THE RECORD

MARCH 3, 1975

VOL. 1, NO. 3

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

EDITOR Hoyt H. Purvis

SAM ERVIN LECTURE OPENS HEAVY SPEAKERS SCHEDULE

Former Senator Sam Ervin will speak at 1 p.m. Monday in the East Campus Lecture Hall prior to his 3 p.m. address in the LBJ Auditorium as part of the Distinguished Lecturer Series sponsored by the LBJ School and the LBJ Library.

Ervin's subject will be "Our Heritage—A Blessing and an Obligation."

Ervin will be followed by a number of notable speakers who will visit the LBJ School in the coming weeks.

On Wednesday March 5, Sidney Weintraub, an assistant administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), will speak to a schoolwide seminar at 4 p.m. Weintraub, who will speak on U. S. relations with less-developed nations, was recently named executive director of the new Development Coordination Committee, which will examine all U. S. policies and programs which have a bearing on the development of low-income countries and report annually to the President. Dr. Weintraub joined the Foreign Service in 1948 and has had extensive overseas service.

On Monday March 10, Arthur Sampson, Administrator of the General Services Administration, will speak to the topical seminar on Political Behavior and Ethical Values, which is taught by Dr. Henry David.

Tuesday March 11, Professor Joseph Spielberg Benitez of the Department of Anthropology at Michigan State University, will speak to faculty and students in room 111 at 9:30 a.m. on "Ethnicity, the Community, and Public Policy."

Howard Nemerovski, San Francisco attorney and a leading figure in that city's political affairs, will be the speaker at a schoolwide seminar on Wednesday March 12 at 4 p.m., discussing urban policy and politics. The title of his speech will be "Mau Mauing—For Fun and Profit—or, Fear As The Principal Means of Transportation. "

An eminent international scholar and French urban geographer, Dr. Jean Gottman, will speak in the East Campus Lecture Hall on March 17 at 3 p.m. on "Megapolitan Growth and the Human Condition." He is the author of Megalopolis: The Northeast Seaboard of the United States. Dr. Gottman currently heads the Department of Geography at Oxford University and also holds a professorship at the Sorbonne in Paris. He has been a consultant on urban growth and planning to many governments throughout the world and is noted for his work in interpreting U. S. metropolitan growth and his ability to view it in a world perspective.

On March 19, Seyom Brown, senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, will speak on "New Concepts for United States Foreign Policy."

Other speakers scheduled include:

April 2—Elmer Staats, Comptroller General of the United States, 4 p.m.

April 9—Joseph Califano, former aide to President Johnson and Democratic National Committee counsel, 4 p.m.

April 22—Ben J. Wattenberg, co-author of The Real Majority and political analyst and adviser.

April 30—Sam Hughes, Assistant Comptroller General, who has been Director of the Office of Federal Elections, 4 p.m. schoolwide seminar.

SPEAKERS LISTED FOR BROWN-BAG LUNCHEONS

Forthcoming speakers in the student-sponsored series of Tuesday brown-bag luncheons include Molly Ivins, co-editor of the Texas Observer, who will speak at noon on March 4, and James Fallows, an editor of the Washington Monthly, scheduled to speak on March 11.

Ivins, in addition to her articles in the Observer, has written for national publications such as the Atlantic Monthly and New York Times Magazine. Last year she visited the Soviet Union on a cultural exchange program.

Fallows, currently residing in Austin, has written on a number of subjects, including politics, foreign affairs, and journalism, and has contributed to Esquire and Harper's.

"ON THE RECORD"

. LBJ School representatives are continuing their student recruitment visits to campuses throughout Texas. Dean William B. Cannon and Elizabeth Hall, Director of Student Affairs, recently visited the University of Texas at El Paso, along with students Irma Honda and Norman Davis. LBJ School representatives also visited North Texas State University in Denton recently. Scheduled next are trips to Pan American University and Texas A&I University on March 6.

. The February issue of Public Affairs Comment features an article entitled, "The Role of the 'Free' Conference Committee in the Texas Budgetary Process, 1962-73", by James L. Weatherby, Jr., assistant professor of economics at UT-Austin. The Comment is published quarterly by the LBJ School and is edited by Lynn Anderson, associate professor of public affairs. Copies are available in the Office of Publications.

. Dr. Kingsley Haynes, associate professor of public affairs, is scheduled to participate in an exchange seminar with Hungarian geographers in Hungary, May 26-June 6. He will be one of nine professors representing the Association of American Geographers at the seminar, arranged in cooperation with the National Science Foundation.

. The Polish Heritage Society of San Antonio has presented one of its 1975 Polish Heritage Awards to Dr. John Gronouski, professor of public affairs. The award was presented to Gronouski "in recognition of outstanding achievements in protecting the Polish heritage and for worldwide contributions in the fields of science, industry, arts, and civics." He is currently serving as the first American-born President of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences.

