SPAN: September 1979

A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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XX NUMBER

1979

9

2 'We Are at a Turning Point in Our History' 5 10 The Tiger and the Taj Mahal

by President Jimmy Carter

One of the rewards of editing SPAN is corresponding with our readers. Their letters are mostly, though unfortunately not always, appreciative. SPAN welcomes both appreciation and criticism; since it is a group effort by Indians and Americans, editors, artists, photographers and production men, the praise in a curious fashion is enlarged when all of us share it, the dispraise spread thin, and hence happily less wounding.

SPAN has from time to time been caught by readers in obvious and not-so~obvious errors; we have hastened to make corrections, in the next issue of the magazine or in personal correspondence. In one issue, as a number of readers hastened to inform us, we located a bird sanctuary in the wrong state; in another (horrendous blunder!) we printed a back cover upside down. (It was in the May 1979 issue. You will have to look very closely to catch the error that a hawk-eye reader called to our attention.)

But these are venial, pardonable sins, and our readers have accepted our apologies with good grace. What SPAN has not been able to reconcile some of our ablest and brightest readers to is (what they consider to be) egregious lapses in style. We have had lengthy and fascinating exchanges with several knowledgeable readers about the proper use of the English language. We have unfortunately not been able to convince our critics that the latitude we allow our . writers, the neologisms and slang and NOUN OR VERB? elisions and illogicalities we consent to, are not simply ignorant American barbarisms. Now, we admit to and regret an occasional instance of journalistic writing that is really bad, a slip that passes by our editorial vigilance. But we have no objection to-and actually are pleased with-new uses for old words that seem to us to revivify the language we Americans share with India as well as England.

Thus, in a recent exchange with a thoughtful and careful reader, we have defended the use of "host" and "research" as verbs (as in "The East Side Club hosted a convention" or "The class researched the influence of environment on attitudes"). Our correspondent has cited eminent authorities, including several American ones, who have pointedly disapproved of these very usages as inelegant and/or strained.

But we remain unconvinced of the error of our populist ways.

Of course, we do not believe that the popular speech is sacrosanct, that the voice of the people, however mistaken, is the voice of God. But we wish SPAN to convey to our Indian readers something of the liveliness and variousness of American life. That is why we are quite willing to pass along informal, unbuttoned language when the occasion permits if.

(American English is much freer in this respect than the Queen's English.) We all accept many kinds of dance forms as expressions of different aspects of our culture, be it Indian or American: classical dance, folk dance, even popular, film dance. Why cannot we make room for jargon, argot, slangeven bureaucratese-in written culture?

But SPAN's is obviously not the last word on style. We welcome readers' comments on this and other aspects of the -J.S. magazine.

by Sunil K. Roy

12 16

22 26 30

How Good Is the Quality of Life in America?

Americans Still Cling to Traditional Values

by Everett C. Ladd, Jr.

The Long Hard Road to a White House Fellowship

by Richard L. Williams

33 37 38

40 42 45 46 49

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Affirmative Action for Blacks How the Third World Gains from the Tokyo Round

by Stephen L. Lande

Front cover: Tradition is stronger in America than most people realize. Basic social values, such as the commitment to equality, freedom, individualism and private enterprise, have endured over the years. In fact they have changed little since the time 18th century American hunter-pioneer Daniel Boone escorted early settlers through the Cumberland Gap into undiscovered territory in the American southwest-a scene illustrated in this famous painting by George Caleb Bingham. See pages 16-21 for an assessment of traditional American values.

Back cover: A trainer coaches a four-year-old at California's Mission Vijeo Swim Club, the top training center in the United States. See also page 49.

JACOB SLOAN, Editor; JAY W. GILDNER, Publisher.

Managing Editor: Chidananda Das Gupta. Assistant Managing Editor: S.R. Madhu.

Editorial Staff: Krishan Gabrani, Aruna Dasgupta, Nirmal Sharma, Murari Saha, Rocque Fernandes. Art Director: Nand Katyal. Art Staff: Gopi Gajwani, B. Roy Choudhury, Kanti Roy. Chief of Production: Awtar S. Marwaha. Photo Editor: Avinash Pasricha. Photographic Services: ICA Photo Lab. Published by the International Communication Agency, American Center, 24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi iIOOOI, on behalf of the American Embassy, New Delhi. The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Government. Printed

by H.K. Mehta at Thomson Press (India) Limited, Faridabad, Haryana.

Photographs: Front cover-courtesy Washington University Gallery of Art, St. Louis, Missouri, Inside front coverKeno Duncan. 7-courtesy National Coal Association. 8 bottom, left-Lowell Georgia; right, center-Ashwin Gatha. lO-Avinash Pasricha.' II-LD. Beri. 12-courtesy Manpower MCigazine, Department or Laoor. 13-Cathy Beasley; Russ Hamilton, courtesy Cornell University. 14 top-Yale Joel; bottom, left-courtesy The Furrow. 15 top- William Choi; top, right-Cathy Beasley. 16-Paul Salmon. 21-Brian Lanker, LIFE magazine © 1978Time Inc. 23-25Yoichi R. Okamoto. 27-courtesy Metromedia Producers Corporation. 28 top,left-© 1978 Universal City Studios, Inc; right-courtesy CBS Television; bottom (2)-© Walt Disney Productions. 33-Christopher Springmann; inset-courtesy of Three Rivers Arts Festival. 34·35 clockwise from top, left-Christopher Springmann; courtesy of Owens·Corning; Susan Lohwasser; Katrina Thomas; Christopher Springmann; courtesy of Owens-Corning. 36courtesy of Three Rivers; courtesy of Owens-Corning; courtesy of the University of Northern Iowa. 40-Layle Silbert, 49 and back cover-Christopher Springmann.

~WEAREAT A TURNING POINT IN OUR HISTORY' This is a special night for me.

Exactly three years ago, on July 15, 1976, I accepted the nomination of my party to run for President of the United States. I promised you a President who is not isolated from the people-who feels your pain and shares your dreams and draws his strength and his wisdom from you.

During the past three years, I have spoken to you on many occasions about national concerns - the energy crisis, reorganizing the government, our nation's economy and issues of warand especially peace.

But over those years, the subjects of the speeches, the talks and the press conferences have become increasingly narrow, focused more and more on what the isolated world of Washington thinks is important. Gradually, you have heard more and more about what the government thinks or what the government should be doing-and less and less about our nation's hopes, our dreams and our vision of the future.

Ten days ago, I had planned to speak to you again-about a very important subject-energy.

For the fifth time, I would have described the urgency of the problem and laid out a series of legislative recommendations to the Congress.

But as I was preparing to speak, I began to ask myself the same question that I know has been troubling many of you: Why have we not been able to get together as a nation to resolve our serious energy problem? It is clear that the true problems of our nation are much deeper-¡ deeper than gasoline lines or energy shortages, deeper even than inflation or recession. And I realized-more than ever-that, as President, I need your help.

So I decided to reach out and listen to the voices of America. I invited to Camp David people from almost every segment of our society-business and labor; teachers and preachers; governors, mayors and private citizens. Then I left Camp David to listen to other Americans-men and women like you. It has been an extraordinary 10 days, and I want to share with you what I have heard.

First of all, I got a lot of personal advice. Let me quote a few of the typical comments that I wrote down: This from a Southern governor: "Mr. President, you're not leading this nation-you're just managing the government."

"Y ou don:t see the people enough any more."

"Some of your Cabinet members don't seem loyal. There is not enough discipline among your disciples."

"Don't talk to us about politics or the mechanics of government, but about an understanding of our common good."

"Mr. President, we're in trouble. Talk to us about blood, sweat and tears."

"If you lead, Mr. President, we will follow."

Many people talked about themselves-and about the condition of our nation.

This from a young woman in Pennsylvania: "I feel so far from government. I feel like ordinary people are excluded from political power."

•. We've got to stop crying and start sweating,. stop talking and start walking; stop cursing and start praying. The strength we need will come not from the White House, but from every house,in America."

And this from a young Chicano: "Some of us have suffered from recession all our lives."

"Some people have wasted energy, but others haven't had anything to waste."

And this from a religious leader: "No material shortage can touch the important things, like God's love for us or our love for one another."

I like this one particularly from a black woman who happens to be the mayor of a small Mississippi town: "The big shots are not the only ones who are important. Remember, you can't sell anything on Wall Street unless someone digs it up somewhere else first."

This kind of summarized a lot of other statements: "Mr. President; we are confronted with a moral and spiritual crisis."

Several of our discussions were on energy, and I have a notebook full of comments and advice. I'll read jU,sta few.

"We can't go on consuming 40 per cent more energy than we produce."

"When we import oil, we're also importing inflation plus unemployment."

"We've got to use what we have. The Middle East has only 5 per cent of the world's energy, but the United States has 24 per cent."

And this is one of the most vivid statements: "Our neck is stretched over the fence, and OPEC [the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries] has the knife."

"There will be other cartels and other shortages. American wisdom and courage right now can set a path to follow in the future."

This was a good one: "Be bold, Mr. President.

We may make mistakes, but we are ready to experiment. " And this from a labor leader got to the heart of it: "The real issue is freedom."

"We must deal with the energy problem on a war footing."

And the last that I'll read: "When we enter the moral equivalent of war, Mr. President, don't issue us BB guns."

These 10 days confirmed my belief in the decency and strength and wisdom of the American people. But it also bore out some of my long-standing concerns about our nation's underlying problems.

I know, of course, being President, that government actions and legislation can be very important. That's why I have worked hard to put my campaign promises into law-and, I have to admit, with just m.ixed success. But after listening to the American people, I have been reminded again that all the legislation in the world can't fix what's wrong with America.

So, I want to speak to you first tonight about a subject even more serious than energy or inflation.

I want to talk to you-right now-about a fundamental threat to American democracy.

I do not mean our political and civil liberties.

They will endure. And I do not refer to the outward strength of America, a nation that is at peace tonight everywhere in the world, with unmatched economic power and military might.

The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways.

It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart, soul and spirit of our national will.We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.

The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the

On July 15, 1979, President Jimmy Carter appeared on national television to make one of the most momentous speeches of his Presidency. Analyzing "the crisis of the spirit" of the American people, he urged unity and sacrifice to overcome it. He also proposed a comprehensive six-point charter of energy independence, designed to reduce oil imports, promote conservation, and develop nonpetroleum sources, ranging from shale oil to the sun. The charter called for the most massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in American history.

political fabric of America.

The confidence that we have always had as a people is not simply some romantic dream, or a proverb in a dusty book that we read just on the Fourth of July. It is the idea which founded our nation and has guided our development as a people. Confidence in the future has supported everything else-public institutions and private enterprise, our own families and the very Constitution of the United States.

Confidence has defined our course and served as the link between generations. We have always believed in something called progress.

We have always had a faith that the days of our children would be better than our own.

Our people are losing that faith-not only in government itself, but in the ability of citizens to serve as the ultimate rulers and shapers of our democracy. As a people, we know our past and are proud of it. Our progress has been part of the living history of America, even the world.

We always believed that we were part of a great movement of humanity itself called democracy, involved in the search for freedomand that belief has always strengthened us in our purpose. But just as we are losing our confidence in the future, we are also beginning to close the door on our past.

In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, closeknit communities and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns.

But we have discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We have learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose.

The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us.

For the first time in the history of our country, a majority of our people believe that the next fiveyears will be worse than the past fiveyears.

Two-thirds of our people do not even vote.

The productivity of American workers is actually dropping, and the willingness of Americans to save for the future has fallen below that of all other people in the Western world.

As you know, there is a growing disrespect for government, and for churches, and for schools, the news media and other institutions.

This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning.

These changes did not happen overnight. They have come upon us gradually, over the last generation-years that were filled with shocks and tragedy.

We were sure that ours was a nation of the ballot, not the bullet-until the murders of John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. We were taught that our armies were always invincible and our causes were always justonly to suffer the agony of Vietnam.

We respected the Presidency as a place of honor-until the shock of Watergate.

We remember when the phrase "sound as a dollar" was an expression of dependabilityuntil 10 years of inflation began to shrink our dollar and our savings.

We believed that our nation's resources were limitless-until 1973, when we had to face our growing dependence on foreign oil.

These wounds are still very deep. They have never been healed.

Looking for a way out of this crisis, our people have turned to the Federal Government and found it isolated from the mainstream of

"On the battlefield of energy, we can win our nation a new confidence-and we can seize control of our common destiny."

our nation's life. Washington, D.C., has become an island. The gap between our citizens and our government has never been so wide.

The American people are looking for honest answers, not easy answers-clear leadership, not false claims, evasiveness and politics as usual. What you see too often in Washington' and elsewhere around the country is a system of government that seems incapable of action.

You see a Congress twisted and pulled in every direction by hundreds of well-financed and powerful special interests. You see every extreme position defended to the last vote, almost to the last breath, by one unyielding group or another. You often see a balanced and a fair

approach that demands sacrifice, a little sacrifice from everyone, abandoned like an orphan without support and without friends. Often you see paralysis and stagnation and drift. y ("Ill don't like it, and neither do I. What can we do?

First of all, we must face the truth-and then we can change our course. We simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern ourselves, and faith in the future of this nation.

Restoring that faith and confidence to America is now the most important task we face-it is a true challenge of this generation of Americans.

One of the visitors to Camp David last week put it this way: "We've got to stop crying and. start sweating; stop talking and start walking; stop cursing and start praying. The strength we need will come not from the White House, but from every house in America."

We know the strength of America. We are strong. We can regain our unity. We can regain our confidence. We are the heirs of generations who survived threats much more powerful and awesome than those that challenge us now. Our fathers and mothers were strong men and women who shaped a new society during the Great Depression; who fought world wars and carved out a new charter of peace for the world.

We ourselves are the same Americans who just 10 years ago put a man on the moon. We are the generation that dedicated our society to the pursuit of human rights and equality.

And we are the generation that will win the war on the energy problem-and in that process rebuild the unity and confidence of America.

We are at a turning point in our history.

There are two paths to choose.

One is the path I have warned about tonightthe path that leads to fragmentation and selfinterest. Down that road lies a mistaken idea of freedom-the right to grasp for ourselves some advantage over others. That path would be one of constant conflict between narrow interests, ending in chaos and immobility. It is a certain route to failure.

All the traditions of our past-all the lessons of our heritage-all the promises of our future-point to another path, the path of. common purpose and the restoration of American values. That path leads to true freedom-for our nation and ourselves.

We can take the first steps down that path as we begin to solve our energy problem. Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this nation. It can also be the standard around which we rally. On the battlefield of energy. we can win our nation a new confidence~and we can seize control again of our common destiny.

In little more than two decades, we have gone from a position of energy independence to one in which almost half the oil we use comes from foreign countries-at prices that are going through the roof. Our excessive dependence on OPEC has already taken a tremendous toll of our economy and our people. This is the direct cause of the long lines which have made millions of you spend aggravating hours waiting for gasoline. It is the cause of the increased inflation and unemployment we now face. This intolerable dependence on foreign oil threatens our economic independence and the very security of our nation. The energy crisis is real. It is worldwide. It is a clear and present danger to our nation. These are facts-and we simply must face them.

What I have to say to you now about energy is simple-and vitally important.

• Point One. I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States.

Beginning this· moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977never. From now on, every new addition to our demand for energy will be met from Qur own production and our own conservation.

The generation-long growth in our dependence on foreign oil will be stopped dead in its tracks right now-and then reversed as we move to the 1980s.For I am tonight setting the further goal of cutting our dependence on foreign oil by one-half by the end of the next decade-a saving of over four and a half million barrels of imported oil per day.

• Point Two. To ensure that we meet these targets. I will use my Presidential authority to set import quotas. I am announcing tonight that for 1979 and 1980, I will forbid the entry into this country of one drop of foreign oil more than these goals allow. These quotas will en'sure a reduction in imports even below the ambitious levels we set at the recent Tokyo summit.

• Point Three. To give us energy security, I am asking for the most massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in our nation's history to develop America's own alternative sources of fuel-from coal, from oil shale, from plant products for gasohol, from unconventional gas, from the sun. I propose the creation of an Energy Security Corporation to lead this effort to replace 2.5 million barrels of imported oil per day by 1990. The Corporation will issue up to $5,000 million in energy bonds-and I especially want them to be in small denominations, so that average Americans can invest. directly in America's energy security. Just as a similar

Synthetic Rubber Corporation helped us win World War II, so too will we mobilize American determination and ability to win the energy war. Moreover, I will soon submit legislation to Congress calling for the creation of this nation's first solar bank-which will help us achieve the crucial goal of 20 per cent of our energy coming from solar power by the year 2000. These efforts will cost money, a lot of money, and that is why Congress must enact the windfall profits tax without delay. It will be money well spent. Unlike the billions, thousands of millions, of dollars we ship to foreign

countries to pay for foreign oil, these funds will be paid by Americans to Americans. These funds will go to fight-not to increase-inflation and unemployment.

• Point Four. I am asking Congress to mandate-to require as a matter of law-that our nation's utility companies cut their massive use of oil by 50 per cent within the next decade and switch to other fuels-especially coal, our most abundant energy source.

• Point Five. To make absolutely certain that nothing stands in the way of achieving these goals, I will urge Congress to create an Energy Mobilization Board which, like the War Production Board in World War II, will have the responsibility and authority to cut through the red tape, the delays and the endless roadblocks to completing key energy projects. We will protect our environment, but when this nation critically needs a refinery or a pipeline-we will build it.

• Point Six. I am proposing a bold conservation program to involve every state, county and city-and every average American-in our energy battle. This effort will permit you to build conservation into your homes and your lives-at a cost you can afford. I ask Congress to give me authority for mandatory conservation -and for standby gasoline rationing. To further conserve energy, I am proposing tonight an extra $10,000 million over the next decade to strengthen our public transportation system.

