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* Page 2 THE BATTALION FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 1977 Viewpoint tH&.&tnerMiei***- r The Battalion April 22, 1977 STRENALMN<s ! HEW ANOVELAffWH i PEPKRTMENTOF HEALTH, EDUCKnON^mFKRE ReOKQANlZATlON CHART (!) CUT OUT CHART Aging: Japanese Style By YASUSHI KARA TOKYO t— Nothing is more tragic than to read in newspapers here that a lonely old person has been found dead, perhaps in a slum apartment or in a rundown rooming house. For such reports, which are now appear ing with alarming regularity, reflect important changes gradually over taking Japanese society. They indicate in the first place that the proportion of aged in the popula tion, which has been lower in Japan than in the United States and West ern Europe, is rapidly rising — largely as a result of improved health conditions. But more significantly, these ac counts point up the fact that growing numbers of old people are no longer supported as widely by relatives as families fragment under the pres sures of industrialization and urbani zation. The prospect ahead, therefore, is for the government to intensify pro grams that guarantee sufficient ben efits for the aged to survive in com fort. This would mean the construc tion of old-age homes and clinics for geriatric cases as well as increased social security expenditures. Only 2 per cent of people over the age of 60 now receive social security help. Dynamic programs of this kind, however, would be an innovation in a land in which sons and daughters imbued with a sense of filial respon sibility have traditionally cared for their parents. Signs of a new awareness of the plight of the elderly are apparent everywhere here. One of the best selling novels, called “Every Day is Sunday, depicts the tedious exis tence of a retired clerk to whom, as the title suggests, every day is like Sunday. Thousands of old people currently visit special Buddhist shrines known as “sudden-death temples,” at which they pray that they may die quickly and peacefully without becoming a burden to their children. This concern with a shifting dem ographic picture is mirrored in statistics. In 1970, people over the age of 65 constituted 7 per cent of the population. By the year 2015, ac cording to projections, they will rep resent nearly 18 per cent of the population. Although the future is expected to alter the situation radically, the Japanese family system is still strong. At the moment, con sequently, most aged persons can rely on relatives. In contrast to the United States, where only 22 per cent of old people live with their children, nearly 80 per cent of aged Japanese reside with their sons or daughters. Nearly 50 per cent of elderly people here de pend on their children for financial support — and only 10 per cent count on pensions, annuities or wel fare assistance. Opinion studies show that the Japanese are generally conscious of their obligations to the elderly. A recent government investigation found, for instance, that 46 per cent advocated parents and grown chil dren living together; 38 per cent fa vored joint households if the parents were in poor health, and only 16 per cent expressed hostility to either ar rangement. The economic boom of a decade ago put something of a dent in these preferences, since apartments in in dustrialized cities were usually too small to accommodate both married couples and parents. In an effort to keep families intact, government housing projects being built at pres ent feature apartments with a sepa rate room for parents. Despite their knowledge that they can fall back on their children, about one-third of elderly Japanese con tinue to work — which is another contrast with the United States, where only 16 per cent of people above the age of 65 hold jobs. This stems in large measure from the fact that Japanese companies are themselves like families, and in as suring cradle-to-grave security, they often retain retired employes at re duced salaries. The government is encouraging the business community to extend the retirement age from 55 to 60, partly on the grounds that seasoned employes can contribute valuable experience to their firms and partly in order to avoid big public expendi tures on social security. T radition isn’t dead Tradition isn’t dead at A&M — it just needs a gentle nudge from time to time. Yesterday’s Muster crowd proved that, even though tests, term papers and assignments are piling high, A&M students care enough to honor fellow Aggies. G. Rollie White Coliseum was filled and unlike most concerts here, everyone stayed until the end. The roll call showed, unfor tunately, a larger number of stu dents who died this year. And this year’s speaker showed that former students who fought for their country are more than just names in a history book. If the purpose of Muster is to honor the dead, it also serves to unite the living. To the thousands who attended the 1977 Campus Muster: You saw Aggie tradition at its best. — M.W. Singin jtorium Aggie Auditor! Rudder Aggie begotter non-stuc Chess Chess T 11p.m. Frisb Champi a.m. to Micrt Exhibit, India dia,” 0< Rec i Champi MSC 2( Final Park, L; informa 5664 or Sprir p.m. Meet Dinner Aggi< begotte A message for Robert Harvey Surveys of young Japanese wo men, moreover, have revealed an understandably shifting pattern. Most favored being alone with their husbands immediately following marriage. But a majority, including many who wanted to work, wel comed parents under the roof after the birth of children in Order to serve as baby-sitters and to help with domestic chores. But many companies have been hard hit by the recession of the past few years, and their tendency has been to tighten their labor force. This has, of course, hurt older work ers who have sought to stay on the job. Over the long run, it seems to me, Japan cannot either expect filial duty or corporate benevolence to endure. Eventually, therefore, it will proba bly have to become more of a welfare state — with the huge social security budgets that plague