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Viewpoint The Battalion Wednesday Texas A&M University March 14, 1979 Balanced budget may be double-edged plea Tax may be profitable way to find energy National energy policymakers would be well advised to pay careful attention when a governor of Texas advocates a windfall profits tax to accompany an abolition of federal price controls on oil. Washington has been taking a socio-political approach to its energy problems for five years now and has wound up with little more than the prospect of having to ration gasoline. It is far past time to switch to the practical — all-out development of domestic supplies with other considerations taking a back seat. All those other considerations which fret Washington so much and which have so hampered energy development are going to loom pretty insignificant if this country gets into the nightmare of a real energy crunch, as recent events have shown could so easily happen. Being practical means, having the wisdom and courage to abolish price controls on the essential fuel — oil — and requiring that the resulting profits be plowed back into research, development and production of more domestically controlled energy supplies. “Domestically controlled energy supplies” is a fancy phrase for not letting somebody else call the tune and this country having to dance to it. This is the common sense approach which Gov. William P. Clements was urging in Washington the other day: free the oil prices and put all that money into new energy. If it isn’t put into new energy development, take away a windfall profits tax. That would be doing something about energy instead of wringing hands and finding reasons why things can’t be done. Houston Chronicle Business associations politically active powers By LeROY POPE UPI Business Writer NEW YORK — For years business trade associations in the United States were organized mainly to have fun. This was particularly true in the Prohib ition era. Businessmen welcomed the an nual or semi-annual meeting of their trade associations as a chance to get away for a wet and high old time they wouldn’t con sider at home. The trade associations did a little lobby ing in Washington and state capitals, gathered some statistics and made some effort to disseminate technical informa tion. But in contrast to the in-depth and hard-sell programs of the professional as sociations of physicians, lawyers and scien tists, the business trade associations were very low key. £ No more. , The modern business trade association is dynamic, sophisticated and staffed by thoroughly skilled professionals, says the New York management consulting firm. Main, Jackson & Garfield, Inc., in the cur rent edition of its house organ “Manage ment Practice.” The number of qualified professional trade association executives is growing rapidly. James Low, president of the American Society of Association Execu tives, said its membership is growing by 10 percent a year and now stands at 6,000, many of them working for business associ ations. The modern business association seeks recognition from the news media and from local, national and even foreign govern ments, Low said. The metamorphosis of the associations from “semi-marching and chowder societies” to vigorous, sophisticated bodies was forced by the rapid rise of local and government regulation of business, said William E. Smith of Smith, Bucklin & As sociates, a Chicago management consult ing firm that specializes in serving trade associations. “In an age when companies literally can be legislated and regulated out of busi ness, the trade association has become the first line of defense,” Smith said. “The old politically passive trade association no longer makes sense.” Another dramatic change in trade as sociations is greater specialization and concentration. Main, Jackson & Garfield noted that the National Association of Manufacturers, “whose members account for 75 percent of the country’s industrial output, used to scatter its shots, but now the NAM concentrates its efforts almost totally on federal legislative issues and in teraction with government agencies.” Letters to the editor It moved its headquarters from New York to Washington a few years ago to fur ther that aim. Another significant trend is bigger budgets and bigger staffs for the more ef fective trade associations. In ten years, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association doubled both its budget and its working force, for example. The 102-year-old American Bankers As sociation buckled down to come to grips with the gigantic problem of electronic fund transfers. The Textile Manufacturers Institute fol lowed the NAM’s example and moved to Washington in order to concentrate bn doing battle with the regulators. The Edi son Electric Institute and the American Association