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Show Tuesday, May 22. 1384 THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, M The Herald, its readers, syndicated columnists and cartoonists discuss vital issues Opinions - Page 15 10. Vif The Herald Comments Tobacco Industry, Labels and health to get want groups Congress tougher on smoking, and the encouraging industry seems more willing to get tough on itself. In an unusual show of unity, health groups 0 have reached a compromise on tough new labels for cigarette pack- The new labels would read: General's "Surgeon causes lung cancer, heart disease, If cave men invented the art it was refined by of "make-do,- " farmers. And to this day, nobody more than a farmer knows how to whatever he a fence-pullfrom a hank of wire and a hickory limb, a horseshoe from a hunk of car tire, an ax and he'll make harout of hay wire, feed sacks and shoe parts. Leastwise, he used to. Farmers, like the rest of us, have lost their genius for improvisation in direct proportion to the availability of store-bougimplements and hired mechanics. But east of Hickman in Lancaster County, Neb., is a father-and-so- n sprout Robert nesses McDougall ht to tell the council that you can't legislate dignity, you have to get it the old fashioned way earn it? But the code goes on. It would outlaw the good old American custom of calling a politician names. You won't be able to get away with calling the mayor a "dirty, lying snake" n, farm of - The key House En- ergy and Commerce Committee approved the compromise last be displayed prominently on all cigarette ads, including outdoor billboards. The compromise resulted from five months of negotiations between the tobacco industry and health organizations, according to Rep. week on a 22-- 0 vote. The full House must now act, and it faces an uncertain future in the Senate. The bill would replace the warning Albert Gore, n., who spearheaded the ef- fort. "This bill represents a progressive and cou- rageous step by this industry that many did not expect," said Gore. "This has been a bitter pill to swallow, but in so doing they have made stiffer punative legislation less likely in the years ahead." leading tobacco state lawmaker, Rep. A Thomas Bliley, said the new labels are a "very painful issue to my constituents." R-V- a., "They would obviously rather leave things as they are, but they are aware that adjustments need to be made," he said. The tobacco industry should be congratulated for its willingness to bite the bullet on this issue. It is to be hoped the full House and the Senate will have the same courage. acres farm When they need a and to farm?" I asked. Todd said, "This is what we do on rainy days." And this year's long winter gave them time to invent and build "The Amazing Bean Machine." imple- ment, they invent it. Todd Harlan thought pig feeding with a wheelbarrow and bucket was a tedious waste of time, so he automated it. He invented what he calls a "Chor-eboy.- " From scrap iron, propane wheels it moves On tanks and an old grain dryer and 1,300 hours Dale and Todd built a machine which, right out in the field, cooks soybeans, vaporizes the oil, converts raw beans into more paln atable stock feed. among the farrowing pens, dispensing balanced ration auto- matically. Nobody likes to stir manure yet it has to be stirred to ripen and digest itself. So the Harlans invented a lagoon man- high-protei- ure stirrer. They designed and built their own field cultivator. During the Nebraska drought of the last two years, just being an efficient farmer was not good enough. Profitable farming . required efficiency-plusSo the Harlans adapted to their 1480 International Combine Paul Harvey What's next: A double-cro- p planter with which the Harlans can combine wheat and plant beans at the same time! I've not heard of more ingenious improvisors since LeTorneau a w than the Harlans air planter. "When in the world do you find time both to manufacture Neb. I hope of Hickman, they get rich. But then, in the ways that count, they already are. EEOC Drags Feet on Worth Issue any- more. About all you will be able to call him is dirty, and only then if you can prove he actually has dirt under his nails or on or about his person something that will never happen as long as Jim Ferguson is mayor. He's always squeaky clean. "Low-downwon't get by because the code outlaws holding anyone up to contempt. "Lying" won't pass because the code would forbid anyone to accuse another of lying in a council meeting. "Snake" won't pass because of the code's ban on contempt. What's left of free speech if you can't call a liar a liar? About the only language the code doesn't cover is foul and abusive language. But since you won't be able to interjust jump up and speak ruptions are also outlawed you will have to get on the agenda to cuss. - WASHINGTON