University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 18, Feb. 6, 1997
Lecture series: Annual Land and Sea programs to begin tomorrow

     The University's annual Land and Sea Lecture Series series
opens on Friday, Feb. 7, with William H. Williams, University
Parallel Program in Georgetown, who will discuss his book,
Slavery and Freedom in Delaware, 1639-1865.
     All the free public talks in the series will be given at 10
a.m. in the Virden Center, 700 Pilottown Rd., Lewes, and again at
2 p.m. in the Methodist Manor House, 1001 Middleford Road,
Seaford,
     There are many documents and records about the rich and
famous in history, but there is comparatively little information
about members of less prominent groups that also were important
in shaping our past and present. Williams, an authority on
Delaware history, gives an extensively documented overview of the
history of slavery while looking at the people, the institution
and past race relations within the First State.
     Published by Scholarly Resources Inc., his new book began 10
years ago when Williams wrote The First State, An Illustrated
History of Delaware.
     A graduate of Drew University, with a master's degree in
education from Yeshiva University, Williams received his
doctorate from Delaware in 1971. He is the author of The Garden
of American Methodism: the Delmarva Peninsula, 1769-1820, The
First State: An Illustrated History of Delaware and America's
First Hospital: The Pennsylvania Hospital 1751-1841.
     Sheldon Pollack, accounting, will speak on his new book, The
Failure of U.S. Tax Policy: Revenue and Politics, on Friday, 
Feb. 14.
     A teacher of business law and a tax attorney, Pollack
examines how our present tax system got to be the "out-of-
control," overly complex, tangled mess it is today. He details
the explosion of tax legislation in the 1980s, during the Reagan
years that first lowered taxes-giving special interests big tax
breaks-then raised them when the deficit soared and the political
climate changed.
     Pollack identifies the roles that President Clinton and Bob
Dole played in formulating tax policy during the stormy years
after the 1994 elections gave the Republican Party control of
Congress. In a postscript, he assesses the prospects for
"reforming" the tax system by replacing the progressive income
tax with a flat tax.
     Americana Crafted: Jehu Camper, Delaware Whittler is the
title of a recent book by Robert D. Bethke, English, and also the
title of his talk scheduled for Friday, Feb. 21.
     As a young man growing up in rural Kent Country during the
early years of the 20th century, Camper witnessed many changes in
everyday farming and community life. To preserve this cultural
heritage, Camper, who lived to be 91, began to create in wood
scaled-down scenes that he had witnessed as a youth. This folk
art legacy is examined in the book as Bethke looks at folk art as
a means to preserve the past, while linking young and old
together with a collective identity and shared experience.
     The series concludes on Friday, Feb. 28, when authors
William W. Boyer Jr., Charles P. Messick Professor Emeritus of
Political Science and International Relations, and Mark
Huddleston, political science and international relations,
discuss their book, The Higher Civil Service in the United
States: Quest for Reform. The book is the story of America's
efforts-largely frustrated-to develop a higher civil service and
examines different administrations' approaches to the problem.
     "The U.S. system of higher administration has not worked. It
has failed presidents. And more important, it has failed the
American people," the authors write. The book concludes with four
proposals to improve the civil service system.
     The Land and Sea Lecture Series is sponsored by the Office
of Alumni and University Relations. For more information, call
735-8200 in Dover or 855-1620 in Georgetown.