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Show Smith Hemp;tone Saturday Morning March 9, First Srrtion 1974 Oil Crisis Brings Woe for Nations pa2e 18 Reasonable Minimum Pay Increase Justified by Industry Statistics In the 36 years since enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1998 the federal minimum wage has risen from 25 cents an hour to $1 (0 an hour. fig-tire- d eight-year-ol- support nor the affection of their countrymen. With the indictment of seven of his closest associates on Watergate charges and a populanty rating that continues to hover at 27 percent. President Nixon's second term, which began with a massive mandate. Advocates of realistic minimum wage coverage continue to stress the need to sustain national purchasing power and thereby combat recession; to advance the natioral health and welfare by abolishing substandard wages, and to protect from competition those firms which pay good wages. Based on experience, it is obvious that the minimum must be brought into line with the average wage in manufacturing if the minimum wage concept is to have any meaning. Thus a raise to $2 an hour, 48 percent of the average, is in order Also based on experience of ever expanding coverage, the proposed extensions included in the minimum wage bill passed by the Senate Thursday seem inevitible though there is room for compromise this year. The same is true on the overtime and youth minimum issues d Opponents of the minimum w'age concept have argued from the beginning that it works . against low skdl people because rather than jmy the minimum, employers will eliminate J the jobs or lorn to machines. There is eva- Hence to support that contention. is saying that if the ; The administration coverage is broadened to include some six million additional employes such as certain retail workers and housemaids, that many of ' these people will soon be without jobs at all. 7 7 7 Yet, the Missouri philosopher is absolutely correct in his assessment of innocent exuberance. While the whole idea of bolting j nude across a college campus, through a classroom, in the back door and out the front of a restaurant or any other variation on the same theme is somewhat repulsive, it is hard to find anything particularly sinister about the craze. It might be disgusting, to a degree, but it is refreshing. And above all it is a grateful reprieve from the tedious serv- ings of gnm political news and constant disasters. i I-- a Another Viewpoint . Bon Voyage To Campus Unorthodoxy ' From The Chicago Tribune It has been 10 years since the at the University of California at Berkeley, and many of the academic standards that went into are emerging from the partial eclipse since shadows, tt wasnt that college classes during this period were pieponderantly revolutionary, they weren't. But even so the administrations of college after college yielded to the demands of rebels and made changes that have proved unwanted and un-wise, and are now fading fast. For example, consider Brown University at Providence. A special New York Times article by Robert Remhold recently detailed the fall and re- vival of standards familiar before the fevers of the late 60s. In 1969 the student president helped enact a wide range of now vanishing reforms at Brown. The current student president says, I represent the mainstream of student sentiment in seeking career goals and moving away from mtel-iectual fingerpainting. People realize that the world is a competitive place g I4 7 I 7 I 7 . j 7 7 7 7 f- t V - In 19b9, passfail grading was m at Brown, along with new courses about modes of thought. and independent study. Now modes of thought of--I fonngs have shrunk from 84 to 43, students asking for passfail grading have diminished from 63 percent to 36 percent, and only 10 percent want any of the independent study offerings The contemporary Brown student wants significant ratings on work that has some recognizable meaning for admissions offices and employers ratings and work, too, that motivate him and nourish his For another example, one nght at home, note the summary dismissal of black studies" recently by Maceo Bowie, president of overwhelmingly black Kennedy-KinCollege on Chicago's South I will treat black studies as any other Side: g program." Says President Bowie-Blacpeople need doctors, lawyers, architects, Black youths find majoring m and businessmen. science or business more rewarding than concentrating on black history or Swahdi A recent tabulation of career choices by i olloge students showed business leading eery other category. having gained much in popularity since 16. The New Left has lost its appeal to '.oday' college students. The following severe words are quoted from Prof. Lewis S. Feuer of the UniverThe feeling spread that the acsity of Toronto tivist youth were destructivist idlers, and even hypocrites, who lived on other people's work . . It becomes apparent to all but the wilfully