The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is supposed to see that women, among others, get a fair shake on the job. But the agency has pigeonholed 266 complaints from women who charged that they were being paid less solely because they were women. Rep. Barney Frank, says the reason the cases have some of been gathering dust is that sex them for years ," discrimination given high in wages is not by the priority EEOC. He charged that the commission hasn't even investigated the 266 complaints to determine whether they're worth pursuing. "Congressman Frank doesn't know many things," said an EEOC spokesman. She insisted that the commission had indeed looked into each case. But my associate Vicki Warren has seen an internal memo written last November by an EEOC official that states flatly: "A review of these charges has not been made." Yet the memo acknowledges: "We believe that almost all of them raise an issue of comparable worth." This is the theory that jobs should be measured by and their value to society become has It paid accordingly. case-by-ca- FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE-FormeNew York Congress-woma- n Bella Abzug, in describing herself and her battle to r fight for women's equality, often talks about the support she has gotten from her own family. "My husband, Martin, is a feminist husband. He is very, very supportive," she role-mod- 2,000 Dale and Todd Harlan still know how to make-do- . where Women Who Rise in Industries passed since U.S. corporations began hiring more than token numbers of women for jobs at the bottom rung of the management ladder. A decade into their careers, how far have these women climbed? Not as far as their male counterparts, according to a recent issue of Fortune magazine. Despite impressive progress at the entry level and middle management, women are having trouble breaking into senior corporate ranks. The trouble begins at about the $75,000 to $100,000 salary level, and seems to get worse the higher the bracket. Only one company on Fortune's list of the 500 largest U.S. industrial corporations has a woman chief executive, and that woman is Katharine Graham of the WashNo. 342. She ington Post readily admits, however, she got the job because her family owns a controlling share of the corporation. er handle from a persimmon Potomac Potpourri LADDER: with "make-do- " has. He'll improvise low-dow- Cigarette Warning: now on cigarette packages with a series of four different labels, to be rotated quarterly. Similar warnings would The Amazing Soy Bean Machine Pretty soon it will be legal to almost anything in Provo do Ten years have Quitting Warning: This Unlawful TOPPING THE CORPORATE emphy- sema and may complicate pregnancy." "Surgeon General's Illegal to Make except cuss. Ever since it was organized, the Provo City Council has been agonizing over what is called the Legislative Code. That's a list of what the council can do. Problem is the council hasn't figured out what it is supposed to do yet, so two years later, the code is still only a dream. Every time the council wants to do something, it finds out the mayor has already done it. Sometimes the council finds something the mayor isn't doing yet so it gets ready to outlaw it only to find that it's illegal to make it unlawful. The council's latest effort is an attempt to enforce gentlemanly decorum in meetings something the current council chairman, Chuck Henson, places a great deal of stock in, and to be fair, something he is good at displaying. Henson wants to be able to choose the council chairman by secret ballot. That's against the law, but he wants to do it anyway. He says it is to protect council members from the repercussions of a chairman they voted against. Is there no spirit of adventure left in Provo? A little division in the council would go a long way toward livening up a deadly dull process. A little controversy in a legislative body is a healthy thing. Someone might express an opinion now and then, or take a position on something and be willing to say why. Henson is used to the way things are done where he works. At Brigham Young University, decisions are handed down from heaven engraved in granite. Debate, discussion and dissention at the "Y" are properly viewed as inappropriate displays of a disobedient, misguided spirit. How come no one has thought Smoking Warning: "Better stand back, this is a NICARAGUAN harbor!" General's Warning: Smoking by pregnant woman may result in fetal injury, premature birth and low birth weight." "Surgeon General's smoke contains carbon monoxide." ages. 1984byNEA, Inc your health." "Surgeon thing is that the tobacco liH smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to el said. "When I first ran for Congress, my slogan was, 'This Woman's Place is in the House ... The House of Representatives.' When I got elected, my oldest daughter was