Opinion
Reforms work
after 30 years
Monumental decisions requiring great cour
age are nothing new to the U.S. Supreme Court.
But perhaps none is more important than one
made 30 years ago today.
It was May 16, 1954 — Brown vs. Board of
Education — and the Court resolved that the
educational philosophy of separate but equal
had no place in America, that an equal opportu
nity of education could not be provided when
whites attended one school and minorities an
other.
In the history of the American judicial sys
tem, few Supreme Court edicts have had as pro
found an effect as that one carefully chosen
case.
Who Brown was and which Board of Educa
tion he sued are unimportant. The NAACP se
lected them for that reason. Brown represented
all men just as that Board of Education rep
resented all others.
The changes the decision forced didn’t hap
pen overnight and surely weren’t painless, the
first minorities to enter the all white schools can
testify to that. But those first children found the
same courage the Court had in making its deci
sion and America is a better place today because
of it.
Many mistakes were made along the way and
many attempts at righting the wrongs ended in
failure. But America has learned from her mis
takes and those wrongs are being righted. We
can celebrate the fact that the educational sys
tem envisioned by the Court is almost here.
What’s more, the reforms are expanding be
yond the elementary and secondary school level.
The nation’s colleges and universities are re
cruiting minority students with as much vigor as
public school districts are putting into their de
segregation programs.
And that’s the best solution of all. Once inte
gration begins to take place voluntarily the proc
ess will be complete.
So stand up and take a bow, America. With
out you it couldn’t happen.
— The Battalion Editorial Board
Tax proposal
preposterous
$4.8 billion is a lot of money.
$4.8 billion in taxes is a lot of our — the tax
payers — money.
A $4.8 billion increase in state taxes is absolu
tely absurd.
But that’s just what Gov. Mark White is asking
for, a $4.8 billion increase in state taxes for the
nebulous purpose of education finance. No par
ticulars, just education in general.
Sure education and the financing thereof is
important, but to dedicate the single-largest in
crease of state taxes in Texas history solely to el
ementary and secondary education while ignor
ing the needs of the prison system, state
employees (including state college and univer
sity professors) and other governmental services
demonstrates weakness in the governor at best
and incompetance at worst.
How does White plan to fund these other
state programs? Is a state income tax the next
trick up the governor’s sleeve?
These are questions we must ask ourselves be
fore giving the governor Carte Blanche on tax
proposals Texans cannot afford.
The economic impact of increased sales and
gasoline taxes would be devastating, especially
to the middle and lower income groups — the
groups that sent Mark White to the governor’s
mansion.
It is time for White to open his eyes and re
member that he was sent to Austin to serve the
people of Texas not H. Ross Perot.
If Perot thinks it will take almost $5 billion
per year to make the changes he wants in the
state’s educational system, let him find the
money and pay for it.
— The Battalion Editorial Board
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C1SPS 045 360
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Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Rcbeca Ziinmermunn, Editor
Bill Robinson, Editorial Page Editor
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Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, May 16, 1984
It could end up in
Of talking cars
and mothers
khoe, th
crestio
gl cartoo*
ion’s dail
^ Anyone
is, goo.
ly find
e Wash in
lion of S
“My fuv
0E, '' ’
i'
By DICK WEST
Columnist for United Press International
WASHINGTON — Now
that another Mother’s Day has
come and gone, this might be a
good time to give some thought
to the direction that talking cars
are taking.
Not that automotive loquacity
is ever likely to replace moth
erhood as a social force in
American life. But the technol
ogy now is available at least to
supplement a certain amount of
maternal nagging.
At present, the application is
somewhat limited. Put a key in
the ignition and a voice asks, “Is
your seat belt fastened, sonny?”
Or words to that effect.
Actually, there’s no reason
why vehicular vocalizing should
be restricted to such querulous
inquiries as, “Aren’t you getting
a little low on gas, missy?” Or,
“Are you sure you locked the
trunk?” Or, “Did you have the
tires checked before you left?”
With a little encouragement.
I’m sure Detroit designers
could give us cars with the com
plete oral equivalent of a back
seat driver.
at
aiional Cz
ie Shal
jyBC’s Toe
lirdbrains 1
jjlin the i
m mem trom tailingi MacNelh
the wheel. And I’m n(«rs in m<
ing about a colloquy witlgow 34, h<
tallic monotone of thesoi J978 for h
monly associated with rot won the G
The state of the art to cehed the
such that a driver shoi
able to duplicate old-fasl
intonations like mother
make.
Once talking cars
reached their full poll
perhaps computerized i|
components could bead
other machines and
found around the house,
thinking in particularof
bathtubs.
