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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 1986)
Page 2/The BattalionThursday, April 3, 1986 Believing in Reagan The rumor in Washington is President Reagan has decided that when he goes, he’s going to take all of us with him. The decision was made after Reagan saw Ram bo for the 26th time. The in- Buchwald formation came from one of my many White House sources. “The president is tired of being Mr. Nice Guy,” he told me. “He has decided to show some muscle, so people will sit down together reasonably and cry ‘un cle.’ ” “I’m all for that,” I said. “What can I do to help him?” “You can believe him,” my White House source said. “Believe him about what?” “About everything. Do you believe the Sandinistas can walk to Harlingen, Texas, in two days?” “I’ll believe less if you want me to.” “Exactly two days — no more, no less.” “I believe it,” I said. “Do you believe the Nicaraguans in vaded Honduras with 1,500 soldiers as their first step to a take over of Mexico?” “If I didn’t believe that, there would be nothing to believe.” “Then do you believe the only thing that will drive them back to Managua is $100 million?” “Plus a lot more money for Star Wars; Stealth bombers and other sophisticated weapons too secret to even discuss?” “I have never doubted our needing them.”’ “Then you have to believe the presi dent needs a supplemental donation for naval actions such as the one we just saw • in Libya.” “I have no problem supporting the president on everything he did in Li bya.” “Then you’re not against the under ground atomic tests in Nevada which the president has to have if he’s going to get anywhere with Gorbachev.” “Can I make a blanket deal with you and say I support the president on the whole kit and caboodle?” “We have to do these one at a time, otherwise the press will say the presi dent doesn’t have the support of the American people.” “I believe that too.” “How do you feel about the presi dent’s arms negotiations?” “How should I feel about them?” “Mr. Reagan is doing everything in his power to bring about an agreement.” “I believe it.” “Do you believe that in a nuclear war which neither side can hope to win, we could still come out on top?” “I haven’t believed that up to now.” “Think about it. Doesn’t it make sen se?” “If it makes sense to the president, it makes sense to me.” “You mean you want to give the Sandinistas $100 million to get out of Honduras?” “No, we want to give the Contras $100 million to boot the Sandinistas out and overthrow their government at the same time.” “That’s easy to believe.” “OK, you’ve passed the first part of the test. Now let’s see how you do on the budget. Do you believe the Defense De partment needs every nickel it can get?” “If Mr. Reagan says it, I believe it.” The White House man seemed very pleased with our session. “How do you feel about prayer in school?” “I don’t believe in it.” “I thought you supported the presi dent.” “I do on killing Sandinistas. Do I have to support him on prayer in schools?” “In our administration you can’t have one without the other.” Art Buchwald is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. Editor Munuging Editor Opinion Page Editor City Editor News Editor Sports Editor The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board : Michelle Powe .i Kay Mallett ._. Loren Stef'fy Jerry Oslin Cathie Anderson Travis Tingle Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper operated as a community service to Texas A8cM and B rya n - College Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the Editorial Board or the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&Xi administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for students in reporting, editing and photography classes within the Department of Communications. The Battalion is published Monday through Friday during Texas AScM regular semesters, except for holiday and examina tion periods. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $33.25 per school year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates fur nished on request. Our address: The Battalion. 216 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station. TX 77343. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843. a| newco abse tht nil ient. |and id a ns. John jomas. if ter a ice froir |er Bn nei Sim: Icene. He earnt Jisiness jtas A&lV |ith 21; bpe, he s owns If not regents, who’s responsibli for divestment non-decision? ■fGoverni erent The] Jms say: becai id the cit ievenue “We . . . ask all men of good will to take action against apartheid in the following manner: . . . Don’t buy South Africa’s products; Don’t trade or invest in South Africa. ” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Karl Pallmeyer On December 10, 1965, King made a speech at Hunter College in New York. He asked for an international boycott of South Africa. Tomorrow, the 16th anni versary of King’s assassination, there will be a nation-wide call to protest American investment in the apartheid system in South Africa. Members of Students Against Apartheid and other concerned people will march to demonstrate that they be lieve that apartheid is evil and must end. The march is being held to remember King and his struggle for human rights and to ask Texas A&M and the Cities of College Station and Bryan to divest all holdings in South Africa. By the end of last year several cities, including Boston; San Francisco; Mi ami; New Orleans; Philadelphia; Pitts burgh; New York; Los Angeles; Cincin nati; Washington; Boulder, Colo.;Grand Rapids, Mich.; Berkley, Calif.; Cambridge, Mass.; Newark, N.J.; Richmond, Va.; Hartford, Conn.; Gai nesville, Fla.; and Atlantic City, N.J. have divested their holdings in South Africa. The entire states of Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michi gan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and the Virgin Islands also have di vested. Students, faculty and administration at many schools across the nation, in cluding Arizona State Universtiy, Cali fornia State University, City Universtiy of New York, Columbia University, Fairfield University, Hartford Semi nary, Howard University, University of Iowa, Iowa State University, University of Louisville, Lutheran School of Theol ogy, Universtiy of Maine, University of Massachusetts, University of Miami, University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, Western Michigan Univer sity, State University of New York, Ohio State University, Ohio University, Rutg ers Universtiy, Temple University, Uni versity of Vermont and the University of Wisconsin have worked to divest all of their schools holdings in South Af rica. At Amherst College, Boston Univer sity, Brandeis University, Brown Uni versity, Carleton College, Colby College, Dartmouth College, Delta College, Duke University, Florida State Univer sity, Georgetown University, Grinnell [New tax tasing r< College, Harvard University, Have Lbably n College, University of Michigan, ■can su dlebury College, New BrunswickTkftase. logical Seminary, University of»°j ects Hampshire, Northeastern Univercv a l?l )l Norte Dame, University ofPennfltB as <) . 