thrilled," she said. "She was overheard saying, 'Thank God we got her out of our house, and in their House.'" OFFICES OF THE FUTURE VS. FACTORIES OF THE PAST: Women are streaming into ihe workforce as pilots, engineers, lawyers, construction workers and all kinds of other jobs once thought to be "men's work." se the latest rallying cry for women who feel they're being shortchanged at the pay window. Unfortunately for those who hold jobs traditionally considered "women's work," such as nurses or librarians, the EEOC is reluctant to handle comparable-worth complaints. The Supreme Court ruled in 1981 that, under the Civil Rights Act of d 1964, wage claims can be made even if the work in sex-base- question is not considered "equal." But the commission has been slow to act. It recently compiled a manual designed for the guidance of its field offices, and it says of comparable worth: "The exact parameters and underpinnings of this theory have yet to be established." The manual does acknowledge that jobs predominantly held by women, "often because of historical notions of the value of women's work, are compensated at a lower rate than jobs traditionally held by men." It directs field officers to contact the Office of Legal Counsel when they think they have a comparable-wort- case. h An internal EEOC memo dated Feb. 7, 1984, tacitly accepts the commission's jurisdiction in comparable-wort- h cases and warns that "because of the state of the art of the law, and the publicity surrounding the comparable-wortissue, the present inventory of comparable-wh wage discrimination charges would increase substantially during fiscal 1984." But the memo then goes on to bemoan the cost of processing such complaints. Where an employer has made a job evaluation, the cost to the EEOC of resolving a complaint was estimated at $50,000. Where an employer has not been so obliging, the cost was estimated at $100,-00orth 0. "Taking into consideration the state of the comparable-wortissues and the austere environment in which we are presently operating," the memo recommends that the cheaper cases be handled first. So employers who don't make job evaluations are rewarded by having complaints against them relegated h to the bottom of the Footnote: A House Government Operations subcommittee has approved a report detailing the .EEOC's inaction on complaints and recommending changes at the commission. n JACKSON'S BOOKKEEPING Charges that presidential candidate Jesse Jackson is too sloppy an administrator to hold high office are based in part on widely publicized government audits of PUSH for Excellence, Inc. Jackson was its honorary chairman until last year. The audits concluded that PUSH EXCEL, as the youth organization is called, might have to give back $2.2 million of the $6.5 million it has received in government grants and contracts between 1978 and 1982. I have just concluded a thorough study of Jackson's role in this apparent scandal. My associate Tony Capaccio has reviewed Education Department audits of PUSH EXCEL. I found no evidence that Jackson had anything to do with the accounting and bookkeeping. One senior Education Depart- ment auditor confirmed that Jackson's role in PUSH EXCEL "wasn't much in the involvement." During a series of routine audit review meetings with PUSH EXCEL last March, Education Department officials knocked $1.4 million of the quesday-to-da- y expenditures down to an amount the organization is planning to appeal. Here are some of the items that were originally questioned, but were either wholly or partially allowed after the March tionable $708,427 meetings: Mm Jack Anderson $6,000 in consultant fees for a project manager who was e univerholding down a amount The challenged sity job. was cut in half. $4,108 in travel expenses by PUSH EXCEL employees attending an Operation PUSH national convention, plus $74 for a convention banner and $15 for a parking ticket. After reconsideration, everything but the parking ticket was deemed a proper expenditure. $3,500 for printing 10,000 Christmas cards bearing Jackson's signature and a message from him as president of Operation PUSH. "PUSH for Excellence" was printed on the outside of the cards. In March, the auditors OK'd roughly half the printing cost. $1,450 for football jackets; $1,080 for awards and the services of referees, a timer and a full-tim- scorer at a PUSH EXCEL event; $144 to send two students to a basketball championship; a $1,500 donation to a Chicago-are- a girls' basketball VARIABLE MORTGAGE rA Ul LSHL tourna- ment; $150 in travel expenses for a Chicago high school boxing club that went to the National Junior Olympics in Louisville, Ky.; and $209 for lunches at a McDonald's restaurant in Kansas City, Mo., in connection with an Athletes for Excellence program. In March, allof these challenged expenditures were found to have been legitimate. |
