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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1985)
Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, November 13,1985 Opinion The agony of default Unless Congress decides to increase the federal debt ceiling by more than $1 trillion, the United States will run out of money by midnight Thursday. But should Congress bail the federal fat out of the fire? We can’t keep passing the bucks of deficit from one generation to another. Someone has to take the responsibil ity oi paying our debts. If Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling, Friday will be a bleak day. Social Security checks will be worthless. Payroll checks to members of the armed services — 2.1 million of them — will be uncashable. A $16 billion interest payment on Treasury secu rities will be unpayable. The exact effect on government-fi nanced student loans is unclear, but obviously, if the govern ment runs out of money, it can’t do a lot of loaning. The Gramm-Rudman Bill, the alleged savior of our budget woes, will do little more than put off current problems until 1991. The United States is in the position of an overzealous credit card user who finds getting into debt is easier than getting out of it. You can delay the payments only so long before the company comes looking for you. If you don’t pay, sooner or later you lose everything. i Our national debt is more than $2 trillion. Allowing it to in crease to $3 trillion won’t solve the problem. If you have money problems, getting further in debt doesn’t help you pay up. De faulting will not be pretty, but we can’t prolong the inevitable forever. It’s time to take responsibility for our debts and stop trying to mean ensuring a more stable financial situation for our children? We ran up the bill, and now we must face the agony of de fault. The Battalion Editorial Board RED STAR FINAL ^IZVESTIM i <0 T»C ' Freectottva Juwt miothtn- Yiord tor tose" 1 (OOSCOW , ecu' tqefb TEXT <DF ME9NIEN WTH PRESIDENT SKDNMD Ptesidetri [ThavKyw Threat of the bomb clouds vision of a peaceful world I was sitting in my car on Texas Avenue last week when I saw a mushroom-shape- d cloud of black smoke rising into the air near Eas- terwood Airport. “My God, we’ve been bombed!” I thought to myself, fj Camille Brown Of course I knew we hadn’t been bombed, but it was a good trick to'play on my mind to relieve the boredom. I was parked at a stop light that was tak ing a million years to turn green. The black cloud on the horizon was really the smoke from practice fire> set at the Firemen’s Training School, but it could just as easily have been bomb smoke. Scenes from the television screen P opped into my mind. Old war movies. ilm footage from Vietnam. News clips from battles in the Middle East. All of them show what it’s like during an air raid. And after. People running. Bombs dropping. Cars exploding. Tanks moving in. Ma chine guns. Crashes. Dead people. Dev astation. If that smoke at the Fireman’s Train ing Center was from a bomb, what would Aggies be doing? What would happen if College Station was bombed? Probably nothing. There’s nothing we could do except try to hide and hope the good guys would stop the bad guys before the city was flattened. As I was going through this traumatic scenario in my mind, a realization hit me. The importance of the upcoming Geneva summit hit home. Five days from now, President Reagan and Mik hail Gorbachev will meet in Geneva for two days and talk about arms control. The ultimate goal: world peace. The magic answer to world peace will not miraculously be discoverea in a two- day meeting. If they can overcome the language gap, philosophical dif ferences alone will slow the negotiations. The two heads of state will not have time to agree on worldwide disarma ment, or agree to cease all involvement in the internal affairs of other nations or agree to initiate a U.S./Soviet sponsored plan to abolish hunger and disease. But the mere existence of the summit will do some good. The face-to-face meeting of Reagan and Gorbachev Nov. 19-20 will get peo- le thinking about a threat that seems ar removed from College Station. The threat of war. And when people think akJ won’t take long for them todecidel don’t want it. On this campus, thaipil needs emphasizing. I've talked loi many cadets who want the chanceioj fight, kill and destroy. After all, that’s what they arebtij trained to do. But maybe the conference willfmj some attention on the seriousnessl war. And how close we are to actiu| having one. War is hell, as General Sherman When you think about it happei in your own back yard the magnified. When I realized how'e Noi Texai ByJOH You’re ap Ind spot a si . laringtochai that plume of smoke near Eastemf You grab y Airport could have been the aftewyourself for a of an air raid, 1 realized how horrife The bugle war must be. ■ ell > you race What if that was bomb smoke? Jr*T one t ^ 1 * 1 Now I have more riding on the si the | / j0tl * e ^ er cess of that meeting in Geneva. NoT- , know what’s at slake. 