The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 91, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 28, 1985 Page: 2 of 8
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The proposed Uw requiring driven and front-teat pas-
aeogen to wear their seat belts on Texas highways is well-
intended. but is for all practical purposes unenforceable.
It seems likely that the bill will pass both houses of the
Legislature, and the lawmakers are probably showing more
concern for the safety of Texas motorists than they are
being forced to “knuckle under" by the federal govern-
ment in Washington. D.C. But it is unfortunate that many
people have put the proposed seat belt law into the same
basket as air bags and self-locking seat belts, saying that
it’s just more bureaucratic fol-de-rol.
People arguing against the bill, however, should take
into consideration the statistics from other states, which
demonstrate amply that seat belts do save lives. When
the state of New York adopted a mandatory seat belt law,
traffic fatalities decreased 38 percent during the month of
January this year.
But such statistics only demonstrate the fact that most
people go ahead and obey laws, even if there is little
chance of getting caught. Also, when such laws are initiated,
there is usually a corresponding law-enforcement effort
to issue tickets or make arrests, which cause motorists to
be more prudent about following the letter of the law.
However, as soon as such law-enforcement measures slack
off, as they inevitably will with the number of other crimes
and traffic violations occurring, motorists go right back
to their old unbuckled habits.
Even still, Texas drivers are no different than motorists
in other parts of the nation. The National Traffic Safety
Administration said only about one in six American driv-
ers actually use seat belts. There is still one incentive
to pass the law. The U.S. Department of Transportation
will require that all new cars be equipped with costly
safety devices such as air bags and, of course, the mania-
cal self-locking seat belts. Imagine if one of the things
malfunctioned, which the devices inevitably would from
time to time.
But if states with at least two-thirds of the total U.S.
population enact laws requiring motorists to buckle up,
the DOT will rescind that silly and expensive requirement,
That would be a good thing, and a great relief for mil-
lions of motorists, but just the same, it wouldn’t make
more people use their seat belts.
Laws forbidding driving while intoxicated, for instance,
are a good idea. It is a well-documented fact that drunken-
ness causes slowed reaction time, poor judgment, and often,
in hard-core cases, blackouts that can be fatal to anyone
so unlucky to be driving in the same place at the same
time. But a drunk is a threat to other people’s lives. A
person who does not use seat belts is no threat to anyone
else but himself.
So, it is a matter of individual choice. In order to stop
the DOT from making the expensive requirements, that
law should be changed. State legislatures should not adopt
another unenforcable piece of legislation just to stop what
could be stopped by a more direct legislative route—through
the U.S. House and Senate. It should be a person’s own
choice whether to buckle up.
v v /--'V
F I
Budget Cuts
Cousin leads tumultuous life
Tilting the scales
It looks like the scales of justice have tilted, once more,
toward the wealthy and powerful.
While college students were basking in the sun at such
places as Fort Lauderdale and Padre Island, the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that political groups such as the Nation-
al Conservative Political Action Committee can shell out
as much money as they please for presidential candidates.
The court overturned the constitutionality of the post-
Watergate federal law limiting political action commit-
tees to $1,000 in contributions for a single presidential
candidate by a decision of 7-2, saying the limit was an
infringement of such groups ’ rights under the First Amend-
ment.
The court upheld a 1983 decision by a Philadelphia
court, which ruled the $1,000 limit was a restriction on
freedom of speech. That court ruled that political action
committees could spend as much as they wanted, as long
as the contributions are “independent” of a candidate’s
official campaign.
The limit was not actually a restriction on freedom of
speech: instead, it helped ensure that the opinions of all
Americans would receive a more equal hearing. After all,
most Americans can scarcely afford to donate more than
a few dollars to the political candidate of their choice, let
alone cover the mortgage with today’s high interest rates.
For example, during the 1980 elections, while the $1,000
limit was still in effect, political action committees donated
$10.6 million to President Reagan’s campaign. At the same
time, the astonishing amount of $27,773 was donated by
political action committees to former President Jimmy
Carter’s campaign. That amounts to $1 for Carter to every
$382 to Reagan, although Reagan received about five votes
to every four won by Carter. Something is disproportion-
ate about that ratio, demonstrating that contributions by
political action committees are not reflective of the popu-
lation as a whole. Is the power of capital greater than that
of the people?
And since such groups do not reflect the public will, it
is obvious that the veritable flood of money which will
be unleashed will go to further attempts to persuade Ameri-
cans to do things that are not in the best public interest.
When speaking of the contributions of NCPAC and oth-
er conservative organizations in the 1980 election, Justice
William Rehnquist (a Nixon appointee) said, “These expen-
ditures were ‘independent’ in that they were not made at
the request of or in coordination with the official Reagan
election campaign committee or any of its agents.”
