THE October 30, 1984
Vol. 83, No. 16
VISTA
Tuesday Edition
Central State University, Edmond, Oklahoma
Boren gives students blueprint for future By Traci Baucom Associate Editor Sen. David L. Boren, D-Okla., gave political science students his proposed agenda for the future of the United States and Congress Thursday night during part of a political science workshop, Campaign '84. First on Boren's agenda are the federal budget deficits. "I serve on the Senate Finance Committee and there's no way we can continue to live with the budget deficits we have right now," he said. Boren gave examples of what the future might hold if the trend in escalating deficits is allowed to continue. "Within two years from right now, at the current rate we're going—no increase, just the current rate—our government will be consuming almost 70 percent of all of the available credit in the United States just to pay the interest on the national debt." "The interest rate is the price of credit," he explained. "If the demand for credit continues to rise with no increase in the supply, interest rates will shoot right back up.
Mickey Edwards
David Boren
Vista photos by Italia Carson
Edwards says:
Economy top issue this year By Traci Baucom Associate Editor The predominate issue facing the country this campaign year is the economy, according to Mickey Edwards. Edwards, Oklahoma's fifth district congressman, summed up his feelings in a speech during the political science workshop, Campaign '84, Friday night. "The number one issue in every campaign, unless we're at war, is always the economy," he said. He said Oklahoma is in a bit of an unusual position in terms of the economic recovery. "Oklahoma came into the recession late," he said. "It never got as bad here as it did in other places, like Youngstown, Ohio." Still, he said, our recovery is not all that it ought to be. Yet Edwards says he is optimistic in terms of the overall direction of the economy. "Unemployment has gotten better, inflation has improved and interest rates are down," he said.
"The most important statistic is the fact that the last two years of the previous administration the gross national product, for the first time in history, actually got smaller. "Instead of being the envy of the world, producing more and more and more, in the last two years of the previous administration our economy got smaller." Now, he said, it is growing very rapidly. "I really think things are moving in the right direction," he said. Edwards went on to say that Ronald Reagan is not going to balance the budget, and that Mondale won't either. "The problem is in our system," he said. "Unless we come to grips with some very real decisions we have to make, the budget is not going to be balanced, whether we pass a balanced budget admendment or not. The budget is not going to be balanced in our lifetimes." See EDWARDS, page 3
"We're over $100 billion in the red this year with our balance of trade," he said. "What does that mean? It means we're buying $100 billion more from other countries than we're selling. Nationally, he explained, within 16 months at the current rate of our trade deficits—$10 billion per month—the United States will become a net debtor nation for the first time in its history. Boren said he personally supported an across the board budget freeze which would mean small sacrifices for everybody. "Within four years, a budget freeze would get us down to a $40 billion budget deficit," he said. He said he thinks the government needs to forget about politics and deal realistically with America's budget problems. Number two on his agenda is improving the United State's economic relationship with the rest of the world. "Twenty-five years ago only 3 percent of our production in this country, and most of it was agricultural at that time, was sold in world markets," he said. "Today, 22 percent of our non-agricultural, and more like 50 percent of our agricultural production, is sold on the world markets. And about 23 percent of what we're using today is imported into this country through world markets." He said within 10 years, one-third of the United States' national income will be related to how well the country can compete in world trade. "How can we compete?" he asked. "Number one, we had better have a tax system that works well, tax reform has to be an element." Another thing necessary for competition, Boren said, is training and education for the work force. With more and more companies replacing manual labor with robots, the jobs being created are more technical, like programming and repairing the robots. "We're either going to rise or fall in the next century by how well we develop our human resources," he said. "We have tax credits to retool machines, why don't we have tax credits to retrain people?" Finally, on his agenda, Boren thinks the country's political instituSee BOREN, page 3
Thatcher residents to stage 160s 'sleep in' By Mark Beutler Associate Editor Residents of Thatcher Hall are threatening to stage a "sleep-in" Thursday in the University Center if the heat in the dormitory is not
working by then. Nov. 1 is when school officials say the heating system will be in working order. Steve Heffernan, Tulsa freshman and Thatcher Hall resident, said he has talked to several
In this issue... Professor receives citizenship...page 4 Pocketbook art exhibited...page 4 Tunesmiths hold concert...page 6 Bronchos defeat Cameron...page 6 Preston remains in spotlight...page 8
of the construction workers and they say the heating system may not be in operating condition until some later date in the month. Heffernan said residents are not allowed to have electric portable heaters because using them would overload the dorm's circuits. "If they (school officials) would cut our rent, I might go out and buy a battery operated portable heater and an electric blanket," Heffernan stated. "I think it's a little unreasonable to expect us to wake up in the morning and try to go and take a shower and walk down a hall that has a draft blowing through it. The air in the halls is sometimes 48 or 49 degrees," Heffernan said. Ken Chamness, a senior from Yuma, Arizo., who also lives in
the dorm, said over 90 residents there have signed a petition asking for a reduction in their rent until the heat is restored. Chamness and Heffernan said they represent the view of at least half the people who live in Thatcher Hall which houses over 150 students. John Pruitt, head resident of Thatcher Hall, refused comment on the issue and stated that Robert Fields, the director of Housing, was their spokesman. Robert Fields, however, refused comment also. In addition to the petition, Heffernan said the residents are planning a peaceful sleep-in. "If the heat is not on by Nov. 1, we're going to sleep in the University Center. We're not planning any violence, and we won't allow
alcohol or drugs," Heffernan added. "We're basing the sleep-in on the Martin Luther King principle of a non-violent protest as in the 1960s," Chamness said. "We are just trying to make a statement that it's not fair for the administration to think that they can take advantage of us. When Dr. Lillard steps out of his warm bed to his nice carpet and walks over to his heated shower, we just want him to remember us cold people down here," Chamness stated. Heffernan said he thinks 75 to 80 students will participate in the sleep-in, and Chamness said anyone who is concerned about the situation may participate.