And I am asking you-for your good and for your nation's security-to take no unnecessary trips, to use car pools or public transportation whenever you can, to park your car one extra day per week, to obey the speed limit and to set your thermostats to save fuel. Every act of energy conservation like this is more than just common sense- I tell you, it is an act of patri-

otism. Our nation must be fair to the poorest among us-so we will increase aid to needy Americans to cope with rising energy prices.

We often think of conservation only in terms of sacrifice. In fact, it is the most painless and immediate way of rebuilding our nation's strength. Every gallon of oil each one of us saves is a new form of production-it gives us more freedom, more confidence, that much more control over our own lives.

So the solution of our energy crisis can also help us conquer the crisis of the spirit in our country. It can rekindle our sense of unity, our confidence in the future, and give our nation and all of us individually a new sense of purpose.

You know we can do it. We have the natural resources-we have more oil in our shale alone than several Saudi Arabias; we have more coal than any nation on earth. We have the world's highest level of technology.

We have the most skilled work force with innovative genius, and I firmly believe that we have the national will to win this war.

I do not promise you that this struggle for freedom will be easy. I do not promise a quick way out of our nation's problems, when the truth is that the only way out is an all-out effort.

What I do promise you is that I will lead our fight. And I will enforce fairness in our struggle.

And I will ensure honesty-and above all, I will act.

We can manage the short-term shortages more effectively and we will. But there are no shortterm solutions to our long-range problems.

There is simply no way to avoid sacrifice.

Just as the search for solutions to our energy shortages has led us to a new awareness of our nation's deeper problems-so our willingness to work for those solutions in energy can strengthen us to attack those deeper problems.

I will continue to travel this country, to hear the people of America. You can help me to develop a national agenda for the 1980s. I will listen.

And I will act. We will act together.

These were the promises I made three years ago-and I intend to keep them.

Little by little we can and we must rebuild our confidence. We can spend until we empty our treasuries and we may summon all the wonders of science-but we can succeed only if we tap our greatest resources: America's people, America's values and America's confidence.

I have seen the strength of America in the inexhaustible resources of our people.

In the days to come let us renew that strength in the struggle for an energy-secure nation.

In closing, let me say this: I will do my best, but I will not do it alone. Let your voice be heard. Whenever you have a chance, say something good about our country. With God's help-and for the sake of our nation-it is time for us to join hands in America.

Let us commit ourselves together to a rebirth of the American spirit.

Working together, with our common faith. we cannot fail.

0

A

lmost 10 years have passed since zealous young people were burying automobiles to celebrate the first Earth Day. A great deal has happened since then. But how much has really been .achieved?

Is our environment better than it was?

Are toxic wastes and dirty air any less of a hazard than they were in 1970? There are no simple answers. The beginning of wisdom about environmental problems is an appreciation of their complexity.

In fact, we are discovering environmental hazards today~fluorocarbons, heavy metals, asbestos fibers~that were scarcely considered hazards a few years ago.

Certainly Americans are now far better prepared to cope with pollution and other environmental degradations. The essential institutional framework for protecting ourselves and our children is in place at the Federal level. The Council on Environmental Quality is a focal point for White House policymaking, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), created in December 1970, as the strongest experimental research, standardsetting and enforcement institution of its kind in the world.

EPA has strongly influenced Japan, Canada, Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, Sweden and other countries where political leaders have decided to centralize environmental management. All of the U.S. state governments have established agencies to deal with pollution.

Some, like California's large, well-staffed Air Resources Board, enforce standards more stringent than those of the Federal Government; others are still ill-equipped to enforce any.

Since 1970, the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act has required Federal agencies to prepare environmental impact statements, spelling out all possible adverse environmental consequences, for every major Federally funded project~ dams, highways, airports, public buildings. This landmark reform, almost revolutionary in its implications, means that Federal agencies, for the first time in history, must engage in truly comprehensive decision making, taking into account a broad range of socia~ and economic factors seldom considered in the past.

The Council on Environmental Quality monitors the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process. Thousands of these documents are filed each year routinely.

All too often, this procedure, in which experts compile mountains of excessively detailed data, has become a burden.

Copies must be available to all interested

parties; it is this public disclosure requirement that provides the operative force behind the EIS process by offering environmental action groups and others an opportunity to scrutinize and challenge controversial projects.

The Council on Environmental Quality has also served the nation as a drafter and initiator of legislative proposals. In addition, the Council has prompted the issuance of executive orders from the White House, such as President Richard M. Nixon's order banning the use of poisoned bait to kill coyotes on public land. The poisons were killing other species, including the endangered bald eagle.

The performance of the Environmental Protection Agency is less easy to assess but, given its problems, I believe its record is remarkable. Its statutory mandates have been extraordinarily sweeping and complex, and they continue to multiply. Unfortunately, EPA's resources have always lagged behind its responsibilities as legislated by the U.S. Congress.

EPA has almost doubled in size since it was established in 1970 with a staff of 5,000 but has had trouble in building up the technical resources it requires.

It must try to provide design assistance to more than 8,000 municipalities involved in sewage-treatment construction programs. The agency desperately needs toxicologists to help with the reregistering of some 35,000 pesticide compounds.

But industry needs these specialists too (and pays them better) in order to carry

out the testing required by the new toxic substances legislation and by the growing number of' requirements of the Food and Drug Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Since 1970, Americans have come to expect prompt solutions to, pollution problems. Overall, we have made some notable progress, particularly in dealing with air and water pollution. Air quality has been significantly improved in urban areas. Nearly 40 per cent fewer people were exposed to unhealthy levels of particulates in 1975 than in 1970. Sulfur oxide levels in urban areas have declined an average of 30 per cent since 1970.

Some 92 per cent of major stationary sources of air pollution (power plants and factories) are in compliance with state regulations or adhering to compliance schedules. Automobile pollution levels are down, including hydrocarbons in California, a major source of smog in that state.

Nonetheless, we have a long way to go.

Sulfur oxide levels threaten to rise again because of shifts from oil to coal. Air quality standards have been achieved in only a minority of the nation's 247 air quality regions. It would appear that many of the goals originally set for 1975 may not be reached for another decade.

With its construction grants for treatment of municipal waste, EPA is now administering the largest public works program in America. Despite delays, some $16 billion of Federal funds have

Strip mining on land sUlfaces (leji) not only spreads coal dust but also denudes the land; to counteract this, a hydroseeder (above) sprays a mixture of water, fertilizer as well as tree and grass seeds over a strip-mine bench, in an experiment by a coal company in West Virginia to reclaim mined land.

been obligated to the program, but it will take at least 10 more years and billions of dollars more before satisfactory secondary treatment, using aeration and sunlight to encourage bacterial breakdown of sewage, is achieved nationwide. Industry, generally, is well ahead of municipalities in achieving the 1977 targets. However, industry is now mounting a major attack on the "best available technology" (BAT) standards mandated for 1983, which require expensive equipment to eliminate pollutants, claiming that they are both unnecessary and too costly. They are neither. The 1983 requirements should be maintained, especially for toxic effluents.

Although it is impossible to assess the condition of all the nation's waterways at anyone time, the best available data show a decline in levels of bacteria and oxygen-absorbing waste but a rise in nitrogen and phosphate contaminants (particularly from agricultural runoff), which encourage algae and other undesirable vegetation. Fish have returned to portions of such major rivers as the Willamette in Oregon, Detroit River in Michigan, Monongahela in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, Savannah River in

Georgia, Buffalo River in New York and the Arkansas, which empties into the Mississippi. Particularly satisfying has been the reduction in the flow of contaminating phosphorus that had been accelerating the eutrophication, or seasonal stagnation, of the Great Lakes. Further reductions are needed; new concerns have arisen in the Great Lakes region with the contamination of fish by toxic chemicals, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

These exceptionally stable industrial compounds, when lost through vaporization, leaks or spills, prove more persistent in the environment than DDT. Dangerously high PCB levels have been found in fish, waterfowl, water supplies, cattle and even in mothers' milk.

Passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, establishing new purity standards for all states, was a major achievement, but we still know far too little about the 'potential hazards of toxic substances in drinking water. New Orleans, for example, draws its water from the Mississippi, which contains minute amounts of carcinogens and other chemical contaminants, some in the parts-pertrillion category. We have inadequate knowledge of the effect on human health of long-term exposure to low levels of such contaminants.

Looking back on the past decade, it is easy to -conclude that key environmental legislation was usually too ambitious and too complex for easy and effective administration. Unrealistic deadlines were

set. Standards were mandated that could not be met in the time allowed. Vast programs, such as the one for construction of municipal sewage-treatment plants, were initiated but not funded. Frustrating as these circumstances often were to those charged with carrying out the legislation, I would not have had it any other way.

To have asked only for what was clearly and easily achievable would have brought little progress. By demanding what often seemed impossible, we have, in fact, made remarkable headway.

The fact that the legislation was written

by U.S. Congressional committees with sometimes opposing philosophies ha1' not made EPA's job any easier. Water quality legislation is a case in point: The Senate, in a move spearheaded by Senator Edmund S. Muskie, has stood for stringent regulation, while the House of Representatives has sought more flexibility.

Citizens groups, particularly publicinterest law firms, have played an immensely important and valuable role, especially by holding EPA's bureaucratic feet to the fire through court action (or threat of court action) in order to force prompt implementation of new statutes. These groups have not hesitated to bring suit when deadlines for pollution control measures were not met by EPA. I imagine that I was the most sued man in government when I headed EPA, taking into account legal actions brought by both public-interest law firms and by industry.

In this regard, one must bear in mind

Environmental protection in a highly industrialized country is fraught with problems and conflicting interests. Increased competition for scarce resources produces harmful stress on the ecology and sharpens conflicts. Yet a new ethical awareness of man's relationship with the environment must prevail in the interests of the future, no matter how urgent the needs of development may be. that for every environmental group that believes EPA is moving too slowly or too leniently in a given case, there is a business or farm group, or some other organization, that finds the agency acting too rapidly or too strictly.

Sewage treatment plants, for example, cost taxpayers dollars. Sulfur oxide controls instituted by public utilities often mean higher electricity bills. Pesticide regulation restricts the freedom of the farmer. EPA control over development of valuable wetlands means that some developers, as well as other private property owners, may no longer exploit their land without restriction. The ban on the use of poisons to kill coyotes antagonizes ranchers who claim livestock losses. Mandatory auto-emission control devices have added to the cost of cars and have created some engine performance problems, at least initially.

In 1970, environmental issues were often viewed simplistically and emotionally; utopia seemed easy to attain. We have become more sophisticated since then; the energy crisis and economic troubles have led to closer scrutiny of the costs and benefits of environmental proposals. The days of uncritical Congressional acceptance of environmental controls are gone.

The continued success of the environmental effort in the United States will depend on three things. First is our ability and willingness to find ways of keeping costs, inequities and inefficiencies to a minimum and of encouraging constructive reconciliation of environmental, social and economic goals. Second is the effective redirection of the environmental effort to ensure a steady shift from the control of pollution to its prevention; third, the

No

form of energy pleases environmentalists more than the solar. The building at top of facing page blends with its surroundings, saves energy with insulated reflective glass. There are more than 1,100 solar residences in the many built by the residents themselves (far left). Bicycles, like solar power, both save energy and are nonpollutant, and are very popular (left, center). N onpollutinr; monorail train (leji, below) approaches station.

u.s.,

strength of the general public's commitment to environmental protection.

Several items remain on the agenda of needed legislation, as I see it. We need strip mining legislation. On August 3, 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed legislation requiring reclamation of stripmined lands. We need to enact a bill giving permanent legal status to EPA and providing a more coherent framework for the agency's policies and programs.

We should give serious consideration to the creation of a Cabinet-level Department of the Environment, which would include EPA's present authorities and programs as well as appropriate elements now located elsewhere in the Federal Government, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Fish and Wildlife Service and portions of the Geological Survey, the National Park Service and perhaps the Coast Guard.

As a society, we must learn to assess every decision, every action in advance to determine the adverse environmental impacts that might result. This means recognizing lhat man-made environmental hazards are a serious threat to human life and health and that we must practice preventive medicine with respect to the environment. It means recognizing that lasting environmental progress comes not from add-on controls but from basic changes in industrial and automotive processes. Mass conversion to coal, for example, will require billions of dollars for new technology to remove sulfur. But in the longer run, we need clean, renewable sources of energy, such as solar energy.

The greatest successes of EPA so far have come from applying technology to specific sources of emissions and effluents, such as particulates and sulfur oxides from factory smokestacks and liquid industrial waste. Still to be introduced -and far more difficult-are pollution control measures that involve real changes in American lifestyles and land-use patterns, such as urban transportation control plans that affect the ways we use our autos.

Our reliance on regulatory approaches to pollution has brought positive results. but regulation often carries with it a

rigidity of application that can prove counterproductive, particularly as we reach high levels of control. We now need greater flexibility in administration, as well as new approaches involving the use of economic charges as a supplement to regulation.

Noncompliance charges for motorvehicle emissions, for sulfur oxide emissions from power plants and for some sources of water pollution, are attractive possibilities as regulatory supplements.

Other promising economic approaches could involve a mandatory deposit on throwaway beverage containers and taxes on packaging to create an incentive to reduce the growing U.S. mountain of solid waste at the source.

Our society places a premium on adversary approaches to problem solving.

Citizen action must remain strong. But I also believe that we must curb extreme advocacy and ideological polarization.

Businessmen must develop a less paranoid attitude toward environmental protection, and environmental activists must become more sensitive to the real-life concerns of others, particularly when it comes to jobs, economic well-being and adequate profits.

White House leadership is vital as the conflicts over environmental policy sharpen in the years ahead and regulatory actions really begin to affect commuters, farmers, workers and small businessmen.

Growing population and increased competition for scarce resources are going to produce both harmful stress on the environment and political conflict over environmental programs. Yet, if we are to succeed in maintaining environments that both sustain and enrich human life, we will need -above and beyond all regulatory systems, technologies, ideoiogies, institutions and mechanisms-a new ethical awareness of our relationship with our en0 vironment and other forms of life.

About the Author: Russell E. Train, senior Ilssociate of the Conservation Foundation, was the first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (from 1973 to 1977). Before that he was chairman of the President's Council on Environmental Quality.

u.s.

THETIGER From the earliest times, there has been a sense of affinity between man and nature in India which village folk retain to this day. For a while obscured by the need for fast industrial growth, environmental awareness is returning to thinking people and to the counsels of government, if not to the wider urban public.

The tiger and the Taj have become symbols of growing concern about the environment. Attention is centered on the overall question of their survival, and not on the total environmental conditions which threaten them. Yet, by a curious coincidence this concentration on what are among the most perfect of nature's and man's creations covers all aspects ofIndia's environmental problems. The tiger is endangered mainly by destruction of his habitat, and the Taj by necessary industrial development.

Shah Jahan, who immortalized his beloved Mumtaz Mahal through the Taj Mahal, would have dismissed as absurd any connection between the world's most exquisite mausoleum and the tiger, the natural world's most awe-inspiring representative. Even a few years ago, it would have been impossible to imagine that the tiger and the Taj would become central factors in a national environmental awakening. In the past year much newspaper space, many radio and TV presentations, and considerable national discussion have been devoted to national and international efforts to save the tiger, now a gravely endangered species, and to the cause and effect of air pollution on the Taj. We in India have. come to take for granted the abundance of nature, and the richness and variety of our plant and animal life.

This indifference to nature is a recent phenomenon-one of the negative aspects of what is taken as progress, and the overwhelming pressure of a burgeoning population on natural resources.

Inevitably the need for conservation grows greater as the people's numbers and demands increase. Yet in the earliest times, long before recorded history, and before there was any question of population pressure, there was an awareness of the close interrelationship and interdependence between man and nature.

Vedic verses describing the creation of woman illustrate the deep preoccupation with the natural world: The great Artificer took the rotundity of the moon, and the curves of creepers, and the clinging of tendrils, and the trembling of grass, and the slenderness of the reed, and the bloom of flowers, and the lightness of leaves, and the tapering of the elephant's trunk, and the glances of deer, and the clustering of rows of bees, and the joyous gaiety of su nbeams, and the weeping of clouds, and the fickleness of the winds, and the timidity of the hare, and the vanity of the peacock, and the softness of the parrot's bosom, and the hardness of adamant, and the sweetness of honey, and the cruelty of the tiger, and the warm glow of fire, and the coldness of snow, and the chattering of jays, and the cooing of the cuckoo, and the hypocrisy of the crane, and the fidelity of the Brahmany duck, and compounding all these together, he made woman, and gave her to man.

In ancient India, there seems to have been a remarkable continuity in the approach to balanced consumption and conservation of natural resources, including forests and wildlife. It is recorded in Emperor Ashoka rock edicts on the preservation of the forest flora and fauna. More than two thousand years ago he urged protection for the Indian rhinoceros, only recently brought back from the brink of extinCtion. Kautilya's Arthashastra lays down specifics, and goes as far as to prescribe death for killing an elephant.

The depredations of a series of alien rulers notwithstanding, the natural balance was maintained well into the present century by circumspect management. But the resource demands of two world wars, partition, independence, economic and industrial development, and a doubling of the population threatens the total environment today to a degree never thought possible.

Our forest cover has been reduced by 4.2 million hectares since independence, and of the 23 per cent area officially under forests barely 50 per cent is actually covered with trees. Thus the effective forest area is barely 12 per cent, against the official target of 33 per cent, of the country.

Significantly, the first vigorous protests came from the base of the socioeconomic pyramid. Several years ago, the hill people in the central Himalayas spontaneously opposed officially sponsored tree felling. Most of the demonstrators were women.

