Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, February 3, 1988
Opinion
Say goodbye, Ed
It’s time for U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese to resign or for
Ronald Reagan to kick him out.
The nation’s chief law enforcement officer continues to have
embarrassing run-ins with the law he has sworn to uphold. Last
year, he was accused of trying to influence the awarding of a
government contract to a company in which he held stock. The
latest fiasco involves a possible bribe to Israeli officials.
Meese in 1985 received a memo that allegedly said payoffs to
Israeli officials — particularly then-Prime Minister Shimon
Peres — might be necessary to protect an oil pipeline to be built
near the Israeli border. The project was abandoned before con
struction began.
Israeli officials deny any bribe was offered or accepted. But
if it were, Meese could be indicted for bribery. As attorney gen
eral, he also could be trouble if he knew 7 of the plot and didn’t
stop it, a scenario that begins to resemble Iran-Contra in an un
comfortable way.
The Iran-Contra affair made “What did the president know
and when did he know it?” an important question. In Meese’s
seven years as attorney general, he has made the question “What
did the attorney general know and w hen did he know it?” a com
mon one.
Meese says his involvement in the project was “entirely law
ful,” and it may be that he did not violate the letter of the law.
But the law’s spirit has taken a brutal beating during his tenure,
and it’s time for the healing to begin.
The Battalion Editorial Board
The awful, biting truth
about the CBS pit bull
If the Columbia
Broadcasting Sys
tem has any sense
of fairness, it will
order Dan Rather
to go for the
t h r oats o f each
and every presi
dential candidate.
Why should Vice
President George
Bush receive pref-
erentail treat-
ment?
As a supporter
Mike
Royko
of Paul Simon told
me: “Oh, if only we could get Rather to
publicly whip Paul that way. We’d jump
20 points in all the polls.”
Yes, but what could Rather possibly
attack Simon for?
“Who cares? He could accuse him of
wearing clip-on bow ties or secretly hav
ing 20-20 vision without glasses. What’s
the difference? All that counts is having
Rather ripping, tearing, shredding your
candidate. Beat on us, Dan, please,
harder, harder.”
He has a point. Almost overnight,
Rather has become one of the most
powerful political influences in Amer
ica. One good flogging from him can
send a candidate’s popularity soaring.
It took him only a few grim minutes
to turn a rich elitist like George Bush
into a sympathetic character for millions
of people who work for their paychecks.
It might be the most fascinating de
velopment of the campaigns, that a TV
anchorcreature could have so dramatic
an impact on political opinion.
The question is why? So I asked a
noted psychologist. Dr. I.M. Kooky, if
he had any theories.
“Of course,” he said, “the answer is
obvious. In their subconscious minds,
Dan Rather represents the single thing
Americans fear most. And you must
know what that is.” '
War? Famine? Disease?
“No.”
Then what is it?
“I will tell you. The one single thing
Americans fear most is the pit bull.”
Really?
“Yes, research shows that in recent
years it has become even more frighten
ing than the prospect of the TV conking
out on Super Bowl Sunday.”
But how does the fear of pit bulls re
late to Rather?
“Because when it goes after you, it is
remorseless, without pity. It will not let
go even if you offer it a whole box of
Dog Yummies.”
That does sound like Rather.
“Sure. And look at the way Rather
shows his teeth.”
But he’s simply smiling.
“A pit bidl shows its teeth, too. Do you
call that smiling.”
I see what you mean.
“So what we have here is the Pit Bull
Syndrome at work on the mass mind.
— And George Bush was the poodle.”
- The poodle?
“Of course. The poodle is a nice dog,
but it is an aristocrat, a pure bred,
■ rather snooty, so most people don’t like
it, just like Bush. They also think the
poodle is kind of a wimp, just like Bush.
But the poodle does not frighten them,
just like Bush. They just don’t want one,
just like Bush.”
An interesting analogy, although
George Will said Bush was more of a lap
dog.
“George Will is a poodle, too, so what
does he know? Shall I go on?”
