Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
Monday, January 27, 1986
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Vicki Ruhga, Editor, 472,1766
Thorn Gabrukiewicz, Managing Editor
Ad Hudler, Editorial Page Editor
James Rogers, Editorial Associate
Chris Welsch, Copy Desk Chief
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Mergers a losing plan
Prominent economist Willard
Mueller recently observed
that the United States is in
the midst of a "new anti-trust
movement." But unlike previous
anti-trust movements, today's is
an "anti-antitrust movement."
The Reagan administration
proposal to increase proof bur
dens on suits attempting to pre
vent mergers from occurring shows
the truth of Mueller's statement.
The plan is the first major change
in antitrust laws proposed in the
last 35 years.
The goal of the legislation is
to increase the competitiveness
of U.S. firms vis-a-vis foreign
businesses.
But the wisdom of the prop
osal is suspect. The number of
corporate conglomerate mergers,
after slackening during the early
1970s, skyrocketed again and
has continued unabated.
The trend established during
the late 70s has only become
more pronounced during the '80s:
Since 1980 the number of mergers
taking place among U.S. busi
ness has almost doubled, and
the amount of assets involved in
the takeovers has almost quad
rupled. This massive trend toward
ydeinfi
Appointed board
The "one man, one vote" rule
might kill the chance for a
student regent vote on the
NU Board of Regents under the
present elected system.
But if the nine regents were
appointed by the governor, sub
ject to approval by the legisla
ture, the equal representation
question could be resolved. The
three student regents, elected
by their campus constituencies,
then could be given the collec
tive vote they are seeking.
Regent Margaret Robinson of
Norfolk, who opposed the stu
dent regent vote at Friday's Con
stitutional Revision and Recrea
tion Committee hearing, said the
plan is unfair because students
would be allowed two votes
one in their home districts and
one at NU.
Legally, Robinson is right.. But
NU students have a vested inter
est in the board's decisions.
They deserve a chance to share
in policy-making.
Black povesiy
Documentary should help generate solutions
The destruction of the black
family and its causes, a
taboo subject only 20 years
ago, surfaced in a CBS-TV docu
mentary Saturday night.
The program, produced and
narrated by Bill Moyers, and the
discussion among black leaders
televised immediately after the
documentary, should make peo
ple aware of the problem and
generate solutions.
The documentary emphasized
the growing tragedy of fatherless
otitrysl!
industrial concentration needs
no legislative boost.
Even if the bill was enacted,
there is little evidence that the
objective increased interna
tional competitiveness would
be aided by the proposal. For
example, an exhaustive litera
ture survey published in the
Journal of Finance and Banking
concluded that no economic ad
vantages accrue from conglom
erate mergers.
Thus, the wisdom of making
massive changes in the structure
of U.S. industry is incongruous at
best.
U.S. firms' loss of international
competitiveness is a question
worthy of governmental atten
tion. However the present rate of
mergers among the country's lar
gest firms also is a problem
one that has received too little
attention from policymakers, the
media and the public.
Sacrificing the weighty inter
est in vigorous antitrust enforce
ment on the altar of interna
tional trade would sacrifice the
United States' long-term econ
omic interests for short-run eco
nomic gain: a losing proposition
for the U.S. public.
emits
could void rule
Currently, students act as
lobbyists. The regents, who some
times represent home-town in
terests more than NU interests,
usually have their minds made
up on issues before the student
regents' presentations.
If reports were appointed the
"one-man, one-vote" argument
would be void.
Another advantage to an ap
pointed board would be constant
quality. Although the current
board is informed on issues,
problems could arise on future
boards. Members could be elected
who have little knowledge of
universities and higher educa
tion. As a result, NU students,
faculty and the state would suffer.
Some argue that an appointed
board would give the governor
too much power, but that power
could be checked by having the
Legislature approve each choice,
much the same way as the Senate
approves a president's choice for
the U.S. Supreme Court.
black families and the cycle of
poverty it engenders in com
munities. Although all the participants
agreed that welfare as a safety
net was needed, liberals and
conservatives indicated that the
current system of welfare needs
to be revised.
The documentary represented
the TV medium at its best: pres
enting the public with human
strengths and weaknesses that
call for a caring response.
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Bill honors Pear! Harbor, veils
State senators face record number of bills
Joseph R. Baburek, machinist first
class, was getting ready for church
at 7:55 a.m. when he heard engines.
Up on deck, he saw planes, flying
over the Navy repairs ship he lived and
worked on. The planes were so low he
thought he could touch their sun in
signias as they passed over.
Chris
Welsch
tu
The men on the boat ran to their
stations. Baburek was frightened, but
the surprise attack made him "fighting
mad." The men on his ship were cre
dited with downing two Japanese planes
and sinking a midget sub on Dec. 7,
1941. Now, 45 years later, Baburek is
the chairman of the Nebraska Chapter
of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Associa
tion. Its motto is: "Remember Pearl
Harbor Keep America alert."
Baburek and others thought com
memorative license plates for the
organization's 90 members would be a
good way to keep the memory alive. He
submitted the idea to state Sen. Tim
Hall, who with Sen. Bernice Labedz had
the idea drafted into a bill, LB864.
