Editorial opinion When will it end? On top of all the hassles state legislature is causil citizens by not having its bu get finished on time, the co] ference committee now charge of the budget hi closed its meetings to the pu lic. Sen. Henry .Cianfrani, Philadelphia, chairman of , special conference commith composed of six legislator said, "I don't think I can a , complish anything with y' guys around, so I'm using prerogative as committt chairman to call an executi , session." Ciafrani is the state senate who told University officia. last term, "I don't see whet It .„ FCQ THESE JUST' Budget woes During the last several weeks I have received many letters from constituents concerning the budget problems we are facing in the Commonwealth. Many of you are justifiably concerned about the delays, the problems of balancing the budget and a possible tax increase. I have answered each of these letters giving my own views and presenting the various sides of the budget, subsidy, and Philadelphia tax problems. This week I received a long letter from "concerned citizens and taxpayers" with their views on the budget problem and posing a list of questions ibout government spending and taxes. Unfortunately, these concerned citizens did not sign their letter or give an address to which I could respond, asking instead for a response in this column or on my radio report. This, of course, I can't do. I am always more than.willing to talk with any constituents or to answer questions by mail, but when newspapers and radio stations give time and space to any public official, they expect and rightly so, that' the material presented will be of general interest and concern to all of the people in the district and cannot be specific answers to special questions. Generally, I can say, that no Representative in the House wants tc increase taxes. I have consistently indicated that I will vote for a tax increase if there is a general subsidy program for all of the schools of Pennsylvania and not just for Philadelphia, and if I am convinced that it is necessary to balance the State budget: I honestly believe that only through a new state subsidy formula will it be possible to hold the line on local property taxes for schools. The formula we are now trying to adopt would help all of our school districts, not just this year, but in the future, and I have been working to achieve that subsidy reform. Not only am I continuing to support adequate funding for basic education but for higher education as well, and to that end I have been working very hard to achieve equitable funding for Penn State as a State-related university. InCreased support for all of education is a very vital part of the over-all budget problem. The state legislature is considering several measures which The metric system A new series of radio and television commercials is now being broadcast with increasing frequency. The television version of one of these ads shows two animated blob-like creatures dancing around urging America in song to "take 10 minutes to learn the metric way." . On the radio, the announcer sings "learn the metric system it's good for America, the economy, and you." They make it sound so patriotic and so simple. I suppose it is simple a system with three basic units for length, volume and weight on which all of the other units are based in multiples of ten. Most people have encountered the system at one time or another and have resigned them selves to the fact that the country will soon go through the big conversion. However, I'm sure it will be the simplest for today's pre-school children. They'll be learning the system fresh when they enter elementary school with no inches, pounds or quarts in their minds. But what about the rest of us? I realize that compared to my parents I have been using the present English HELLO Apo • WE Lcofv \E . . 1 ® • . . ' BI\CK TO , .: . c * CO a . ME .Tycx,R U • , fft '' ° you would be doing any dam- raises and could be on the , /10, 4f i tl iell the age to the University if there verge of financial trouble *4ll NSY LAN I k , oSqr --: it i * ing was a $75 to $lOO increase (in depending on what the state • 1 1.E .. MR' I : e4 *Vi 40. , • wl , 1,4. im - .. §,,,,,,,,;,-.. ,vit Id- tuition." allocates to them. The Uni- ,0§- . A ' 1\ . ,6„,,,, ~,, -,n=-., al- Perhaps he is afraid the versity meanwhile is borrow- Al•-;% , >.P:.:);; in press might catch him in a ing money and paying interest MK/ --' / ~., , , , 7 as faux pas during the hectic rates to keep things running. I.t - \6,- ....--:::..., 1 i 1 , .i., , .,: :\ ',, , \ k() , Y iii, og. 0 0 , 'v..: ~,, ,A „ , /,: j, : , TA : oOf fy A . ,1,1 :'';':; :;1 lb- budget meetings. Now that the special com- 5:7 . ..