THE RECORD

FEBRUARY 3, 1975

VOL. 1, NO. 1

LYNDON B. JOHNSON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

EDITOR Hoyt H. Purvis

This is the first issue of what we expect to be a regular fortnightly publication during the school year. We hope The Record will be a valuable channel of communications for all those interested in the LBJ School. However, we hope it will be more than just a report of events and activities. We want to include substantive articles on a wide range of subjects in the public affairs field. The success of The Record will be highly dependent on the cooperation and support of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the School. We want your comments and suggestions.

RUSK ASSESSES DETENTE; ERVIN NEXT IN SERIES

Former Secretary of State Dean Rusk was the first guest speaker of 1975 at the LBJ School. On January 13 Rusk answered questions from LBJ School students and faculty prior to speaking to a capacity audience in the Lyndon B. Johnson Auditorium as part of the Distinguished Lecturer Series co-sponsored by the LBJ Library and the LBJ School.

Rusk, now Sibley Professor of International Law at the University of Georgia, looked back upon his tenure as Secretary of State under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson in addition to offering his assessment of current and future foreign policy trends.

Rusk said that democracies must "avoid subjecting thieves to temptation." He said the origin of the Cold War could be traced to the post-World War II era when "we subjected Stalin to temptation due to our own weakness."

"The real problem is how to avoid misjudgments and misinterpretations among nations," Rusk said. He expressed guarded support for the recent Soviet-U.S. arms agreement at Vladivostock. He said, however, that he was "concerned" about what he called "unilateral disarmament" or moves that might be interpreted as signs of weakness which would "bring about reassessments, reviews, and recalculations in other capitals as to what might be possible." He emphasized the difficulties of verification of the agreements and the problem of on-site inspections.

Rusk said the United States should be "wary but willing" in approaching arms limitation agreements. "We have built a dam on nuclear weapons about one-fourth of the way across the river, but if we don't find ways to extend it, the nuclear arms race will continue with increasing costs, increasing dangers, and increasing foolishness."

He said armed intervention by the United States in the Middle East was unfeasible, improbable, and a dangerous risk of a confrontation which neither this country nor the Soviet Union wanted.

In response to questions about the possibility of diplomatic recognition of Cuba by the United States and improved relations between the two countries, Rusk refused to commit himself. He said the matter should be ultimately decided by the member nations of the Organization of American States.

To another question, Rusk said he had "never heard of an internal security section of the Central Intelligence Agency and when the head of that section resigned (James J. Angleton), I'd never heard of him."

He said that he thought Congress had a major role to play in foreign policy, but that it was badly organized to handle the responsibility. He said there is a "need for a more continuing discourse" between the Executive and Legislative branches on foreign policy.

Rusk commented that the United Nations had many inadequacies but he said continuation of the organization was essential and that an increased effort should be made to strengthen it.

The next speaker in the Distinguished Lecturer Series will be former Senator Sam J. Ervin, who retired from the Senate at the end of 1974. Ervin will speak to faculty and students of the LBJ School prior to his public lecture at 3 p.m. on March 3 in the LBJ Auditorium.

CRITERIA OUTLINED FOR PROFESSORSHIPS

Recent discussions concerning the filling of the Tom Slick Professorship of World Peace and the Dean Rusk Chair at the LBJ School have underlined the need to define the main features of these two professorships.

The Tom Slick Professorship will be a visiting professorship of one year's duration. It is designed to provide a yearly focus for a continuing program of research, graduate education, public enlightenment, and an international forum for the examination of the knowledge and institutional requirements for lasting world peace. One of the major requirements of the professorship will be that of developing an annual conference to explore the potential contributions of the incumbents in the attainment of lasting world peace.

The Dean Rusk chair is a distinguished professorship in the LBJ School. Candidates are scholars of compelling distinction, widely experienced in an area of international affairs, including significant experience at the policy-making implementation level. The incumbent will be expected to assume the full academic role of a professor in the School. In spite of the criteria of excellence, experience and commitment, the selection committee expects that the Chair will be filled by the fall of 1975.

"ON THE RECORD"

. Columnist and commentator Nicholas' von Hoffman will speak to faculty, students, and staff at a special brown-bag luncheon in the Student Lounge on Wednesday February 5 at noon. Von Hoffman, whose Washington Post column is nationally syndicated, is also a special commentator for CBS radio and television. He is the author of several books including The Fireside Watergate (with cartoonist Gary Trudeau).

. A videotape viewing facility has been installed in the LBJ School Library (Room E) by the Media Center. Some 30 casette tapes of speeches and question-answer sessions made during the visits to the School by distinguished visitors are being added to the Library's collection of materials and will be available for use by students and faculty.

. The LBJ School, the Office of the Governor, Division of Planning Coordination, and the Civil Service Commission are sponsoring an Advanced Seminar in Public Purchasing and Materials Management at the Thompson Center, February 10-13. Another seminar, on Professional Development in Basic Public Purchasing, sponsored by the LBJ School in cooperation with the Governor's Office, will be held February 12-14. Both events are organized by the Office of Conferences and Training.

