The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 4

Opinion The Salina Journal Severance faxes endangered species? One of the big selling points Gov. John Carlin stressed over and over again in his effort to get a severance tax on oil, coal and gas was that some perhaps much of the tax would be paid by out-of- state purchasers not Kansans. It was a good and valid argument and still is. But for how A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has thrown a slight shadow over such state laws.

The court ruled that Louisiana cannot impose a tax upon natural gas that passes through the state en route to utility customers in other states. The court concluded that such a tax amounts to an attempt by a state to regulate interstate a function reserved to the federal government under the Constitution. This was not really a pure ruling on a severance tax since Louisiana was attempting to tax gas coming from offshore wells in the Gulf of Mexico under federal jurisdiction gas not produced within the state. But it may provide a hint on which way the court is leaning. Another case may provide a more pointed ruling possibly affecting severance taxes.

The state of New Hampshire is the defendant in a case challenging its right to control the transmission to other states of' electricity produced in New Hampshire. And, finally, the court will face the severance tax issue directly. Before it is a case challenging Montana's tax on coal produced in that state and shipped elsewhere. It's possible that severance taxes may be severed. Reagan mentality is liberal concern What bothers most liberals is the Reagan mentality.

It is found not only in the President but in the minds of the New Wave of leaders in Washington, D.C. In Jesse Helms. Strom Thurmond. Paul Laxalt. David Stockman.

And others. The Reagan mentality, which has been alive and well for more years than Ronnie's 70, is a jaw-jutting bitter toughness. It is the sick-and-tired, fed- up attitude about the complexity of life. Symptoms of the mind set, to borrow a Nixonian term, can be found in the trite phase uttered behind closed doors. "I'm sick and tired of government telling us what to do," is one.

"Get government off our backs." "They can't push us around." "Poor people ought to pull themselves up by their bootstraps." "I got mine; why can't they get theirs?" "Our armed forces have deteriorated under the liberal leadership." "Minorities are taking over. Now we're discriminating against whites." "It's time to turn this country around." Arid the beat goes on. A cyclical mood Liberals who blame President Reagan for the new mood in Washington would do well to realize our steely-eyed leadership is merely a tip of the iceberg. Th moguls in power only represent a cyclical mood of the country. The pendulum of political philosophy swings back and forth.

Since the early Thirties, it has been moving forward, with some hesitation and backsliding, toward understanding, compassion, and deliberation in regard to the complex problems of our society. The movement brought us Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, and detente. Harris Newspapers But, almost suddenly, the mood shifted to the hard right. Our blunders since the Bay of Pigs and the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, the Vietnam War, and the embarrassments during the Carter administration, including the hostage crisis, have been accumulating to the point of explosion. Economic problems lit the match.

Finally the masses have had enough, they are fed up. The pendulum swung back to the right, sweeping Reagan and his mentality into power. The horrors of the swing have not yet unfolded. They will in the next years. Once they are apparent, the mood will reverse itself, and the country will continue it's 5-decade march.

A reflection Meanwhile, don't blame the man in the White House. He is only reflecting the nation's temporary frustration. Once it has spent itself, once the country moves back to a more moderate position, once citizens discover simple solutions won't solve the problems of a complicated world, the nation's leadership will change and the Reagan mentality will withdraw and exit stage right. Pity, envy for Class of '81 CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Pity the class of '81.

This year's college seniors enter a supremely self-centered society at a moment of acute competition for the sweets of success. But envy the class of '81, too. For to it is given the rare chance to develop a new sense of national community, a higher patriotism. The "pig in the python," the great bulge in the population caused by the baby boom that ran from 1946 to 1965, provides the basic setting. As children, the products of the baby boom drove their parents from the crowded cities to the suburbs, and the wide-open spaces of the South and West.

As adults, they fostered an expansion of new consumer services. Like fast-food places, and discount houses, and cable television that all shared a stress on the small group or individual satisfaction in private. As to public matters, the baby boomers reached adult life just after Lyndon Johnson set in place the Great Society. Programs to aid persons disadvantaged by reason of race or poverty did little for the vast majority of young people in quest of achievement. As the cost of social programs mounted, and their inef- By Joseph Kraft Syndicated Columnist fectiveness became visible, the baby boomers became the shock troops for the attack on government and bureaucracy that has dominated national politics since 1976.

The Reagan Administration now rules the country in the name of those attitudes. It combines reductions in social services with a tax cut arranged on the principle that "them that has, gets." Add opposition to the draft, and the affluent style, and there emerges a distinct sense of selfishness, even greed. Wants it all The authentic voice of the times is Jerry Falwell asserting that "material wealth is God's way of blessing people who put Him first." Or the young man depicted in an advertisement for pricey tennis shirts which says: "He knows what he wants. He wants it all." Good students at the best universities are apt to get much of it. Here in Cambridge, shop talk centers around the hefty salaries being offered to graduates of the Harvard Business School.

