Port Lavaca Wave (Port Lavaca, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 258, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 21, 1988 Page: 4 of 8
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Page 4— Port Lavaca Wave, Thursday, July 21, 1988
F
Editorials/comments
1
This is ths second of two related Wagman columns.
question and
II
Assure long-term success
r
M.
significant.
H
■
1
Voodoo hiring is a national shame
By Vincent Carroll
No prison lawsuit
Port Lavaca Wave
cants for police departments in
Research for everyone
AIDS debate is overdue
*
B.D. Colen
f.f
tlon That outcry has even been so
public health experts have been will-
k'WwadWj
Robert
Wagman
“Well, if you Pentagon people can’t accept a bribe, then do what they do
on Capitol Hill... call it a speaking fee.”
W
ch
ceived checks for 12,000 each and
were flown back to Washington in
time to get a good night's sleep in
their own beds
Weld was outraged He thought he
knew a bribe when he saw one Let’s
indict these guys, he said at a staff
meeting
His suggestion was greeted by
laughter It was gently explained to
of the drop-by breakfast
It is usually held at a Capitol Hill
hotel, just blocks from a member’s of-
fice He or she stops in on his way to
I
GEORGIA HRDLIC KA
Advertising Director,
General Manager
DENNIS BURGART
Managing Editor
TAMMY S. RUDELLAT
Lifestyle Editor
CATHY WALL
Classified Manager
CAROLINE GRANATO
Circulation Manager
Established 1890
Published each afternoon except
Christmas Day, Monday thru Friday
by Port Lavaca Wavs, Inc.
107 E. Austin, P. 0. Box M
Port Lavaca, Texas 77779-0088
Telephone (512)552-9788
CHESTER C. SURBER
Editor and Publisher
EDWARD HAWTHORNE JR.
Pressroom Foreman
The Associated Press Is entklod exclu-
sively to the uee lor rspubkcstlon oi afl
the local news printed In this newepa
per as well as aS AP newe drepatchee
Second class postage paid
at Port Lavaca, Texas
Delivered by carrier
1 month $4 00; 1 yew ■ 848 00
Delivered by mail In County:
1 months ■ $14 70; I months • $28.80
1 year ■ $M 80
Out of Calhoun County:
3 months • $1 • .00; I months • 838.00
___________1 year-372 00________
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If
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'hey argue that
Id be an tnor
sales meeting (all expenses paid and
spouse invited, of course) to give a
speech Still, this was a LI .2 —____
for $2,000
Some Texas counties, hot under
the collar because the state prison is
not taking convicted felons off their
hands quickly enough, are threaten-
ing to sue the state because of it. In-
stead, they should just cool it
Sure, the backup of felons in the
county jails is a problem Sure, it is
costing the counties money Sure, at-
torneys for some of the inmates are
making noises about suing for the
right of the inmates to go to prison
Sure, there are other problems
But lawsuits by the counties
against the state at this juncture
would be premature and counter-
aside, this action will drive AIDS-in-
fected individuals out of the health-
care system They will not, so the log-
ic goes, seek help from physicians
who may fink.
That may be true But if a patient
gued that contact tracing might slow feels disclosure is more damaging
loud that very few public officials or on the
overdue
does have a stiff regulation on accept-
ing gifts No senator, representative
or staffer may accept a gift with a
value greater than ) 100 But honorar- r____________#
turns, speaking fees, travel expenses work, does his 20 minutes, and pock-
--------------- -- ------- ets 12,000
But one slight problem remained
The member actually had to prepare
a speech This often entailed some
Paying dividends
production has (alien just as quickly
This puts the nation in peril, sub
ject to international blackmail and
with an exposed energy lilehne II
Dukakis wants Io reduce the danger
and pump new lite into the economy
that can help reduct the deficit, he
should take up the cause of en-
couraging domestic production
while discouraging imports, an oil
import fee remains the best solution
tient's choice
The important question is whether
partner notification will do any good
in stemming the spread of AIDS
While the «MA may well have placed
itself on the wrong side of the issue by
taking any action on this question, it
has at least guaranteed that we will
finally have a serious national debate
> issue And that is years
i K F
Ever since it became apparent that
AIDS poses a major health threat to
American society, there has been a
crying need for open, rational debate
about the conflict between public-
health concerns and the civil rights
and liberties of the afflicted.
