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Show Page 18—THE HERALD, Provo, Utah. Tuesday. July 14, Opinions 1981 The Herald, its readers, syndicated columnists and cartoonists discuss vital issues TheHerald Comments Rusty Brown Time to Quash Dollar Waste Beleagured American taxpayers have a right to expect efficient use and management of their tax dollars Thus it was comforting to read that President Reagan has launched a double assault on fraud and waste in the federal government He named a new comptroller general to head the General AccountingOffice, investigative arm of Congress, and charged him with intensifying the fight against such abuses. And he dispatched a revitalized corps of inspectors general to root out violaters. Reagan said the comptroller general nominee, Charles A. Bowsher, ‘‘has the expertise of an insider with the perspective of an outsider’”” — and agreed he’ll need these qualities “in great abundance.” Bowsher, managing partner of a Washington accounting firm, succeeds Elmer B. Staats, who retired. The appointment for a 15-year term must be confirmed by the Senate. In months past, a numberof concerned lawmakershave spoken out in VU66CEr proach. Reagan reported, in announcing Bowsher's appointment, that since January the IGs have questioned more than $1 billion in costs, recovered $95 million and saved $300 million that otherwise would have been spent had they not intervened. In his charge to the new comptroller general, he said nothing has disheartened him more than discovery that some offices of government are not moving to improve financial management. He urged promptaction. FEDE BURE Te frustration over loss by the governmentof ‘‘billions of dollars annually” to waste and fraud. Early in his administran the president declared his intention io fight these abuses. He named a coun- cil of Integrity and Efficiency to oversee the work of the 15 inspectors general charged with ferreting out such activities in various agencies, He also replaced most of the former IGs for a fresh ap- It’s important now thai the revitalized attitude spread throughout government— thelegislative, executive and judicial branches and out through the bureaus and agencies. Whenviolations are found, action should be swift and decisive. “T hope you never lose the sense of indignation anyprivate citizen feels at the spectacle of waste and fraud in the federal system,’’ Reagan told Bowsher. The same might well apply in otherlevels of governmentalso. Where HaveAll The Heroes Gone? An hour with a group of high School seniors confirmed whatI had read: Today's kids don't have any bigger-than-life idols. T feel sorryfor them. It’s gotta be idols in thefirst place. It wasn't so bad in myday. As a rough to grow up without a hero. Temple, Katharine Hepburn While child star Judy Garland was apparently ruined for life by “Heroes?”said the young people “Naw. We don't know anybody like that.” Why would they? They read the same scandals the rest of us do. They know all about tennis great Billie Jean King being sued by her former femalelover. They,too, read about the congressmen and a for- mer vice president taking bribes and evading paymentof incometax. They're well aware that TV star MacKenzie Phillips, who played a teen-age daughter on “One Day At A Time,” was dumped from the show for using drugs, a habit she picked up from herrock-singer father. Lookat the books that “tell it like it is.” The pages arefull of gossipy, spicy incidents from thelives of the famous. Oneof thelatest tears down the imageof Bing Crosbyas the ideal family man, No wonderthe high schoolseniors I talked with had such difficulty coming up with names thatinspired them. One student suggested JanePittman, the ex-slave who dared sip from the “whites only” drinking fountain in a memorable TV drama several years ago.It is significant,I think, that Jane Pittmanis fictional character. Are real heroes so hard to come by? “Yeah,” answered one student. “AS soon as somebody starts sounding good, that person gets torn down, knocked off the pedestal.” Another in the group added: “If you worship somebody, you'll just be crushed and disappointed later on. You're better off not having any stage-struck kid, my heroes were heroine-type actresses’ Helen Hayes, Judy Garland, Shirley the greedy filmmakers who manipu- lated her, the other three have grown in wisdom and stature over the years. They never let me down, ordisillusioned me Could it be that the heroes who remain so are those who look upon stardom as an achievement with obligations? Do they accept responsibility for their behavior as part of success? Do the rare and honorable politicians, athletes and entertainers say to themselves at times of temptation, “I must remember who Tam"? Perhaps it's time to bury“tellit likeit is” journalism.I hadthatfeeling the other day when I read that AbrahamLincoln, a hero I considered absolutely indestructible, supposedly had a venerealdisease in his youth and may have unknowingly passed it onto his wife and sons. Have the eager-to-tell-and-sell authors and peephole journalists dug up more than wereally want to or need to know? Does anything go in the nameof“truth” and