Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, February 20, 1986
Revenue shortfall
price for inaction
Gov. Mark White ordered a 13 percent reduction in general
revenue spending Tuesday. The executive order means a $68
million cut for Texas A&rM this fiscal year and next. Action
could have been — and should have been — taken before the
revenue shortfall got out of control.
It is still not too late.
The $1.3 billion shortage in this year’s state revenue is no
surprise, but harbingers of financial difficulties were ignored.
State Comptroller Bob Bullock warned Feb. 13 that plum
meting oil prices would create a drastic reduction in state in
come. Bullock also outlined other problem areas — declining
revenue from natural gas and sales tax.
Bullock also claims he warned state leaders of the impending
shortfall last March. The State Legislature had plenty of time to
act but did nothing.
There still is time to call a special session of the Legislature.
It’s not too late to come up with alternatives to White’s indis
criminate scissors.
The legislators are reluctant to call a special session because
generating new sources of revenue usually means raising taxes
— something politicans don’t like to do in an election year.
But Texas’ financial woes can’t be put off until our state offi
cials are comfortably incumbent. Nor can they be left to Gov.
White’s executive orders.
Our representatives need to call a special session to find al
ternate revenue sources now, before this University and the en
tire state suffers from the Legislature’s procrastination.
The Battalion Editorial Board
Isn’t it wonderful?
I often am
asked why I don’t
write something
that represents the
opinions of the
majority of the
student body.
Here goes:
Isn’t it wonder
ful to go through
life and not ask
questions?
Isn’t it wonderful to blindly accept ev
erything your parents have told you?
Isn’t it wonderful to think that be
cause America is the best country in the
world we don’t have to do anything to
make it better?
Isn’t it wonderful to think that be
cause Texas A&M is the best school in
the world we don’t have to do anything
to make it better?
Isn’t it wonderful to violently oppose
anything that we don’t understand?
Isn’t it wonderful to have football and
basketball games so we don’t have to
worry about other things?
Isn’t it wonderful to be able to hide
behind tradition instead of trying to see
if something new and different might
work just as well if not better than the
old ways?
doing God’s work because God must
need all the help He can get?
Isn’t it wonderful to have a group like
Accuracy In Academia to warn us that
certain professors might actually teach
us something?
Isn’t it wonderful that we can watch
24 hours of television a day and be rea
sonably sure that we won’t be asked to
think about anything we’ve seen?
Isn’t it wonderful to be able to listen
to most of today’s music and be rea
sonably sure that we won’t be asked to
think about anything we’ve just heard?
Isn’t it wonderful to be a Texan with
out having any Mexican or American
Indian blood in your family?
Isn’t it wonderful that South Africa
and the Philippines are such good
friends that we don’t have to question
what their leaders do to their people?
Isn’t it wonderful that guys can’t get
pregnant?
Isn’t it wonderful to know that might
makes right and that he who carries the
biggest stick wins?
Isn’t it wonderful to go to church ev
ery Sunday to hear about love so that we
can have the rest of the week to hate?
Isn’t it wonderful that when America
does it, it’s maintaining world peace but
when anyone else does it, it’s terrorism?
Isn’t it wonderful that we are better
than they?
Isn’t it wonderful that we have such a
great president like Ronald Reagan who
is so brilliant that he will do what’s best
for us so that we don’t have to be both
ered with political matters?
Isn’t it wonderful that we have a head
coach who gets paid millions of dollars
more than our best teachers?
Isn’t it wonderful that we have an
alumnus who gives us bell towers in
stead of cluttering up our library with
books?
Isn’t it wonderful to wear the same
clothes that everyone else wears?
Isn’t it wonderful to make fun of
those who aren’t wearing the same
clothes that everyone else wears?
Isn’t it wonderful to know that every
thing is either black or white and there
are no shades of gray in between?
Isn’t it wonderful that Hollywood
makes movies like “Rocky IV,” “Rambo:
First Blood Part II,” “Invasion U.S.A.”
and “Red Dawn” that teach us about
how evil the Russians are?
