Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, February 6, 1985
OPINION
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OUT OF STEP W/TH
MAINSTREAM THOUGHT
Grace Commission
Remember the
dressing-down
King Arthur gave
Guinevere in the
nunnery? It was
stern, but not
more so than Ste-
ven Kelman’s
analysis of the
Grace Commis
sion report on
government “cost
control.”
The commission gave Ronald Reagan
the idea that there are 2,478 ways of
eliminating “waste” and thereby saving,
in just three years, $424 billion. Hence
Reagan’s belief that the budget deficit
can be tamed by “growth and Grace” —
by economic growth and by eliminating
only things that no one wants.
The initial press release trumpeted:
“Commission Discloses $424 Billion in
Waste.” But much of what it chose to
call waste is just policy — the reasonably
ef ficient operation of progress the com
mission considers unnecessary. (Hence
the commission’s assertion that $424 bil
lion could be saved in three years “wi
thout in any way harming necessary so
cial welfare programs.”) Fourteen
percent of the $424 billion ($58 billion)
was to come (in years 2001-3) from cut
ting federal, civilian and military pen
sions.
Now, in the winter issue of The Pub
lic Interest — no liberal journal — Kel-
man, of Harvard’s Kennedy School of
Government, argues that the horror sto
ries about waste “are almost always gross
exaggerations.” The commission spe
cialized in such stories as: “The Penta
gon has been buying screws, available in
any hardware store for 3 cents, for $91
each.”
Make your blood boil? Simmer down.
Pentagon acquisition rules stipulate
that “overhead” expenses be allocated to
each shipment at some fixed proportion
of the value of the product. If the value
is $5 million, the corporation might be
entitled to add, say, 20 percent ($1 mil
lion) for overhead. Overhead every
thing from legal departments to com
pany headquarters.
The Pentagon orders many kinds of
parts simultaneously. As an approved
accounting convenience, many contrac
tors allocate overhead on an “item”
rather than “value” basis. Kelman illus-
LETTERS:
Purpose of editorial
to express opinion
EDITOR:
I direct this letter to Brian Bunt in re
sponse to a letter he wrote concerning
“very liberal” editorials.
My dear sir, I am so sorry you are
tired of reading those “too liberal arti
cles.” Quite frankly, I am tired of read
ing the type of articles that you probably
appreciate. This does not mean, how
ever, that I would like them not to ap
pear in this newspaper or any other
newspaper. To you, Brian, I ask this
question: What is the purpose of an edi
torial? You wrote that the Battalion edi
torial staff was “out of step with mains
tream thought.” This leads me to
assume that an editorial, in your opin
ion, should be an article that conforms
to the beliefs of the populus. In this, you
are quite wrong. An editorial is written
to state one’s own beliefs whether they
correspond with the beliefs of others or
not.
You attributed the editors’ liberalism
to their “support for homosexuals and
pro-abortionists.” So this is what makes
a person liberal?
In addition, it is humorous to read
you are “tired of being called closemin-
ded” and that you “know in your heart”
you are not prejudiced. You say this and
then state “homosexuality is wrong” and
you will not accept this type of “sick
ness,” as you call it. No, this does not
sound closeminded OR prejudicial to
me at all! I realize you are tired of read
ing liberal editorials, tired of being
called prejudicial and closeminded)
tii ed of homosexuals, etc.
I also think you, along with your con
servative, anti-gay, anti-freedom of the
press cohorts, who seem to think only
your “type” of letters should be printed
in this editorial section, will have to en
dure this fatigue.
This is true, just as I will have to en
dure some of your rather weak argu
ments.
Darby Paige Syrian
University-managed
cable system proposed
EDITOR:
The university is presently involved
in negotiations with McCaw Cable vision.
Being concerned with our future, we
have found several faults with the cur
rent system.
As you are aware, the main problems
are the system’s rates and channel selec
tion. Because of the significant savings
inherent in a campus-wide cable net
work due to a greater volume, the stu
dents should expect to receive a corre
sponding savings in their rates. Instead,
McCaw Cablevision has more than
doubled its prices and intends to in
crease their rates next semester. At the
last RHA meeting, McCaw Cablevision
unveiled their plans to increase our
room rates to $49.00 for the basic pack
age, or $116.20 with HBO, inclusive for
all on-campus students. Further, the se
lection of stations in the basic package is
not adecmate.
If McCaw Cablevision does not signif
icantly reduce their rates and concur
with the students on station selection,
the following course of action is pro
posed: a university managed cable sys
tem. Such a system would be consistent
with the university’s present regulation
of on-campus utilities. Over a period of
Cadets will never be able
to shake memory of peer
Bruce Dean
Goodrich is dead.
