Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 18

AIR Saturday, June 29, 199 The Arizona Republic Founded In 1890 Published since 1946 by: Phoenix Newtpapeo, Inc- 120 Van Burn, Phoenix, Ariz. 65004 EUGENE C. PULLIAM 18891975 Publisher, 1946-1975 EUGENES. PULLIAM President CONRAD KLOH Director of Sales and Marketing BILL SHOVER Director of Public Affairs WILLIAM P. CHESHIRE Editor of the Editorial Pages JOHN F.

OPPEDAHL Managing Editor Where The Spirit Of The Lord Is, There Is Liberty II Corinthians 3:17 EDITORIALS SCRATCH $630.000 Theatrics at ASU LETTERS View bailout pleas with a critical eye Help for children asserting that had he not rescued MTA the group would have gone out of business, thereby disappointing its patrons. These good intentions are suspect for several reason. It is always easy to find reasons to be generous with public money, and Mr. O'Connell made no effort to inform the administration of his actions until it became obvious that MTA's puny ticket sales would leave ASU in the hole. MTA says it will make good on the $630,000 loss, though it could take up to five years.

It is difficult to see, however, how a company that was on the brink of bankruptcy could possibly hope to come up with that much money. The artistic director of MTA blames the loss on the Persian Gulf war. He alleges that people stayed home to watch Desert Storm on television instead of turning out for productions of Damn Yankees and South Pacific. Would it not appear more plausible that, in the absence of big-name stars, semi-amateur productions of such old chestnuts have limited appeal? Clearly, in a time of tight budgets, ASU should be making better decisions about its priorities. If the university, could afford almost $1 million to bail out a failing theater company, surely it could find non-essential and frivolous activities to eliminate without damaging the school's academic mission.

Moreover, the fact that Mr. O'Connell could play fast and loose with so much money does not inspire confidence in the administration's idea of accountability. The crux of this affair is not what the ASU administration seems to think it is, namely, whether Mr. O'Connell broke the law when he decided to play philanthropist with public money. Rather, the issues are the lack of adequate administrative oversight and the university's seriously misplaced priorities.

YEAR after year flocks of lobbyists from the state universities descend on the Legislature to wheedle and whine over their budgets. This year was a time of fiscal constraint for all state agencies. After a decade of consistently fat increases, Gov. Symington and legislative leaders proposed essentially flat university budgets. In response, Arizona State threatened to close down the Sundome and the University of Arizona contemplated disbanding its marching band.

Predicting all manner of catastrophe was, of course, nothing more than a political ploy. Nevertheless, it is evidence, as though more were needed, of the inability of many government agencies to set priorities when faced with the sort of economic realities that private businesses and average families confront almost daily. A month ago ASU was warning that its proposed budget would mean an inevitable reduction in classroom instruction and other essential educational services. Now comes word that the university has lost $630,000 because the director of its Public Events Department handed over to a financially shaky musical theater group almost $1 million of his $7 million annua! budget The university has suspended James O'Con-nell pending the results of an audit. Mr.

O'Connell, whose department manages Grady Gammage Auditorium, the Kerr Cultural Center and the Sundome, gave Musical Theater of Arizona more than $800,000 in anticipation of recouping the money from ticket sales. As it turned out, hardly anybody paid to witness MTA's musty old musicals and ASU was left holding the bag. Mr. O'Connell defends his philanthropy by U.S. MILITARY BASES International Airport.

They all serve the traffic that is already there. If one airline should move out, the traffic would be redistributed among the remaining carriers, or a new carrier would fill the void. As long as there is competition, we will continue to enjoy reasonable fares. The efficient airlines will adapt to changing economic conditions and survive, while no amount of subsidies will keep the inefficient in business. If any assistance is provided, in whatever form, there should be strings attached eliminating the possibility of more threats in the future in the event America West finds itself in the same predicament again.

JOHN D. PROYNOFF Phoenix Editor: As important as the survival of America West Airlines is to Arizona, and especially to the Phoenix metropolitan area, its latest request for a bailout by local governments should be viewed with a critical eye. Many times in the past America West has resorted to tactics tantamount to blackmail to bully the city of Phoenix. America West has demanded and received more preferential treatment from Phoenix than any other airline serving this area. Without a doubt, this creates a climate of unfair competition for the other carriers serving the area.

Neither America West nor any other airline created the passenger and air freight traffic into and out of Sky Harbor Editor: It is my sincere hope that the recently formed Governor's Task Force on Educational Reform will prove to be a strong advocate for at-risk youth, who comprise an every-increaSing number of students within our schools. It has been my experience as the Youth Service Coordinator for the city of Phoenix that students are not amenable to learning while their basic needs go unmet. With ever-increasing numbers of families across all income levels experiencing greater stress and with child poverty at record levels, it would appear that the schools can no longer afford to view themselves as an isolated institution within the community, separate from family and community services. While the barriers facing children today are greater than the resources of any single institution, it would appear that the schools can serve as a logical focal point, coordinating collaborative efforts to improve our children's chances for greater success. NICK CARUSO Phoenix Arizona should show its loyalty to airline symbolic gesture of contributing a day's labor.