-- , ,--.,%, Perhaps lie wants to shoot mittee meetings are closed, A . . . ~ ' , g'!" - -S' -----7- .7-- .- 0 d..; .„.. D- rubber bands in private. who can tell what politics will 4.+' "l ';'.;: . I ),... —..., \•, 4 Wi 0 61 ‘ sx ''''''''' A al& 0 ''••; :"6 the No matter what his reason- enter into the budget, or even ' , '::-.;-.7,>,, - ;:-;', _ ' l / 4 .‘ % ~ ai 4) ,„ ~ ~•:.,,,;,' ~„. , / . tee ing, the public no longer has what injustices might occur. ~ ....„-. . 3.A.v,-..., • ~ . , t p ' : ... . . ~.h ' N.' of j :,‘? ors, access to the proceedings and The Pennsylvania Legis- - . :,:.>, - 41:.,.f.: , , :c •.-. . . A , - -..4%,.r= 1) - .... ,--- i.. - P : .. ..4 ',c- cannot monitor the commit- , lative Correspondents' Associ- - 1 , ! .N. . . 0 ,.. 1 . ...` ~---- I . 1 .. - .,,,, , N -- 1. you tee's priorities. - ation, an organization of re- . i i *NO A. .; .. . my Everyone on the state pay- porters who cover the state i 't"PVieA`, ~7 ~.' ‘ . ' " iI A I I- ViSl46n , ).44‘.. 11 . • . 7 1 P' e i :e e roll desires to know if they will capitol, are hiring an attorney • ive get their pay raises, and more to seek a court order forcing - ~.„_,. ~ :,* i iiiii r - ii d tAill ',st:* , ' ,- ~__,,, •...,, .. , . _ t ' ''.' ;‘ * ............ -.'''....-- . --- ivse importantly, when they will the committee to hold open oriqq,adh gkigio ;, .-- ~, 7 / 1 4.90, VON .e 0 'l' ;or get paid. meetings. Vihf/ 1 /0 11 ,00' °\\' • I.V. .4,fr,,,„ i ii ,,, b ,„ , , t , , 0,, ,4 is Penn State and other uni- Considering what is in- . ,„„, , 0 , , ~ ~, ,o , , OSAA ' ‘,„,„90/ re versities have cancelled volved, we wish them luck. '' SrIS OF VATERGAIE 99 10 'TAPES' „ . * system for a short time but it still amounts to my whole life. I know what the system is —•I know the units and the conversions. But how long it will take until the system is a functional working part of me (and of everyone else over the age of eight), I have no way of knowing. It's just like changing to any new way of doing anything the new way will gradually become a part of you, but there will be a lot of things you will still be tempted to do the old way because it's familiar. 'inclA-j a//2-r, WikJ?).l.* Of course, there is a lot to be said for the metric system. Many people have pointed out the advantages of using the same system of measurement as most, of the major countries of the world. There are enough international com munications barriers as far as language and culture are concerned the metric Letters - to the Editor.: would enable the legislature to have a tighter control on executive spending, which would provide a review by the legislature of state agencies and departments so that projects and programs are evaluated regularly and not funded automatically. This type of sunset legislation is long overdue. I have co-sponsored some of the legislation and will support it when it comes up. This should help us do a better job of budgeting in the future so that we do not automatically in crease spending every year. Many of us who are new to the Legislature are trying to deal as responsibly as we can with the problems we have inherited while trying to suggest ways to improve the process for the future. I know that as one legislator I can't change the entire process in one year or even two, but working pith many other concerned legislators over a period of time, I am convinced that we can make the changes necessary to have not only a better budgeting process, but ultimately a more efficient government. Speed it up At last someone's come up with a great idea to speed up the passage of the . ERA. The National Organization for Women ( NOW) is asking those who support the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) to give up smoking cigarettes until the ERA is ratified. NOW has a sound basis to this boycott. They point out most of the tobacco grown in the United States is,raised in five states that haven't ratified the ERA (the ERA needs 3 more states to ratify by March of 1979). Two of these states Nbrth Carolina and Virginia produce most of the cigarettes for the • U.S. ( Incidentally, ratification of the ERA in Virginia lost by ONE vote.) With females spending $lO million a DAY for cigarettes, even a cut-back might produce a desired effect. NOW further reminds women that the tobacco industry's after-tax profits Budget business not mysterious By WALTER R. MEARS AP Special Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) . There's no mystery or magic about it, says the man in charge of .changing the way the government does business on the budget. But there are questions about zero base budgeting, and there is a jargon that certainly sounds mysterious. There