1 ma, Sarah Lawrence College,SmitfiM sewer , lege, Swarthmore College, Trinitv®ontinu lege. Tufts U n i ve rsity, limB woulc Theological Seminary, Vassar CoikMand h; University of Washington, \VesleJp ioeve University, Williams College and ■S'. 0 h' University, students, faculty and have achieved partial divestmentl^ rsa g 0 j about Texas A&M? ■slylive On Oct. 28 of last year, StmteFln Covh Against Apartheid sent a letter* ■neer f Board of Regents requesting thalItsB a S er * A&M divest the almost $3 million® exa ^ invested in businesses and In ; Powell eer m 191 that deal with South Africa. The] «, a t makt asked every administrator oncarapiisBork. consider the divestment questioniiowell i every administrator said only thei“ gents could decide for or againstdw ment. * After five months the responded. They said that is was a within the purview of the Board of! gents to divest.” If the administraii cannot decide on divestment and tliei gents cannot decide on divestment,ill who can? Karl Pallmeyer is a senior joumi I major and a columnist for The Bit Give the band a rest EDITOR: This letter is in regard to the article written by Glenn Murtha on Wednesday, March 26. First off, I would think a journalist would check his sources before writing. It is true that Melanie Zentgraf filed a lawsuit against Texas A&M, but it was not because she wanted to join the band. She was denied the right to participate in the Ross Volunteers. The band was picked on because it WAS the largest all-male Corps unit and also nationally known. It is true there was a big deal made about harming unity, but not appearance. The band was and still is, for the most part, a closly knit group of people who live together in the same dorm. The girls are at a disadvantage because they are not there 24 hours a day and miss information and most of the needed camaraderie. This is what is meant by harming unity. With non-regs this harm would be escalated exponentially because they would only be around for about one hour a day. If the band should be separate from the Corps, then why make Mail Call non-regs wear the standard military band uniform? Why not get maroon and white high school band uniforms with white shoes and the big hats? Then the Fightin’Texas Aggie Band could look just like the Cougar High Band. The Aggie Band is NOT JUST another college band. It is one of four major units in the Corps of Cadets. The band has the same physical requirements as the Corps to instill discipline in its members. Discipline is why the band only practices for one hour a day for six days and then puts on a perfect drill on Saturday af ternoon. If you drop the standards of physical requirements you start to lose discipline and then it goes down hill on a collision course with destiny. One day the Aggie Band may be f orced to let non-regs participate and on that day the Fightin’ T exas Aggie Band will die and the Texas A&M University Marching Band will be born. Then it will be just another ordinary half-time performance. A smart man once said, “If somethingain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Chuck Gill ’86 Gross sensationalism EDITOR: The sameSoviet Union which acted in concert with Hitler’s Germany in the invasion of Poland and then ran to the West forhelp as an aggrieved party when Germany turned against it; the same Soviet Union which pledged toallow the nations which it occupied at the close of World War II to f reely choose their post-war governments; the same Soviet Union which invaded Afghanistan “at the request of its government;” the sameSoviet Union which would never use chemical weapons; the same Soviet Union which would nevershoot down an innocent passenger airlinerrecently announced a unilateral moratorium on nuclear weapons testing. Never mind that the United States government and the various mediaof the free world observed that this “f reeze” by the Soviets corresponded with a normal break in the cycle of weapons testing (it immediatley followed aseries of Soviet nuclear tests), The Battalion Editorial Board, in its Mar. 24 editorial, is quick to believethe Soviet’s propaganda. The main hinderance toany meaningful nuclear arms agreement has been the Soviet’s ref usal to allow on-site verification. The U.S. however, unilaterally agreed toalb the Soviets to observe this latest test, which they refused. The Battalion conveniently ignores any American overtures, it seems. Further, The Editorial Board insults us with their gross sensationalism about mushroom clouds, which cannot occur from these underground explosions. In The Battalion’s futureeffortsio save the world, they should temper their idealism with a little real ity. Thomas Leeper accompanied by seven signatures Cheapest insurance there is EDITOR: I wish that all the people that ride motorcycles, mopeds, etc. would wear helmets and more protective clothing. I speak as a rider with 15 years of experience. I was in an accident a few years ago that would have killed me if I had not been wearing a helmet. As it was, I escaped with a concussion, a broken arm, and a cracked helmet that could have been my head. This occurred close to home, at low speed, (attention mopeds and scooters) and was the fault of the other driver which didn’t really matter to me since I was the one hurt. Now I know summer is coming and it can get hot on that bike with a full cover helmet, long pants and a jacket, but have you evet had a case of road rash? I know that the guys that ride in shorts and little else haven’t, or they would know that skin is one of the most painful things to heal. Come on people, it’s the cheapest insurance there is. I enjoy riding but I don’t plan on giving up other things to enjoy it (i.e. walking, breathing, living, etc.). To the moped riders especially, mopeds are great but they don’t have the speed to compete with traff ic on many main roads To do this is to endanger yourself and others. So take less travelled ways when possible, it may take longer but you’ll get there. Ian Yanagisawa Class of’86 Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staffs I serves the right to edit letters for style and length but will make every effort !i I maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the dress and telephone number of the writer. 'I WMCN THE PAY Conies ANp VIE PUT NON-REG, 5 IN THE bANp... H s not Look Like r#e Sc-HdoLS NEW UNIFORM for Tt/E FiGHTI/V' TEXAS M6IE SKIP-To-MY-Z-OU BANp ►- -rrrWr!i ii V*