Page 2
Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
June 22, 1977
Wednesday
Test of Carter’s ‘coattails’ coming
By DAVID S. BRODER
WASHINGTON — Down in Virginia
last week, Henry Howell, a rabble-rousing
politician of the populist or utility
pounding faith, won an upset victory for
the Democratic nomination for governor.
Howell had the active campaign help of
Jack Carter, son of the President, and the
First Lady. He also told every crowd that
he and Mrs. Howell had the distinction of
sleeping most nights in a bed which
Jimmy Carter himself had occupied early
in his pursuit of the presidency when he
was a guest in their home.
Whether this double dose of filial and
noctural blessings from the Carters turned
the trick for Howell is for others to judge.
The fact remains that he beat Attorney
General Andrew P. Miller, who had a
million-dollar campaign fund, a crack or
ganization and establishment endorse
ments. Miller had felt such confidence in
his own victory that, in true Virginia fash
ion, he had begun rehearsing for his duties
as Governor by ceasing to say anything
discernibly definitive on any subject.
Earlier in this golden spring, another
dear friend of the President’s, Gov. Bren
dan Byrne of New Jersey, had overcome
adversity and a field of nine opponents to
gain renomination in the Democratic
primary. Byrne, like Howell, defied the
conventional wisdom in his state last year
to deliver an early endorsement of Car
ter’s candidacy.
The fervor of Byrne’s embrace was not
entirely reciprocated by Carter. The Pres
ident’s pollster, Pat Caddell, brought him
sad news that Byrne’s sponsorship of a
state income tax had made his endorse
ment not even a two-edged sword but
rather a boomerang with a guillotine
blade.
When Carter campaigned in New Jer
sey last fall, there were several Georgians
assigned to keep Brendan Byrne away
from the platform and out of camera
range.
Nonetheless, the fates have contrived
that in the only two states with gubernato
rial battles this fall, the Democratic
nominees have turned out to be men with
a strong claim on help from the President.
Thus, Carter will have an early opportun
ity — or challenge — to test whether he
can transfer his personal popularity to
candidates eager to identify themselves
with him.
To say that Democrats in Congress will
be watching the test with interest is quite
an understatement. One of the major ques
tions in many minds on Capitol Hill is
whether the President’s reservoir of
goodwill is just a private ego-bath or a
source of real political power.
One reason that most congressional
Democrats have been so independent of
the White House on legislative matters is
their hunch that Carter can neither help
them nor hurt them in their own races in
1978. Since he trailed Democratic rep
resentatives and senators in most districts
and states last November, they are under
standably skeptical of any claims of help
from Carter coattails.
Thus, New Jersey and Virginia offer the
President a chance to demonstrate a kind
of political power he is not currently cred
ited with possessing.
However, the experiment is not al
together on favorable grounds for him.
Neither Virginia nor New Jersey sup
ported Carter last fall.
Virginia was the only state in the Old
Confederacy to resist the Georgian’s
charm, having gone to Gerald Ford by
23,000 votes. New Jersey was the biggest
holdout against Carter in the Northeast,
with Ford enjoying a 65,000-vote advan
tage.
As it happens, both the President’s
friends, Byrne and Howell, are at least
slight underdogs as they begin the general
election campaigns. Republicans have
nominated strong candidates in both
state’s gubernatorial battles.
In Virginia, their nominee is Lt. Gov,
John N. Dalton, a moderate-conservative
who is well-positioned to pick up conser
vative Democratic votes, just as the cur
rent Governor, Mills E. Godwin, Jr., a
Democrat-turned-Republican, did when
he defeated Howell four years ago.
In New Jersey, the Republican is State
Sen. Ray Bateman, a progressive Republi
can with broad appeal to the same set of
independent voters who have kept Sen.
Clifford P. Case (R-N. J.) in office all these
years.
So Carter has his work cut out for him in
the two campaigns that will test his politi
cal prowess this fall. But if he helps pull
Howell and Byrne to victory, he could win
a considerable victory for himself as well.
(c) 1977, The Washington Post Com
pany
Pocketbook psychology
The heartbreak of an empty wallet
By DICK WEST
United Press International
WASHINGTON — I’ve lost the exact
count but already this year probably six or
seven books have been published on do-
it-yourself ego-building.
Before the year is out, we should have
an entire five-foot shelf on the subject.
The books I’ve read, or seen reviewed,
are intended to help individuals recognize
their own worth and rights so they are
neither dependent on others for praise nor
devastated by peer putdowns.
Undoubtedly there is a need for that
sort of coaching. But I have yet to come
across a book that deals with my biggest
problem.
For almost as long as I can remember,
I’ve been troubled by wallet inferiority.
Ever since well-meaning relatives first
started giving me billfolds for Christmas,
birthday and graduation presents, there
has been a constant gap between what my
wallet expects of me and what I am able to
The lighter side
put in it.
I don’t mean the lack of money, al
though there is that, too. I’m referring to a
more subtle form of humiliation.