This conflict is due to historical
timing AIDS is the first epidemic of a
new, unbeatable, fatal disease in the
"post-penicillin" era An entire gener
ation of American laymen and physi-
cians has been raised taking for
granted the miracle of antibiotics and
the idea that whatever nature could
dish out, man could conquer
This is also the first such epidemic
in the post-civil-rights era Previous
great epidemics and plagues oozed on
the scene when there was no question
that individual liberties could be lim-
ited in the name of the public good
But since the consciousness raising
of the civil-rights movement of the
1950s and '60s, the women s move-
ment of the 1970s, and the gay-rights
movement of the past decade, the so-
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And now Dr Paul D W Chu ol the
University of Houston, one of 20
scientists awarded the national
medal of science Friday in
Washington, DC., explains that pro-
ducts using what has been learned in
superconductivity will tie with us in
three years In 10 years, they will Im*
a regular part of life.
What will be available'’ Improved
batteries, for one Better smoke
detectors is another Electric swit-
ches will be improved by supercon-
ductivity in live years But most im-
portant, by the end ol the century
superconductivity technology could
help cut electric bills
Now that's a use everyone can ap-
preciate
told of several congressmen — who
sit on a certain subcommittee with
oversight authority over a certain in-
dustry — being flown to the head-
quarters of a company in that indus-
try and given a quick tour and dinner
with company officials They re-
The political campaign ol 1988 pro-
motes interest in an idea This idea,
an industrial policy, supposedly
could create more jobs and solve
more problems An industrial policy
is nothing more than a government-
prepared plan, by so-called expert
super-planners, who spend their
time thinking, swatting targets and
allocating resources This all adds
up to more government and less
freedom
This isn't a new idea, just an old
idea in a new package. It's worth
looking at, and that's what William
J. Dennis, Jr., of the National
Federation of Independent Business,
recently did. but few seemed to
notice. He examined our American
partially-free market system versus
the European controlled industrial
policy market.
Since 1970 in the United States, we
have created 80 million jobs, adding
34 million new jobs and replacing 46
million jobs that disappeared.
American unemployment is
relatively low and even declining,
with few Americans out of work for
more than six months All of this has
been accomplished with continuing
individual freedom
In Europe, where “Insustrial
Policy" is being practiced, with dou-
ble our population, only 2 million
new jobs have been created since
1970 and unemployment is on the
rise. The controlled Communist
societies have faltering economies,
too, in spite of their "industrial
Meanwhile, though, the counties
can best help by suggesting ways the
state an assist, by demonstrating
some more patience and by keeping
in harness — at least until the state
has been allowed more time to act on
the problem — any notion ol hauling
the state into court.
productive. Such legal action would
do absolutely nothing to enhance
state-county working relationships
In fact, it would damage them. And,
for the benefit of all citizens, state
and county governments need to get
along....
translate into an inability to com-
pete. Europeans wanted stability,
but found that this isn't a world
where stability is possible. Things
change and flexibility is the critical
need. It is that flexibility, rather
than stability, that has made the
American system generate 40 jobs
for every job created in Europe.
Flexibility plus an increasing
small business population have
made America and its free-market
economy "job generators," while
the European "industrial policy"
economies stagnate. That's why it is
stupid to accept “industrial policy as
a cure-all. We should learn from the
European experience, just as our
youngsters learn about fire by obser-
ving what it has done to others.
There are no eternal guarantees
on life, liberty and the pursuit ol
happiness. Such guarantees are
doomed to failure. A flexible market
system that responds to the needs ol
people is the only real assurance of
long-term success.
been a loud outcry from affected
groups particularly gay males
and civil libertarians Tl
partner notification would be an enor
mous invasion of the patient's right to
privacy and that the threat of pai tnt-r
notification would keep infected indi-
sure, numerous pub>ic-health viduals from seeking medical atten
take comfort in the fact that their
wives arc generously employed as
lobbyists in that industry’s Washing-
ton office That violates no ethics
rule Neither does the fact that one
very powerful Senate committee
chairman's wife has a service busi-
ness here that has among its clients
many companies and special interests
that are almost totally dependent
upon the committee’s actions
Sometimes a congressman can go
too far Former Democratic con-
gressman Mario Biaggi of New York
was convicted last year for accepting
several Florida vacations He got in
trouble because the trips were not
connected to an event being spon-
sored by those who gave him the trip
Had the giver arranged for Biaggi to
give a speech or a briefing while in
Florida, it would have been perfectly
legal.
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Having Lloyd Bentsen as Michael
Dukakis' choice as running mate is
already paying dividends lor Texas
Bentsen says hr has begun Io
educate the Massachusetts governor
about oil and gas. and the necessity
for a national energy policy
.....r b l .tei his argunicnla by
pointing out that petroleum imports
have climlied steadily this year, the
country now depends on foreign oil
lor 41 percent of its needs Domestic
ing to discuss the issue seriously. Un-
til now.
