LETTERS

Dishing It Out



The selection of the “Twelve Best Restaurants in Dallas” (August] dismayed me mightily. Since we live in Dallas and have sampled nearly all on the list, we can dismiss the selections as one person’s opinion.

If, however, we were from out of town and using D as a guide for restaurant selection, we would be facing some disappointments. Though most of the places mentioned are pleasant neighborhood spots with good food, they do not qualify in terms of ambience or creativity for The Best; Routh Street Cafe, the Mansion, and Riviera, though, certainly do.

Hope that in the future your food editor will be more discriminating.

Joanne Phelps

Dallas



I know Liz Logan can not be right all the time, but to err so badly .. .?

Cantina Laredo one of the twelve best restaurants in Dallas? Ridiculous! The bar may be in the top twelve, but little else. The service was about equal to a mid-range truck stop. And, the evening was capped off (after the waiter screwed up the orders) by a bus boy who (literally) spilled the beans in front of me, took a look, and walked off, leaving us to deal with the beans as best we could.

Jack F. Orr

Dallas



I find it amazing that a restaurant can be open two months and make “The Twelve Best Restaurants in Dallas” list. We recently visited Cacharel and found the food mediocre and the service lousy. Our waiter was so green that the busboy had to explain to him the numbering system delineating who ordered what. Then he disappeared for thirty minutes. Did Jean-Claude himself prepare “The List”?

Patti Lacy Arlington

I don’t know who’s padding Liz Logan’s paycheck, but I’m sure the Highland Park Cafeteria has some idea. Seriously, since when does an establishment whose cooks include White Swan and Del Monte even begin to be considered as one of the best in Dallas? Is a hair-netted server who monotonously repeats “serve you?” to every passer-by regarded as ambience?

Karl E. Gromelski

Dallas

My congratulations to Liz Logan and D. Not only have you described some truly outstanding establishments, but you have put to rest the patently ridiculous notion, held sacred by most of our local restaurant critics, that the great restaurants serve only French haute cuisine. Thanks from all of us who have more eclectic-and tolerant-tastes!

DeLoach Martin

Dallas



Porn: A Second Look



A big thumbs up to you for putting things in perspective [“Editor’s Page,” August]. The problem with your readers who have cancelled their subscriptions to D magazine in response to your views on pornography is that they label everything involving nudity and sexuality as pornographic.

There is a clear distinction between materials depicting violent and degrading acts against human beings and those materials that merely express a person’s sexuality. Violence is bad. Sexuality is not. The two concepts should not be lumped together in our minds just because violence has been perversely linked with sex in truly pornographic materials.

Roger D. Achtermann

Dallas



You asked for readers’ opinions concerning the Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography, so here goes. One thing the commission had to do first was define pornography. Defining pornography is as individual as defining right or wrong. So when the commission sent out letters to companies such as Southland (7-Eleven), whose definition did they use that identified them as distributors of pornography? Well, it turns out that several pages of testimony that accompanied the letter were all from one person: the Reverend Donald Wildmon, who just happens to be the executive officer for the National Federation for Decency. It should be noted that the Reverend Wildmon also identified CBS, Time Inc., Coca-Cola, and even Ramada Inns as other distributors. Anyone with common sense should begin to wonder if this man is a fanatic.

Another item that seems to have slipped everyone’s mind is the fact that the mandates that formed the commission stated explicitly that all the commission was to do was to recommend to the attorney general ways of controlling the spread of pornography, as stated in the letter sent out to various organizations.

Fortunately, the commission was ordered to repeal the letter by a court. Alan Sears, a member of the commission, then stated they had never intended to make a list of pornography distributors. Doesn’t this sound like a little kid getting caught doing something wrong, and then saying “Sorry, I didn’t mean it”? But by then, the damage had been done. 7-Eleven had removed all questionable magazines from their stores, and another victory was chalked up for the Reverend Wildmon.

Can we believe anything this commission reports on with a track record like this? Even individual members contradict themselves. In an interview in the Dallas Times Herald (August 10, 1986), Tex Lazar conveys his belief that the problem of pornography has spread from urban to rural areas. Three questions later he states that “most of the public doesn’t realize what’s out there…” in regards to pornography.

There are already good obscenity laws on the books. We don’t need to enact new legislation as everyone seems to be clamoring for. Just enforce the current ones.