They placed themselves between the trees marked for the market and the contractor's axes, and won temporary respite. A movement now called the Chipko Andolan has gained steadily in strength. Among its leading initiators is Sunderlal Bahuguna, who recently undertook a hunger strike to halt further tree cutting in the central Himalayas. On the assurance of a temporary halt of all "green felling" pending a critical enquiry into the whole problem, Bahuguna was persuaded to end his fast. The success of such public pressure is a catalyst for similar action elsewhere.

Already there are reports of a people's movement to halt forest exploitation in Bastar, a heavily forested area in Madhya Pradesh.

Unfortunately, in the country as a whole, there has been little awareness of environmental problems except among a handful of nature-oriented individuals and wildlife organizations.

To an astonishing degree, government is ahead of popular demand in this sphere. An advisory body, the National Committee for Environmental Planning and Co-ordination (NCEPC), was established in the Department of Science and Technology almost a decade ago. Its central role is to oversee the introduction of measures to protect the environment, from its initial stage, as an integral part of project planning. The Planning Commission has recently introduced a mandatory requirement that all projects are subject to an environment impact assessment by the NCEPC before financial clearance.

This has done much to create an environmental awareness among planners and engineers hitherto concerned only with rapid industrial development. Asked why effluent control measures were not taken when first constructing a particular thermal power plant, an engineer will say: "Oh! that was before all this environment business!"

There is still a tendency to see environmental concern as an elitist fad. In reality, it is the poor who suffer most. The greatest hardship is experienced by the weakest e1e-

ments. In many areas, the women, the usual foragers for firewood, can collect barely enough to cook meager meals. In the Himalayas, once free of such problems, it now takes a whole day to collect a family's firewood needs. Natural springs near villages also run dry due to lack of tree cover. Water has to be collected from points up to five miles away.

Annually, India faces immeasurable losses from floods and hundreds of lives are lost. Attempts to build protective measures have had limited impact because the cause lies in the devastating deforestation.

Here also, it is the poorest people who lose their lands, their houses and their lives. No real money value can be placed on this, but estimates indicate a total loss to the economy of Rs. 2,000 crore. According to some experts, every year, about six crore tons of soil is being washed away into the sea. The loss must come to about Rs. 7,000 crore in the form of nitrogen, potash and phosphates. Figures such as these have resulted in international comment on the Himalayan ecology.

A well-documented book, Losing Ground, published by Worldwatch Institute, Washington, says that in Afghanistan the Himalayas are dead, in Nepal they are dying, and in India they are gravely endangered; that Nepal's most costly export to India is the rich soil that is carried down by its rivers.

The extent of damage from the unbelievable erosion rates of our main Himalayan rivers is not given the attention which the gravity of the situation demands. The erosion rate in the catchment area of the Yamuna is 300 acre feet per 100 square miles, of the Ganga 400 acre feet per 100 square miles, and of the Kosi 500 acre feet per 100 square miles. The bed of the Ganga is rising 2-3 inches every year, and the Brahmaputra bed has risen some 14t feet in the last half century. The beds of some streams in India are up to the level of the bridges under which they once flowed.

Industrial pollution, though concentrated in certain areas (such as Bombay, location of 50 per cent of the country's chemical industry), with grave portents for the future. still represents a manageable problem. It has been suggested that the Government of India can find a compromise solution which achieves a great measure of cooperation with industrial planners. A possible method is a 10 to 15 per cent tax rebate on the cost of the introduction of antipollution measures.

The real threat is from the pressure of population on the land, and the accumulating discharge of human waste. The Yamuna at Delhi is daily deluged with 200 million liters of raw sewage, as against 10 million liters of industrial effluents. At Mahin creek in Bombay, the proportion of human waste is even higher. Experiments have shown that at the maximum pollution level 90 per cent of the fish die in three hours and the balance in six hours. An estimate puts the discharge of untreated human waste into the ocean along the West coast from Kanyakumari to the border at 3,000 million gallons a day, with a destructive impact on all aquatic life for ~ kilometers from the coast. The damage to the health of the hundreds of millions in rural India

without potable water can easily be estimated.

Much has been achieved in Indian efforts, since independence, to better the human condition. But the aggressive drive for development often ignores the natural world. In the headlong destruction of our forests, and with it, the decimation of our wildlife, we are imitating the yesterdays of the developed world, where the people are now re-establishing their priorities. In the United States, National Parks, once major recreationalcenters for vast multitudes, are now regarded primarily as sanctuaries for wildlife. A classic American environmental case relates to the survival of a virtually unknown species, the snail darter fish.

It halted the completion of an almost finished dam, challenged under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, which requires precautionary measures to preserve even the most apparently insignificant species. The Tennessee Valley Authority went ahead with the constructicl"n of the dam, despite specialist data that the snail darter's existence was threatened. Environmentalists' challenge of this action went right up to the Supreme Court. The latter questioned the validity of the law, returned it to the Senate, which again asserted its validity, leaving the Court with no option but to halt construction of the dam, even though it had been almost completed, at a cost of $130 million.

Despite our many limitations and inadequate public support, we in India have an honorable record in saving the once almost extinct rhinoceros.

It is now thoroughly re-established with almost two thousand heads in several sanctuaries. Constructive work is being done to save the tiger. Less well known are the efforts to preserve the brow-antlered deer in Manipur, and the pygmy hog, both recently thought to be extinct. Other species, like the hangrul or Kashmir stag, seem to be at least holding their own. A number of bird species are vigorously protected and, perhaps more importantly. biosphere reserves are to be set up to preserve a wide variety of rare but important plants.

The Indian ethos has, by tradition, a built-in affinity with the natural world. An incident in the Sariska game sanctuary near Alwar, just south of Delhi, charmingly illustrates village-level acknowledgment of the relationship between man and nature. A few years ago, as we were game-viewing, a tiger came loping slowly down the main road through the sanctuary for about half a mile. The car tracking it stopped because further down the road. on the same side as the tiger, there were two milkmen on bicycles on the way to market with their cans of morning milk. They were coming toward the tiger. As it ambled on, the milkmen got off their cycles and quietly crossed the road to give the tiger ample room to pass.

After it had gone on a little way and then disappeared into the jungle, the cyclists remounted and moved on.¡ Their answer on being asked if they had been afraid: "Oh no, sir! That tiger was in deep thought."

0 About the Author: Sunil K. Roy. former Indian Ambassador to Mexico. is a member of the National Committee for Environmental Planning and Co-ordination.

HOW GOOD IS THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN AMERICA? Americans are constantly bombarded with economic statistics. Inflation and unemployment rates, for example, are discussed almost every day in the U.S. press, and economists regularly debate the significance of a wide range of statistics gathered to measure the nation's economic performance.

What do these figures actually say about the quality of life for the average American citizen?

In response to this question, the U.S. Department of Commerce, with the aid of the Bureau of the Census, has compiled a volume of charts, tables and graphs called Social Indicators 1976 that attempts to measure the quality of American life in the seventies.

Releasing the report, Secretary of Commerce Juanita M. Kreps said that indicators like good health, long life, a decent income, access to medical care, educational opportunity, adequate housing and a satisfying job, "are in many ways easier for the average person to appreciate" than the "sometimes mysterious movements of economic indicators to which we economists pay so much attention. " The publication does not attempt to give a definitive picture of America's quality of life. Instead, the volume offers, with a minimum of interpretation, statistical charts and tables that depict longterm trends in II categories: population, the family,/housing, social security and welfare, health and nutrition, public safety, education and training, work, income and expenditure, culture and leisure, and social mobility and participation.

The eight charts in this feature are drawn from Social Indicators 1976.

JOBS IN AMERICA,

BY SEX AND RACE: 1960 AND 1975 The jobs of working Americans have been divided into 11 occupational categories. Top table shows the percentages of people employed in each category in 1975, and the percentage increase or decrease over 1960. Some conclusions: There is a higher percentage of professionals, managers and proprietors in 1975 than in 1960. One occupation that shows a decline is that of "operatives" (machine operators, truck drivers and so on). Thefour lower tables show the respective percentages of males, of females, of whites, and of blacks employed in the 11 categories. For both women and blacks, there is a big increase in the percentages of professionals and managers, a decrease infarm laborers.

fPER CENT CHANGE, 1960 TO 1975 Incr~

Decru5e

PROFFSSIONAL AND TECHNICAL WORKERS MANAGERS, OFFICIALS AND PROPRIETORS CLERICAL WORKERS SALES WORKERS CRAFTSMEN AND FOREMEN OPERATIVES (MACHINE OPERATORS, ETC.) NONFARM LABORERS PRIVATE HOUSEHOLD WORKERS SERVICE WORKERS FARMERS AND FARM MANAGERS FARM LABORERS AND FOREMEN

-•

PROFFSSIONAL AND TECHNICAL WORKERS MANAGERS, OFFICIALS AND PROPRIETORS CLERICAL WORKERS SALES WORKERS CRAFTSMEN AND FOREMEN OPERATIVES (MACHINE OPERATORS, ETC.) NONFARM LABORERS PRIVATE HOUSEHOLD WORKERS SERVICE WORKERS FARMERS AND FARM MANAGERS FARM LABORERS AND FOREMEN

MALE

~

.J FEMALE

PROFFSSIONAL AND TECHNICAL WORKERS MANAGERS, OFFICIALS AND PROPRIETORS CLERICAL WORKERS SALES WORKERS CRAFTSMEN AND FOREMEN OPERATIVES (MACHINE OPERATORS, ETC.) NONFARM LABORERS PRIV ATE HOUSEHOLD WORKERS SERVICE WORKERS FARMERS AND FARM MANAGERS FARM LABORERS AND FOREMEN

· -=--- -., I-

I

PROFFSSIONAL AND TECHNICAL WORKERS MANAGERS, OFFICIALS AND PROPRIETORS CLERICAL WORKERS SALES WORKERS CRAFTSMEN AND FOREMEN OPERATIVES (MACHINE OPERATORS, ETC.) NONFARM LABORERS PRIVATE HOUSEHOLD WORKERS SERVICE WORKERS FARMERS AND FARM MANAGERS FARM LABORERS AND FOREMEN

WHITE

•

BLACK AND OTHER RACES

PROFFSSIONAL AND TECHNICAL WORKERS MANAGERS, OFFICIALS AND PROPRIETORS CLERICAL WORKERS SALES WORKERS CRAFTSMEN AND FOREMEN OPERATIVES (MACHINE OPERATORS, ETC.) NONFARM LABORERS PRIVATE HOUSEHOLD WORKERS SERVICE WORKERS FARMERS AND FARM MANAGERS FARM LABORERS AND FOREMEN PERCENT AGES

ALL EJPLOYED PERSONS, 1975

"'"

0

•

-

PER CENT OF DISPOSABLE INCOME 35

HOW DO AMERICANS SPEND THEIR MONEY? Trends: 1946-1974

TRANSPORTATION

The way Americans spend their money has varied over the last three decades. Today they spend less (as a percentage of their incomes) on food and clothing, more on medical care, more for recreation. They spend about the same for education and transportation. They save a higher percentage of their incomes than before.

CLOTHING HEALTH SAVINGS RECREATION PERSONAL BUSINESS EDUCATION 1875

DEGREES EARNED, NUMBER 540 000 480 000 420000 360 000 240000

54 000 48 000 42000 36 000

------THE EDUCATION EXPLOSION Degrees Earned (Bachelor's, Master's, Doctorate, First Professional)

by Sex: 1950 and 1960-1976 Many young Americans no longer regard the completion of four years of college as the end of their formal education. By 1973,for example, more than 25 per cent of all college degrees were at the master's level or higher.

The rise in the number of postgraduate and professional degrees earned by women is especially dramatic. (First professional degrees refer to such fields as law, medicine, dentistry and theology.)

6000 4800 4200 3600

¢

r;,<+-iJ 2400 1800

1200

1_

PER CENT 100

1--

EMPLOYEES COVERED BY INSURANCE PROGRAMS: 1954-1974 As the chart shows, more than 96 per cent of all paid workers during the period 1954-74including the self-employedwere covered by public . retffementprograms.

The social security system alone accounted for about 90 per cent of all workers. A similarly high percentage of workers were eligible for payments if they lost their jobs (unemployment insurance) or were injured at work (workers' compensation).

WHAT DO AMERICANS EAT? 1957 -59 and 1971-72 As the chart indicates, Americans are eating more meat,fish and poultry,. the rise in poultry consumption is especially marked. Americans are also consuming more fats and oils, sugar and other sweeteners (especially corn syrup) with their meals. In part, these trends reflect a greater use of packaged foods.

ALL PUBLIC RETIREMENT PROGRAMS

UNEMPLOY· SOOAL MENT SECURITY AND INSURANCE RAILROAD RETIREMENT

WORKERS' COMPEN· SATION

TEMPORARY DISABILITY INSURANCE

HOW AMERICANS SPEND THEIR LEISURE Selected Years: 1938-1974

,-

YEAR

'938_ 1960_

1974.

A striking feature of Americans' leisure activities-as seen in this chart-is the amount of time spent watching television.

Americans presently , spend 46 per cent of their leisure time on this activity. But recent studies indicate that viewers are becoming more selective in the programs they watch.

The radio and the cinema, whose popularity fell steeply between 1938 and 1950, are now reviving.

HOUSING: HOW MANY PERSONS PER ROOM? 1940-74 The number of persons per room, one measure of the amount of housing available, has declined since 1940. The decline was similar for house owners and tenants, for whites and blacks, for urban and rural communities. Households with more than 1.5 persons per room are now virtually nonexistent.

THE COST OF FOODIN WORK HOURS 1930-1970 and 1974 How many hours ooes the average American need to work to buy common food items-such as wheat, steak, butter or milk-in the quantities mentioned in the chart? In 1930, the average manufacturing employee needed to work 4 hours and 20 minutes to buy the seven food items shown. By 1970, these items could be obtained for one and a half hours of work.

MINUTES 60

16

SPAN SEPTEMBER 1979

T

he past decade and a half-from roughly the time of President John F. Kennedy's assassination to the present - has been a period of such sweeping change and turbulence in the United States that many have asked whether the American nation is undergoing a profound alteration in its social values.

Has there been a "greening of America" -a widespread shift toward youth-oriented attitudes and ideals that challenge the established political, economic and social order? Is there a "new morality"? Will the values that took root in the counterculture of the late 1960s now blossom across the land? Or conversely, have the old values persisted, and, indeed, may they now be reasserting themselves?

The topic is complicated, but the issue itself is extremely important, for beneath it lies a fundamental query: What will U.S. society look like 10, 20, or even 30 years from now? Where are Americans headed as a nation?

It is the argument of this piece that continuity, not change, is the most striking feature of American values today. As a

society, Americans are being propelled by old beliefs, not by the new ones, and it is the survival of those old beliefs that is the distinguishing feature of the present time.

Much U.S. social commentary today emphasizes the idea of rapid change because it concentrates on only one set of values-those associated with lifestyles, such as attitudes toward sexual relations, the family, work and leisure. If that were all there were to social values, one would have to conclude that the past 15 years have been a time of extraordinary ferment.

The change in lifestyles has not been entirely in one direction, but the trend is clear. Daniel Yankelovich, research professor of psychology at New York University and president of an attitude-research firm, makes that point effectively in many of his writings, especially in The New Morality, where he draws upon survey data to argue that new values are now ascendant in many parts of society, stretching far beyond the young, collegeeducated Americans where they originated. There has been a breakdown of the "No, no-you can't do that!" ethic, and

more emphasis has been placed on individual choice and on the expression of individual tastes and desires. Belief in self-denial has lost ground all across the spectrum, from work to family to sexual relations.

In the recent past, to be sure, one might detect a counterthrust. In November 1977, for instance, Time magazine reported that there is still a lot of life left in the old sexual mores. Yet in the very article announcing the restoration of the old morality, the magazine also cited a number of Yankelovich survey questions showing movement toward a "do what you want to do" ethic. Thus, 70 per cent of Americans polled by Yankelovich believe "there should be no laws, either Federal or state, regulating sexual practice."

Lifestyles are an important barometer, and they do show important changes in recent years; but basic social values reach well beyond daily living patterns. Historically, after all, the most powerful types of value commitments in the United States have been those associated with classical liberalism, the constituent American sociopolitical ideology. Are Americans

Continuity, not change, is probably the most striking feature of American values today. While changes have occurred in lifestyles, as portrayed on the facing page, basic social valuessuch as the commitment to individualism, equality, freedom, progress, private property-remain the same.

as a society in the process of discarding or substantially revising those basic liberal values? If so, something momentous is occurring. But if not, there is reason to be cautious about proclamations of a bold new morality-because liberalism is the very core of the old morality.

Let's review for a moment that cluster of values ordinarily associated with classical liberalism. Perhaps foremost among them is a belief in individualism. Alexis de Tocqueville argued in his famous work, Democracy in America, that America actually invented the concept. Other societies, he said, have known egolsme-selfcenteredness or selfishness-but America was the first to assert that the individual should be put on a pedestal and that the task of a society was to make people happy. Never, he said, had there been a country so committed to individual wants as opposed to collective needs.

Closely allied with the emphasis upon the individual has been a commitment to two other values: freedom and achievement.

In order to assert his individualism, a person must have a large measure of choice or freedom to choose among alternative forms of behavior. By the same token, people should be judged and rewarded on the basis of individual performance, not what family they may come from, their social class or their ethnic background.

This emphasis upon achievement has carried with it, as an ancillary condition, the ~tress on work. hroughout u.s. history, beliefs in individualism and achievement have linked up to give a distinctive American cast to another basic" value: equality. In order to compete fairly for status and rewards. each individual must have equal opportunity. Yet, because some individuals work hard, do better and attain more, there will necessarily be an inequality in the al::tual distribution of those rewards.