naive were obsessed that the New Leftist culture-heroe- s hatred and cruelty , . . with generation-directeThe atmosphere of exalted excitement over the revolutionary vocation of youth has largely subsided " dead-en- d d In France, where inflation is raging at an annual rate of 20 percent. President feorges Pompidou last week fired his pnme minister. Pierre Mesxmer, then reappointed him six hours later, apparently unable to think of anything better to do. Picture in Germany In Germany, Chancellor W'llly Brandt's Socialists have lost their majority m Hamburg, a city-stathey have held since 1957, and their national populanty has slipped from 49 percent in 1972 to te 35 There will always be occasion American higher education. But it worthless panaceas exploded, the reason and standards repudiated, types succeeded not by wdder-eyed Concerning Alistair Cooke, ho needs an Englishman to tell us about our presidents? He is as Edward Kennedy was to the English, a pain m the neck Editor, Tribune: Parade. March 3- A Mr. Nixons problem is that he keeps hiring Democrats, evidently to help gam them support But, the Democrats, like the Arabs, can not be appeased, and they are stilt smarting from the resounding defeat dealt them by the American and seeking revenge Once Mr public in 1972 wild-eyed ones, but by position either by telephone or personal contact Furthermore, the fact that some crank calls of an irresponsible nature were recieved by the legislators can in no way be lain at his feet. g profit KARL J. BR AY Wants New Faces the in local voters to voice opposition to the bill was strictly within Mr Salter's constitutional rights. At no time did I ever hear Mr. Salter remotely suggest the citizenry do other than voice their op- The additional fact, however, that some legislators would try to deprive Mr. Salter of his freedom of speech is a most heinous act particularly when it emanates from a body If these persons are the supposed upholders of our Constitution, they would do well to at least Forum Rules read and understand same, before sweanng to upPublic Fonm letters must be submitted hold its contents. I am more convinced than ever exclusively to The Tribune and bear writers full before that a new face m every place in politics name, signature and address. Names mnst be be the motto of alt voters in coming elecshould printed on political letters but may be withheld for good reasons on others. Writers are Limited to tions BILL ROBIS one letter every 10 days. Preference will be given to short, typewritten (double spaced) idlers perNot Exceeding Growth mitting use of the writer's true name. Alt letters Editor. Tnbune: David A King (Forum, March are subject to condensation. 2) deserves an answer from those m the lumber and cattle industry First, regarding the stockmen Nixon realizes he has hued an incompetent, he he fires him And the Democrats and pre'S have a protecting his herd from predators. Yes, likewise the control to the predators, attempted political heyday merchant protects his store from the thief by lockMr Nixon found Dr Kissinger. Dr Kissinger ing the door and the banker places his mone.y in brought an end to our involvement ai Vietnam, the safe Second, the pioneer did cut and burn and our POW s, too and brought our men home many trees to clear land for food crops. The I remember the other party only escalated the paper industry, not people, has acquned a good war Many of them, very vocally, wanted to appetite for wood chip People still like food and abandon our POWs. Possibly because they really food crops do not grow well in old growth forests. didn't want the public to know the truth Dr KisCertain native species of hardwoods have besinger has also helped stop the Middle East come scarce and high priced only because people conflict, although for how long is hard to say the product Species of softwood have demanded tlate is a hard thing to reason with, as is evident become also high paced but mainly because of the in the press. so called ecologist" has prevented the sale of The Democrats gave us Vietnam and domestic timber by the Forest Service to the industry Overturmoil The Republicans gave us Watergate. It's timber is going to waste and ripe a matter of pnonties I'd lots rather have our today because it is not being cut. Is this conservamen at home, and I wish all those who died there tion' Do we leave the apple on the tree when ripe were still alive Dont you? or do we harvest the fruif 0 B ANDERSON If the Forest Service can sell timber at a reasonable pace the consumer can buy lumber and paper at a fair pnee Praises Stand Wild game thrives in a young forest An old Editor. Tnbune: Believing that a man ought to giowlh forest has no growing vegetation on its floor thus no v Jd animats and nothing except praise editorial comment that is rational and just, and that he ought to condemn editonal comment large trees to hold moisture Before the days of advocating