Please.
“These millions of Americans turned
on their TV sets and in their sub
conscious they saw this well-groomed
poodle. And suddenly it was being sav
agely attacked by a pit bull.”
A terrifying vision.
“Yes, but there was a surprise in
store. As a horrified nation watched, ex
pecting a blood bath, they realized that
the poodle was not fleeing. Nor did it
cower. The poodle fiercely defended it
self. In fact, it went on the attack.”
You’re right. Vice President Poodle,
er, Bush, became surprisingly aggres
sive. He hasn’t been that macho since he
boasted of kicking Ferraro’s fanny.
“So, tell me, who do you think most
people would cheer for, the poodle or
the pit bull?”
Hooray for the brave poodle!
“Exactly, which is why CBS switch
boards all over America w 7 ere swamped
with pro-poodle calls.”
But do you think that in his role as
the national pit bull. Rather could have
the same impact on the campaigns of
other candidates?
“Definitely. For example, Simon is
sort of a friendly neighborhood mutt,
and little old ladies would weep in his
behalf.”
Then it would be w 7 ise for the candi
dates to demand a chance to be thrown
into the pit with Rather.
“Yes, but they must hurry.”
W’hy?
“He might be impounded at any mo
ment for rabies tests.”
Copyright 1987, Tribune Media Services, Inc.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Sue Krenek, Editor
Daniel A. LaBry, Managing Editor
Mark Nair, Opinion Page Editor
Amy Couvillon, City Editor
Robbyn L. Lister and
Becky Weisenfels,
News Editors
Loyd Brumfield, Sports Editor
Sam B. Myers, Photo Editor
Editorial Policy
The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspa
per operated as a community service to Texas A&M and
Bryan-College Station.
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the
editorial board or the author, and do not necessarih rep
resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, fac
ulty or the Board of Regents.
The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper
for students in reporting, editing and photography
classes within the Department of Journalism.
The Battalion is published Monday through Friday
during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holidav
and examination periods.
Mail subscriptions are $17.44 per semester, $34.62
per school tear and $36.44 per full year. Advertising
rates furnished on request.
Our address: The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald.
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1 111.
Second class postage paid at College Station, TX
77843.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battal
ion, 216 Reed McDonald. Texas A&M University, Col
lege Station TX 77843-4 111.
Raider of the lost corporations
j.
John
MacDougall
T. Boone Pick
ens — an entre-
preneurial hero or
just another cor-
porate raider? A
former geologist
turned indepen
dent oil producer
turned corporate
icon, Pickens was
on hand Friday at
Rudder Audito
rium before a ca-
pacity audience to receive the Distin
guished Entrepreneur Award given in
honor of Harold L. Kupfer, Class of
1954. Pickens has made millions for his
Mesa Limited Partnership (formerly
Mesa Petroleum) hy hoarding stock in
so-called “undervalued” companies,
then selling back the stock to a jittery
management at a hefty profit. In the
world of hostile takeovers and corporate
raiders, this tactic is called “greenmail.”
Pickens began his career in the oil
business 36 years ago as a junior geolog
ist w'ith a major oil company before set
ting out on his own as an independent
oil producer. The rest is history.
Based in Amarillo, Mesa grew by
leaps and bounds — drilling for oil and
gas all over the world. Pickens and other
Mesa stockholders got rich. A $10,000
investment in Mesa in 1964 would have
been parlayed into $300,000 today.
Pickens turned Mesa Petroleum into a
model company and now has a firm
hand in the daily business operations.
According to magazine reports, Pickens
makes a point to meet all new employees
at orientation. He has a preference for
hiring younger employees. A self
avowed health nut, Pickens built a com
plete athletic facility for employees and
has taken a militant stance against em
ployees’ smoking.