Still another basic value in the United States, one brought from Europe, has been a commitment to private property and private rights. To some degree, that belief has rested upon the practical notion that a society will produce more goods and services if people are allowed to acquire property and dispose of it as they see fit. The market works. But classical liberalism also makes a more diffuse value commitment to private property on the grounds that individualism requires it. "Property," as Andrew Hacker, profes-

T

sor of political science, City University of New York, has observed, "is ... a hedge.

It dem"arcates a certain area -large or small, depending on the size ofthe property holding-in which its owner may do as he pleases." To deny property is to deny individualism, for property is a prime way in which individuals define themselves, protect themselves and locate their own niche.

These several values-individualism, achievement, equality of opportunity, property rights-are closely interrelated and can be seen as facets of yet another social commitment: to progress. Liberalism sprang up at a time when science and technology as well as the whole arrangement of the economic order-trade, commerce, the beginnings of the factory system-were poised on the edge of the Industrial Revolution. It is not surprising, then, that liberalism developed as a profoundly materialistic ideology, defining

New values are today ascendant in many parts of society. There has been a breakdown of the "No,noyou can't do that" ethic. progress in terms of more and more goods and services, more and more opportunities for individuals, higher and higher standards of living and so on.

All of these values, of course, establish only the boundaries for the course of development. They set the channels. But they do not require static situations; they leave open the specific way that end products are defined. The United States in 1788was an agricultural society, having risen 6nly modestly above a subsistence economy. Todhy the United States is an urban society of unprecedented wealth.

Could the sense of individual entitlement and the way it is expressed be unaffected today by such a transformation? Is it possible that individuals today would not expect more than their ancestors did a couple of centuries ago? Of course not.

Thus, the critical question is not whether Americans are changing the way that they express their values-they are always doing that-but whether the basic values have themselves survived, and it is to that question we turn now.

If survey research and personal observation tell anything, surely they make it

clear that there has been no diminution whatever of the American c.ommitment to individualism today. In fact, Americans appear more intensely individualistic as a society than they did in the 19th century.

Increasing affluence has made Americans more conscious of individual entitlement and less tolerant of any barriers that lie between them and their personal goals.

In many ways, it's the emergence of the new morality, in the sense that Daniel Yankelovich and others describe it-more freedom of choice, fewer rules and constraints involving sex, family and workthat furnishes some of the most powerful proof of the persistence of traditional values. At the core of the old morality, as we have seen, is the belief in serving the individual, and that is exactly what much of U.S. society has been doing over the past decade-and with gusto.

In December 1976, Yankelovich surveyed a cross section of parents with children 12 years of age and younger. His findings show a level of assertion of individual needs over those of the collective (here, the family) that is probably without precedent in American experience. Thus, two-thirds (67 per cent) disagree with the statement that "for their children's sake, parents should not separate even when they are not happy together." And precisely the same proportion of parents maintain that their children have no obligation to them-specifically, that the kids don't owe them anything regardless of what their parents have done for them.

The Yankelovich researchers sum up by noting that "the current crop of parents has clearly been influenced by the value structure of the college youth of the 1960s and 1970s.... (They) stress self-fulfillment as more important than role obligation to others." Thus, the old beliefthat individual wants exert a special claim seems to be enlarging, apparently as an offshoot of affluence. Americans simply will not put up with as much self-denial as would their counterparts in eras more bound by scarcity.

The way that more and more claimants are stepping up to assert their rights and their self-importance is another modern About the Author: Everett C. Ladd, Jr., is professor of political science and acting director of the Roper Center, a public-opinion research facility at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. He is the author of a nwnber of books, two of which are American Political Parties and Ideology in America.

expression of old values. Throughout American history, members of one group after another have come forward insisting that "I'm important; I have rights; society owes me .... " That's the thrust of individualism. But if a white male may thus assert himself, so can a black male and so can a female. Of course the value sounds different when another group comes to emphasize it. Different tensions are created. White males might be perfectly happy with certain individualistic assertions, but are less content when white females, particularly-in their own families, make the claims. Different oxes get gored. To note, however, that new groups are jostling society with their claims for personal recognition is not to say that individualism is disappearing; to the contrary, it is being reinforced.

The feminist movement in the United

Disagree with reservations 14 per cent Strongly disagree 63 per cent

Three-fourths of the group insisted that there should be no governmentally imposed limits on what compensation people receive. Individuals should be permitted to earn on the basis of what they do. Thus, as in so many other aspects of individualism, today's style may seem jarring, but the underlying value remains remarkably untouched.

I

tIS often suggested that the United States is moving away from emphasizing equality of opportunity in the direction of equality of result. Some work at the intellectual level contributes to this sense of change. Serious thinkers such as John Rawls, professor of philosophy, Harvard University, have set forth an elaborate rationale for shifting the national commitment from opportunity to result.

But the ideal has long had its American proponents. They seem today, as in the Americans appear more past, to comprise only a small slice of the intensely individualistic as intellectual community. In the spring of 1977, for example, Seymour Martin Lipset, a society than they professor of political science and sociolwere in the 19th century. ogy, Stanford University, and I presented this choice to a cross section of professors in the United States: "Here are two ways States over the past decade or so, for to deal with inequality. Which do you example, has been profoundly individual- prefer?" â&#x20AC;˘ "Equality of opportunity: giving each istic, the absolute antithesis of collectivist.

In its emphasis on the entitlement of person an equal chance for a good educaindividuals, it is pure, homegrown, Ameri- tion and to develop his or her ability." â&#x20AC;˘ "Equality of results: giving each can liberalism. A recent survey sponsored

by The Washington Post and directed person a relatively equal share of income by faculty at Harvard University's Center and status regardless of education and for International Affairs demonstrates ability." this point nicely. A number of leadership Eighty-five per cent of the professors groups in the United States were asked in opted for the "opportunity" standard, study how they felt just 7 per cent for "results," while the Post-Harvard 8 per cent were in the middle. Noabout various social issues. National leaders of the women's movement com- where in this segment of the American posed one of the groups interviewed. intellectual community did the equality of In their general ideological stance, the results standard find anything other than feminists were well over on the left. decidedly minority support; Seventy-eight per cent said they were Yet there is in the United States today liberals of some sort, 14 per cent moder- a general willingness to raise the income ates, and just 4 per cent conservatives. floor. Equality of opportunity (and inBut their proclivity for left-of-center poli- equality of results) are still the norm, but cies was repeatedly redirected by their there are widespread sentiments now for intense individualism. Presented with the granting a better base of support to those proposition that "there should be a law at the bottom. No one should be allowed limiting the amount of money any indivi- to fall too far. American society will dual is allowed to earn in a year," the continue to expect the least highly attainliberal leadership of the women's move- ing individuals to be guaranteed more. ment divided this way:¡ This is natural enough, given the increased Strongly agree 6 per cent wealth of the society.

Agree with reservations 17 per cent There is also a greater appreciation

today of how demanding equality of opportunity really is as a social standard.

Past inequalities, it is now recognized, leave persisting disadvantages. If a social group has been subjected for 200 years to all manner of discrimination, simply elim-_ inating that discrimination doesn't confer equal opportunity: As every President since Lyndon B. Johnson has said, compensatory action is also needed. The center of much U.S. debate today is just how far that compensation should extend.

Even as that dialogue continues, however, the public shows no signs of backing away from the old American commitment to the equality value understood in terms of equality of opportunity. Before looking at some of the recent survey support for this assertion, one should remind oneself of just how strong' backing for "equal opportunities, unequal results" has been in the United States in the past.

George Gallup asked a cross section of Americans this question in 1941: "How much do you think a family with a total income of $100,000 a year-that is $2,000 a week -should pay in personal income taxes next year?" A hundred thousand dollars in 1941 sounded like $300,000, perhaps $400,000, today. It was a lot of money. Yet if the public had set the tax rate, it would have been just $lO,OOO-the average figure given-well below what such families actually paid and far below the published rate, which prescribed approximately $46,000 total payment. The general population wanted a lesser curtailment of social inequalities than did the makers of the tax code-and this after a decade of public rhetoric describing businessmen as robber barons, attacking the plutocrats and economic royalists, and stressing the injustices of the economic system! The public wanted to take only 10 per cent of the income of the richest families.

In the late 1950s Robert Lane, professor of political science, Yale University, conducted a series of long, discursive interviews with 15 working-class men in New. Haven, Connecticut. He documeNts, as vividly as the survey instrument in any form ever has, the intense support for the equality of opportunity value. These averin their economic age people-average position, attainments and social standing-believed that individuals should be given a more or less equal chance but should then be allowed to go their own way, and that it was highly desirable for profound inequalities of result to

Paradoxically, it's the emergence of the ''new morality"-more freedom of choice, fewer rules concerning sex, family and work-that best proves the persistence of traditional values in America.

The old morality and the new: both emphasize the fulfillment of the individual. occur. Consider these representative samplings from the Lane interviews: Your income-if you're smart, and your ability calls for a certain income, that's what you should earn. If your ability is so low, why, hell, then you should earn the low income.

Personally, I think taxes are too hard.

I mean a man makes, let's say $150,000.

Well, my god, he has to give up half of that to the government-which I don't think is right.

I'd say that (equal income)-that is something that's pretty-I think it would be a dull thing, because life would be accepted-or it would-rather we'd go stale. There would be no initiative to be a little different or go ahead.

Now in the 1970s a great variety of survey data attest to the continuing public adherence to the equality of opportunity standard. Seymour Martin Lipset and William Schneider, associate professor of government, Harvard University Center for International Affairs, reporting on a comprehensive study of American racial attitudes from 1935 to 1978, note that the public is sensitive to the difference between compensatory action and preferential treatment. Relatively few people reject compensation for past discrimination through special training programs, Head Start, a Federal program that helps prepare preschool children of poor families~ for the school experience, community development funds and the like. These efforts are seen as consistent with the belief that race has been used in the past to deny equality of opportunity. But most Americans reject programs and proposals such as quotas, which are seen as predetermining the results of the competition.

Thus, their study shows some modification of the traditional belief in equality of

opportunity, but no repudiation of it.

What Lipset and Schneider document for the general public shows up powerfully when one looks at various leadership groups in the United States. The Washington Post-Harvard study referred to above posed these two questions: Does a fair economic system require that people earn about the same amount, or that people with more ability can earn "a much higher salary"? And, which is the preferable way to deal with inequalityextending equality of opportunity, "giving each person an equal chance for a good education and to develop his/her ability" ; or pursuing equalities of result, "giving each person a relatively equal income regardless of his/her education and abilities"? The study found business leaders overwhelmingly in favor of equal opportunity and differential incomes-that is no surprise. But the entire spectrum of leadership groups shared this value, and those presumably on the left were almost as committed to it as the conservatives. these data suggest, there continues to be a solid commitment ~ not only to equality of opportunity but also to the rights of private property. It is one thing to attack certain business firms and practices, and quite another to devalue private property. In the public's eye, private enterprise and Exxon Corporation are not one and the same. It is perfectly possible to say, "Damn those oil companies; they're doing this and that wrong!" and still be committed to property rights and to a private enterprise system.

Criticism of some business practices has increased in the last decade. That's a well-known fact. But commitment to private property and free enterprise has not decreased in the last decade. That's also a fact. About 95 per cent of Americans maintain that "we must be ready to make sacrifices if necessary to preserve the free enterprise system." Only one American in 20 rejects this position. Would the proportion defending free enterprise have been higher in 1900? I doubt it.

Property is not a besieged value.

Americans also continue to value material progress and to believe that the society they inhabit will permit them to achieve progress. For example, Daniel Yankelovich notes that three out of four parents (74 per cent) "want their children to be better off than the parents were in terms of money and success."

One of the most striking demonstrations of the persisting belief that the American system-whatever its failings-will sustain progress for the individual comes from the "Self-Anchoring Striving Scale," developed by Hadley Cantril, professor of psychology, Princeton University, and employed in recent years by Potomac Associates, a Washington, D.C., research organization concerned with issues of public policy. Respondents are shown a ladder with steps numbered from O-what they think would be the worst possible life situation for them-to 10-the best life as they see it. They are then asked to locate their position. Where were you five years ago? Where are you today? Where do you expect to be five years hence? Americans almost invariably see themselves moving upward in the future.

The scale was first employed in 1~59 and most recently in 1976.It thus covered a tumultuous period, but confidence in personal progress never wavered. Most Americans saw the present better than the past and expected the futufe to be better still. Even in 1974, after the Vietnam war, with a weakening economy and inflation, and with the Watergate scandal behind them, Americans saw rosy personal futures. The commitment to progress, and the belief it will continue, are deep. They are not easily shaken.

The other related constituent values of liberalism, including freedom and achievement, show the same condition I have been describing: They are all alive and well. There is no indication that popular commitment to them is in decline.

The persistence of these fundamental liberal values does not mean the area of social values is bereft of change. Sexual norms are obviously different than they were two decades ago. The expectations Americans bring to the work situation have evolved. The family is an institution in flux because of shifts related to social values. But so many of the changes are those stipulated and channeled by the underlying liberal values. The United States was set on a course by these values two centuries ago, and it is sticking to that course today.

0 Facing page: Some 90 members of the Gianninifamity, whose ancestors emigratedfrom Italy to the United States 125 years ago, reassemble in San Francisco to swap stories and share in the pride of their famity's history.

Suchfamity reunions are as popular in the United States today as they were decades ago.

TOA

THE LONG r HOUSE

paper when he was selected for the first class of Fellows in 1965. He worked at the White House, helping then-Press Secretary Bill Moyers; when President Lyndon B. Johnson (no kin) retired, he took the young man along to help run the family communications empire in Texas. Today, Tom Johnson is president and chief operating officer of the Los Angles Times. He is also a member of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships, as is his classmate Michael H. Walsh, now U.S. Attorney for the Every September, 15 fresh faces from Southern District of California. The fact nearby and faraway places show up in that they were once run through the selection Washington, D.C., to start much-soughtmill themselves gives them some added after jobs in the national bureaucracy. They understanding, but it does not make them are the annual crop of White House Fellows, any easier on those they interview.

"This selection process," says Johnson, and their assignments to various executive branch departments and to the President's "is more intense than that for the White and Vice President's own staffs will carry House staff itself." He did not mean this impressive titles, such as special assistant as faint praise. "The one thing we look to a Cabinet secretary. for in these candidates is the promise of Thus they start out close to the top. achievement. " In the months to come they will be invited All the finalists are high achievers for out often, will have seminars with statesmen, their age and career status. They seem and will learn quickly how to move in impressively self-assured and articulate. In Washington social and political circles. They 1978 the meeting took place at a motel in will not become instant decision makers, the "new town" of Columbia, Maryland, but rather will assist those who are. For some 30 miles outside of Washington, D.C. a year they will be close to the seats of power, The Commissioners arrived first, to be witnessing and possibly even helping to reminded at breakfast by ex-Fellow Landis shape great events.

Jones that President Carter would like to see In 1978, 2,026 people of many regions, more women and minority people as Fellows, races, sexes and professions filled out and that finalists must not be asked any the lengthy and demanding Fellowship sexist questions.

Among the 32 candidates were 10 women, applications. One hundred and ten were picked by the U.S. Civil Service Commission including one black (three blacks were to appear before a dozen regional panels. going to make it but she was not among Thirty-two survived that gauntlet and were them); six male blacks, of whom three would invited for a long selection weekend, out of survive; and three Hispanics (persons of which came the 15 Fellowship winnersSpanish-speaking background), of whom two and 17 disappointed losers. would pass. There were doctors, lawyers, a A White House Fellowship is no guarantee nutritionist, two military officers, corporaof lifelong, ever-ascending success, and all tion employees. One finalist was up for the it is supposed to do is familiarize some out- third time; he would lose again and probably standing men and women, early in their not try for a fourth time next year. The careers, with the workings of the government youngest was 26 and the oldest 41. There is they live with, believe in and want to help no longer a 23-to-35 age bracket as there function better. But, like being chosen clerk used to be, because that seemed discrito a justice of the Supreme Court, it may well minatory. But the Commission hews to lead to an important career. :' its early-in-career standard because the The roster of 199 former Fellows includes Fellowships are not supposed to reward a college deans, corporation heads and in- lifetime of distinction, but to enhance the vestment executives. Tom Johnson was a chances of one.

On the surface, everything at Columbia 123-year-old reporter on a Macon, Georgia,

"In my whole life I have never had such probing questions.

I learned about myself in there." The test is tough because the Fellowships don't reward a lifetime of excellence-they enhance the chances of one.

was relaxed. The finalists took their meals informally with such notables as Common Cause's John W. Gardner, the Commission chairman. As president of the Carnegie Corporation foundation, Gardner first proposed the Fellowships (he wanted 100 people a year) to President Johnson in 1964. Other notables were Lady Bird Johnson, from the first a devoted supporter of the program; and former Pennsylvania Governor and U.N. Ambassador William W. Scranton. The hopefuls mingled with the'ir selectors at cocktail hours on the patio, ran with some of them along the jogging paths, and exchanged small talk with them at coffee breaks anQ around the swimming pool.

But the final interviews were tense. In a dozen rooms off the long, dark hallways, pairs of Commission members interrogated the 32 candidates one at a time, for 25 minutes, a total of some 300 minutes of solo examination each.

"There are no specific established criteria to ascertain whether a person is eligible or not," said a fact.sheet that had been handed to each Commissioner. But there were factors to consider: "outstanding leadership ability initiative ... professional excellence community or other involvement ... commitment to the quality of life ... integrity .... " The finalists were armed with no briefing papers, no notes. When they had two interviews in a row, they had only five minutes in between to catch their breath. Facing them, in two-against-one confrontations, some of the Commissioners displayed softspoken, easygoing, I'm-on-your-side personalities. Others at times came on strong, like lawyers to their witness-chair targets.

