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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 1986)
Page 2/The Battalion/Monday, September 15, 1986 Opinion The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of 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 77k* Bull a!ion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper oper ated as a cotniminity service to Texas A&Nl and Bryan-College Sta tion. Opinions expressed in 7 he Bnunlion are those of the editorial board or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M achninistrators. faculty or the Board of Regents. The liuilulUm also serves as a laboratory newspaper lot students in reporting, editing and photography classes within the Depart ment of Journalism. 7/it* Bntliilion is published Monday through Friday during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are SI7.44 per semester, $34.62 per school year and $36.44 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on re quest. Out address: /Vie Buitulion. 216 Reed McDonald Building. Texas A&M L’niversity. College Station. TX 77843. Second class postage paid at (College Station. TX 77843. FOST.M ASTF.R: Send address changes to 7/it* Buitulion. 216 Reed McDonald. Texas A&M I niversitv, College Station TX 77843. Catch-52 Fifty-two of the 1,199 teachers who twice failed the TECAT have been given emergency permits to teach another year, officials told the Senate Board of Education Saturday. Issuing only 52 waivers is good, but it could — and should — be better. The permits were given to specialized instructors in building and industry trades, so these educators remain at the head of classes in Texas schools. The state allowed the 6,579 teachers who failed the test once to take the Texas Examination of Current Administrators and Teach ers again. Of these, 4,704, or 71.5 percent, passed. School districts unable to replace their failed teachers were al lowed to ask the Texas Education Agency for a one-time, one-year emergency extension for a teacher’s permit. Commissioner of Education William N. Kirby said 72 districts re quested exceptions for 231 administrators and teachers who failed the tests. The TEA granted waivers to 52 teachers in 26 districts. Seven districts’ requests are pending. Kirby said only 52 teachers were given extensions because there is no teacher shortage to necessitate other waivers. The state is working hard to build the quality of its public educa tion. Hiring competent teachers is a key step toward the educational excellence we desire and our children deserve. Finding competent teachers is not as easy as ridding the class room of incompetent ones, but school districts should find replace ments for the waiver-sustained teachers quickly. The TECAT was a method to measure such basic skills as read ing, writing and ’rithmetic. Against the state’s best interest, those who failed were allowed to retake the test. Those who failed a second time clearly do not belong in the classroom — even by emergency waiver. Reagan won’t play ‘tit-for-tat’ games Richard Cohen Kids play the game of tit for tat. Hit someone and hours later he can hit yon back, sing songing “tit for tat.” Big powers p lay the s a m e game, only they call it equivalency. Arrest a Soviet spy in New York and, within a week, a Moscow-based American journalist is arrested on spying charges. The Soviets, though, don’t understand our rules. We are not going to play. If you are looking for equivalency you can find it only in the fact that both Nicholas Daniloff and the arrested Rus sian, Gennadiy Zakharov, do not enjoy diplomatic immunity. But there it stops. Zakharov probably is a spy; Daniloff is not. Zakharov was a government em ployee; Daniloff works for a private American firm, U.S. News and World Report. In the eyes of the Soviets these things do not matter. To our eyes they do, and greatly. Among other things, they distinguish our system from the So viet one. But we, too, have made our miscalcu lations. It is doctrine among American hard-liners that Ronald Reagan’s bark is much worse than his bite, and they cite, as an example, his willingness to sell subsidized grain to the Soviet Union. But it is a given in the Soviet Union that Reagan’s bark represents the real man, his most deeply held views. The grain sale to the Soviets is a mere nothing compared to what they think are Rea gan’s real designs for their country. In the Soviet Union, Reagan’s rhetoric has had exactly the same impact Nikita Kh rushchev’s once did in our country. He said he would bury us, and we never forgot it. It goes without saying that no one this side of the Kremlin wall knows for sure what the Soviet leadership is up to. But certain guesses can be made and one of them is that the Soveits simply have had it with us. They are tired of being pushed around, and from their point of view, they have been. This is the per spective I gained from a recent trip to the Soviet Union where, underneath the surface cordiality, there was an under current of anger. Let me give some examples — taken from a discussion with a top Soviet spe cialist on American affairs. In this man’s view, the United States had been treat ing Russia as if it were a “Third World power.” He cited U.S. support