Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, September 17, 1986
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
Th£ 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
The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper oper
ated as a community service to Texas A&M and Bryan-Gollege Sta
tion.
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial
board or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions
of Texas A&M 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 Depart
ment of Journalism.
The Battalion is published Monday through Friday during
Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday and examination
periods.
Mail subscriptions are $17.44 per semester, $34.62 per school
year and $36.44 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on re
quest.
Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Building,
T exas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843.
Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843.
POST MASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, 216
Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station TX
77843.
Lottery not a winner
Like pari-mutuel betting, a state lottery is being lauded as a mira
cle cure for Texas’ financial ills. Also like pari-mutuel betting, the
lottery is nothing more than a legislative placebo.
A state lottery would be a timely solution to the budget shortfall
— Comptroller Bob Bullock says he could begin selling tickets by
March 1, 1987 — but it is a costly one.
Government costs generally absorb from one to two cents of ev
ery dollar collected in taxes. For money brought in by a lottery, those
costs rise to between seven and 25 cents on the dollar. In addition,
the state must put up “seed money” to get the prizes started.
While the lottery is less inviting to organized crime than horse
racing (forged tickets are the most common illegal activity), other
ethical considerations are not as easily dismissed.
It is unsettling that Texas would support a gambling practice in
which participants must lose so the state can “win.” Although some
psychologists have found that lotteries are unattractive to compulsive
gamblers, Gamblers Anonymous says all gambling is potentially ad
dictive.
The lottery’s impact on low-income families also is questionable.
Texans for the Lottery claim the average ticket-buyer is in the
$15,000 to $30,000 income bracket. But other studies have found
that at least one-third of lottery participants are under the $15,000
bracket. The danger is that families may buy tickets before they buy
food.
The most disturbing aspect of a state lottery as a cure-all revenue
is its inconsistent income. Texas needs a stable financial savior, which
can best be found through belt-tightening and tax hikes, as unap
pealing as those solutions might seem.
Placing all our eggs in one financial basket — oil — got Texas
into its current jam, and only practical solutions can get it out. It’s
time for the Legislature to stop chasing rainbows and get to work.
A lottery may bring in additional revenues and might even lessen
the inevitable tax increase, but it is financially uncertain and morally
unstable.
Texas needs dependable solutions to its fiscal troubles. A state
lottery is not the ticket.
Aggies’ loss to LSU
We have met the enemy, and they are us
I was up in As
pen, Colo., this
weekend, showing
my newly acquired
senior ring the
sights. I had taken
it to the movies
last week (and yes,
“Top Gun” is just
as good the third
time). So, for the
cultural benefit of
my ring, I decided
to give it a glimpse of the Rocky Moun
tains, the pine trees and the snow.
Of course, Saturday afternoon the
Aggies were playing, so I made it a point
to find a bar which had decent prices
and a TV tuned to ESPN. Ski resorts
have a common desire to rob tourists
blind, so my hopes were not high. The
best I could find was Dutch beer for
$1.50, so I settled back for what I
thought would be a most enjoyable eve
ning.
I enjoyed the scores of other games.
Texas Tech was being overrun by Mi
ami, and the University of Texas was
losing to Stanford. Even the Baylor stats
were to be expected. Unfortunately,
LSU was not going to be as cooperative.
Now don’t get me wrong. Not only do
I bleed maroon, but I consider myself a
staunch Aggie who does not falter at the
first sign of problems. This is my fifth
football season with the Twelfth Man,
and I intend to make it our best. But the
sad showing of our football team against
the Tigers made me wonder.
The game started off well enough,
but our defense was not the same quality
defense that saved our fair behinds last
year. The number of interceptions was
another shock. If we insist on giving the
other team the football, why can’t we at
least score with it first?
Why? What did we do or not do to de
serve such a game? I tried to think of
what I, as a good Ag, had neglected to
do during the past year since the Cotton
Bowl. Perhaps I didn’t teach last year’s
freshmen the right things. Or worse,
maybe I didn’t say “howdy” to enough
Aggies.
That I was the only reason the team
had fared poorly in Louisiana ate at my
mind. My lack of effort that prevented a
win also meant that maybe I wasn’t the
good Ag I thought I was.