Said one Commissioner to a finalist: "Now, I want to go back to square one, about what you feel were the influences on your life. Although you say you grew up near Watts, your background is not what you would call economically impoverished?"

A. No. I would say I had a middle-class background. . .. By my third year in college I knew I wanted to someday run for elected office.

Q. Do you think a young Congressman can make an impact?

A. Yes, I believe there are many opportunities-meetings, groups, writing papers and ....

Q. Are you a good writer?

by RICHARD

A. Yes, I think I'm a good writer.

A. I don't think that's accurate.

Q. What do you think about banking?

Q. Have we gotten a real picture of the A. I enjoy banking. It has shown me the real you? way minority communities can strengthen A. No, I don't think so .... I'm more than their economic positions .... But I consider just a banker. my job more in the area of public affairs.

Q. We can see that. ... Do you feel this Q. SO it's not banking that you like, but selection process is good?

A. It's too difficult to learn about a person what it can do for minorities? in just a few days ....

A. No, for all communities.

Q. We know that. In fact that's what our Q. Then you're not interested in banking next Commission meeting is about. We and making money?

A. Not separately. know the system is a lot less than perfect.

Indeed, as Chairman Gardner reflected Q. You're pretty secure in your banking position, air-conditioned office and all. after the grueling weekend, "We often talk A. But I've had tipough injustices in my of other methods. We could simply interview life to know .... one at a time and send them on their wayQ. What injustices? the disadvantage being that you'd never see A. At college a teacher who looked at me them off guard. As it is, I think every Comlike "you're black, so you must be on the missioner finds the assignment extremely football team, so I'll take care of you" and heavy, both physically and psychologically. didn't care whether I learned anything or The kind of young people who get through not. ... the regional finals are so full of self-affirmaQ. Do you have any serious weaknesses? tion. I never would have dreamed at 30," A. Yes, I think I do. I tend to overextend he mused, "that I myself could have won out myself. Even though I'm overcommitted, I in a White House selection." say "yes" and then sometimes can't do Incessantly, between interviews, the candidates interviewed each other. Was Lady things as well as I should.

Q. Some of your recommendations came Bird Johnson (paired in Room 144 with in with weaknesses, but they all were Steven Muller, president of Johns Hopkins different. Either the people didn't know you University) really as gentle as she seemed? too well or they didn't think much about the Was Washington lawyer John Brebbia as question. But ... can you see anybody seeing hard-nosed as one heard? "Tom Johnson and John Gardner, they're nice," one candiyou as inflexible?

L. WILLIAMS

date told another who had yet to face that pair. "Walsh and Scranton, now, they're pretty aggressive. They try to really test you." Said another: "I'm almost 31, and in my whole life I have never had such probing questions. Even I learned about myself in there." And another: "This is my first and last time because I wouldn't subject myself to this again. Whether it turns out good or bad, I'll chalk it up as an experience."

They kept analyzing and reanalyzing the selection process, calling it challenging, interesting, rewarding but basically falling short of fun. "A large part of the final selection is too personal," said one finalist.

By Sunday evening the interviewing was over. The Commissioners, most of them looking a bit worn, retired to deliberate in private. The candidates, keeping their cool, treated themselves to a final fling, still not knowing who would win. They had arrived in a body, by chartered bus, and Monday morning they went back to Washington the same way, much better acquainted with each other.

The appointed hour and place for learning their fates was 10:30 a.m. in Room 1304 of the Civil Service Building. The tension, which had built up gradually over six months and accelerated over their long weekend, was about to peak. The moment came: There was a plain envelope for each applicant, bearing word of success or failure.

There were pay telephones out in the hall for passing the word along to the folks back home. Some hesitated, massaging the envelopes as if their fingers could read the contents. Some ripped the flaps open on the spot, and some left the room to get their news in private. There was a good deal of hugging and kissing, sniffing and back-patting. A few of the losers faded away and did not return at all; others sought out Commissioners who had volunteered to be on hand for postmortem consultations.

By the time the future Fellows gathered at the White House later that day for their official portrait (see pages 24-25), they were able to achieve fairly natural smiles. But they would not soon forget the weekend that had brought them their toughest time of testing.

Neither would the losers.

0 About the Author: Richard L. Williams is a member of Smithsonian magazine's board of editors.

TILIVISIGI IIT.US II TBI DIIT!D STATIS

byHAFEEZ

Endearments exchanged between New York cabbies rank among the finest products of human imagination. Here is a sample: "I hope somebody slams the cab door on your nose and you sneeze and your head explodes. " This is but one of the racy lines in a new television show -a series of television filmsentitled Taxi, which deals with the adventures of Manhattan cabbies whom American folk legend depicts as possessing hearts of gold and tongues of pepper. Their antics could be entertaining, but how would American viewers react to the show? wondered the executives back in the studios.

When the all-important Nielsen ratings came in for the first seven weeks, they brought glad tidings to the harassed executives. Taxi had made it to the top 10 shows, perching alongside such established favorites as Charlie's Angels and Happy Days. The gamble had paid off.

New TV shows have a poor track record. When audience reaction is slow in building up, the shows are replaced swiftly with old favorites. At the end of a year, less than a fourth of new show's survive.

The 1978-79 season was no different. At its start in September 1978, as many as 21 shows were released with the usual fanfare of publicity. Casualties took place early, with one network withdrawing almost all its new releases. Only seven of the starters survived the first six months. But two of them made it to the club of the top 10 shows: Mark and Mindy and Taxi.

Mark and Mindy combines the appeal of outer space with earthly comedy. Mork is sent from his planet, Ork, to study the "primitive" human society to find out if Orkians could

manage to live on the planet Earth. On arrival Mork meets Mindy, a lovely 21-year-old girl, who is taken aback by his strange Orkian ways and speech. She takes the visitor from outer space home to teach him good earth-type manners.

Mork causes hilarious situations in Mindy's life, driving her boyfriend to distraction with his quaint ways. For example, Mork gets his nourishment from eating plastic, drinks water through his index finger and tells time by a wrist watch attached to his ankle.

Another successful new show is Battlestar Galactica, an entry in the space-war genre brought to a new high level of public interest by the Oscar-winning, money-spinning movie Star Wars. Cleverly scheduled for Sundays at 8 p.m., the night with the week's highest audience, the show has fully exploited family viewing, reaching nearly 18 million homes.

The mighty Battlestar Galactica sweeps majestically through

dark space, leading a caravan of smaller vehicles. The battlestar's laser cannons blaze away, and her fighter crafts flash to the attack from the Cylons, a race of mechanical beings. The Galactica fleet carries the survivors of an advanced human civilization who are looking for a planet known as Earth, which lies beyond the star system in a galaxy like their own. On the way, the humans have to fight with the Cylons who are determined to annihilate the life form known as man.

Galactica looks larger on the screen than any moving object created by man. Her pods alone look bigger than any aircraft carrier. In reality, Galactica is a model less than two meters long! But it is full of intricate detail made up from a number of model kits. Special photographic effects combine to create the impression of a gigantic vehicle in motion.

Fantasy extends to the characters as well. It requires considerable ingenuity in special ef-

NOORANI

fects to show four-armed creatures, an arm glowing when a sleeve is shot off, and a character wearing electric shoes when he steps out of the vehicle.

The task of creating these effects is assigned to John Dykstra, the bearded 31-yearold whose spectacular effects in Star Wars won an Oscar for the movie. Dykstra's crew is a motley group of young people with unlikely backgrounds. But, together, they add up to the latest knowledge in electronics, optics, design, lenses and photography. Older workers may have superior knowledge of photography, but the young team behind Galactica is accredited with a unique advantage: its ability to relate almost instinctively to the expectations of a youthful audience, with an imagination attuned to space fantasy.

Battlestar Galactica is probably the most expensive show yet made for television. The movie Star Wars had cost its producers $9 million. With barely seven hours' showing in the cans, Galactica has already run up a $7 million bill. The shooting calls for great concentration and precision and simply cannot be hurried up.

But production cost is of no importance if the idea works.

After all, Star Wars had made almost $300 million by the end of 1978, when a movie grossing $100 million was considered a wonder.

Everybody gains something in the process of putting up a television show, from the producer to the viewer and the advertiser.

This is the secret of success of the American commercial television system. It has served as the model for other countries.

For years, Britain kept commercials off BBC but finally relented to bring in Independent Television.

How do the major television networks in the United States operate? What are their sources of finance? How do they cover news, and what is the entertainment fare they provide? An Indian student of communications who recently visited the United States provides some answers.

Until 1948, the growth of American television was uncertain and sporadic. Enthusiasm had been high when the Federal Communications Commission authorized commercial television in 1941. But World War II diverted attention to more pressing matters. Engineers used the hiatus to improve the technical quality of TV broadcasting and developed color TV as well.

Growth was the central theme of American television in the fifties. Broadcasting stations grew from 108 at the beginning of the decade to 522 by the end.

Today, there are nearly a thousand, including satellite stations.

Ownership of TV sets recorded an equally spectacular increase.

From less than four million households in 1950 owning TV sets, the number rose to 42 million in 1958. Today almost every American home has a TV set. Nearly a third of American homes own more than one set.

Color TV was a feature of the next decade, with programs being predominantly in color by 1966. Programs in black-andwhite virtually disappeared by 1969. Prices of color TV sets fell sharply.

During the seventies, American television mainly consolidated the developments of the previous decade. The Public Broadcasting System developed programs of wider appeal for the growing number of stations. Cable television went through a new round of controversy as "pay cable" entered the scene. In this system, TV set owners pay subscriptions to view cable station programs.

Satellites have been used increasingly to bring live programs from halfway round the globe.

But right through the 30 years oftelevision in the United States, it has been the commercial "networks" that have played a major

The three stars of the popular ABC show Charlie's Angels-Jacelyn Smith (left), Kate Jackson and Cheryl Ladd.

The show features episodes in which the three "angels" use wile and guile to bring lawbreakers to book.

role in shaping Americans' attitude to entertainment and to events taking place at home and abroad.

The term "network" is applied to a number of stations affiliated to a broadcasting company which broadcast the programs produced by the company. It is just not possible for any single individual or a group to acquire enough stations to dominate the country. No company can acquire more than five stations on a national basis-and there are nearly a thousand stations in the United States!

There are three major networks in the United States, each with roughly 200 station affiliates. They are the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and the youngest of them all, the American

Broadcasting Company (ABC).

Broadly speaking, all three networks are almost equally popular, though at times the programs of one may bring it greater popularity than those of other networks. Currently, ABC is at the top with a slight margin over CBS, while NBC trails behind.

Steadily, the networks became program purchasers and schedulers rather than program producers. Many factors led to this situation, but there were two major ones. Firstly, the production of entertainment programs became more and more "professional." Secondly, the business of scheduling them to draw advertising revenue made it essential that the networks should have the widest options to select programs with the greatest mass appeal.

But how does one make out a

hit show from a flop?

Enter the Nielsen Ratings, the index that spells success for networks, stations, program producers and performing talent as it goes up. Ratings carry the terrible power to destroy when they go down.

Arthur C. Nielsen, the son of a Danish immigrant who was to play such a powerful role in the growth of television programs in the United States and in other parts of the world, was born in 1897. Anxious to study the value of advertising in influencing people to buy products, Nielsen set up a marht research company in 1923. Later he became interested in measuring the audience for radio.

Nielsen was looking for a method that would bypass the dangeJ;s inherent in a questionand-answer' method of obtain-

Clockwis~,from right: Linda Lavin (flower in hair) as Alice-a waitress-shares a gay moment with her boss,fellow waitresses and SOt! in this scene from the CBS show Alice.

Two mischievous chipmunks set up house inside a stove in this scene from Walt Disney's animated cartoon production Squatter's Rights.

Tia Malone uses her occult powers to animate a troupe ofmarionettes in'Escape to Witch Mountain, a Walt Disney Productions thriller about two children gifted with supernatural powers.

Weapons being discharged from the spaceship Battlestar Galactica in the television film of the same name, afuturistic epic on interplanetary warfare.

ing audience measurements.

There are three dangers inherent to verbal responses: â&#x20AC;˘ All respondents may not understand the questions equally clearly and may therefore unwittingly provide incorrect answers. â&#x20AC;˘ Some respondents may be less than truthful because they attempt answers that are socially acceptable. They may tend to suppress the fact that they watched "soap operas," sentimental or melodramatic films, usually shown during the day, often sponsored by soap companies, and give exaggerated priority to documentaries and the like. â&#x20AC;˘ Respondents may not accurately recall events a few days later.

The audimeter that Nielsen developed in 1942 overcame these problems as it did not involve human intervention. The meter is wired to every TV set in the house and records when the set is off or on and which channels are being viewed.

Special telephone lines connect the audimeter to a computer in sunny Florida to record information twice a day. In a few seconds, all the TV watching in that family in the preceding 24 hours is recorded.

This happens with 993 homes in the Nielsen family and produces the dreaded thing called the rating. In simple language, a ratings index is the percentage of those 993 homes tuned to a particular show. For example, a 25 rating for a particular week means that 25 per cent of the sample homes had tuned in to that show for a minimum of six minutes. Nielsen calculations project that the same percentage of all American television homes, some 70 million now, watched that show.

Nielsen sells its ratings service to television networks, program producers, advertisers and ad agencies. This is really a small part of the market research business that Nielsen's company has in 22 countries, but it is the biggest and the steadiest newsmaker. As one company executive wryly remarked, "Ratings may account for only 11 per

cent of our earnings but they are responsible for 99 per cent of our fame."

That advertising on television is a very serious business is not difficult to substantiate. Television accounted for 20 per cent of total advertising revenues in the United States in 1978$8.8 billion out of $43.7 billion.

Advertising expenditure on television grew by 16 per cent over 1977, a little faster than the country's economic growth.

To this one only needs to add a gentle reminder that advertising expenditure takes place in the hope of sales and profits to follow. After that, catch anyone wanting to gamble away advertising budgets!

President Johnson regarded Walter Cronkite's 1968 broadcast against the Vietnam war as a turning point for the role of the United States in Vietnam.

munity life.

All the tearful farewells had taken place. Suddenly, CBS decided to give the show another year until the network got some really good new shows ready.

The decision paid handsome dividends. All, as it is called in trade circles, has given tough battle to the new shows of the aggressive ABC. According to one media critic, Johnny Carson on NBC's "Tonight" show is one of the most important birth control devices ever invented. For 17 years the Johnny Carson show came on at 11:30 each night except weekends. By the time most couples had sat through the 90-minute program, the only thought they were left with was that of rushing to work the following morning.

Another show which has become an institution is The Wonderful World of Disney. For 25 years consecutively, the show has featured on prime time, a record unmatched by any other show. It has outlived 50 competing programs-and quite a few of the products advertised on it through the quarter century.

* * *

The date was September 4, The result is that as soon as a 1951. That day, the American network has found a show that Telephone and Telegraph pulls audiences, it keeps the' Company completed its coastshow going as long as possible. to-coast 4,000 kilometers coSometimes, the network exec- axial cable and microwave utives move it to other time system to span the country. slots. Sometimes, the decision to The first broadcast was not end a show is reversed at the last entertainment but a news event. moment, as happened with It was the late President Harry the most famous TV show in S. Truman's speech to the America, All in the Family.

Japanese peace treaty conferA comedy series in which ence in San Francisco.

Archie Bunker and his family Network television had beregaled audiences for nine years, come a reality, and so had TV All in the Family had shattered news. For the first time, TV all ratings records, won 19 transmission was not confined Emmy's awards and one Pea- to a community within a small body. It had not only influenced radius of a few hundred kilothe development of TV comedy meters but could carry news right but had surreptitiously become across the nation. It changed a social force, dealing with the course of development of issues that were uppermost in television in the United States.

American minds. Little wonder, From 13 million sets in 1951 the then, that when CBS last year number has jumped to 130 milannounced its decision to wind lion sets today in some 70 million up the show, the Smithsonian homes. And news has steadily Institution wanted to preserve grown in importance. the Bunker family's living room Today, more than 50 million chairs in its section on com- Americans tune in each evening

to watch the national and world news on the three networks.

In a country of 220 million people, television news has become the main source of information.

The power of TV news is tremendous, as various studies have shown. In a recent survey, 65 per cent of Americans questioned said that television news is their principal source of information about events in America and abroad. It has provided Americans a better understanding than any other mass medium has of the forces and counterforces that influence their lives.

"It is true that television news has great impact," says Elmer W. Lower, the executive vicepresident of ABC. "Its star reporters sometimes become bigger than the event that they are covering. The protection for the public is that we have three TV networks operating independently and that most cities in America have from three to seven stations .... This plurality of news sources, augmented by daily newspapers and news magazines, protects the American public from any single organization asserting too much power."

And as the records show, the star reporters of American TV networks have demonstrated an exceptionally high sense of .responsibility. The celebrated Walter Cronkite, who reads the news on CBS every evening at 6 :30 p.m., was designated as the Most Trusted Man in America in a nationwide poll. The words people use when they talk about him are "decent," "honest," "believable," etc. Ron Powers, the television critic, once wrote: "Somewhere in the collective unconscious of the people in this country is the ideal composite face and voice of the American man, and Cronkite has it."

Cronkite is fully aware of this charisma and is careful to keep his voice even and his face expressionless during the news broadcast. Only twice so far has he broken this habit, on both occasions in the highest public interest: in 1968, on Vietnam; and in 1972, on Watergate. 29

The 1968 broadcast was a 30minute news special against the war in Vietnam. President Lyndon B. Johnson saw the broadcast and regarded it as a turning point for America's role in Vietnam. He is reported to have told an aide that ifhe had lost Walter Cronkite, he had lost Mr. Average Citizen. A two-part CBS series on Watergate had a similar impact on the nation and its leaders.

