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The Battalion Wednesday
Texas A&M University July 12, 1978
Bentsen wants to
Sen. Lloyd Bentsen has predicted that the Senate would not ratify a SALT
II treaty this year “because the American people have lost faith in our
negotiating partner (and) because the people know there is no such thing as a
good agreement with an untrustworthy adversary.”
He is right on target.
Let’s hope Bentsen’s remarks don’t fall on deaf ears at 1600 Pennsylvania
Ave.
In its relentless pursuit of a SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union, the
Carter administration has scrapped the B1 strategic bomber program, waf
fled on questions regarding the cruise missile and delayed making a decision
on the so-called neutron bomb, mindless of Soviet activity in other global
areas.
So committed to getting a SALT II treaty to the Senate floor is the ad
ministration that it has looked the other way while the Soviets make a sham
of the Helsinki Accord, involve themselves and their Cuban surrogates in
Africa, arrest a U.S. businessman and order two U.S. reporters to court on
trumped-up charges in exchange for two confirmed Soviet spies held in the
United States.
Although the Soviet Union was Bentsen’s intended target, much of what
he said should not be lost on either the Carter administration or the Ameri
can people.
Bentsen’s Senate speech is that of a troubled man who may well be speak
ing for an equally-troubled Senate representing an increasingly worried U.S.
public.
In his recent speech, Sen. Bentsen has risen to inform a Democratic
president that a Democratic Senate is questioning his handling of SALT II. It
is opposed to turning the other cheek to all-too-frequent Soviet diplomatic
slaps.
stop turning cheek
Bentsen did not say the American people have lost faith in the administra
tion’s negotiating team — only our “negotiating partner.” Bentsen has sent a
warning to the White House that had best be heeded. Right now, it would
be nice to know Bentsen’s warning message was heard and understood.
The Dallas Morning News
Zero population
By AL ROSSITER Jr.
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Countries with con
stant population levels would have rela
tively more old people who might be less
subject to fads, less wed to the automobile
and who likely would face less crime, a
noted social scientist says.
Dr. Lincoln Day said the increase in the
proportion of old people that eventually
would result from lower birth rates also
might mean increased demand for medical
services and better pensions.
“The range of possible consequences is
very wide indeed, he said in a report pub
lished by the private, non-profit Popula
tion Reference Bureau. “Life could be
meager or bountiful, violent or peaceful,
miserable or happy.
Day, now with Australian National Uni
versity and former chief of demography
and social statistics for the United Nations,
said the age structure of a steady popula
tion has prompted fears of “old people
ruminating over old ideas in old houses.
But he said the implications of a station
ary population are far more likely to be
desirable than undesirable, both for the
society and for the individual.
Science
Although the world’s overall population
continues to grow, Day reported that large
numbers of people actually are living
under conditions of zero population
growth or face that prospect in the
foreseeable future.
“When this prospect first presented it
self in the 1930s, there were cries of alarm
and even fears of race suicide,” he said. “It
was widely assumed that, whatever they
growth is
were, the consequences of such a de
velopment were bound to be undesirable.
“While some cries of alarm are again to
be heard, today’s response is generally
rather different. The cessation of popula
tion increase, if not invariably welcomed,
is at least widely accepted as inevitable.”
Six countries had a stable population in
1976, the year for which latest figures are
available. They were Austria, Belgium,
East Germany, West Germany, Luxem
burg and the United Kingdom. Sweden
almost has such a population.
Nineteen other nations, including the
United States, are expected to have zero
population growth in a generation or two.
The others are Australia, Bulgaria,
Canada, Denmark, Finland, France,
Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Malta, the
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Singapore,
Switzerland, the Soviet Union and Yugos
lavia.
A stationary population will have a me-
coming
dian age of about 37, compared with the
1975 median age of 29 in the United
States. Proportions will be smaller in the
younger ages and higher in the older.
Day disagrees with those who believe
an older popidation necessarily would be
more conservative and less receptive to
change, but he said it is possible an older
population “would be less subject to fad,
whether in clothing, grooming, the arts,
recreation or politics.
“One could reasonably expect that, in
western countries, an aging of the popula
tion would lead to a decline in the market
for private automobiles and a correspond
ing expansion in that for public transporta
tion, thus reducing somewhat the pressure
to accommodate this ubiquitous symbol of
private affluence and cause of public
squalor,” Day said.
He said crime is likely to be less preva
lent if statistics are correct in associating
more crime with youth.
British plans over-ambitious
By RUDOLF KLEIN
International Writers Service
LONDON — Like most other Western
countries, Britain launched an ambitious
and expensive drive back in the 1960s to
enlarge its opportunities for higher educa
tion. As a result, the number of British
universities and community colleges has
doubled, and so has the proportion of
young men and women in these institu
tions.
