ustxtxb_obs_1970_09_18_50_00024-00000_000.pdf

power needed to save Disneyland from its creator. There is enough liberalism about the man that a skillful cosmetic job could have made him into a martyr. And unlike Shaw’s St. Joan, I think the time is right for martyrs if not saints. We can expect the usual threats and condemnations Arrowsmith is positively eloquent followed by the formation of Save Our School committees, endless debates, and finally a petition. When the Your writer, Molly Ivins, in Sept. 4 issue, paints an entirely erroneous picture of relief efforts following Hurricane Celia. Yes, there were many examples of bumbling bureaucracy on the part of relief agencies. The Red Cross vouchers went to undeserving. But the important thing is that thousands of persons received food, clothing, and household goods who otherwise would have had absolutely nothing more than the clothing on their backs. Debris removal was important to the health of the community and to our morale. Some truck drivers will make more money hauling “bushes,” as your writer puts it, in the four to eight weeks following Celia than they normally earn in a year. But they worked hard. They made a mess of streets, some yards and parkways. But they moved the “bushes.” I’m sure there are many cases of insurance abuse. But how many cases were settled quickly and generously? Thousands. Perhaps, tens of thousands. 24 The Texas Observer dust settles, hook’em horns will prevail, professors will be into sensitivity training, yoga, and the impassioned classroom defense of civil liberties and academic freedom. Larry Caroline, after all, is an example of what happens if You attempt to live the way you teach. Somehow, you just have to admire Erwin. He is not out to destroy the University as the Observer recently charged. He is out to change it in His own image and he is a man who knows how to get things done. IDialogue I One real and continuing problem has been in housing. More than 2,000 families have applied for mobile homes. There have been delays in preparing sites for the mobile homes. This is one of the unsolved problems, but city officials and federal agencies are attempting to solve it. Some officials did commute to Harlingen for a day or two or a few days following Aug. 3, but not because of air-conditioned rooms. Because of ROOMS, period. There were none available here. There was no electric power. There were no telephones. The Red Cross moved to the Coliseum from the Cathedral when it became obvious the latter was too small to accommodate the crowds. People waiting in line to apply for help were dismissed at 10 a.m., not in midafternoon. This was done because lines started to form as early as 5 a.m. and by 10 a.m. the Red Cross staff had registered as many families as it could process that day. There were “buzzards” here, although I had never heard that term used until I read your article. But there weren’t many. One service station was reported selling gasoline at $1 a gallon the day after the storm. There were ice merchants who tried to hijack the people, but prompt action on the part of HEB and Handy Andy food stores, Continental Oil and Budweiser beer brought in truck load after truck load of ice. Some of it was sold below cost but most of it was given away without obligation. There are fly-by-night repairmen operating. But prompt and diligent action by the Associated General Contractors, Home Builders Association, Better Business Bureau, and Chamber of Commerce has helped reduce this problem to a minimum. Your writer obviously visited Corpus Christi. But she has not been here throughout the post-Celia period. There have been mistakes, many readily admitted. There has been bureaucratic bungling. Some deserving families have not been helped. Some undeserving have chiseled in on the give-away. But, all in all, the rebuilding has gotten off to a good start. Although confused at times, the situation never reached the stage of chaos. And as I said in my opening paragraph, your writer leaves the impression that almost everything has gone wrong with relief operations in Corpus Christi. John Stallings, managing editor, The Corpus Christi Caller-Times, P.O. Box 2191, Corpus Christi, Tex. 78403. Observer corrected Since many good friends of ours read the Texas Observer on a regular basis, I know you would want to furnish them correct information. In your July 24 issue on page four in a report on voting in the House on extension of the Voting Rights Act, you should have included Earle Cabell among the 14 \(not for passage of the bill. Both Jim Collins and Price, who are Republicans, supported this vote. However, you say Earle voted against final passage. He voted “yes.” He had voted for the 18-year-old vote as a constitutional amendment and for the original voting rights extension as he had voted for the 1965 Voting Rights Law. And there is an extra “e” in Earle as he spells it. Sid Pietzsche, Office of Rep. Earle Cabell, 114 Commerce, Dallas, Tex. Soft-pedal race Please bring the Observer back to populism and soft-pedal your militant stand on race. A. J. S. Sleight, 10908 Prospect N.E., Albuquerque, New Mex. Wilson says Wot True’ Your last issue stated that I was “slipping advice to the Democratic Rebuilding Committee.” Not True. I did admonish them when I thought they were silent on the Silber firing but they had already sprung to the attack. I have never felt that one politician’s endorsement of another did as much good as harm, but, for the record, I have endorsed both Mr. Bentsen and Governor Smith \(as well as Lieutenant Governor Incidentally, anyone who knows my standing with Dave Shapiro is well aware of the disposition he would suggest for any advice I might make available to him. State Sen. Charles Wilson, 1000 Crooked Creek, Lufkin, Tex. Reply from Corpus