Also, I have a question.. .Where does Playgirl magazine fit into all this? I have seen Playboy (which, by the way, has never been found obscene in its thirty-odd years of publishing), Penthouse, and almost every other “men’s” magazine named in articles on this subject, but never Playgirl. Are only “men’s” magazines pornographic?

I would like to end by pointing out that the National Federation for Decency is planning to picket Stop-N-Go stores on September 27 in hopes of getting materials they don’t like off the store shelves. If you feel as I do, that this type of censorship has gone far enough, then counter-picket on that day. Let’s keep freedom of choice a freedom.

Joseph Westphal

Grand Prairie



I decided to write because I was concerned about the letters I read in your August edition concerning pornography. I do not buy porno magazines nor do I enjoy their material, but it is not my business to decide if other people should. It is the business of the consumer what they buy and that is how it should be. Censorship, in my opinion, is a terrible thing in any form. You can call it a rose and say it is for the good of the public, but it still stinks. All of my friends agree completely, so don’t listen to the self-righteous do-gooders who try to push their beliefs on everyone else. And keep up the good work.

Shelley Kimberly

Burleson



After reading the letters in your August issue, I am appalled (especially by those who cancelled their subscriptions). It is that kind of thinking, more than the issue itself, that scares me. Many times your magazine has published opinions different from my own. For this I thank you. It has allowed me to view issues in a different light. I haven’t always changed my mind, but I have understood the opposite view better. It is a shame that on an issue such as this, people choose to censor themselves.

Perry Brown

Dallas



It’s obvious to me that the Meese Commission failed in its quest when it could not even establish a single definition of pornography. The least it could have done was refer to the dictionary. Webster’s defines pornography as “pictures, writing, or films designed to arouse sexual excitement.” Now that’s a definition this commission could sink its zealot teeth into. Using this definition, a woman changing clothes in front of her husband could be considered a pornographic act. Any man seen in public with a bulge in his pants could be arrested for deviant behavior, since according to this definition, sexual excitement must be bad. This definition even makes the commission’s final report pornographic. Hey, I may have hit on something.

Regardless, I’m getting away from the subject of this letter, which is to inform you that I want my subscription to D continued.

Michael E. Hill

Hickory Creek



The first thing the government should do is to make clear the distinction between pornographic and erotic; secondly, they should fund a scientific study to determine if in fact there is a provable relationship between sexually oriented publications and sexual violence. There are reputable sociologists capable of conducting such a study impartially. Finally, the government should indicate some confidence in the ability of Americans to read all sorts of material.

South Africa has extremely restrictive laws preventing the sale of any and all sexually related literature, yet their incidence of sex-related crimes has not decreased. At the other end of the spectrum we have Denmark, where just about anything is allowed, yet their rate of sex-related crimes is substantially less than ours.

On the face of it, to say that someone accused of rape reads Playboy proves nothing. That same person also owns and may occasionally read the Bible, plus he probably also has a telephone and a refrigerator. All of this means nothing.

The religious zealots really want to have the final say on what the rest of us can read and view. Playboy and Penthouse are just the tip of the iceberg. From this victory they intend to censor the content of movies, the books in our libraries, and schoolbooks. Whenever their eagle eye detects the slightest deviation from their conception of what is right, they will immediately demand it be banned. Our Constitutional rights are too precious to be muzzled by a small, but vocal group of determined, fanatical fundamentalists.

Dick Nelson

Dallas



The principal issue in the pornography debate is not Playboy magazine. The principal issue is not what you call “the flow of ideas.” These are important but secondary. The principal issue is whether we as a community will continue to tolerate the distribution of photographs of rape, torture, murder, and child abuse. I believe that the Attorney General’s Commission was unanimous in recommending vigorous prosecution to prevent these images from becoming even more commonplace and accepted-and in all too many cases acted out-in our society.

This is the main event in pornography’s circus of horrors. Centerfold pictures and censorship issues are only sideshows, much less repulsive, much easier to discuss. I urge you to keep your focus on the main event.

John W. Rain

Dallas



First of all, the president’s panel on pornography was stacked from the beginning to arrive at one conclusion, the one desired by the administration. No one can dispute that. The fact that they have arrived at the “right” conclusion should be of great alarm to all people who relish freedom of choice and freedom of expression.

The same people would tell the majority what is best for them and exactly what they should and should not be allowed to see and read. In one breath these people condemn the policies of Iran but in the next would suggest that the same is good for America. That simply doesn’t wash. We must resist and vehemently oppose all government (read: religious) efforts to control our individual lives.

