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photo by Brian Pearson
Karl Pallmeyer’s startling revelation that College Station is a cultural black hole stirred
up quite a bit of controversy this semester.
The “Ugliest-Issue-of-the-
Semester Award” no doubt
belongs to President Reagan
and his secret dealings with
Iran. Many are taking a critical
stance, viewing his endeavor as
a serious foreign relations
blunder and equating his
clandestine activities with those
of Watergate.
Reagan’s credibility with
America is now at stake, and
that’s a shame since his record
to this point has been relatively
unblemished.
Whether Reagan can be
compared to Nixon remains to
be seen, but the issue is
definitely a messy one.
Closer to home, Texans were
subjected to their own political
embarassment when the
mudslinging antics of *
gubernatorial candidates Mark
White and Bill Clements made
national headlines.
Both men stooped to
calculated criticisms and
immature insinuations, forcing
Texas voters to choose between
the evils of two lessers.
Clements won the race,
unseating White who had
unseated him two years ago.
Aren’t Texas politics fun?
College Station even had its
own dose of election
entertainment as Pete Geren
and Joe Barton duked it out for
a House seat in Washington. It’s
a good thing that sticks and
stones are the only weapons
able to break bones, because
these two called each other
every name in the book.
Barton pulled this one off—
not a surprise since College
Station is a well-known
Republican stronghold. And it
probably didn’t hurt that he
The Ugly
sacred tradition tor a pointless
trek across Ky\e Field, and the
Corps of Cadets head-bashing
party that ensued.
The event, seen by many
parents visiting for the Texas
Tech game, cast a bad light on
the Corps, rekindling memories
of the unfortunate Goodrich
incident of two years ago.
Another ugly mess on the
Kyle Field astroturf was A&M’s
unceremonious 74-10 tromp
over TCU. The Aggies’
momentum needed refueling
after a disappointing loss to
Arkansas the week before, and
TQJ just happened to be the
unlucky scapegoat.
The result was a merciless
maroon massacre, and by the
end of the game many
sympathetic A&M souls actually
applauded when TCU finally
scored.
And speaking of football and
being merciless, the University
of Texas’ firing of football coach
Fred Akers was pretty cold
blooded.
In his 10-year stint at UT,
Akers led the Longhorns to nine
consecutive bowl games, two
Southwest Conference
championships, and his team
finished second in the nation in
1981 after beating Alabama 14-
12 in the Cotton Bowl.
With a 74 percent winning
record, Akers was no lemon.
But suffering a humiliating
losing season (their first since
1956} was too much for the
teasips to handle.
Internationally, the Soviet
capture of American journalist
Nicholas Daniloff on charges of
espionage ruffled a lot of
feathers.
Obviously Daniloff was
framed, and his arrest occurred
in direct retaliation for the
American arrest of Gennady
Zakharov, a Soviet employee
who was also charged with
espionage.
Just when we were starting to
think the Soviets were serious
about developing a working
relationship with the United
States, they proved once again
that they can’t be trusted