Isn’t it wonderful that unwanted pre
gnancy is solely the woman’s fault even
though there was a man present at the
time of conception?
Isn’t it wonderful to live in a state
where the legislature has to make laws
to tell the people that school is more im
portant than football?
Isn’t it wonderful that Jerry Falwell is
Isn’t it wonderful to make lots of
money regardless of what happens to
other people?
Isn’t it wonderful to be able to get a
degree from a world-class university
and not have to read Shakespeare, Dick
ens, Twain, Plato, Thoreau, Hemming-
way or Marx?
Isn’t it wonderful to live in a state
where you can drink and drive as long
as you wear your seatbelt?
Isn’t it wonderful that white is better
than other colors?
Isn’t it wonderful tp be able to believe
anything you want and be reasonably
sure that you will not have to answer for
your beliefs?
Isn’t it wonderful to have Star Wars
so we don’t have to worry about trying
to stop a nuclear war?
Isn’t it wonderful that men are men
and women are usually where they
should be?
Isn’t it wonderful to have freedom of
speech as long as some people don’t
abuse it?
Isn’t it wonderful to be able not to use
certain parts of your body?
Isn’t it wonderful to know that God
loves you even though you are the most
unlovable creature in the universe?
Not all of the student body is like this.
Isn’t it wonderful?
Karl Pallmeyer is a senior journalism
major and a columnist for The Battal
ion.
■ ALS I
Chairmai
Wrdnesd
"Buster”
attorney
Htrake’s I
would be
on the G<
■ “We c(
isl a qu
[would m;
te? Stral
■vis of 'I j
pro me ( •<
■ The i
courts afi
cep Brer
was not
Hed as t
Bikson i
ne gene
Ibrown
rente C
Marcos’ ‘landslide’ election
unlike any in the
Jar his
Irder fix
SpeaN in
■gible,
thpSupn
jBrowr
nthal
Jen har
K g (
so r es a i
One of the most
miraculous politi
cal victories in
modern times
took place last
week in San Nich
olas, the h o m e -
town of Philippine
President Ferdi
nand Marcos.
Marcos received
13,643 votes, and
housing, jobs and a discount on office
space in any building Mrs. Marcos owns
in New York City.”
Art Buchwald
his opponent, Mrs. Corazon Aquino, got
0. There has never been an election con
sensus like it in the Free World.
I called Manila and congratulated
one of Marcos’ campaign managers for
the outstanding job his people did in
San Nicolas.
“We were hoping to have a larger
turnout to add to our plurality.”
“How can you be sure if you’d had a
larger turnout the voters would have
gone for Marcos?”
“No one can be sure of anything in a
Filipino election; you just hope for the
best.”
“Weren’t you surprised that not one
voter in San Nicolas cast a ballot for
Mrs. Aquino?”
“We had a gut feeling it might hap
pen. Marcos ran an awfully good cam
paign, promising the people rice and
“There are some people in the
United States, and I’m not one of them,
who insist there must have been at least
token opposition to the president. They
can’t believe the shutout for Aquino."
“There was opposition to the presi
dent. You can’t have a democracy with
out opposition. Many people in San Nic
olas wanted to vote for Mrs. Aquino.”
“Why didn’t they?”
“They couldn’t get out of their
homes.”
in the box, we fished it out and tort B"
<uid made him eat it. Then whet ■fEight
tried t(> vote ai^ain, we arrestedhicHgumer
\''iing twice in a pirsidnitialekt®®l ui r <
Now Juan is with his motherandf™ aiv m
jail. President
in
keeping the family together.
Marcos
jional pi
■'It ’s fortunate vou stopped Jdngsalar
Otherwise Mrs. Aquino wouldlwB^ so ’
( ei\ed one \ote in San Nicolas.” B.'. atl<>1 '
, , , ■llback.
“He would have never simp
“Why not?”
