Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, March 12, 1986
Justice for all?
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that police may “trick”
lawyers so that they can question a suspect without having an at
torney present. The ruling not only perverts the intentions of
the Miranda Rule, it is a hyphcritical decision on the part of the
court.
In a 6 to 3 vote, the court reversed a lower court decision
that threw out a murder confession because police did not tell
the suspect his attorney had tried to contact him earlier.
The Miranda Rule specifically states that a suspect has the
right to have an attorney present prior to and during question
ing. Unless the suspect waives his rights, no evidence obtained in
the interrogation may be used against the accused.
If police prevent a suspect from having an attorney present
they violate the Miranda Rule.
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said while the justices “share
(a) distaste for the deliberate misleading” of an attorney, “we
have never read the Constitution to require that the police sup
ply a suspect with a flow of information to help him calibrate his
self-interest in deciding whether to speak or stand by his rights.”
Not only is this advocating dishonesty in the legal system, it
contradicts the court’s 1966 ruling. The new decision takes ad
vantage of suspects who aren’t aware that certain statements
may violate their self-interest. It opens the legal process to all
sorts of chicanery.
The Miranda Ruling answered a need for suspects to be
aware of their rights and to prevent unfair interrogation by po
lice. The new ruling could disrupt this vital contact between the
accused and his lawyer.
The Battalion Editorial Board
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.
A hero in our midst
EDITOR:
I would like to take the opportunity to thank the fearless protector of law
and justice that saved not only my life, but possibly the lives of thousands of
other Aggies.
On Mar. 7,1 was walking home from a test at around 9:30 or 9:45 p.m. in
the vicinity of Heaton Hall on almost deserted Ross Street. The only other
acitvity in the area consisted of a few other unsuspecting pedestrians and two
cyclists heading west on Ross. The bikes were in their allotted paths when all
of a sudden one cyclist decided to pass the other (a much slower bicycle).
This is when our hero jumped into action. Without any thought of his
own safety, he turned on his lights and pursued this hardened, potential pe
destrian-killer. After a pursuit of at least 50 yards, at speeds nearing 15 miles
per hour, the criminal was finally Stopped. Granted, there was absolutely no
other traffic on Ross at the time, but our noble guardian of safety must have
noticed some unspeakable travesty of justice. After writing out a citation to
that monster, the officer went back on patrol to assure that no other rude cy
clist tried such a dastardly scheme.
Again, thank you sir. If for some reason your job as a Texas A&M Uni
versity police officer is ever lost, may I make a suggestion? Check with the
Kremlin. As I understand it, they operate their police force in a similar man
ner. I am sure they would be able to use your tactics for apprehending dan
gerous enemies of the authority, too.
Robert Albin
Regents test new styles
to change stuffy image
Bored with its
stuffy, conserva
tive image, the
Board of Regents
has decided to
“lighten up.”
Apparently, this
all started when
one regent was
walking through
the MSC on his
way to the Associa-
Glenn
Murtha
tion of Former Students office when he
spotted a female Ag clad in a white long-
sleeved Oxford cloth shirt (10 sizes too
big), baggy flood pants, white socks,
black vinyl high top shoes, orange hair
and ears exposed with about a dozen
earrings in each. Initially taken aback by
the sight, the regent mumbled, “th’
baw’s driss’d lik eh garl.”
Back at the board meeting, the sha
ken regent mentioned the incident to
the others. “Whet’s th’ warld cummin
t’?” he inquired.
One of the newer, more liberal mem
bers of the board spoke up. “Gentle
men,” he suggested, “I think it’s time
you changed your image. Follow the ex
amples of some of these students. Open
your minds. Show a little less conformity
and a little more creativity in your
thought.”
“Ya theenk he’s rahht?” one queried.
“Ahh dun’t know. Fit’s geeve it eh
trahh,” came the response.
The other board members probably
took the advice a tad more seriously
than intended. They immediately filed
into the MSC main hallway to look for
the “baw” with the right look. Spotting
one, they proceeded to wrestle “him” to
the ground demanding to know where
“he” had purchased his clothes. The
“baw” managed to respond that “he”
usually shops at second-hand thrift
shops like the mission in Bryan-College
Station. After “he” explained that the
mission was not a store in Post Oak Mall,
the board members set the “baw” free
and promptly fled the MSC in search of
transportation.
Citing an emergency, the board
members hijacked an A.P. Beutal
Health Center ambulance and em
barked on their mission to the mission.
After a quick stop near the Quad to
drop off a cadet who had stubbed his
toe and required medical attention, the
board headed for town.
Arriving at the mission, one overzea-
lous regent cried, “Mek way fer th’
Boad!” as he skipped through the
doors. In quest of individuality (confor
mity?), the others followed “suit.”
The regents exchanged their maroon
suits and shoes for a box of old clothes.
A student who had helped them to se
lect their “new” attire suggested that
they do something about their hair.
“Whet heeir? a regent demanded,
“Ahh hevn’t hed heeir fer yeeirs!”
She then suggested wigs for the clan.
Proudly embellished in their
fashion, the regents took off for tk:
gie Wiggery. The Aggie VViggen
new addition to the town and
thought that it would last —itonh
maroon wigs.
One maroon wig of the spiked-p
variety caught their attention,
fighting over it for a good while,
saleswoman revealed that there vitrt'j
nough spiked wigs for everyone,
regents agreed that they would
purchase a spiked maroon wig.
The Aggie Wiggery also sells A|
makeup — maroon rouge and lip:
The saleswoman suggested that
makeup would add a nice finiili
touch to their new look. The rep
agreed.
in a four-d
studen
two critii
arate auto
, a n-Colleg<
Jilver Tap:
Jd for the si
jOn Sunday
18-wheele
98 driver
gard as he v
ituru on Hip
2818.
