Pantechnicon

I believe that the people facing one another ethnically and racially. Fighting for the crumbs of power. Was available in a city that had either by conscious consciously or otherwise had set one group against another. And that's exactly what the story of Boston is a story of one group being set against another and meet a warning. Good evening on the understanding this is band technique on your nightly magazine of eastern New England on this evening's program we'll hear from Adam Lobo concerning Boston politics in his recent book on the political scene. You'll hear about the book business. Also author Dr. Claire weeks talks about a group phobia and from Louis Lyons his commentary on the news. First though the headlines with Greg Fitzgerald who. In 1974 Boston began integrating its schools under forced busing edict of a federal court. The enforcement of the court's order provoked an outburst of violence that not only shocked

but really confused observers all across the country. Journalist Ellen Lupo has recently completed a written profile of Boston a portrait which according to Lubow is a city confronting its own history. In view both Mayor Kevin White's administration and the busing crisis itself symbolize the city and also its past. The book is called Liberty's chosen home which focuses on the Boston busing crisis but continually flashes back through the city's ethnic history to the riots and conflicts of the 19th and also the early 20th centuries and through generations of local political families. Self is no stranger to the political scene as a reporter he's worked for newspapers in many states and also for WGBH TV. He founded in reported on a nightly half hour news program called the reporters. Well New post up by WGBH recently to talk about his book on Boston history and politics and began speaking about whether the present busing problem is a racial one or a problem in maintaining ethnic territories.

Right now it's taking. It looks like racial warfare or it didn't 74 and to a degree in 75 and to a degree it is. But when you put it in perspective you see that it isn't just that the people who came over here in the first place and hung around here and 16:30 doing whatever it was they did those days had very little patience with the Quakers threw them out of town and killed two or three of them. They in turn had very little patience with the Irish as we all know they treated the Irish despicably. And that's putting it lightly. The Irish were shoved into the worst parts of the city. They had the highest rates of disease the highest rates of infancy death the worst jobs and finally the Irish reacted by having a full scale rebellion in the streets of the north and in 1863. So we see history repeating itself with each different group once the Irish finally attained the crumbs of power and I contend that's only crumbs emboss them once they attained that they were about to give it up to the

Italians the Jews and certainly not to the blacks what the blacks are facing now is somewhat similar to what the Irish of the eighteen hundreds faced. I believe that the people facing one another ethnically and racially. Fighting for the crumbs of power was available in a city that had either by consciously consciously or otherwise had set one group against another. And that's exactly what the story of Boston is the story of one group being set against another and neither one winning Boston it seems is the city which is constantly confronted its own history a city that is often raised then faced difficult issues before the rest of the nation. This according to Allen loop. But what about other cities. Don't they have similar problems in Boston. Well you do have similar problems in some of the other cities you only have to look as far as Newark to see how that Italian Ward reacts. You know Tony Imperiale is world reacts to an encroaching black community or vice a versa. But I think you have it more extensively here because the sense of neighborhood in the sense of turf

is very strong here no question about it. People finally begin settling in in the 20s with some sense of neighborhood security. And that lasted through the 20s 30s and even into the 40s. And it was not until after World War 2 that that began to fall apart for a variety of complex economic and social reasons. It was not the blacks that brought that change it was all the things that Ruben Reno federal fully funded highways all kinds of different programs created that different lifestyles but many people who are who fought for power in Boston. As I said before I want to retain it. And they have remained in the city because that is what that's their power base that's what they have you know that's their parish that's their neighbor that's their street that's their ward and they don't want to easily give it up. They happen to like the city. A lot of them are not forced to stay here. They want to stay

here. It's a livable city and maybe that's the difference between what happens in Boston and what happens in a lot of other places. A lot of cities have just become completely unmanageable and I'm livable. Mayor Kevin White plays a leading role in the drama on Boston politics with Hoover pointing out that Kevin White is important in the book but only because he was the mayor at the time of the busing rises. But because he represents in his inheritance his emotions and politics so much of what Boston has been and also is what Kevin White is trying to do. As you probably never been done in Boston at least this century. Kevin White is trying to build a ward and precinct machine organization call it what you will his critics will call it a machine his people will call it a civic association. And I suppose objective people will call it an organization. This is fascinating because Boston is not a party politics town Boston is a highly personal town. It's a city but what they call it a town right we all call it a town.