of Advertising Agencies felt constrained to set up large Washington of fices. Economist Peter Drucker said the metamorphosis of the business trade as sociations has progressed to where they can be called “a third sector of the economy,” because many of them are neither strictly private nor strictly public. They serve such enterprises as hospitals, libraries, symphony orchestras as well as business. By DAVID S. BRODER WASHINGTON — It is the official judgment of the Carter administration that the country is not headed for a recession. That judgment is not provably wrong, but there is a growing possibility that it may be found in error. And if it is, not just this government, but this country, faces a rather wrenching readjusment in its think ing. To their credit, administration economists have been saying for months that the American economy will slow down in 1979. They have been planning for it and budgeting to bring it about. But, unlike most outside economists, they have denied there will be a recession — a period of at least six months of stagnation or shrinkage in jobs and output. But, at this point, the risk of recession looks greater than it did even six weeks ago, when the Carter administration made its forecasts for the year. Fuel and food pro- ces have pushed inflation to even higher levels; consumer confidence has been im paired; some elements of the economy are overheated, while others are cooling too fast for comfort. It may be that the administration and the country — both of which are overdue for a bit of luck — may avoid seeing this fragile structure tip into economic decline, but it would not be prudent to bet on it. And a change in the economic outlook would require major readjustments in political rhetoric and strategy. Nowhere is that more evident than in that current cen terpiece of political debate, the balanced federal budget. President Carter has pledged to achieve that goal by fiscal 1981. His critics, who say they don’t trust him or the Congress to keep that pledge, would like to nail that requirement into the Constitution and keep it there forever more. But if a recession hits later this year, you can forget about budget-balancing. As Sen. Edmund S. Muskie (D-Maine), the chairman of the Senate Budget Commit tee, has pointed out, “When unemploy ment goes up only 1 percentage point, the deficit swells by some $20 billion. ” And a 1 percent unemployment increase would be a “mild” recession. A serious dip could double or triple that figure. Ironically, the public officials who are most likely to get caught in a severe politi cal bind if the economy slips into a reces sion are the very ones who have been most vocal in demanding the federal budget balance its books. I refer, of course, to the state legislators who have been merrily passing resolutions calling on Congress to initiate a balanced- budget amendment or convene a constitu tional convention for that purpose. As Richard P. Nathan of the Brookings Institution (a Republican who is no defen der of Carter policies) has pointed out, the clamor for fiscal conservatism has already brought a significant turnabout in federal aid to states and local governments. After rising steadily for many years, “non welfare grants from the federal govern ment to states and localities are projected (by the Carter budget) to decline in real (inflation-adjusted) terms by 3.3 percent in 1979 and by 6.8 percent in 1980.” “These declines,” Nathan says, “are un precedented in recent experience,” and Commentary would put pressure on state and local budgets even in a healthy economy. But “ironically,” as he points out, “the biggest reductions come in the programs expanded in 1977 to fight the last reces sion, just as the next recesssion is about to poke its head up on the economic hori zon.” “The effect of these reductions, ” Nathan notes, “is goii^jg to hit very hard about a year from now if the 1980 budget in enacted in close to its present form. As suming there is a recession late this year or early next, with rising unemployment, lowered local tax receipts, and simulta neously higher prices, these cuts in federal grants are bound to cause especially se vere problems for the nations’ most dis tressed cities. This is so because the fed eral grant-in-aid programs most affected by the cutbacks in 1979 and 1980 are also the programs best targeted on community distress — CETA public service jobs, local public works and the anit-recession fiscal assistance program.” It is not difficult to imagine 1980 politics dominated by a different set of issues than those which now dominate the economic, debate — providing yet another challenge to the agility of the Carter administration and its rivals. (c) 1979, The Washington Post Company IPIDDLEEPST^ wufio!^ V*AN ENER3Y CRISIS! AQAIN.