are "discrete increments of services" which means separate and distinct government programs and "goal congruence" which means corresponding and harmonious ob jectives and "ptioritizing" which didn't make the dictionary, but means ranking by order of importance and desirability. Then there are decision packages, brief accounts of what the government is doing in each discrete increment of service, how much it has been costing, and what it should cost next year. Nobody really knows how many decision packages will be wrapped into the preparation of President Carter's budget for• the government year beginning on Oct. 1, 1978. They'll find out in a month or so, when the agencies start delivering their packages to the Office of Management and Budget. For all of that, and for all the skeptics Helen Wise state representative 77th District system may be a right step in this direction. Others have spoken of how the conversion will aid the economy because of the amount of money,that will have to be spent by various companies, etc. in effecting the change (everything from roadsigns to mathematics textbooks will have to be changed to metrics). But the fact remains that it will probably be a bit more difficult than the commercials claim for an entire nation measuring things one way to start changing their ways. Now the roadsigns and math books will not be the only things to go through the conversion. A variety of institutions, cliches and ways of accomplishing certain tasks will also have to change. For one thing, can you imagine the way Weight Watchers will be affected when the country goes metric? I have enough trouble keeping track of the pounds without having to worry about grams and kilograms. Also, my Smokey the Bear ruler ( along with all of the other rulers with strange but classic slogans) will be on its way to the Smithsonian Institution before I know it. in Congress and elsewhere, the ad ministration is confident that the new system can be implemented swiftly and efficiently, and that will pay dividends. in savings and in improved federal programs. "There's nothing-mystical or magical about zero base budgeting," said James T. Mclntyre Jr., deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. "It's a very simple process. It forces old programs to compete with new programs and new initiatives . . . " The idea is to draft the budget on the basis of programs and their objectives, instead of last year's numbers. Each program is supposed to be analyzed by the people who run it and who, in theory, know best whether it is working 'ef fectively or whether there are better ways to do the job. That leads to the decision package, which covers proposed spending. Each echelon of the government gets the decision packages from the levels below, imposes its priorities, and passes on a consolidated package. And in the end, President Carter sets the figures and priorities in a zero base budget. He'll send it to Congress next amounted to $919 billion in 1975. To further encourage you, I might remind you that lung cancer is catching up with smokers, and women aren't immune. What can you do instead of smoking? You can think about what life would be like without equal rights under the law (even though Pennsylvania approved the ERA in 1972, 38 states must ratify by the deadline). You can suck a California ( but not Florida!) lemon. If you really need a smoke, smoke something grown in Mexico, or Colombia, or your closet . . . With the money you save, you can pledge the money to NOW, or to the League of Women Voters which both have ERA Ratification funds. If you don't smoke, you can do your part by refusing to buy from states which haven't ratified. (Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Alabana, Mississippi, Illinois, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.) For once, those in favor of equal rights will have the op portunity to put their money where their mouth is. Objection We object to certain views stated in Ms. Lear's article (July 11) about radicalism, specifically some comments voiced by Mr. Ackerman, president of the USG. We find it rather ludicrous that a person should be considered apathetic just because his or her main goal in attending school is to receive an education. What else is a school for? Why should you even come to a university if all you want to do is play politics? That can be done at home. . It seems as though certain persons lament the current lack of protests. Are they sorry that the nation is not fighting in Southeast Asia or torn by internal strife? Do they miss protesting for protesting's sake, since waving signs about is considerably easier than doing well in Math 62? We find the actions of