to show that heroes have humanfrailties? Toppling heroes diminishesall of us. It gives us lesser mortals less to strive for. I personally don’t believe you can live a full life without a hero. Just as there can be no happiness without something to look forwardto, there can be noinspiration without some‘onetolook upto. (NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN.) Washington Window Jack Anderson Foreign Policy Irritates Reagan By HELEN THOMAS UPI White House Reporter WASHINGTON (UPI) — In his first six months in office. President Reaganhasdefined the direction of his domestic policy bringing with him views he has held since he changed his politics from Democrat to Republican But his foreign policy remains nebulous in the eyes of many observers and Reagan is touchy about thecriticism Atapolitical dinnerin honorofIl- linois Gov. Jim Thompson last week, Reagan said the press has been ‘overly concerned because I haven't made a ‘major foreign policy address.” “Their automatic assumption.” he said “‘is that until Ido we don't havea foreign policy.”” In defense of his conduct of foreign affairs, Reagan said he did not believe it is necessary to spell out in detail and in advance a formula thatwill guide his every move in international relations “Basically good foreign policy is the use of good common sense in dealing with friends and potential adversaries’ he said. “We know where we're going and think it might be counterproductive to make a speech about it.” But aside from a buildup in the military establishment and his anticommunist thrust, Reagan appears to be playing it by ear and with luck. In the Middle East like so many ofhis predecessors he dispatched a troubleshooter to help put outa fire in Lebanon. And veteran diplomat Philip Habib managed to dampen some tensions with shuttle diplomacy. Butclearlyit is a BandAid. and hasnorelation to a permanentsolution for peace in the Middle fast In the beginning the adminis- tration waffled on whetherit would support the Camp David accords initiated by President JimmyCarter But for lack of its own concrete remedies for that tinderbox region. Reagan has embraced a continuation of the process. In Africa, the administration has alienated the front line countries which had become morefriendly to the United States. The African leaders nolonger are convincedthat the United States will continue to Support majority rule in viewof the closer ties Reagan is establishing with South Africa During a recent trip to Asia, Secretary of State Alexander Haig seemed to be tearing a page out of the “60s and ‘70s in termsof Pacific power and Vietnam. In Europe, Reagan has established a moreforceful image and he gets along fine with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, but attempts to lecture Francois Mitterand after the socialist French president took four communists into the government. hardlysat well with Elysee Palace. There are tests ahead in the near future. Reagan will attend his first major international meeting with the heads of six other Western industrialized nationslater this month in Ottowa. It will bethefirst face-totace meeting between Reagan and Mitterand and the spotlight will be O'Connor Foes ‘on both men. As for the East-Westtensions, no one doubts that Reagan has taken a tougher stance against the Russians. Much of the rhetoric is reminiscent of the Cold War era as rsonified by John Foster Dulles fetore the age of co-existence was ushered in by Dwight Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev Moreover Reagan is still plagued by friction within his own ranks. While Haig seems to have been given free rein to run the State Department, thereis a lack of coordination with White Houseaides. Reagangetshis daily morningintelligence briefings from national security affairs adviser Richard Allen whose profile has been rising recently, The president also relies on White House counselor Edwin Meese to guide foreign policy, althoughhis past experience has been in the law enforcementfield And until Reagan himself shows that he is on top of foreign policy Americans and foreigners will remain confused on the subject. The Lighter Side Shop Talk at Bar's Boring By DICK WEST WASHINGTON (UPI) — Working Woman magazinethis month kas an article on ‘Alcoholism in the Workplace.” Drinking during working hours is a big problem I don't doubt, but so is its counterpart — working during drinking hours. Yet how many magazines devote articlestothe latter? While my experience may not be typical, I estimate that for every one person I've known whodrank on the job I've met five who talked shop while drinking There are few things, I can tell you, more disconcerting than to si- dle up to a bar and find yourself Seated between two grinds Usually briefcases rest against the railing at their feet. In front of them, just to the left of their highbal! glasses are stacks of paperwork Attempts to engagesuch conventional barroomconv are doomed You mention the baseball strike Theyraise a hand in mute protest against the interrruption and make it clear they are only interested in shoptalk. It’s a real drag I can condone eager beavers tak: ing work home with them