ustxtxb_obs_1975_10_31_50_00009-00000_000.pdf

TAKE A CLEAN 15 Austin The new office regs for the Social Services Branch of the State Department of Public welfare are enough to gag a maggot. The new rules, issued by Chief Administrator Clifton H. Martin, pertain to all aspects of office life short of visits to Use of Telephone for Personal H. Coffee Breaks A. Will be limited to 15 minutes in the morning and afternoon. B. These can be taken 1. At the individual’s desk a. If taken with no one else, and b. If a sign is visible on the individual’s desk stating “On Coffee Break.” This sign should be about the size of a sheet of letter-size paper folded in half. The staff may also drink their coffee in an unoccupied conference room, under certain conditions, or on the patio, “weather permitting.” No coffee guzzling allowed in the rain. There’s more: C. During these coffee breaks, the following activities are allowed. 1. Breaks at the desk: a. Eat snacks b. Drink sodas, coffee, etc. c. Read anything, except pornography, as long as the. coffee break sign is on the desk. 2. Breaks behind closed doors: a. Eat snacks b. Drink soda, coffee, etc. c. Conversations’ d. Read anything, except pornography e. Crotchet, knit, embroider. Got that? Chat, eat, read, but nothing nasty now. Crotchet, knit, embroider, but what about tatting, macrame, and needlepoint? And, about that coffee break sign. Should it be in block letters or script? Done with a ball point or felt tip pen? In basic blue or is purple too flashy? Wonder which way should the paper be folded . . . K.N. Big John and the four-year itch Columnist James Reston is not buying John Connally’s non-partisan pitch. “To hear him tell it,” Reston writes, “this is sort of a meditative journey to ponder the great issues of the nation and educate the people on his ways of thinking. If you believe this, you may also believe that the Boston Red Sox and the Cincinnati Reds are shuttling baCk and forth merely to celebrate the glories of physical fitness. The truth is, of course, that Big John has the four-year itch, and is criticizing President Ford and building up Ronald Reagan in the vague hope that a scramble for the presidential nomination might leave room at the top for, guess who?” ‘Sen. Lloyd Bentsen wants the feds to lend aid to New York City and Sen. John Tower, doesn’t. Bentsen told the Capitol Hill News Service that he generally favors short-term federal aid to New York with the requirement that the city show a balanced budget for two years and a capability to pay off the financial notes. Tower said he would oppose “any direct or indirect assistance” to NYC. He thinks such aid might “encourage” other municipalities to fall into a similar pattern of deficit spending. Pickle rated Capitol Hill News Service, the Observer’s Washington news service, concludes that during his first year on the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. reputation as an ardent advocate of the oil interests back home.” Pickle, CHNS says, “has generally sided with conservatives on the committee in past weeks as the liberals have successfully plugged several loopholes in the federal tax system. However, on less controversial matters pertaining to the administration of the federal tax laws, he has vigorously supported efforts to make the Internal Revenue Service more accountable to Congress and more protective of an individual’s taxpayer rights.” In action hailed by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, the U.S. House defeated an amendment to allow the Department of Agriculture to have a veto oyer EPA actions on pesticides. The House also voted to allow the EPA to act immediately to avert a health threat, deleting a requirement for prior 60-day notice to the USDA. The Sierra Club was not so happy about U.S. Dist. Judge Owen Cox’s decision to dismiss its lawsuit against the Palmetto Bend Reservoir project in Jackson County. Opponents of the reservoir Political Intelligence Contended that it is environmentally risky and just plain unnecessary on the flat coastal plain where there are abundant aquifers. The $70 million dam is to provide municipal and industrial water for which there is no existing local market. Harold Scarlett, The Houston Post’s environmental writer, called Cox’s ruling “a curious mixture of questionable legalisms, bad English non sequiturs, and injudicious temperament.” Consumers who get frustrated trying to wend their ways through corporate and governmental bureaucracies in order to register complaints or raise hell may find a new booklet useful. Two young Texans, Mike and Paula Nurius, have spent the summer putting together a directory of those names and addresses most likely to be needed by complainants, gyppees, and generally aggrieved citizens who would like to express their anger where it might do some good. Info Please Texas and Washington can be purchased for a $1.98 from 2902 Hemphill Park, Austin, Tex. 78705. `Expertise’ solicited House Speaker Bill Clayton sent a letter printed on state stationery to the Texas members of the National Federation of Independent Business urging them to “get into politics or get out of business.” Clayton asked the business people for their help during the upcoming session. “We need your involvement and expertise to help guide us through these crucial periods in Texas history. If you take an active interest in the political process from supporting your candidate to keeping informed on legislation being October 31, 1975 9