Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, February 6, 1986
Opinion
A step forward?
South African President P.W. Botha proposed several re
forms Jan. 31 which could be a crucial step toward ending apart
heid. The proposals are far from a breakthrough in social re
form, but taken in the context of South Africa’s civil rights
record, it is a step in the right direction.
Botha proposed an advisory council for apartheid reform
legislation which would include blacks. He also suggested doing
away with passbooks that restrict blacks’ freedom to travel. The
passbook would be replaced by a common ID for all races.Botha
also called for more jobs in poorer sectors.
Botha’s promises fall far short of black demands, and the
president obviously was attempting to pacify the recent surges
id i
of racial unrest and raise other nations’ views of South Africa.
But for now Botha’s proposals are just words. The South Af
rican government will have to take action before Feb. 20, when
foreign creditors decide if the country is stable enough to sup
port their loans.
The next few weeks will reveal whether Botha’s proposals
)posais
really are a step forward or just another attempt to shuffle
ifc
around racial reform with empty rhetoric.
The Battalion Editorial Board
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United Feature Syndicate
Filipino election shows desire for freedom
editor
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sen that
Tomorrow the
people of the Phil
ippines will have a
chance to free
themselves from
the dictatorship of
Ferdinand Mar
cos. Unfortunately
the odds have
been stacked
against them.
In 1965 Marcos
trious” war record and displayed such a
fondness for America and hatred for
communism, the U.S. government
never questioned his governmental poli-
Karl
Pallmeyer
With the rise of civil protests, which
Marcos attributed to communist insur
rection, Marcos assumed total dictato
rial control of the Philippines in 1973.
became president of the Philippines. He
had close ties with the United States and
began using U.S. money for land re
form and social programs. Marcos also
began using U.S. money to build his
presidental mansion, buy condos in
Manhattan and invest in America busi
nesses.
Because Marcos had such an “illus-
Since 1973, Marcos has imposed strict
censorship over the media. He has had
thousands of people jailed simply be
cause they have spoken out against his
government. Marcos’ more vocal oppo
nents have a habit of winding up dead.
Benigno Aquino, whose widow is now
running against Marcos, was killed
when he tried to consolidate political
oppostion against Marcos. (Marcos has
denied any involvement in Aquino’s
death saying: “I’m not the type who as
sassinates his opponent.”)
Protest from the Filipino people has
become to big to ignore. News of Mar
cos’ oppresion has reached the outside
world and Marcos has been forced to
hold elections. But good fascist doesn’t
give up that easily.
Marcos has been slinging mud like
any good politician would. He has been
flooding the media with his campaign
promises and attacks on Aquino. Since
Marcos controls the media, Aquino
hasn’t had been allowed much air time
for her views.
Marcos says that Aquino is too inex
perienced to be in charge of the govern
ment. How can anyone get experience
in a government that has been under
control of one man for the past 20
years?
Marcos’ biggest weapon against
Aquino is calling her a communist. It is
true that Aquino’s campaign against
Marcos has the support of some of the
communist factions in the Philippines,
but didn’t Allies have the support of
Communist Russia in the campaign
against Hitler?
Since the time the elections were an
nounced, Marcos has placed Manila,
capital of the Philippines, under com
plete military control. The govern
ment’s Commission on Elections has
deputized many of the nation’s military
leaders to ensure security during the
elections. With Marcos’ soldiers at the
polls Filipinos might feel obligated to
vote in a certain way.
Several groups have been formed by
the government and the opposition to
watch over the elections to insure
fairness. Ronald Reagan has
group of his own election obsene
the Philippines, But Marcos hasorij
that only his group be allowed*
150 feet of the polling booths.