In the beginning, mainly, it was a card
deficiency. Inevitably, my new billfold
would have an inset containing an identifi
cation card and slots for a half dozen or so
other cards.
At that age, I didn’t have any other
cards. And it made me feel terribly in
adequate.
I was, frankly, ashamed to open the
billfold in public lest someone see the
empty slots and poke fun at my secret
handicap.
“Hey, everybody,” they would hoot.
“Here’s a kid with only one identification
card in his wallet.”
Oh the shame of it.
I could have filled the vacant slots with
bubble gum cards like some kids I knew.
Clearly, however, these slots were in
tended for important credentials. I knew
that if I substituted some trivial piece of
pasteboard for the sake of appearances I
would only be fooling myself.
That’s the main reason I studied jour
nalism in school. I figured a press card was
my best hope of overcoming my billfold
complex.
Since then I have acquired press cards,
membership cards, credit cards, etc., ad
nauseam. But I have never measured up
to my wallet’s specifications.
The most recent reminder of my in
feriority came with a wallet I received as a
Father’s Day present. Among its seven
compartments is one designated for “Let
ters of Credit. ”
I’m going to level with you, however
much I may lose face. I have never had a
letter of credit in my life. I’m not even
sure I know what a letter of credit is. Yet
here I am stuck with a wallet that point
edly implies I’m a nobody without them.
And there isn’t a book now in print that
can make it any less mortifying.
Communists learn capitalism firsthand
Italian cooperatives prove big success
By MARIO DEAGLIO
TURIN, ITALY — One of the healthiest
economic developments in Italy’s other
wise dim economic picture has been the
emergence of business and farming
cooperatives whose workers share in both
management and profits.
These cooperatives may become in
creasingly important if the Communist
Party joins the ruling Christian Democrats
in running the government, as seems likely
in the near future. Cooperatives could rep
resent a compromise that smooths over
the ideological differences between leftists
and conservatives.
Cooperatives have grown within the
past decade to comprise more than four
million members and their gross revenues
last year exceeded $8 billion. Many are af
filiated with political movements and they
specialize in particular sectors of the
economy.
The Christian Democrats support about
13,000 cooperatives that are strong in the
field of agriculture. They also control a
network of regional banks that serve as an
important source of credit for local
enteip rises.
Communist cooperatives, roughly equal
Slouch
by Jim Earle
CAN YOU SEE ANY REASON FOR HIM TO IDENTIFY WITH ME?’
in number to those of the Christian Demo
crats, are chiefly active in construction and
the retail trade. Their earnings provide the
Communist Party with a good deal of its
money.
Cooperatives have been able to avoid
many of the problems that nag Italian in
dustries. Strikes and absenteeism are sig
nificantly lower in cooperatives, since
workers feel a greater responsibility for
their operations. Cooperatives also benefit
from reduced taxes and social security
charges, and that encourages their effi
ciency.
Small craftsmen and farmers are also
learning through their cooperatives how to
read balance sheets and make decisions
that have dollars-and-cents results. Thus
they are, in effect, becoming familiar with
business techniques.
Interestingly enough, cooperatives are
giving the Communists a more balanced
and less doctrinaire view of the workings of
capitalism, since they must deal with pri
vate firms within a market framework.
Studies show, in fact, that Communist
cooperatives are most competitive and in
novative in producing and selling export
goods.
Employees have lately been forming
cooperatives in order to salvage bankrupt
companies, often with low-interest loans
furnished by the government. A group of
workers recently took over a food process
ing plant that had fallen on bad days, and
several unprofitable newspapers have been
rescued by their employees, who now run
them on a cooperative basis.
Although the idea of a cooperative gen
erally evokes the image of an altruistic as
sociation dedicated to good deeds, some of
those here are giant organizations that
function as aggressively as big corpora
tions.
A construction cooperative controlled by
the communists, for example, is actually a
multinational company that is engaged in
huge building projects at home and
abroad. Its overseas clients include many
Marxist-oriented African countries, con
tracts to local city councils dominated by
Communists.
Another Communist cooperative, known
as Coop-Italia, runs hundreds of retail
stores. And yet another Communist outfit,
Coop-League, not long ago acquired a
stake in an ailing publishing company.
Just as the rival Christian Democrats
and Communists are now on speaking
terms and may eventually collaborate, so
their cooperatives have been considering
joint deals. Recently, for instance, the
Communists’ Coop-League and the Chris
tian Democratic Coop-Confederation tried
to gain control of Generale Immobiliare,
the Italian construction firm that built the
Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.
The attempt failed, but other such efforts
are in the offing.
Members of cooperatives are divided
into two categories — partners and em
ployees. Partners receive a wage plus a
percentage of the profits, while employees
are only paid salaries. But employees can
eventually become partners, and that is an
incentive for them to display loyalty to the
group.
Should the Christian Democrats and
Communists create a coalition govern
ment, the cooperative formula will proba
bly spread as a substitute for the na
tionalization of business under the state.
