Page 2/The Battalion/Friday, October 3,1986
Opinion
The Battalion
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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
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quest.
Keep 'Animals' caged
U.S.-Soviet ‘spy swap’
fills Kremlin’s order
When the Rea
gan administra
tion tiptoed its way
into trading a
known Soviet spy
Mike
Sullivan
Guest Columnist
for the American newsman being held
hostage in Moscow, the American public
was left with a huge, red hand print on
its face.
By snatching up the most convenient
American and throwing him in prison
because a Soviet spy had been caught by
the United States, the Kremlin sent a
strong message to Americans every
where. The Kremlin told us it could
take away our individual freedom
whenever it feels like it. And this situa-
tion proved them
right.
Nicholas Daniloff
was framed by the So
viets in a scheme that
could have been more
cleverly constructed by
a 10-year-old. The mo
tivation was equally ob
vious.
Trading Daniloff under any circum
stances would have had the bear coming
back for more. In fact, this time the bear
already was back for more of what it got
in 1978, when two Soviet U.N. employ
ees caught in an espionage operation by
the United States were swapped for an
American businessman nabbed by the
Soviets for smuggling.
But Daniloff wasn’t a spy, and he
shouldn’t have been traded as one.
When he was swapped, the Soviet’s con
tempt for the basic right of freedom en
joyed by all Americans was saluted by
the president himself.
The Soviets blatantly violated the
United States twice in one week. First,
and more routinely, by
having a spy within our
borders, and secondly,
by taking an innocent
American hostage as a
result of their spy’s cap
ture.
Only one week be
fore Daniloff was
thrown in the Moscow
prison, a Soviet spy,
Gennadiy Zakharov,
was caught outright by
the United States.
Through an elaborate plan that took
three years to unfold, Zakharov was ar
rested for spying by the FBI and put in
jail. The Kremlin was outraged. As for
mer CIA Director Stansfield Turner
told l ime magazine, “The Soviets don’t
like to have their spies put in jail.”
They don’t like it so much that even
the most respected Americans aren’t be
yond reproach when Soviet spies are
jailed. And comparing a respected
American framed by the KGB to a real
Soviet spy while sitting at the bargaining
table was quite accomodating of Presi
dent Reagan. Using Daniloff as a bar
gaining chip was just what the Kremlin
ordered.
Why should any self-
respecting nation take
that kind of abuse? T he
United States shouldn’t
have. Daniloff should
have been regarded
strictly as a hostage, and
Zakharov should have
been prosecuted to the
full extent of U.S. law.
But what we’re left with after Rea
gan’s secretive deal is nothing but em
barrassment. We can look forward to a
summit meeting where Mikhail Gorba
chev might agree to some sort of arms
control only if he can be convinced the
United States is way ahead of the Soviets
in the Star Wars game.
But lost is the greater opportunity for
the United States to find out whether
the Soviet Union is serious about world
peace. Chances are, the Soviets are
really serious only about self-preserva
tion.
Mike Sullivan is a senior journalism
major and staff writer for The Battal
ion.
United Feature Syndicate
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MAsftGUUlES
© 1906 HOUSTON
Condmud
Wlk
CONDENSED
RICE
Twelve sU
.| ass preside
then they ca
In additio
The Texas Department of Corrections is expected to do the im
possible. It is under pressure from the courts to improve living con
ditions, under pressure from the public to reduce the number of
early releases and under pressure from the Legislature to cut spend
ing. But a new law could help ease some of the tension in this three-
way tug-of-war.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ted Lyon, D-Mesquite, was inspired
by Jerry “Animal” McFadden’s early release on mandatory supervi
sion. McFadden is a sex offender who is charged with killing three
teen-agers in Wood County less than a year after his release.
McFadden’s good conduct credits plus the time served equalled
the length of his sentence, and even the Board of Pardons and Pa
roles could do nothing to prevent his release.
The McFadden incident is an eye-opening example of how
TDC’s “good time” program can be used to gain early release. While
good time helps reduce prison overcrowding — thereby appeasing
court-ordered reform requirements — it often means unleashing
dangerous convicts on society before they have served their full term
— before they have been properly rehabilitated.
