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Tile Student Newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Cliarlotte
Cliarlotte, North Carolina
October 26,1976
Volume XII, Number 10
Political Science professors discuss
Issues of Presidential campaign
By Brad Rich
Tuesday night, 'October 19th, the
UNCC Political Department and the
Friends of UNCC cosponsored a
discussion of the issues in the current
presidential campaign.
The discussion, moderated by Schley
Lyons, chairman of the department,
focused on the possible directions Jimmy
Carter or Gerald Ford administrations
would take on the issues of foreign
policy, domestic policy and bureaucratic
reorganization. The discussants were:
Ted Arrington, on domestic policy, Nish
Jamgotch, on foreign policy, and Eric
Stowe, on bureaucratic reorganization.
Dr. Jamgotch led off the discussion
with his views on foreign affairs. He said,
‘There appears to be little enthusiasm in
this election, especially in the area of
foreign affairs. Perhaps this is because
there are no overwhelming issues in the
campaign.” He said the American people
are in search of a foreign policy and are
confused.
Jamgotch said there is really no
effective way to gauge Gerald Ford’s
performance in foreign affairs. Ford has
jspent one of his two years “learning the
job” and the other year “preparing to
run for re-election.” Congress has played
a more aggressive role as a result of the
“sting of Vietnam,” and Henry Kissinger,
as Secretary of State, has “dwarfed the
president.”
“Relations with China have been
difficult because of their internal
difficulties and right wing Regan
supporters have made continued detente
with the Soviet Union more difficult,’
Jamgotch said.
Jamgotch said the foreign policy
directions taken by either Ford or Carter
would probably depend largely upon
who they would choose as Secretary of
State. He said neither Ford nor Carter are
extremely weU experienced in foreign
affairs, and will probably have to take
the advice of better informed people.
Jamgotch said he doesn’t really expect
Kissinger to stay on, and speculated Ford
might pick his successor from among
such choices as John Connally, Nelson
Rockefeller and William &ranton.
Possible Carter choices for the position
might be George Ball or Frank Church.
Ted Arrington spoke next on
domestic poUcy. He placed his major
emphasis on the fact that both Carter
and Ford are traditional representatives
of their parties, and as such, will
probably tend to support the usual
concepts of their respective parties.
Arrington said the Democratic party has
traditionally favored the use of the
federal government to aid the poor and
disabled, while the Republican
jjhilosophy would like to cut federal
spending. “Republicans,” he said,
“Believe that many federal programs
backfire. They think the size and scope
of spending should decrease, or at least
be capped.”
He also said the two candidates
differ in their traditional approaches to
resolving the economic problems. Carter,
iathe best tradition of the Democratic
party, favors the federal government
directly employing out of work
Americans, while Ford would focus on
slowing inflation and creating jobs in the
iprivate sector.
Arrington speculated three possible
election results:
1) Carter wins by a narrow margin
and the Republicans would gain back a
few of the Congressional seats they had
lost in previous years. Carter would then
have a nominal Democratic majority in
Congress, but not enough to pass the
programs he desires.
2) Ford wins narrowly and the
Republicans would gain some seats, and
it would be back to much the same
situation as in Nixon’s first term. The
spht in Congress would result in general
activity.
3) Carter wins by a large majority.
Arrington felt this was the most unlikely
possibility, but if it were to occur.
Carter, like Lyndon Johnson in 1964,
would have a large enough majority to
5nact his programs.
Next, Eric Stowe discussed Jimmy
Carter’s proposals on reorganization of
;he bureaucracy. He called it “a basically
Republican, business approach, which
has been attempted before.” One notable
effort to implement this type
restructuring was Robert McNamara’s
alan for the Department of Defense in
1962.
Stowe said Carter’s plan has basically
five approaches. They are:
1) Zero based budgeting. This forces
, bureaus to justify their existence by
proving that every cent they ask for is
needed.
2) Multi-year budgeting. This is a
successful business practice which
involves forecasting the entire cost of a
program over the years.
3) Reduction of the number of
agencies. This would result in a decrease
in political infighting and competition
within agencies.
4) Program evaluation. This aspect
would employ independent program
auditors to make sure that an agency is
actually doing the job it was set up to do.
5) Sunshine laws. These are directed
mainly towards regulatory agencies, and
would open meetings up while elminating
-the Lone Ranger” style of foreign
policy often practiced by Henry
Kissinger.
Stowe also felt Carter may be up
against insurmountable odds. “The
federal bureaucracy wasn’t given birth by
some devil figure,” he said, “It was
created over a period of abopt 50 years,
and is . related to lobbyists, interest
groups, and congressional committees.”
Another problem faced by Carter,
Stowe said, is the fact that while many
Americans criticize the bureaucracy in
the abstract, they want it to be there
when they call with a complaint. As
Stowe said, “Americans are against
everybody’s bureaucracy but their own.”
The discussion ended with a question
and answer session. Dr. Lyons followed
with a few closing remarks, as did Bonnie
Cone
Journalism class poll predicts Carter win
By Nancy Davis
and Teresa Gardner
Jimmy Carter will be the next
president of the United States if the rest
of the nation agrees with UNCC students,
according to the results gathered from a
straw poll recently taken on campus.
During the week of October 13-19
nearly 100 students were asked who they
prefer for the next president in a random
poll conducted by fourteen UNCC
journalism students as part of a news
writing-assignment.
Students, ranging in age from 18-42,
were asked their opinions at various
locations on the UNCC campus ranging
from the library to the dormitories. The
results were representative of an even
spread in class rank and an equal
distrivution between dorm and
commuter respondents, but when divided
into schools there were twice as many
Business Administration majors as there
were in any of the other leading fields.
Carter won the poll, favored by 50%
of the vote over Ford’s 39%, with 11%
undecided only two weeks prior to the
National Election. Of the 94 students
asked, 87% said they intend to vote on
November 2.
Those in favor of Jimmy Carter seem
-to feel he is more in tune with the people
and will bring a fresh face to Washington.
Many agree with Charlie Bragg, 25, a
senior, who likes Carter’s “ideas of
economic policy and restructuring the
government.” Running mates also
showed a strong influence in voter
preference: “Actually, I prefer Walter
Mondale over Carter, and that’s why I’m
voting for Carter,” said Henry Raines,
23, a Political Science major. Carter is
most often accused of not being specific
enough and making unreasonable claims.
Jim Moore, 26, an Accounting major,
expressed the feeling that “Ford will not
bring dignity or self-esteem to the office,
which it desperately needs at this point.”
President Ford’s followers stress his
experience, realism and overall
knowledge. Comments made by Tom
Liendecker, a 21 year old senior,
represent the attitudes held by those who
place their confidence in Ford: “He is
not so vague on issues. Ford’s done a
decent job, a good job considering what
he had and the situation he inherited.”
Richard Herndon expresses the opposing
belief that Ford’s experience has hurt
him “because his Congressional Record
shows he was very indecisive.” Still
others, including Lisa Laney, a
sophomore working towards an
Accounting major, are just ready for a
change: “I’m not really in favor of either
one, but I am voting against the Nixon
Administration.”
There was a general concensus from
those who are still undecided. Lisa
Elliott, 21, sums up their views: “I don’t
feel like there’s a big choice.”
You have less then one week left to
choose, and this time it reallv counts.
Carolina Journal photo by Jack Turbyfill
The circus came to campus last weekend; featuring thrills for all ages. See more pictures on page thirteen.