Recently, the American Medical
Association — which came late to the
cause of slowing the spread of AIDS
— officially took the position that
physicians should, as a last resort, no-
tify the known sex partners of AIDS-
infected individuals that they may
have been infected This would, of
course, be a violation of the age-old
principle of patient-physician confi-
dentiality, because physicians would
be taking information obtained from
a patient in confidence and passing it
‘ j to a third person — perhaps
against the patient’s wishes
______________ _.™ Opponents of the AMA position ar-
the argument can be made that by the Kll<’ that, questions of civil liberties
time an individual comes to a physi ,u‘* d'*"“ i,n<! *“
clan complaining of AIDS-like symp-
toms and tests positive he or she
has likely already infected his or her
sex partners
Every time a public official has ar-
kJ
a direct people, impressed by
achievement, brains and uncluttered
honesty. We made decisions for our-
selves But something happened along
the way We began to subordinate our
judgment to a host of experts and out-
siders — to psychologists, for exam-
ple, whose competence we cannot as-
sess, and to tests whose inner logic we
do not understand Then we accepted
their rulings with the trust Roman
emperors once reserved for court
astrologers.
Call that progress if you like. Some
of us call it a shame
policies!"
More significant, few
Americans are out of work more
than six months while European
unemployment is continuously ris-
ing and lasts longer Sure the United
States has a business cycle, with ups
and downs, but the larger European
countries have had decade long
recessions and depressions.
While we are upset with 5 to 6 per-
cent unemployment, the "industrial
policy" nations of Europe have
double-digit unemployment for
adults and a teenage unemployment
rate almost double ours.
If Bill Dennis' facts are correct,
why is a free market America,
w hich produces more jobs and less
unemployment, looking at a Euro-
pean solution, an industrial policy,
for answers? That's a good question
and it reflects sick politicians, who
try to confuse the citizens and raise
expectations with promises which
will produce little in the way of
results.
Without the right answers, we can
take the wrong actions and create
bigger problems. These "industrial
policy" politicians are talking about
a higher minimum wage, increasing
health insurance benefits, as well as
unemployment security. This
sounds good until you look at what
has happened to Europe
Rigid and unbending labor and
social policies that keep employers
from changing working conditions.
ual contacts
And as to the concept of partner no-
tification, again they ask, what pur-
pose would be served ’ Were this a dis-
ease for which there was an effective
treatment, notification and testing .-
would certainly serve a worthwhile ai>“n.^
purpose it would save lives But “ "
there is no effective treatment, and
hera, who heads a regional office for
the firm, defends the exams with the
following evidence: In a controlled
study of nearly 4,000 officers from
several departments, 45 percent of
those dubbed unfit for police work but
hired anyway failed to pass proba-
tion, and an additional 13 percent
were eventually fired Meanwhile, 26
percent of those rated fit failed pro-
bation and 3 percent were later let go.
Now look closely at those figures
More than 40 percent of applicants
rated unfit and nearly 30 percent of
scientifically dubious) interviews or those rated fit defied the predictions
tests. In short, the tests may provide a mod-
When this happens, as it increasing- est measure of future success, but fit-
ly does, they have every right to feel tie more. Meanwhile, how many inde-
awkward, uncomfortable or even pendent thinkers
violated.
It's not that psychologists and their
tests are frauds, but simply that the
human mind has not, as yet, submit-
ted itself to precise calibration Peo-
ple can be mislabeled, and indeed of-
ten are.
Consider the record of Law En-
________,_____ ' „ „__1 Services
got the job, but I’ve always thought Inc., of San Jose, Calif., which —
less of the company that put me
IIIU VVIIIVIH Ul HIV UB»l UV1BUV, VIIC JW- — .... " .. A . J a A • aL
cial pendulum has swung to the point the sPr<,ad of the disease, there has than going untreated, that is the pa-
j j | || (l .' tilt Laxxxrx tx Lvxtsl t■>.«•*% tisxnt’c f'hxtlxMX
be far more sacred than any concept
of the rights, or greater good, of soci-
ety aa a whole
This is why there has been so littl"
thought given to contact tracing and
partner notification in this epidemic
To be sure, numerous public-health
experts are convinced there is no
point in attempting to follow the con
voluted trail of an AIDS patient's sex
In Washington, when is a bribe really not a bribe?
