OPINION
2
Friday, August 4,1989
LET'S SEE A/OM.. .YOUR. ORjbiNf\L COST
WAS 12.e8.* s . DEDUCT FROM TUFT
A RETum FEE... A REVISION COST... ft
READERS FEE... DOWMPAVMCNT OH SFOETS
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Equation: A crook !
equal to a politician t
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Looking back, I really should have
paid more attention when my teachers
attempted to teach me mathematics.
I’m not certain why I never had much
interest in math when I was in high
school. I do recall, however, my high-
school algebra teacher, Miss Fleming,
was quite attractive and I suppose I paid
more attention to watching her every
move at the blackboard than I did to
mixing “a” and “b” with a bunch of
numbers.
Lewis
Grizzard
Syndicated Columnist
I’m going to guess $150. It coiiil
more or less than that, but $150|
nice, uncomplicated figure with)
to work. Think what all I couldJ
bought with the 150 big ones ifp
like Samuel Pierce, Reagan’s H
retary, hadn’t stolen it from me.
These are complicated times in which
we live, and I find, as one of the math
ematically impaired, I’m having trouble
dealing with issues that involve num
bers.
I could have bought few niceiteni
clothing. If I went to K mart 1 pro:]
could have purchased an entireoui:
Lets take the scandal at HUD, the De
partment of Housing and Urban Devel
opment.
Il l had gone to my local Ralplil |
ren dealer, I probably couldn't i [i
walked out with anything more
pair of socks, but that would haveli
better than handing over the mone
some crooked politician.
It takes little to change money’s value
It is the little numbers, not the big
and obvious ones, that cause those infla
tion troubles. While everyone is aware
of shockingly large numbers, it is the
little ones that undermine economies.
At the moment, four percent infla
tion is viewed as moderate, and in fact
some officials proclaim that inflation is
under control. It does look like a small
number, but repeat it enough and it be
comes very, very big.
Four percent inflation cuts a dollar to
50 cents in 13 years. It adds $22,000 to a
$100,000 house in five years. In three
years it adds three cents to the news
stand price of a 25-cent newspaper. Not
much? Just $9 or $10 a year.
Except for the decade of the 1970s
and early 1980s, when inflation ran
away with people’s wallets, it has been
little percentages that have changed the
value of our money. In 30 years the
Consumer Price Index has risen more
than 300 percent.
In appearance, four percent is deceit
fully small, but little numbers com
pound in the same manner as large
numbers. Four percent inflation this
year becomes part of the base for next
year’s four percent, and on and on.
Tphn
’Cunniff
Somehow, a 50-centitem “should” go to
55 cents rather than52 cents.
Jack Kemp, HUD’s secretary, was
quoted recently as saying the waste and
influence-peddling that occurred in his
department during the previous admin
istration totaled somewhere near 2 bil
lion dollars.
AP Business Analyst
Inflation is insidious, occurring right
under the noses of people but somehow
obscured from their eyes. It happens
when small prices are raised by small
amounts, and when big prices are raised
by seemingly tiny percentages.
When a 22-cent postage stamp rose
three cents it created a temporary hulla
baloo, but many people recognized 25
cents as the next “logical” plateau for
the price. But those three pennies rep
resented nearly 14 percent. If all prices
rose at 14 percent a year your dollar
would be 50 cents in five years.
A suburban-weekly newspaper re
cently jumped to 50 cents from 40 cents,
only a dime but a 25 percent increase.
The fee on a credit card went from $20
a year to $30, a $10 difference but a 50
percent increase.
Most people are aware of the conse
quences of seemingly small increases
when translated into percentages. But
even when they do, they often excuse it.
And, when vending machines are in
volved, an increase in a 50-cent candy
bar must be at a minimum of 10 percent
because the machine declines to count
mere pennies. In this way vending ma
chine inflation is created,and excused.
My first problem is trying to under
stand how much money that actually is.
A hundred and fifty big ones;!
would buy a pretty big dinner forn
a fancy restaurant, unless yougotal
crazy and started ordering expec
wines. To stay under the $150,
should order only wines you an
nounce like “Gallo Thunder-bird.'
Inflation also is disguised when ex
pensive items rise by small percentages,
as in a 2 percent increase in car prices
that adds $200 to the tab, and a 3 per-
cent rise that adds $17,000 to a
$100,000 house in about five years.
Watch the little numbers. Never let
them out of your sight. Never trust
them. In just the past 10 years they have
driven up the price of milk 33 percent,
single-family homes 67 percent, new
cars 46 percent.