The new law will mean that prisoners convicted of serious
crimes, such as those involving the use of a deadly weapon, will not
be eligible for mandatory supervision releases. Their release dates
will be determined by the parole board.
Unfortunately, the law will aggravate the already grim over
crowding problem in Texas prisons. Like it or not, the Legislature is
going to have to let go of its end of the rope first. Mandated reforms
and the problem with early releases must take precedence over fiscal
considerations.
Texans are right in demanding that justice be served. Not only
do early releases mean a lack of judicial satisfaction, they destroy
public confidence in the state’s legal system.
The only way to solve the problems of the increased overcrowd
ing that will result from the implementation of the bill is to build
more prisons. No one likes to pay more money to accommodate peo
ple who have broken the law, out it is a-price that must be paid if we
want to keep these criminals where they belong.
The early release law is the first step in easing the tug of war be
tween the federal courts, the citizens and the Legislature; appro
priating more money for prisons is the second. If someone doesn’t
give soon, it’s law and order that’s going to get dragged through the
mud.
CONDENSED MUD
Society, too, reaps rewards
of higher education funding
Bed
30 presiden
.idit fresh m
The presk
• Alike Li:
Lister sail
school and I
qualify him I
"I enjoy i
people and
"'0,” he said.
• Jay Jen:
(from Dallas.
Jenson sai
s open to
Tm oper
inybody anc
" "hesaid.
Dan K1
| »n Antonio
Kloke said
he's i
me,
iomething tc
Classes at A&
feel the
Folks backf
home sometimes
tell me, “If you
really want to
learn how to bilk,
beat or otherwise
best your fellow
man, go to colle
ge”
They laugh and
then ask me how
things are going.
We talk a while,
Cathie
Anderson
but I always go away feeling like an eel
— a little slimy and a lot slippery.
Lately I’ve wondered if the folks back
home have been joking with the bu
reaucrats and politicos in Washington
because federal officials there say stu
dents are besting Uncle Sam with some
pretty slick maneuvers, including using
federal money to buy stereos and sports
cars.
dersecretary for planning in the Educa
tion Department, said he remains un
daunted.
“There is a certain amount of f rustra
tion," he said in an Oct. 1 article in 7 Vie
Chronicle of Higher Education. “In the
sense that you haven’t accomplished
what you put a great deal of effort into
and that you think the alternative to
what you have proposed is wrong for
the country.”
Carnes reasons that the people who
go to college are the “primary beneficia
ries,” so they ought to bear the expense.
On the surface, this argument isn’t
such a bad one.
Americans would notice, however,
the results — in this case, a drop in
quality of life and difficultv in pavm
for their children’s education. (Potenli
vithout a goi
hink they co
• Robert
an Antonio.
Marraro s,
ient govern i
iiture.
want to
Smc
innovators don't always have wealll ^ vVarre
parents.)
Carnes, who taught American liitr: emt j I
ture at James Madison University in' l ® ln s 111 ’
■oath.
feel like
he world sh<
ieer." said St
To kill thi
light. Using
Apparently I and my peers have one
of the larger rackets in the country.
(The next thing you know the God
father may come to get a piece of the
pie.) Why we probably rank right up
there with people who roll the govern
ment for big bucks on studies, such as
the study that establishes that you’re
likelier to get hurt if you have an acci
dent in a small car than if you have an
accident in a large one or the study that
says the number of teen-age pregnan
cies would be lower if teen-agers quit
having sex. But I suppose it’s better for
Congress to be used by college grad
uates rather than college students.
So officials in the U.S. Education De
partment have determined that too
much money is being spent on federal
education programs. Although Con
gress prevented a reduction in funding
for student aid and college programs
this year, Bruce M. Carnes, deputy un-
After all, I’m the
one who’s beneflt-
i n g f r o m t h e
knowledge that
other college-edu
cated people have
accumulated. And
those college-edu
cated profession
als are benefiting because they are earn
ing money as I one day will.
