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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 1986)
Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, July 17, 1986 Name of the game The Goodwill Games? Hah. For an extravaganza billed as an attempt to ease tensions be tween the two superpowers, it appears to be only that — a mere attempt. While the majority of the athletic events are running smoothly, controversy occasionally has raised its head in Mos cow. The first protest came the day before Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev formally opened the games. The U.S. swim team protested that most of the swimmers were still in a standing posi tion on the blocks when the gun fired to start the 50-meter free style. The latest protest by the United States occurred after boxer Harvey Richards was disqualified by a Soviet referee. Richards supposedly threw an intentional low blow to his Denmark oppo nent. A three-man jury upheld the referee’s decision, but an nounced that lie wouldn’t officiate any more Goodwill fights. Objections also were voiced after the men’s 1,500-meter run and the 1 10 hurdles concerning a supposed unfair Soviet advan tage in preliminary heat assignments. The Goodwill Games were expected to foster better relations among the competing countries, at least on an athletic level.But the Soviets can’t even manage that. With the controversies and complaints, it’s obvious that “Goodwill” is not the name of the game. The Battalion Editorial Board Democracy abroad not our first ambition Tom Wicker of the Ye u \ r o r k l imcs, the guard ian of U.S. ap peasement, op poses U.S. aid to t he Coint as f or hoilet plate t ea- sons (the Soviets will increase their aid, we will in crease purs, they will in c r e a s e theirs, and before t ines w ill land). Bui plicating the usua whv the United St arms race. Wicker revealing sentence, has no more obligat racv bv force in Ni< in ( ’.bile, or South A William F. Buckley Jr. /ou know it, the Ma- i in the course of ex- il arms-race reason ates should lose the writes a marvelously “The United States ion to install democ- L'aragua than it does frica.” It isn't our job, quite correct, to make the world safe for democracy, and no one was more eager than Tom Wicker to make that point when we tried to make South Vietnam safe for democ- racv. But to mention Nicaragua in the same breath with South Africa and Chile is (perhaps involuntarily) to reveal the' grave strategic fault in one’s think ing. The American liberal tends to say: Are government A and government B repressive governments? If so, our posi tion toward government A and govern ment B should be the same. This is to miss altogether the point most succintly made bv Senator Fulbright many years ago when he said that the American government has no proper quarrel with am countrv. no matter how obnoxious its policies, so long as it does not seek to export t hem. 1 hat is what distinguishes our policy in Nicaragua from our policies in Chile and South Africa. Life in Chile is grow ing progressivelv worse, and the deci sion a few (lavs ago to retreat from a commitment for free elections even in DSd suggests that Chile now is suffer- The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Ml'inlu l <>l 1 r\.iv I’l Asstx j,Hinn Soul hu I'M |nm linliMii ( lonfi'ii'iHv The Battalion Editorial Board Mic Ik'Hc Powc. Editor I\.i\ Malk-u. MmuiL’iiii’Editor Loren Slctlx. Opinion l\ii>c Editor St ull Smlu'i land. ( ii\ Editor Kt'ii Sur\. Spoils Editor Editorial Policy 1 bv Bufliilion is a nnn-j)i olil. m7/-n///>/>o/////g /irw >/>;/- l>n ofH'i./s .i ((nnmunit\ scix it c to / r.v./.s AXr.M and lit \ .m-( < »//cgc St.ition. Opinions r\picssed in I he Batialion a/e those ol thr l ilinn in! lio.n d oi the .intlioi. ;md do not ncccssm il\ t ep- u-sent thr opinions ol / c\;is AXM .idininist t ;in>i s. hunltx oi thr lio.n d ohRci>rnts. I he Bailulion a/st/scm <•> as a Inltrnulot \ ncu spnpci lot stndi'nis in icponini*. editing and photoginpln classes within the Depin uncut o/ foin nnlism. I he BaUiilion is published I uc sdnx tlnough l iid.tx dm ini> the l e\ns AsLM sununci scmestci. Mnilsuhsciip- tiinis .u e SI i).7n pet sctnestci. S.'k'I.Uo pci school xcm and >.».