But now the British authorities are
going through an agonizing reappraisal of
this strategy. Their reassessment will de
termine what kind of educational policies
are to be pursued in the future.
The decision to reconsider the whole
approach was partly inspired by fluctua
tions in the birthrate which would make
the system, under continued expansion,
too big. That woidd mean closing universi
ties and dismissing teachers.
But the reassessment has also been
motivated by disillusion with the way the
system has worked until now. It has failed
to fulfill one of its prime objectives, that of
widening the opportunities in higher edu
cation for children of blue-collar familes so
they could enjoy the same chance to suc
ceed as those from middle-class back
grounds.
The argument in favor of this plan was
that Britain, by democratizing the pos
sibilities for higher education, could
mobilize reserves of hitherto hidden tal
ent, contribute to a more equitable society
and improve the efficiency of the
economy.
The model appeared to be the United
States, where one out of three 18-year-
olds enters a university or college. In Brit
ain, when the expansion program began,
only one out of 14 youths of the same age
was in higher education. Allowing for
some differences — such as a lower drop
out rate in Britain — the contrast was both
glaring and shameful.
As it has turned out, however, the
British program has fallen short of its goal,
and the disappointment is all the more se
rious because of the expectations it had
raised.
Looking back, it is clear that higher
education has not been significantly dem
ocratized. More than half of all university
students still come from middle-class
families, even though these represent only
16 percent of the total British population,
they contemplate the years ahead.
If class representation in the institutions
of higher learning cannot be broadened, it
obviously makes no sense to expand the
system in the decades to come. The ques
tion, then, is whether a higher proportion
of working-class students can be attracted
to the universities.
The problem, in contrast to the United
States, is not financial. British students re
ceive adequate if not generous govern
ment grants, and tuitions are nowhere as
astronomic as they are in American col
leges. So universities are theoretically
open to everyone regardless of back-
&&
ground. The obstacle lies at the secondary
school level.
Until recently, British children were di
vided at the age of 11 between those with
academic potential and those without. The
former could go on to higher education,
while the latter prepared for less sophisti
cated occupations. But this system has
been scrapped, and all children are now
entitled to opt for higher education at the
age of 18.
Even so, most youngsters from
working-class homes leave secondary
schools at 16, the legal minimum age, be
cause the temptation to take jobs is greater
than the attraction of higher education,
particularly for those under pressure to
contribute to family incomes.
Not long ago, in order to persuade these
teenagers to stay in high school, the gov
ernment announced its intention to fur
nish cash incentives to those who continue
their secondary education to the end.
It is hoped that the high rate of unem
ployment in Britain at the moment will
induce high school students not to drop
out in quest of jobs. The government es
timates that the plan to provide cash in
centives will not prove to be more costly
than paying benefits to unemployed kids,
as it now does.
But even if these working-class teena
gers remain in high school until 18, it is
not certain that their university prospects
will be improved. Many may just hang on
for the sake of the money, and if so, the
experiment will have failed.
(Klein, a professor of social policy
studies at the University of Bath, writes on
social issues in Britain.)
Founding Fathers meet George Carlin
By DICK WEST
United Press International
WASHINGTON — When the First
Amendment was adopted in 1791, neither
radio stations nor record albums had been
invented and George Carlin wasn’t born
yet.
Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has
been able to perceive that the Constitu
tion upholds the government’s right to
warn a station about broadcasting one of
Carlin’s records.
The Tighter Side
The court’s decision in the famous “se
ven dirty words case” has precipitated a
public debate that appears likely to con
tinue all summer. All of which started me
to wondering what the Constitutional
Convention might have been like if the
framers of that document had been con
fronted with a similar issue.
Somewhat like the following, do you
suppose?
George Washington, who presided:
“Very well, gentlemen. I’d say we’ve been
making good progress. Thus far, we’ve
adopted a preamble and seven articles that
provide for two houses of Congress, an
executive branch headed by a president
and vice president, a judiciary system and
diverse and sundry federal processes.
“Moving right along, we have under
consideration today a proposed draft of Ar
ticle VIII. Here with all the details is
Gouverneur Morris.”
Morris: “Thankee, sire. The genesis of
Article VIII is a letter we received from a
woman in Upper Middlesex, Connecticut,
complaining that the town crier in her vil
lage used offensive language.
“This article gives the government
power to regulate public communicators
and establish rules governing the propri
ety of their utterances.
Ben Franklin: “Hold on there, Gouv.
I’ll be hanged if I want a bunch of bureauc
ratic busybodies telling me what words I
can or can’t put in the magazine I’m trying
to publish on Saturday evenings.”
Morris: “Now, now, Ben. Nobody’s talk
ing about the printed word. This part of
the Constitution would only apply to the
use of public streets for oral dissemina
tions.
Alexander Hamilton: “What are the of
fensive words you are proposing to ban?”