Management and labor should strive together. Consumers, always the ultimate victims or beneficiaries, should be ready and willing to offer reasonable assistance. We have a great chance to send an extremely important message to those entrepreneurs looking for a business home: "We the people of Arizona are loyal to our own. We're not just fair-weather friends." FRANK MAGUIRE Phoenix Editor: I am opposed to protectionism because it tends to institutionalize inefficiency, protects a favored minority and exploits the consumer. Should Arizona go to the limit to assist America West? Yes! America West is a dynamic, conservatively managed, progressively focused corporation.

Every thoughtful, economically sound means of buoying up this very important element of Arizona's future should be undertaken. The private sector should lead the way. Employee-owners could make the Quit Philippines for good Loss of America West would do much damage No 'boviphobes' here Editor: A "boviphobe," if such a psychological condition exists, would not be defined, as C.A. Lakin stated in his June 21 letter, as "a person who wants all livestock off public lands. "Boviphobe," as with all phobias, defines an unhealthy fear of something in this case, a fear of cows.

I have been following the anti-public-grazing articles by Richard Lessner and others, and none indicates an unhealthy fear of cows. Nor do they fail to acknowledge the increases in natural herbivore populations existing in the publicly grazed areas. What they do note, and what Mr. Lakin ignores, is the decrease or annihilation of the natural predators that would normally inhabit these same areas. Multiple use may be successful for ranchers and sportsmen, but it is not a symbiotic program.

Perhaps Mr. Lakin should take a refresher course in biology so he can better understand the scientific terminology he so loosely uses. ROBBIE VAN DE VEER Fort Mohave i result from the sharp increase in unemployment if the airline moves away? There is not enough space here to explore the gruesome possibilities and the irreparable damage to our faltering economy that passive action would set in motion. Don't we send enough money to Nevada? PATRICIA ALLISON Phoenix Editor: I suppose only a poor, dumb taxpayer would question the decision of the wise governor on America West Airlines. Other states have amended legislation to allow intervention in similar situations.

Are the people of this state naive enough to think that we can absorb the losses from the multiple bankruptcies that will Chief U.S. negotiator Richard Armitage is scheduled to resume lease talks in Manila in about two weeks, but the high rent is not the only sticking point. The matter of the high cost of maintenance is also in dispute. The Pentagon says it has made no decision as yet on the extent of restorations it is prepared to undertake at the damaged bases. An assessment of the damage is pending.

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney says that while the U.S. would like to keep the bases, it first needs to determine whether the cost of restoring the facilities to their pre-emption condition would be prohibitive. Why bother? The U.S. could get along without them quite well. Time was when it made sense to maintain a high military profile in the western Pacific, but this is no longer the case.

The Soviet threat is receding, and Japan certainly poses no military threat. Besides, there are practical alternatives Guam, Singapore and the Marianas, for instance. Otherwise, the U.S. could rely more heavily on mobile bases in the form of aircraft carriers. Volcano damage at the bases prompted the evacuation of U.S.

military personnel and their families. More than 18,000 people were returned to the United States. Nor is it clear that Pinatubo will not keep erupting on and off for years to come. Nature, it would appear, has decided the case. Let the Philippines have the bases and do with them what it will.

Governor made mistake with ENSCO buyout THE volcano-ravaged U.S. military bases in the Philippines are damaged goods. It is hard to figure, therefore, what Philippine Foreign Secretary Raul Manglapus could be thinking when he says that, if Washington wants to maintain a military presence at Clark Air Base and Subic Bay naval station, it may have to come up with more money than the extortionist government in Manila already has demanded. "In the light of the events, the Philippines may have to upgrade the compensation because we suffered more than the Americans did," says Mr. Manglapus, Manila's chief negotiator in the stalled talks on a lease agreement with Washington.

Mr. Manglapus appears happily oblivious to the fact that the Manila government is trying to rent out property that is buried under billions of tons of ash spewed out of Mount Pinatubo. What next? Will the Philippine government try to lay blame for the natural disaster on the United States? The Filipinos have a habit of trying to relieve their suffering at U.S. expense. Even before the volcano began acting up, the lease-renewal talks had bogged down over the issue of compensation.

Manila had demanded rent of $825 million a year, half in trade concessions and debt relief, in return for a seven-year base agreement. The US. had countered with an offer of $360 million for a 10- to 12-year extension of the current lease covering Clark and Subic that is set to expire in mid-September. private correctional service company, of which there are several, and let this company own and operate them? Experience in Tennessee has shown that charges to the state would be considerably less than the proposed lease-back. I feel sure that under the proposed plan, those who invest in the existing facilities would receive tax advantages that would add dramatically to the overall cost.

