Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, September 19,1985
Opinion
Editorials from around the state
Clogged courts
There have been complaints for years about how slowly the
wheels of justice turn, but in Texas the situation is so bad that
the state judicial system currently is clogged with a staggering
1.2 million cases.
State Supreme Court Justice John Hill believes the state is
going to have to make some procedural changes to ensure that
justice will be served more efficiently in the future, and we
agree. Mr. Hill has appointed a special task force to draw up
some new rules designed to speed up the legal machinery, and
he is optimistic that the panel, which includes judges, lawyers
and state legislators, will be able to issue its recommendations by
the end of the year.
Chief Justice Hill says part of the problem can be attributed
to the fact that lawyers have had too much leeway in processing
cases, and he argues that judges shoiild have more authority in
scheduling cases and should be stricter in granting lawyers con
tinuances. It would be hard to disagree with Mr. Hill’s premise
that by giving the trial judge early case control through tighter
scheduling, more cases will be settled.
Dallas Times Herald
Anti-gay ruling
violates privacy
Whatever any of us may think about homosexuality, none of
us has any business treating homosexuals as criminals.
Yet that is what the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals did in
reinstating a 1974 law that made sexual intercourse between ho
mosexuals a criminal act in Texas.
Texans may oppose homosexuals on the strongest moral
grounds possible. But should it be illegal?
An enlightened society does not allow itself to keep archaic
laws.
This most intimate of issues simply is not a matter for the
court to decide. That issue is betterJert to the individual.
Beaumont Enterprise
Mail Call
Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves 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 the address and telephone number of the writer.
Inside view of Corps
EDITOR:
I just wanted to write a short note to
tell you about what most people don’t
see in the Corps of Cadets. I hope you
will print this so in the wake of the bad
publicity that keeps resurfacing (Pal-
Imeyer, Sept. 4) they will know they
have an ally.
Taps that helped making it say goodbye
to Joe a lot easier. I also owe a great deal
to Matt Davis and Steve Lord who let me
camp out in their room in front of the
TV on a regular basis, as well as to other
members of the Corps. God bless them
all. Were it not for them these last few
days I am sure things would have been
tougher on me.
I wrote a letter about Joe Swinney
that you printed in August and again
this last Tuesday. He was a very special
friend, and his death was quite hard to
take. Had I to face it by myself, I do not
think I would have handled it well.
There are many people I can thank for
helping me pull through — teachers,
my parents, Joe’s parents and friends
old and new 7 . But I also owe a great deal
to some members of the Corps of Ca
dets.
I am somewhat of an outsider, being
an officer commissioned from a differ
ent military school. And I can see how
uncomfortable it can make some of the
cadets when I am in their area and they
have to render courtesy appropriate to
my rank although they may be a senior
and I’m only a junior. Yet these same
people who are talked down as a group
for the actions of a few (though respon
sibility is constant, control can’t be kept
over everybody, every minute of the
day) took the time when I needed it the
most to make me feel a part of them so
that I would not be alone. It is for them
I most stand up and say I, too, believe in
them.
And to those who would say that this
is just a bunch of sentimental do-da, I
would say you’re right — it is. If you
ever said anything critical about the
Corps to one of its members and re
ceived an answer that translates into
something like, “You couldn’t know be
cause you aren’t in the Corps,” you see
how hard it is to be accepted by them.
But I’ll tell you the secret to that accep
tance — understanding and attitude.
Have the understanding not to judge all
for the acts of a few. That is too easy to
do. And don’t have the attitude that
they are all the same because they dress
alike. I know differently.
Mike Pryor
Cheers for Moore
EDITOR:
My utmost gratitude goes to Cadets
Van De Walle, Stallwitz, Escalante and
Carter for their laughs that made it bea
rable and their professionalism at Silver
Three cheers for Chris Murzin of
Moore Hall! (Sept. 12 issue of The Bat
talion). As a resident of Fowler Hall for
the past year, I find Crocker Hall’s
chants extreme/y offensive. I often won
der why they bother putting vulgarity in
their chants, when it (vulgarity) is ever
present in their actions. As for the role
of “gentlemen on campus,” the men of
Moore Hall clearly deserve this title, for
recognizing and stating their true feel
ings. Thanks, guys!
Trade Green ’88
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Ins and outs of economy drive
Texas A
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that tries t<
informal,
(Whilst Art Buch-
wald is on vacation
we reprint some
columns from the
past.)
