Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, October 15, 1986
r
Opinion
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
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SoutInvest 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
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Talking on thin ice
A secluded house in a secluded country apparently wasn’t
enough to sow the seeds of peace into the superpower non-summit
last weekend. Although no concrete compromises were reached, sig
nificant concessions were made that could bode well for future meet
ings — if the two nations can speak the same language when it comes
to space weapons.
While President Reagan is being accused of shucking hopes of
world peace to keep his Strategic Defense Initiative alive, Reagan
needs to be credited with the most promising concessions.
The president agreed to keep his fledgling defense program
from leaving the nest for another 10 years. The Soviets, opposed to
any continuation of Star Wars development, naturally didn’t want to
accept the Reagan proposal. That the president would even make
suc h a suggestion is a sign of his seriousness about reaching an
agreement with the Soviets.
At the same time, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s proposal
that the United States confine Star Wars to the laboratory for the
next 10 years is unreasonable given Reagan’s enthusiasm for his pet
weapons system.
The reason the president can make his offer without a wince, yet
find the Soviet proposal so deplorable, is nothing more than simple
logistics. It will be at least 10 years before Star Wars technology has
developed to the point of deployment. Only then will the actual fea
sibility of the project come to light. At the moment, even SDI scien
tists can of fer only speculation about the project’s capabilities.
But to accept the Soviet offer would cripple Star Wars into near-
extinction. Field tests already have been done on some elements of
the Star Wars technological labyrinth.
While SDI will almost certainly not live up to Reagan’s expecta
tions, it will continue to be a stumbling block for arms negotiations
until the Soviets understand the significance the Reagan administra
tion places on it. Perhaps the president’s stubbornness in Iceland will
help them get the message.
SDI may turn out to be a total flop, but that won’t solve arms ne
gotiation deadlocks now. Both countries, for economic reasons if not
for world peace, need to reduce weapons spending. Reagan’s will
ingness for another summit is encouraging. Keeping negotiations
going is the f irst step to reaching an agreement. But the superpowers
are not communicating on the same channel.
As long as the president stands firmly behind Star Wars, the So
viets are going to have to come up with more realistic compromises.
Until they do, they’re certain to find the U.S. reception colder than
the Icelandic winter.
Students’ attitudes
threaten yell practice
-*4
Mark Ude
T he violent
clash bet we e n
members of the
Aggie Band and
students who tried
to run onto Kyle
Field at yell prac-
tice Oct. 3 has
aroused the entire
campus to the con
troversy. After
reading the Opin-
i o n Page on
Thursday, I was determined to respond
to some of the insulting insinuations.
But such a crusade was easier said
than done,. With all that’s happened
over the past three years, the Corps has
developed a phobia of the press that
prevents the effective use of investiga
tive reporting to decipher fact from fic
tion.
After the unfortunate death of Bruce
Dean Goodrich and the introduction of
women into the band, cadets are wary of
saying anything to the press for fear
that they will be misquoted. This has
been reinforced by the unfortunate con
tributions of some band members, who
spoke before thinking and produced in
accurate statements and ammunition
for “the opposition.”
To prevent further damage, the up
per crust of Corps leadership decided to
enforce a policy of not talking to anyone
from The Battalion. This is nothing
new. I w'as told the same thing when I
was. in the Corps. What I didn’t suspect
was that now I was included with the
“Yellow Journalists.”
I also understood the subtlety advo
cated by the Corps leadership. It would
rather have this incident blow over and
not contest allegations. This effectively
stops any attempt to exonerate the band
on charges of undue maliciousness.
But the question still remains of what
will be done at future midnight yell
practices. It is my understanding that
the Corps, as a result of tyranny of the
minority, will not contest the field
v
HGH HOPES,
WE
Hl-UGH HOPES,
HIGH IN THE
SKY, APPLE-
PIE HOPES,
SO EVERY
TIME YOU'RE
FEELING
PROW) JUST
RE-MEMEER
fUAT plant.
OOPS!
THERE GOES
ANOTHER
NU-CLEAR,
WOOPS!!
THERE GOES
ANOTHER
NUCLEAR...
MARCHES
<g>iw mo^cw n?sr
,cP
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$
OOPS!!! „
THERE GOES
ANOTHER
NUCLEAR
PLANT!