What goes on in my bedroom and behind my closed doors is of no concern to others and I will resist that to the end.

Marion Denton

Dallas



Surely when the First Amendment was written, our forefathers could not possibly have foreseen the pornography issue we are dealing with today. 1 am tired of Americans standing protectively behind this amendment in order to defend and even condone something that has become instrumental in the decline of our moral values today.

So it is dangerous to tamper with the First Amendment as it will introduce censorship into our society. In this particular area we have clearly run amuck with our freedom and liberty, not unlike undisciplined children. Restraints are in order. Thumbs up to the Meese Commission and to the Southland Corporation; they are on the right track.

Jill Heikenfeld

Piano



The question in your August issue “… Is pornography a symptom or is it a cause of sexism and sexual abuse” embodies the crux of the pornography issue. If pornography is a symptom of sexism and sexual abuse, what can be done to eliminate the cause? For a possible solution, let us examine a similar sexism symptom, prostitution. Prostitution has existed since the birth of mankind and, despite many attempts to eradicate it through the eons, is still prevalent today. Obviously then, there is no quick, simple way to eliminate the source. Consequently, we have to deal with the symptom: prostitution is illegal in all states (except Nevada, where it is monitored and controlled). It could be premised that pornography is providing a sexual service and is therefore a form of prostitution. In any event, pornography can be addressed in the same way as prostitution-by putting the issue to a popular vote, preferably at the state level. This way, those of us who are opposed to the widespread acceptance and usage of pornography can vote to restrict or remove it.

Violence and sexual abuse, primarily against women and children, is increasing. One reason is that men feel threatened by the new sexual roles molded by the woman’s movement. Cognizance of women’s equality threatens male dominance and is, therefore, unacceptable to many men. In order to preserve male dominance, men are reverting to caveman mentality-sexism (promulgated through pornography) and physical abuse. Pornography, it seems, is seen as the “fast male bastion.”

The male/female relationship is not as simple as it once was. It is unthinkable that women today should allow themselves to be dominated and abused by men in order to avoid bruising their fragile male egos. The winds of change are in the air. Playboy would do well to omit its pictures of nude women and concentrate on publishing its “fine journalism and prize-winning fiction.”

R. Wise

Dallas



Who Killed The 7 p.m. News?



Quin Mathews’s enthralling, staccato account of the demise of Channel 33 news [“Death of a Newscast,” August] just underscores the tact that the media in this country are being increasingly dominated by money-grubbing investment bankers and bean counters.

Rupert Murdoch has become a modern-day William H. Vanderbilt by in effect saying, “The public be damned.” Whatever happened to that wonderful old idea that a broadcasting station represents a public trust that exists for the public good?

William G. Smith

Dallas



Metromedia brought in (from Albany, Denver, Minneapolis, and Cincinnati), Ray Schonbak as general manager for the station. One of the reasons that I was fired by Schonbak is that as a native Dallasite, I thought I knew better than he what news was important to the community and how it should be presented.

Well within his prerogative as general manager, he insisted on sensationalism and an inflammatory style. . .and when there was resistance, my employment was terminated. In a memo to me, Schonbak said, “I want planning for the week’s news to be done in advance.. .simply put, we should create the news, not just respond to it.” Many wonder how you can plan the news a week in advance.

In other things like conversations, Schonbak said: “Let’s dig up some white collar dirt” and “Give me five Sam Donaldsons who don’t care who they offend.” Or again, “This city is smug in its so-called virtue. No city can be that good.. . Let’s get the big boys.” There is nothing wrong with investigative journalism. But the right way to do it is to find a problem and then expose it… not pick a target and then try to find a problem to justify the smear.

But absentee owners who are interested in newspaper and broadcast facilities as in-vestments must be tabbed as the real villains in cities across the country. They don’t care about the news property. They don’t care about the city from which they suck cash, and they certainly don’t care about the readers and viewers whom they are supposed to serve.

Tony de Haro

Former News Director, Ch.33

President, La Paz Broadcasting

Daytona Beach, Florida



Ego Trip



Hollywood holds there’s no such thing as good or bad publicity (or public clamor), only publicity, period. At the risk, then, of unwittingly promoting future excessive essays of a similar nature, may I nonetheless express my displeasure with Mike Shropshire’s August soiree into MayaLand [“Maya Summer Vacation,” August]?

