ustxtxb_obs_1977_04_08_50_00017-00000_000.pdf

SINENANI urANS 414 Barton Springs at S.1st Austin,Texas BLENDING GOOD FOOD WITH GOOD TIMES BEEF & SEAFOOD ENTREES STEAKSBEER BATTER SHRIMP-OYSTERS lunch happy hour dinner late night delights Texas Observer readers are invited to gather at Scholz Garten, 1607 San Jacinto, Austin, Monday, April 4, between 7 and 11 p.m., to meet Lawrence Goodwyn, a former associate editor of the Observer and author of DEMOCRATIC PROMISE: THE POPULIST MOMENT IN AMERICA. Goodwyn’s book is a 1977 National Book Award nominee. The Texas Observer Bookstore will have copies of DEMOCRATIC PROMISE for sale at the party. If you already have a copy, bring it along for Larry to sign, or come just to browse and join in the celebration. Published by Oxford University Press at $19.95, DEMOCRATIC PROMISE is available to Observer subscribers at the customary 20 percent discount on titles stocked by the Texas Observer Bookstore: $16.75, sales tax included. No charge for postage if payment accompanies your order. THE TEXAS OBSERVER BOOKSTORE 600 W. 7th, Austin, Texas 78701 Protection Agency for “thorough, professional and knowledgeable environmental reporting.” Citing reports that 75 percent of the nation’s college students do not take a single course in economics, and warning darkly of the dangers posed by “a nation of economic illiterates,” Texas A&M officials have jumped into the breach with a new Center for Education and Research in Free Enterprise. It is to be a part of the college of liberal arts. A $300,000 start-up grant has been made to the center by the A&M University Development Foundation. Cronyism The choice of Reagan Brown to serve as state agriculture commis sioner for the remainder of John White’s term was met with less than three cheers by employees of the agency he will take over. Apparently, the staff felt that Brown’s major credential for the job was his allegiance to Governor Briscoe, who appointed him. Brown, a rural sociologist by trade, spent 30 years in the agricultural extension system; since 1973 he’s been a regular on the small-town banquet circuit, selling Dolph Briscoe’s homespun version of free enterprise economics. Along the way, Brown has developed close ties to county commissioners and judges. Their friendship should prove a substantial political asset when Brown runs for a full term as commissioner in 1978. Speaker Bill Clayton \(D-Spring the Legislature to supply his office with up-to-date directories of newspapers and TV and radio stations in their districts. The official reasoning is that the speaker’s office issues press releases on legislation affecting every district, so he needs a statewide list. More cynical legislators say it’s a cheap way for Clayton to build a press identity for use in a 1978 race for statewide office. The careers of 80 women who helped shape public life in Texas are described in a new book, Texas Women in Politics. Edited by Elizabeth Fernea and Marilyn P. Duncan, the book ranges over the lives of everyone from Ma Ferguson and Oveta Culp Hobby to Barbara Jordan and Billie Carr. Austin’s Foundation for Women’s Resources \(711 lists the 300-page book at $6.96, plus postage. Waco has a new black weekly newspaper, Grassroots. Edited by local activists Lester Gibson and Donald Freeman, the weekly is a progressive voice for black communities in central Texas. Mailing address is P. 0. Box 5381, Waco 76708.