And you know somebody's father he know somebody's uncle he's voting for him because he's got a relative on the city council. Everything is one on one first name basis. It's pretty hard to build a machine in that kind of situation. A machine how does a machine dictate to you that you can vote for your uncle. You know that is really difficult. But he is doing it on a. Precinct by precinct basis or at least he says he is and he's got a committee of five which says it is when they put that bumpy street in on Beacon Hill to get the traffic to move more slowly. That was you know one of the first victories of this alleged Oriel machine when they tore down some really bad housing out in Jamaica Plain a couple of months ago that indicated that that was the work of the machine I happen to be with him the night that they kind of put that together. Now if they can do that kind of good government stuff and ask only for people's political support in return then I'd say that would be a pretty nice machine if it goes in the other direction. And it

means that somebody who doesn't support the mayor can't get his or her share of public services then it becomes a corrupt machine and we're much too early in the game to see what it is yet. Mayor Kevin White certainly is out in the political hot seat in relation to the present busing crisis and they both commented on White's attitudes and policies relating to bussing. Well like any mayor or any public official I think if you want to talk about political motivations the biggest one was to stay alive. On one hand he cannot be perceived as the person who brought busing to Boston. On the other hand he simply was not going to pander to the FIA's as had the school committee as had the school committee members of the city for so many years. So he had to stake out of very difficult position somewhere in between pandering to racism and fear and getting on the first bus as it rolled at least that was the political perception he and his advisors had at the time. Meanwhile inside his office there were people saying to him come out fight it. Soon

go to court and stall delay. There are other people saying No become more active in it come out early and say look we're going to have it happen. He kind of went down the middle hoping that he could lead the city through it peacefully knowing that he didn't have control of all the mechanisms he would need in the journalist and author of a recent book on the contradictory political climate of Boston called Liberty's chosen home published by Little Brown. The world's largest bookstore as far as we know is operated by a firm called Barnes and Noble. The Chemist discusses the book business with the vice president of that company Bill. Our guest for a pantechnicon today is the vice president of Barnes and Noble bookstores Mr. Bill Bud Kavik. Welcome glad to be here. Glad to have you here. And you

know you I know have rather specialized in the history of bookselling and then you in that area can you tell us something about how you got into the field and how this area you grabbed your interest. Well it's the most interesting thing in the world that very few people who are in the book industry as such have a train or go to school for that function. You're looking at a frustrated math teacher. Basically that you know I mean everybody. When you think about it. Where would you go if you wanted to become a bookstore manager or indeed wanted to be in the book selling end of the business. It's probably one of the few things that you have to go through. Have to learn by doing. Yeah right you have to go there. And one of the big problems with the book industry that I have found through the years is that the people who gravitate to would be the last ones that should be in it. In order to be successful in the book industry you

have to be a business man. And I like to equate it to a bought tender who loves to drink. So if you partake of too much of the books you're really not paying attention to your customers and that's why you're there. Really this type of thing. The book business and how I got into it and many of the men that I know who are in it really they were maybe in between jobs or just dropping out of school of some sort and it seemed like the place to go. Well how about changes in these areas bookstores to molest. If you're already in the Boston area I think the biggest changes that have occurred have been the the advent of more shop but I want to I want to say exactly where you are. The discount store or the large store rather than a personal shop concept of the volume buying at the best price people are more interested in

buying books and saving money than they ever were before they're buying more books than they ever were before already. Definite definitely and more books are becoming available to all. Well let's just take when we both went to school for example. How much time did you spend in the library. Well I spent a great deal of time on the run with the student today really doesn't have to be. We're not as nearly as much because so many of the books have been reprinted in paperback and many many other forms. There are even. I remember having to do a paper on illuminated manuscripts and not being able to find a book and being allowed in the home. Morgan P. part library for minutes and not able to touch and having to go out and write my paper. Oh now you can get a number of books in paperback that will just you know give you a lot of background of how these manuscripts were written prepared etc..

And I suppose on almost any other subject you could. Exactly exactly. And how about some of the you know special services that are offered to customers now days to use not to be. Well I think the opposite is that really the thing that because today not as much services offered but more books. You're explain this whole idea of the county concept where you would go up and say I want a criticism of Elliot and somebody would bring you three of four books to choose from now you must find them yourself in the criticism section you have to be better informed you almost have to know in most bookstores you almost have to know how to use it as you do your own school library when you think about it. You're expected to come in and browse them. Oh definitely yeah. Not without browsing a bookstore. You know you just wouldn't exist you have to have brought some. I like to sign it says dedicated to do gentle good to the gentle art of browsing.