Engineers at MIT and new lawyers and doctors are also finding rich pickings. Not so, though, for the more average students at less prestigious schools. Competition among the graduates is brisk. This year's cohort of seniors about 1.5 million is one of the largest on record. Not only do they have to scramble against one another, but they are also pitted against large classes of earlier graduates who have already cornered the comfortable spots in the work force.

Even as the competition intensifies, moreover, opportunity shrinks. Because of the continuous shift to services, attractive posts in industry dwindle. By choice of the electorate, public service jobs wind down. Openings in education, because of the population dip following the baby boom, diminish sharply. So what shapes up in the immediate future is sharp rivalry for fewer places in the sun.

Selfishness, as usual, is bearing its bitter fruit. An echo effect, fortunately, follows the population dip. By the end of this decade, the grandchildren of the- baby boom will be appearing in large numbers. Even assuming a lower birth rate, there will be a rise in households. With it will come a further need for more public serv-.

ices for safer streets, better i schools, more effective transit. Choice is theirs At that point the hour of genuine opportunity comes round again. Jr they make the right choices, this year's graduates can realize the unfulfilled ambition of the '60s renewed cities, harmony among racial groups and a more equitable, less- greedy society. But will they make the right choices? David Riesman, looking back-30- years to his graduation from Harvard College, observed for the Cridx-' son: "I am impressed by the large- number of my classmates who have served education as trustees and philanthropists, and likewise have been acutely knowledgeable patrons of the I wonder whether the class of '81 will produce a comparable sense of institutional loyalty and obligation, and of civic responsibility." How will Ed AAeese treat protesters? WASHINGTON Fifteen years ago this summer, Edwin Meese HI testified before the House Un- American Activities Committee (HUAC) favoring punishment for Americans who aided North Vietnam in any way. In retrospect, Meese's testimony sounds ominously doctrinaire for a man who has become President Reagan's top aide.

On Aug. 18, 1966, the affable Mr. Meese, then deputy district attorney of Oakland, told the conservative House panel that the Vietnam Day Committee (VDC) was "affording aid and comfort to the enemy." In reality, the Berkeley-based organization of 800 students, professors and community members was nothing more than a loosely knit group of citi-' zens who wanted to educate the public about the Vietnam War. The VDC was neither a terrorist group nor a real hindrance to the U.S. war effort.

The organization held regular teach-ins on campuses nationwide and included speakers who favored and opposed U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia. Paid the price The VDC did, however, occasionally urge demonstrators to block U.S. troop trains. These efforts, of course, attracted much publicity.

But those caught were rightly tried and sentenced. Reading Meese's testimony recalls J. Edgar Hoover's paranoia about communism. The VDC was described by Meese as a "well-organized committee that had extensive logistical support, including walkie-talkies, sound trucks and a wide range of publications and leaflets and it had continual legal assistance and advice. "While the membership changed from time to time, there was generally a permanent cadre which carried on their activities on a day-to-day basis," said Meese in his 70-page testimony, which included exhibits.

Meese told the controversial House SENIOR CITIZENS' WU0WPRESIDENT DAY BRING "(OUR OWN STICK committee (abolished in 1975) that his office had assigned undercover agents to the VDC to protect the public's safety. He further added that the VDC abused the justice system as a propaganda tool by engaging in civil disobedience. Meese was also upset by VDC leaflets distributed at the Oakland Army Induction Center urging inductees to beat the draft by "wetting your sheets." HUAC subcommittee Chairman Joe Pool's (D-Texas) bill, which Meese called "appropriate," would have permitted up to 20 years in jail and a $20,000 fine for those convicted of helping North Vietnam. Since the Johnson administration found the bill unnecessary, it never became law. Ironically, had the bill passed, student anti-war organizers such as Michigan State's David Stockman might have been jailed in the 1960s.

By Maxwell Glen Cody Shearer Syndicated Of professors, politicians, presidents WASHINGTON For a moment or two, brothers and sisters, let us pray together over the rights of men, and more specifically over the rights of professors, politicians and college presidents. Let us briefly examine such grand themes as democratic government and academic freedom. And let us contemplate the case of Bertell Oilman. This is a splendid intellectual exercise. To begin at the beginning: In the fall of 1977, a search committee at the University of Maryland set out to find a new chairman for the Department of Politics and Government.

Some months later the committee chose Professor Oilman of New York University. The university's provost provisionally offered him the job and recommended to the university's then-president, Dr. Wilson Homer Elkins, that Professor Oilman be hired. Dr. Elkins, manifestly unhappy with the choice, bucked a final decision to his immediate successor, Dr.