. Dr. Walt Rostow, professor of economics, met with the Defense Policy Seminar at the LBJ School on February 24. Rostow, former Presidential special assistant, spoke on "The Organization for National Security." The seminar is taught by Lt. Colonel Ralph Furtner, U.S. Air Force research associate at the LBJ School. Mr. Rostow provided important insights into the organization for national security and shared his thoughts on current political issues.

. Kingsley Haynes, associate professor of public affairs, spoke to a brown-bag luncheon sponsored by the Population Research Center at UT-Austin on February 21. Haynes spoke on "Spatial Models of Intra-Urban Population Density Variation."

. Posters announcing the appearance by former Senator Sam Ervin in the Distinguished Lecturer Series have brought many favorable comments. The posters were prepared by the Office of Publications at the LBJ School, with George Warmingham of the Media Center and Mary M. Ward, staff artist, doing the design work.

VIDEO LIBRARY INCREASED

New video tape casettes of speeches and question-answer sessions at the LBJ School have been added to the collection in the LBJ Library.

Recent additions include:

Nicholas Von Hoffman (February 5), Representative Sarah Weddington (February 11), Milton Friedman (February 14), former Senator Ralph Yarborough (February 17), and George Christian (February 25).

George Warmingham of the LBJ School Media Center also reported that the March 3 address by former Senator Sam Ervin will be televised over Austin's public access channel. The 3 p.m. speech will be videotaped and carried at 8 p.m. Monday on cable channel 2.

CHRISTIAN QUESTIONED ON POLITICS, GOVERNMENT

George Christian, who served as Press Secretary to President Johnson and Governor John Connally and earlier as an aide to Governor Price Daniel, answered a wide range of questions on politics and government at a brown bag luncheon at the LBJ School February 25.

Christian said his view of the Presidential press secretary's job "does not mean being the President's public relations man." Nor he said, does the press secretary have the time or responsibility to "plot strategy or establish policy."

"If he has good press relations, he's doing his job," Christian said. "I saw myself as trying to be the press spokesman within the White House and to help the press get the information needed. But you never forget you're working for the President."

The author of The President Steps Down said, "President Johnson was always a legislator. He knew all the intricacies of the legislative process and his own thought processes were more that of the legislator than the executive. That can be a handicap if you have to make a transition, but I thought he overcame it very well."

Asked his views on George Reedy's book, The Twilight of the Presidency, Christian said, "I don't agree completely with Reedy, but I wouldn't downgrade his general theme. Some of us, of course, had different experiences."

Christian is one of the founders of a new political public relations agency called the Austin Group. Describing himself as a "political professional," he said, "I'm in the political business." He said, "You try to be involved in campaigns of candidates you agree with philosophically, but sometimes it doesn't turn out that way."

He fielded questions about his involvement with the "Democrats for Nixon" in 1972 and on the 1976 Presidential hopes of Senator Lloyd Bentsen.

Christian said Bentsen was "ambitious" and "well qualified...as well qualified as anyone in the Senate." He said "knowing how to make things work is an essential qualification for the Presidency" and said Bentsen had that knowledge and that his experience has not been limited to Congressional service.

Christian stated that Texas political races are "traditionally extremely bitter" and felt that no one campaign could be singled out as being more hotly contested than a number of others.

SCHEDULED SYMPOSIUM ON WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT

Plans are taking shape for the March 7 symposium on "Women in Government." It will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the East Campus Lecture Hall with introductions and a keynote speech by Ms. Diane Van Helden, attorney in the Governor's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity. This will be followed by a two-hour panel discussion which will include questions from the audience.

At noon there will be a luncheon for the participants in the Student Lounge. Those who wish to make reservations may sign up at Library carrel C-5. There will be a $1.50 charge. At the same time interested persons can sign up for workshop discussions. Information on the workshop topics and facilitators will be posted on the Student Lounge board. Interested persons should sign up by noon March 6.

Confirmed participants in addition to Ms. Van Helden are Ms. Marion Winnig, Wisconsin Parole Board; Ms. Jeanette Watson, Director of the Texas Office of Early Childhood Development; and Ms. Andrea Beatty, Personnel Director for the City of Austin.

-Peggy Wilson

First-Year Student

FLAWN NAMED TO BOARD

Dr. Peter T. Flawn, President of UT-San Antonio and professor of public affairs at the LBJ School, has been appointed to the newly created Board on Mineral Resources of the Commission on Natural Resources. Dr. Flawn will serve a four-year term on the Board, which was organized within the Commission on Natural Resources to advise the National Academies of Science and Engineering.

The Board will provide an overview of activities, needs, trends, and developments in mineral affairs. It will also determine the need for committees to undertake analytical studies on mineral resource matters. A major function of the Board will be identifying areas in which the Academies may be of service in advising the executive and legislative branches of the Federal Government.