I think I mean that's not quite right at the fine art of browsing that's fine art I'd rather you know that it is if I do need it. Our guest for Pentagon today has been Mr. Bell part of it who is vice president of Barnes and Noble bookstores here in Boston. Thank you for coming in. Thanks for having me. Bill Gavin isn't build Markovic discussing the book business. One of the most common phobias EVER to afflict a human being is the fear of being in crowded places or traveling away from the safety of home. This fear demonstrates itself as a feeling of panic so overwhelming that the person who experiences it begins to avoid the places or the situations that might arouse it again. Before long that person usually a woman is almost never able to leave her home. This nervous disorder is called a phobia and only recently has it been recognized as a widespread problem.

Dr. clear weeks has just published her third book on the subject and discusses it recently with reporter Susan one Ellenberg it really means that a person who has become sensitized that is a person in an anxiety state and many of us get these states loses confidence in going out alone for fear she'll have a spill he will have a spill. Or loses confidence in being in a crowd for fear he or she will have a spill and make food themselves in front of other people. They just lose confidence in their ability to be away from home because what they call a spill is an attack of acute panic. And it's like a puppet patient extreme bitterness great weakness those are the four main things that all sort of other symptoms as well. So these are all the symptoms of stress but these people don't realize this. And what do they do then. Well most of them avoid going with I think that have a spell for instance they won't sit in the middle of the row at the cinema. They sit on the aisle. They won't sit in the middle of the restaurant they'll sit near the door. If they do go anywhere they have an orbit within which they will move that go to such

and such a restaurant because there's no hospital in your doctor's office. I had this some of them were some of them were moving this way within limits certain street limits. Men don't get it as much as women because men have got to go to work every day. But they would take a subordinate position rather than become the manager if it means flying from Boston to Detroit has it got there. I see there are a lot of persons especially women who simply don't leave home especially in the last 10 years. I think I think I'm right in saying that I pined need the knowledge of this condition in America about eight years ago I first went on radio in America and very few people who even doctors hadn't heard of it then and now it's become so much more widely known in England and in America. I suspect though there are a lot of people here who still don't know what it is can be treated my way and I know there are physicians in Boston who are trying to treat this. You seem to have worked out quite a good method that has fairly

good results your results about three quarters of your patients are able to live more normal lives. Describe your treatment for me please. Well it's quite the opposite to what people do automatically if left to themselves. You see the average person who becomes noticeably ill who's in an anxiety state tries to psych and then straight away I say I'll go to that meeting tonight I'll go to that school meeting I'm not going to let my little boy down make it I make it I want Penny I'm not painting it all wrong they're not in the race. I would hope of not panicking when I go like this. They fight they try to take a grip on themselves. They tend to themselves that they clutch their hands. They sit through an hour of agony like that you can imagine the tension that mounts when they sit like that. So there's their center dive moves get more and more sensitized and you know as this is the whole point they are sensitized they're not neurotic their nerves have become definitely physically sensitized.

Describe the treatment I'm very curious about it because I know doctors in this country at any rate have used such things as hypnosis. I know electric shock there are only tranquilizers with with very mediocre results. And now the behaviorist who are doing an excellent job excuse me with ordinary phobias that simple fear of animals fear of thunderstorms to dry. Our finding I'd prefer to be a very hot treat. You see what they're doing is they're trying to desensitize these people by tranquilizing The feet away by getting these people to sit in the chair and say Now imagine you're in a bastion imagine you're locked in an imagine imagine and these people go through these situations that is quite good in my book I call that right reaction readiness. But they have to be taught how to cope with the panic. It's no good doing that so that they won't panic or teaching them to go as far as they can without panic and then come home with a panic thinking in this way by not subjecting them to panic gradually sensitize them. But that person after four five six months treatment has only to pick one

watches out and all that work then. Panic which is the would be English which is the thing that really keeping them sensitized. How do they cope with panic. Well I explain to them that they feel not one fear not one penny because they think but too when they panic they feel the first one that comes because they're sensitized. You put a woman like that in the middle school meeting when she can't get out and she immediately feels a spill coming on she panics and it bets a terrific whipping and I should burn to the roots of her hair and that's because she scented ties it's like that and she couldn't stop it. She couldn't stop it flashing in that way but she's been trying to you see so she immediately adds a second flash of the first one because the first fresh is so terrible she adds Oh my goodness let me out of here quickly quickly and leech quickly she had another pain. And it's the second one. But she can control not the best. She's been trying to control all of this so she has to learn to lick the first one to come it takes about two months of letting the first one come. Take a deep

breath the flashlight had lit the first feeling last years that you have been taught by anybody before. Let it flash let it do its worst it's only a superficial thing it feels like death warmed up but it's superficial to Agricola that the nerve endings can't hurt. I got onto the recording about 13 years ago I was recording for patients and using proceeds and when they go up I take a little portable type recorder and the kids sit with them and I go through the paintings with them on the Get It. I talk to them as we go and do not go down with them so they carry the tape recorder so I go on holiday with capable to go on airplanes were everywhere. The Suzanne my melon Berg for Pan Technicolor. To complete guns I think on for this evening here is Lily Lyons former curator of the Nieman Foundation for journalism at Harvard and also for 25 years principal News commentator for WGBH.