But as I pondered it, I decided per
haps it wasn’t my fault —- or anyone
else’s. The dreaded tradition of the in
surmountable TV jinx could have been
the source of our demise.
While many may not remember, the
score of a football game had a nasty ten
dency to swing in the opposition’s favor
whenever the game was televised. The
locations didn’t matter, even Kyle Field
was not sacred enough to be spared the
consequences. But the jinx had disap
peared a few years back, wonderfully
dispelled by the arrival of Jackie Sher
rill.
Which brings us to the real reason we
Aggies did not do as well as hoped.
While everybody had visions of another
Southwest Conference victory, we lost
sight of prior experience — specifically,
the first game of last year, against Ala
bama. The lesson learned in both the
’bama game and the game with LSU is
clear: “We have met the enemy, and
they are us.”
Why is it that Texas A&M must start
the season with a game against a rated
team? Why do the Aggies play that
rated team in a foreign state? The con
sequences of such actions always will
outweigh any penalties from being a
bad Ag and not saying “Howdy.”
Mark Ude is a senior geography major
and a columnist for The Battalion.
Mark Ude
Opinion
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If about $
News media primary cataly
in spread of ‘drug epidemic
Articles in
isted incorrei
iming Dana
iirs. The
the conc<
riday and an
flshe wouk
If the news me
dia, especially tele
vision, should ever
find itself in an in
trospective mood,
it might examine
its performance
when it comes to
the drug crisis. It
could ask what
ever happened to
skepticism, to its
obligation to ask
and that things are getting
Richard Cohen
hard questions and put news into per
spective. If by any chance it had the guts
to do that, it would have to go back to
one of those storied press bars for a ca
thartic drunk. Its performance has been
shameful.
Without exception, all the major net
works and news magazines, not to men
tion oodles of newspapers, have re
ported on a drug epidemic. The current
issue of Time magazine has a cover
story on the subject. After some grip
ping examples of drug use and citizen
outrage, Time mentions that the prob
lem is abating. The magazine says that
the National Institute on Drug Abuse
will soon report “rather suprisingly that
the current cocaine epidemic has al
ready peaked, and the use of other
drugs is declining significantly.”
“Rather surprising?” To whom? Not
to experts who have been saying this all
along. And not to careful readers of
some newspapers and magazines who —
if they have the patience to wade into
lengthy stories — would discover the
same fact. It is safe to say, however, that
the news would be surprising to a public
that has the impression that we are in
the midst of an unprecedented drug ep
idemic
worse.
In fact, the Time story is an example
of how American journalism has pack
aged the truth about the so-called drug
epidemic as protectively as a pearl
within an oyster. The statistics are not
allowed to intrude on its message that
there is a worsening crisis. The par
agraph that follows the one saying that
drug use is abating, begins, “Even so.
the fear that has seized the nation is
hardly unwarranted.” Hogwash. Fear
certainly is unwarranted. Concern,
though, is a different matter.
Unfortunately, we are not talking
about concern. Fear is the right word —
a panic so great that Americans seem
willing to surrender cherished civil lib
erties to fight a battle they already are
winning. They will line up, bottles in
hand, for ui ine tests, voice no outrage
when a child turns in a parent to the po
lice for possessing marijuana and sup
port opportunistic politicians who pro
pose programs that are proven failures
— such as life sentences or death penal
ties for dealers. For evidence of the
panic, just look at the numbers. This
year a Washington Post poll found that
17 percent of its respondents volun
teered drugs as the greatest health
problem facing the nation. A year be
fore, they never even brought the sub
ject up.
Of course there is a drug problem.
And of course, drugs are addictive and,
occasionally, lethal. The public’s con
cern is justified. But it would have been
more justified two years ago when the
problem was worse. It might even have
questioned the Reagan administration,
which talked a hard line against drugs
few of her sot
but. in fact, reduced funds tot»^ ll(; j ( j er ]
ment centers (S200 million in Wh the no<
> 1 L’b million in 1985). Allacrostif the 8 p.
lion, addicts, if they seek treatnr.
being told to wait. In the mtaa
they are buying, selling and:
drugs.