If it is possible to make
clocks that can shrill “W
little Susie” at the ap]
hour, it should be poi
build bathtubs that adi
“Don’t forget to wash
In additc
ps Tattler
mded “pe
cently joii
at keepe
)uld neve
By BET!
your ears
Another a
appliance
be improved with a ni«l
touch is the hi-fi system.fc
a cassette in the tapeded
instead of a red volume
flashing, a well-modulated
cries out, “Turn that(ex|
deleted) thing down!"
Imagine being able to take a
motor trip alone except for a
disembodied voice that cau
tions, "Look out for that truck
up ahead!” Or, “Shouldn’t you
have turned left at that last traf
fic light?” Or, “Is that a squad
car parked behind that bill
board?”
Why, with a little fine tuning,
solo motorists could even enjoy
one of those scintillating high
way conversations that help
(he came
|he aften
I victory c
he distric
sweaty,
[he sittirn
ceiling f
led off h
:s, grabf
forehe;
bother aboi
Hotels and motels was fixin
ing in homey accommo. Suddenly
also would profit fromtht#ied and s
technology that compul
tion has made possible,
about a television set that
“Dinner’s ready”just whtm
favorite program comes
If that doesn’t helpyoil
more at home in a homtffl it was tui
from home, I don’t kno | Her mo
would.
becom
the as
n and h
red, sw
s. Her 1
she was
New Jerse)
Sys
By BARI
By DAVID S. BRODER
Columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate
WASHINGTON — A shrewd Nebraska Dem
ocrat says that it’s like the body rejecting an organ
transplant. Personally, I think it’s more like the
girl turning her head at the last minute to avoid a
kiss on the lips.
Whatever the metaphor, there does seem to be
a terrible reluctance on the part of the Demo
cratic Party to accept the inevitability of Walter F.
Mondale. Every time it looks like he has the presi
dential nomination safely in his grasp, somehow
it wiggles free.
Whether this is just coyness on the part of the
Democrats, or some primitive instinct for politi
cal survival asserting itself, the refusal of Ohio
and Indiana Democrats to endorse Mondale’s
candidacy means his endless struggle with Gary
Hart and Jesse L. Jackson will go on to the final
day of primaries on June 5.
When, at long last, New Jersey will have its day
in the sun — or at least in the smog.
The voters of the Turnpike State are finally
fated to become, in Mondale’s favorite butter-
‘em-up description of every audience, “the most
powerful voters in the world.”
Nonsense, you say. The big test on the final
Tuesday will be Galifornia. California elects 306
delegates that day; New Jersey, a mere 107. The
final television debate will come from Burbank,
not Trenton. I know that.
But I also know there is no way Fritz Mondale
is going to beat Gary Hart in California. I have
been to California with Mondale. Many times. It
is like visiting Samoa with anthropologist Marga
ret Mead.
Hart and Jackson are swingers. They both
have Hollywood pals and fit right into the casual
scene. Mondale’s idea of fun is ice-fishing, not
hot-tubbing.
Hart and Jackson are swingers. They
both have Hollywood pals and fit right
into the casual scene. Mondale’s idea of
fun is ice-fishing, not hot-tubbing.
Beginning
in, all slu
iff from ll
n schools
y library
lools.
th
When he looks out on an audience of Califor
nia Democrats, an inner voice tells him that
within eight hours of his departure, 80 percent of
them are going to be engaged in activities he has
known since his boyhood in the parsonage are
wrong. What is worse, they will enjoy what they
are doing.
I remember a trip Mondale made to San Fran
cisco when he was Vice President. In the middle
of his rally, a group of aggressive homosexuals
came onto the stage and began heckling. Mon
dale fled so fast reporters almost missed the mo
torcade.
His retreat from California will be less precip
itous this time, but I would bet that after he sur
veys the scene, Mondale and his managers will
conclude that though they might hold down
Hart’s margin, they cannot beat him on the West
Coast. So they will try to do it in New Jersey.
Mondale has friends in New Jersey. An Eagle-
ton Institute poll last month in the Newark Star-
Ledger put Mondale 11 points ahead of Hart,
with Jackson well back. New Jersey gets most of
its television from New York City and Philadel
phia, so the Democrats have already seen Mon
dale’s “red phone” ads, questioning Hart’s read
iness for the presidency. Mondale has the
backing of several of the congressmen, the
speaker of the statehouse and, of course, orga
nized labor.