The advantages of such an alternative are
twofold.
First, it would be a way to sidestep di
rect government intervention in industry,
and therefore avoid predictable bureaucra
tic bungling. And second, by giving work
ers a piece of the action, it could spur them
to higher productivity.
So despite the economic crisis, which
has taken a heavy toll here, a uniquely Ital
ian phenomenon appears to be relatively
successful, and it may serve as a model for
the future.
International Writers Service
(Deaglio writes on economic issues for
La Stampa, the Italian daily.)
Top of the News
Campus
New classrooms ready by next fall
Despite the addition of 67 classrooms, 170 laboratories and 462
offices, Texas A&M University will still have to play musical chairs
with its expected fall enrollment of 30,(MX) students. “We need every
one of these buildings and more to meet our growth needs in both
instructional and research areas,” said Dr. Jack K. Williams, chan
cellor of the Texas A&M University System. “Even with these new
facilities, we’ll still be starting classes early and running them well
into the evening.” The additional work space cost the University
over $30 million.
State
Texas A&I regents criticized
The board of regents of Texas A&I-Kingsville came under attack for
its selection of Dr. Duane M. Leach as the university’s new presi
dent. A Mexican-American group known as the “Tuesday Lunch
Bunch” yesterday criticized the selection of Leach because he is not
Mexican-American, he is not from South Texas and he does not know
how to speak Spanish. The group said the board violated Equal
Opportunity Employment guidelines in choosing Leach as the presi
dent of the predominantly Mexican-American school.
Derese given life sentence
Paula Cantrell Derese was sentenced to life imprisonment Monday
for the murder of her parents for insurance and estate money. Derese
was originally charged with capital murder but was allowed to plead
guilty to a lesser charge for her testimony agianst Vernon McManus,
her boyfriend and accomplice. McManus was convicted of capital
murder in last summer’s deaths of Paul and Mary Cantrell of
Baytown. He was the first murderer to be convicted under the new
injection death penalty.
Farmers need world trade
An open door to trade with the rest of the world is a necessity for
Texas farmers. House Speaker Bill Clayton told an audience in Thrall
yesterday. He encouraged farmers to improve their access to the
world food trade market by realizing the seriousness of international
export laws. Clayton also told the farmers to expect financial hard
ships as the cost of fuel rises.
Nation
She couldn’t take them with her
The two Ferraris that Sandra Ilene West did not take to the grave
with her are up for sale to the highest bidder. The Los Angeles
County Administrator started taking bids on the two cars, a 1969 and
a 1974, yesterday. West died in Los Angeles March 10 and was
buried, as specified by her will, sitting at the wheel of her favorite
Ferrari, “with the seat comfortably slanted, wearing a lace night
gown, beside the grave of her husband” in San Antonio.
Judge dismisses Hampton case
A federal judge dismissed charges Monday against seven police
men in Chicago for the murder of Black Panther leaders Fred
Hampton and Mark Clark. The families of the dead men sought $47.7
million in damages, but the judge said they had not proved their case
in the 18-month trial. Hampton and Clark were killed during a police
raid on a Black Panther Party headquarters on Dec. 4 1969. The
families had alleged that they were deliberately murdered. One of the
families’ lawyers claims the judge, Joseph Sam Perry, is part of a
cover-up conspiracy in the case.
There’s no ring around the collar
A laundromat in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that has taken the
drudgery out of doing the wash by selling beer and wine has added a
new attraction — topless dancers. “As far as the girls go, it’s just a
beginning, ” said the owner of the Helpy-Selfy, Jim Fuller. “There is
no way to estimate the possibilities.' The Helpy-Selfy doesn t have a
cover charge, but the cost of draft beer jumps from 40 to 75 cents
while the girls perform.
Times sets new movie ad guidelines
The New York Times announced yesterday a new policy on adver
tisements for pornographic films will start next month. The new
guidelines restrict the size of the ads and bans shots of scantily clad
people from the ads. The ads will be limited to a single column with
the name of the film, name of the theater with its address and per-
fomiance times and the label “adults only.” Film titles or theater
names considered to be offensive will not be accepted.
Birds put joggers on the run
Jogging along the Park Hill Golf Course in Denver is strictly for the
birds. A flock of common grackles, apparently trying to protect their
nests, are using dive bomber tactics on joggers in the area. “They’re
mean little creatures,” one jogger complained. “They attack every
day, every time we jog. ” A spokesman from the Denver Zoo bird-
house said the grackles are probably defending nesting grounds, and
the best solution to the problem would be for the joggers to find
somewhere else to run.
World
Brezhnev meets Giscard
Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and French President Valery Gis
card d’Estaing squared off in blunt debate in Paris yesterday.
Brezhnev said disarmament talks with the United States are getting
nowhere and he accused the French of tiptoeing back into NATO
(North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Giscard countered by saying
true detente with Russia cannot exist without Soviet recognition of
human rights.
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