ustxtxb_obs_1981_04_17_50_00032-00000_000.pdf

CORRECTION The Observer had the age of Col. James Adams, head of the Department of Public Safety, wrong last issue. He’s 54, not 60. \(“You really know how to hurt a According to Bill Carter, public information officer at DPS, the -agency made copies of the Observer’s coverage concerning Col. Adams and mailed them to DPS field commanders. This is interesting in many ways, for instance in the fact that Adams broke what appeared to be new ground for Texas policemen on police work and the First Amendment.0 THE BRAZOS BOOK SHOP 803 Red River Austin, Texas Literature and the Fine Arts new and used books Monday through Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Featuring Local Presses and Authors: Including Thorp Springs Press, Prickly Pear Press. Texas Circuit, Encino Press, Shoal Creek Publishers, Jenkins Publishing, Place of Herons Press, and many others Postmaster: If undeliverable, send Form 3579 to The Texas Observer, 600 W. 7th, Austin, Texas 78701 On the Changes I was disappointed to hear of the separation of the Observer and Rod Davis. As far as I can tell, Mr. Davis had to leave because he had the temerity to recognize that the time had come for fact that continued progress toward our goal of social justice requires a more fundamental restructuring of society than liberals have generally believed. . . . I thought that the paper had become more readable under his editorship. The post-Davis March 13 issue of the Observer does not give much encouragement as to the paper’s future course. Apparently, we are to get more of the old minute coverage of the “lege,” combined with nostalgia pieces about the good old days of Texas liberalism. In my 13 years as an Observer reader, I have had enough of those items. I hope that it will not take too long to find a new editor. . . . My final complaint about the editorial change relates to the direct mail solicitation of funds which I received from the Observer not long before the departure of Rod Davis. I was most impressed by Ronnie. Dugger’s arguments that the “new” Observer needed more money to expand its operation, etc. Imagine my surprise when, after I had extended my subscription and sent .a little extra, I learned that the “new” Observer had been consigned to the same junk yard with the Edsel. It strikes me that Senator Doggett might define this sleight of hand as a “deceptive trade practice.” As you can tell, the exit of Rod Davis left a bad taste in my mouth. I haven’t decided to cancel my subscription yet titude toward y’all has definitely changed for the worse. I hope that in the future the Observer will again become a “journal of free voices.” Bruce Griffiths. 4123 Tennyson, Houston 77002. 32 APRIL 17, 1981 Other Views Observer were aberrations I don’t want to see more of. I have subscribed for three to four years, and the one and only reacoverage of politics and public policy questions. I first saw your paper at a party years before. It was a special issue summarizing the “work” of the legislature, the cover with the Capitol sinking into the sunset. I was impressed. I wish we had such a paper in Montana. We did. For years the People’s Voice, edited by Harry Billings, was the voice of populist-progressive ideas in this state. More than ever we need voices like the Observer that have a vision of a better and more humane social order. The cause seems hopeless, but . . . People up here who have never seen the Observer followed the Hightower campaign with real interest. I have followed the Observer’s coverage of state and local politics with interest as well. That is why I who have never even been in Texas! read it. The article on the loan sharks and the lege. was the last in that tradition. It was so good I sent copies to my own state representative and asked him to use the information, if he could, to fight against four similar rip-off bills that were introduced in the Montana legislature. Another example. I have used Jim Hightower’s “Just Home Folks on the Federal Reserve Board” in my government class for years. I have also used other pieces from the paper. We have a good populist tradition in this state and first rate lobbies the Montana Environmental Information Center, the Northern Plains Resource Council, Montana State Federation of Labor that have to this moment fought hard and won most of our battles with a Republican majority in the state legislature. Citizen activism, doing your homework, is paying off for us. But, I am drifting. . . . Contrary to Davis’s final comment, I do not believe that the traditions that the Observer has embodied are “old” and irrelevant. He is perhaps unaware that it is democracy that is the issue and the hope, democracy economic and political. There are folks all over the country in local communities trying, experimenting with new forms of citizen power. I am hopeful. Jerry W. Calvert, 616 E. Lamme, Bozeman, Mont. 59715. I’m extremely glad the Observer is returning its primary focus to Texas and Texas politics. You’re the only chance we’ve got to find out what’s going on in this state. Margaret Hand, 1809 Mabry, Waco 76711. Congratulations on the last two issues. . . . It is good to see the Observer back at work covering Texas politics! George Zimmermann, 379 Tibet Rd., Columbus, 0., 43202.