Dr. Flawn is a geologist who holds a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and master's and Ph.D. degrees from Yale. He served as Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology at UT-Austin from 1960 to 1970. He has written numerous articles on geological topics and is the author of five books.

DR. RADIN WRITES ON SSI IMPLEMENTATION

"The Implementation of SSI: Guaranteed Income or Welfare?" is the title of an article by Dr. Beryl Radin, assistant professor of public affairs, published in the fall, 1974 issue of Public Welfare, the journal of the American Public Welfare Association.

During the past year Radin has been working with faculty colleagues and students at the LBJ School on a study of issues related to implementation of the Supplemental Security Income program. "Although most of the field work for the study has been located in Texas, the study has been viewed as a microcosmic look at the national implementation effort. The Texas experience has been the porthole through which interactions have been viewed among state welfare agencies, other state service agencies, the regional offices of the Social and Rehabilitative Service (SRS) and Social Security, national offices of Social Security, and other parts of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare," Radin said.

She said the article was an "attempt to describe some aspects of the implementation effort, scrutinizing the activity of a number of actors, analyzing the impact of SSI on other programs, and reviewing some of the administrative problems which affected the policy process."

Radin writes that "while it is too early to make a total assessment of the success or failure of SSI, it is not too early to recognize that this program raised many more questions than were originally envisioned." Among the problems she cites are:

. Responsiveness to individual needs constitutes a philosophical break from "clean" programs that emphasize predictability and uniformity. Thus the question of supplementation policy becomes more and more crucial.

. Determination of levels of payment is very complex. Not only must the determination decision contend with variations in cost of living across the country and general cost-of-living problems, it must also be sensitive to the relationship between SSI...and other SSA payments.

Although the movement of the past decade has been toward the separation of cash payments and services, the SSI experience has indicated that the two cannot be totally divorced...

FRIEDMAN, YARBOROUGH VIEW ECONOMY

Economist Milton Friedman and former U. S. Senator Ralph Yarborough offered their assessments of current economic problems and steps needed to improve society in recent appearances at the LBJ School. Friedman, the University of Chicago economist, spoke to an overflow crowd at the East Campus Lecture Hall, while Yarborough was a guest at a student-sponsored brown-bag luncheon.

Friedman and Yarborough were both critical of the Federal Reserve System, but generally Friedman was calling for less Government involvement in social and economic policy, with Yarborough urging a strong Government role.

Friedman expressed his concern about the use of political power to gain economic power saying "a major source of wealth is access to political power." He said the public should not allow itself to be used as "front men" for special interests who use government controls to their advantage. "We should make it impossible for businessmen to get political power," said Friedman. Yarborough came to the same conclusion--condemning the role of "big money" in politics—but began by expressing his concern about the use of economic power to gain political power.

FRIEDMAN

"Governments are being asked to spend more but not to raise taxes," said Friedman. "Thus, governments use inflation as a form of taxation--the only form of taxation which doesn't have to be voted on."

He said he favored abolishing the Federal Reserve System or at least sharply reducing its independence. "I have a great deal of sympathy with the Proxmire-Humphrey resolution for greater Congressional oversight of monetary policy," Friedman said.

Minimum-wage laws came in for sharp criticism from Friedman, who said "no program has been more adverse to poor people" and said "government legislates unemployment" by imposing the minimum wage.

He also criticized "the socialization of medicine which we are headed toward" saying it would be "tragic" and "result in increased costs and no better care." He said the Medicare program had been a failure and a "major factor in increasing costs of medical care without improving quality," and claimed national health insurance in Britain was also unsuccessful. Friedman said, "We ought to eliminate the monopoly position of the AMA (American Medical Association) by permitting unlicensed practice of medicine."

Friedman said he would like to see a Constitutional amendment stipulating "free trade" just as the First Amendment provides for "free speech."

He called natural gas regulation by the Federal Power Commission "insane" and said it was "the most important single policy playing into the hands of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)."

YARBOROUGH

The former Chairman of the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee blasted the "monumental increase in interest rates which has made inflation worse" and said it had resulted in a "gross transfer of wealth from one class to another."

Yarborough, former teacher and a strong supporter of education programs in the Senate, devoted a major portion of his talk to the importance of education, saying "Texas has not done enough to encourage education." This, said Yarborough, "is one reason why the state still ranks low—35th—in per capita income, despite being an extremely wealthy state."

Recalling his efforts on behalf of education, Yarborough cited two factors which helped make federal education programs possible. "We got a great assist from the Russians when they launched Sputnik in 1957. Everyone wanted to make sure the Russians didn't get ahead of us...Even so, legislation was still stalled, so Senator Lister Hill (of Alabama) suggested 'just call it defense and it will get passed.' So that's how we were able to pass the 1958 National Defense Education Act."