Are we not yet up to our noses in this sort of holier and yuppier-than-thou survey of places beyond Dallas’s pale, especially when the target, once again, is wide-open Mexico? Early on Shropshire bids “farewell to the ugly Americans congregated at the Sheraton.” I read through without uncovering, alas, any evidence that the parting was anything more than purely physical. There are, for example, no “marauding banditos” lying in wait in the Yucatan. Chihuahua, perhaps. Moreover, who cares when and how Shropshire lost his lunch, or breakfast, as it were? In the same vein, was the village matador really a “morbid little pimp”?

As a final fill-up, there’s Shropshire’s dissatisfaction with the local cuisine, though his article offers no indication of a Spanish vocabulary that extends beyond the mouth of a beer bottle or a mescal glass. In fact, the only question raised by his and Rambette’s ramble through the Yucatan is what did they do with the empties? Unfortunately, I think I know the answer to that one too, without having it puked out in print. In short, “Maya Summer Vacation” is another view of the world as nothing more than a monstrous oyster for the ego, with the usual oleaginous results.

Dennis Stacy

San Antonio



Tom Landry Forever



Regarding your article last month on Tom Landry [“Cowboys at a Crossroads,” August], I will spare your typesetter the armchair coach opinions, except to say that I was disappointed that Mike Shropshire left out one well-known possibility for Landry’s job. The media have also included Denver coach Danny Reeves as a possible replacement, as have I, and would consider him the No. 2 choice behind Shropshire’s choice of Paul Hackett (who?). I’d give Reeves at least 3 to 1!

Erik Eason

Huntsville, Utah



P.S. The day Landry retires is the day the deficit overcomes us, the stockmarket collapses, and World War III begins. Tex: keep those contracts coming!



Your August issue of D magazine is great. I found Mike Shropshire’s article [“Cowboys at a Crossroads,” August] super, I’m fond of his style of writing. It is timely and just what the Cowboys and Landry need. I’m a Cowboy fan and a Landry fan, too. As a final word, I wish Shropshire would do a similar article on the Rangers-I’m a fan of theirs too.

Betty CarroonDallas



One Vote For The Voters



Re: “Courting Disaster” by Mark Donald, August: such utterances from any journalist are startling. The journalistic industry is steeped in independent thought and historically has aggressively defended individual rights. I am reminded that Donald’s profession is the only one whose freedom is guaranteed by our Constitution. With this formidable background, Donald contends that a greater degree of objectivity would be brought to the bench if the public did not participate in the selection of judges. This position is not logical nor is it consistent with our knowledge of the frailness of human nature. I do believe that history proves that there are many more instances of malpractice and illegal activities by appointed officials (who are political by their very nature) than by elected officials.

The authority for executive, legislative, and judicial governmental performance constitutionally rests with and is given by the electorate of our various geopolitical units. It is critically important that in a democratic society, the electorate have dominion and retain performance review authority over all officials whose decisions affect the individual in any way. The best argument for the public election of all judges (including federal and Supreme Court justices) is the performance of Mr, William Wayne Justice. Many of his decisions appear to fall in the realm of legislation rather than judicial matters. I would appreciate hearing Donald’s comments concerning whether Justice should have to answer to the electorate.

Frank Ball

Piano



Advice For Royce West



In his article “Have Democrats Written Off Royce West?” [“Inside Dallas,” September], Bob Ray Sanders failed to live up to his usual reputation of relating black issues in a factual, unbiased manner. What is described in Sanders’s article is probably true, but there is more to the story.

Regardless of West’s reason for entering the race for district attorney (sacrificial lamb, black vote, etc.), his altitude should be “I’m on the ballot and I’ll show you.” He repeatedly states that he is not a politician-well, you can’t run for a political office without being political. He has made public statements based on his “personal morals” that have alienated females and gays of all races. He staunchly refuses to accept guidance from experienced campaigners nor comprehend that a county-wide race cannot be won on South Dallas politics.

As for financial support from the Democratic Party and “buppies,” his philosophy should be “if at first I don’t succeed. ..” He must utilize the old sales tactics-be persistent, The best way to get rid of a persistent salesman is to give him an order; i.e., a con- , tribution.

Personally, I feel that West is by far the best qualified candidate. But that alone does not win political races and I hope before the November election. West recognizes and ac- cepts this fact.

L. Snarley Garland



In Defense of ETSU



Sally Giddens’s article [“In Search of the B-School Badge,” September] has prompted me to write you this letter. Giddens called me to gather information for the “survey” she conducted for this article-our interview lasted all of sixty seconds! Therefore, I would like to share with you some information that should have appeared in the article if we had been afforded the luxury of a longer interview.

