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Page 2 THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1977
Opinion/Commentary/Letters
Ceteris Paribus
Riding into the sunset legislation
By MARK RANKIN
It is true, I am told, that not so
J’ery long ago a man got himself
fleeted to the honorable post of
Hide and Animal Inspector for the
fcity of Houston. One cannot help
Jvut feel sorry for: a) the City of
Jlouston or, b) the newly appointed
Jlide and Animal Inspector or, c)
those hides and animals summarily
due for inspection.
« It is also true, I am convinced that
Jhe citizens of the City of Houston
Should: a) move or, b) throw the ras-
jfcal out or, c) provide him with more
hides and animals than he knows
>vhat to do with.
In fact, the position is an archaic
fne, a remnant from times past
tvhen hides and animals were left
uninspected on the streets of the
largest city in Texas. The message,
Jiowever, is far from archaic: the
Jnoving legislature, having legis
lated, moves on and seldom looks
Tack.
There are those of us who would
just as soon not have the Hide and
Animal Inspectors looking after our
hides and animals but thus is bu
reaucracy and our alternatives are
limited. After all, what does one do
with a bureaucracy after it is no
longer functional? One group says
that we should legislate it out of
existence.
Common Cause, the “citizen’s
lobby,” is pushing the so-called
“Sunset” approach to legislating bu
reaucracy and I am tempted to join
them.
The Sunset approach calls for a
mandatory time limit in which a
newly created agency can operate.
This is to say that the consumer pro
tection agency created today will
automatically dissolve five years
from now unless it is relegislated or
allowed to continue by recom
mendation of a special committee.
However, this proposal raises some
very interesting questions.
On, how does one determine the
relative usefulness of a particular
bureau? How much consumer pro
tection is just enough? How much is
too little? How much is too much?
What about those who are to de
termine the relative merits of the
bureau at its “Sunset,” will they be
less ignorant than those who regu
late bureaucracy today?
It seems to me that the exponents
of Sunset legislation may be just a
bit on the naive side when it comes
to these questions. Today, bureau
cracy is evaluated on the basis of
both subjective and objective
criteria. An agency is doing its job
well or it isn’t. This is subjective. An
agency is worth $X as allocated by
the legislature. This is objective.
Sunset laws offer no solution to
these vagaries.
Another problem has to do with
the nature of bureaucracy itself. The
bureaucrat, having been allocated
$X, is obliged to spend it regardless
of the true need. We must re
member that bureaucrats are like
the rest of us: the urge of self pres
ervation is a strong one and a
bureaucrat who cannot spend his
fiscal allotment is a Hide and Ani
mal Inspector who has not been
doing his job. The Sunset approach
offers us no assurance that bureau
crats will not continue to be ineffi
cient in their spending habits.
On the other hand, the present
system provides for a reassessment
of state agencies every fiscal period
when the pesos are allocated. Is it
possible that the apparent ineffi
ciency of bureaucracy is due more
to the lack of legislative responsibil
ity than the lack of Sunset legisla
tion?
I am told that Colorado has, or
will enact, Sunset laws. Until we
can see their real effect on bureau
cracy, let’s not throw out the baby
with the bath water. Wait and see if
he drowns first.
University pet policy defended
Mondale changing role of VP
WASHINGTON — A half-hour
after he got back to his hotel suite in
Tokyo from a banquet tendered by
Japanese Prime Minister Takeo
Fukuda, Vice President Walter F.
Mondale was having a nightcap with
some of the reporters who accom
panied him on his round-the-world
trip.
• He had changed to blue jeans,
sneakers, and a flannel shirt, and he
was talking about what he’d like to
do to unwind from the taxing 10-day
journey.
“I’d like to get home (to Min
nesota) and do some ice-fishing,”
Mondale said, “if Jimmy lets me.”
The last four words were uttered
without emphasis or irony in
Mondale’s normal flat, slightly nasal
voice. But they say a lot about why
this Vice President so far seems to
be avoiding the fate of his predeces
sors and building a significant role
for himself in the Carter administra-
Slouch
by Jim Earle
“OF COURSE, I MIGHT BE WRONG, BUT A STRAP-ON
TV DOESN’T TURN ME ON!”
tion.
They capsulized the attitude of
unawed deference that Mondale has
developed toward Carter. “If Jimmy
lets me” suggests both intimacy and
dependency, and it says that
Mondale is comfortable with both
aspects of the relationship.
It is hard to imagine another Vice
President of modern times being
quite so relaxed in his attitude to
ward his President. Try to think of
Richard Nixon saying that about
“Ike” or Lyndon Johnson about
“Jack,” and you can see how ludi
crous it sounds.
The experience of those two men,
and a good many other Vice Presi
dents, argues against the likelihood
of Mondale’s chances of building a
long-term role for himself as Car
ter’s “chief adviser and chief helper
across the board,” to quote the
phrase Hamilton Jordan used last
week in describing him.
But the very fact that Jordan, the
de facto White House chief of staff,
would use that phrase suggests that
a revolution may be in store.
Mondale has made a study of the
past problems of Vice Presidents
and, as he told reporters diiring, this
trip, the conclusions were “very
grim.” He talked to his predecessor.
Nelson Rockefeller, and he talked to
Battalion
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the request Address: The Battalion, Room 216, Reed
editor or of the writer of the article and are not neces- McDomdd Budding, College Station Texas 77843.
sarihj those of the University administration or the , Uni,e ° Press International is entitled exclusively to
Board of Regents. The Battalion is a non-profit, self- the , use for reproduct.on of all news^ dispatches cred-
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versify and community newspaper. Editorial policy is ‘ ,erem reserved. Second-Class postage paid at College
determined by the editor. Station, Texas.
LETTERS POLICY MEMBER
Ietiers to the editor should not exceed 300 words _ exas ress ssociation
and are subject to being cut to that length or less if Southwest Journal.sm Congress
longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit Editor Jerry Needham
such letters and does not guarantee to publish any Managing Editor James Aitken
letter. Each letter must be signed, show the address of Assignments Editor Rusty Cawley
the writer and list a telephone number for verification. Features Editor Lisa Junod!
Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, News Editor Debby Krenek
The Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, News Assistant Carol Meyer
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Represented nationally by National Educational ^P^tsEditor Paul Arnett
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subject to 5% sales tax, Advertising rates furnished on . Mike Willy
his mentor, Hubert Humphrey, and
he knew in advance “how wide” the
gulf can be down West Executive
Avenue, which separates the Oval
Office from the Vice President’s
formal office in the adjoining Execu
tive Office Building.
He concluded from their experi
ence that a Vice President who
sought responsibility for a specific
area of government policy would
confront one of two hazards, or
maybe both: a brutal battle with the
officials and bureaucrats of the de
partment whose “turf’ he was in
vading, and/or a 20-hour-a-day in
volvement in chores the President
considered too “trivial” for his at-
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It was Carter who decided that
Mondale should have his principal
office in the White House itself;
Carter who ordered that the Vice
President receive exactly the same
briefings as he does; Carter who
made it clear to the members of the
White House staff that he wanted
Mondale involved in, not excluded
from, the decision-making.
Whether this idyllic arrangement
can survive the inevitable first crisis
for the Carter administration, or a
serious policy dispute between Car
ter and Mondale, is something no
one — including Mondale — can be
sure.
When asked if he thinks he may
fall victim to staff intrigues or presi
dential jealousy — the twin banes of
past Vice Presidents — Mondale
says: “I don’t think so. We’ve talked
about that. Carter is a different type
of person. I don’t think that’s going
to happen.”
Considering the history, one still
has to keep fingers crossed. But
there’s reason to hope that this
time, for once, a Vice President is
being given a chance to exercise his
abilities — and considerable
abilities they are — on behalf of his .
government and his country.
(c) 1977, The Washington Post
Editor:
In response to Debbie Ingram’s
letter on allowing pets in the mar
ried student housing, I would like to
say something in defense of the
University’s decision.
If they did allow pets in the mar
ried student complex, they would in
all fairness have to allow pets in the
on-campus housing units. This
would not be feasible. Living in
close quarters would turn the dorm
into a zoo.
Another valid complaint is that
not all dogs are as well-mannered as
yours. I live in an apartment com
plex that allows pets if you are will
ing to put down a $100 deposit.
Starting next year, however, the
complex is no longer allowing any
animals because in most cases the
damage deposit does not cover the
repairs that most apartments need
after a dog has left it.
It’s just too bad that the people
who were here before us took ad
vantage of the apartment owners. It
has cost many of us the joy of having
our pets here with us. Howeve
you cannot deny the fact that I
University and apartment own:
have sound reasons for barringa
mals from their premises.
Please don’t think that In
hard-hearted because I haveai:
here who isn’t going to haveahon
next year. Maybe the studentsc
get together and try to persia
these people that they are wrong
hope so.
—Karen Rogers,!
'Shuttle bus service deteriorating
Editor:
Shuttle bus service has dete
riorated since last fall when the
service was efficient and staffed with
courteous drivers. This semester
the buses, particularly on the north
route, are frequently off of the
schedule and some drivers are rude.
On campus, students just re
leased from class many times cannot
find a bus and must wait an average
of 15 minutes. And too frequently
two buses pull into the stop simul
taneously when they should be on
opposite sides of the route.
Waiting for the bus 30 minutes
before class should ensure getting
there on time since buses are sup
posed to run the route every 15
minutes. Recently this has not been
so. I, and a group of others, have
been late to class three consecutive
days after waiting in the cold for
oyer half an hour. I did not buy a
bus pass to be late for class. I could
pocket that $15 and be late on my
At night, waiting 30 minutes is
usually the minimum and individual
bus stops along the north route are
not all well-lighted. Recently the
cold and dark have been quite in
timidating.
Late one afternoon some 50 rid
ers waited at the stop for about 40
minutes. When the bus arrived its
driver left in his own car, leaving
the motor running in the unat
tended bus. The night was cold and
the bus, finally loaded, was crowded
with people huddled in seats a
standing in the aisle. We waitedl
about 15 minutes for the
driver. When he finally camel
was quite hostile to one rider’
inquired about the delay. Tem|
cold weather and waiting
could have flared higher but fort
nately the riders practiced sel
control.
Lately a few drivers have:
sumed such a hateful disposi
and perhaps with some justificatio
However, it seems that if they a I
not hold to the schedule they cos
at least be civil to their dissatisii
customers. Having both a late) I
and a cantankerous driver chang
the shuttle bus from a service!
disservice.
—Sarah E. White
*
Crime rarely pays in Japan
By YASUSHI HARA
Hara is an editor of the Asahi Shim-
bun, the Japanese daily.
tention.
The way to avoid that fate,
Mondale decided, was to be a
generalist, “staying in the loop” of
policy making and communications
into and out of the Oval Office, and
serving as a “general policy adviser”
to the President.
Remarkably, that appears to be
exactly what he is doing. It is Car
ter, of course, who deserves most of
the credit for creating this useful
role for an office regarded as redun
dant by some scholars of the Ameri
can system.
TOKYO — On December 10,
1975, the Tokyo police experienced,
the most humiliating moment in
their otherwise brilliant history. For
on that day, the statute of limitations
went into effect that put a daring
band of criminals beyond the reach
of law.
Seven years earlier, a gang of
men on motorcycles had inter
cepted an armored van carrying
cash to a leading Tokyo bank, get
ting away with the equivalent of $1
million. Despite the strenuous ef
forts of a special police investigation
unit, the men were never ap
prehended, much less identified.
On the anniversary of the crime,
television reporters and newspaper
commentators still recall the inci
dent, reminding the robbers that
they can no longer be prosecuted
and urging them to reveal them-
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selves. The annual appeal promises
to become a yearly event — and it is
bound to become a regular embar
rassment to the cops as well.
But it is also an embarrassment to
the average Japanese, who has tra
ditionally taken enormous pride in
the ability of the Tokyo police to
keep the crime rate here down to
one of the lowest on earth. So the
case of the robbers who eluded ar
rest, while a failure for the cops,
serves to illustrate the rarity of crim
inal offenses in Japan.
Japan’s crime rate, in contrast to
that of most other countries in the
world, is not only low, but it has
been declining within recent years.
The number of homicides, for
example, has dropped from 2,738 in
1954 to 1,864 in 1975. As many
murders take place every year in
New York City, which has a popula
tion one-tentb the size of Japan’s.
The number of criminal assaults
has also gone down. Fewer than
35,000 cases were reported last year
— compared to more than 400,000
in the United States.
The performance of the police,
meanwhile, has generally been
first-rate. In 1974, the last year for
which statistics are available, they
caught 96 per cent of the suspects
allegedly involved in murder cases
and 92 per cent of those sought for
other criminal assaults.
The police are effective, in large
measure, because they are re
spected and feared by Japanese,
who traditionally incline to symbols
of authority. As a consequence, cops
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can count on help from citizens,
who consider cooperation with the
police to be part of their obligation
to society.
This attitude, in turn, has imbued
the Japanese police with a strong
sense of duty. Patrolmen normally
work 70 hours per week and often
put in a good deal of overtime, and
the idea of cops striking for high
pay, as periodically occurs
elsewhere, is regarded as outlandish
here.
Another factor contributing to the
low rate of crime in Japan is the effi
ciency of the laws controlling
weapons. The only persons allowed
to carry hand-guns are government
security officials, and shotguns are
carefully regulated through a com
puterized registration system.
As a result, only 171 crimes
committed in 1975 involved the use
of guns — although knives were
employed in some 4,300 offenses.
Yet another element in the pic
ture is the extraordinarily low avail
ability of narcotics in Japan, which
means that very few crimes are
committed by desperate drug
addicts. Here again, narcotics
violations have declined from about
1,000 in 1965 to fewer than 300 in
1975, primarily because the police
have been able to curb the drug traf
fic.
With all this, however, probably
the most significant reason for the
low incidence of crime in Japan lies
in the Japanese social structure,
which is built around the family.
Here, as in other Asian societies,
people are reluctant to commit
crimes lest they bring shame and
disgrace on their families. Indeed, it
is not uncommon in Japan for a
criminal to be persuaded by I
mother to surrender to the polk*
A key question at the mometf
though, is whether this constrain
can resist the pressures ofsoci]
change that are affecting Japan
much the same way that theys
warping other industrialized coU
tries.
Although the over-all crimen)
is declining, the number of offens
committed by juveniles is ont
crease, and this reflects the g
erosion of parental authority
with a rise in the urge to acqni
material goods, which is sympto®
tic of Japan’s economic success,
Thus the present drop in crii
could only be an interlude, at
Japan may eventually find itsd
faced, like the rest of the world/
the challenge to maintain law i \
order.
Readers’
Forum
Guest viewpoints, in add)
tion to Letters to the Editor
are welcome. All pieces sub
mitted to Readers’ foru®
should be:
• Typed triple space
• Limited to 60 characters pf>
line
• Limited to 100 lines
Submit articles to Reel
McDonald 217, College St®
tion, Texas, 77843. Author)
name and phone number mu/1
accompany all submissions.
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