oc- casionally, But when they start bringing it into taverns cocktail lounges or whatever. theyaregoing too far To my knowledge no magazine has addressed this problem directly either as a trial or an appellate judge. ¢Contrary to media reports, she never has attended or spokenat a women's rights conference on abortion,”’ she told Starr. ¢ “In 1973, (as an Arizona state senator), she requested the preparation of a bill, which was subsequently enacted, which gave theright to hospitals, physicians and medical personnelnotto participate in abortions if the institution or individual chose not to do so,” she assured Starr. The sameyear, she co-sponsored sue. along with the on “Alcoholism in the Workplace there is a thoughtful treatise on ‘Workaholies at Play. Perhaps without meaning to, the latter dissertation provides what may be rare insights into why s manyworkers insist on talking shop during the “happyhour Most workaholicsare unable, not just unwilling to get away from it all,” the magazine says. “Any thought of rest or relaxation frightens workaholics This mayexplain much of the shop bill to expand the state university's sports facilities. In 1970, she told Starr she was on the senate committee that voted on a state House bill that would have repealed criminal sanctions against abortion. ‘Thereis no record of how Senator O'Connorvoted, andshe indicated that she hasno recollection of how she voted,” Starr wrotein his memo. = Finally, Starr wrote the attorney general, ‘Judge O'Connor further indicated, in response to my questions, that she had never been a leader or outspoken advocate on behalf ofeither pro-life or abortionrights organizations. She knows well the Arizona leader of the right-tolife movement, a prominent female physician in Phoenix, and has never had any disputes or controversies with her.”’ The natureof Starr's questions — and the defense quality of Judge 0’Connor's responses — show both the Reagan administration and the Judge herself are aware of the explosive potential in the abortion issue. Atthis point, it seemsto be the only weapon the O'Connor opponents have, and they undoubtedly will use it to belabor herat the confirmation hearings legislation that would permit state Copyright, 1981 United Feature Syndicate, Inc About Letter magazine are not workaholics”’ in the classic meaning of the word They are leisurephobes I'm not saying workaholics don’t Feedback is. intended Daily Herald r with an: in which they can diseuss issues of broad exist. I'm not implying they don't need psychiatric help. I'm just community interest and importance tn that spirit, The Daily: Herald welcomes let ers to Feedbac 4 community interest ‘workaholic probubly is the most over-worked takes them longer to do it planning” activities. ‘The bill made no express mention of abortion and was not viewed by then Senator 0O’Connor as an abortion measure,” shetold Starr. In any event, thebill died in committee In 1974, O'Connorvoted against a bill that would haveprohibited abortions at any educational facility under the jurisdiction of the Arizona Board of Regents. O'Connor explained to Starr, according to his memo,that she voted on grounds that the state constitution forbade legislation deaiing with two unrelated subjects; the abortion ban was an amendmentto a bond-issue agencies to take part in ‘family talk you hear in drinking places. But it is errant terminology The people described by the word {o enter the language since hippie. It was intended I gather to iden. tify people whoareaddicted to work people whocan't leavetoil alone. But in practice, it has been widely misapplied. Time and again, for example. it has been applied to workers who are inordinately slow. Such people aren't true ‘workaholics’ in the sense of loving their work. It just WASHINGTON — A memorandum, intended only for the eyes of President Reagan and Attorney General William French Smith, describes two eleventh-hour telephonecalls to Judge Sandra Day O'Connor seeking reassurance on her views about abortion. Thetelephonecalls were made — at White House request — by Kenneth W. Starr, counselor and principal adviser to the atte: aey general. bined Both phonecalls were made July 6,butit is not clear whetherthey occurred before or after President: Reagan's owg call the samedavto Judge O’Connor,telling her she was his choice for the Supreme Court. The memodated Tuesday, the day Reagan announced the appointment — an indication of last-minute doubts about O'Connor's views on abortion and concern about the political furor they have indeed aroused. O'Connor hasdeclined to discuss her views on abortion or anything else with the press, sayingit will all comeoutat her confirmation hearings. But here is what Starr quoted herastelling him *She had never had occasion to tule on anyissuerelatedto abortion, But Working Woman at least approaches it obliquely. In July pointing out that Focus on Abortion 3A © 10m by NEA in Gr~ Corr, “TONIGHT, I'm celebrating the possibility of an oil‘glut.”’ And being afraidto relax definite- lyis not the same thing as being ad- dicted to work. It just sounds that way v hall of typewritten. 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