D-E-A-D. But is
he? I hear or see
his name almost
every day in the
news. Yes, Bruce
is gone. But the
courts are just be
ginning to remind
us of what hap
pened on those
last two days in August.
Gabriel Cuadra, one of the four for
mer cadets indicted in connection with
the death of Goodrich has recently been
found guilty of tampering with evi
dence. Cuadra was found guilty of tear
ing up a roster that listed the exercises
required during the motivational exer
cise session for Goodrich and another
cadet. He received a probated $500 fine
and a probated jail sentence that is still
to be determined. Cuadra still faces a
charge of hazing.
Nevertheless, the gears of our court
system are slowly starting to spin.
A March 25 trial date has been set for
the other three former cadets indicted
in connection with Goodrich’s death.
Anthony D’Alessandro, Jason Miles,
and Louis Fancher III, indicted by a
Brazos County Grand Jury Sept. 28,
face charges of hazing and criminally
negligent homicide. The penalties for
criminally negligent homicide, a class A
misdemeanor, are a fine of up to $2,000
and up to one year in jail. Hazing carries
penalties of up to 10 days in jail and a
fine of $25 to $200.
It’s a truly tragic situation. A 20-year-
old dies of heat stroke after a late-night
exercise session and four cadets are in
dicted on various charges in connection
with the death. The Corps of Cadets
and the University receive national pub
licity — mostly negative.
want to be in the jury assigned to this
case? I know I wouldn’t. What if they
did commit the crimes they are accused
of? Will they be punished to the fullest
extent of the law? From the looks of the
Cuadra verdict they’re not apt to get a
pat on the back.
There are so many questions that
have yet to be answered. Many probably
never will be. Four young men are on
their way to court to fight for their inno
cence, integrity and reputation. But, 1
still wonder if the right people are on
trial. These former cadets aren’t solely
responsible for what happened, but
they are taking all the blame. I admire
them for that. But, it’s kind of hard to
accuse and convict an institution.
The now former cadets no longer at
tend the University they once were so
fond of. They no longer are a part of
the camaraderie in the Corps. Life as
they once knew it no longer exists —and
it probably never will again. Some
things you never forget. And for what?
Something that has gone on in the
Corps for a long time — except this time
someone died. Victims of circumstance.
It’s now up to the courts to decide
guilt or innocence — in this situation,
that can be a hard decision. Who would
Bruce Dean Goodrich is dead. Bui
justice won’t let us forget. The four for
mer cadets indicted in connection with
his death haven’t even been tried on the
most serious charges.
Nevertheless, they have already re
ceived the most severe punishment pos
sible. No matter whose fault it was, a fel
low cadet died, and that’s something
they will never forget.
Kevin S. Inda is a senior journalism
major and a weekly columnist for Tht
Battalion.
dreaming impossible dream
trates this with an example of a $20 mil
lion order for 10,000 parts, some of
which have a direct cost of $25,000 each
and others of 4 cents each.
“Instead of apportioning the $1 mil
lion total overhead such that the
$25,000 part gets a lot and the 4-cent
part a little, the computer printout will
allocate $100 to each part. This pro
duces a charge to the government of
$25,100 for the expensive part and
$ 100.04 for the cheap one.”
The Grace Commission charged that,
“In comparison to a private sector com
pany, managing comparable building
space, the General Services Administra
tion employs 17 times as many people
and spends about 14 times as much on
total management costs.” Outraged? Do
not be.
The commission committed two
howlers. It compared GSA to an actual
insurance company managing 10,000
buildings — but the company really
manages only 1,000. Also, the commis
sion said the company employs just 200
management professionals under con
tract. Kelman found that the company
actually has 200 management firms un
der contract.
-The commission charged: “The Vet
erans Administration spends $61,250
per bed to construct nursing homes —
almost four times the $16,000 per-bed
cost of a major private-sector nursing
home operator.” Kelman found that the
commission averaged the cost of six VA
homes, and the average was radically in
flated by including a West Virginia
home the cost of which included a re
lated facility that was part of a whole
medical facility built adjacent to it. The
costs of three of the other five homes
were significantly raised because of site
difficulties. The sites were dictated by
the VA policy of locating homes near
VA hospitals.
Furthermore, VA costs are raised by
government policies of providing cer
tain quality features (such as balconies
for the rooms) and giving preference to
American-made products and minority
and small businesses. The wisdom of
such policies is debatable; but the poli
cies are not “waste.”