CP
T. ’—T 1
Government disinformation!
on Nicaragua flows freely
G o o d a f -
ter noon, ladies
and gentlemen,
and welcome to
the daily State De
partment briefing.
If I look familiar
to you, it might be
because you’ve
seen me in the
Isuzu commer
cials. I play the
outrageously lying 1
car salesman. I now
Richard Cohen
against drunkards or Gandhi imperson
ators trying, through “passive resistan
ce,” to show the brutality of the so-called
“fascist fraternity in uniform.”
The Corps (actually the junior class)
will not play their game. Instead it will
ignore them, hoping they will be too
ashamed to attempt such a feat in front
of all those in attendance again.
Now I don’t know about anyone else,
but when a bully extorted lunch money
from some unfortunate soul, the advice
to “just ignore them” didn’t quite work.
If the Corps cannot guard Kyle Field
against such people, how is it to guard
the band? With armchair lawyers run
ning around checking actions and tradi
tions against the University Archives, I
am waiting to hear the argument that
there is nothing to stop anyone from oc
cupying the same space as the band at
any given moment. So why bother with
the juniors at midnight yell if they are
not allowed to guard Kyle Field and the
band from invading infidels?
To carry the argument to the fullest
extent, why do we have Officers of the
Day at football games? Why not let ev
erybody run onto the field if the Corps
is just going to roll over and die on this
tradition?
The conflict at yell practice arose af
ter a number of people refused to
peacefully surrender the field and
started swinging. The hypocrisy is evi
dent. These innocent students whine of
being hit with fiberglass helmet liners
while ignoring the broken fingers and
dislocated shoulders sustained by ca
dets.
If students no longer see members of
the Corps (specifically the band) as ex
tensions of official O.D.s, and no longer
accept their authority in upholding that
tradition, then we should expect mid
night yell practice to join other dead tra
ditions, such as saying “Howdy!,” on the
roll at Silver Taps.
Mark Ude is a senior geography major
and a columnist for The Battalion.
have a new job. I
have replaced Bernard Kalb.
The first order of business is the
downing of a cargo plane that the lying
Sandinistas say was ferrying arms to the
Nicaraguan Contras. Two Americans
were killed and a third, Eugene Hasen-
fus, bailed out, yelling CIA involvement
instead of the traditional “Geronimo!”
His statements notwithstanding, our
government maintains it was not in
volved. After all, it is illegal for either in
dividual Americans or — for the mo
ment — the CIA to engage in such
activities.
This government, of course, knows
nothing about the plane. Although it
was loaded with rifles at Honduran air
bases that the CIA uses, Americans were
at that time looking down at the ground
to avoid the glaring tropical sun. As for
radar and all such technology, it was di
rected towards Boston where the first of
the playoff games was in progress. As
you know, “Beisboll” is very popular
south of the border.
Just to make this government’s task
ever harder, it appears that the plane
belonged to no one. I know that that’s
hard to believe, but you have our word
on it. It was not on a CIA mission. N< ,r
was it being flown for the largest of tl' 1 *
civilian anti-communist groups that —
scout’s honor — provides the Conu' siS
with only medical supplies and clothing-
Retired Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub, i*!'
though dismissed in disgrace by presi
dent Carter for being a zealot, would be
the last person we should suspect, nor.
for that matter, should we suspect this
administration of either cooperating
with him or looking the other way.
What then, you ask, are we to make of
this incident? Some, of course, will point
a finger at this administration, but then
these people have become wearily pre
dictable and, anyway, are soft on every
thing — communists, drugs, criminals,
pornography and the source of all that.
Jane Fonda. They might say that such
an incident was inevitable, that this ad
ministration, convinced of the imminent
danger posed by 4 million undernou
rished Nicaraguans to Texas and Ari
zona, not to mention Virgin Cord a,
would stop at nothing — certainly not a
silly law — to press the anti-communist
fight. Nothing could be further from
the truth.
We have heard reports of previous
incidents in which the CIA allegedly got
out of hand, mining a Nicaraguan port
and blowing a dent into a Soviet ship.
