opinion
Battalion/i
March ( I
I
Slouch
By Jim Earle
TXAXlkLS TO
'‘Have you ever surveyed from a moving truck?'
ERA mess nags
at Ronald Reagan
by Helen Thomas
United Press International
WASHINGTON — President Reagan
is finding that the cloud over the En
vironmental Protection Agency “just
won’t go away,” as one aide put it.
So the investigation will go on, even
though the president has tried to cut his
losses by some firings and replacing of
officials in the middle echelon.
His aides say he is fully committed to
supporting EPA Administrator Anne
Burford even though there are some
rumblings at the White House that he
should make a clean sweep of the EPA
hierarchy.
It has been Reagan’s style to remain
loyal to beleaguered top aides who have
been loyal to him.
Burford has gone along with EPA
budget cuts and the policies of the admi
nistration, which some of the career per
sonnel have severely criticized as de
trimental.
The president has long felt that the
questions of'environment were overly ex
aggerated by environmentalists. During
his campaign, he suggested that trees
were the cause of air pollution and that
the continuing oil slicks off the Santa
Barbara, Calif., coast purified the sea
breezes.
On his first trip to his California
mountaintop ranch, the president
looked down from his helicopter window
on the oil rigs off Santa Barbara and
proclaimed them “a beautiful sight.”
Since he has been in the White House
environmental issues have not been of
prime concern except when a disaster
forced recognition of the dangers as in
the case of the dioxin scare at Times
Beach, Mo.
But what the president did not bargain
for is the heightened understanding and
fear of the dumping of toxic wastes by the
public at large. There is no question that
what once was viewed as strictly a concern
among youth has now reverberated
throughout the country and the thres-
hhold of protecting the public health
against nuclear and toxic wastes and pol
lutants has increased with each passing
year.
Since Burford had voted against anti
pollution measures when she was in the
Colorado Legislature, there was some
question about her appointment.
Preoccupied with his economic prog
ram, Reagan did not give the EPA top
priority consideration in the early days of
his administration.
Reagan has ordered White House
counsel fred Fielding to conduct a re
view of contacts between White House
aides and EPA officials in view of allega
tions that there may have been political
considerations in the management of the
$ 1.6 billion Superfund to clean up hazar
dous waste dumps.
I he struggle over turning over docu
ments to congressional committees and
the invoking of executive privelege by
Reagan led to days of conflict and suspi
cion.
The president has indicated that some
of the problem may be with the probing
media in dealing with the headline mak
ing story.
But it is hard for the media to ignore
six congressional committees investigat
ing the same story.
USPS 045 360
Member <>t
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion
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Schmidt, Patti Schwierzke, Kelley
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Federal government auditing
by Maxwell Glen
and Cody Shearer
WASHINGTON — Several weeks
ago, we wrote a column about the electro
nics industry’s opposition to a new feder
al regulation that prohibits defense con
tractors from including lobbying costs in
their product price tags. At the lime, we
were interested in how big a fuss the arms
industry was making about so little a cut.
Since then, however, we’ve learned
that there’s more to the story. The
Reagan administration’s honorable dis-
allowal of “advocacy” costs in govern
ment contracts only may have been a
smokescreen for subsequent regulation
which, barring quick congressional ac
tion, could neutralize hundreds of non
profit philanthropical groups across the
United States. A broad spectrum of orga
nizations is rightly upset about the rule.
For years, U.S. law has prohibited reci
pients of federal project grants from us
ing such monies to influence lawmakers,
the courts or public opinion. Simply put,
the notion has been that taxpayer dollars
shouldn’t be used to beget more tax
payers’ dollars.
But on Jan. 24, the Of f ice of Manage
ment and Budget suggested a new rule
that would bar federally subsidized
groups from engaging in politics even if
their public monies support non-political
activities. It advised that subsidized
groups organize separate, independently
funded offices for political operations.
For the administration, the proposed
rule has been a political matter. Right-
wing groups repeatedly have denounced
direct government assistance to those
organizations that advocate or pursue
policies in opposition to their own.
Under Reagan, the ef fort to “defund the
left” has become a matter of policy. The
Heritage Foundation’s 1981 “mandate
for leadership” suggested dismantling of
“Democratic constituencies” and Conser
vative Digest has been sounding the
attack ever since. Last year the Depart
ment of Health and Human Services
probed whether Planned Parenthood
spends federal dollars on lobbying, but
uncovered nothing sinister.
Yet, political decisions about housing,
jobs and other facts of life historically
have depended on the advice of those
who deliver the services. Often those who
run such agencies are better informed
about, say, refugee resettlement than
government officials. The experience in
the field of such groups as the American
Red Cross, the National Council on Alco
holism and the Audubon Society “is vital
to shaping policy,” saitl Matt Ahmann of
the National Conference of Catholic
Charities to our reporter Michael Duffy.