As for the press, whatever poliuM
assert, it too often uncritkally8ii[^JsTiN (AI
If politicians, like the Romanemdoved a bill Tr
of old. want the circus of a drugaiftludget fui
ink: to distract voters, the mediaiiiB' sno1 ' n s<
to oblige. It has become a sojJP 16111 to sa '
i | t j i • iMnor and ,
- Li,,,
right exaggerations, so that dnig4j 0rit y.
crowded out other important jjThc shift of
important
Whatcvei happened to the def ave blocked t
trade imbalance Ol ev<tn : tllife en[ ,0 , * K '
standby, alcohol abuse? Insteadolfi^j^f' 11
i ■ Ip the bill to
mg questions, television^ tui ,
responded with gripping picturcL| thebi j| bef
suggest a worsening situation ta®
context. Was the situation worstE
year? Could you have taken sintilif
tures 10 years ago?
In an interview with jVetwwetisB
a/.ine. Bill Moyers faulted CBSfo*
dering to its audience, with at™
promotional campaign: “That’s™
happens when you decide nottoflf
ine your culture, but to flatteritl
the press, Moyers'words ought to J
admonition. In the long run,peop!|
not be flattered by scare stories |
when the truth prevails, will restiil
ing played the fool.
The job of the press is to quel
probe and, ultimately, to answeij
question: What’s new? Theanswi"
it comes to drugs is simple: There
worsening epidemic. Thereis^
worsening journalism
Copyright 1986, Washington Post Wriw
F
easy
Mail Call
I wanna be a Pallmeyer
EDITOR:
I wish I could be more like Pallmeyer. Buthowii
know, I’ll get my roommate to give me a bowl haircut!
Pete Sukoneck
Gee, I really loved Karl Pallmeyer’s column,“B-CS a
cultural black hole.” I can clearly see the desperate,
pathetic, hopeless situation in College Station and at Texas
A&M now that he has painted it so graphically and
responsibly for the backward citizenry of this horrible little
hole-in-the-wall.
Purpose of the signs
EDITOR:
Start®
_ ’s how: Each
Weight Watchi
" be given a
rof calories to
nd" any way
ise, little by li
once. As yo
Tice through
ram, you’ll g
ire calories to
Goto yourfavon
Chinese, Italian c
Pin restaurant a
r right from t
u. Go to a cc
. and help yc
. ri 86me hot hors
peuvres, or go
with a dish of del
|iream or eve
date candy
now and then.
Regarding Christine Schroeder’s letter of Sept. 16: thefood^ yo C u lov
: tithin limits, hav<
So why do people not see how stupid it is to have a
good football program? It’s all silly hype, right? After all,
the pitifully small amount of money A&M football brings
in for the University to help “normal students” (like Karl)
“read, research and learn about the world” is so small we
could add it up on our gosh darn fingers, right?
The original purpose of those small yellow signsinO c
was to alert emergency personnel, in the case of an
accident, that there was a child in the car that neededtW
help. Now, with the proliferation of all those other signs
their original purpose has become lost.
Michael Allmann ’88
Future emergency care attendant
ling your mo
jcceed and l<
Weight faster anc
“er.^z.
College Station also has another terrible and shocking
problem that Pallmeyer was smart enough to point out.
Yes, none of our totally backward video rental stores carry
any Rainer Werner Fassbinder films! What a bunch of
nerds! I am surprised they actually had that wonderful
classic we’ve all seen five times and own three copies of,
“Cries and Whispers,” by Ingmar Bergman. (To be honest,
I cried the first time/saw it.)
In memory
EDITOR:
Gosh, Pallmeyeris the greatest. I just wish I knew as
many foreign film directors as he does, but of course, I’m
only dreaming. I also wish I hated football, G. Rollie White
Coliseum, the local theaters,'Madonna, Sylvester Stallone
and, of course, that nerd with the big gun who’s always in
movies with loads of terrible violence that permanently
damages the minds of children — Clint Eastwood.
On behalf of the Sigma Chi chapter and friendsof
Brennon Meyer we wish to express our warmest
sympathies to all the lives he touched. May his memon
burn forever in our hearts.
The Brothers of Eta Upsilon
Sigma Chi Chapter
Texas A&M University
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. Theedi |{
staff reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will*-'
every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter mustbesif
and must include the address and telephone number of thewriter.