According to Aquino’s suppd^ br0
the New Society Movement, Mf
party, may have spent as much EDITOU
million to bribe voters and thoscp a he^
are supposed to watch over polls' career is
geles City, a small town neaiAhB-to hei
residents said they each had telfaker fo
fered $5 if they would vote for Mat: | jj- a ^
The odds seemed to be stadcdsobented
vor of Marcos. Despite the outcoiffittiAng
election will show that the Filipino Tinan tl
pie want freedom. If you as I
Karl Pallmeyer is a senior jouniiBPy see '
major and a columnist for Thelm An o
ion. Spec tabic
Ml to se
Some big, wet birthday kisses for Ronald Reagan
work da^
sponsible
iinly coi
tal Harr
By the time you
read this, we will be
fast approaching the
birthday that Ronald
Reagan shares with
Richard
Cohen
me or, as everyone else sees it, the one
that I share with him. Either way, I have
a gift for him and it is this: XXXXX.
That’s newspaperese for some wet
kisses.
would cancel the State of the Union
speech scheduled for that night. No, I
said, he would do nothing of the sort.
He would incorporate the day’s events
into the speech and somehow bind the
nation, make it feel better — provide a
sense of purpose on a day when that
sense, like the shuttle itself, seemed to
have shattered into a million pieces.
Don’t read too much into that. The
gift kisses are meant as tokens of appre
ciation, even of awe, for the president of
the United States. Where he is wrong,
he is wrong and I have never passed up
the chance to point that out. But where
he is right he is supreme and that, it
seems to me, ought to be pointed out,
too.
Nowhere was that clearer than the
other day when the space shuttle Chal
lenger blew up, killing seven astronauts
and traumatizing the nation. Almost im
mediately, someone asked me if Reagan
I was wrong, technically. The presi
dent postponed the State of the Union.
But the sort of speech I was expecting
— we all were expecting — he gave any
way. You could quibble with a word here
and a word there, even perhaps note
that the words were written by someone
else. But the president accomplished his
purpose. I quoted him that night to my
son. “The future doesn’t belong to the
fainthearted. It belongs to the brave.
The Challenger crew was pulling us into
the future and we’ll continue to follow
them.” Yes, my son said. We have to
reach for the stars.
give— “the movie expectation.” I use it
sometimes in reference to Ronald Rea
gan himself. It means that you expect
life to conform to the movies or tele
vision— that, for instance, a punch is all
sound and no impact. I grew up with
movies in which big men hit each other
very hard and did no damage. It came
as a rude surprise to me to learn the
‘hard way that a punch in the mouth can
hurt something awful.
Reagan is the master of that movie
expectation. He has personalized it. He
brings with him the expectation that
things will turn out all right. This is the
expectation that kids have for daddy —
that he can make it better, make the
pain go away, explain things that really
can’t be explained. He did precisely that
with his speech to the nation after the
death of the seven astronauts.
Good old history will have to decide
whether this talent makes Reagan a
great President, a good President or
something lower down the scale. It will
have to take into account the deficit, the
lack of progress in arms control, an ossi
fied unemployment rate, the withering
of the national infrastructure, the poor
getting poorer, the amorality of con
structive engagement, the coming deba
cle in Central America — the lack of
leadership in almost every area other
than leadership itself. We really are
standing tall. We just ain’t going any
where.
ass of
oi
has
There is a term I use in a speech I
This is a talent. This is a gift. And in a
television age it is as important as mili
tary leadership once for the kings of
old. It is what a leader must do.
But this is a kiss. And so I must note
the recent New York Times poll which
showed, incorrectly, that the president
enjoyed a 56 percent approval rating
among blacks. (With a much larger sam
ple, The Washington Post put the figure
at 23 percent.) The Times’figure would
have been a stunning finding since not
quite three years before, his approval
rating was 18 percent. Yet only polling
professionals voiced skepticism
rest of us — and by “us" 1 ' nc l ul ' f '
columnists — thought that thisttwjjOT (Z
Of Ron Reagan doing his majji EDITOF
had even been able to win overtkff
ing grou p that has showed the mo*
tipathy. The Reagan Expectation'* 1 I. r
work again. I
When Gary Hart vamoosedtd y,'
blesome Gulch to announce natiK
that he would not run locally, I* ■ ®
lowed that if Ronald Reagan
us one thing it was the impoitan'l
ideas. Hardly. If he has taughtu*
thing it is the importance of dial
and leadership, of standing tal
when you’re in a hole, of making
one smaller by being so much It
For these qualities — for being jj'
Reagan at moments when, n
one else would do — he getsa" (l
served kiss.