Maybe those donations were not, but who is to say
what kind of collusion could occur between political action
committees and the political campaign organizations of
any political party in the future? Since the cash flood-
gates have been set wide open, the lower element in Ameri-
can politics could get busily to work, and all manner of
corruption could occur in conjunction with political action
committees.
So, since this ruling only affects presidential elections,
it will not be seen what the results are until the 1988
elections come around. It is hoped that the influence of
the political action committees and their cash will not be
so great as to pervert the true meaning of democracy.
TTeather is my favorite cousin—my only
A Afemale cousin on my mom’s side.
Since we usually opted to visit my mom’s
only sister rather than one of my dad’s 10
siblings on family vacations, it naturally
evolved that I would be closest to Heather.
Heather is an amazing person. She is one
of the 10-going-on-50 people—always light-
years ahead of her peers. At 16, she resem-
bles a 25-year-old in physical appearance,
dress and demeanor. Her makeup is consis-
tently flawless, her clothing perfectly coor-
dinated and her jewelry, worn in large
quantities, always matches her outfit to a
t 4»p » »
Heather’s 10-going-on-50 stage is not
new. In almost every stage of development,
she has always been ahead of her peers,
At an age when most babies can’t even
crawl, a tarp had to be placed over her
crib to prevent her from climbing out. At
two, she would sit in her high chair at the
local Denny’s, click her chubby fingers
together and loudly admonish the waitress
to “Make it snappy!”
through her bag and find out for herself.
She was fun in the car too. For some
unknown reason, my aunt was brave (or
stupid) enough to let me take out her brand
new Audi 5000 when I reached the tender
age of 15. Equipped with a learner’s per-
mit and a cousin that liked to shift gears
when I wasn't looking, I set out to tackle
the freeways of San Antonio.
Driving with Heather wasn’t too bad since
she had a remarkable sense of direction and
could guide me to about any place of inter-
est in the city. The problem was, she usu-
ally told me what exit to take when we
were about to pass it. On these occasions.
furniture. Heather was blessed with a real-
ly stubborn trundle bed. Once you got the
bottom portion of the bed up, you couldn't
get it down again. Heather and Patrick came
up with a devious plan that involved div-
ing off-the bookshelves in Heather’s room
onto the bed. Since Heather was a pretty
hefty little kid, that sucker usually snapped
shut. On one occasion, however, she got a
Anger caught under the bed and pinched it
pretty good. The trundle bed went.
fT-vl
Ma'lisa
m
Yost
AT FOUR, Heather’s favorite pastime
was playing “The Great Escape" in shop-
ping malls. She would dart off when we
were all looking at something and would
reappear hours later after everyone was suf-
ficiently hysterical. We were never quite
sure what she did on these excursions. I’m
not really sure I want to know.
Heather was fun, but not always tactful.
More than once, she stood behind an indi-
vidual in a public place and announced that
that person had “bad b.o.” Whenever my
brother accquired a new girlfriend. Heath-
er always liked to ask her if she was on
the pill. If the poor girl didn’t have the
nerve to answer, Heather would simply go
1 could cross three lanes of traffic in record
time. Heather really enjoyed that. She also
enjoyed flipping off large members of the
opposite sex in other cars. I didn’t.
HEAT HER WAS interesting enough on
her own. but in combination with her old-
er brother, Patrick, she was dynamite. When
my aunt thought they were sufficiently
mature, she bought them a dog—a cute lit-
tle Schnau/.er named Hans. This was fine,
but my ’’mature” cousins took it upon them-
selves to throw the dog against a wall. He
broke two legs—but he grew to be a very
old dog and even managed to eat an artifi-
cial Christmas tree one year.
The kids also liked to do neat things with
THE NEXT BED was a beautiful iron
bed that belonged to my great-grandmother.
They gave it a fresh coat of paint and set it
up. Unfortunately, this metal structure also
turned out to be a health hazard—it became
the pair’s favorite spot to engage in guerril-
la warfare. After witnessing several fat lips
and numerous knots on the head, I became
the proud possessor of an antique iron bed.
At 16, Heather is all grown up, but she’s
still the same Heather. After she was ex-
pelled from her high school this winter,
my aunt sent her away to a military school
in Booncville, Mo. Instead of being de-
pressed about her situation, Heather is liv-
ing out her own “An Officer and a Gentle-
men" scenario—dating officers and trying
to “preppize” her peers.
I visited her on my spring break. She
looked great. She had lost 45 pounds and
had cut her hair short to comply with her
school's regulations. I was really impressed
with her; her maturity and her ability to
handle unfavorable situations amazed me.
But then she dragged me off in a comer
and began relating to me how she had
burned a section of her dad’s fence down
during her Christmas break, I knew it was
an illusion. Same old Heather.
Sigh.
What makes a column
Search for ideas leads to stories about civil rights, fanatical preachers, exact words and teddy bears
Blacks are not in need of sympathy.
Take a sports writer to lunch.
Cocaine users.
Fascism is not dead.
