The Battalion
OPINION 2
Wednesday, April 26,1989
U.S. must change strategy
to compete with Europe
The class of 1992 is coming to the end
of its first academic year. The European
Common Market of 1992 is just over the
horizon, a scary three years away.
Twelve of the major European coun
tries (the United Kingdom, Ireland,
Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium,
Portugal, France, West Germany, Lux
embourg, Spain, Italy, and Greece) are
taking steps to consolidate into a com
mon economic market, which, if every
thing goes as planned, will culminate by
1992.
Europe will be a greater economic ri
val than any that exists today, and the
United States presently can’t meet the
challenge Europe will provide. The Eu
ropean Market will surpass the United
States as the largest single market in the
world, with 325 million people, com
pared to the United States’ projected
255 million.
Economically speaking, Europe will
become one big country, with even the
possibility of a common currency
among the 12 nations. All tariffs, tax
differences and trade restrictions will be
dropped, making Europe an economic
superpower. Some companies in the Eu
ropean countries may become “Euro
pean companies” which would allow
them to operate under one set of trade
regulations instead of twelve.
Those regulations which are' being
codified by the commission that over
sees the consolidation seem protection
ist in nature. The regulations will favor
internal (European) products much
more than some of the individual coun
tries’ laws currently do.
With Japan and other emerging eco
nomic nations in the East and the new
European Common Market to the West,
the United States is going to have to
work to remain economically viable, and
struggle to regain any economic lead
over Europe.
The United States’ relative economy
has suffered over the past twenty years
— partly because we’ve fallen off the
lead, and partly because the post-World
War II nations had recovered by the
1970s and are thriving now in the
1980s.
The U.S. economy was revived by the
Reagan administration in the early
1980s. But not even Reagan’s revival is
enough to prepare us for future eco
nomic battles.
At the beginning of this year, the Eu
ropean countries banned some im
ported American beef, sighting con
cerns over the use of growth hormones
to acclerate the cows’ development. In
response to Europe’s action, the United
States announced a steep tariff on seve
ral European goods.
After a few weeks, the situation
cooled off, and both sides eased their re
strictions. Yet this is just a small example
of possible things to come. Europe’s ac
tions showed us that not only will Eu
rope become more competitive in the
future, it will become more protection
ist, refusing more foreign goods.
An economically stronger Europe will
battle with the United States for the
markets of many countries around the
globe, and the means they use may be
all-out economic warfare.
The United States is going to have to
mature economically over the next few
years if we are to compete with Europe
and an ever-growing Japan. We are
going to have to start reducing the defi
cit, and begin chipping away at the mas
sive debt.
The United States also needs to even
out the trade imbalance with Japan and
other foreign countries. Most of all, we
need to return to the ethic of the best
quality for the lowest prices, which will
include leaving the minimum wage
alone.
Another possible way to counteract
our economic future is to economically
consolidate with Canada as the Euro
pean countries are doing.
If Congress, Bush, and the people of
America don’t start facing up to the
reality that we’re shrinking as an eco
nomic power, we’ll surely be economi
cally “overtaken” by our foreign com
petitors.
Timm Doolen is a sophomore com
puter science major and a columnist
for The Battalion.
Mail Call
KANM needs assistance
EDITOR:
I was heartened by my April 6 visit to the Texas A&M campus. I
happened to see that day’s issue of The Battalion and was impressed with its
range of coverage. I think as the A&M community has grown more diverse,
the newspaper has evolved to reflect a welcome variety of ideas.
I especially enjoyed meeting representatives from KANM radion, who
were selling “alternative ear” T-shirts in the MSC. 1 was delighted to see the
likes of The Smiths and That Petrol Emotion on the station’s playlist.
Since I can remember when less than mainstream attitudes, musical or
otherwise, were regularly derided in letters to the editor (usually concluded
with the all-purpose rejoinder “Highway 6 runs both ways”), I find these
bands’ presence to be an encouraging omen.
Cable just won’t cut it, though. Fans have to be able to pick up broadcasts
on their Walkmans or car radios. I’m dismayed the Association of Former
Students (or any Aggie organization which relentlessly solicits funds) has not
contributed toward the cost of a low-power transmitter. If any organization
or individual is in the process of doing so, I’m glad to be proved wrong and 1
apologize and congratulate them on their support for new music and an
outlet for alternative expression.
The Bryan-College Station area could benefit from an expanded KANM,
just as Houston benefits from KTRU, the radio station at Rice University. An
eclectic mix of jazz, comedy, punk, public service, sports, interviews and
ticket giveaways might invigorate the A&M community also.