. Dr. Ken Tolo, associate professor of public affairs, was recently appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Austin Independent School District to the Citizen's Committee on the Utilization of Schools with Declining Enrollments. He was also an invited participant in the regional conference on the financing of post-secondary education, sponsored by the Education Commission of the States in Boston in December.

. Students and faculty members have been encouraged to submit manuscripts to the American Journal of Criminal Law, published triannually by the UT School of Law. Editor John Courtade said, "While we are primarily a legal publication, we maintain an active interest in empirical research with direct consequences for the legal system. For example, we are publishing in our current issue a canvass of Texas judges by a former LBJ School student in which he investigated significant factors in determining indigency for the appointment of counsel. We are interested in both research on legal institutions and more general sociological treatises which raise and develop serious legal issues."

. Two new "current events" bulletin boards have been installed at the LBJ School: one is located between the Student Affairs office and the Student Lounge; the second is opposite the entrance to the Library on the second floor. These bulletin boards will carry official notices of School activities under two headings–"This Week" and "Today". Except in emergencies, individual notices will no longer be sent to faculty and students.

. Dr. John Hamilton has been employed as project coordinator for the School's Water Quality Study. Hamilton, 30, has a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Texas. He is located in the Office of Research.

LBJ ALUMNI GROUP BEGINS ORGANIZING

In December, Austin-based LBJ School alumni began meeting to explore the possibility of setting up an LBJ School Alumni Association. The exploratory gatherings culminated in a meeting with Dean William Cannon and Associate Dean Keith Arnold.

Following this meeting a letter was sent to all alumni. The letter centered on roles an association might play in working with LBJ School administrators, faculty, and students. It asked the alumni to send comments on these suggested roles, and any others they might think of, back to the Austin area alumni. Approximately 10 percent of the alumni sent written responses; another 7 percent telephoned their reactions to friends working here. The content of these responses were transmitted to the School's administration on January 21.

The information was also applied by the group of local alumni working on a draft of bylaws for an association. Members of this group are Mike Naeve, Sharen Gillespie, Ken Ferguson, and Mills Boone. They met several times and are near completion of their work. A report on their work will be mailed to alumni.

The following timetable was also established:

. Week of January 27-31—Draft bylaws are to be mailed out to alumni for their comments.

. March 1—Alumni comments on bylaws due back for consideration by drafting committee.

. March 15—Final draft of bylaws to be mailed to alumni for voting.

. April 1—Votes on bylaws due back in Austin; results of vote to be announced to alumni immediately thereafter.

Initial comments on draft bylaws can be sent to Paul Shoemaker at the LBJ School.

Even though no formal alumni association exists at present, several Austin alumni have expressed interest in assisting the School's placement efforts on behalf of the graduating class. Elizabeth Hall, the School's new Director of Student Affairs, has agreed to provide information on students' placement interests, and is eager to see whether or not alumni can help match potential openings to placement desires. Any information alumni can possibly provide on job opportunities will be helpful.

Regular progress reports on alumni association formation will appear in The Record.

BROWN BAGGERS PLAN REGULAR SESSIONS

Brown-bag luncheons featuring a variety of guest speakers are planned for each Tuesday at noon in the Student Lounge. The luncheons are open to students, faculty, and staff.

The series of regular Tuesday gatherings began on January 21 with Dr. Vernon Briggs, professor of economics, as the featured speaker. Dr. Briggs spoke on border immigration and its impact on the economy and manpower supply of South Texas. On January 28, Dr. Oscar G. Mink, visiting professor of education, spoke on "The Individual and the Bureaucracy."

Forthcoming guests will include State Representative Sarah Weddington of Austin, who will speak on February 11. Former Senator Ralph Yarborough is also on the list of future speakers.

Tom Howarth, first-year student and one of the organizers of the luncheons, said, "We are following a kind of 'Today Show' format. We give everyone a chance to participate in the question-and-answer session. It is an opportunity for students and faculty to discuss some interesting and different subjects."

MANDEL AUTHORS BOOK ON SCHOOL RESOURCES

Dr. Allan S. Mandel, assistant professor of public affairs, is the author of Resource Distribution Inside School Districts, recently published by D.C. Heath/Lexington Books.

Considerable attention has been given to disparities in per pupil resources that are correlated with the income and wealth of states and school districts. Mandel's book, however, joins a small group of studies which reach beyond the state and district level to inquire into disparities at the school and classroom level. In contrast to earlier research, Mandel's work is based on a rigorous theoretical and empirical investigation of school district resource distribution.

Mandel applied the tool of microeconomics to school district resource distribution. Mandel said, "I extend the neoclassical theory of intergovernmental fiscal relations to the school level as I analyze the effect of different types of grants not only upon the district's budget, but upon the budgets of schools within the district as well."