1“‘ 8 „ 61 „ ? The light finally turned green,4 ifiere'ire my concentration shifted cars on Texas Avenue. My little world goes on, thought twice about what it v like if it didn’t. 1 Mail Call ‘Anti-groders’ a minority former classes of A&M and are still with us today. EDITOR: I am writing in defense of Thomas Buford. I read the letter in The Battalion from the girl who was offended by the grode stories at yell practice. I am a firm believer in tradition, but also in the right to express one’s opinion. The girls who complained to Buford about the grode stories have the right to say they were offended. However, they must realize that Buford has to take the opin ions of the majority of the students when he chooses which stories to tell. The indi viduals who want the grode toned down are probably in the minority. If a majority of students complained, I’m sure Buford would tone down the grode. Get Grodey. Neal Maranto ’88 Silver Taps is a prime example of the greatness of spirit that binds all Aggies to one another. At no other university are deceased friends and peers honored more than those honored in front of Sully’s statue on the first Tuesday night of each month. either starrin |r you’re a l&M Living Chances ar The Living ration com] sted in A nr rimarily the ■ “Our orga portunity to -J| v e history,” Clarification S; The fictional Billy Bob McCai ! AlS ht referred to in Tuesday's satina ijave a lot ol Camille Brown is a senior jounti major and a columnist for Th ion. Another great tradition is the friendliness of our campus. I have often been told by friends and relatives who have visited A&M of the warmth they felt from the students and faculty here and many of these friends left with a new phrase added to their vocabulary: “Howdy.” A dollar well spent Many other traditions, both old and new, are an integral part of our lives here. From supporting our football team by standing at the games to the academic excel lence encouraged by the administration and faculty, our institution has been built on great traditions. gies, and they should be prou pride in Aggie tradition EDITOR: In response to Brian Koontz’ letter criticizing MSG Great Issues for charging a fee to hear Auschwitz survivor Marc Berkowitz speak, I can only say that for my part it was a dollar well spent. Berkowitz neither spoke nor acted “with feelings of vengeance.” Instead, he re lated a series of tragic experiences in a simple, straightforward manner. His voice held no rancor. There was no call for revenge, just the promise that it would never happen again. His message was one of hope and faith in mankind. After he Fin ished speaking, a German fellow approached him. I don’t know what was said, but Berkowitz listened, then shook his hand, then hugged and kissed the man. I left that night feeling small and humbled, thinking about how I let my trivial problems and and grudges cloud my outlook, when before me had stood this re- HypOOriSV CIS iTCICllTIOn markable man who had lived through hell on earth, yet who had survived free of hate and full of hope and dignity. We can all learn from such a man. One of the greatest aspects of attending a university like Texas A&M with its history of traditions is the common bond that is developed between the oldest of former students and the youngest of first-year freshmen. Aggies are just that, Ag- be proud ( ~ of their school and of each other, and this includes Therefore, Pallmeyer, before you sarcastically attack another issue concerning Aggie traditions, l suggest you study both sides of the argument and formulate your opinion with fairness and with an open mind. Don Fancher ’86 EDITOR: Les P. Beard Geophysics Graduate A few suggestions for Pallmeyer EDITOR: It seems that many of the Ags who are so pro-tradition and anti-change use the argument that adherence to tradition is “good” since it makes Texas A&M '’diffe rent” from other universities. Yet these traditionalists are usually the ones who claim that students who are “different,” those who want to change — for example, liberals, gays, women, fraternity and sorority members, etc. — are “not good” and should “go to t.u.” I am writing in response to Karl Pallmeyer’s editorial “A&M Should Offer De grees For Followers of Tradition.” While I respect Pallmeyer’s right as an individ ual to have his own opinion, I would like to offer a few suggestions for him to entertain. When did hypocrisy become a tradition? Glenn Murtha ’86 Traditions are not only what have made Texas A&M different from any other school, traditions have made Texas A&M into the great University that it is today. These beliefs and attitudes have emerged and grown through all of the 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. column by John Hallett is not it their hobby anv way related or affiliated d |We strive fo Bill McCaskill, the Student Senatot |i c on histori The Battalion regrets any income said, nience or misconceptions this i© “\y e want have caused. iuyths about ^ tvood has sta |) nce j n a | 1 j sl ^ like to serve The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest lournalism Conference shared.’ o b' th The Battalion Editorial Board Rhonda Snider, Editor Michelle Powe, Managing Editor Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor Karen Bloch, Cit) Editor John Hallett, Kay Mallett, News Editor! 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