controls and the destruction of properthe lumber industry we had forest fires to denude ty rights, I hasten to praise the anomalous Tribour forest lands and kill the weak animals not able une editonal of March I. which advocated the to escape. We are still growing trees faster than freedom of oil companies (property owners) to we are harvesting make a profit by selling their products at current We are practicing limited conservation but we pnee lev els could be conservative by harvesting our tree crops The Tnbune has wisely recognized that men as it npens. will not produce products foi consumers in the REX M ZE1GER marketplace unless they stand to make a profit by Forest Products Sales doing so, obviously, more oil will not be produced Murray by instituting a pnee rollback m the petroleum in Doubtful Reliability dustry I urge and tncourage more of this kind of adEditor, Tnbune It is a wise thing that Gov vocacy journalism The great struggle to win a Rampton did not decide to swap for a Honda new liberty for ourselves in this country will be Mine has been in the shop five times in five assisted enormously by editorials forthnghtlv monthNfmce I bought it standing for the nghto to property, trade and Damn thing won't start prosecutable offense1 for reform people who recognize the value of standards and willing to work to meet them ;re percent today. The list of countries where there is no clear political consensus is lengthy and worldwide: Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ethiopia, to name a few. Men are Home is good to see r treat from careers. Mr. 36th government in the past 30 years a bndes souffle the other day when like collapsed Treasury Minister Ugo La Malfa was unable to convince his colleagues of the necessity to curb government spending and domestic credit. Editor. Tnbune. Even if the Land Use Bill was the greatest thing to come along since Superman. Batman or Mickey Mouse. I would be totally and unequivocally opposed to its passage because of recent actions of some state legislators to intimidate, or worse yet, muzzle a local radio An attempt has teen made to commentator procure complaint through the Salt Lake County Attorneys office against Bob Sailer of Radio Station KSXX Since when has unwillingness to cooperate" with a most lousy bill which was through the legislature become a e x Italy's But this is not to say that there has been and is no room for improvemen. ai higher education. The selfishness of entrenched faculties can afflict students after the silly '60s. as it did before. One Brown University professor characterized the as long as faculty mood of 1969 as laissez-fairyou don't make me do anything you can do whatever you want " Too many processors are masters of avoiding doing anything for tneir students, and of indifference to everything except their personal I Who governs Bntain? the rhetoncal question: and got his answer: Nobody Labor party leader Harold Wilson, who will ad a minonty government. has the single consolation that his occupancy of No 10 Downing Street will be of short duration. The Public Forum Another refreshing aspect of the whole thing has been the rational approach of law enforcement officers. This has been best expressed by University of Utah Pobce Chief Wayne D. Shepherd. He said, Its a childish prank, but Id rather have students streaking than burning down buildings. And not a man to ignore the situations humor, he added, Its a rage across the country just like a dress fad or an undress fad His decision that U. campus officers arent going to overreact to streaking, but neither will they turn their back on it is equally commendable. Streaking students are violating the law. Not only in Utah, where it is a Class B misdemeanor, but across the country If collegians, of both gender, want to risk fines and possible jail terms for the sake of outraging large parts of society, in what admittedly is a humorous fashion, thy must realistically expect to suffer the consequences. Their only hope will probably come in the form of u judge who in his college days was anchorman on a gold fish eating team or was the last person shoved into a bursting at the seams telephone booth. , i , y What Congress and the President must avoid is the impasse they reached last year over much the same issues which led to a veto and no upward adjustment of the out of date $1 GO minunum. At first blush we incline to full agreement with Umversity of Missouri phdosophy pro- fessor William Boldeson when he said, It's just innocent exuberance. One good blizzard and the whole thing will come to an end." But, when we heard about the University of Alaskas streaker we can give the profes-- 7 sor only half an endorsement. streaked" the The Alaskan collegian Fairbanks campus when the mercury was hovering at the minus 8 mark This casts considerable doubt on Prof. Boldesons pre-diction concerning the effects one good blizzard will have on the latest