He speaks about President Carter his first press conference gave the country a second chance. Since his inauguration to take the measure of the new president the verdict of the press itself is that he handled it masterfully. He was an easy command through the whole range of questions. His responses were saying none of the rambling or filibustering that's been too common with his predecessors recently. He had no self-serving opening statement just made himself available. As you well he said twice a month. But behind the relaxed smile it was a tactic in timing that made it a major event while his nominee for arms negotiated was fencing with Senate Hawks over his views on weapons. The president made his own offer to the Soviets of mutual restraint in large measure than any before he disclosed also that he'd spent an hour and a half that day with China's representative who he reported agreed with his own go to end dependence on nuclear weapons. The president made a public offer to the Russians that they give up one major

weapon development backed by a bomb and we another the cruise missile for a quick agreement and that each agreed to give the other 24 hours notice of a missile test. The Senate would have the final word on any agreement he added this in an aside to the Senate hawks who were picking over Paul want his views. The president said he had full confidence in one who wholly shared his own commitment to check the arms race if the Russians would cease development of a short range mobile missile he said. We would perhaps not then spend the large amounts to develop our own. With such swap proposals across their wives the president plunged way ahead of the technical points with which Republican senators were at that moment challenging Parwan care. Almost It sounded as if Mr Wonka and his whole arms control apparatus could be dispensed with in the bureaucratic overhaul the president plans but that would be a small idea Miss Sen. Humphrey dramatized at yesterday's hearing. How much was the

Arms Control budget. Hubert asked. Thirteen million. And the defense budget. One hundred twenty two billions. So said the senator one hundred twenty two billions for defense and just a pitiful 13 millions for peace. One kid's critics quoted to him his criticism of past negotiations as doing more to accelerate than control OMS as he labored in loyally defense of his past prose. One can muster felt the bite of the Psalmist's desire that mine adversary had written a book. The president had the chief Congress critics of his reorganization plan to the White House yesterday. The most strategically placed of these Jack Brooks chairman of the committee that must pass and it has called it unconstitutional to give a president such sweeping authority even though it would be subject to congressional veto within 60 days. Such authority was given the last five presidents but canceled to stop Nixon's manipulation. Brooks demanded every detail change come to Congress for a separate

vote would mean an endless process that smacks of protection for patronage jobs for the reorganization and the Arms Control Policy will call for cooperation and commitment of the congressional leadership. The president yesterday admitted he'd made mistakes in his early dealing with Congress but he now set up a regular series of meetings with the leaders. On both these issues a basic policy what it will take to push the Congress is public support for the president and that to take education of the public in these complexities. That's what the president was doing yesterday. Also on the more immediate issue of energy April 20 have a comprehensive energy plan he said and it will require sacrifices by the public and encouragement of production which sounded like the lifting of price regulations. But Carter promised I'm going to try to make sure that oil and gas companies don't do not derive unwarranted profits. The energy policy will engender a great deal of debate he said. So public debate on great issues promises to become the order of the day.

In this the president's public relations Congress relations press relations of which the press conference is the most visible aspect will be important. And all these Jimmy Carter seemed so far to be making progress just by acting naturally and is pushing the issue of human rights with the Soviets while insisting this need not sour other relations with them. When he took his wife to the opera the other night he did not tell the press. This brought a protest to which he gave notice that he will not inform the press in advance of his personal movements as distinct from his public activity. This insistence on a degree of privacy may prove a healthy deterrent to the trend in the press almost to eliminate the word from the American vocabulary. The press has been both victim and villan in this victim of politicians who contrive ways to create artificial news villain in such silliness as their exploitation of enemy conduct. From this has risen the expression a media event which means it doesn't mean anything just an

excuse for publicity. President ex-president Ford returned to jail yesterday to give a class a lecture in his role as a child fellow. He said of his predecessor in that fellowship Harry Truman. He appealed to me style wise and otherwise this monster caught the art of Cornell's newly created dean of writing and caused him to look otherwise for a style model to improve his students use of English well. Louis Lyons will return on Friday with his views and commentary and that's pantechnicon for Wednesday the ninth day of February. 977 producer for this program was Bill Gavin as the engineer Barry Carter and I'm Eleanor stout. Have a pleasant evening.