Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, September 10, 1986
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The Battalion
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Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Cathie Anderson, Editor
Kirsten Dietz, Managing Editor
Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor
Frank Smith, City Editor
Sue Krenek, News Editor
Ken Sury, Sports Editor
Editorial Policy
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tion.
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of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents.
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in reporting, editing and photography classes within the Depart
ment of Journalism.
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Proof in a bottle
Henry Cisneros, San Antonio mayor and a member of the Texas
A&M Board of Regents, took a drug test Monday to set an example
for his city’s employees — particularly police officers — who are en
couraged to submit to similar tests. So what?
City Councilman Ed Harrington, who took a drug test with Cis
neros, said he felt compelled to take the test, saying city leaders
should be willing to undergo the same procedures they expect their
employees to undergo. Many San Antonio employees already are
tested before they are hired.
But Cisneros’ one-of-the-guys grandstand maneuver is as superf
luous as when President Reagan submitted to a drug test. He, too,
said he was setting an example.
But such actions encourage only those people who are certain
their drug tests will turn out negative to grab a vial and head for the
restroom.
People who fear positive results will not be reassured and even
may be turned off. Instead of being “one of the guys,” both Reagan
and Cisneros become “holier than thou.”
Drug users don’t need to have proof that their superiors are
clean. They need to know that they will not be ostracized because of
their condition. Although this point has been stressed by public offi
cials, actions like Reagan’s and Cisneros’ only negate such positive
points of this war against drugs.
But does this mean that everyone who refuses to take a drug test
is guilty? Of couse not. Some people merely resent having their
most-personal privacy invaded.
Hollow actions by the mayor won’t have an effect on his city’s
drug problem. Instead of making city employees prove they are
drug-free, Cisneros should stress that workers who come forward
and request help will receive it and focus on rehabilitative programs.
Cisneros may have shown his support by filling up a bottle, but
his anti-drug efforts are running on empty.
Questions unanswered
by blind ‘enlightenment’
In a recent
guest column, het- MOfCO
erosexual spokes- Roberts
man Mike Foarde Guest Colwnnist
enlightened us
with his interpretation of the summer
events. However, there are some ques
tions he should consider before he
blinds any more people with his enlight
enment.
First of all, Foarde mentioned by
name someone who died of AIDS last
semester and seemed to express sympa
thy. It so happens that this person was
my friend, and it was my understanding
that the family wished to be discreet
about the nature of his death. Many of
his relatives still did not know he died of
AIDS. Why did Foarde feel the need to
use his name? Did he consider how the
family might feel? Where’s his Christian
compassion? What are we to think of his
sympathy?
Foarde recalled how innocent and be
nevolent the “Sexual Dark Ages” were.
Does he remember how women were
considered property of men, and it was
legal for a man to rape his wife? Does he
remember that child abuse went unre
ported because there were no laws
against it?
Foarde says that he is happy Jerry
Falwell won a suit against Larry Flynt.
Does he know about another suit that
was filed against Falwell as a result of re
marks he made about another church?
(Falwell denied making these remarks,
even though audio tapes were produced
that proved he did.) Does Foarde know
all the courts up to the California Supe
rior Court ruled against Falwell, and yet
he refuses to pay the award to the plain
tiff as ordered by the courts?
How does Foarde feel about the his
torical fact that, in the 1960s, Falwell de
nounced many of the Rev. Martin Lu
ther King’s civil rights efforts? What is
his reaction to Falwell’s claim that many
Americans do not oppose aparthied and
that the media is misrepresenting
American sentiment?
While we’re at it, in a previous letter
to the editor (April 16), Foarde re
ported a “99 percent divorce rate”
among “gay marriages.” I would like to
know where gay couples report these
“marriages,” let alone their “divorces?”
In his first guest column (the last Bat
talion issue of the spring semester),
Foarde said he opposed gay rights out
of “love” for homosexuals who needed
to be saved, and it was only homosexual
ity itself he opposed.
