Page 2AThe BattalionAThursday, May 7, 1987 t U Hart’s personal life is the nation’s affair Imagine being a goldfish and living in a large, transparent fish bowl which the whole world can clearly see into. Sharp, b e a dy eyes watch your every move, in significant or not, as you swim back and forth. Sondra Pickard back and forth, back and forth — searching for just an inkling of pri vacy and hoping to find relief, if only for a minute, from the ever present presence enfolded around you and your glass walls. Not a comfortable thought, but anyone who chooses to run for pres ident of the United States might as well throw up the shades, drag open the windows or move in with the pet goldfish. Whether front-runner or dark horse, privacy and comfort are not items included in the package deal of speeches, smiles and airplane rides a presidential candidate takes on, especially now — a time when hidden character traits and behind- the-curtain intentions need to be un covered long before the high office is actually attained. from the well-deserved and often- asked-for “fishbowl syndrome.” It seems the Miami Herald attempted to take its campaign-trail journalism se riously last weekend. tor the most part, confused anci where near the truth. Now thestor a life of its own, and what’s import not the truth, but the public’spei! live. Ib Democratic candidate Gary Hart and his Phi Beta Kappa pharmaceu tical-sales representative friend Donna Rice, are the latest to suffer Acting on what it saw as a legitimate tip, the Herald sent reporters Jim Mc Gee and Tom Fiedler, by land and air, to stake out Hart’s Capitol Hill town house in Washington, D.C. What they saw there has set off the first and proba bly biggest sex-related ordeal of the 1988 campaign. According to the Herald, Hart “spent Friday night and most of Saturday in his Capitol Hill town house with a young woman who flew from Miami to meet him.” Hart may he about as atypical a politician as this nation has seen in quite a while, but he was, of course, politician enough to deny quickly that Rice actu ally stayed all night. “No one was staying in my apart ment,” the Herald quoted him as saying. “I have no personal relationship with the individual you are following.” The Herald should notbt demned. The American voterski major interest in the integrin s,,l,lu judgment ol a man aspiring tobt|° r< 1 )1< ‘ ,IS president. Besides, Hart did even® ( short of begging for such coven® replying to earlier charges ing in The New York Times ^ j n(1 . Hart said: “Follow me around,: mon ^ s y care. I’m serious. If anybody'' r ont and gt put a tail on me, go ahead. The Some dri very bored.” E Diamo: ■s that t:c ‘The Dia 1 le asked lor it, and hegotit.At^w en t wai tailers were anything but bored. :[shntore, nior campaign adviser agreed oi jfiing ‘ last night th.n I l.n t made a big[ Cpt by putting himself in such ci:E IU)t * KI stances to begm with. Mark SluiH as lon syndicated columnist also appeal g r J to c y iet CNN, said Hart’s judgment was ani see am and that it is surely a “major p.Mi her bu blow.” Ml spots thar benef What counts in 1988 is characteE a ^ e ' leadership. Given today’s piobleoE*^- penally Ronald Reagan’s Iran shtiEj/^3 tec The stories from Hart and stories from the Herald don’t at all jibe, nor will they ever. The real truth has yet to come out of the closet, and probably won’t soon — if ever. The newspaper claims Hart and Rice entered Hart’s town house arm in arm at 11:17 p.m. Friday wife, why wouldn’t he c heat onhi C^^^I ;0 p.m. try? If he has got to be alone, then'llP^* gans. Hart should never be seen a without his wife. If he doescheata and weren’t seen again until 8:40 p. Saturday. An interview with Dr. Vandiver: Finals, faculty, world-class status Hart, on the other hand, swears Rice left Friday evening with his friend and political adviser William Broadhurst. Evidently neither reporter watched the rear entrance from midnight to 5 a.m., or the front entrance from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m., leaving open the possibility that someone left during those times. So who do we believe? The charming, almost- young but very married politician hid ing in his fishbowl, or the wily, beady- eyed reporters hiding outside behind the bushes? Every day I pick up a Battalion to find out about im- p o r t a n t issues such as “world- Chris Rudesill Guest Columnist This led me to two more questions — the first dealt with finals and the second with faculty retention. class status,” senior finals and the prob lems of state budget cuts with respect to A&M. And every time 1 read about these problems I ask myself such questions as: What precisely is a “world-class univer sity? What is really and truly being done about senior finals? What incentives are there to keep an elite faculty? It sure isn’t pay, and except for the annual Col lege Station Jazz Festival which features North Texas State University’s One O’clock Lab Band, this place is not a center for fine arts (you will note that not all the good professors are conserva tive Christians and native Texans who are content to watch rodeos and TV evangelists). Let me start by setting everyone straight on the issue of senior finals: The issue is as old as the oldest tradition on campus. Seniors have had to take fi nals intermittently since the school first opened its doors. There will be finals for the Class of’88 on. can find at least one person in common? With 39,000 students expected this fall it will be more difficult. This is all the more reason to come out of our apa thetic closets and take interest in what is going on around us. As a starting place repeat after me — HOWDY DAMMIT! Whatever the answer, the ethical question of a presidential candidate hav ing an extramarital affair is much big ger than the story itself. Most agree that the Herald exhibited sloppy journalism in its inconsistent stake-out methods, in cluding the newspaper’s editors. Had it done its job completely, the Herald could have either dropped the story al together, or opened the public’s eye to a dishonest man wanting to be president. not be with a 29-year-old, 5-foot-(3 || pound ex-actress and model. Ials I I \ thi feeler; As former Vice President dements si Mondale said, “Once they get toEnesda) dent, candidates better be Mttw on rui ; gethei as well as you can get * K bP compartn ethics.” Chris Rudesill is a senior engineering technology major. Unfortunately, it did neither and in stead ran a story that has left the public, Hart chose to run for presideni in doing so has chosen to liveina howl. America is looking for hones the White I louse — not deception, wants continued success and higi ratings. Hart had better keepin that millions of eyes are on him. ing, staring, waiting. It’s all part game of politics — any little could cost him his political career. Sondra Pickard is a senior jourr,. major