Cronkite's television news broadcasts usually end with his famous last words: "That's the way it is."

Journalism in broadcasting wiI], always 'honorEdward R. Mtfrrow for' establishing the standards for others to follow.

Before he died in 1965, Ed Murrow had won nearly every award in journalism at home and received many honors from other nations.

Outstanding among his achievements was his 1954TV confrontation with Senator Joseph McCarthy, which played a major role in terminating the Senator's witch-hunt of "card-carrying communists."

The 30-year history of TV network journalism is studded with landmarks. A major one, without a doubt, was how TV held America together when President fohn F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas in November 1963.This writer saw for himself television journalism's magnificent achievement. From 1:45 on Friday afternoon until 1:15 on the following Tuesday morningfor a little over 80 hours-television covered what happened without interruption. There was no entertainment, and nobody gave a second thought to the colossal loss of revenue to the three networks as a result of not showing the commercials.

In an article in TV Guide, the largest circulated magazine in the United States, David Brinkley, who partnered the famous Huntley-Brinkley report for NBC News, reviews the events of just over 15 years ago.

"It was a shared experience unlike any other," recalls

Brinkley, "because we could all see it and hear it. People grieving in private saw others grieving in public. It was our first genuinely national funeral, a death in our national family attended by everyone of us."

"Television, or television news, at any rate, certainly is at its best and most competent," comments Brinkley, "when it does live coverage of events, from the Kennedy tragedy to the moon landing....

Because it is the ultimate realization of the whole basis of even the word itself-television whose Greek and Latin roots mean diStant sight."

This is the essence of American network television. As life grew more complex, television provided the entertainment for relaxation and recreation. As the world shrank, TV brought the American public more information to help improve their understanding of other nations and cultures.

There will always be criticism of American network television.

This, too, is part of the essence of the medium-the interaction with the audience and the government. There will be criticism, for example, of the low intellectual and cultural level of the programs, criticism of the commercials for encouraging a materialistic society, of the fact that an average American spends six hours a day watching TV and does little else with his leisure.

But let no one forget that it is impossible to provide consistently high-calorie TV fare 23 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Americans, whatever be their occupation, turn to the undemanding companionship of their TV sets any time of the day or night-and are stimulated, relaxed, informed, entertained.

D About the Author: Hafeez Noorani has been associated with various Indian committees on radio and television. His artiCle' on "Public Broadcasting in America" appeared in SPAN, June 1978.

'llIIOWCJI Big television networks make all the news in the United States, but coexisting with them are small stations aimed at particular regions. Their television shows "star" the residents of the communities, serve their needs, express their viewpoints. â&#x20AC;˘ eading, Pennsylvania, is the happy home of an experiment in "narrowcasting," or community video. The project attempts to use television to provide people with services and creative outlets that conventional broadcast television cannot accommodate. What Berks Community Television is proving is that the time has arrived when a small, independent municipality can produce and distribute its own television shows, boast its own local TV stars, and give its people their own particular "brand" of television. .

Television is usually conceived of as a means of distributing messages to many millions of people at once. Television is the mass communication medium of the twentieth century. More than books, newspapers, the telephone or even radio, it has been used to disseminate information across state, national, cultural and social boundaries. The result, of course, has been that television producers have sought not diversity, but sameness: television fare in the United States is under fire for its "homogenized" quality.

Since the early 1970sthe technology has existed for individuals and small groups to own and operate their own video cameras and recorders. Community video is a grass-roots movement that grew out of the availability of inexpensive video equipment, and out of the desire by many to use that equipment creatively and meaningfully. When properly executed, community video projects can give special-interest groups, artists, social workers, local government representatives, and others a chance to get on TV and be seen and heard by others.

Until 1976, "community video" in the United States meant going out with a "portapak" to tape town meetings, arts and crafts fairs and local news events not covered by major television stations. But when Berks Community Television (BCTV) started up three years ago, it ushered in a new era in public access to the medium of television: the era of two-way TV. "On Fridays, 1 lead 'Singalong,''' says gray-haired, dimpled Marge Knight. "I can't sing too good, and 1 can't play on an instrument, but 1 sure can wave a baton!"

Marge is a participant in BCTV's unique experiment in two-way, or interactive, television technology, and, along with hundreds of other elderly Americans in the industrial town of Reading, she is not simply a senior citizen-she's a TV star.

Her life and those of the entire community of this quiet city of 88,000 have been changed by the advent ofBCTV. It all started way back in 1974, when the U.S. Government's National Science Foundation invited proposals by social service agencies to deliver public services using two-way television.

Answering the call was New York University's Alternate Media Center, a nonprofit group specializing in the use of new video

Glimpses of community television programs in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Above: Eugene Shirk (left) ,former mayor and "host" of a program, discusses city government with a student. Top, left: The production studio. The setting is simple, the equipment inexpensive.

Top, right: A "Singalong"-community singing session-in progress.

In Reading, Pennsylvania, a television viewer can take. part in the community program he is watching by telephoning the program host. He is at once connected to the host and the audience. technology for community service projects. They collaborated with an existing community antenna television system, Berks Cable Company, which was already serving Reading with nonbroadcast, alternative television. Together with a local coalition composed of representatives of the city of Reading, the Reading Housing Authority and Berks County Senior Citizens' Council, they designed a community video endeavor, which came to be known as Berks Community Television, aimed at the elderly inhabitants of Reading.

Why the elderly? The National Science Foundation grant mandated that the interactive television experiment be "peopleoriented," with a special emphasis on social services, and as a group, the elderly represented large users of public services.

Medicare and Medicaid, food stamps and social security are just a few of the government programs that are primarily, if not exclusively, the domain of Americans over 65 years of age.

By 1976, the New York University-Reading Consortium was working with local government, social agencies and citizens to build and run Reading's own little TV station. For 10 months, they recruited full-time paid staff and volunteers and then trained them to operate the sophisticated-but simple-video equipment themselves. They established a board of trustees consisting of local business leaders, elected officials and laypersons to oversee their progress. The New York University-Reading Consortium built three television studios around Reading-Hensler, Kennedy and Horizon-to which local residents, young and old, could come to see and be seen in the televised programs.

Most important of all, they solicited and then acted upon the expressed needs of the people of Reading for program topics.

Discussion shows, town meetings and lectures on health care and nutrition were soon supplemented by Singalongs, neighborhood visits and oral histories of Reading's labor and cultural heritage. Several shows on blacksmithing and folk arts were produced: There was an entire series on the turbulent disputes during the 1930s between labor unions and Reading's Berkshire Knitting Mills. These shows have been popular, as well as critical, successes. Several of them have been finalists in a competition for public service programing sponsored by the National Cable Television Association.

Unlike the production of a television show on a major American network, the shows on BCTV are not slick and fancy.

Unlike Walter Cronkite's evening news report or the latest popular "Cops and Robbers" program, they are not made in a big, expensive studio. Unlike The Muppets or President Jimmy Carter's press conferences, the BCTV programs aren't seen by millions of TV viewers.

And unlike any sort of television seen earlier in the United States, Berks Community Television lets people talk back to their TV set.

Using inputs from one or two cameras in any of the three studios (or from a traveling remote setup which has narrowcast from Reading city hall, local high schools and rural locations), the BCTV system can provide live television output in either single- or split-screen format. If someone in the audience of one of the studios has a comment, question or anecdote, his or her face will appear on the screen next to that of the show's host, whether or not the two speakers are in the same studio.

Anyone sitting at home watching BCTV can reach the system by

telephone and speak directly to the host and the audience.

Cameras for the aforementioned Singalong, for example, can cut from shots of the two hostesses of the show, Marge Knight and Blanche Steininger, to pictures of the audience in any of the three studios.

Working with an annual budget of $100,000, Berks Community Television cannot afford the lavish productions that the networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) can. Instead, BCTV gets by with $30,000 in private donations from local sources, a $33,000 per year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, $25,000 from Federal employment incentive programs, and approximately $12,000 from BCTV's own fund-raising efforts. All in all, BCTV does a remarkable job considering the resources available to it.

When you first see it, you might think it is "bad" television.

BCTV is not in any way "professional": It is not fast-paced, its announcers don't speak in the dulcet tones of a talk-show host and, horror of horrors, it is in good, old boring black-andwhite.

But BCTV is anything but boring. It makes up for its lack of professionalism in its ability to reach and serve the people who use and view the system. It is a premier example of community video in the United States.

Jerry Richter, the director of Berks Community Television, says that the system was deliberately designed so as not to be "professional." It is a comfortable, familiar system in which viewers easily become participants. Because the people who appear on the screen are often their neighbors, Reading residents do not feel threatened by this sort of television. Instead, they come to the three conveniently located studios to speak up. Or they call in to the office with their comments. They then hear their own voices, see their own faces, debating with the mayor of Reading, an elderly talk-show host or a young teen-ager hooked on drugs.

"This i.s'narrowcasting,'" says Jerry, "as opposed to broadcasting. Instead of trying to reach the most people at one time for the least amount of money, we aim at just this one community."

Richter finds that, better than advertising, word of mouth is hisbest public relations device. And, not surprisingly, BCTV has helped foster the very personal interaction that generates further interest in its programs. Studies conducted since BCTV has been in operation indicate that people in Reading, in general, are now more aware of community issues, have greater knowledge about social services available to them, and, perhaps most iIUportant, desire and achieve more involvement in social processes such as elections and just plain neigh borly discussion.

There's little doubt that what the National Science Foundation started five years ago in Reading has grown into an important new type of television. There are now a couple of other interactive television systems in the United States: one in Columbus, Ohio, and one in Hanover, New Hampshire. Television stations of this sort probably won't proliferate rapidly-the costs are mighty high-but Berks Community Television has shown that it can, indeed, be done.

0 About the Author: Beverly Powell is associate editor of Videography, monthly magazine publishedfrom New York.

a

G

iant buildings, some looking like big bubbles, others like slightly askew tepees, are replacing ivy-covered walls on many American university campuses.

These lightweight domes and tents with fabric walls or roofs also are gradually stretching, flexing and billowing as sports stadiums and commercial and public buildings across the United States.

The air-supported edifices that have been called "the first really new idea in architecture in 2,000 years" were developed by an American aeronautical engineer rather than an architect. As early as 1945 Walter W. Bird came up with a l5-meterdi;;tmeter plastic dome to keep snow and ice off a military radar antenna. During the 1960s, Bird's innovation suddenly caught the public eye. Plastic bubbles popped up to cover greenhouses, commercial storage facilities, swimming pools and tennis courts.

Meanwhile, West German architect Frei Otto was also experimenting with the use of fabric as a building material. His tensile membrane structures required the translation of a bewildering network of stresses and strains into the graceful curving surfaces of finished buildings.

Frei's West German pavilion at Expo '67 in Montreal set a precedent for large tentlike structures.

But all these early fabric buildings suffered from a common ailment: the plastic deteriorated rapidly when exposed to the elements.

In the early 1970s, however, a new breakthrough was made toward the production of peranent "soft" buildings. Two American companies, OwensCorning and Du Pont, joined forces to develop a Tefloncoated woven fiberglass which resisted the sunlight, wind and oisture that had severely lim¡ted the life-span of previously sed materials.

There still are problems. It is hard to convince some clients hat a building weighing only a few hundred kilograms will

Above: A sketch of the soft-roof Haj Terminal designed by an American firm of architects for the New Jeddah International Airport in Saudi Arabia. This large fiberglass fabric building, to be completed by 1982, will have 105 tentlike units, each 45 meters high.

Top: Students of the University of La Verne play basketball in a part of the tent gymnasium. Right: An art class in a soft-roof studio finds the diffused lighting ideal.

The university'sfive huge tents made of tensile membrane also house a theater and a snack bar.

From top to bottom: The Campus Center at La Verne has an auditorium on the upper level and a recreation hall on the groundfioor, both of which are bright and spacious. Bullock's departmlJnt store in San Jose has ajiberglass roof which allows

in sufficient sunlight so that no artificial lighting is needed in the domed 1,488-square-meter display area during daylight hours.

A musician performs inside the airinflated building made for the Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Above: Workers roll out the soft covering of the Three Rivers structure which can be set up in 15 minutes. Above, right: The fabric canopy of Bullock's store is hoisted into place. Right: The University of Northern Iowa dome combines the features of three bui/dings-a football stadium,jield house and auditorium.

stand up to a heavy wind. It will.Others question the aesthetic acceptance of free-form fabric in a setting of brick, concrete and glass.

Still, the economic advantages probably will overcome objections.

The five cone-shaped supertents at the University of La Verne in California (see page 33) cost about half the six million dollar estimate for brick buildings. The Pontiac (Michigan) Silverdome, a huge covered stadium where the Detroit Lions play professional football, cost $55.7 million, compared with the $70 million for a conventional covered stadium in Seattle, Washington, which seats 15,400 fewer spectators.

In addition to covering vast areas at a bargain price, the "soft" structures conserve energy. The slick surfaces reflect heat, yet, being highly translucent, admit abundant sunlight. This energy-saving potential was a major selling point for the Bullock's department store chain, whose new store in San Jose, California, has a fabric canopy that covers a 1,488square-meter display area. The fabric roof may reduce lighting and air-conditioning costs by $20,000 a year.

0

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

"Never mind the hereafter. Help us communicate with our teen-agers."

Reprinted

by permission

of Arlando

Busino and Ladies Home Journal.

"You lie!"

Reprinted

with permission

from the Saturday

Evening Post Co.

Š

1979.

"Since my prayers are taking such an inordinately long time to get answered, J wondered if it would speed things up if you took me on privately?"

Š

1979.

The Federal Government in the United States has adopted a practice some states have been following for years, of letting the public be present at a wide range of decisionmaking events previously held in camera.

I

an series of laws and regulations reaching back almost a decade, the U.S. Government has made it increasingly easier for interested citizens to find out exactly what is happening in the government's own decision-making councils. This means that as controversial matters are debated, those affected can see just who is on which side and what kind of arguments might change an official's position.

The latest and most dramatic step in the trend is the "Government in the Sunshine Act," modeled on similar successful state laws and so named because it opens previously closed deliberations to the light of public scrutiny.

Since March 12, 1977, nearly 50 Federal regulatory agencies have been required to invite the public into all their sessions where agency business is conducted. That includes not just the meeting where a formal vote is taken, but also any gathering where serious discussion takes place prior to such final actions.

In all the new openness laws there are certain exceptions, intended to protect the privacy of individuals and to make sure that the purpose of a government action isn't undercut by premature news of it. But the basic results are that a lot more is now known about how decisions are reached, decisions are made public a lot faster and citizens can lobby more effectively for their particular point of view.

Since the Sunshine Act became law, the regulatory agencies affected have had to change their style. They had been used to doing most of their work and holding most of their deliberations behind closed doors. Now, the doors of the conference rooms stand open; there are rows of chairs for the general public, tables where reporters can take notes, and sometimes television cameras to record the event for the evening TV news programs.

Agendas are announced a week in advance so citizens with an interest in a particular subject have ample notice of meetings.

These agencies and commissions supervise everything from labor relations to airline routes to securities markets. Their¡ decisions often have widespread effects on society.

The Sunshine Law is an experiment that is little short of revolutionary. Some officials worried about how their agencies could function in a fishbowl, where the public would see them in shirt sleeves, calling each other by first names and occasionally letting anger show. But, explains Florida's Senator Lawton Chiles, who pushed the key legislation througl:).the U.S. Senate, "The law says one basic thing: The national policy of this country has changed. After 200 years, we think people are mature enough to know what's going on."

Chiles says the U.S. Congress tried to keep the law manageable by not making it apply to individual administrators, since it is hard to pin down how and when they come to a decision.

A II the agencies covered by the statute are run by three or more officials most of whom are appointed by the President with the agreement of the Senate. That puts on the list such major agencies as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank, as well as less-publicized bodies

like the Board for International Broadcasting and the U.S. Indian Claims Commission.

The new policy of openness hasn't turned out to be disruptive, although some meetings-such as a discussion of whether the former head of a consumer protection agency could later represent private clients before the commission-have drawn overflow crowds. The agency that runs all the U.S. long-distance passenger trains, with no big meeting rooms at its headquarters, is renting hotel space, at $175 per meeting, for board sessions.

And the Civil Aeronautics Board spent $2,000 redoing the sound system in its conference room so board meetings could be held there; the regular boardroom is too small to accommodate visitors. The agency thinks it may have to hire an outside hall to take care of all the members of the public it expects to show up when it considers a particularly controversial proposed rule banning the smoking of pipes and cigars on commercial airline flights. Reporters and lawyers representing clients with business before the agencies give the Sunshine Law good marks for letting them know better not only what decisions are made, but also what kinds of arguments are persuasive with each individual regulator.

In addition to knowing more about the reasoning behind a decision, the Sunshine Law lets those with a stake in the outcome

SUNSHNE

know the results a lot faster. Edward J. Granier, another lawyer with many clients in the energy business, also has been regularly monitoring the Federal Power Commission (FPC). "What we're most interested in is the final resul~s," he says, "and sometimes we're able to get that information three or four days earlier.

So it's been helpful."

When the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently, on a Wednesday, voted to start placing on the public record all information it received from a business trying to settle allegations against it, Business Week magazine, by having a reporter in the meeting, was able to get the news in the issue printed the evening of the meeting. Had the magazine had to wait for the offic~al announcement of the decision, made the following day, it could not have printed the information for another week.