Companies
throughout the
world are either in
the midst of ex
panding or in the
process of econ
omizing. It de
pends on what the -
last financial report
Art Buchwald
looked like. One
major corporation has closed down all
its European supervisory offices in a
wave of economy the likes of which
hasn’t been seen since the last economy
Wave.
Since most people are innocent vic
tims of economy drives, I have, as a pub
lic service, contacted Mr. Robert Gold-
bogen, who specializes in studying
economy drives and their effect on the
economy.
“Mr. Goldbogen, what does an econ
omy drive really mean?”
“It means,” Mr. Goldbogen said, “that
the president of the company has had to
report to the stockholders that the prof
its are lower than anticipated; there is in
fact a loss and he is immediately instigat
ing the necessary measures to turn the
tide. As a start, he announces an econ
omy drive will be put in effect. If he’s
still president after the report he has to
follow through on his promise.”
“What does he do first?”
“He fires two men, one in the mail
room and the elevator operator.”
“But who runs the elevator?”
“At a cost of only $55,000, a self-serv
ice elevator is installed.”
“That’s all?”
“No, it really isn’t as economical to
fire the mail room employee as one
might think. Someone has to deliver im
portant packages and letters by hand, so
a higher-priced employee is sent in
stead. This person, not familiar with the
city, takes twice as long to do the job.
“When the president discovers that
the firing of the mail room employee
and the elevator operator has not solved
his problem, he makes further econ
omies.”
“How does he do this?”
“Every large company has certain
people that they employ just to blame
things on. They have to be on the job
when things go wrong. Each vice presi
dent might have one chief blame-taker
and three assistants. The chief blame-
taker distributes the blame among the
others. Since there are enough people
to spread the blame about, no one gets
in trouble. But then the president sends
down word to the heads of the de
partments that they have to cut their
staffs and instead of four people, they
can only have one.”
“The department head naturally
keeps the chief blame-taker?”
“Not necessarily. The department
head keeps the one who takes the blame
the best. The chief blame-taker may be
good at dispensing blame, but weak on
taking it himself.”
“Then the economy problem is set
tled?”
“On the contrary, this is the most
dangerous type of economy there is.
Since the head of the department keeps
blaming one person for everything that
goes wrong, eventually the president
asks why the head of the department
doesn’t fire him. We know the answer.
If the head of the department fires
him, then he will have to take the
blame himself.
ure anyone who would do
like this must be
icussion
irofessor’:
thing at a time a f ter
a great deal to the firm, and Advisory
survive the cuts and possiblyew
the raise.
king botl
agieemem
Committei
Responsib
sa's the
iyen form.
“There are other methods. 11
one man w ho owned two cars. Ot
drove and the other he kept
in the company parking lot netpu meml
the spot reserved for the presJr' P e
car. No matter what time the ft*Hart st
. ■ • L Much th
dent came out, day or night,■ e( i t | ie
man’s car was there, and the pi A&M Pres
dent assumed he was inside wori|^ ua " s
■nts.
for Dear Old Inc., Incorporatecr
made quite an impression on thepl
idem, so much so that whenhel
the choice of firing the manorll
self, he immediately resignedandl
man who owned the car is nowptl
dent of the company.”
Art Buchwald is a columnistfoii
Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
“When he takes the blame, he will
be fired as well, and pretty soon the
president will have to take the blame.
Then the stockholders will force his
resignation. When you start firing
people who absorb blame, you’re
really in a fix.”
“What can one do to make sure one
is not a victim of an economy cut?”
“Take the bull by the horns. When
you smell an economy cut you must
immediately go in to see the boss and
ask him to let you go.
“Tell him you’re expendable, and
you feel the company is not getting its
money worth. The boss will immedi
ately smell a rat and decide you’re try
ing to go over to the opposition and
you will be kept on the payroll until
hell freezes over.
“Another method of staying on is
that as soon as an economy wave is an
nounced the person must demand a
raise and a vacation. The boss will fig-
V
SHARK
0“
r s
Unittd Feature Syndicate
MAG6UUES
HOVSTOH PP4r
11 I KNOW ’THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH'.» BUT I HAP NO
IPEA THE MEEK WOULP INHERIT THE $2 TRILLION NATIONAL PEBT!,
-
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