But in a previous letter to the editor
he said that the idea of a homosexual
expressing patriotism was enough to
want to make him throw-up “consider
ing the source.” Why should this be so if
he opposes only homosexuality, not the
homosexual as a person?
Moving on, how does he feel about
the fact that the A&M Christian
Fellowship (now the Great Commission
Students) was caught illicitly distribut
ing fliers titled “The Myth of the ’80s” in
the spring of 1984? It was later proven
that these fliers contained numerous
false claims and misquotes, all of which
resulted in a distorted and unfavorable
representation of gay people. Copies of
these fliers are still available along with a
list of “mistakes.” How would he justify
this?
Judging by Foarde’s collection of
statements, he seems to consider himself
an authority on the interpretation of the
Bible. I would like to know if the Bible is
to be taken literally or not, or is there an
index in the back which tells us which
parts to take literally and which not?
The Bible says in Genesis chapter one,
that the sky is actually a dome, on the
other side of which there is water. Is this
true? Who did Adam and Eve’s children
procreate with? And just why does an
all-powerful God need human govern
ment to get his message across?
If Foarde’s truth is so self-evident,
then why does he oppose the presenta
tion of opposing points of view (such as
literature that is pro-choice or pro-gay
rights?) What is the spiritual purpose of
joining people to follow moral codes
they don’t believe in?
I have many more questions, but you
get the picture. I realize this is an invita
tion for Foarde to write another col
umn, but these questions need to be ad
dressed. Furthermore, I believe Foarde
owes the family of my friend an apol
ogy. My friend never supported
Foarde’s views, and I don’t see why
Foarde had to use his name now that he
is dead.
Marco Roberts is a senior political sci
ence major and editor of the under
ground paper, The Scannapiecan.
Opinion
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U.S. shouldn’t participate in
Soviets’ ‘spy-for-a-spy’ game
By M<
The Soviets are
at it again. Nicho
las Daniloff offi
cially was charged
with espionage
Sunday, which has
a penalty of seven
to 15 years — or
death. This se
rious accusation
follows the posses
sion of top-secret
maps and photos
Blext week tl
|l)ers open tli
The idea of trading Danilof f for Zakharov is out of (he qti ^ r,n in Rmlct
■tire of mot
Sch
This would provide the Soviets unlimited propaganda M&Rsgai.
the West, along with putting Daniloff in the same ca tegog ^■Jflh^pt.y
harov. ■! lampoon o
■tity . . . wil
I about
Mark Ude
to Politburo hardliners and do away
witli any chance for a summit later this
year.
am
gme."
e question. This would provide Aggie P
Hi the second t
viets unlimited propaganda tor* 5
th
‘discovered” by KGB agents after being
accepted by Daniloff as newspaper clip
pings — in other words, a classical
frame-up in the recognizable spirit of
the Soviet Union.
The trumped-up charge is nothing
new. The assemblage of foreign jour
nalists is forever wary of set-ups by the
KGB and usually follows certain
guidelines in avoiding such pitfalls.
Daniloffs mistake was that he didn’t
look at the newspaper clippings he re
ceived. He also went alone, which leads
to the axiom that there’s safety in num
bers. Being a prominent U.S. News &
World Report correspondent who al
most was finished with his tour targeted
Daniloff for entanglement. His ability to
speak Russian, his aggressive method of
reporting and his unusually large num
ber of Soviet contacts did not help him
to blend in with the “regular” journalis
tic crowd.
The seriousness of this event again
reminds the Free World of the grim rea
lities of life behind the Iron Curtain. So
viet officials are not accustomed to the
inquisitiveness of Western journalists
and do not appreciate the uncovering of
problems within their system of ad
vanced socialism. Even General Secre
tary Mikhail Gorbachev’s openness in
offering information to the West has
not eased the oppressive totalitarian so
ciety and its ability to engage in entrap
ment, harassment, arrest, denunciation
and expulsion of undesirables.