college fad - In a B'darn staggering along on a three-daPrime Minister Edward Heath posed A Streak of Relief I - , work-wee- cut-thro- a The question then, is not u hether, but how much. And it is not atone a matter of how much extra money but how many additional people to bang under minimum wage coverage. It is on this latter issue and several kindred ones, that the Democrat controlled Congress and the Nixon administration are at odds. Syndicate s command neither the employment of young people in low skill jobs. The administration's arguments reflect the basic claim that extended coverage and excessive overtime requirements will cost jobs with the net result that instead of Helping the worker great harm will be inflicted. As of November, 1973 the average wage in manufacturing was $4 15 an hour. The present minimum, set in 1966. is only 38 percent of the average. Hardly anyone disputes that if there is going to be a minimum it shood be a realistic one. And hardly anyone argues that minimum is realistic "odays Star-New- At a time when the world WASHINGTON faces virtually unprecedented economic problems, the reins of political control rest in the tremulous ' -- '""t' who grasp of politicians ' X,' . President Nixon also opposes repealing cu,rent exemptions in mandatory overtime payments for public employes such as firemen and seasonal workers and he wants a special youth minimum (85 percent of the regular minimum wage) to encourage the Traditionally, the minimum wage has out at about 45 percent of the average wage xn manufacturing Thus, if factory workers were averaging $2 19 an hour, as they were m 1959, the mmimu:.i wage should be jl, which it was. ; Washington steam-rollere- d I consider myself, by the way, fairly authoritative regarding the Bob Setter show- - I am a regu- lar listener The fact that Mr. Salter was urging The governor would always be late for work, too But I'm told it II ge' you there, eventually JIM URE Still Burns Editor. Tnbune We noticed this evening that Mountain Fuel has still not turned off their neon sign that spins on top of their downtown building We fee') the irony of a fuel company sign stilt glaring forth while the rest of the city skyline quitted because of the fuel shortage has-bee- How beautiful it would be to see twilight and sunset over a city ihak ai least appears to have visual purpose other than a perpetual advertisement of the outrageously commercial society weve become Our sincere question to Mountain Fuel. How about a little cmc spint LI. .'DA KESLER ERY ANT JENSEN Nor is it just a question of the outs versus In nation after nation, the electorates ins are abandoning the traditional political parties. In Liberal party was the big Bntain, the pocket-sizewinner m the Conservative debacle; in this country, Democratic incumbents are almost as womed as their Republican colleagues about the fallout from Watergate. The Same Problems tb" d There-- are certain common strands m this worldwide political ensis. Most of the countnes named are afflicted by political scandals, rampagdeficits, minoriing inflation, ty unrest, a lack of chansmutic political leadership and shortages of basic commodities, particularly fuel. balance-of-paymen- ts All of these problems have existed for years in the West, albeit to a lesser degree. But the energy ensis has magnified them and, to a certain extent, made them unmanageable. The people appear to have come to the conclusion that they no longer are the masters of their own destinies, that the old system of political alliances no longer is capable of making things work. here there is stability, it is the false statvhty authontanamsm. And even m Francos Spam, Brezhnevs Soviet Union and Maos China, there are murmunngs of dissent and forebodings of W of economic dislocation. Blame Oil Price The truth is that the worlds political leaders have not yet identified the pnncipal problem that we face, let alone devised a plan to deal with t is tha pace of oil, not the shortage of it. If Middle Eastern oil that costs 15 cents per barrel to produce is to be allowed to continue to sell for $8 per barrel, there is no way a worldwide economic dislocation can be avoided Such a pnee wipes out all the benefits of economic aid to underdeveloped countries, distorts the price structure of the developed nations and necessaniy will lead to inflation and unemployment. it-I- Beyond this specific and practical problem, of course, lies that of the general malaise, the feeling that the times are out of joint, that democraTo date, if thr Western cy has failed democracies have shown Little talent for solving their problems, they have at least demonstrated a capacity to muddle through. But a climate such as the one m which the world now finds itself is one in which messiahs and men on white horses flounsh. It may be, as Oswald Spengler suggested as long ago as 1928, that the decline of Western civilization is an irreversible fact. |