“Because the army had surrounded
them to protect them from the support
ers of Marcos. Our main objective in the
election was to save lives. I will tell you
about one man in San Nicolas. His name
is Juan, and he was mad at Marcos be
cause someone had put his father and
mother in jail. So he said he was going to
go to the polls and cast a ballot for
Aquino.
“We said very politely, Juan, don’t be
a troublemaker. Mrs. Aquino has no ex
perience. Only Marcos can get your
mother and father out of jail.’
“But he said he would still vote for
Aquino. So when he dropped his ballot
A the i
Our poll watchers are too good.ibthato
Nicolas is very dear to PresidentMrBHe ss
heart, and it would he terrible foriir tors —
the outsich- win Id saw that tfiereBP 0an
people in his hometown whodi® 1 ^ m
want him to serve again.” being rx
“Did you prevent many peopleP ever cl
voting bv force?” ■"
“Not many. It was easier tobuyB
votes. We have a hospital and oifj
fund just for the elections. It’stlifj
lady’s pet charity.”
“Then 1 assume you are satisfied
e results in San Nicolas?”
“You are never satisfied in am
in. We know we could have done
th
1
ter.’
“If you could sum it up, what®
Marcos win so handily in SanNicol®
“Charisma.”
Art Buchwald is a coiuninistfof
Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
Mail Call
A change of style, please
EDITOR:
This letter is in response to Michelle Powe’s column last
Friday, “Striving for equality will never go out of style.” Yes,
hopefully equality won’t ever go out of style — one thing I
hope and pray will go out is the predominant writing style of
The Battalion’s opinion columnists. This semester we have
been treated to a lot of catch words and cut hypothetical sce
narios, such as Powe’s fantasy questions posed about “anti
feminists.” (“Are the women afraid they’ll start to like wear
ing men’s clothing? . . . ”)
Whatever happened to the practice of looking at your op
position’s arguments rationally, intelligently and honestly (i.e.
no misquoting or twisting of the facts) and then refuting them
with your own well-thought out arguments? When you resort
to ridicule — as in Michelle’s vision of Phyllis Schlafly, Jerry
Falwell, and all the members of Concerned Women for
America “cackling and chortling” while dancing around a
copy of the Equal Rights Amendment — you only discredit
yourself and your opinion.
Are these “anti-feminists” really “a small, but radical
bunch of well-organized, well-financed antiegalitarians?” It is
interesting to note that currently CWA’s membership is
560,000 strong — that’s more than the membership of NOW,
the League of Women Voters and the Women’s Political Cau
cus combined. If you can be wrong about “small, radical
bunch,” I wonder what other parts of that sentence could be
wrong?
Florence Mayes ’83
Good work, SCONA
EDITOR:
This letter relates to SCONA and the good work they ac
complished in informing the public about complex issues
such as the Arab-Israeli conflict. Many of us generalize that
Arabs are terrorists. After the talks presented by SCONA
speakers, I was able to see that there’s much more to it than
terrorism. I feel I know and understand their side and his
tory better. I found out that the information we getfrotl
media is incredibly biased.
Now with respect to the letter from Barry Lanes,bB
“noting the article” in The Battalion, did he notice tl®
talks were open to the public? Is he concerned aboil t
aware of the Arab-Israeli conflict? What does he think f
Arab people? Does he have any Arab friends? He pi/®
takes a class with an Arab student, has he asked here
how they feel about the issue? He really must be blindl
to say illogical rationale about terrorism.
I’m not for terrorism on either side, but please
blame it all on Arabs. There are many Christians in Li
that have killed and many Jews in the United StatestliJif
port this killing, so where have they left their praise I®!
port tms killing, so wiiere liave they left their praise 1 ®!
Ten Commandments . . . “Thou shall not kill?”
Maria G. Quintanilla
Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. TiifT,. .
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effort to maintain the author's intent. Each letter must be signed^M
include the address and telephone number of the writer.
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The Battalion Editorial Board
Editor
Managing Editor
Opinion Page Editor.
City Editor
News Editor
Sports Editor
..jetty
.CathieA' 1 */ /a
.TravisW FJ
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