But he also has potential problems in New Jer
sey. Jackson has an urban base, with large black
populations in Newark, Trenton, Camden
Atlantic City. Newark Mayor Ken Gibsonc
15 percent of the votes in a 1981 gubernakj
primary, and it would not he surprisingM
Jackson break 20 percent. 1 Vi i
On the other flank, the Democratic vole et
side the cities includes many of the i nc tepe K i^response
minded suburban and rural types where! mi started
has shown his greatest strength. The rule Bor’s Adv
participation are a bit more restrictive thi®i"'nittee n
Ohio and Indiana, but new registrants andw '° m l ^ e ^
who have never voted in a primary raa ) 8 |p|° e S
into the Democratic primary without chalk | es() f-pT
T hose newcomers and independent-niii ^ Galvestoi
folks have tended to like Hart. niversity
In past years, when New Jersey shareditsl Univei
date with both California and Ohio, the a
dates gave it short shrift — and the si
|xas A&]
of its verdict was minimal. Perhaps for that |rhe clecisl
son, New Jersey showed a real streak of coi | Sciences
ness. In 1976 and 1980, when Jimmy Cartel ixasA&M
the nomination cinched, New Jersey voted it Jay Mar
anti-Carter candidates: a merged slate oS\
Brown and Hubert Humphrey suppovlti
1976, Ted Kennedy in 1980.
New Jersey also voted against Carter ii
general elections of those years, so you pro
won’t hear Mondale talking a lot about hist
connection —there or in California, whichlii
identical voting history.
Does Mondale need a New Jersey win:
managers say no — that he can pick up the
gates he needs without it. That’s doubtful
last primary win in a major state came oy
10 in Pennsylvania. That may seem like old'
to the delegates who have to pick a nomine
July 18.
Johnny Carson notwithstanding, Newjefl
not joke. It could cinch for Mondale —ord
the nomination open.
Sexual revolution dies for lack of in teres
By ART BUCHWALD
Columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate
The Sexual Revolution,
according to Time Mag
azine, is over. It started in
the ’60s and apparently was
fought to a standstill. Fi
nally, according to the mag
azine, both sides got tired
and have now given up.
I remember the begin
ning of the Sexual Revolu
tion as if it were yesterday.
Three friends came over to
my house and told me qui
etly, “The revolution began
at midnight. Are you with us
or against us?”
“I’m with you. But for
heaven’s sakes, what took
you so long?”
“We had to wait for the
post-World War II babies to
grow up. Now we’re ready to
overthrow the bourgeois
mores of the Forties and Fif
ties.”
I went upstairs to the bed
room and put on my old Ma
rine uniform, which had
been hanging in my closet
since Japan surrendered to
the United States.
“What are you doing?” my
wife wanted to know.
“If you don’t let it out of
this room I’ll tell you,” I said.
“The Sexual Revolution is
starting tonight and I’m
signing up.”
“But you’re too old,” she
said. “Sexual Revolutions
are for young people.”
“You’re never too old for
a Sexual Revolution,” I said
gently. “I could never face
myself in the morning if I
knew there were so many
kids out there fighting for it
and I was safely at home.”
“What about our chil
dren?”
“I’m doing it for them,” I
told her. “I want them to
grow up in a world where
they can be free of the dog
mas and restraints that our
generation was saddled with.
I want them to have oppor
tunities that were beyond
our wildest dreams. Some
day when the battle is won, I
hope they’ll be proud of the
role I played in shaking off
the sexual taboos and re
strictions of the past.”
“But suppose you don’t
come back?”
“Then hang this gold
framed picture of Hugh
Hefner in the window.”
My friends took me down
to the recruiting station.
$>
“What do you want. Pop?” a
bearded fellow in a sweat
shirt and blue jeans asked
me.
“I want to join the Sexual
Revolution.”
He laughed. “You
couldn’t even pass the physi
cal.”
“That’s how much you
know. I’m in better condi
tion than I was in 1945. Test
me.”
“We don’t have time for
that. We have too many re
cruits already.”
“Look, drop me behind
the front lines — Vassar,
Radcliffe, Sweet Briar. Ex
perience counts a lot more
than age.”
“We’re sorry, Pop. The
Sexual Revolution doesn’t
trust anyone over 30.”
“All right, so don’t send
me to the front lines. But let
me serve in some cap*
Maybe I could be a for* 1
observer?”
“The only position
have for guys youragei'
‘M*A*S*H’ unit in then
to take care of the sick
the wounded.”
A Sexual Revolt'
sounds very glamoi 1
when it begins, but"
you see what it does to
bodies and minds of f
people you quickly get ^
lusioned. After a fewyc J
decided I couldn’t take it
more and asked for ps' 1
atric discharge. Theyga’
to me with a Good Cond
Medal.
I’m glad Time M
has declared the Revolt
over. We should havep®
out the troops long ago.
cause it was one war no'
could ever have won.