These cynics, of which, thank God,
there are only a few in Congress, say
they even detect what they call a pat
tern. They insinuate that, as with Libya,
the administration defines a certain goal
as so important that (in the interest of
national security, of course) it will either
bend the law or whisper sweet disinfor
mation into the ears of the press. This is
Mail Call
best another version oftheirioai
Leninist doctrine that theendji
'be means and we, of course,rewi
* lotiest Indian.
ad m i n ist rat inn recognitei
is’ wife says he worked ft
■ have no desire to comiw
familv discussions anddt
u> do. We rect ignize ihaiHs® 1
ter i rewmen were/! I 1 ' 1
I his
I lasenf
CIA. \\
private]
tlu>se who do.
fits and the ol
to the CIA in the past, butweassim
that either these allegations are nit
or that they are meaningless.Thu
tion is not yet fully developed an
will alert you when it is.
In the meantime, andfar mon
portanilv, we condemn inthestro
possible terms the refusal of the Nij
gnans to allow l .S. Kmbassvperso
to immediately see liasenfus,
threaten to break off diplomat^
tions with a nation with wf
really at war. A
praise him for
even though w<
We liken him, i
Americans who
Lincoln Brigade
leftists and, in s
They should b
they were, not I
s lor Len. Simjkj
whatever he isd
• don’t know whaul
is the presidentsai
fought in the Aim
even though theii
otne cases, conmii
condemned fon|
or what thevdidl
we think, is the American Way bull
again, we* are working bn that pi®
I bis government takes serioitil
obligation to tell the American pa
the truth and keep it informed.!!
otherwise would mean that the
ment is lying in support of an insii|j
table policy. This was the
Vietnam, and it will never be rep
One final piece of business: Isa
interested in a reallv terrific car:
Copyright 1986, Wa.« ihington Post ll'nlfr.j
.
Reliving childhood
EDITOR:
A thousand thanks to Loren Steffy’s column on Oct. 7.
I tried to rattle the memory of a fellow student last week
about “I’m only a bill,” but was only given a look that
suggested I’d lost my marbles. Funny how certain things
run through various minds in the same time frame!
I can’t tell you how many times I catch myself singing
“a noun is a person, place or thing” or “conjunction
junction.” I can even close my eyes and see the cartoons
that accompanied these educational ditties.
How sad it is that we are raising around us a
generation who will never know these or many other
cherished cartoons of our own childhood — which isn’t
really that far behind us!
Again, thank you and Steffy for vindicating me with
my classmate and for letting me return to my cherished,
non-rushed Saturday mornings —along with many I’ve
never met.
Carol Ann Duke
Hit the road, Pallmeyer
EDITOR:
The Gorps of Cadets is the safeguard of tradition and
the source of uniqueness here at Texas A&M, or so I have
always felt. So when civilians ran onto the field Oct. 3, 1
was glad to see that the cadets tried to take them off the
field. 1 thought that I might be biased, so I (a civilian)
asked my friends (also civilians) how they felt. They agreed
that the cadets acted properly.
So why are the cadets to blame?
According to Karl Pallmeyer (Thursday’s Battalion),
the cadets used excessive violence. But he does not
mention the fact that several cadets also were injured.
Maybe that was because the civilians were provoked into
using violence as well. But which was the first provocatiS
Maybe the cadets are to blame because KvleFielW
off icially a memorial. But since when has traditionIwn I
dictated by the University Archives? ' fradi tion stems fffl
what the student body decides to do or not to do,ar
of these is to remain of f the field. Anyone who challeif j
that tradition will have the whole student bodytodeal
with, not just the Gorps. 1 (and those I have spokenl0)d
the whole event as an indictment of traditions at A&M.
I am and always will be proud of the Corpse:
and I am happy that A&M still possesses some peopled
the determination to preserve tradition.
If Pallmeyer is unhappy with the Corps, then the
phrase says not only that he is free to leave, but that he
must leave.
John David Bondy ’90
Play by the numbers
EDITOR:
In response to the art icle concerning midnightyl
practice ( Thursday), let me clarify some vital points:
1. If one steps in front of a moving bus, one will|
hurt.
2. If onejumps off the top of the WorldTradeO
one will get hurt.
3. If one runs out onto Kyle Field at midnigl
practice, one will get hurt.
Why is Number 3 so much harder to understandtl' 11
numbers 1 and 2?
Joel Kelly Flavin ’88
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