^/anpthe WANTA Prof s ‘gutsy’ stand commendable Editor: We applaud The Battalion for finally br inging to light incidences which have been kept in the dark for some time. We, as Aggies, feel Capt. McNabb’s ef forts to uphold the standard of Texas A&M are commendable. It shows that there are still a few that have the “guts” to stand up for what they believe in, even if it is un popular at the time. We were taught when we came to this institution, that an Aggie would never compromise a moral principle or tolerate anyone who did. Capt. McNabb was quoted in The Bat talion as saying, “I have conducted myself in the only way in which my integrity and moral responsibility would allow me.” This statment rings true now as it did more than 100 years ago when Emerson stated, “A little integrity is better than any career.” Due to upholding his integrity, Capt. McNabb’s career is in jeopardy. We, as students, believe what Capt. McNabb has done upholds the principles upon which this university was founded, and we sup port his stand. —Lee G. Haefner, ’79 Michael K. Inman, ’79 Plants do it best Editor: Greg Jacobs and several other people responding to my previous letter opposing nuclear power seem to have missed my point entirely. As pointed out by Steve Peppers, (Bat talion, March 7), my estimation of 500,000 years of radio activity from nuclear waste is a bit more accurate than Mr. Jacobs esti mate of 500 years. Even if I am wrong and he is right, I wonder if he is willing to risk releasing radiation into the atmosphere for even 500 years? Mr. Jacobs mentioned the amount of radiation within our environment. I am well aware of the amount of natural radia tion around us everyday, midst this bom bardment of natural tradiation, I fail to see any reasoning behind the addition of more radiation to our environment. If it is true that the more potent forms of radiation can be diverted by several inches of concrete or lead, why then are the “ex perts” having so much trouble figuring out how to store nuclear waste? You suggest storing nuclear waste underwater to prevent escape of radiation into our environment. Well my friend, just because you and I have no gills does not mean that water is not an intricate part of our environment. You may argue that special lakes not open to public used could be used for stor age purposes. However, if you have ever studied anything about soils and geology, you might have learned that water perco lates down through the soil into the water table from which our public water supply comes. I do not particularly care to drink radioactive water. Even though it is highly unlikely, do you, Mr. Jacobs, realize what would hap pen if the temperature of our oceans was raised by one or even by one half of a de gree? If you don’t know, I suggest you find out because it may scare the hell out of you. As mentioned in several letter, it seems as though you nuclear engineers feel as though nuclear power is the best way to mass produce electrical power. Mass pro distribution which leads to monthly pay ments to a utility company. It seems to me as though solar power has the potential to be applicable to every individual building and residence so that all one would pay for his electricity is the initial cost of the solar equipment and what little maintenance there may be necessary. Maybe this is what seems to have nuclear engineers so fearful of solar power. The most efficient form of energy con version known to man is a process known as “photosynthesis” whereby plants use natural radiation to make carbohydrates. By this process they are essentially self- sustaining. I feel we could be the same by relying on these two resources, the sun and plants. —Charles Cody, ’78 100 Grove St. Letters to the Editor The Battalion Room 216 Reed McDonald Building College Station, Texas 77843 Top of the News!) CAMPUS A&M joins ag project in Sri Lank By Texas A&M University, Pennsylvania State University and Virginii; Polytechnical Institute are participating in a $5 million, seven-yea The agricultural education contract at Peradenyia University in the Relush, public of Sri Lanka. E. Paul Creech, director of the InternationalP rnel Programs Office, is campus coordinator for the project. Texas AMs|frhe involvement in the program will be over $1 million. iants Infl itere lade th< Miller to detail A&M food policy nd ” eopl< ut tl Texas A&M University President Jarvis E. Miller will be thtHniMi speaker at a dinner sponsered by the Altrusa Club of Bryan-College||^ s Station March 22 at 7 p.m. in Room 206 of the Memorial Student™™ Center. Miller will speak on ” The World Food Problem: Texas AW| icom ry ho University’s Postion. Tickets for the dinner are $7 and can be pur- chased at City National Bank, First National Bank or by telephoningILl Shirley Plapp at 823-5543. The Altrusa Club, organized in 1917, isanF* ^ international women’s service club