WASHINGTON (NEA) - Many
members of Congress accept money,
travel and entertainment from spe-
cial interests that directly benefit
from legislation they pass in the com-
mittees on which they sit In fact,
those who don't are few and far
between
If other government employees did
this, they would be on their way to jail
for violating the “antigratuities stat-
ute " Congressmen have no such wor-
ry They have exempted themselves
from the legislation
William Weld, the former Boston
federal prosecutor who came to
Washington in 1986 to head up the
Justice Department's criminal divi-
sion, tells a story about his arrival at
his new post
He read a newspaper account that him by his amused aides that every-
thing these congressmen did was per-
fectly legal. True, if Weld had done it,
or they had done it, or almost any oth-
er federal employee had done it, they
would be facing a year in prison But
not a congressman
Actually, to be technical, Congress
gan holding - or in some cases in- lions to the company, the contractor
venting — Washington events, where helu a breakfast briefing and had sev-
the member of Congress could give en members of the committee all
his $2,000 speech with the minimum drop by at the same time
of inconvenience
But this still meant that the mem-
ber had to give up an evening, which,
despite the $2,000, often left him tes-
ty So someone came up with the idea
BBBBT~
_
It's easy to look at massive spen-
ding for the U S space program.
Star Wars or the superconducting
supercollider and say, OK, but
what s really in it lor the average
guy
The answer is, a lot. The problem
is, it's rarely talked about The
space program not only brought us
freeze dried foods, but
breakthroughs in medicine tor many
diseases Space's weightless at-
mosphere provides a perfect place
lor medical research That’s why a
permanent space lab could reap
many rewards
The laser technology developed so
far lor Star Wars and like projects
has many uses in industry as a cut-
ting tool and in medicine as a
■nd entertainment — when they are
tied to a meeting, briefing or plant
tour — are not classified as “gifts."
In Washington the breakfast “drop-
by" has become the rage In the past, work So to preclude inconveniencing
for a member of Congress to earn the a member, the newest wrinkle is for
maximum allowable $2,000 speaking the congressman or senator to drop
fee, he or she would travel to a com- by for a question and answer
pany's headquarters or to an annual “briefing."
One defense contractor last year
raised this whole process to an art
lot of bother form. On the day that a subcommittee
was to give thumbs up or thumbs
Increasingly, special interests be- down to a contract worth tens of mil-
Millions of job seekers no longer
will be treated like laboratory rats,
thanks to a new federal law limiting
the use of lie detectors by private
employers.
Unfortunately, applying for a job
often remains a needlessly demean-
ing affair. Polygraphs have not been
the only insult endured by applicants.
Take my own experience not so
many years ago at a Chicago-area Job applicants expect to be judged for
newspaper. After the usual meetings their skills, credentials and personal
with top editors, as well as various impression. They do not expect to
written tests, I was ushered into a have their psyches pigeonholed on the
room with the company psychologist basis of superficial (and sometimes
There was no time to bolt. No J
chance for so much as a quizzical or esls'
irritated look at the managing editor
rheUVycho^tnand IhLt°downdand aW^“rd> 'uncomforta'ble”or even pendent thinkers and other
talked - about my mother, for in- V1?*ted,,h , „ . . „ Productive iconoclasts do they unfam
stance (what did I think of her’), and , 1 s not hat psychologists and their ly weed out?
about my youth (had I been happy?). !,ests are slmP1y that the j-m not SUgges(jng such tests
For half an hour or so we sparred in !luIn?n ,T!nd has not, as yet, submit- outlawed. Employers should probably
this fashion while I protected my per ltse Lt0 PrFC|!^ llbratlPeo- |jave the right t0 call in a wjtCh doctor
sonal life and thoughts with a shield of P e can mislabeled, and indeed of- from deepest Amazonia to size up an
alert and earnest insincerity. le"are. . .. . , , _ applicant. But if they do, they at least
It was a goon performance, and I forTeme^ ^Sca° ^viSs af‘
..............-............. t K
aPnplla sive than ask to go to work
through this exercise in voodoo hiring, number of's tales Dr Richard Wil- Once upon a time, Americans were
At $2,000 per member, the total
cost to the contractor (including
eggs), was probably about $14,150. It
was money well spent The contract
was approved, and the Pentagon was
actually instructed to buy more units
of the company's product than it
asked for.
In 1987, the top 10 defense contrac-
tors paid a total of $387,060 in hono-
raria to members of the Senate and
House Armed Services committees
Congressional ethics rules say that
a member is not held responsible for
jobs held by their spouses or for the
operation of businesses that spouses
run — so long as they are conducted
at arm's length
This can lead to some very interest-
ing situations
At least two very powerful com-
mittee chairman, whose votes are life
and death to a certain industry, can
7p OhjBk
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Surber, Chester C. & Burgart, Dennis. Port Lavaca Wave (Port Lavaca, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 258, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 21, 1988, newspaper, July 21, 1988; Port Lavaca, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1298231/m1/4/: accessed June 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Calhoun County Public Library.