KANM could become as stimulating as The Battalion is now'. I only hope
the transformation doesn’t take another seven years.
Nan Nagle ’82
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters
for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter m ust be signed and
must include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer.■
The cops are tough
in Evergreen Park
When Donald Ziff goes before a
judge, he’ll have to explain why he was
accused by police of acting wild and dis
turbing the peace.
Not being a lawyer, I shouldn’t give
advice to Ziff, 28. But I’ll do it anyway.
My advice is that he confess and tel)
the judge exactly what happened. He
should say something like this:
“Your honor, it began one evening
while I stood in front of my apartment
near the University of Chicago campus.
“Two young men walked up to me
and said it was a stickup. They had their
hands under their coats as if they had
guns.
“I only had $20, so they asked if my
wallet contained credit cards. I said it
did, and they told me to come with
them.
“They led me to a car on the other
side of the street and shoved me into the
back seat. A third guy was behind the
wheel.
“They asked me if I had rings or jew
elry, and I said no, so they opened the
trunk of the car and put me in, and we
drove off.
“Then they stopped and let me out of
the trunk and put me in the back seat.
They said they were going to need my
help to buy things with my credit card.
They had my card and my driver’s li
cense. They threatened me. They said:
‘We know your name and where you
live. You do anything, we’ll come and
get you.’
“We went to a shoe store. Two waited
outside, and one went in with me. He
bought two pairs of shoes and socks for
$240 and I signed for them.
“At that point, I started to figure that
maybe they weren’t armed. And I saw a
security guard near the door. If I was
going to escape, I thought this would be
my best chance. I didn’t know how
much more shopping they planned on
doing, and I dreaded going back in that
trunk.
“So I just ran toward the screaming,
‘Help, they’re robbing me.’ The guy
with me tried to grab me, but I pushed
him away and ran.
“The security guard and a store em
ployee grabbed him. Then I ran toward
the other two guys outside and yelled,
‘Those are his friends and they have a
car outside.’ They ran and I tried to
chase them, but I got winded.
“The Evergreen Park police came
and I tried to tell them what happened.
Mike
Royko
Columnist
The other guy — one of the kidnappers
— kept saying it was a drug deal and/
was paying for buying things for them
on my credit card.
“Then, the police put handcuffs on
me. One of them said, ‘If you do some
thing wrong, we’re going to stick some
thing so far up you a—, it will come out
of your nose.’ They talked tougher than
the kidnappers.
“At the station, they fingerprinted
me, took my photo like a criminal, and
one of them said, ‘One guy says it’s an
abduction, the other guy says it’s a drug
deal.’ So they charged us both with dis
orderly conduct.
“I phoned my boss, and he came to
bail me out. One of the Evergreen cops
asked me if 1 was still sticking with my
story. When I told him I was, he said,
‘Are you retarded?’ I tried to explain
that if he looked for the car, they’d find
my possessions in the trunk. I hadabag
with sheet music in it. See, I had been
going to a singing group that evening,
But they wouldn’t listen to me.
“So my boss drove me back to Hyde
Park. We called the university police,
and they brought in the Chicago police,
We went back to the mall and the car
was still there.
“The Chicago police believed me, and
they went to the Evergreen Park police
station. The one kidnapper, his name
was Jonathan Washington, was still
there. He couldn’t make bond on his
disorderly conduct charge.
“The Evergreen Park police released
him so the Chicago police could arrest
him.
“Now he’s charged with aggravated
kidnapping and possession of a stolen
car, and his bond was set at $375,000.
“So, your honor, I admit I waskindot
disorderly and I disturbed the peace
when I started screaming in that shoe
store. But if you had been stuffed in the
trunk of a car, you might do the same
thing yourself.
“In closing, I would like to say thatif
anyone is ever abducted like I was, asi
the abductors if they will do you one fa^
vor.
“Ask them not to take you shopping
in Evergreen Park.”
Copyright 1989, Tribune Media Services, Inc
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Becky Weisenfels, Editor
Leslie Guy, Managing Editor
Dean Sueltenfuss, Opinion Page Editor
Anthony Wilson, City Editor
Scot Walker, Wire Editor
Drew Leder, News Editor
Doug Walker, Sports Editor
Jay Janner, Art Director
Mary-Lynne Rice, Entertainment Edi
tor
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resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, fac
ulty or the Board of Regents.
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classes within the Department of Journalism.
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