Mr. Wright's advisee more com mendable than simply sitting at Penn State, blocking traffic on North Atherton Street. Instead of attempting to implement not simple Instead of being 5 foot 2, I'll be 15.7480 decimeters ( try remembering that every time some sort of application asks for your height and weight). When a deceased person is buried, they'll say he's "18.288 decimeters deep" ( instead of 6 feet). And just think of the hassle Bert Parks will have at the Miss America pageant when he has to introduce a perfect 36-24- 36 figure as 9.144-6.096-9.144! - Remember the old adage "mind your p's and q's?" (The p and q stand for pint and quart.) Might we someday hear "mind your d's and l's" (deciliters and liters? ) These are a small example of how things will be changing when the metric system goes into effect in this country. Hopefully the conversion will be gradual so that we don't experience the changes all at once. I still contend that, although the change may be necessary, it will be a bit time-consuming and difficult. But I just realized something I had to use the metric system to write this column. Perhaps it won't be so difficult after all. winter. The format and content will be like those of prior budgets. The dif ference is in preparation, not presen tation. And Carter says the new system will reduce costs, while making government more efficient and ef fective. - The big difference is in the proceis that is going on now, as government agencies prepare the budget recom mendations that will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget in September. "This system requires that the people who run programs be involved in the budget," Mclntyre said. "That provides communication from the bottom up. That's how you get realistic alternatives to the way we're doing things . . . "It forces a manager to make some tough decisions. If he didn't have to prioritize, he could just say 'I want it all.' " Mclntyre said the new budget system also will lead to closer examination of what the government is really doing "at the programs, at the way we're delivering services around the country." Carter's decision to go ahead im mediately with the shift to zero base Eva C. Whitley 13th-general arts and sciences .z 1 - ~ tc'i•. chaos, she took positive steps to change what she felt wa's,u wrong, thereby supporting her beliefs with action. Perhaps one of the faults of the 60s was that nearly everyone had something to shout, but few had anything concerte to con, tribute to society. t Al David Title , t 3rd-meteorolog y Ray Deatheradirols,. 3rd-petroleum and natural gas engineeritigiliE - aso ASIA'TOP " . dailyt . h olle - Iguan a a JEFFREY HAWKES EDITOR BOARD OF MANAGERS: National Ad Manager, Patty Bartlett; Layout Coordinator, Terry Dolinar ~ Editorial policy is determined by the Editor. Opinions expressed by the editors 'and staff of the Daily Collegian are not necessarily those of the University ad ministration, faculty or students. Letters policy The Daily Collegian encourages comments on news coverage, editorial policy and campus and off-campus affairs. Letters should be typewritten, double • spaced, signed by no more than two persons and no longer than 30 lines. Stu dents' letters should include the name, term and major of the writer. Letters should be brought to the Collegian office, 126 Carnegie, in person so proper identification of the writer can be made, although names will be with held on request. If letters are received by mail, the Collegian will contact the signer for verification before publication. Letters cannot be returned. budgeting is in contrast to his cautious,iiw methodical pace on such items as -tagzi: and welfare reform and government.iv reorganization. ' Rep. Max Baucus, D-Mont„ congressional expert on zero bas budgeting, advised Carter against it. H wrote Carter that the new system should" be phased in, with only selected agenbies and programs subject to .zero base budgeting this year. He said an immediate, • govern,- ) a „ mentwide shift would risk com ilju promising the prograrri beneath aa mountain of paperwork( ' say: ( But Carter promised to start iin• mediately, and he r has. Mclntyre,' whq.,,, installed zero base budgeting for Carter ^' in Georgia, says the system is one and on course. ' .10; There had been some suspicion, that the bureaucracy might drag its feet on ne Carter's proposed changes. 1.•: But Mclntyre said government em,r t ployees have been cooperative and in enthusiastic about the new budget system. "I've felt on occasion like we T4 weren't moving fast enough at OMB," hil il , said. .% SCOTT R. SESLER BUSINESS MANAGER ,---- i . / .1 1.4 " 09i
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