March 1979

THE RECORD

No. 60

LYNDON B. JOHNSON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

EDITOR: Marilyn Duncan

Slick Conference Scheduled for April

The 1979 Slick Conference will focus on the topic, Modernization vs. Tradition vs. Equity: The Explosive Triple Collision, a theme dramatized recently by the sight of Mullahs and leftist students in Iran walking in the same direction and together burning symbols of modernization such as cars and tanks.

The conference, sponsored by the Distinguished Visiting Tom Slick Professorship of World Peace, will be held April 19 and 20 in the East Campus Lecture Hall.

Visiting Tom Slick Professor Harlan Cleveland will open the conference with a lecture on "The Triple Collision of Modernization."

The first session will examine the theme in relation to Iran, with panelists addressing such questions as: What went wrong in Iran, and why? How contagious is it? What lessons can the sudden turnover teach us about U.S. policy for the future? How will it affect the world energy balance, U.S.-Soviet relations, and the politics of peacemaking in the Middle East?

In session 2, participants will move to an examination of the triple collision in Mexico, focusing on the current policy dilemmas resulting from the mix of oil finds, illegal immigration, and one of the world's highest population growth rates.

The final session, to be entitled "What's Wrong with the 'North-South' Dialogue?," will ask why, since the Third World laid claim to a New International Economic Order five years ago, there has been a great deal of talk and almost no action. What is wrong with the picture? Who has to do what to break the impasse?

Conference participants will be announced in the next issue of The Record.

Symposium on Government and Business Held Here

The rationale and potentials for a new partnership between the public and private sectors were explored here March 1–2 in a major symposium sponsored by the LBJ School, the LBJ Library, the UT Graduate School of Business, and the UT Institute for Constructive Capitalism.

The conference, entitled "The Business of the Nation and the Nation's Business: Toward A New Partnership," brought together representatives of business, government, and academia to discuss the government-business relationship.

Keynote speaker for the event was Felix Rohatyn, senior partner of Lazard, Freres and Co., a major investment banking firm in New York City. Mr. Rohatyn, addressing the need for a coalition between business, labor, and government, maintained that only through such a partnership will the nation avoid facing the same economic crisis faced by New York City in 1975. He noted that the coalition that saved New York City (under his leadership) has resulted in improvements in all sectors: the imposed austerity in government spending has forced politicians to make politically difficult but financially sound decisions; while businessmen have been forced by the "moral imperative of affirmative action" and the pressure of public accountability to go beyond profit motives.

Among the speakers and panelists in the four-session program were Robert O. Anderson, Chairman of the Board, Atlantic Richfield Company; Douglas M. Costle, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Robert Strauss, U.S. Special Representative for Trade Negotiations; Donald Rice, President, RAND Corporation; William K. Coors, Chairman and Executive Officer, Adolph Coors Company; Roger B. Smith, Executive Vice President, General Motors Corporation; and John Gardner, Chairman, President's Commission on White House Fellows.

An account of the proceedings of the symposium will appear in the April issue of The Record.

Flawn Appointed UT President

The University of Texas System Board of Regents on February 9 announced the appointment of Peter T. Flawn, Ph.D., as president of The University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Flawn, a faculty member of the LBJ School, is currently Acting Director of The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute, and Acting Chairman, Department of Marine Studies.

Dr. Flawn will replace Dr. Lorene L. Rogers in August of this year, when Dr. Rogers will resign the position of president. Dr. Rogers had announced last year that she would resign upon reaching retirement age.

Dr. Flawn was chosen by the Regents from three highly qualified contenders for the prestigious position of president of the State's largest institution of higher learning. Also considered for the presidency were Dr. Paul D. Saltman, and Dr. Wayne H. Holtzman, President of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at UT Austin.

Dr. Flawn has strong and extensive experience with The University of Texas System, having served in many important posts. He served as president of The University of Texas at San Antonio, 1973–77. He has also served as director of the Division of Natural Resources and Environment and professor of geological sciences and public affairs, both at The University of Texas at Austin. He has also held the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs and Executive Vice President at UT Austin.

He is a member of twenty-three scientific and geologic related associations, and has served as officer, commissioner, or advisory board member of eleven of them. Dr. Flawn is the author of five books and fifty-five articles.

'ON THE RECORD'

First-year LBJ student Rodney Rideau has been selected as the University of Texas delegate to the Citadel National Student Conference IV, scheduled for March 1–3. The theme of the conference, to be held at the Citadel Military College in Charleston, South Carolina, is "Domestic Influences on Foreign Policy." Approximately fifty institutions from across the nation will be represented.

Rideau is one of the student coordinators of the International Affairs Student Committee at the LBJ School.

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Professor Dagmar Hamilton has been selected for inclusion in Who's Who Among American Women. Her biography will appear in the 1979–80 edition.