and editor o/The Battalion. The big issue now is the schedule. Dr. Vandiver told me that he was pushing for two sets of finals so that Final Review and Commencement would remain un changed, and also to honor the religious rights of non-Christian students and faculty. I finally decided to find out the an swers to my questions — I asked Presi dent Frank Vandiver. In interviewing him, my goal was threefold: I wanted to say that I met him, I wanted to find out where Texas A&M is heading, and I wanted to spark an apathetic student body into taking some constructive in terest in this University because if we don’t, A&M will cease to be the “world- class university” our alumni forged. The problem is that some of the fac ulty members don’t want to write two tests. (I think these are probably the same who want a faculty club complete with bar to be provided at students’ ex penses through the food service). They need to be lectured to by the world-class student body they teach, but don’t scare them away. What is “world-class?” Dr. Vandiver’s response was quick — “We already are, have been for a long time!” He then proceeded to tell me about his “world university” concept. In short, it is a net work of universities scattered around the world that would work together to solve basic world problems. These insti tutions would have to have top quality students and faculty — the same quality of excellence that is found here at A&M. This leads to the question of faculty retention. How do we keep the high- quality teaching found here? Shoot Bill Clements? No — too radical for this place! The best we can do right now is support the alumni lobbying to keep the money we already have, and stock up apples for your favorite teachers when we are not arguing over a half a point on a lab quiz — keep the faith. Having had my questions of world- class, finals and budget answered, I wish to close by defining “world-class univer sity” — Texas A&M — a very unique University, a University with traditions, a University that is close knit (the pur pose behind any and all traditions). Where else have you been that you can introduce two strangers and they The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Sondra Pickard, Editor John Jarvis, Managing Editor Sue Krenek, Opinion Page Editor Rodney Rather, City Editor Robbyn L. Lister, News Editor Loyd Brumfield, Sports Editor Tracy Staton, Photo Editor Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper oper ated as a community service to Texas A&M and Bryan-College Sta tion. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial board or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of l exas 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 l exas 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, l exas A&M University, College Station, I X 77843-41 11. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 'The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843-4111. Mail Call Behind the times EDITOR: On the second page of I he Battalion last Friday, Chuck Docekal complained in his letter of the attention being paid to homosexuals by I he Battalion and wondered what impression people visiting A&M would get when reading these articles. Well, Mr. Docekal, you may get sick of them, but I (a visitor from the Netherlands) get sick of people like you who get frustrated when they are confronted with different ideas or lifestyles. Did you really think that A&M visitors would be upset or even surprised to hear that there are homosexuals at A&M? Poor guy, you must be terribly narrow-minded. May I give you some advice to relieve your sufferings? If you’re not yet ready for the things mum and dad didn’t tell, continue your gray and dull life and skip the next article about this subject. Peter Sterk, visiting scientist at least 3 hours each; traveling across the country even weekend; missing classes because of travel; then trying! squeeze in meals, studying and sleep somewhere during this week. This occurs every day, including Sundays. Wegetfai behind in classes and have to struggle to catch up. Mosi us don’t know what a social life is, because we have zero time for one. Thanks to the 'Hilton' It is not as if we sit back and are handed cash each week. Athletic events earn this school many thousandsi dollars each year that is returned to athletic scholarships Not all scholarship money is donated by old Ags. Jensen needs to re-examine her facts and quit generalizing. As for her concluding remarks, theywerf rude and highly uncalled for. If she were to dwell oni athlete’s side of the story instead of her own sorry opinion, she would discover that our education is not handed to us on a silver platter. To help correct her article, a physical-education major requires 147 hours compared to a measly 128foi journalism. And what is the signif icance of her Ross Volunteer remark? EDITOR: To the students of Hotard and their RA’s, I would like to congratulate you and wish you all the best summer and let you know how much I appreciate your cooperation. T hank you very much for the good school term we had. May Cod bless each and every one of you. Linda Martinez, custodial worker Hotard “Hilton” Margaret Spence ’87 accompanied by three signatures The Morrison mystery EDITOR: 1 Athletics is no picnic EDITOR: In response to D.A. Jensen’s column of May 5, our hearts just bleed for the poor lass having to pay her way through college. And we athletes are just sitting here wasting all that money. No, we have no incentive to develop our minds; we just take 14 hours of classes to fill the gaps in our day. We challenge Jensen to spend one clay like ours. Let her try something like this: 3 hours a day of early classes beginning at 8 a.m., followed by a two-hour workout in the gym or at the track, in addition to a 1 Vs hour session of lifting weights; one or two games per week that take up The time has come for the revelation of a most cos® phenomena: the mystery of t he disappearance and presumed death of Jim Morrison is unequivocably and interminably related to the inexplicable existenceofa highly advanced civilization in the Peruvian Andes. Recent intensive research into early cultural references uncovered in South America involving interstellar travelers, in concurrent association with a study of the philosophical treatises and art work of the errant poet Jim Morrison, has led to an earth-shatterii!| conclusion. Quite simply put, Jim Mo son was kidnapped!)' ancient astronauts because he is coming too close to® Answer. Take notice, ye unsuspecting world. Paul Dinkum and Conrad Wong, ’90 Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorials serves the right to edit letters for style and length, hut will make even f We Just year yout maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must he signed arid must classification, address and telephone number of the writer.