In the empirical section of the book the methodology is multiple regression analysis. The empirical work consists of studies of four Michigan school districts. Major findings include:

. In Detroit both total per-pupil expenditure and discretionary expenditure are positively correlated with the socioeconomic status of the school and the proportion of the student body which is white. In Flint, total expenditure is negatively correlated with these variables.

. In Detroit, per-pupil expenditure is highest in segregated all white schools, next highest in segregated all black schools, and lowest in integrated schools.

. In Flint, a Title I compensatory grant increases expenditure in a recipient school by only 44 percent of the grant, as 56 percent of expenditure from the district's own discretionary funds is shifted to the district's other schools.

. Variation in per-pupil expenditure between classes within a school and between schools within a district is as large as and in some cases, greater than variation between districts within a state. This suggests that concern about equalizing educational resources must address itself not only to discrepancies between rich and poor districts but also to inequality between schools within the same district and classes within the same school.

. Within the two central city districts (Detroit and Livonia) high-paid senior teachers utilize their transfer rights to teach in schools serving high income children. This process did not occur within the two suburban districts (Livonia and Beecher).

. In Flint, Livonia, and Beecher, superintendents apparently try to equalize per-pupil expenditures by increasing the teacher/pupil ratio in schools with concentrations of low-income pupils. In Detroit, the opposite occurs: the staff/pupil ratio rises as income rises.

SCHMANDT, BLUM AID SCIENCE PANEL

Dr. Jurgen Schmandt, professor of public affairs, prepared a program on "Science Policy in a Changing Political Environment" for a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Committee on Science and Public Policy in New York on January 27.

Dr. Schmandt's assignment grew out of work he did for the House Committee on Science and Astronautics during its hearings on science and public policy.

"The principal idea of the AAAS session," said Schmandt, "was to bring together people who have served in a general policy function on the White House staff with present or former members of the science advisory group and to reassess the need for science advice in Presidential decision making."

Dr. Albert A. Blum, professor of public affairs, was a discussant for a panel discussion on "R&D and Policy Missions" which focused on science policy needs in selected policy areas.

ETHICS EXAMINED IN STUDENT WORKSHOP

An Ethics Workshop was conducted at the LBJ School on January 23 under the direction of Dr. Beryl Radin, assistant professor of public affairs. The workshop was an outgrowth of a seminar on "Watergate and its Implications for Public Servants."

Dean William Cannon opened the workshop by mentioning a number of possible questions about ethics which might arise. Students prepared background papers setting forth a variety of scenarios which posed problems on such questions as personal and institutional loyalty and the power of events. Small discussion groups then considered the scenarios, the questions they raised, and the possible responses to them.

HALL APPOINTED NEW DIRECTOR OF STUDENT AFFAIRS

Ms. Elizabeth Hall is the new Director of Student Affairs at the LBJ School. She previously served as the University's assistant director of admissions.

Ms. Hall's appointment was effective on January 13 and she has already become intensely involved in School activities and will soon be visiting a number of campuses as part of the student recruitment program.

In the UT admissions office she was instrumental in initiating the annual junior and community college conference. Earlier she was coordinator of special programs in the Office of the Dean of Students.

She holds a B.A. degree from Baylor and an M.A. from Duke.

At the LBJ School. she will be involved with admissions, registration, internships, job placement, and program development.

Ms. Hall expressed her appreciation to the students for a reception given for her on January 15. "I enjoyed the information and good conversation. I am counting on students to make this a Student Affairs Office," she said. "I want students to come by."

WATER QUALITY STUDY COMPLETES REPORT

The Water Quality Study has completed a baseline report on the reconnaisance phase of the research project. The report was prepared for the National Commission on Water Quality. It identifies and describes major institutions involved in water quality management in the Houston area. The project is part of a joint venture with Bernard Johnson, Inc., a Houston-based engineering firm, the University's Marine Science Institute, and the University of Houston's School of Business. Copies of the report are on reserve in the Library.

LBJ SCHOOL, CALENDAR OF EVENTS

FEBRUARY, 1975

Please notify the Office of Publications of future events to be listed in the calendar, which will be a regular feature of The Record.

1 (Saturday)

2 (Sunday)

3 Faculty Meeting; 12 Noon

6 Nicholas Von Hoffman, Brown Bag Luncheon; Student Lounge, 12:00-1:30 p.m.

8 (Saturday)

9 (Sunday)

10 Deans Advisory Committee, 12 Noon

Advanced Seminar in Public Purchasing and Materials Management; Thompson Center (through Thursday)

11 Brown Bag Luncheon, Sarah Weddington; 12 Noon

Deadline for next issue of The Record

12 Professional Development Seminar in Basic Public Purchasing; Thompson Center (through Friday)

13 City Planning Tour Sponsored by League of Women Voters; 10:30-1:00

15 (Saturday)

16 (Sunday)

17 Faculty Meeting; 12 Noon

22 (Saturday)

23 (Sunday)

25 Department Heads and Key Staff; 9:00 a.m.