University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Lady Bird Johnson addresses the closing session of the LBJ Human Rights Symposium. iMr of Kennedy Thefailur ' ' Kip add be alt ggyApiEta 1 we Secretary fl ! cized the Great Society in a panel on civil rights. Although the Great Soci- ety of the Johnson Administration was a time of great fun and enthusiasm, it was essentially easy issues for easy people, he said. America can deceive itself into believing racism and discrimination have been eliminated. This deceptive veneer covers this country ' s natural predisposition of the attitude toward racism in this country. Lady Bird Johnson introduced the final topic of the five-day symposium, The Right to Equality Under the Law. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley remarks on the social programs of the 60s at the first session. Human Rights Symposium 85

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60s Programs Probed The domestic policies of two presi- dential administrations underwent analysis in a symposium entitled Toward New Human Rights: The Social Policies of the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations. Attempting to determine which programs were viable during the New Frontier and Great Society years, keynote speak- ers Vernon E. Jordan Jr. and Arthur Schlesinger Jr. expressed feelings of doubt and anger at the present social programs. After proposing a new Bill of Rights for all persons, Jordan pro- claimed to the 900 present, It is time, long overdue, that our society build on the basis of the past 40 years for better social and human rights. Specialists in fields of economics, health programs, education and hous- ing focused on Kennedy ' s and John- son ' s efforts and their successes and failures in these areas. James Tobin, economics professor at Yale Univer- sity and former member of Kennedy ' s economic advisors said, The failure of the Kennedy and Johnson adminis- trations war on poverty could be attrib- uted to the Vietnam War . . . Lyndon Baines Johnson bravely fought to keep his Great Society programs from being sacrified for military spending. William Cohen, former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare and one of the two men who developed the Medicare and Medicaid programs, advocated changes in those programs in The Right to Health and Medical Care. Roger Wilkins, member of the New York Times editorial board, criti- 84 Human Rights Symposium

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f ISSUES J Confronting Controversy Education and communication students obtained the opportunity to gain insight into potential job fields as the College of Education and the School of Communi- cation each sponsored symposia, presenting noted authorities who discussed benefits and disadvantages of careers in those areas. U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan, D-Houston, delivered two on-campus speeches during Education Week. Speaking to a standing room only crowd, Jordan praised Lyndon Baines Johnson for his efforts in involv- ing the federal government in education and suggested creating a separate Department of Education. The mood of the Carter Administration is to evaluate cur- rently-existing programs, instead of initiating new ones, Jordan observed. You should have no anticipation that there will be any new policy initiative during this administration. Endorsing forced busing, she said, There is no reason on this earth to equate the mode of transportation to what happens at the end of the trip, and used avoidance to describe the present adminis- tration ' s attitude toward the issue. Two former UT graduates who became successful in fields of television and advertising returned home to speak at the School of Communication ' s five-day sym- posium entitled Contemporary Communication. Ger- ald Rafshoon, who headed Jimmy Carter ' s publicity campaign said the strategy had been to emphasize leadership, love, trust and the need for a change. We found that people were not interested in issues per se. Anti-Washington sentiment was a powerful force and we played to that feeling. Michael Zinberg, director of The Bob Newhart Show, defended the television medium. People who think it is their ordained mission to complain about TV are kidding themselves. TV is optional that is what they keep forgetting, he said. On the fifth day of the Communication Symposium, the only true ombudsman in the state of Texas, bel- lowed his disgust for deceit in the media. Consumer affairs advocate Marvin Zindler, who works for Hous- ton ' s Channel 13, said, Most of the newspaper, radio and television reporters seem only to be concerned about telling us the price of coffee is going up . . .or some other BS that usually only insults the intelligence of the average person. He said cities such as Austin, San Antonio and Dallas do not have Zindler-type con- sumerism reporting because the social hot dogs won ' t allow it. At Education Week, Barbara Jordan advocates a federal Department of Education Consumer affairs advocate Marvin Zindler blasts conventional consumerism reporting. 86 Symposia