Pampa Daily News from Pampa, Texas • Page 10

10 PAMPA DAILY NEWS Pampa, Texas 69th Year Monday, October 13, 1975 If It's Gobbledygook It's By Bureaucrat WASHINGTON (UPI) -If you read something with words like "finalize," "interface" or "policywise," the odds are a federal bureaucrat wrote it. It's called gobbledygook. It doesn't always involve big words. Some of the best examples consist of small words strung together in a fashion that, at first reading, appear to defy reason. To learn why bureaucrats write that way, UPI tracked down a real, live gobbledygook author.

A directive he wrote recently was quoted in the Washington Star's daily gobbledygook column, and won a $10 award for the reader who sent it in. The entry concerned "Travel which is incident to travel that involves the performance of work while traveling." It went like this: "Simply stated, travel which is incident to travel that involves the performance of work while traveling means travel to a point at which an employe begins to perform work while traveling or travel from a point at which an employe ceased performing work while traveling." Is that clear? Maybe not, says the man who wrote it. Maybe the word 'simply' was his undoing. He is Ben Wiseman, chief of pay and position management for the Justice Department, a graying, 52-year-old career official who in an interview speaks easy, slangy English and can laugh about the item. "It is a ridiculous statement, I guess, in some ways," he said.

"What I tried to do was to explain it as clearly as I could. I think even the best writer is going to get squirreled up some time." "I'm very sensitive on the subject," said Wiseman. "I don't like to write governmen- tese but I guess I'm guilty of it sometimes. 1 try to do something that isn't going to wind up in the funny paper." Asked why gobbledygook keeps turning up in the federal government, Wiseman said the main reasons are ignorance or vanity. He explained: "Most frequently, it is a poorly educated person who wants to impress people with his erudition.

He uses 50-cent words when he doesn't really know what they mean." "Then there is the well-educated one who is so proud of his erudition that he wants no doubt in anybody's mind that he's the smartest cookie that ever came down the pike." Another reason, he said, is the regulation must fit the law, and "there is no way to make a complex subject simple." As it turns out, the publicized piece of Wiseman's gobbledygook was part of a 54- page directive he wrote five years ago after Congress changed the law about pay for working after hours and on weekends. A government worker would get paid for working out of town on Sunday, for example, but with few exceptions got no pay for the time spent traveling. In 1969. Congress added more exceptions. Wiseman's 1970 directive got his superior's approval, went to each of seven Justice Department bureaus for four to six weeks of review and then to former Assistant Attorney General L.

M. Pellerzi, who sign edit. After all, Wiseman pointed out, "1 am regarded as somewhat an expert in the field or I wouldn't be in my job." Oil Independence by 2015? TULSA, Okla. (UP1) -The United States may be totally independent of Arab oil by the year 2015. Unfortunately, so will everyone else because statistically that will be the year the last barrel of oil is pumped from the last well on earth.

Of course, there will be no "last barrel" as such in 2015 because the world's oil fields cannot continue to produce at current levels much longer. The 1975 International Petroleum Encyclopedia, updated and published annually by the Petroleum Publishing sets proven world reserves the oil known for a fact to be present and recoverable by current technology at about 103 billion metric tons. The current world annual consumption rate is approximately 2.8 billion tons. The IPE, which gathers the best available estimates from government and industry sources throughout the world, shows the situation is even worse for domestic wells. U.S.

reserves, including a middle ground estimate of 15 billion barrels in Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, stand at 6.8 billion metric tons, while annual production is 434.4 million metric tons. At that rate, U.S. reserves would be exhausted in about 15 years. While consumption in much of the Western world has slowly declined under higher price levels, consumption in the developing nations and the communist bloc has increased at a nearly equivalent level. The United States and Western Europe are not likely to decrease much further, but increases in Africa, Latin America and Asia can be expected to continue as their level of technology and standard of living rise.

Therefore, the answer to this nation's energy problems and those of the rest of the world do not lie in increased production from already depleting reserves. Industry sources say that would only hasten the final day of reckoning. And the solution certainly is not a return to the days of "cheap" oil which made shortsighted consumption so easy. Although much of the world still relies heavily on other fuel sources, principally solid fuels (coal and wood) and natural gas, the prospects there also are bleak. The world supply of coal is massive and relatively untapped, but natural gas reserves, at current consumption rates, will be exhausted in about 50 years.

Water-generated power sup- iplies only 1.9 per cent of the world's energy, and nuclear power, hailed as the power source of the future, provides only .4 per cent in the current nuclear age. It is unlikely either will be able to take over the role now played by petroleum in the short time remaining. And time is short because the decreasing productivity of world oil fields could cause a disastrous energy shortage before the end of this century, according to industry sources. Worldwide inflation has added additional problems, delaying development of such exotic alternate energy sources as geothermal and solar. With the time lag from theory to prototype to implementation to dependence, some experts say it already may be too late for these methods to be in place and providing significant quantities of energy before the problem becomes acute.

Development of one possible alternate coal liquefaction is about to begin. Simply put, coal liquefaction is a process converting one ton of coal into three barrels of high-quality synthetic crude oil. Three major research projects in this area are now underway, but it will be at least five years before the process can be proven with a test plant. Although proponents are tore- casting several full-scale plants producing up to 100,000 barrels of oil a day, it will be several years before such plants would be operational providing the process is economically feasible. If it is, America's estimated 400 billion tons of coal would provide enough oil to supply the nation's current needs for about 200 years.

