Molly Ivins December 4

AUSTIN, Texas — Never could find anyone who understood Dan Morales while he was in office, and I still can't now that he's on his way out.

Being Texas' attorney general can't have been much fun for him — his own people don't much care for him at the AG's shop, and there was a major stink about his interpretation of the Hopwood decision. Morales took the 5th U.S. Circuit decision ending affirmative action in admissions at the University of Texas Law School and effectively extended it to all state schools and scholarship monies. This caused Chicano political groups to call him in for some serious come-to-Jesus sessions. Abuse from your own folks is never fun.

Morales seemed to do all right at the start, talking to people who work for him, wandering around and listening to their problems. But all that came to an end after a short time; there were rumors of various Svengalis giving him bad advice. Who knows? A fighting people's lawyer he is not.

I think it's both wise and polite to take a fellow at his word when he retires from politics with a secure re-election in view. Morales says he wants to devote more time to his family. He just acquired a family this summer, by marrying a lady with two children, so it seems likely.

Meanwhile, Texas Democrats are considering hara-kiri, having lost their highest-ranking Chicano. That's a hard vote to get out at the best of times, and Morales' retirement sure doesn't help. Joke: A fellow is seen on the streets of Austin with a sign saying, "Will run for statewide office as a Democrat for food."

Of the alternative scenarios now developing, the funniest would pit former state Republican Party Chairman Tom Pauken, who wants the job, against former AG Jim Mattox, who is rumored to want his old job back. Anyone who remembers when those two used to run against one another in Dallas in some of the nastiest races in recorded history promptly foresees the ultimate rerun: "Alien Mud-Wrestling Part 6." A better bet for the D's would be the estimable state Rep. Paul Sadler of Henderson, a class act, but Sadler is not a name that brings out the Chicano vote.

Now for a little skinny on the big vacancy at UT-Austin.

No, not the football coach — just the presidency. Sorry about that.

Of the five finalists for the job, only one is a woman, and she is also the only one who has headed a large state university. Shirley Strum Kenny is president of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, but she is also a native of Tyler and still has a Texas drawl you could cut with a knife. Kenny is a powerhouse fund-raiser and a popular administrator, and she is much-respected for her innovative programs forging partnerships with the business community. However, according to UT sources, she will probably lose out to a man with less stature and experience because she is "too old." She is 63.

I rarely invoke the cry "Sexism!" on the grounds that it's like "Wolf!" — too important to use unless there's really a wolf. Would not "ageism" be a more accurate description of this situation? Well, no. What do you call a 63-year-old woman? "Too old." What do you call a 63-year-old man? "Mr. President."

This is not the Bad Old Days, when women up for important appointments at UT were told, "This is, after all, a Southern university." And that sure made discrimination jake. UT actually had a female president from '75 to '79, the less-than-inspiring Lorene Rogers. The difference here is that Kenny, with a brilliant record at Stony Brook, is just so much better qualified than the official from the University of Illinois, the two guys with No. 2 jobs in the Midwest or the Ivy League administrator. Any one of them might turn out to be terrific, too, but Kenny is the one with the track record.

Liz Carpenter says it reminds her of the time that President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Sarah T. Hughes to the federal bench. Hughes was 65 at the time. Bobby Kennedy, then the U.S. attorney general, thought Hughes "too old." So House Speaker Sam Rayburn somehow managed to keep "losing" the appropriations bill for the Justice Department.

When Kennedy went to visit Rayburn about this unfortunate lack of operating funds, Mr. Sam said: "It's these old, old hands, son. I just can't seem to find that bill with these oooold hands." Kennedy got the point and dropped his opposition to Hughes.

The needle-witted Hughes went on to serve as a federal judge for many years and then took senior status until her death in 1985. And no one ever claimed she was too old.

***

Molly Ivins is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

COPYRIGHT 1997 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.