Unfortunately, Pickens’ entrepreneu-
ral spirit has been overshadowed hv
greedy takeover attempts, placing him
in a category beside such dubious deal-
makers as Carl Icahn (TWA), Robert
Holmes a Court (Texaco) and Ronald
Perelman (Revlon). As an advocate of
shareholders’ rights, Pickens states that
American management has become in
sensitive to the demands of stockhold
ers. Pickens knows that management's
goals aren’t always in line with maximiz
ing the wealth of current owners. Man
agement has more immediate selfish
motives that don’t always contribute to
increasing the value of company stock.
Ultimately though, management —
especially corporate officers — is re
sponsible to company owners. If man
agers do their jobs well, they will keep
the hounds away from the company
door. If they screw up and stock prices
nosedive, these companies may find
themselves as subsidiaries of Beatrice
but oftentimes not before a nasty take
over fight. These battles degrade into
ugly skirmishes that are windfalls to
Wall Street lawyers and wing-tipped in
vestment bankers. The losers in a hostile
fakeovers zap a company’s equityi
targeted companies create "poisonr
to prevent themselves from being;
bled up bv a bigger fish (orinthecast
Mesa, a minnow). The pills can takei
form of issuance of new stock or ext*
sive severances for management ini)
event of a buyout.
Pickens is master of the lab
game. In 1985 he tried tobuyouib
cal, but backed off after Unocal’sr
agement of fered him a huge sunj
money f or Mesa’s stot kholdingsini
cal. The deal netted Mesa $83
In 1984 Pickens made a cool $218b
lion on a hid for Gulf that cult
the oil giant being purchased by
dard Oil Company. All these dealt!
fine and dandy in our free en
economv. But Pickens is brash enoi
to climb a soapbox against greenm
One should seriously doubt hisi
tions to operate the companiesint
he has purchased blocks of stock,
cord is tattooed by hit and ruuattem
to run up the price of target comp;
stock, only to sell out quickly,
most recent attempts at purdiai
chunks of Boeing, Singer and Newt
Mining indicate that he still hope!!
make a quick buck In intimidating (I
management of these companies.
To make Pickens worthy of
Kupfer award, we should change:
name from the “Distinguished En
preneur Award” to the “Distinguiilj
Corporate Raider Award.” Has a,i
ring to it.
takeover are the little guys whose jobs
are axed to help def ray the cost of stock John MacDougall is a graduatestu
repurchases and “golden parachutes.” and a columnist for The BaUaYum.
P&RUN&, HAVE '/00 £EEN
PISAGREEIN& 'NtW THE VRESEtW
ON CENTRAL AHEWCN AGNN7
.®)<S
a*
Mail Call
Help, help, I’m being oppressed Being oppressed, part II
EDITOR: EDITOR:
A few nights ago I was making that all too familiar trek
from the fish lot to my dorm, when I was confronted with
a spectacle: Cain Hall . . . that towering haven of athletic
prowess with its spacious rooms, elevators, and yes — its
own private parking lot.
It seems to me that a slight inconsistency exists when
an institution of learning virtually enshrines its athletes,
while students on academic scholarships receive no such
preferential treatment. Maybe Jackie Sherrill, with his new
and richly deserved professorship, could explain to me the
logic behind this. Is there some unspoken law that forbids
the pampered proteges of the athletic program from park
ing with the “rabble” or from using the stairs? This peasant
is tired of athletics taking precedence over academics.
Jennifer Maloney ’91
Incidents comparable to those that happened in Ger
many in the 1940s have taken place in Israel. Civil righis
violations continue today. The Palestinians are the op
pressed minority; the West Bank and Gaza Strip are the I
Auschwitz and Dachau of today.
It is time for this country to divest itself of Israel. Per-1
haps without the billions of dollars in free donations from
us yearly to fund their storm troopers, die Israelis can be
forced to give back some of the land that they have stolen.
There will be no peace in the Middle East until the Pales-[
tinian people have a homeland.
Brian Petruskie ’83
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300) words in length. The editorial staff n-
serves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effortti i
maintain the author's intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the clas
sification, address and telephone number of the writer.
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathe