Page 2
THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 1977
Student jury system is needed
Confirmation of Coleman
as regent is needed
Governor Dolph Briscoe took a positive and progressive step in
nominating Dr. John B. Coleman of Houston to the Texas A&M
University System Board of Begents in January.
Coleman is the first black ever nominated to serve on the board of
regents of a major university system in Texas.
But now Coleman faces a test.
The Senate Subcommittee on Nominations will hold a confirmation
hearing on Coleman’s nomination on April 6.
Several individuals and groups have expressed opposition to
Coleman’s confirmation. One wonders whether the question of race
might not be an underlying contributor to some of this opposition.
Senator Bill Moore of Bryan initially cried “foul” upon Coleman’s
nomination, charging that he had heard rumors that Coleman’s
nomination was made as a political favor to blacks for their support of
State Democratic Party Chairman Calvin Guest in his bid for reelec
tion last September. Guest was Briscoe’s choice for the party posi
tion.
Even if this charge were proved true, it would cast no shadows on
the qualifications or integrity of Coleman.
Indications are that it was an empty charge made by Moore to
achieve another political puipose.
Dispersions are now being cast on the character of Coleman be
cause he operates an abortion clinic in Houston.
An anti-Coleman letter campaign to the Senate Subcommittee on
Nominations is apparently being waged by anti-abortion groups.
However some people may feel about abortion personally, the fact
remains that abortion (within limits) is legal in Texas and that
Coleman’s operation is above-board.
The Texas A&M University System includes Prairie View A&M
University, a predominately black school. Blacks also attend the
other universities in the system.
As Prairie View A&M University Student Senate President Sidney
Hicks has said, “There are blacks in the A&M System, and the fact of
representation still remains.”
The Texas A&M University System has always been “the people’s
university system.” Coleman’s confirmation would reaffirm this by
providing representation on the Board to a sizable minority of the
people of this state.
Even though these arguments are offered, the ultimate basis of a
decision should transcend race, religion or occupation. The decision
should be based on Coleman’s qualifications and experience as a
professional.
Coleman is well-educated and has proved himself capable and
qualified to function in responsible administrative positions. He has
served as a regent of Texas Southern University and as chairman of
the United College Fund Drive.
It’s 1977 in Texas and high time that all the people of this state are
represented on the governing board of Texas’ quality university.
Let’s hope the Senate Subcommittee on Nominations reaffirms
Texas A&M’s status as “the people’s university” by confirming the
nomination of Dr. John B. Coleman.
Editor:
In the Thursday edition of The
Battalion there appeared an article
on the activities of last Wednesday’s
Student Senate meeting. In that ar
ticle three sentences mentioned a
proposal by John Oeffinger to form a
student jury to interview and rec
ommend candidates in the upcom
ing student government elections.
These three sentences dismissed
a truly innovative democratic re
form with little explanation. I
strongly urge The Battalion to
interview Mr. Oeffinger about this
bill and to conduct some research
on his proposal. If you will resist the
tendency to dismiss the idea with 7
out consideration, I think that you
may find yourself intriqued by the
idea, and may find it appropriate for
some sort of article.
France has tax problems
Editor s note: If you support the confirmation of Dr. Coleman as a
Texas AirM University System Regent, write a letter or mail this
editorial along with your name and address to:
Senator Peyton McKnight, Chairman
Subcommittee on Nominations
Texas State Senate
Austin, Texas 78701
The Battalion
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those
of the editor or of the writer of the article and are
not necessarily those of the University administra
tion or the Board of Regents. The Battalion is a
non-profit, self-supporting enterprise operated by
students as a university and community news
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Texas 77843.
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Editor . . Jerry Needham
Managing Editor Jamie Aitken
Associate Managing Editor Rusty Cawley
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Director of Student Publications: Gael L. Cooper.
By JACQUELINE GRAPIN
PARIS — Every year about this
time, Americans used to look
enviously at the French, who con
sidered tax evasion to be normal
behavior. But conditions here have
changed, and France’s President
Valery Giscard d’Estaing is now be
ginning to crack down ruthlessly on
fiscal fraud.
The trouble is, however, that the
government’s efforts have triggered
a series of political disputes that are
promising to become far more seri
ous than the actual question of tax
collection.
Some 6,000 inspectors were re
cently ordered to intensify the pres
sure against tax dodgers, for two
principal reasons. The government,
hard hit by the economic recession,
is seeking some of the estimated $10
billion per year lost through eva
sion. And Giscard’s conservative re
gime, which is being challenged by
a coalition of Socialists and Com
munists, has been trying to demon
strate its belief in fiscal equality.
The inspectors have been putting
suspected tax dodgers through
vigorous audits. In addition to plug
ging loopholes in old laws, the gov
ernment has been attempting to
impose new procedures aimed at
curbing evasion. One such method
has been to require that company-
owned automobiles display red
windshield stickers in order to pre
vent their being used by executives
for pleasure trips.
Meanwhile, the government has
beem dramatizing flagrant examples
of cheating by prominent figures,
especially in the entertainment
business but also in other fields.
Not long ago, for example, the
singer Charles Aznavour was
charged with depriving the treasury
of nearly $1 million, and a superan
nuated rock star, Johnny Halliday,
has been indicted for avoiding some
$600,000 in taxes. Dr. Robert Jude,
a distinguished surgeon, went into
voluntary exile after being accused
of failure to report more than a
half-million dollars in income.
The loudest complaints, though,
have been coming from small mer
chants whose marginal enterprises
could not survive if they operated
honestly. Last fall, one of these
merchants committed suicide, al
legedly following a probe that un
covered tax irregularities.