“The Reagan administration doesn’t
understand the role of this sector in in
terpreting the needs of people to public
servants,” added Brian O’Connell, presi
dent of a 450-member coalition of presti
gious corporations, charities and volun
teer groups known as Independent Sec
tor. “It has a total blind spot on this one.”
Unfortunately, the OMB rule, written
by chief council Michael J. Horowitz,
would give non-profit groups a difficult
choice between federal funds or loss of
political advocacy rights. Harder still, di-
by
co
sor
rectors of such social servicepgthi cai
whom dealing with governniwyan sa>
responsibility, will have to se nsps tl
for dispassionately delivering)? ets
for getting out of the businessa ** on 15
Either way, a tradition of pulJr, 1 ,"
partnership is doomed to suIIiMg "
One might think that busine|mj ac
tion would force the Reaganac-ij^ a rr
tion to think again about its Blatcn
Representatives of many mammufilm
porations with independent ars: sai
arms — such as Conoco Inc.,Pinning
ris Inc., and General KlecinJ| ts 1 " 1
already are buttonholing coneB-j 1
turning out favorable public
for the federal record and pl^P
court test. Both Rep. jack Brl
Texas) and Sen. David DurenltH
Minn.) plan hearings during
week of March. And Horowitz
little to calm the waters, catt
president of the National AssoJ
Manufacturers an unpi iiuablnra|
recent Exec utive Office Buildup. ^
ing for 40 business leaders, HT ei
But even such White Houx*H, ) j )l |
as chief of staf f James Baker JLi ( |
appointed private-sector initial )r j<!
t tor James B. Coyne are resigiuca Rat
rule. Apparently, Reagan wfliSlioup
flack even from his primancon dean <
if only to quiet the noise fronn 1 Adai
Oddly enough, there maybtBf * 1;
placate both side s. If it chooxB^ Jj
them, the federal government
the auditing powers needed to
of federal dollars. As Rep. Bar Y ‘M e(
able (R-N.Y.) has said, thenewrfe r y ’
going after a fly with a sledge I uional
-PL
SURE. ITS AVIOLENT SPORT, BUT ITS THE ONLY WAY SOM!
POOR KIPS CAN SET OUT OF THE GHETTO...
Letters: Reader praises art progr;
Editor:
I would like to commend the College
of Architecture and Environmental De
sign for offering an informal discussion
session with scenic designer/art director
Chris Nowak. I was equally pleased to
find the session reported in the Feb.24
edition of 1 he Battalion, insofar as my
teaching specialty is design and technical
theater. During the session, I found my
self in general agreement with Mr.
Nowak, although I’d like to offer a few
observations in counterpoint to his.
First, I find that there is an intrinsic
value in the study of theater arts within a
liberal arts setting, considering the com
plexity of theater and its production. For
the designer there is, of course, no limit
to the need of study of art and architec
ture — their history and practice; and
there is no limit to the need of study of
the complexity of dramatic literature and
its expression on the stage. It could be
argued that television and film do not
require this same training due to their
technological nature but that is a moot
point.
Secondly, I do not find that “to be in
this field, you really need to live in a large
city like New York.” Confronted with
career decisions the last three years, with
the Chicago Off-Loop Theater an in
teresting option, I found the opportunity
of “pure” design (however you define it)
to be more often available within univer
sity theater. This is only true to those I hat
can consider their position to be that of
designer and educator. By the same
token, a strong self-image as “a designer”
and, as indicated by Mr. Nowak, contacts
are the keys to success within the profes
sional theater.
Once again, I offer my gratitude to the
College of Architecture and Environ
mental Design for presenting Chris
Nowak in an open forum. For those that
find themselves drawn to this area of de
sign I hope that you will avail yourself to
the opportunities afforded withn the
College of Architecture and Environ
mental Design and the Theater Arts
Program at f AMU.
Alan M. Donahue
Designer/Technical Director
Theater Arts Section
Exam complaints
Editor:
I would like to make some comments
about the last Mechanical Engineering
213 common exam. I think that
was not designed to test theexteni
students’ knowledge of thecourst
rial since the exam consisted ofonl
problems each worth 35
Although partial credit would bef
is comparable to a hit or miss in)
sense, you could blame your hoips
you were well prepared in probk
cept the kinds that were on thei
A more equitable and fairway
able in the sense that it wouldernf
the subject matter more evenly
fair in the sense that die examsi'
let you ace it unless you are thoi
familiar with the material) would
revert to the 10-problem format.
If the Department of Mechanif
gineering was aiming at bringing!
averages to record lows, I thinl
been successful. But if it was atteii
to test the students’ knowledge son
accurately, it is an entirely dil
story.
I hope the exam coordinator" 1
this point of view into conskk
when the time for the second exa«
by.
I also would like to hear Iron 1
students and others interested 1
matter.
Biju Ma
P.O. Box
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