John S. Toll. A noisy row erupted. After a few weeks of review and consultation, Dr. Toll rejected the nomination.

Whereupon Professor Oilman filed suit in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, demanding that he be hired. The suit has gone to trial before Judge Alexander By James J. Kilpatrick Syndicated Columnist Harvey II. We should have a decision soon.

Those are the bare bones of the story. To flesh them out: Professor Oilman is a dyed-in-the-denim Marxist. His academic credentials (Wisconsin and Oxford) are impeccable; he has taught not only at N.Y.U. but also at Chicago and Columbia. In an essay published in 1978, he candidly proclaimed his own view that socialist teachers should make "the most effective use of the classroom situation" to draw their pupils into the Marxist movement.

The Class Struggle The professor is also an entrepreneur. In 1978 he copyrighted a board game, somewhat along the lines of Monopoly, called Class Struggle. The game perfectly reflects his view of a world in which capitalists, represented by top hats, attempt to grind down the workers, represented by hammers. The object of the game is for the workers to win their revolution, despite the unfair advantages of the bloated businessmen. On to our discussion.

In an editorial the other day, the Washington Post looked at the lawsuit: "If the court finds persuasive Mr. Oilman's contention that Mr. Toll rejected his candidacy only because his Marxist views had become the subject of Maryland political controversy, the university should act promptly to reinstate Mr. Oilman's appointment. Maryland politicians must not be allowed to intrude into the appointment of teachers and scholars at the unversity simply because of displeasure with their political opinions period." So sayeth the Washington Post.

Horsefeathers, says I. Mr. Oilman has a right to teach Marxism, but where, pray tell, did he acquire a right to teach Marxism at the University of Maryland? And what is this about silencing The Maryland legislators who complained about the proposed Oilman appointment are the elected representatives of Maryland taxpayers whose hard-earned money supports the university. Who says these representatives must not "in- trude" into controversy at a public institution? In the end, the appointment of department chairmen is the responsibility of a university's president. How did Dr.

ToU lose his rights in this regard? Neither the search committee nor the provost has any right to dictate a final decision. University presidents have to have spines of steel and the guts of billygoats. Their hard task is to fend off yahoos and rednecks at one extreme and doctrinaire super-libs at the other. They cannot afford to forget that they preside over public institutions financed by public funds. There lies the crux of the problem, in the difference between personal rights and public policies.

A pregnant woman, says the Supreme Court, has a right to an abortion; but she has no right, says the court, to an abortion at public expense. A high school English teacher has a right to introduce 10th graders to Aristotle, but his local school board has a superior right to order him not to go beyond approved course materials. So it goes. In a free society, Professor Oilman can peddle his class struggle wherever he can sell suckers on his snake oil philosophy. But politicians, presidents and those who pay the taxes also have a right to be heard.

There is little evidence to show that Ed Meese's views on dissent have mellowed since his 1966 HUAC testimony. Last year, he told Los Angeles Times reporter Robert Scheer that James Rector, a young protestor shot to death by police during the People's Park demonstrations in Berkeley "deserved to die." Meese later told the Washington Post that Rector was caught throwing a sharply pointed, triangular-shaped piece of metal at a policeman. Even though this has been widely disputed, Meese said, "If a guy was trying to kill a policeman, he should get shot." And, a few weeks ago, Meese suggested to a California Police Officers Association meeting in Sacramento that the American Civil Liberties Union was part of a "criminal conspiracy" opposed to law enforcement. While such talk has frightened us, it hasn't surprised Meese's friends in Oakland. Several told us that the soft- spoken family man has been heartsick since the social upheaval of the 1960s.

They say Meese subliminally blames CITIZEN SMITH the Great Society programs and dem-. onstrators for the deterioration of-his. hometown. What concerns us is how the presi-, dent's top aide will advise Mr. Reagan' during future protests.

If thousands of, distraught Americans flood ton next year because they're the brunt of the president's budget: cuts, will Mr. Meese's periences in Oakland mute chances for; a dialogue between demonstrators the Reagan administration? Surely, Ed Meese and others.with;! law enforcement backgrounds deserve-j much credit for preserving civil liberties and public safety. But when criticism of the Reagan a(K ministration intensifies, Meese and-; company should keep their membering that, as presidental era, those who oppose their pojiei.es aren't criminals. Meditations Woe unto them who call evil, good; and good, evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitterr The day of judgment will itself be-' evil, dark and bitter for those who "per" vert truth and practice deception. Letters Wanted The Journal welcomes letters to 1 editor but does not promise to print them: The briefer they are the better chance they have.

All are subject condensation and editing. Writer's name must be signed with full address' for publication. Letters become the'" property of The Journal. By Dave Gerard.