They are devious, deceitful, and mis-
leading. They delude otherwise
thoughtful, responsible people. While
the blockbuster numbers get blamed,
those little ones hide like termites in the
foundation.
I know it’s a lot, enough to meet the
payroll of a professional basketball
team, but how many zeroes does 2 bil
lion have?
A hundred and fifty would alsoti
fairly large amount of groceries,aJ
tune-up for your car and maybe:
new hoses.
I called a banker friend of mine to
ask. I figured he would know since he
probably turns down that much in loans
every week.
“You just start with a ‘2,’” he said,
“and add zeroes until your hand begins
to hurt.”
It would pay for subscriptions to
ral magazines, 150 cigars at $1 eat
bunch of golf balls, maybe evenatnf
Dollywood, or you could giveittoso:
body in an urban area who needsIm
ing, which is where it should havegf
in the first place.
The reason I like to know how to
write out 2 billion dollars is that I would
like to find out just how much the HUD
heist cost me, the individual taxpayer.
Having said all that, I now reafe
gebra really isn’t that difficult when
use it relative to government fraud
John Cunniff is an AP Business Ana
lyst.
I suppose I could make a rough esti
mate of what I lost in the rampant influ
ence peddling and taking-care-of-bud-
dies network.
The formula is easy: (a) If you
keep a close eye on politicians am
reaucrats, the result is (b) they’llsw
you blind.
Copyright 1989, Cowles Syndicate
Good men aren’t hard to
you look in the right places
The armed services are looking for a
few good men. And they’ve found them
at Texas A&M.
But they haven’t found all of them.
A&M has long been touted as having
the largest enrollment in its ROTC pro
gram of any non-military school because
of the Corps of Cadets. The Corps, now
around 2,000 strong, is one of the
school’s greatest traditions and a unique
element of the A&M student body.
vided through the benefits and schol
arships for which ROTC members are
qualified.
All ROTC members are qualified to
compete for scholarships in their
branch of the military. Those schol
arships pay for all tuition, books, fees
and necessary supplies plus a $100 per
month stipend.
services for being in the ROTC. Mem
bers who are also in the National Guard
or the Reserves earn even more money
and can benefit from the G.I. Bill.
The Corps is a great part of this gi'
university.
The problem with A&M’s ROTC pro
gram is that nothing is offered to those
who want to be a part of the ROTC but
not the Corps.
mornings, eating in four minutes, or
any number of other things the Corps
does.
Texas A&M requires that all mem
bers of the ROTC be a part of the Corps
of Cadets, something many students
who might be interested in ROTC can’t
stomach.
Being a member of the Corps takes
dedication, not only to country, but to
the Corps itself. Not everyone prepar
ing for a military career is willing or
wanting to dedicate themselves to the
Corps.
ROTC members are also paid $100
per month once they have been in the
program for two years and they are paid
for attending some of the camps and
training sessions required by the armed
Every student at A&M should be able
to get these benefits by being allowed to
enter the ROTC program. No other
non-military university forces students
in its ROTC program to be full-time
members of a military organization.
However, non-regs are also a
part of this great university, andil?
who want to participate in the
without being attached to the ft
should have that opportunity.
The Corps of Cadets should not be
shut down. There are many students at
A&M who will always want to be a part
of the Corps, and with good reason.
The armed services are looking ft’
few good men. But if they onlylool
ward the Corps, they will miss so!
good non-regs who might prefert 1
Corps military training.
Ellen Hobbs is a junior joumT
major and editor o/The Battalion
Why would non-regs want to be a
part of the ROTC? Well, maybe because
of scholarship opportunities, stipends,
and an officer’s commission.
I don’t blame them. If I was planning
to enter the military for good after I got
out of college, I wouldn’t want to tie my
self down to a military lifestyle while I
was in college.
They might not want to be a part of
the Corps, however, because of the long
hours the Cadets put into the organiza
tion, having to wear uniforms to class
every day, running at odd hours in the
But the benefits of ROTC partici
pation could be a boon to all, not just
Cadets. ROTC could benefit those who
are thinking about being in the military
as a career, plan to join the reserves, or
need financial help that could be pro-
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Ellen Hobbs,
Editor
Juliette Rizzo,
Opinion Page Editor
Fiona Soltes,
City Editor
Drew Leder, Chuck Squatriglia,
News Editors
Steven Merritt,
Sports Editor
Kathy Haveman,
Art Director
Hal Hammons,
Makeup Editor
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