M offers courses in the history,
philosophy and social aspects of film.
Alternative Cinema films are
shown at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays at the
Architecture Auditorium. Seating is
limited to 110 persons but many sub
scriptions are still available. Contact
Larry Hickman at the Department of
Philosophy for more information.
Karl Pallmeyer is a senior journa
lism major and a columnist for The
Battalion.
Mail Call
Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staffreserves the right
to edit letters for style and length but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each
letter must be signed and must include tthe address and telephone number of the writer.
Reagan’s cancer —
just hemorrohoids?
EDITOR:
Several weeks ago our elderly Pres
ident was hospitalized for the re
moval of a cancerous growth in his
intestinal tract — major surgery
which no doubt required an abdomi
nal incision, since he was placed un
der'anesthesia. During this time his
authority was transferred to Vice
President George Bush, by a circui
tous route in direct violation of the le
gal processes stipulated by Constitu
tional principles.
In four short days after that abdo
minal surgery, President Reagan was
back up on his feet — as spry and vig
orous as ever. Quite a miraculous re
covery, for a man of his advanced
age. I . doubt if even a man in his
prime could recover so quickly —
much less be able to ride horseback
three short weeks after such surgery,
while ostensibly recuperating!
If you ask me, I’d say the President
was hospitalized and operated on for
nothing more than the removal of a
hemorrhoid or two and not for major
surgery.
If such is indeed the case — as the
facts would seem to indicate — then
he was anesthesized under false pre
tenses, as indeed the President is cur
rently vacationing away from Wash
ington under similar pretenses, of
which — as indicated by the recent
flap over apartheid, which he was
abysmally informed about by his ad
visors — he is probably not aware.
William H. Clark
Why lot 71 is empty
EDITOR:
In Wednesday’s Batt Bob Wiatt
whines that no one is using lot 71
near the Meat Science Center be
cause no onfe wants to park there.
Take a look at the bus service to that
area and you’ll see why.
The shuttle buses, 99 percent of
which are not air conditioned, Bob,
don’t make a stop coming and going
to that area. The Academic bus will
pick you up at Kleberg and take you
on a 20-minute ride to Zachry or
Blocker. If you want to get back to
that spot you have to catch the
Agronomy Road bus somewhere
near the Coke Building and take a
20-minute tour of the vet school.
In all fairness, the Academic bus
will drop you off close, if you call 80
yards close. This may not seem like
much, but wait until the cold and rain
get here.
Surely, the bus operation people
could modify the route or maybe
even put in a new route that covers
the heavy traffic areas a little better.
Surely . . . but probably not.
David Baca
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Rhonda Snider, Editor
Michelle Powe, Managing Editor
John Hallett, Kay Mallett, News Editors
Loren Steff'y, Opinion Page Editor
Karen Bloch, City Editor
Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
The Battalion Staff
Assistant City Editors
Kirsten Dietz, Jerry Oslin
Assistant News Editors ,..
Cathie Anderson, Jan Perry
Assistant Sports Editor
Chareari Williams
Entertainment Editors
Cathy Riely, Walter Smith
Staff Writers.... Tamara Bell,
MegCadigan, Ed Cassavoy,
Ann Cervenka,Michael Crawford,
Cindy Gay,Doug Hall,
Paul Herndon,Tammy Kirk,
Jens Koepke,Trent Leopold,
Mary McWhorter,June Pang,
Tricia Parker.Lynn Rae Povec,
Marybeth Rohsner.Gigi Shamsy,
Kenneth Sury
Copy Editors Rebecca Adair,
Mike Davis, Sarah Oates
Make-up Editor Ed Cassavoy
Columnists .....Camille Brown,
Marcy Basilejohn Hallett,
Karl Pallmeyer
Photo Editor Wayne Grabein
Photographers kreg Bailey,
Anthony Casper, Frank Hada,
Kyle Hawkins, Jaime Lopez
Michael Sanchez
Editorial Policy
77ie Battalion is a non-prollt, self-supporting newspaper
operated as a community service to Texas A&M and Bryan-
College Station.
Opinions expressed in The Battalion arc those of the Edi
torial Board or the author, and do not nec essarily represent
the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, /acuity or the
Boa rd of Regen ts.
The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for
students in reporting, editing and photography classes
within the Department of Communications.
The Battalion is published Monday through Triday during
Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday and ex
amination periods. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semes
ter, $33.25 per school year and $35 per full year. Advertis
ing rates furnished on request,
Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Build
ing, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Ed
itorial staff phone number: (409) 845-3316. Advertising:.
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TOST MASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion,
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