The Sunshine Law is the latest¡ in a series of moves made by the U.S. Government over the past decade to let the public know what had previously been considered the private actions of elected and appointed officials. Through rules changes, Congress itself opened up hearings on appropriations-virtually all other legislative hearings had already been opened-and "markup sessions," where committees work out the final language of a bill to be presented to the full Senate or House of Representatives. New laws paved the way for citizens to get a look at most

LAW

by DANIEL B. MOSKOWITZ

of the documents in the files of all government agencies.

At a typical agency, the Food and Drug Administration, requests now run around 2,000 a month.

Many state governments have been working under their own Sunshine statutes for years. California's first open meeting law, applying to local governments in the state, was passed 24 years ago, and it has been followed by 26 later statutes extending its reach to the state government, spelling out further details about how the public was to be told of the meetings, and giving legal remedies to citizens who have been turned away from meetings that were supposed to be open.

Many local Sunshine laws apply only to formal meetings where votes are taken. That lets officials get together informally to argue out differences and then present a unified facade in public meetings. But the new Federal law tries to close that loophole by giving a sweeping definition of a meeting: "Deliberations of at least the number of individual agency members needed to take action ... where such deliberations determine or result in the joint conduct or disposition of agency business. " Certain kinds of meetings are still closed to the public, since what is being discussed is considered very sensitive. Among the exceptions to the general rule of openness: discussions of personnel policies, debates that would hinge on a corporation's trade secrets, plans for law enforcement strategies that would let malefactors off the hook if they knew ahead of time they were the targets of an investigation.

One current debate in Washington is over just how far some of those exceptions reach. For instance, it is not yet resolved whether discussions of how much money an agency wants to ask for from Congress for the next year should be private or public. But Sunshine Law activists are chalking up some victories.

One example: Diane B. Cohen, a lawyer specializing in citizen requests for access to government documents and meetings, convinced the board of the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, to open a meeting about changes in conflict-of-interest regulations after the directors had originally voted to make it a closed session.

Congress places special burdens on agencies holding closed sessions. The top staff lawyer of the agency has to certify that there is proper reason to close the meeting, and a complete transcript of the session has to be made. Once secret material is deleted, that record has to be made available to the public.

And-the toughest rule of all-any decision made in a closed meeting can be set aside by a U.S. court if the judge later decides that the meeting should have been open to the public.

"Maybe the real winner in all of this will be the agencies and their staffs," says Jerome Nelson, deputy general counsel at the Civil Aeronautics Board. "The public will see the agencies working hard, doing business, and that the members know their stuff. At least, I hope that is what will happen."

But the impact of the Sunshine Law is likely to go beyond the actual rules of openness decreed by Congress. As regulators find they can meet in public without having their deliberations impaired, individual policies seem to be going well beyond what the law requires. FTC Chairman Michael Penschuk, for example, says he will not meet with any group without telling reporters ahead of time and inviting them to sit in. That's the kind of attitude that really lets the sunshine in on how the government is being run.

0 Daniel B. Moskowitz World News in Washington, D.C.

About the Author:

is a reporter for McGraw Hill

WILL

BRONK

ANew-Old Poet

One of the purest ,and most challenging American poets is 61-year-old William Bronk, a little-known New England recluse. Three of his poems-philosophical, low-keyed-accompany this article.

America swallows up its poets, hides them away, forgets them. Except for the few who become famous (often those of meager talent), the poet with no ax to grind or vogue to follow can expect little but neglect, or at best, the admiration of only his peers. No one is to blame for this. We are simply too vast, too chaotic to notice everything that passes before our eyes. Much of the finest poetry written today is published by small presses and seen by no more than a few hundred readers. That American poetry has historically found the sources of its greatest strengths in the self-published (Walt Whitman, Charles Reznikoft) and the obscurely published (early Ezra Pound, early William Carlos Williams, Charles Olson) is an old story. It would be foolish to insist that only the unrecognized are worth reading, but it would be just as wrong to assume that the work published each week in The New Yorker (not to speak of each month in Poetry) represents contemporary American poetry at its best. We must make the effort to find out what is available.

Consider William Bronk. Now in his sixty-first year, with nine collections of poetry and one volume of essays behind him, he is thought by a handful of his peers to be one of the purest and most challenging poets we have. And yet his work is hardly known.

There are several reasons for this obscurity.

First of all, Bronk's poetry is difficult and demanding-severe enough perhaps to frighten off even the best intentioned reader.

Second, all but one of his books have been published in very small, elegant, and relatively expensive six-to-eight-do!lar editions by Elizabeth Press (distributed by Serendipity Books, in California) and are not easily found. And finally, Bronk himself is an intensely private person who does not lead a lih:rary life: He does nothing to promote his work, writes no articles, and gives Text reprinted Review

with permission

Magazine

Corporation.

from Saturday

Review.

Š

1978 by Saturday

few readings. Nevertheless, public response to his work has been increasing. In the past few years, The New York Times Book Review has published two enthusiastic reviews; a recent issue of Parnassus contains a long and appreciative essay; numerous little magazines have printed commentaries and homages; and in 1976 the poet Cid Corman, whose interest in Bronk goes back to the early fifties, brought out a book-length study of Bronk's work.

Bronk's is a poetry of extreme positions.

Ruthlessly solipsistic in outlook, plain of speech, and ranging in tone from the most bitter irony to the most gentle lyricism, nearly all his work revolves around a few essential problems and themes: the rift between our image of the world and the reality of the world, the force of desire, the agony of human relationships, our perception of nature. Some readers complain that

Bronk's vision is too bleak, that it leaves one destitute, without hope. But like Samuel Beckett (who is perhaps more spiritually akin to Bronk than is any other contemporary writer), Bronk has an uncompromising approach to the things that haunt and obsess him that is in the end more salutary than depressing; for by compelling us to stare ourselves in the face, he brings us closer to what we are. His is a philosophical poetry, defiantly taking risks, whispering and screaming against the silence that surrounds it.

Bronk takes nothing for granted. He wants, quite simply, to come to grips with the given.

Bronk's basic premise is that there is no inherent order or truth to the world, that whatever form or shape we feel it possesses is the one we ourselves have given it. We can speak not of the world, but rather of a world, our world, and it is constantly changing as we change. We cling to a belief in our world because we need to give coherence to our lives; but for Bronk, these beliefs are merely sham, a way of trying to domesticate the unknowable. For the world in his view is essentially that which cannot be mastered, or as he says in the concluding lines of a poem entitled "The Difference": "Some of the things we think and say of the world/ are reasonable, but none of them is true."

And again, in another poem, "Conjectural Reading": "The trouble with rational is, it seems to make sense,/in the end it doesn't make any sense at all." Nevertheless, one is left with desire for the world, and this desire is real, as is the joy it can give birth to, as in "Of the Natural World": Of the natural world, nothing is possible but praise if we speak at all. We can be still.

The steadiest speakers are quiet after a time.

T could be quiet and not wait for the time when quiet comes except that so little sound

is hardly to be heard in the loud joy of the world and I grow impatient and practice the. world's song.

Bronk is a solitary poet, and .his lonely voice speaks to us as if from great distances.

And yet his work is intimate, familiar, soon made part of us. Although he sounds like no other poet writing today, his ..poetry is very much a continuation of a particular American tradition started by Henry Thoreau and Emily Dickinson. Bronk's universe, like theirs, is a mixture of the homely and the sublime. He writes about things that are close at hand, things he encounters in his daily life: the abandoned canals near his home in upstate New York, the natural landscape around him, his house, his friends and acquaintances, the Latin-American ruins he has visited several times in his travels.

Rarely anything more. And yet he brings to these simple subjects a metaphysical hunger, a clarity of utterance, and a rage and a humor that continually carry us beyond whatever initiated the poem. Bronk plays for high stakes, and in the more than 400 poems he has published, there are undoubtedly many failures and excesses, but by and large he is a poet of great consistency. It is impossible to get an accurate sense of his work from isolated poems and quotations, for what is most important in him is the ongoing process of writing, the subtle variations in thought and imagery that evolve from one poem to the next and from one book to the next.

Taken as a whole, William Bronk's poetry stands as an eloquent and often beautiful attack on all our assumptions, a provocation, a monument to the questioning mind. It is 0 a work that demands to be read.

7

Paul Auster is the author of three. volumes of poetry. He has written criticism for

About the Author:

The New York Review of Books, Commentary and other magazines.

Harper's,

"Welcome bird," I say with presumptive stance A green world, a scene of green, deep with light blues, the greens made deep by those blues. One thinks how in certain pictures, envied landscapes are seen (through a window maybe) far behind the serene sitter's face, the serene pose, as though in some impossible mirror, face to back, human serenity gazed at a green world which gazed at this face. . And see now, here is that place, those greens are here, deep with those blues. The air we breathe is freshly sweet, and warm, as though with berries. We are here. We are here.

Set this down, too, as much as if an atrocity had happened and been seen.

The earth is beautiful beyond all change.

- From The World. The Worldless. New Directions, 1964.

"Midsummer" 0 1964 by William Bnmk

as if I were here first as, this I, this bird, I suppose I probably was; but birds, maybe this kind, are older than

me, older than man and birds are bird, men are man, anonymous. Neither makes event or a history. We say we do. Cheep.

-From To Praise the Music, Elizabeth Press, 1972.

"Morning Greetinp Exchanged" reprinted by permission or the Elizabeth Pr•••. 0 1971 by William Bronk.

The Abnegation I want to be that Tantalus, unfed forever, that my want's agony declare that such as we want has nothing to say to the world; if the world wants, it nothing wants for

us.

Morning Greetings Exchanged A bird, as I went by the bare vine on Thompson's wall, made cheeps of the world; at me, to itself, however they do, whatever they mean: I think they don't mean anything.

Sorry if they do, because I suppose that they're wrong, but if right, who hears them-other birds?

This makes them equivalent creatures, like us.

Let me be unsatisfied. Hearing me scream, spare me compassion, look instead at man, how he takes handouts, makeshifts, sops for creature comfort. I refuse. I will not be less than I am to be more human, or less than hUlD8D may. be to seem to be more than lam.

I want as the world wants. I am the world.

- From That Tantalus, Elizabeth Press. 1971 "11tc A1lDepIioIIw n:prinIed by Ins by WlIIialIIIInmk.

o

per1IIIIIlOlI

or the Elizabetb ~.

Several tropical countries including India harbor little-known plant species that have survived for centuries in the wild. Like the once-neglected soybean~some of them Imay turn out to be an excellent food resource.

A friend recently told me that he had discussed the winged bean with an influential Filipino family. "They were incredulous that such a miraculous plant could exist," he said. "So, on a hunch, I took them out back to the servants' quarters. There, climbing along a fence, was a winged bean plant laden with pods. "'But that's just seguidillas,' they said, disappointment echoing 'n their voices. 'It's only a poor person's crop!'"

Some of the Third World's best crops may be waiting in the poor person's garden, ignored by science. Merely to have survived as useful crops suggests that the plants are inherently superior. They are alr~ady uited to the poor people's small plots and to their mixed farming, their poor soil, their diet, and the way of life of their family or village.

It is a universal phenomenon that certain plants are stigmatized by their humble associations. Scores of highly promising crop plants around the world receive no research funding, no recognition from the agric.ultural community-they are ostracized as "poor people's crops."

For information on a poor person's crop one has to turn, more often than not, to botanists and anthropologists; only they will have aken an interest in the plant. Often there has been no agricultural esearch on it at all-no varieties collected or compared, no germinaion or spacing trials, no yield determinations or even nutritional nalyses. Yet the crop actually may be crucial to the lifestyle-even he survival-of millions of people.

In a questionnaire sent out by the U.S. National Academy of ciences for its studies of underexploited tropical plants, neglected ropical legumes, and trees for firewood plantations, respondents bout the Author: Noel Vietmeyer is Professional Associate, Board on Science nd Technology for International Development, U.S. National Academy of ciences. He has specialized in the research of organic chemistry, the introduction if technology in developing countries, and the study of neglected tropical plants nd animals which have promising economic potential. He is the author of a eport: "Leucaena: Promising Forage and Tree Crop for the Tropics."

named over 2,000 species that deserve greater recognition. Almost none has been given scientific attention.

Just 50 years ago, the now-cherished soybean was itself one such crop. In the United States, it was spurned by researchers for more than a century after Benjamin Franklin first introduced seeds from the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. To be a soybean advocate then was to risk being considered a crackpot. Early in this century, Americans still considered the soybean a second-rate crop. But in the I920s, University of Illinois researchers established a comprehensive soybean research program that helped sweep aside this discrimination.

The soybean acquired new status as a "legitimate" research target, and its development gained so much momentum that now it probably provides the world with more protein than any other plant s~ecies.

Five examples of similar crops were brought to my attentIOn by the National Academy of Sciences studies. Each of these plants appears to be an uncut gem that awaits the polish of research to bring out its full quality.

MARAMA BEAN: A native of the drought-ridden, semidesert regions of the Kalahari and neighboring sandy regions of sou~hern Africa, the marama bean rivals the soybean and peanut In nutntlonal value. It feeds some of the poorest of the earth's people: the Bushmen and isolated Bantu tribes in Botswana, Nambia, and the Republic of South Africa, who still subsist solely on wild fruits and plants, game and birds.

This creeper sends several viny stems as far as six meters over the sandy soil. In early autumn, the plants are clad in golden yellow blossoms that give rise to large flat pods containing spherical brown beans. The beans have a hard shell, but the seeds inside are creamcolored, with firm, oily flesh. When roasted, these seeds have a rich, nutty flavor like that of roasted cashews or almonds. Africans often pound and boil them to make a porridge or sO~~'. .

The seeds appear to be exceptionally nutntlOus, WIth a protem content essentially the same as that of the soybean. Thirty-three per cent of the marama seed is a light-colored, pleasantly flavored oil.

In nutritional energy, the marama bean rivals the peanut as one of the best food energy sources in the plant kingdom.

WINGED BEAN: Perhaps no other crop offers such a variety of foods as the winged bean. Yet it, too, is a little-known poor person's crop, used extensively only in New Guinea and Southeast Asia. Taken together, the winged bean's products are impressively palatable ~nd nutritious, and appear to meet many dietary needs of the tropiCS, especially the wet tropics where protein deficiency is great and difficult to remedy. Every bit of the winged bean plant is eaten. Leaves, pod~, shoots and flowers all go into the cooking pot, and when the season IS

crops

byNOELVIETMEYER

over the villagers dig up the fleshy, tuberous roots and roast them. protein products, high-protein meal for food and feed, and cooking Any stems that remain are fed to livestock. oil and margarine.

The winged bean grows easily and quickly in tropical climates.

Tarwi has one fundamental drawback. The unprocessed seeds Bacteria in its masses of root nodules (many hundreds have been are bitter, due to the presence of toxic alkaloids. The South American counted on a single plant) convert nitrogen from the air into nitro- Indians soak the seeds in running water for a day or two until the genous compounds that the plant uses to build the protein that alkaloids, which are water-soluble, have been washed out. pervades virtually every part of the plant.

From the fragmentary research already completed, it seems that A bushy pillar of greenery with viny tendrils, blue or purple tarwi strains with almost no alkaloids are available in nature; such flowers, and heart-shaped leaves, the winged bean resembles a strains can also be created artificially with radiation. Much follow-up runner-bean plant. It forms succulent green pods, as long as a man's research is needed to confirm and consolidate these initial findings. forearm in some varieties. The pods, oblong in cross section, are BAMBARA GROUND NUT: Bambara groundnut plants look and green, purple or red and have four flanges or "wings" along the edges. grow like peanuts. But unlike the peanut, which is one of the most inWhen picked young, the green pods are chewy and slightly sweet. tensively developed crops in the world, the bambara ground nut has Raw or boiled briefly, they make a crisp, snappy delicacy. Pods are received little research attention, Yet, along with peanuts, cowpeas, produced over several months and a crop can be collected every two pigeon p'eas, and haricot beans, it is one of rural Africa's most popular grain legumes, and one of the top five most important protein sources days to provide a continuous supply of fresh green vegetables.

But perhaps the most startling feature of the plant is that, in for much of Africa. A staple from Senegal to Kenya and from the addition to the food it produces above ground, it also can grow Sahara to Madagascar, the bambara groundnut remains one of the fleshy, edible tuberous roots below ground, making the winged bean most neglected of all crops by science. a combination soybean-potato plant.

The crop is cultivated like the peanut. As the plant matures, its .' So far this long-humble crop has withstood the scrutiny of modern flower stalks bend downward and push the flower head slightly into the science, and most research results have been positive. The winged soil. The round, wrinkled pods, each containing two seeds, then form bean seems to be well on its way to becoming a sort of tropical underground.

The seeds make a nutritionally complete food. They have less oil soybean, a highly nutritious vegetable specially suited to the small plots, market gardens, and backyards of the poor majority in some and protein than peanuts but are richer in carbohydrates, which of the world's most malnourished zones. makes for a well-balanced diet and provides as much food energy as a good cereal grain. Unripe seeds are eaten fresh, but the ripe seeds are TARWI: Practically unknown outside South America's Andean region, tarwi is a common crop of the Indians of Peru, Bolivia and hard and must be roasted, boiled or ground to flour to be edible. They Ecuador. Indeed, corn (maize), potato, quinua (another neglected then become sweet and pleasant tasting, and Africans often prefer poor person's crop), and tarwi together form the basis of the high- . them to peanuts. Sometimes the roasted seeds are ground into a nutriland Indians' diet. Tarwi was domesticated at least 1,500 years tious flour that can be incorporated into many dishes. The protein has a high lysine content, which makes the bambara groundnut a good ago, and today in Cuzco, Peru, baskets of tarwi seeds are a common supplement for cereal diets. sight in the markets.