"TJ'ach of these topics have one thing in
Aj common. They were written by NT
Daily staff members.
A friend of mine asked me one day just
how we dealt with our columns. I replied
that every couple of weeks we were required
as staff members to write a column.
THEY ASKED me just how I or any
other person came up with our ideas for
our columns. I just looked at them and said.
"We just find something to write about.”
They pushed me and asked what the rules
were for writing a column. I had nothing
to reply. There are no rules. It is a chance
to be subjective and write about whatever
seems appropriate.
Friends, I was indeed speechless—prob-
ably for the first time in ages, but I had
nothing to say. I simply muttered that I
would have to get back with them another
day.
Well, I thought about it and decided the
best reply would be a column on column
material—here it is.
When I or any other person sits in front
of a video display terminal (VDT), we are
faced with the problem of coming up with
something to tell the readers.
Some people in the news office could
write a column every single day. They find
material everywhere they look. Some things
just abound for them to use—like the law-
makers who wanted to outlaw obnoxious
nose blowing in public places (my column
at the beginning of the semester) or the
length it takes to play Trivial Pursuit (Debbie
Willis’ column a few weeks before spring
break).
VDT screen (Roy Miller's column at the
beginning of the semester). They write about
things like finding just the right word or
talking to their bear Charlie.
Often I overhear people talking about the
columns written by the staff and the replies
are indeed strange. Some receive numer-
STILL OTHERS are faced with a blank
ous letters criticizing the author for his
views. Others just go by unnoticed by the
readers. Still others end up being verbally
scorned for their idiocy. I wonder what those
critics would write about?
I am not cynical about the views of oth-
ers though. They have just as much right
to hate what I have to say as 1 have to
make my statement.
The funny thing is that somebody some-
where is actually enjoying the exact col-
umn that I or you have criticized for being
the most ludicrous and ridiculous piece of
journalism ever written since newspapers
first began.
I guess that is the true meaning of suc-
cess— knowing at least one person actual-
ly reads the whole column and understands
everything you have said about never find-
ing the precise word.
You see, right now you could be read-
ing about the fact that Clara Peller was fired
from Wendy’s or the fact that Texas is about
to have a seat belt law. You could be read-
ing about how life can be very unfair in its
way of doling out the money of the world.
THE FACT is, columns are about any-
thing and everything that surrounds the
writer. Usually, writers find most of their
material just happening through next to
them. Columns arc like feature stories—just
look at the person next to you and there is
a story waiting to be told. It may not please
everyone or it may not have a great deal
of meaning to you. but it means something
to the author.
That is not to say that writers do not or
should not care about the readers. For heav-
ens, sake, without somebody to read it
outside the journalist there would be no
reason to write it.
I guess the idea is to make the reader
have some kind of reaction to the idea or
material, whether it be good or bad. If the
reader has a revolting reaction, at least there
is something. If the reader has no reaction
that means the writer has done absolutely
nothing with his art (trusting he really should
be a writer that is).
Now then, have I answered your ques-
tion? Probably not quite as well as you real-
ly wanted me to.
Columns, as most journalists will inform
you, are one of the few outlets a journalist
has. Ethically, the rest of his works, save
features, must be extremely objective—
especially news stories. If he does not stay
objective, he no longer gives the absolute
truth and factual information.
SO, COLUMNS and the material they
cover are an extremely important aspect of
a writer’s world. Unfortunately for some,
they get so bogged down in writing objec-
tive reports, editing others’ works or some
other tragedy that they can not find any
way to be creative. So they sit in front of
a blank screen and devise some manner of
keeping the audience member entertained.
That is when you read about Charlie the
Bear and the author's discussion on life.
That is also when you read about how a
columnist comes up with his column ma-
terial. . .
The North Texas Daily
68th Year
North Texas State University
Denton, Texas
Wem/yr ’>t the
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Printed by the North Texas State University Printing Office
Southwestern Journalism Congress Member
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Bill Oouthart, photographer
Jeff Cohan, photographer
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Melissa Mahan, photographer
Jet Ray, cartoonist
Rox Eskew, cartoonist
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Chris Babcock, cartoonist
Kathy Armstrong, illustrator
Debbie Henderson, ad representative
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Letter Policy
CAROLE JANSEN, editor
EDDIE RODRIGUEZ, advertising manager
Russell Roe managing editor
Jerry Boulware. editorials editor
Holden Lewis, editorials editor
Tonya McMurray staff writer
Amber Smith, staff writer
Kevin Brunson, staff writer
Michael Wetchensky, inside editor
Roy Miller, inside editor
Ma lisa Yost, entertainments editor
Rob Lunde, entertainments writer
Tonya Knight, entertainments writer
Debbie Willis, sports editor
Ken Currin. sports writer
Joey Richards, sports writer
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The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 91, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 28, 1985, newspaper, March 28, 1985; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth722956/m1/2/: accessed June 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.