Americans and Europeans. (Hara writes on social and economic issues for the Asahi Shimhun, the Japanese daily.) Readers’ forum Guest viewpoints, in addi tion to Letters to the Editor, are welcome. All pieces sub mitted to Readers’ forum should be: • Typed triple space • Limited to 60 characters per line • Limited to 100 lines Submit articles to Reed McDonald 217, College Sta tion, Texas, 77843. Author’s name and phone number must accompany all submissions. Editor: Would you please inform Mr. Harvey, before he assumes his role as Student Body President, that he has not been elected to a fascist or ganization. (Webster defines fascism as “a political philosophy, move ment, or regime that exalts nation and race above the individual. . . ”). I suggest that he read the First Amendment of the Constitution. Then, I suggest that he lay aside any military oriented mentality that he might have acquired in order to gain a more democratic appreciation of his duties as Student Body Presi dent. —P. G. Fleer P. S. If you are puzzled as to what this letter refers to, review Mr. Harvey’s actions in the Student Senate this past year and notice the trend he has taken. Raise rates for foreigners Editor: I write this letter in response to Colin Crombie’s “Tuitions Threaten Internationals” in last Wednesday’s Battalion. More primaries, but who cares? I must agree with him that the Texas Senate is going a little over board in attempting to register international students after the first day of classes. I must also agree that the Texas Legislature is definitely discriminating in favor of Texas resi dents by raising the foreign tuition rates from $14 to $40 per credit hours. MORE POWER TO THEM!!! Behind every dollar paid in fees by a Texas resident are two more paid by the Texas government from tax revenues. The government, that’s US! T-Sips and Ags and everything in-between! We paid for it and we damn well better get the first shot at it! And having secured for ourselves the opportunity for an education, must we sell out our out-of-state brothers by charging them three times the amount charged to foreign students whose parents haven’t paid state and national taxes all their lives so that a fine institution like A&M can exist for their children to attend. Our foreign friends must under stand that, although they live some times in poverty, most Texans and other Americans are no strangers to having to work their butts off just to try to get through one more day. Sure, we open our arms to our foreign friends and their culture, but our arms are no less open to our own out-of-state neighbors. —Russell W. Collins, ’79 WASHINGTON — There’s some disturbing news this week for those who believe that the degree of de mocracy we enjoy in this country is proportionate to the direct participa tion of citizens in choosing their leaders. In 1976, more presidential primaries than ever were held, offer ing more people the chance for a personal voice in the selection of the presidential candidates. Unfortu nately, most people looked at the opportunity and said, “No thanks.” Austin Ranney, a past president of .David S; Broder the American Political Science Assn, and now a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, has pulled together the discouraging figures on who voted — and who didn’t — in those primaries. The study, published last week makes pretty bleak reading. Be tween 1968 and 1976, the number of states holding presidential primaries increased from 17 to 30; among them, those 30 states had more than three-quarters of all the nation’s po tential voters. Unfortunately, only 28 per cent of the voting-age residents of those states took part in the presidential primaries. Worse, Ranney says, in This film By Hal Lindsey, answers the question “Where is mankind headed?” thru the authentic voices of the Hebrew prophets. Sponsored by the Latin American Student Association. It is in English and admission is free. Rudder Tower 601 Thursday April 28 8 p.m. The Aggie Players present A flOON FOR THC Hi5BEG0TTEN by EUGENE O'NEILL FORUM THEATER 8:00 P.M. Apr. 14 thru 16 and 20 thru 23 A&M Students $1.75 All Others $2.75 Ask About Our FREE SUMMER STORAGE 12 of those states that offered con tests in-both parties in both 1972 and 1976, fho‘furhOut was 4 per cent lower than last year. That was true despite the fact that the Republican contest was hard-fought in 1976 and only nominal four years earlier. Nor was this an isolated trend, Ranney says. Looking back to the competitive primaries in the 1948- 1968 period, Ranney found the aver age turnout dropped from 39 per cent in the earlier period to 28 per cent in 1976 — a falloff of almost one-third. The decline in voting in America is not a new story, of course. It’s oc curred in the general elections for President, even though the decline there has been less steep than in the presidential primaries. President Carter has offered his own solution to the problem by pro posing instant registration-and- voting on election day. But Ranney says that “registration laws do not explain as much about turn-out in primary elections as they do about turnout in general elections.” And the Carter instant-voting plan would be used only on general elec tion day, so it offers no answer to the problem of participation in the primaries in any case. Other rules changes might have a marginal effect. But Ranney’s evi dence shows there doesn’t seem to be any close relationship between the form of the ballot, the inclusive ness of the candidate field, the date of the primary, the closeness of the contest or the binding character of the results and the turnout of voters. Contrary to his expectations, Ranney found that turnout was bet ter in states with closed primaries — where only registered Democrats could vote in the Democratic pri mary and only Republicans in the Republican primary — than in those with crossover primaries, where anyone can vote on either party’s bal lot. His guess, he said in an interview, is that in those closed-primary states, “parties have a more visible existence and the