, _ ■of Shakesp
the West, along with puttingDarm engagemei
the same < .itriM >i v as/akh.um Gre.ii bin.mi s
.impaiiv and f
li also would make the Sovim
think that whenever one of thffl
bumbles and is caught, allthevli
do is arrest a journalist oftheoftj
country and to trade in a fairsJ
could arrest one of their Izveswl
nists, but that would only lead toil
hostage race to see whocouldicl
the greater number of newspapf*
to trade for spies.
This will be the first time an Ameri
can has faced a Soviet court on spy
charges since Francis Gary Powers in
the U-2 incident of 1960. This attempt
by the Soviets is an understood ploy to
counter the United States’ charge of es
pionage against Soviet U.N. employee
Gennadiy Zakharov, a sort of hostage
game to pressure a trade of “suspected
spies.” There are even ideas that this
event is being used by the KGB to cater
This is reminiscent of the tragic mur
der of Maj. Arthur D. Nicholson, who
was shot in East Germany in March
1985, after entering a “sensitive” area.
His accompanying aides were prevented
from administering first aid, while the
major bled to death. Nor should we ig
nore the downing of Korean Airlines
flight 007, which innocently was
thought to be an RC 135, one of the
U.S. Air Force’s reconnaissance planes.
You know, if we light up our reconnais
sance planes like Christmas trees, I won
der what type of lights are going to be
on our new Stealth bombers?
The only practical solutionw*
for the State Department to dig!
refuse to fall for this amateurl
tempt to spring the Soviets’Umsl
tions spy.
A
Regardless of the plottings of Soviet
politics, the question remains on what to
do about our American colleague in
Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison. The idea of
trading Daniloff for Zakharov is out of
Once the Soviets realize that w
not blackmail the United Statcsil
rendering Zakharov, asecondaul
important question is broughtii
At what point do we draw thefeB
rassment of our citizens abroad ®
peacefully allow an AmericaF : B
locked away illegally without pro*®
we allow other nations tojaile
can citizen, what about two AmJ
Or a dozen? 50? And what iso
spouse? The president has hinlfl
this latest Soviet action will risk/
dizing international relations^
global event will it take to causfl
concern or alarm?
Oi
iproach to ma
>urgers is what
id we’re still ti
tcialway. We
:esh every day;
Mark Ude is a senior geography
and a columnist for The Battalin*
Mail Call
The real thing
EDITOR:
My husband graduated from Texas A&M in 1967 and
needless to say we are looking forward to the Aggies
showing Louisiana State University how to play football!
We are also looking forward to seeing the fighting
Texas Aggie Band at halftime. LSU prides themselves on
their band and we feel they need to see the real thing!
Please tell the yell leaders that we may be outnumbered
in bodies at the game but not in spirit — we’ll do our best
to make A&M proud and help Coach Jackie Sherrill and
his team to another winning season!
Gig’em Aggies!
John and Sheila Eeds
We didn’t know that in the “sexual dark ages”wo®
didn’t have to worry about rape. Gosh, it’s amazingto
discover that child abuse didn’t exist back then either
Wow, we sure are glad Foarde lived back then so he cat I
tell us all about it.
And his sentimental farewell to a local AIDS\
really warmed our hearts.
Oh, of course! Down with anything not preaching
gospel. Did Foarde get to see any of “The Human
Animal”? Or was he too busy knocking on people’sdff
that night?
And where’s the whole story about that lawsuit? Ai»
what about an unbiased report about Jim Mattox?
are these?
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dog. Especially -
Thanks for taking the time
EDITOR:
Well, there’s one good thing, though. The best th®
about guest columnists is that you don’t have to invite
back.
Let’s talk about Mike Foarde and his wonderful “While
you were out. . .” column, shall we?
Golly, a lot of interesting things happened around
A&M while we were gone. We sure are glad Foarde took
time away from his busy agenda of setting the world
straight to tell us all about it.
Mark Nair ’88
Ken Womack ’88
Jerry Horan ’87
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The
staff reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, but
every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter mustk
and must include the address and telephone number of the writer