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Professor Jurgen Schmandt testified in February before the Senate Education Committee in support of S.B. 260, a bill intended to create an experimental Texas Public Service Telecommunications Authority. Dr. Schmandt was a spokesman for a consortium of state agencies and educational institutions which prepared a detailed plan for public service programming under a grant from the National Institute of Education. Paul Smolen, 1977 graduate of the LBJ School, has been instrumental in seeing the project through its various stages. At the present time the consortium is exploring organizational and financial options for implementing the plan.

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On February 21, a group of over 100 high school seniors from the government classes at Lyndon B. Johnson High School visited the LBJ Library and the LBJ School. Dean Elspeth Rostow spoke to the group in the East Campus Lecture Hall on the responsibilities and challenges of careers in the public sector.

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Professor Norton Grubb wil give a session on social policy toward families and children at the Texas Family Institute in Austin March 4–7.

On March 31, Dr. Grubb will chair a session on child care at the 10th annual conference on Women and the Law in San Antonio, sponsored by the Women's Law Caucus of the UT Austin Law School in cooperation with the Women's Law Association of St. Mary's University Law School.

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Dean Elspeth Rostow hosted a reception for new and returning LBJ faculty members on the evening of February 13 in the Faculty Lounge.

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The School's Office of Publications is now equipped with a Comp-Set phototypesetting machine, a minicomputer with a wide range of typesetting and editing capabilities. The equipment replaced three IBM machines and a headliner machine which had been in use since the publications program was initiated in the early 1970s.

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Dianne (DeDe) Hebner, faculty secretary at the LBJ School since February 1978, left her job at the School in mid-February to devote all her energies to law school.

Her replacement is Debbie Dunmire, previously a typist with Terry's Typing Service of Austin.

Also new to the School are Nova Mang and Julie Schroeder, faculty secretaries. Mrs. Mang previously worked at the University Federal Credit Union. Ms. Schroeder worked part-time in the UT Personnel Office before coming to the School. She has a B.J. in public relations and will complete a B.A. in Italian this semester.

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On February 15 Dean Elspeth Rostow was keynote speaker at the First Symposium on Southern Cities, held in Dallas under the sponsorship of the UT Dallas School of Social Sciences.

Dean Rostow attended a meeting of the Executive Council of NASPAA during the Association's conference in San Francisco in February. Associate Dean Jared Hazleton attended the Peer Review Committee portion of the conference.

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On February 14, Dave Turello of the National Park Service discussed "Planning and Public Participation for the Gateway National Recreation Area" at a School Brown Bag Seminar.

International Affairs Student Committee Formed

Reflecting the growing concern in foreign policy administration, students at the LBJ School have formed an International Affairs Student Committee. The committee hopes to provide a forum for policy issues in the area of foreign affairs and to encourage a progressive expansion of the international program at the LBJ School.

Committee activities include regular meetings, bi-weekly guest lecturers on various international issues, faculty/student interaction in developing international activity in the School's curriculum, and student involvement with other University departments in building an international educational background for interested students.

The committee sponsored a slide presentation on China: A Glimpse Within during the last week of January. Moderator for the presentation was Steven Thorpe, program coordinator of the UT Center for Asian Studies Outreach Program. Mr. Thorpe is currently in China as a guest of the Chinese government, invited to visit the country for a two-year teaching assignment.

LBJ Follies Strike Again!

This year's LBJ School Follies, held on Thursday February 9 in the Texas Union Ballroom, can only be described as a cross between Thursday Night Live and Thursday Night Fever.

Highlights of the evening included a number of impersonations—a droll Elspeth Rostow by Melissa Friedland; a cool Dick Schott by John Nelson; a commendable Emmette Redford by Brooks Myers; and a last-minute Matt Berman by Ira Birnbaum. Jim Dimas as Dan Acroyd as Tom Snyder was also memorable.

Other highlights: Vivian Redman's Dance of Legislation, to the music of "The Taxman;" scenes from Life in the Stacks (Animal House antics); a slide show on news updates; and fractured nursery rhymes by DeAnn Friedholm and Russ Hedge.

Lowlights of the evening were too numerous to mention (and too unmentionable to enumerate).

[news item]

The Texas Senate and House of Representatives are providing information on the activities of the 66th Legislature through a toll-free statewide WATS line to the Legislative Information System of Texas (LIST). Information available includes status of bills, schedules and agendas of committee meetings and hearings, and lists of bills by author, committee, and subject.

The LIST number is 1-800-252-9693 for calls outside the Austin area. In Austin, the number is (512) 475-3026.

ALUMNI FORUM

Continuing Education Session with Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan, the Lyndon B. Johnson Public Service Professor, will meet with contributing alumni Monday, April 9, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Faculty Lounge, LBJ School. This session, which is part of the Alumni Continuing Education Series, will be on the topic of ethics in public life. All contributing alumni are urged to take advantage of this opportunity to meet Ms. Jordan.