stress on party may make voting in the primaries more important.” What does seem to affect turnout is the amount of money the candi dates spend campaigning in the state. That’s not surpising, since much of the spending is designed simply to let voters know an election is about to happen. His inference is that if greater participation is de sired, it’s going to cost more. But no change that can be made in the rules, Ranney suggests, is likely to change the fact that “turnouts in presidential primaries will always be substantially smaller than those in presidential general elections.” Overall, in 1976 the primary vote in a state was about half the size of the general election vote. Ranney, like others, is concerned that the relatively smaller turnout in the primaries may distort the presi dential selection system in ways that advocates of participatory democ racy are reluctant to concede. The voters in primaries, he said, have been shown in a number of studies by himself and other scholars to be “unrepresentative of the elec torate in socio-economic terms and to some extent politically as well.” They are better educated, more issue-conscious and to some extent “more extreme” than their fellow- partisans who only show up on elec tion day. Yet it is a fact that the 187,000 people who voted in New Hamp shire in the February presidential primary had a lot more impact on the choice of the President than the 333,000 New Hampshire men and women who voted in the general election. It’s a strange paradox of this form of participatory democracy that it can yield situations where, quite lit erally, less is more. (c) 1977, The Washington Post Aggie Cleaners 111 College Main Get into some great pants! TOP DRAWER Culpepper Plaza Does your Final Review uniform fit right? Alterations-Repairs University Cleaners 112 College Main COHRAX. THE BEST BAR-B-Q IN TOWN! Chicken-Fried Steak and Salad Bar $2.75 1808 BARAK LANE (East of 29th St.) For Battalion Classified Call 845-2611 AXA LAMBDA CHI ALPHA /AXA the Fraternity oj Honest Friendship We're having a recruitment party, with A f~ ^ Sorority April 22, 8:00 p.m. Plantation Oaks Keg Room For info call: Bryan 693-7200 O Mike 693-7147 The Greek System — A New Aggie Tradition DISCO thanks NOBODY Editor: We would like to extend a hearty hand of applause, a cheer, and a ma roon thumb award to all those in volved in stopping the threat of (God forbid!) rock and roll invading the campus. Bravo to security, may you be praised for bringing a halt to the con cert feeling by collecting all those frisbees and allow the audience return to thumb twiddling|| we’ve all enjoyed in the past. Lc knows how many good clean-c American students could haveta allowed to throw just one frisk We must commend you onstoppi the horrendous dancing and ga times had by those few radicalsi the floor. Who knows what coq tion would have been broughtalu if anyone had seen them bavin; good time. And to the ushers, hooray toyi for wearing your formals andsii and keeping the casual spirit, common sight at radical hippyfl concerts from growing and sprei ing. If the students had hadagu time, they might want moreconca of that nature. Keep ’em stuSji always say. And to those of the studentW hooray, you struck the greatest!)! for our cause. You know who)) are. You bright young members you r group who make it a point no! expand your knowledge of mas Keep those AM radios blaring. 1 could have lost the battle if you! known more songs than “Aims We praise you for leaving in I middle of the concert and show! those so and so’s they aren’t welcoi here and aren’t appreciated. Finally, John W. Tynes, wets forget you and your brilliant art! No one will ever guess that you do know what you’re talking about that you helped our faction by giv a one-sided review of a “supposed boring, mediocre concert. It sago thing you didn’t know what you \vi looking for in a good concert, would have found them. Bravoi you all. —D.I.S.CJ (Delegates Interested in Stoppi:' Concert Openne! [ —Marc Sheriiu —Erik Lebnk f —Arb Hi —John The Battalion Opinions expressed in The Battalion arc 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 paper. Editorial policy is determined hy the editor. ' ion. Room 216, Reed McDonald lege Station, Texas 77843. United Press International is entitled sively to the use for reproduction of allnewsdfr patches credited to it. Rights of reproductiond all other matter herein reserved. Second-Cl» postage paid at College Station, Texas LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and docs not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must he signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone number for verification. Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, The Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Represented nationally by National Educa tional Advertising Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. The Battalion is published Tuesday through Friday from September through May except dur ing exam and holiday periods and the summer, when it is published weekly. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per school year; $35.00 per full year. All subscriptions subject to 5% sales tax. Advertising rates furnished on request. Address: The Battal- MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Editor Jamie Aittan News Editor Debby Kreid News Assistant Carol Sports Editor PaulAmetl Assignments Editor Mary Hesalroad Photo Editor Jim Hendrickson Copyeditor Mary Alice Woodhams Reporters Rusty Cawley, Darrell Lanford, Glenna Whitley, Paul McGrath, John W. Tynes, Sue Mutzel, Lee Roy Leschper Jr. Photographers Mike Will) Jim Crawley Student Publications Board: Boh C. Bogffl- Chairman; Joe Arredondo; Tom Dawscy; Gary Halter; Dr. John W. Hanna; Dr. Charfo McCandless; Dr. Clinton A. Phillips; Jerri V/ari Director of Student Publications: Gael L Coopt <# & 'k The Peanut Gallery is OPEN SUNDAYS! The 30’s Night 5c BEER & 25c BAR DRINKS All Night Long! $1.00 Cover Charge PEANUT GALLERY 813 WELLBORN HWY. 846-1100 I^s CLASSIFIED ADS!