We could have saved at least the $100 million and perhaps another 10 percent on the cost of operation for the next 20 years. JACKMcVAUGH Scottsdale Editor: Since our new governor took office, I have been impressed with some of his fiscally responsible stands. The ENSCO buyout was not one of them. Arizona taxpayers will be saddled with the $80 million to $100 million for the next 20 years, and you can be sure it will be more by the 4ime it is finished. There is a rapidly growing trend in the country for privately developed and operated prison facilities.

Eleven states now have such services. Why couldn't the state have at least considered this possibility? It sounds inviting. Why not sell these institutions to a LETTERS POLICY Your letters are welcome. Please include your name, address and daytime telephone number. Please keep your letters brief.

All letters are subject to editing. Short letters will be given priority. Johnson Plan sends signal to Congress on Indian School ft sA 1 JOEL N1LSS0N Editorial Writer The Arizona Republic the density figure work economically, but according to the mayor, it'll be "a week or two" before the Collier Co. informs him if that is so. In any event, Phoenix isn't prepared to boost the densities.

Unknown, too, is how Congress might react to subsidies. Mr. Johnson is of the belief that Congress can't afford not to act. Otherwise, there'll be one big mess when the Collier Co. walks and the swap is off.

Phoenix will want 90 acres; Indians will want $35 million for their educational trust; the Vets will want their 16 acres; and Interior will want $45 million to buy the Florida wetlands. Complicated and iffy? You bet. Says Mr. Johnson: "It's time to either pony up and get the federal government to kick in something to make this work, or to go back and start looking at a piece of legislation that says scrap the whole thing. The city has done its part." The fight over the Indian School property is a long way from being over.

me, "at least when we go back and deal with Congress and deal with this thing realistically, there is a benefit provided to our constituents." In Mr. Johnson's eyes, a unanimous vote imparts to Arizona's congressional delegation a clear message of "let's not skate the issue. This community wants a 90-acre park." The critical question is how to get there. The answer to that won't be known until the $64 question (what will the Collier Co. do?) is resolved.

As expected, the Collier Co. has preliminarily accepted the 1988 deal authorized by Congress: some 118,000 acres of Florida swampland to the feds in exchange for the Indian School property. Whether the deal is consummated in November is, altogether, a different story. There are many imponderables, not the least of which is whether the city and the Collier Co. will march, arm in arm, to Congress in search of $20 million in subsidies.

A federal bailout might make of the National Park Service or the city nonetheless it was important that word be sent as to what Phoenix truly believes is the proper Indian School land use. Second, a task force will be created to explore ways that additional parkland could be obtained, whether it be by purchase from the prospective developers the Barron Collier Co. of Naples, Fla. or bonding so as to buy adjacent land occupied by Central High School. Third, there's the fallback zoning plan, which slashes by 75 percent the commercial density that the Collier Co.

claims it would need in order to sign off on the deal in November. Instead of a mixed-use development of 7.7 million square feet, city fathers authorized 1.4 million square feet of office space, 100,000 square feet of retail shops and 1,200 residential units. The size of the city park, under this development scenario, would be 40 acres, with the possibility of 60 acres should additional land from the Collier Co. or Central High School be available. Call it the Johnson Plan, as in Mayor Paul Johnson.

The boyish mayor, with the good natured and aw-shucks demeanor that belies an uncanny ability to mold differing viewpoints of his council brethren into a consensus, has done it again. In a vote of landmark dimensions this week, the City Council approved a zoning plan for the Phoenix Indian School property that few insiders believed would find favor among all council members. But with each vote explanation, it was clear that the Johnson Plan was being viewed as an equitable compromise. The beauty of it, as in most that are finely crafted, was that all bases political and otherwise were covered. First, the council adopted a feel-good resolution asking that Arizona's congressional delegation sponsor a bill for a 90-acre park at little or no cost to the city.

Although word from Washington doesn't hold out much hope for such an idea either placing it under the auspices In piecing it together, the mayor displayed a blend of foresight, tempered by realism, on what's been a very complex but crucial process in determining appropriate land uses. How did the consensus come about? "I just called them all and listened to their concerns," the mayor says. "Candidly, the day before the meeting, everybody was all over the place. What I did is that I put together a memo that met the concerns of most, if not all the members of the City Council." His sales pitch, in essence, was that there's strength in numbers. The corollary was that a divided vote produces different signals.

Mr. Johnson was particularly concerned about how Congress might view a City Council that didn't know precisely what it wanted in terms of commercial development densities and acreage totals for a public park, "If we all go together and we know what the game plan is," the mayor tells I.