Harlan Cleveland Luncheon

Approximately twenty Austin alumni attended a February 28 luncheon session with Harlan Cleveland, the Distinguished Visiting Tom Slick Professor of World Peace for the spring semester. Meg Wilson did an excellent job of organizing this session; the Board hopes to conduct similar luncheon meetings thoughout the year, and welcomes suggestions from alumni concerning speakers and topics.

Nomination Procedure (one more time)

The Alumni Board proposes the following nomination procedure for election of 1979–80 officers:

(1) Nominations will be accepted between May 15 and June 15, 1979.

(2) Nominations must be postmarked by June 15, 1979.

(3) If the nomination is not self-designated, the nominee must acknowledge his/her willingness to run for office by formally notifying the Board.

Any graduate of the LBJ School is eligible to serve on the Alumni Board, including graduating members of the 1979 class. Nominees may submit program statements to be published with the ballot.

This nomination procedure will cut costs because it will eliminate the need to mail out nomination ballots. A single voting ballot and nominee statements will be mailed to all alumni following the nomination period. Please notify the Board if you disagree with this proposed procedure.

Schmandt, Bach, Radin Publish Article

The January 1979 issue of The Gerontologist (vol. 19, no. 1) carries an article on "Information and Referral Services for Elderly Welfare Recipients," written by Drs. Jurgen Schmandt, Victor Bach, and Beryl A. Radin.

According to the article, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, introduced in 1974, brought with it an increased need for information and referral (I&R) services for the elderly poor, as it separated the income support and service delivery components of the welfare system. Under the new program, clients had to deal with the federal government for financial assistance and with the traditional state or county welfare office for social services.

The results reported in the article are part of an evaluation of the SSI program undertaken in 1974–75 and 1975–76 as part of a two-phased Policy Research Project at the LBJ School. The study, based on field research in four states and sixteen localities, showed that federal and state initiatives for improving I&R had limited impact on the quality of the services.

The primary reason for this ineffectiveness, according to the study, was the lack of coordination among different parts of the I&R network. The authors note that "While the diversity of federal and state agencies involved in provision of I&R services makes possible a richness in approaches and experiments, it also raises questions relating to coordination, concentration and efficiency." They add that if the federal and state directives are implemented fully, three I&R systems will emerge, each operating independently and with inevitable overlap.

The central conclusion of the study was that "I&R to be effective cannot be designed and implemented as a self-contained service. The service network existing in the community or area to be served, the population living there, its economic and social characteristics, all have to be taken into account and call for different approaches to I&R service design and delivery."

Dr. Schmandt is a member of the LBJ School faculty. Dr. Bach is on leave from the School while serving as Research Associate at the Brookings Institution. Beryl Radin, formerly of the LBJ School, is an Associate Professor at the University of Southern California, Washington Office.

Conference Held Here for Black, Mexican-American Students

On February 16–17, the LBJ School sponsored a conference for Mexican-American and Black students from campuses throughout Texas, as part of its recruitment program.

The conference, entitled "Public Sector Careers and Graduate Preparation," was conducted to increase these students' awareness of career opportunities in the public sector and to acquaint them with the graduate preparation available at the LBJ School.

Sixty-four students from fourteen campuses attended the event. The out-of-town guests met for an informal dinner the first evening, hosted by Dean Elspeth Rostow and the members of the School's admissions committee. Also attending the dinner were State Representatives Gonzalo Barrientos and Ron Wilson; Travis County Commissioner Richard Moya; City Councilmen Jimmy Snell and John Trevino; Marvin Griffin, President of the Board of Trustees, Austin Independent School District; and a number of students, alumni, and faculty members from the LBJ School and other departments in the university.

The panels on Saturday, February 17, were designed to present a wide range of perspectives on public sector careers and graduate preparation. As a starting point. Professors Lodis Rhodes and Jared Hazleton introduced the students to the curriculum and philosophies of the LBJ School.

A panel of LBJ School alumni then offered a presentation on "First Line Experience," discussing their own public sector jobs and the skills required for careers at various government levels. Moderator for the session was James Mitchell (class of '75). Panelists included Greg Roberson ('77), Diana Zuniga ('75), Rodney Ellis ('77), Albert Hawkins ('78), and Jesus Garza ('77).

In the next session. State Representative Gonzalo Barrientos discussed his own background and public service experience in addressing the question, "Why Choose a Career in the Public Sector?" Following his discussion was a videotaped message on the School by Professor Barbara Jordan, who was unable to attend in person.

The final session was devoted to the topic, "Campus Life and Living in Austin—The Students' Perspective." The panel consisted of LBJ students Ida Stewart (moderator), Susan Rieff, DeAnn Friedholm, Manuel Rios, and Edmund Sierra; and George Little, president of the UT Black Graduate Students Association.

According to Elizabeth Hall, Director of the OACIP and conference coordinator, the response to the program was enthusiastic. The conference was the first of its kind sponsored by the LBJ School.