1 TH fJlticials Prevent Local Voter Control' AUSTIN, Tex. (UPI) The chairman of a group promoting passage of the new state constitution Saturday said local officials are trying to prevent voters from controlling their local governments. Robert W. Calvert, former chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, said a list of names released last week seeking the defeat of the new state charter included four county treasurers, 12 justices of the peace and constables in Dallas County. Calvert, head of Citizens for the Texas Constitution, said a Tarrant County group opposed to the proposed charter included five county and precinct officials.

"The people of Texas have a chance by adoption of the new Texas constitution to take control of their government and they should not be mislead by those whose only interest is self interest," Calvert said. "Just as we predicted, entrenched local officials are ganging up to deprive the people of the right by their votes to control their local government." Rep. Ronald Earle, D-Austin, statewide coordinator of the pro-constitution group, said it was absurd for opponents to charge the document would increase the legislature's power at the expense of the voters. Earle referred to comments by Sen. Peyton McKnight, chairman of a group opposing adoption of the document, which will be submitted to voters Nov.

4. "It should be apparent to anyone who takes the time to read and study both the new constitution and the old. ELYRIA, Ohio (UPI)-A 17- year-old youth, kept alive since Sept. 21 by a life-support machine his parents wanted disconnected, died early Saturday of heart failure. His parents termed the death "somewhat of a relief," Randal Carmen, a senior at Wellington High School where he was planning to take agricultural courses, went into a coma shortly after suffering head injuries while playing football with friends.

A week later, neurosurgeons told his parents, Mr. and Richard K. Carmen, of Wellington, located south of this northeastern Ohio city, their son's brain waves were flat meaning there was no electrical activity in the brain. The condition is called "brain death." The parents sought to force Elyria Memorial Hospital to shut off the machine which kept their son breathing by pumping air into his lungs. For all practical purposes, doctors said.

Randal was dead since Sept. 28. Hospital officials fearing legal repercussions refused to turn off the machine. They said hospital policy was to "make every effort to sustain life, even if this involves using highly sophisticated equipment or other life-saving procedures." The Carmens then contacted an attorney to consider a legal battle to have the machine disconnected. "We had a family gathering last night and decided we were definitely going to fight this through the courts, if possible," Carmen said Saturday.

"His brain was not telling him to breathe and we had come to accept that the machine would not help him," Mrs. Carmen added. "But." Randy's grief-stricken father said, "the Lord made his decision first." "We want to do anything we can to help other people, to get something done in the state legislature." Carmen said. "Nobody should have to go through this. If we make people aware, if we get the kind of laws we need, there will then be a purpose to Randy's death." Carmen, sobbing, added, "his death is somewhat of a relief for us.

We couldn't expect a miracle." The boy will be buried Monday in his home town following a funeral service at the Assembly of God Church. Red Cross To Sponsor School Member Drive The Gray County Chapter of the American Red Cross voted recently to sponsor a membership drive in the schools during the third week of November. Each student will have an opportunity to become a member of the Red Crass and will participate in activities during the year. The decision to sponsor the drive was made during a Red Cross principal teacher breakfast. Jack Bailey, principal of Pampa Junior High School, presided.

Sarn Beyert. principal of Horace Mann School, gave the invocation. Teacher sponsors decided to make tray favors for the Veterans Adminstration Hospital in Arnarillo again this year. The high school group served as host for the Senior Citizens meeting Thursday al Lovett Library Announcement was made that the Red Cross Board will meet Oct. 14 for a breakfast and a regular board session.

Wayne Wilson is chapter president. Vickie Moose will give report on the disaster conference lield in Perryton Thursday. Those present were: Wayne Wilson, chapter chairman of the Red Cross, Floyd Sacked. principal of Baker School with Miss Diana Baccus, teacher sponsor: Mildred Sullivan and Clara Nensteill from St. Vincents; Joe Page, principal from Austin with Peggy Dennis, teacher sponsor; Mary Lynn Case, teacher sponsor for Pampa High School with Debbie Lehnick.

president of Pampa High School Red Crass; James A. Thomas, principal from Houston Middle School with Mrs Johnnie Thompson; Cameron Marsh, principal from Travis Elementary with Miss Jeannine Peurifoy. teacher sponsor; Marie Doggett with Bunny Nichols from St. Matthews School; Dann Johnson, principal from Lamar School; Jess Baker, principal from Lefors Elementary School with Mrs Jonny Sypert, teacher sponsor; Sam Begert, principal from Horace Mann School; and Jack Bailey, principal of Pampa Junior High with Gaylene Skaggs. teacher sponsor.

YARD GOODS NEW YORK (UPIi When you buy fabrics by the yard, be sure the sales clerk gives you a care label to go with each The label should match the information on the label of the bolt of fabric Both give instructions for washing, bleaching, ironing or dry cleaning. Complaints missing labels -hieaed lo ihe store manager or u'niter. If they do aoi reply positively. notify Care Labels, Federal Trade Commission. Washington.

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