So a primary beneficiary I am — not
in the sense that 1 am the main one to
benefit but in the sense that I am the
first to benefit.
In the end, American society gains
just as much from funding education as
the students themselves do. This society
profits because the knowledge acquired
can be used to formulate innovations
that will increase its chance not just to
survive but to live better.
Carnes said, “If Congress were to
make a cut (in funding for higher edu
cation). I don’t think that the average
American would even notice it.”
Perhaps, but there are many cuts
Congress could make that the average
American would not notice. What
’7()s, say s he hasn't changed hisviewsn
the federal role in education since
days on the campus.
“I’ve always felt that federal dm™
., You soak
non programs are too expensive andii ;o r t' e mout
role of Washington is not good foredi
cation.” he said.
Luckily, Can
can’t speak lor
erv educator in
United States,
for those who I
agree with spem
ing cuts prop®
by the pre:
he’s been known
respond, “Oinl
IT
oink, oink.”
Well, “some people have minds I
cash registers,” he said. “You can'tsa
anything about education without to
saying, ‘Gimme, gimme, gimme.' "
Carnes may he t ight. Perhaps then
money to be gotten from the Kdiialu
Department.
Unfortunatelv, I have yet to capital/!
on this. Hav ing worked two jobsmosK
my way through college, 1 feeldieiitEil
Since this is my last semester, 1 sup|»
I’ll never get the chance to buva
car.
Cathie Anderson is a senior journals
major and editor forThe Battalion.
Call
Reagan's lack of concern
EDITOR:
Once again President Reagan has showed his lack of
concern for the opinion of the citizens of America and his
insensitivity toward the oppression and servitude enforced
upon the millions of black people by the white-minority
government in South Africa.
Reagan vetoed a hill that was the first real stance,
through Congress, against apartheid. He continues to
repeat that the United States “must stay and build, not cut
and run.” Well, the United States has, through trade and
investment, been partly responsible for the strong
foundation of the practice of apartheid. It is now time to
start dismantling it with or without the support of the
South African government.
Reagan argues that the bill only will hurt South
African blacks, leaving the United States responsible for
“increased suffering and perhaps starvation in South
Af rica.” There he goes again — the system of apartheid
breeds a lifetime of suf fering by the majority of the blacks
there.
It is up to Congress to support freedom and to do what
is right because our president would no do it himself.
Perhaps Reagan should heed the words of the slain civil
rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — “Injustice
anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Don Scott ’87
before. Grizzard asks, “Aren’t we intelligent enough to
think for ourselves and mold our own beliefs without the
Robertsons, Falwells, Swaggarts, et al. taking care ol tlii'se
functions for us?”
The United States is a republic, not a tlemocrac v,
meaning that our unique civ ilization is based on a higher
and more permanent standard than the whims ol a
popular majority. That standard stems from a set often
commands that can be found chisled in marble above ihe
heads of the highest court of the land.
These standards were hewn during a period of Our
history in which proclaimers of the Christian faith were
supported by public taxes, and individuals were denied (lie
right to vote unless they were members in good staiHlinj,'
of a Christian assembly.
To discredit men who attempt to communicate these
truths to the public, is to perform the ultimate act of
treason. To publish Crizzard’s column is to apply the
warped code of beliefs he condones. To agree with
Grizzard is to propagate anarchy. The battle line is drawn.
The war wages on. We Christians must realize that a
conflict exists. I, for one, stand for the principles of righf
and wrong as presented by the Bible. *
Markel Lee Simmons ’88
Ultimate act of treason
EDITOR'S NOTE: Publishing Grizzard's column is pint ol
a larger responsibility to publish a wide variety of opinion
on the Opinion Page. As is clearly stated in our editorial
policy, the opinions expressed in columns are those of tilt
authors, not The Battalion.
EDITOR:
Lewis Crizzard’s column, “Church-state marriage
forces scary offspring,” (Tuesday’s Battalion), poses a
question which has been raised on the Opinion Page
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The ediioriJ
staff reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will malt
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writer.
AUSTIN
kill of the