The spokesman for the small
entrepreneurs, Gerard Nicoud, has
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“Quality First”
been organizing campaigns against
the tax drive, claiming that the gov
ernment is running an “inquisition”
that “denies all sense of humanity.”
Nicoud has also been mobilizing
vigilante groups to resist fiscal “re
pression.”
Reacting against Nicoud and his
supporters, the government has
said that it would not allow “intimi
dation,” and would take judicial ac
tion against “persons who are re
sponsible for threats.”
But many businessmen, physi
cians, lawyers, architects and other
professionals who do not ordinarily
associate with shopkeepers never
theless share Nicoud’s hostility to
the government measures, and
their political influence is impor
tant.
As a consequence, Giscard ap
pears to be backtracking. His aides
are currently contemplating codes
that would restrain the zealous tax
inspectors. This could mean, in ef
fect, that a unit might have to be
formed to control the fiscal control
lers.
In many ways, the furor touched
off by the offensive against tax dod
gers may be as pointless as the of
fensive itself. For the French fiscal
system is based on indirect taxation,
since it takes into account the fact
that about half of the country’s citi
zens pay no income tax at all, either
because of evasion or because they
enjoy deductions, credits and al
lowances of one sort or another.
Less than 20 per cent of the gov
ernment’s total revenues are de
rived from personal income taxes.
The government relies for funds on
business taxes and, more significant
ly, on the so-called “value-added
tax” on consumer goods. The latter
is fundamentally inequitable, since
the poor pay the same tax on mer
chandise as the rich.
Within the past year, the gov
ernment has provoked controversy
by trying to introduce new types of
taxation. A good deal of fuss was
raised, for example, by a proposed
capital gains tax, and it was eventu
ally rejected by the legislature.
The government has lately come
up with another proposal for a spe
cial tax on “external signs of
wealth.’’ Under this plan, such
luxuries as summer homes, horses
and golf club memberships would
be subject to a tax. So would domes
tic servants, but it is still unclear
how their value would be assessed.
These new taxes, which are really
a disguised levy on wealth, are also
likely to arouse controversy — and
needlessly so, since official calcula
tions are that they will not earn the
government much revenue.
Giscard, whose position has
grown increasingly uncertain, has
therefore been aggravating his polit
ical difficulties by his attempts to
collect taxes. His fiscal push, how
ever, recently revealed that the two
biggest taxpayers in the country are
women — which means either that
French affluence has undergone a
sex transformation or that the ladies
have incompetent accountants.
Grapin writes on economic issues
for Le Monde, the French daily.
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I must hastily admit that I am not
familiar with the details of Mr. Oef-
finger’s proposal, but I think I have
a grasp of the basic idea.
One of the major difficulties in
volved in choosing a responsible,
mature candidate for student gov
ernment lies in the fact that we, as
students, do not know most of these
candidates personally. Thus we
often find ourselves voting for a cer
tain class presidential nominee
merely because we liked his adver
tising, which means we are voting
for the best advertiser, not the best
candidate.
In the last election I knew only
one candidate on the ballot. I had
not the faintest idea of what the
others were like, or what their qual
ifications were, except for the
meager bits and pieces gained
through third-rate campaign slo
gans. Moreover, I really don’t have
the time or the real need to find out
their qualifications.
Therefore I can only conclude
that I, along with most other stu
dents, have no basis on which to
make a rational choice for student
government officers. This is where
the student jury comes in. We live
in a democratic society where it is
generally believed that most people
can make a rational decision when
given enough information. Thus we
have juries to decide on the guilt or
innocence of our peers. Then
perhaps we can have an informed
student jury to recommend certain
candidates for office in order to help
the rest of us make a rational choice.
This jury would consist of ordi
nary students selected at random.
They would then be given informa
tion furnished by each candidate
about his qualifications and could
then interview the candidates and
perhaps hear witnesses for each.
Then they could choose th
person they felt was best qualified
for each office. The ballot would
then be printed as usual, except that
one person for each office would
have the designation of Student
Jury Nominee.
' We, the students,
have complete freedom ofch
voting, but we would knowlk
person had been selected!))
of our peers as the best pets;
each office. We would kno**
student jury had a chance to®
rational decision that otherstti
could follow. We would no
have to vote on the basis of
slogans.
The student jury nominati®
tern would be a good
student government. 1 siitj
urge the student government!;
consider, and I hope The Bah
will investigate this int
— William C. Altai;
Editor’s note: You
the system here. What yoiill
develop is that the jury i
under Oeffinger’s propos
be selected randomly
computer-generated fori
the master list of students in tk
fice of the Vice Presidents
dent Services — for ex
fifth student in the righ
umn of every eleventh
the required number of »ii
members were selected
one more
Most of the debate a[
bill at the Senate meeting mi
around the argument I
would institute “governmtt
committee.” The argument:
also made that it is a funcM
press (in this case, TheBattfe
present information on the
dates and to make endorsed
the candidates.
The first argument is mis
at very best, and the secoi
ment, although true, does
elude the possibility that suclu
tern would work and be beneli
The present Senate hasotl)
meeting (April 5),
next Senate may want to loci
such a system. If you wishtos#!
Senate adopt this system,
your new Senators, asthatisih
the decision to implement
have to come from.
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Texas
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‘A Night At the Movies
featuring: aquatic art
presented by:
Texas A&M Aquatians
April 4, 5, 6
h
8:00 P. L. Downs Natorium
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A private summer camp for boys and girls
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Will interview prospective counselors on
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