for co vert wars in Marxist Nicaragua and An gola. He mentioned the U.S. invasion of Grenada, another state friendly to Mos cow. He recalled the bombing of Libya and warnings directed toward Syria, a Soviet ally and not just a friendly state. He listed all of Mikhail Gorbachev’s ini tiatives in arms control, most of them re buffed by the United States, some for good reason. The Soviet specialist did not mention Afghanistan. His view was distinctly one-sided and biased, but is worth relat ing because of his evident anger. He was aware of the administration’s rhetoric and of the belief among some key gov ernment officials that the Soviet Union is something of a paper tiger, a de clining world power with an obsolete and unworkable economy. He referred to that and, finally, he mentioned the U.S. naval maneuver in which two de stroyers entered the Black Sea and came close to the Russian coast. He called that provocative and, worse, insulting. Now it is the turn of the Soviet Union to be insulting and, if you will, to break the rules of engagement. The arrest of Daniloff, for whatever reason and what ever the background, is a frame-up, pure and simple. The issue this time is not Soviet sensitivities, hot a question of honor or even, as with the destroyers, of alleged territorial integrity but what is basic to our system and our values. Peo ple are not pawns. To the Soviets, it might have seemed that they were merely engaging in the age-old game of equivalency. But no one who has seen Daniloffs wife, Ruth, on television can think that’s the case. Busi ness cannot go on as usual as long as Daniloff is detained, and there is a good chance now' that both the summit and, for a time, U.S.-Soviet relations wall suf fer. Nick Daniloff is not a hostage; Soviet- American relations are. Maybe the Rea gan administration miscalculated when it used rhetoric that cheered Americans but insulted the Russians and then, after the arrest of Daniloff, publicly de manded that the Soviets back down. But those miscalculations are nothing com pared to what the Soviets have done. If the Kremlin wants to play tit for tat with Nick Daniloff, it is dangerously ignorant of the sort of people we are and what matters most to us — the freedom of a single man. When it comes to that, noth ing is equivalent. Copyright 1986, Washington Post Writers Group — OR. — THE TEXAS CHAlHSAbJ MASWRc TH€ NGMefLeMDlNi, ST6IH 'enov By Lym R( \ll 17 campu Hnt renov; 7million this H housing ■renovatk diaiely after | luled inlet io liny of shov idol's, replac 1 it stallation ■along will Hxterioi gi dajor proje< [tini r indude ■eplacing Haiuer halls /Wlfficia U.S. response to Pinochet osave iairie just a slap on the hand VICTORIA Sials want t ■ refuge ne; B another The Reagan ad ministration ex pressed concern over Ghile’s Gen eral Augusto Pino chet’s decision to impose a state-of- siege, banning news dispatches by the Reuters news agency and closing six opposition magazines. Five Craig Renfro foreign priests and several opposition leaders also were arrested. Under the emergency decree the gov ernment is allowed to tap telephones, open mail, hold prisoners in secret loca tions indefinitely, ban public gatherings and censor the press. The administration’s reaction is noth ing more than a slap on the hand, and similar to the way it first reacted to growing dissension over Ferdinand Marcos’ rule in the Philippines and Jean Glaude “Baby Doc” Duvalier’s reign in Haiti. When Pinochet overthrew the Marx ist regime of Salvador Allende in Sep tember 1973, Ghile’s citizenry rejoiced. Democratic government at last, they thought. Pinochet’s military junta had the sup port of the middle class and several right-wing movements. However, it soon became apparent that the military officers in power had their own political objectives, and the basic human rights of the citizens were not among them. Pinochet soon faced world criticism for political repression, torture and news censorship. After the United Na tions General Assembly reported that Chile was violating human rights. Pino chet ordered a national referendum Jan. 4, 1978, which upheld his govern ment. In 1980, Pinochet wrote a constitu tion that w ill allow him to stay in power for the next 25 years. This further alien ated those who were upset with the poli cies of Pinochet’s military rule. T he politics of the new government caused unemployment and a decline in real wages and the standard of living. In addition, all left-wing political groups have been repressed by Pinochet’s pow erful dictatorship. T his summer, during a two-day gen eral strike by the citizens of Chile, six people were shot to death. One of those murdered was an American photogra pher whose body was burned after he was shot. The citizens demanded free elections and a return to a democratic form of government. On Sept. 7 an assassination attempt was made on Pinochet’s life. Although the attempt failed, five escorts were killed and 10 were wounded. The attack followed a month of highly publicized government claims concerning the dis coveries of large hidden caches of auto matic rifles, rocket launchers and explo sives in Santiago. On Tuesday the government arrested 16 left-wing Bered Attw H dissidents m crat