Kelman demolishes several other
Grace horror stories, but mere facts are
no match for the desire to believe politi
cally convenient things. The Grace re
port, and especially the President’s love
several years the system would be fully
paid for by the students, and at a rea
sonable cost. Because of the large cost
savings gained from the elimination of
marketing, billing, and installation costs,
the university will be able to pass on sub
stantial savings to the students.
Bill Emshoff
Ralph Paxel, Jr.
Brian Wertz
Vigilante only did
what he had to do
EDITOR:
After reading Steffy’s editorial on the
heroic efforts of Bernhard Goetz, I
could not resist the opportunity to voice
my opposition. Steffy’s basic problem is
that ne is not a realist. He condemns
Goetz’s actions, proclaiming the Goetz
acted in an irresponsible manner. Steffy
contends that warning shots would have
been a more appropriate form of de
fense by Goetz than shooting the scum
that were attacking him. Obviously,
Steffy has never been in a potentially fa
tal situation like Goetz. Goetz haa no
way of knowing that the attacking hood
lums were unarmed. I would like to ask
Steffy if he thinks the four thiefs would
have fired warning shots before shoot
ing Goetz. Hell no!! Warning shots by
Goetz might have been retaliated by
gunfire from the attackers. It seems ob
vious that Goetz acted on impulse. He
did what he thought he had to do to
preserve his own hfe. Additionally, as a
result of his justified rage he attempted
to rid society of four hoodlums. I can
only think tnat Darrell Cabey (the 19
year old assailant paralyzed by Goetz’s
oullet) as a vegetable is less detrimental
to society than as a hoodlum. Goetz
owes society nothing, instead we owe
Goetz a hell of a lot.
Eric L. Self
accompanied by 3 signatures
Poem dedicated to
fish buddies of 1981
EDITOR:
I want to dedicate this poem to my
fish buddies of 1981:
This is an ode dedicated to only those
who understand,
Understand what? Understand what
a boy receives after he has been in The
Band.
To be as one, is an experience felt by
only a select few,
Men working side by side for a com
mon goal, to be the best in all they do,
Men sweating together, not giving
up, no complaints,
Men learning discipline, comradery,
and how to follow,
Men learning to present the example,
make decisions, and how to lead the
way,
These were Men living in unity, striv
ing for perfection, accepting nothing
less,
It was then that people took them for
granted, forgetting that these Men were
the best,
Men sharing with one another, every
aspect of their lives,
Were soon to feel at their backs, long,
cold, steely knives,
Those that did not know these Men,
put them on trial,
Who were these Men? None other
than the Noble Men of Kyle.
Russ S. Kotwal
Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band, Class of ’85
of it, demonstrates the extraordinan
things people will believe in order to
avoid facing unpleasant facts, such as
the fact that the deficit cannot be sub
stantially shrunk painlessly.
Do you really believe the government
is paying $110 for a 4-cent diode, and
that if it would just quit doing such
things it could save $424 billion in three
years? Remember in “Through the
Looking Glass,” when Alice says itisim
possible to believe impossible things and
the Queen (who should be the chairman
of the Council of Economic Advisors)
says: “Fiddlesticks, I’ve believed as many
as six impossible things before break
fast." The Queen was no slouch, but not
in the league with the Grace Commis
sion and its believers.
George Will is a columnist for the
Washington Post.
The Battalion
(ISPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Brigid Brockman, Editor
Shelley Hoekstra, Managing Editor
Ed Cassavoy, City Editor
Kellie Dworaczyk, News Editor
Michelle Powe, Editorial Page Editor
Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
The Battalion Staff
Assistant City Editors
Kari Fluegel, Rhonda Snider
Assistant News Editors
Tammy Bell, Cami Brown, John Hallett
Assistant Sports Editor
Charean Williams
Entertainment Editors
Shawn Behlen, Leigh-Ellen Clark
Staff Writers Cathie Anderson,
Brandon Berry, Dainah Bullard,
Ann Cervenka, Tony Cornett,
Michael Crawford, Kirsten Dietz,
Patti Flint, Patrice Koranek,
Trent Leopold, Sarah Oates,
Jerry Oslin, Tricia Parker,
Lynn Rae Povec
Copy Editor Kay Mallett
Make-up Editors Karen Bloch,
Karla Martin
Columnists Kevin Inda, Loren Steffy
Editorial Cartoonist Mike Lane
Sports Cartoonist Dale Smith
Copy Writer Cathy Bennett
Photo Editor Katherine Hurt
Photographers Anthony Casper,
Wayne Grabein, Frank Irwin,
John Makely, Peter Rocha, DeanSaito
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