He stressed the importance of government programs for "education, health, and libraries," saying "these are not, 'giveaways,' but programs strengthening the backbone of the country and the people."

Yarborough said he had "campaigned the state more than any living man and more than anyone except Sam Houston and Jim Ferguson." He commented, "I know the people of Texas and the current special issue of Atlantic magazine is the old treatment of Texas—the cowboys and the millionaires. That's not the real people of Texas."

Yarborough said, "I've pointed out a lot of injustices in our country and you can do something about them. Don't think one man or one woman can't do something. They can if they stay at it. It takes dedication and work. I was past 65 when I became Chairman of a Senate Committee, so don't ever think you are too old."

STUDENT AFFAIRS OFFICE BEGINS PLACEMENT SERVICE

The Office of Student Affairs will serve as a placement center for students graduating from the LBJ School this year. Elizabeth Hall, Director of Student Affairs, will work closely with alumni, faculty, and others to identify job openings.

As a first step, graduating students are asked to go to the Office of Student Affairs after March 3 to complete the placement form which will indicate job and location preferences.

Ms. Hall said her office would remain in close contact with students about potential jobs.

LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE REPORT AVAILABLE NOW

The report of the 64th Texas Legislature Pre-Session Conference is now available from the LBJ School Office of Publications.

The 113-page volume contains major papers which were presented to the Conference, organized in November by the LBJ School's Office of Conferences and Training. The Conference focused on three issues confronting the Legislature in its current session—financing State Government with a treasury surplus; modernizing the property tax system; and restructuring public school finance—and the publication reflects that concentration. Also included in the publication are summaries of Conference discussions. The volume was edited by Hoyt H. Purvis, Director of Publications at the LBJ School.

Copies are available at a cost of $3 through the Office of Publications.

HAMILTON DISCUSSES IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

As a prelude to the visit to the LBJ School by Senator Sam Ervin, Dagmar Hamilton of the LBJ School faculty discussed "Watergate From the House Judiciary Side" at a schoolwide seminar on February 26. She served as a staff counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during its impeachment inquiry last year.

Hamilton noted that the work of the Judiciary Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities chaired by Ervin was "separate but interrelated," and that the two Committees had different roles.

She traced the history of events which led to the impeachment inquiry, citing the role of the press, the courts, the U. S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, the Senate Select "Watergate" Committee, and the Office of the Watergate Special Prosecutor.

Hamilton said that the Senate Committee lacked a Constitutional responsibility and was essentially mandated to investigate "illegal, improper and unethical activities...in the Presidential election in 1972." During the time of the Senate Committee's hearings, most members of Congress considered impeachment an unlikely prospect, she said.

As a member of the impeachment inquiry staff, Hamiton recalled that one of the first responsibilities had been "to offense." She said the staff did extensive research into earlier impeachments of federal officials and into English impeachments, which the Framers of the U. S. Constitution had in mind when they included the provision. Basically, she said, the Committee operated on the strict definition of impeachment contained in the Constitution.

Hamilton said that although the White House tapes were "interesting and dramatic", she believed "there was enough additional evidence to cause the House to vote impeachment on the three articles approved by the Judiciary Committee," had Nixon not resigned before they were considered.

She said it was her personal opinion that there was also a strong case for the proposed article on the secret bombing of Cambodia, but the Committee voted not to report that article to the House.

She said Committee Special Counsel Joan Doar insited on "hard evidence" and said there was "ample corroborative evidence" on the three articles approved by the Committee. She said the staff conducted numerous interviews of concerned individuals and prepared 42 volumes of evidence.

Hamilton noted that, "Like the Ervin Committee we stayed away from 'speculative' matters such as the role of the CIA."

She said the Committee's research indicated that the concept of "executive privilege", relied on heavily by President Nixon "stemmed largely from the 1950's when Eisenhower's attorney generals came up with the theory." She said, "It was essentially a means of resisting the McCarthy investigation and no one made much fuss at that time."

Nixon replied that executive privilege was a well-developed precedent, she said, "even citing George Washington as a defender of executive privilege."

"However, our research in the Library of Congress revealed otherwise," Hamilton said. "Washington did eventually make the documents available to the Senate, because they pertained to a treaty (the Jay Treaty with Great Britain) and that was within the Senate's realm."

She also said that throughout history the power of impeachment had been recognized as implying the right of the House to inspect relevant documents and quoted President Polk as protesting a legislative investigation being conducted by a House committee but recognizing the right of the Congress to request all relevant material in an impeachment inquiry.

She said the experience demonstrated that "you should never take lawyers' briefs as history."

LIBRARY HOURS DURING VACATION

Librarian Kent Talbot has announced that during the spring vacation, the LBJ School Library will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., March 24-27. On Friday March 28, the Library will be open from 9 a.m. to noon. The Library will be closed on March 29 and 30.