kdown afiei the attempt onikB 1 !' about it i i ,i jB in I exas et s life. I ndei the emergenev „ , i ill i r i B lasl vral the\ can be held indefinitely , t j, e Gs f cha rge. ■ice. In cided addition that to ccn the government■ Agency off ic Jieavy >r means to k esti during th< C arrasco I apia, editor of anopposBiey comen iBthat two n magazine, was dragged and brutallv murdered from fuesdav ® sur e that th.it Pinochet will stop at nothing'”® 1 * 101 ( ^ sasl sure his power. te the A Bten." Since then the governmenthasdaHj 10 ex *sting i. t j .Bten Natio l " 1 a s enc y f< o ®10 miles , three french Roman Catholic pnly e was est; Later in the week riot police ait Ih 3,500 aci several hundred people, about hiBed to 8,00( them journalists, who had gatherttH Tapia’s funeral. Pinochet said, “Now the war is to begin f rom our side ... all those; pie involved in human rights anil other things are going to be expe from the country or locked up.’’ In 1974, it was learned that United States funneled more million through the CIA to overt! the Allende government. Pintxlirt ceived most of that money. Nc For an adequate return on its® ment the United States shouldde® f ree congressional and municipal dons. If Pinochet should refuseth lution, economic sanctions or dir® tervention is the only courseofa' lest Chile become another Haiti. Mail Call ’Neanderthal' a compliment EDITOR: Karl Pallmeyer’s column (Sept. 11) about the lack of culture in Bryan-College Station goes far to show what’s lacking in Karl. He used a comparison with Neanderthals to put down the football team. But in his attempt, he really was the author of a great compliment. Homo sapiens neandertalensis’skull shows that he had a larger brain than we do. His Broca’s area, the seat of speech, was large enough to demonstrate that he perfected language. His brain was just as complex as ours. What’s more, Neanderthal man was the first to be associated with evidence of religion and altruism. In addition to this, his appearance was virtually indistinguishable from ours. As I read the column, somehow the word “hypocrite” came to mind. People who live in glass houses.... Margaret Shannon the principal fluid of animal life (Leviticus 17:14), the atmosphere exerts pressure on the earth (Job 28:25), clouds contain particulate matter, such as dust (Nahum 1:3) and man’s body is made of the elements of the Eartl (Genesis 2:7). Even those who don’t believe these words werewrittd under the inspiration of the giver of natural law must acknowledge that they were written centuries beforetf^ facts were verified by science! I apologize to Roberts for the un-Christlike behavior my brethren (I’ve been guilty too, Marco). But having looked at what the Bible says about the past, I beghimio consider literally its explanation of the present and predictions for the future. Bill Hough ’88 exas of diar today our ne Rare C Light from the 'black hole' No apology required EDITOR: It sounds as though my brother in Christ, Mike Foarde, owes Marco Roberts an apology for insensitivity in handling information on the death of Roberts’ friend (The Battalion, Sept. 10). But Foarde owes no one an apology for his literal interpretation of the Bible. Roberts tried to discredit such an interpretation by citing a passage in Genesis that refers to a dome of water around the Earth. That none of the 20th century’s space missions has encountered this dome is explained in Genesis 7:11, when the contents of this reservoir are deposited on the earth in the Great Flood. Even those who reject the Flood of Noah as a historical event must acknowledge that the Bible’s account is consistent within itself (and that the preserved remains of dinosaurs that archaeologists find today would have required some sort of preservative medium to keep them intact; the sediment deposited by a worldwide deluge would meet this requirement). For Roberts’ benefit, here are some entries for his index of Bible verses that can be taken literally: blood is EDITOR: I’d just like to say a few things about the cultural'l)! hole” that Karl Pallmeyer discussed in his Sept. 11 col® Once again he sees only what he wants to. There is soil® light escaping from that black hole right here on camp® I’m talking about one of the best kept secrets at Te^ A&M — the Aggie Players. The Aggie Players is the production company of the Department of Speech Communication/Theatre Arts. This year alone weare producing a comedy, a Tony Award-winning musical Greek tragedy and a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama. If that is not cultural enough for Pallmeyer, weare bringing back members of The Royal Shakespeare Company and The National Theatre of Great Britain^ | we did last year, we will have a film and lecture serieson Shakespeare and his works. The Aggie Players offer all c I this for less than the price of one t icket for a Broadway musical. So there is culture at A&M. It is not that hard to lint! )4 Univei College 846- Troy Herbert Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. Theedf 1 staff reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will^1 every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter mustbvs and must include the address and telephone number of the writer. Si