Giddens mentioned that some of the older MBA programs in the area date back to the mid-Forties; and for that reason, these schools are historically connected with business communities in Fort Worth and Dallas. Since the ETSU MBA program dates back to 1951 and has awarded 913 MBAs in those thirty-five years, it would appear that the same accolade could be bestowed on East Texas State for its especially strong connections with firms such as E-Systems, Texas Power & Light, and Texas Instruments.

The article disclosed little respect for AACSB, our national accrediting association. By the way, Harvard has been accredited by AACSB since 1916: but a 350-year-old institution that claims six presidents, twenty-nine Nobel laureates, and twenty-seven Pulitzer Prize winners probably doesn’t need it! We don’t have any Harvards in Dallas-Bart Worth, but we still aspire to provide the very best business programs in the area. One way to maintain a high level of excellence in those programs is to continually meet the criteria for quality programs as recommended by AACSB and go through the rigor of examination by not only academic deans of business schools but also by practicing professionals in business as well. East Texas State has met that criteria.

Our MBA program is not “beat on virtually all criteria” as your writer so hastily reported. One final point made in the article was that “ETSU was in danger of being eliminated altogether.” The Select Committee on Higher Education gave East Texas State University a resounding vote of confidence on July 11, 1986, indicating it met none of the established criteria for closing, even though over twenty schools in the state met at least one of the criteria. It is incomprehensible that that information could not have reached the offices of D magazine sixty days later to preclude the devastating insinuation that was made in the article.

Yes, our MBA program is small in comparison to some in the Metroplex area, but what we lack in size we achieve in quality, as evidenced by our accreditation by AACSB. You reported that only a “minority” of the 650 MBA programs bear the AACSB imprimatur. East Texas State worked very diligently to attain that accreditation, and we are proud of a “minority” status such as this. AACSB recognizes the quality of our program, and we intend to maintain that accreditation in the years to come. After all, we don’t mind being in the company of Harvard, Stanford, the University of Chicago, the University of Virginia, UCLA, and the University of Pennsylvania-all of which are accredited. We also join all but one of the Southwest Conference schools in accreditation.

Jack E. Johnson, Ph.D.

MBA Director

East Texas State University



Sally Giddens replies:

My phone conversation with Dr. Johnson was not my sole contact with ETSU, nor my only source for comments about the MBA program there. After an initial half-hour conversation with a source in the business school, I was mailed published information about the program. My conversation with Johnson was short because he was unable to answer my questions without consulting his files. After doing so, he responded by letter. Furthermore, my story was a critique as well as a survey. Obviously, if I had relied only upon sources within the ETSU MBA program, my comments would have been little more than a regurgitation of the school’s marketing materials.

Johnson missed the point in reference to the “older MBA programs in the area ” and their connection with the business community. It’s nice that ETSU has turned out 26.085714 MBAs per year for the past thirty-Jive years, but SMU and NTSU have graduated literally thousands who are now in hiring positions in the business community.

In reference to the Select Committee on Higher Education and its comments about ETSU: I wrote the article following the publication of a letter drafted by the committee on June 3 that listed. ETSU as one of the schools subject to merger or possible closing, and prior to the July 11 statement by the committee that it would not recommend to the Legislature that it close ETSU. D has a one-month lead time.

Finally, Johnson’s preoccupation with ETSU’s accreditation by the AACSB seems to underscore a point I made in the story: many schools want to assert their greatness merely by association.



It isn’t often that a business school dean wants to congratulate a journalist. Too often, what the public reads about our institutions is skin-deep, biased, and hastily slapped together. That’s why it was a pleasure to read Sally Giddens’s “In Search of the B-School Badge.” It was the fairest, best researched treatment of Metroplex MBA programs that this dean has seen in two years.

Your readers may be interested Jo know that the University of Dallas has by far the largest MBA program in the Metroplex. More than 80 percent of our full-time faculty have doctorates or other terminal degrees, so we already exceed AACSB standards in that respect. However, we are still assessing whether to seek AACSB accreditation. We’ll do so only if we’re convinced that our students’ best interests would not be harmed. We don’t want to be “accredited” at the expense of making our programs more theoretical and less practical.

Saul W. Gellerman, Ph.D.

Dean, The University of Dallas

Irving



I want to bring to your attention the fact that you overlooked the MBA program offered by Dallas Baptist University.

Edward H. Pauley, Ph.D.

Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dallas Baptist University

Dallas