■Hedegard
thur ]. Strom
ton were pro
scene. Mitel
taken to St.
Bn an where
■Richard >
has not reg
and remains
with a crush
broken ribs,
said.
■Glenn M.
from Ft. Wo
tion after r
Itery perforr
■pair a rt
Butterly als<
pelvis and
said.
| Funeral <
students kill
be held toda
I In a sepa
day afterno
Pied of m
Houston hr
Mobile accir
speed policr
1 Scott A.
from Colle]
of his vehi
of FM 215
was thrown
ditch.
He was
Hospital ar
dition befc
to Herma
Flight.
College
icridentoc
basing th
for
oad.
True to the Aggie tradition, the
gents are considering a proposal id
quire all Ags to conform to thein
style of dress. What better way toinsif
sense of unity than to require even*
to look the same? (Rumor hasitthai!
Aggie Wiggery is planning to open*
other store).
So the next time you see an older®
with spiked maroon hair, old
and a maroon tint to his face, tell'
what you think — let him knowthai
are proud that he serves onourBo
of Regents.
Glenn Murtha is a senior politick
ence major and a columnist for
Battalion.
Youth recaptured with one sip of an egg cream
Sometimes after
giving a speech,
someone asks how
as a columnist I
have made a dif
ference. At that, I
double up with
false modesty and
declare that, given
the complexity of Richard
the world, I could Cohen
never hope to
make a difference. Now, however, I can.
I have invented the low-calorie egg
cream.
The words “egg-cream” might call for
an explanation. I know that because I
once mentioned the drink in a column
and was questioned by an editor of
unimpeachable American-Gothic cre
dentials. I changed the reference to
“root beer,” a wonderful drink in its
own right but not — I tell you — an egg
cream. That very day I heard, Avery
Gorman, the writer, being interviewed
on the radio about his latest book. The
interviewer said just one thing in the
book stumped him. “What’s an egg
cream?” he asked.
I will tell him. An egg cream is a little
gift from the gods. It is what the Greeks
were referring to when they made such
a fuss about wine (things got mangled in
translation). And it is what would re--
place wine as the drink ordinaire of the
people extraordinaire, should they ever
serve it in France. It is quite simply,
heaven in a glass. In other words, it is
chocolate syrup, soda water and a little
bit of milk.
It is also fattening. This was not a
problem for me when I was a kid and
addicted to egg creams. They cost a
dime and I had at least four or five of
them a day. Back then, you could get an
egg cream anywhere — a candy store, a
drugstore — and I used to make them at
home. I was so addicted to egg creams
that even when the know-nothing der
matologist told me that they cause
pimples, I drank them anyway. Given a
choice between clear skin, popularity
with girls, romance, sex . . . and egg
creams, I chose the latter. You would,
too, if you ever had one.
But alas, it had been years since I had
had one. Even though there is no egg in
an egg cream, there is still chocolate
syrup and milk. That’s a lot of calories.
Maybe 312,000. Just to think of an egg
cream is worth maybe 126 calories and
to say the word is 546. I turned to diet
root beer instead. It was my version of
methadone.
Then some time ago, Bob Greene, a
fellow columnist and, you can see from
his pictures, a guy with a bit of weight
problem, discovered Canfield’s diet
fudge drink. He wrote about it in his
column and I, like lots of others, tried it.
Delicious. For two calories, you got a
terrific chocolate drink. God, how I en
vied Greene. Here was a columnist who
actually had made a difference. I
thought he should have won a Pulitzer
prize for clueing us all in. Instead, it
went to some wonk for writing a column
that made no difference in anyone’s life.
What Greene started, I have finished.
One night, about to down a Canfield’s,
my eye stopped on a container of (2 per
cent) milk. The lightbulb of genius
flashed. I reached for the Canfields. I
reached for the milk. I poured a little of
the milk into a tall glass. I added the
Canfield’s. I watched that head of foam
rise to the top. With shaking hands, I
raised the glass to my lips. Oh, boy! An
egg cream.
You can not imagine my joy. I had
one and then another. I made my wife
taste one. My son, too. I experimented
some more. A little more milk. A little
less milk. Finally, I had the right pro
portions. Here they are. Put some milk
into a glass and add the Canfield’s. The
important thing is to put the milk in
first. That way you get a good head. It is
also traditional.
I concede that the new Cohencream
(patent pending) is not without calories.
By actual count there are precisely 32 of
them — more or less. Two come from
the Canfield’s and 30 or so from the 2
percent milk. (Non-fat milk would not
have enough body for a good Cohen
cream). For calories, this is really noth
ing. It is about the same as one table
spoon of cornstarch (29 calories), one
large raw broccoli spear (32), 4 ounces
of frozen yellow crookneck squash (24)
or Vs cup of whey (32), whatever.the hell
that is. It also tastes better than any of
those things.
It is not everyday that you can recap
ture your youth with a mere drink. But
my egg creams of old have brought a
new bounce to my walk. I feel like play
ing stick ball in the street, stoop ball on
the stoop (where else?) and a sip brings
the Dodgers back to Brooklyn. Every
thing would be perfect, but in the inter
est of full disclosure, I must adroit 11
fly in my new ointment.
I’ve broken out.
Richard Cohen is a columnist fa 9
Washington Post Writers Group.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Michelle Powe, Editor
Kay Mallett, Managing Editor
Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor
Jerry Oslin, City Editor
Cathie Anderson, News Editor
Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
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