Bambara groundnut grows best where peanuts or sorghum thrive, Tarwi is extremely rich in protein, J:icherin fact than peas, beans, soybeans and peanuts. It is a very important contribution to the nutri- but it is one of the most adaptable of all crops and tolerates exceptionally harsh conditions. This adaptability allows it to survive and tional well-being of the Andean regions where meat is a luxury.

Tarwi remains grossly neglected by science, although about a produce under conditions too arid for peanuts, or sorghum. The plant dozen researchers as far-flung as Peru, Chile, England, the Soviet needs bright sunshine and high temperatures, and it "appears particUnion, South Africa and Australia have recently initiated tarwi ularly valuable for hot, dry regions where diseases, poor soils, or the threat of drought make growing other legumes too risky. investigations.

AMARANTHS: At least five amaranths are poor people's crops. All Tarwi protein is digestible, and has a nutritional value equivalent to soy protein. Tarwi oil is light-colored and acceptable for kitchen are half-wild, multipurpose, New World plants that are rich sources use. Thus tarwi appears to be a ready source of protein and vegetable of vegetable protein, food energy and fiber.

Amaranths-major grain crops in the tropical highlands of the oil for humans and animals, as well as for the manufacture of textured

"

Americas at the time of the Spanish Conquest-reached Asia, New is pioneering work of worldwide importance in a field where the Guinea and Africa in Spanish Colonial times and were spread and wealthy laboratories in industrialized countries are at a disadvantage: assimilated by poor people themselves without outside help. Today They don't have the plants. However, it is very hard to get grants for they are important to rural farmers in Central and South America research on poor people's plants. Funding agencies resist; the plants are unknown to most of them; and the literature to support any and to hill tribes in Asia, New Guinea, and parts of Africa.

Amaranths belong to a small group of plants whose photo- claims may be sparse. synthesis is exceptionally efficient. The sunlight they capture is Nonetheless, it is now time for agricultural research facilities utilized more effectively than in most plants, and amaranths grow fast. throughout the world to incorporate poor people's crops into their Vigorous and tough, amaranths have been termed self-reliant plants research efforts. Third World agricultural development needs this that require very little gardening. They germinate and grow well under balance, for only when his own crops are improved will the poor adverse conditions. They are easily cultivated and adapt well to the man be able to feed his family adequately. In future decades it may rural farmer's small plots and mixed cropping, can be harvested by be-as in the case of the soybean-the neglected poor people's plants hand, and are easy to cook. of today that are feeding the world.

0 Amaranths are annuals which reach two meters in height, with The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has embarked on a large leaves tinged with magenta. They are cereallike plants producing large program, the All-India Coordinated Project on Underutilized full, fat, seed heads, reminiscent of sorghum. (A related ornamental amaranth is called Prince of Wales' Feather because of its brilliant Plants. The introduction of at least one plant, leucaena, has been crimson seedhead.) The seeds are small, but occur in prodigious planned on some scale, as it can serve four functions-as fuel, fodder, quantities. Their carbohydrate content is comparable to that of the feed and fertilizer. The Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, true cereals, but in protein and fat amaranths are superior to the ' the Indian Grasslands and Fodder Institute, Jhansi, the Agricultural Institute in Thana district, and other bodies are engaged in research cereals.

When heated, amaranth grains burst and a popcorn like confection and development of underutilized plants. Some years ago, the late is made from them (called alegrias in Mexico, laddoos in India and Dr. Harbhajan Singh made a compilation of the wild edible plants of Pakistan). In many areas the grains are more often parched and milled the Himalayan region. Talking to SPAN's managing editor on these into a flour high in gluten and with excellent baking qualities. Bread developments, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, Secretary to the Government made from this flour has a delicate nutty flavor. Pancakelike chapa tis of India, Ministry of Agriculture, expressed confidence that the research into underutilized plants will lead to considerable benefit to the country. made from it are a staple in the Himalayan foothills.

The species discussed here are just a handful of examples of As an example, Dr. Swaminathan mentioned India's export last year worthy plants overlooked by researchers. To study, improve and of Rs. 40 crore worth of latex derived from the recently developed establish such crops will be an exciting task, one that should be the re- annual plant guayule, which makes a good substitute for natura{ -C.D.G. sponsibility of agricultural research stations in developing countries. It rubber and is a boon to a market afflicted by shortages.

U. S. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR BLACKS

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a company may legally give preferential treatment to blacks when such preference helps to redress a social wrong of longstanding.

The Supreme Court decision stemmed from the case of a white worker who charged that he was discriminated against when two blacks with less seniority were selected over him for training as skilled craftsmen. In 1975 two lower courts supported his contention.

Now, four years later, the highest court in the United States has overturned the earlier decisions by a five-to-two vote.

The other two members of the nine-man court abstained.

The case involved a Louisiana plant of the Kaiser Aluminum Company and one of its employees, Brian F. Weber, 32.

In 1974, the company managers and the United Steelworkers of America, a large labor union representing workers at the plant, agreed to initiate a voluntary affirmative action program designed to help more blacks get better jobs.

Under the program, whites and blacks were to be selected for training as skilled craftsmen on a 50-50 basis until the number of skilled blacks in the plant was proportionate to the number of blacks in the community's labor force; while 39 per cent of the labor force was black, only 2 per cent of the Kaiser skilled workers were black. The disproportionate representation was the reason why Weber was turned down for training in favor of blacks.

Weber sued on the grounds that this preferential treatment ran counter to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which states that no person may be discriminated against on the basis of race.

Associate Justice William A. Brennan, Jr., who drafted the decision, pointed out that the lower courts' rulings had only followed the letter of the 1964 Act, not its spirit. In passing the Act, Congress had been primarily concerned with the "plight of the Negro in our economy." "It would be ironic indeed," he added, "if a law

Brian F. Weber, whose charge of reverse discrimination was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling validated his employer's disputed action in giving preference to blacks in recruitment and training programs.

triggered by a nation's concern over centuries of racial injustice, and intended to improve the lot of those who had been excluded from the American dream for so long, constituted the first legislative prohibition of all voluntary, private, raceconscious efforts to abolish traditional patterns of racial segregation and hierarchy. " The Weber decision was in contrast to the Supreme Court's ruling in the Bakke case last year. Alan Bakke, a white, sued the University of California, charging that he was a victim of reverse discrimination. He alleged that lesser qualified blacks were admitted in preference to him in the university's medical school because of the school's system of a minority quota. The Supreme Court, in a five-to-four decision, ruled in favor of Bakke, saying that while race could be taken into consideration for admission

to the school, numerical quotas were illegal.

Drew Days, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, however, maintained that the Weber decision .was "very consistent with the direction that was established by the Bakke case."

The principal difference between the two cases, according to legal observers, lies in the fact that the medical school was a recipient of Federal funds, and therefore subject to legislation prohibiting the use of a quota system, whereas the Kaiser case represented a private firm instituting its own voluntary program in concert with an independent labor union.

The Weber decision has been welcomed not only by civil rights leaders, but also by the business world, since it clears the somewhat confused situation firms had found themselves in vis-a-vis affirmative action programs. If firms gave representation to minorities, as the Kaiser company did, they risked the chance of a white jobseeker suing them, as Weber did.

If they had a racially imbalanced force, they stood the chance of being sued by minorities and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, and also of losing government contracts: Government regulations require that employers seeking over $50,000 worth of contracts set goals and timetables for bringing their minority and female work force up to their percentages in the available labor pool-e.g., in a community where blacks are 20 per cent of the labor pool, 20 per cent of the employees should be black.

With the Supreme Court ruling, the firms now have the necessary guidelines and sanction for implementing such programs. The Weber case will give a fillip to the movement for seeking proportionate representation for blacks in the job force, and, by implication, for other minorities. The Carter Administration has already announced that it would apply the ruling to all minorities and to women who have been denied equal status. []

BOWTBITIIBO \lORLO 611 Lower duties and expanded markets for Third World products in the developed world, a new set of codes on nontariff barriers to trade, improvements to GATT (the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade )-these are some -of the benefits from the recent Tokyo Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations in Geneva.

The recently concluded Tokyo Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (MTN) in Geneva clearly recognized the growing importance of developing co.untries in the world trading system.

The results of the negotiations will provide significant benefits to their economies.

Past negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) did not focus primarily on products of particular interest to Third World nations. This time, however, developed countries seriously pursued their Tokyo Declaration commitment to provide special benefits to developing countries in the MTN. Tariff negotiations respected the development needs of each country, and concessions were not sought by developed countries on a fully reciprocal basis. The nontariff codes agreed on in Geneva ensured that the rules governing international trade respond to the needs of developing countries in a fair and balanced manner. And a major goal of developing countries, an agreement to revise the framework of GATT, was met.

Tariff Cuts Average global tariff reductions of 33 per cent will expand markets for Third World exporters; these will become increasingly important as developing economies broaden their manufacturing base.

Following the MTN, the U.S. average t~riff rate on imports from Third World countries will decline by two percentage points, to 5.7 per cent. The United States has negotiated bilateral tariff and nontariff agreements with about 25 developing countries. The agreements are designed to ensure that many products supplied principally and substantially by these countries enter the United States more freely during the coming years. The United States sought to provide the maximum amount of special and differential treatment for developing countries in the tariff negotiations. Where possible, deeper-than-formula cuts were made on products supplied principally by developing countries; small suppliers were not expected to make contributions for U.S. concessions; tariff reclassifications were made whenever possible to accommodate Third World interests, and developing countries were not expected to provide full reciprocity. Developing countries which did not negotiate in the MTN will benefit from concessions exchanged on a most-favored-nation basis among the Tokyo Round participants.

The U.S:-MTN industrial tariff offer will result in a 26 per cent depth of cut for developing countries and will cover, more than $10,000 million in shipments. Excluding the textiles sector, which

is particularly sensitive in the United States, the average cut on industrial items is 34 per cent. Industrial sectors of primarl' interest to Third World countries are consumer electronics. where duties were reduced to 4.6 per cent, other electronics, where duties were lowered to 4.7 per cent, and miscellaneous manufactures, where duties were cut by over 50- per cent to 4.7 per cent.

Duty reductions in import-sensitive areas, such as textiles and footwear, had to be smaller. Nonetheless, tariff cuts were made on nearly 75 per cent of U.S. textile imports from developing countries, and the United States tried to make maximum possible offers on products of special interest to them-:;-especially the mid-level and poorer developing countries. It is important LIKELY ANNUAL INCREASES IN U.S. IMPORTS FROM TOKYO ROUND TARIFF CUTS (Tariff cuts to be phased over a period of 8 to 10 years) BASE: 1978 VALUE In millions of dollars

PRODUCT GROUP

23

ANIMALS AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS

~

VEGETABLE PRODUCTS

~

40

FATS AND OIL.'>

~

5

PREPARED FOODSTUFFS,

~

â&#x201A;Źa; ~g

BEVERAGES, TOBACCO

MINERAL PRODUCTS

-

CHEMICALS

4

141

PLASTICS, RUBBER

~

249

1,121

HIDES, LEATHER GOODS

137

WOOD, CORK ARTICLES

60

~ ~

â&#x20AC;˘ G

PAPER, PAPER PRODUCTS

9

~

FOOTWEAR,

g

HEADGEAR

194

STONE, PLASTER, CEMENT, CERAMICS, GLASS

102

PRECIOUS

124

STONES,

JEWELRY

BASE METALS, ARTICLES

541

~ ~

MACHINERY,

-----

ELECTRICAL

TRANSPORTATION PRECISION

EQUIPMENT

EQUIPMENT

INSTRUMENTS

~

@

MISCELLANEOUS

TOTAL

MANUFACTURES

342

272 176

476

4,016

IS rBOIlTIB TOIYOBODD to note that the broadening and deepening of developing countries' productive capacity depends on growth in industrial manufacturing sectors. It is in these areas that the United States made its most significant MTN tariff reductions to developing countries.

Before' the Tokyo Round began, the U.S. economy was very open to agricultural imports, with duties averaging about 4 per cent. At that time, approximately 40 per cent of all agricultural prQducts entered the United States duty-free. The United States made offers in the MTN on about 50 per cent of all dutiable agricultural imports, with an average cut of about 53 per cent. .Over half of these concessions were made to developing countries.

U.S. offers on products of particular interest to developing countries-such as processed fruits and vegetables, processed meat and vegetable oils-will provide important import opportunities in the years ahead. The Tokyo Round will result in _average duties of 2.6 per cent on agricultural shipments from developing countries.

Nontarift' Barriers As tariffs have been reduced, nontariffbarriers-the invisible disruptions-have become more important. The keystone of the Tokyo Round is a set of nontariff codes that cover a broad range of government policies, regulations and other actions that seriously restrict trade.

The purpose of these codes is to establish clearer, firmer and more equitable rules, of tr.ade that will make international commerce more accessible to all. The practices of governments will become increasingly open, public access to information about governmental actions will increase, and due process for the resolution of disputes will be strengthened. Importers and

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exporters will operate within a system that is more predictable.

The resulting greater transparency in the international trading system will lead to important increases in trade, which will be especially beneficial to smaller and 'lessexperienced exporters.

The various codes were negotiated by multilateral groups that included both developed and developing countries. They reflect many of the concerns expressed by the developing countries.

Code membership will create additional responsibilities for both developing and developed countries, but the benefits that the codes will provide far outweigh the burden of acceding to them.

The code agreements will ensure that the international trade flows in an equitable fashion and that Third World countries can draft development plans with assurance that the rules of the game wilf not change. New and small exporters in developing countries will find the codes' control of non tariff measures particularly beneficial, since historically these exporters have been at a disadvantage compared to experienced traders and multinational firms in overcoming barriers to international trade.

Code on subsidies: The code on subsidies and countervailing duties is one of the most important elements of the MTN. It will strengthen the international discipline for industrial and agricultural subsidies. This discipline will prove to be especially beneficial for developing countries with limited resources, which have the most to lose from a subsidies race. In addition, there will be greater discipline over the use of countermeasures. The Unite'd States will adopt an injury test for countervailing action affecting code signatories.

The subsidies code contains special features for developing countries: It recognizes the i~portance of subsidies in development programs; developing countries will not have to assume

SPAN

the same obligations as developed countries immediately upon signature; and developing countries will be able to phase out their export subsidies over time, according to their development¡ needs.

The government procurement code (concerning purchases by governments) should be of considerable interest to developing countries. For Third World governments themselves, purchasing supplies at the best price will help assure that limited economic resources will not be wasted.

Code on product standards: The standards code provides guidelines and international enforcement procedures to assure that the setting of technical standards are not used to create hidden trade barriers. Specific derogations from the code's provisions will be permitted for developing countries that have problems in meeting certain of the code's responsibilities.

Technical assistance will be provided to help developing nations prepare national standards.

Code on safeguards: Both the United States and developing countries consider a safeguards code important to a successful MTN conclusion. Developing countries have played an important role in these ongoing negotiations, and an agreement is likely soon. The United States shares Third World concerns regarding international discipline on safeguard measures, particularly those taken on a selective basis. It is also concerned about the accelerating rate of voluntary export restraints being undertaken for safeguard purposes outside of GATT. The United States believes that safeguard action should be brought under the greater discipline that will be provided by the code. For these reasons, the United States urged the Third World to participate actively in the final preparation of the code.

Agreement on ,GATT: Developing countries considered an agreement to improve the general GAIT framework for the conduct of trade essential to a successful conclusion of the negotiations. The resulting agreement, which was negotiated multilaterally with key developing countries, represents one of

the most important accomplishments in North-South relations in recent years. The framework agreement contains an "enabling clause" that recognizes the principle of granting special and differential treatment to developing countries. It also provides that, as countries develop and their trade situation improves, they may expect to participate more fully in the operation of the GATT and undertake greater obligations.

The framework agreement will significantly improve the operation of the GATT system. Its provisions to settle trade disputes will be valuable-they will help resolve trade disputes impartially and quickly. The agreement also identifies trade measures which member-countries can adopt to solve balanceof-payments problems without upsetting or distorting international trade. And developed countries have agreed to refrain, as far as possible, from imposing trade curbs for balance-ofpayments purposes. Third World countries, on the other hand, have attained greater flexibility in their ability to use trade measures to promote economic development.

No country will be completely satisfied with the results of the MTN, since it calls for granting concessions as well as receiving them. However, the Tokyo Round has produced new and significant international guidelines, upon which laws governing world trade can be built in the years ahead. Third World countries have the opportunity to participate fully in this evolution. In an increasingly interdependent world, the individual trade concerns of all ~ations are no longer theirs alone. Problems are now felt multilaterally and need to be solved multilaterally.

The foundation laid by the Tokyo Round will ensure that these issues are resolved in an organized, cooperative and equitable 0 fashion.

About the Author: Stephen L. Lande is Assistant Special Trade Representative in the office of the Preside/it's Special Representative for Trade Negotiations. He was formerly Counsellor for Economic Affairs at the American Embassy in New Delhi.

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Training Center for

Swimmers

The Mission Viejo Swim Club in Southern California has become in just a few years the leading training center for swimmers in the United States. The club is part of a commUhity planned around recreation.

There is a place for everyone regardless of ability in the pool-or rather pools: there are five, including one Olympic-size one.

The club has some 470 swimmers of all ages, the best working their way up to the senior team, where

each swimmer is ranked nationally in his or her event. Mission Viejo has been the launching pad for Olympic winners like Brian Goodell and Shirley Babashoff. Among the current crop of seniors with promise is butterfly specialist Alice Browne (top, left).

One reason for the success of the program is that training begins early (above). Photographs here and on the back cover show Lonnie Valentine, one of the five coaches to work with younger swimmers, in actiondemonstrating a kick by using one of his pupils and a poolside lounge chair (top, right); drilling the youngsters in the proper strokes (left); and boosting a five-year-old out of the water to give her the sensation of a dive (back cover).

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