Morris: “It is reported that in recount
ing the latest tidings in Upper Middlesex
the town crier used the words bloody,
zounds’ and ‘gadzooks. ”
James Madison: “Oh, stop blushing,
Gouverneur. Most of us hear those words
every day.
Morris: “Maybe so, Jim, but we re talk
ing about a town crier making his rounds
at a hour when children are listening.
Franklin: “What if the offensive words
are part of a direct quotation from Shakes
peare or some other distinguished person-
age?”
Morris: “That situation is covered in the
proposed draft of Article IX. It requires
that under the Constitution all town criers
must be equipped with bleepers.
Campus
Ai?M receives June donation*
IV.
las
A -9:
The Texas A&M University Development Foundation ^
$189,908 during June from private contributors, a m “' ! 2 _j
quarters of the donations going to scholarship hnub ftoK*
Walker, vice president for development, reported total cooflH
to the non-profit foundation since last September no*
$4,943,245. Not included in the total was a gift from MnT
Gerlaeh of Abilene of Volumes 1 through 252 of the SouBp
Reporter, legal reference books to the Student D*ga* Aavw
fice. trcc.
E
State
Ethnic group's patterns studki
.AS’
s. th
C th
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; thi
*u\-
I he American Heart Association awaid«-d •> ^ „i
three-year study to determine whether there ,s ‘ l
Center i d
2 000 M' tl
culture patterns of Mexican-Americans and the ri
team of researchers at the University of Texas Scien
Antonio will studv smokng and diet habits <>i i
.Bservc how <1 3AK
ricans ap.> A
— i
American men and women aged 30 to 69 to o
adhere to traditional cultural patterns. Mcxi
have a high prevalence of diabetes ami th
crease heart disease risk in women more th
•rve
-Am
men.
^R(
P
Four cities receive federal g ran ^ 1 ^
The second round of the Ur
ram has awarded $111.9 million t
cities.
Housing Secretary' Patricia Harr
hinds will be txickt'd up by more th<
and will create 13,000 new jobs, sa\
12,300 construction jobs.The four ”1
will receive include: El Paso, $2.3
Texarkana. $2.3 million; ami Wat
D<
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C
FRE
F
WO
r tl
I ti
SPE
Firm remains under court pou
A state district judge has refused to 1
receivership a securities firm that allegi
for the University of Houston.Judge \
company petition for lifting of the ord
hearing June 8. He rejected the reqi
Percy D. Williams, will continue to o]
was placed under court imuiagcmcnt afi
and the Texas attorney general s office ;
scheme to defraud the university.
itt H
H
died in
F»ard hi
CO-
e
1
GR<
I
ite th<
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It
Giving government the bird ^
i,
SHI
Two Texas state representatives said they "'ill im «
awards to state agencies and departments to recogJ*
wasteful government spending. Reps. Ben Grant D 1^ tel rati
Ron Bird, D-.San Antonio, said the awards will I”
Golden Fleece Awards made by Sen. William Pro
they will call their award “The Texas Bird. Grunt a
will periodically present a second award, called th<
For-Granted award, to state agencies or departments
payers’ money.
d Bit
\ s are
fume
• Fe
said
>nve
Nation
soar<
the
nmei
in
cuti
John D. Rockefeller HI dies
•r brothe
family s
John D. Rockefeller III, oldest of the five Rockcfel
killed Monday' night in a three-car auto crash near th
tico Hills estate north ol New York Gity. Rockefeller.
passenger in a car driven by his secretary who was injured.
16-year-old driver of one of the other cars was killed and two pc
were injured. Rockefelle
dead at the scene.
c
d the oth
drivi
prom
AC
World
OR
Congressmen warn Soviet UnioESi
OR
RAF
)5-1
Members of Congress, some calling for suspension of the ar
talks, warned the Soviet Union Tuesday that its prosecution of Jet 1
dissidents is jeopardizing chances for a new strategic arms pad.
nate Republican Leader Howard Baker joined the anti-Soviet chon
urging Carter to suspend the SALT talks because the Amerii
people “are fed up with being pushed around in Africa, the Mi®
East and now these trials.
Chinese planes buzz border
<
<
Chinese warplanes penetrated Vietnamese airspace twice fl« r
the weekend in what appeared to be a pointed warning to \ietr<
not to get too friendly with the Soviet Union, Hanoi radio saidT*
day. The official Vietnamese radio, monitored in Bangkok, saidap
of Chinese jetfighters violated Vietnamese airspace twice last SaP
day, with one flight reaching the Quang Hoa district in Cao U
Province, 95 miles from Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital. Diploro*
sources in Bangkok interpreted the (lights as a warning to Viet#
not to stray too far over into the Soviet sphere of influence. I
Weather
Partly cloudy skys and continues hot temperatures tod
and Thursday with highs in the 100s. Low tonight in the£
and 20% possibility of isolated showers.
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