-> />e/ f ull x cai. Adx cnising rates lurnished on i ct/uest. (fin addiess; 1 he Battalion. -Id Reed \fi Donald liuilding. I e\as ASLM I 'nixersitx. (.'nlU'ge Station. I X 77Sl:i. Semnd i lass postage [>uid at College Station. I X 77S-CI. I’OS'I MAS I I'.R: Send addiess changes to The Battal ion. Jib Reed McDonald. I exas . \XM L nix cisitv. College Station I X 77S~l;i. ing from the megalomania of an aging despot. South Africa has democracy, but limited, as America’s democracy was limited from the Civil War to the mid-’60s, to white voters. But neither Botha of South Africa nor Pinochet of Chile has designs on neighboring coun tries, and that is the operative consider ation in the U.S. foreign policy, partic ularly when imperialism is a surrogate exercise on behalf of a superpower that has a whole lot of hydrogen bombs, and the means to spray them about the pop ulation centers of the United States. Nor is it democracy that is the first ambition of American idealism, if not of American policy. The Chileans had de mocracy and ushered in the reign of Salvador Allende, who proceeded step by step to subvert free institutions in Chile, even as Robert Mugabe, ushered in by democracy in Zimbabwe, is pro ceeding step by step to subvert free in stitutions. It is an old story, and an un fortunate one — democracy took us to Peron in Argentina and to Hitler in Germany. It isn’t democracy we should be looking for, but the rule of law. And the rule of law is graced by democracy, but is not guaranteed by democracy. The Soviet Union dispatched to Ni caragua last week 15 more M-17 heli copters, and Wicker is quite correct in that this poses a greater challenge to the Contras, and one that only the United States can subsidize. How? Well, you say, why did we let the heli copters get into Nicaragua? A good question, unanswered by the adminis tration or by Wicker. I : in by freighter? If so, do v ect incoming vessels in the future? Or did the}' fly in from Cuba? And what are we going to do about that? Ask Congress for another $ 100 million? But all those movements are ar ranged in Moscow. And, in Moscow, French President Francois Mitterrand has been talking (15 hours) with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev about the im peratives of summit diplomacy. I he State Department almost every day makes it plain how badly we wish for such a meeting to take place, if only to further the collaborative relationship that is seen as the key to peace. But the kev to peace is of course cessation in ag gressive activity. No one seriously doubts that if Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega were to renounce his ties to the communist world and satisfy him self simply to oppress his people in the same wav that Pinochet is oppressing his people, that we would lose interest in the Nicaraguan phenomenon, sigh deeply, and say, well, what we have is one more Latin American dictator, so what else is new? The Soviet Union desires, in addition to sovereignty over the affairs of the world, certain concessions by the United States, to which end it is busy making diplomatic overtures of one sort or an other. Would we not welcome an over ture by President Reagan that says: For get any summit meetings until after the disarmament of Nicaragua? Copyright 1986, Universal Press Syndicate Opinion fHt KIP OH TH£ Do-it-yourself psychological experiments fun, educational When I w a s younger I used to e nj o y Mr. W i z - ard’s science pro gram. Mr. Wizard used to show us how to conduct scientific experi- m e n t s o n o u r own. I learned how to make a volcano out of baking soda and make a hard-boile of salt water. Karl Pallmeyer vinegar and how to d egg float in a glass Mr. Wizard is still around and still is doing the same type of experiments. He still shows kids how to make their voice sound funny by sniffing helium, but he hasn’t branched out into other areas of science. Some of us would like to con tinue our education under Mr. Wizard, but have become a little tired of dipping celery in colored water to watch the veins change color. We would like Mr. Wizard to teach us how to conduct psy chological experiments. lake Mr. Wizard’s other experiments, his psychological experiments should be simple and easv to conduct. Usually you could find evervthing vou needed for a Mr. Wizard experiment in the home. You shouldn’t need white mice, Ror- shach ink blots, a strait jacket or any other expensive equipment to conduct one of these experiments. Here are seven simple experiments that you can conduct here at school to watch abnor mal behavior or a person's reaction to abnormal behavior: • The Seat F.xperiment — It is an odd quirk of human nature that stu dents like to find a seat during the first week of classes and sit in that seat for the rest of the semester, even if the pro fessor hasn’t made a seating chart. Find a seat at the start of the semester and sit there each day for about three weeks. Then come to class and sit in a new seat, one that someone else has claimed. Watch the confused look on that per son’s face as he or she walks into class. It gets even funnier when he or she takes someone else’s seat and then thut person walks in the room. No one feels justif ied in saying anything to you, and you can keep up this fun for months by choosing a dif ferent seat each week. It’s even more fun when you put a damper on a budding relationship by watching to see which guys have been sitting next to which girls and then take their seat. It’s funny to watch the guy’s frustrated expression, and you’ll proba bly be doing the girl a favor. • The Quack Shack Experiment — Next time you are waiting