If the bill passes, the department of
motor vehicles will issue the members,
for a small fee, plates with the words
"Pearl Harbor Survivor" above or below
the numbers.
LB864 is a four-page, green docu-
'The Washin
work on the
Not long ago, the wife of a public
official approached me at a recep
tion and extended her hand. She
gave me her name, told me who her
husband was and proceeded to tell me
that a column of mine had insulted her
husband, damaged him, held him up to
contempt and ridicule and ruined what,
up to then, had been a happy and fulfil
ling life. With that, she dropped her
hand and uncharacteristically pulled
punch: She said goodbye. She meant
good riddance.
fcfc7 Richard
Cohen
The blood rushed to my face. This
was a clear violation of The Washington
Rule. The rule holds that no one is ever
to be held accountable for anything
done in the course of business. You
can, for instance, attempt to murder a
foreign leader by day and make small
talk with his ambassador at night.
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ment, one bill among about 842 to be
considered by the Legislature during
its 60-day session. Senators introduced
519 bills a record. Three-hundred
thirty-two bills were carried over from
last session. About 43 of those are
designated priority bills. Senators have
yet to name their priority bills this
session. Each senator can name one,
and the speaker can name 25.
Senators debated several plans to
limit the number of bills people or
committees could introduce, but all
the plans were voted down. They could
not agree on away to limit the number,
and some senators argued a limit
would be too constricting.
LB864 and hundreds of other poten
tial laws have to be considered in the
remaining 48 days of the session.
Decisive action must be taken to
help Nebraska's faltering farm econ
omy. A number of bills related to the
farm crisis, including banking, tax
shortfall, budget cuts, also need to be
dealt with. Our state budget crunch
comes at a time when the federal
government has ensured, through
Gramm-Rudman, that less money will
go to state and local governments.
Some bills won't make it. Undoubt
edly, many will be carried over to next
year. Some are more important than
LB864, some less.
Each bill has to be checked over and
written by the bill drafter's office. Each
will go through a public hearing; some
will never make it out of committee.
gton Rule' doesn't always
side of public officials
People who do this are called "sophis
ticated" or "civilized."
Now it appears that even more peo
ple do not understand the rules, and
they have left the House Minority
Leader, Robert MicheT(R-IlL), reeling
with indignation and cultural vertigo.
The Very Powerful Michel is, approp
riately enough, the owner of two Cadil
lacs for which he would like a garage
built behind his Capitol Hill town
house. That takes a variance and that,
in turn, takes the approval of Michel's
Advisory Neighborhood Commission. It
turned him down, citing among other
things, his voting record on District of
Columbia matters.
"Some of the commissioners have
been on the phone discussing (Michel's)
lack of support for the District," said
one of the commissioners. "He did not
support the (D.C.) Voting Rights (Amend
ment) And is not for anything for
the District of Columbia." To which
Michel responded: "Can you tell me
what that possibly has to do with my
wanting to build a garage for my own
safety? If we did that on the Hill, (the
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The hundreds that do will be sent to
general file, debated on the floor,
killed or passed, engrossed, redrafted,
sent to select file, debated and voted
on, killed or passed, sent to final read
ing, debated and voted on, killed or
passed, or sent back to select file,
redebated and voted on, killed or
passed, then sent to the governor to be
signed orvetoed. The grinding, massive
machinery of state bureaucracy pro
cesses all bills the same way, no matter
how simple or complex.
Because of the massive number of
bills, the Legislature probably will
devote most of its afternoons to public
hearings. At the end of February or the
beginning of March, full days of floor
debate will begin. They'll have about 25
days to pass the tangled mass of
legislation.
Baburek's bill just had its public
hearing Friday. It is at the beginning of
its trip through the Legislature. It's not
a controversial bill. A similar bill creat
ing plates for POWs passed with little
debate in 1984.
But Baburek is aware that LB864 may
not be made law until the next session.
"It may get caught in the backlog,"
he said. "There shouldn't be any con
troversy. There's no doubt the governor
would sign it."
But, he said, because of the number
of bills, things could get "clogged up."
Indeed.
Welsch isa UNL senior journalism and
English major and a Daily Nebraskan
copy desk chief.
press) would crucify us."
Let us dispose of one issue real
quickly. Michel is right. His voting
record on anything, even bills concern
ing Washington, D.C, should have no
bearing on whether he does or does not
get a variance. He is either entitled to
it or he is not and his record as a public
official should have nothing to do with
the decision. If the city really wanted
to play hardball, after all, it could
threaten not to pick up the garbage of
congressmen who vote the "wrong" way
or, even worse, actually ticket their
cars like anyone else's for illegal park
ing. But having said that, let us also con
cede that something wonderful has
happened. Here are some people, Wash
ington residents yet, who actually think
that the things done here count. They
actually believe that what the govern
ment does has an impact on the way
people live quality of life, if you'll
pardon the expression and that the
people who run the government ought
to be accountable in everyway for what
See COHEN on 5