for executive and professional business women. H||| LOCAL ) rise Loc ew h uarte icrea AN' American Legion to observe 60th indei jlty i tw in ercer The Earl Graham Post of the American Legion in Bryan will cele- «gisla brate the 60th birthday of the American Legion Saturday. A buffet) 12 ] supper and dance are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Legionppro\ Hall, Waco Street and Highway 21 East. Veterans and their spouses Savi are invited, and they do not have to be a member of the American iakin Legion to participate. A special invitation is extended to veterans U m from the Vietnam era. Harry Ledbetter, special assistant to Phil Its, Gramm, will speak. ;tum STATE “Th( :e ha Dung state lly on Tape heard in murder trial iebo ne sa >rtwc A judge Tuesday admitted into evidence over strenuous defense objections a controversial tape recording in which a woman identified Bp as mass murder defendant Linda May Burnett describes the shootin; deaths of five persons last summer. Defense attorneys argued theBlp admission of the tape, made in Houston last November would havea|h° v devastating effect on all criminal defendants in Texas because it ah P r P lowed prosecutors entry into the defense “camp. ” But District Judge I 1 Y 0 Larry Gist said careless treatment of the tape by the defense took it H beyond the protected boundaries of attorney-client privilege. Bur Hlfl nett, 31, a housewife and mother of three from Nederland, Texas,ismI on trial for the July 1 slaying of Jason Phillips, 2, of Woodward, Okla Mpj The child, his parents and grandparents were kidnapped from the ■ elder couple’s Winnie, Texas, home and slain during a weekend visit H In the taped account of the slayings, Burnett says she shot the fou ; M| adults but could not kill,the boy or watch as he was slain. NATION Nuclear plants ordered to close The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Tuesday ordered five atomic power plants shut down immediately because their cooling systems may be unable to withstand earthquakes. In an action with potentially large implications for U.S. energy supplies, the NRC said an im proper computer formula used to design the plants more than seven years ago led to inadequate support for cooling system pipes. The reactors ordered shut down were Beaver Valley at Shippingport, Pa.; Surry Nos. 1 and 2 at Gravel Neck, Va.; James Fitzpatrick at Scriba, N.Y.; and Maine-Yankee at Wiscasset, Maine. WORLD Idi Amin calls for holy war Ugandan President Idi Amin, his regime propped up by Arab troops and extensive military aid from Libya, called Tuesday for a “holy war against Zionism.” In a speech to the opening of an Islamic development bank conference broadcast by Radio Kampala, Amin said Uganda’s armed forces are ready to join in the struggle to uproot the “Zionist aggressors and free the holy land. ” Amin, himself a Moslem, called on Arab and Moslem countries to help the people of Uganda, who he said “at this very moment are being exterminated by the Tanzanian aggressors, mercanaries and Ugandan traitors, paid by imperialism, Zionism and racism.” Sources in Dar Es Salaam said Tanzania had rejected the latest peace move to end the war and that Tanzanian forces were making steady progress toward the Ugandan capital of Kampala. Kfar Xffore WEATHER Partly cloudy and cool today with a slight chance of showers or isolated thundershowers. High today 71 and the low to night 47. Winds will be northeast at 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. He, Nan ifow Mink. The Battalion LETTERS POLICY setters 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 does not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must be 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 Educational Adver tising Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. The Battalion is published Monday through Friday from September through May except during exam and holiday periods and the summer, when it is published on Tuesday through Thursday. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per school year; $35.00 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. United Press International is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it. , Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. Second-Class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Editor Kiflff Managing Editor Liz! |, ' Assistant Managing Editor .Andy Sports Editor David ^ City Editor Scott Pe^ Campus Editor Ste' f News Editors Debbie?^ Beth Calhoun Staff Writers .Karen Rogers/ Patterson, Sean Petty, ^ Blake, Dillard Stone Bragg, Lyle Lovett, Taylor Cartoonist Photo Editor Lee Roy Lescbp' Photographer Lynn ^ Focus section editor Gary 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 administration or the Board of Regents. 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