Now, can we talk about Nicaragj
Richard Cohen is a columnist k\
Washington Post Writers Group'
Mideast peace
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest J ournalism Conference
‘Incremental progress’ made in negotiations
The Battalion Editorial Board
The Reagan ad
ministration has
fallen back on secret,
step-by-step diplo
macy to try to get
Barry
Schweid
AP News Analysis
Hussein of Jordan and Shimon Peres of
Israel, two of the three key players in
the Middle East.
Mideast peace talks started in 1986.
The outlook may be only marginally
brighter than last year when American,
Egyptian and Jordanian leaders all con
fidently predicted negotiations would
be started, but turned out to be wrong.
The third, Yasser Arafat, chairman
of the Palestine Liberation Organiza
tion, is being kept abreast of devel
opments by Hussein, while Cleverius
and other U.S. diplomats meet regularly
with Palestinians in the region.
Shultz tested the highwire with his own
on-site diplomacy after seeing Hussein
in Aqaba and Peres in Jerusalem. Shultz
reported he had found “a genuine sense
of movement.”
But as the year wore on, it became
clear the issues of Palestinian represen
tation and a proper forum for peace
talks could not be resolved.
package for Jordan that includes 40 ad
vanced jet fighter planes and mobile
missiles. Faced with a likely congressio
nal veto, the administration withdrew
the purchase last year when opponents
said they wanted more proof that Hus
sein was willing to hold peace talks with
Israel.
Michelle Powe, Editor
Kay Mallett, Managing Editor
Loren Steffy, Opinion PageEd^
Jerry Oslin, City Editor
Cathie Anderson, News Editor
Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
Editorial Policy
The Baitalion is a non-profit, self-support 11 ^ 1
per operated as a community service to Texac- 11 |
Bryan-College Station.
This year’s effort is different. It in
volves low-profile efforts by Assistant
Secretary of State Richard Murphy and
his deputy, Watt Cleverius, modest
claims of “incremental progress” and
virtually no public announcements
about their meetings and the details of
their agenda.
Apparently, the Reagan administra
tion is remaining true to the U.S. pledge
to Israel not to deal with the PLO until it
accepts the legitimacy of Israel and U.N.
Security Council resolutions calling for
a peaceful settlement in the Middle
East.
Israel simply refuses to sit down with
Palestinians linked to the PLO or to per
mit the Soviet Union, with which it has
no relations, to play a key role in the ne
gotiations. Hussein and Arafat insisted
on both conditions.
Murphy made another pitch for the
sale before a congressional subcommit
tee, and the administration is preparing
to ask Congress for $135 million in mili
tary and economic assistance to Jordan
— an increase of nearly 50 percent over
this year.
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are v
Editorial Board or the author and do not ne(e& :J
resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrator ;
or the Board of Regents.
The Battalion also serves as a laboratoryne^pr j
students in reporting, editing and photograph i
within the Department of Communications.
ra
Murphy, a tireless envoy, met sepa-
itely last week in Europe with King
Arafat, however, retains a veto over
the Palestinians who would sit across the
negotiating table from Israel as part of a
joint delegation of Jordanians.
Last May, Secretary of State George
The question now is whether Murphy
and the other American diplomats can
bridge the differences or come close
enough to get peace talks started.
Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., the sub
committee chairman, indicated Con
gress will have to know more about Jor
dan’s intentions before going ahead.
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Pending is an administration arms
Barry Schweid covers diplomacy for
The Associated Press.
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