to see a doc tor at the A.P. Beutel Health Center you can learn something about human na ture and have some fun at the same time. Simply pick up all the pamplets on VD and begin reading them. You’ll be surprised how quickly people begin to scoot away from you. Even on the most crowded days you’ll have an entire couch to yourself. The pamplets on AIDS are even more effective at clear ing out a room full of sick people. • The Grocery Experiment — Shop ping can be fun and educational. All you have to do is go up to someone, a perfect stranger, grab a can or a box of food from their shopping cart and ask them where they found it. Don’t give them enough time to tell you before you put the can or box in your shopping cart and push off. It’s most effective if you act excited about finding the item and thank them for grabbing it for you. • The Steven Wright Parking Exper iment — Comedian Steven Wright says that one his favorite things is going to town, finding a good parking space a: By e . just sitting in his car. You can trythisftvvs any of the good parking spaces onca; 01 fie< pus. People will think you’re leavings best t will wait for you to pull out of the pf t;ilev ing space. It’s fun to watch the bevjT j' dered look on people’s faces whenthel , ask you if you’re leaving and you them: “No, I’m just sitting here.” j||i| v • The Urinal Experiment — Peopi®^ like privacy when it comes to bodil |..j| functions. It is an unwritten la\vtMy {)U( when a man goes into a restroomaritpon s there is another man using a urinal,tklthing newcomer is expected to use the uriuiM ust that is the farthest away from thefirsj man. If you want to watch a manbel^ come uncomfortable, take the urim next to him and strike up a converse tion. The more personal the comers} tion the better. • The Elevator Experiment—,! person’s desire for privacy is alsostroii| when it comes to closed spaces. Tk next time you are on a crowded elevator accuse a perfect stanger of making i embarrassing noise. It’s fun to watcS that person try to deny the accusatiot and everyone else look at them withdi) N gust. • The Police Experiment — Hit next time you walk into a room fulloll students say that the police are about til tow a car. It’s fun to watch how mam run outside to save their cars. TowingoS phobia has become so strong here tint . people who don’t even have a car will run outside to plead with the policeo§ There are many other psychological; experiments that you can try. Itcank both fun and educational to study hii' man behavior. Mr. Wizard would k proud. Karl Pallmeyer is a senior journalist major and a columnist for The Battal iG II ii Mail Call Crisis result of greedy farmers EDITOR: Your resident economic whiz and good ole farm boy, Karl Pallmeyer has done it again. With his quasi-review, quasi-column concerning Farm Aid II, Pallmeyer displays his truly amazing knack for jumping on the latest trend when it is popular. (Maybe you’ll make the Dallas Morning News again, Karl!) In trying to equate the problems of Farm Aid II with those of farmers he misses the side of the barn by a mile. The operative similarity between the two is mismanagement, which also caused the fiasco at Manor Downs described in Karl’s article. The current farm crisis was brought about, for the most part, by foolish and greedy farmers trying to get rich quick. (Most farmers that used good investment sense are doing all right). When there was a shortage of farm goods and prices were high, farmers borrowed money at dangerously high interest rates to finance more farming. They put up their land and sometimes even their homes as collateral. Of course, over-production ensued and prices fell. The farmers could not make payments on their high interest loans, were foreclosed on, and now, Willie Nelson et al want the rest of us to bail them out. last? Or Bank Stock Aid for bank owners whose banks are failing due to non-payment on risky loans they made to farmers? It could go on ad infinitum, ad nauseum. It is reafry sad to see these people go under. However, they invested heavily with borrowed money at a risky time in a risky business trying to make a lot of money and lost. 1 don’t think the American people owe farmers anything not owed to other businesses — small, large or otherwise — that fail. Dub Maines ’84 EDITOR’S NOTE: Karl Pallmeyer has never “made” the Dallas Morning News. Opinion Page Editor Loren Steffy, however, did. Giving thanks EDITOR: This is a very grateful thank you to the good person who returned my watch. It is very reassuring to know that there are good and honest people still around. My deep and sincere thanks go to you. Christine Dittfurth Neely Hall H I- I suppose that if this is the latest rage we’ll be seeing NYSE Aid to help those who gambled on the stock exchange trying to make a killing and lost. Or what about Track Aid for those w'ho bet on a long shot that comes in 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.