 | The Cavalier daily Thursday, February 10, 1972 |  |
Jefferson Society To Sponsor
'Order Of The Bird' Speaker
The chief paper-shuffler of the
National Association of Professional
Bureaucrats (NATAPROBU) will speak at
Jefferson Hall tomorrow at 8 p.m.
James Boren, founder of the
organization which is dedicated to "the
principles of dynamic inactivism",
annually awards the "Order of the Bird"
to an official who displays an unusual
degree of bureaucratic excess.
Mr. Boren's speech, sponsored by the
Jefferson Society, will be free and open
to the public.
Ralph Main, director of Housing, was
nominated to receive the "Order of the
Bird" last year. It is rumored that he may
get the award tomorrow night.
The NATAPROBU awards are
supposed to recognize those who are
expert in the field of bureaucratic
inactivity. By giving the proper praise to
these persons, Mr. Boren sometimes has
prompted them to take action.
The association, however, has had
trouble giving away the "Order of the
Bird." No one apparently wants to be
recognized for his efforts, including
Vice—President Agnew, who declined the
award in 1970.
Mr. Boren, a former State Department
official and now a Washington consultant,
has considered entering the New
Hampshire and Florida presidential
primaries.
Last summer, he testified before a
House Public Works subcommittee
hearing on ways to reduce government
red tape.
But Mr. Boren solemnly declared that
"to deny a dedicated finger-tapper an
adequate supply of paper on which to
record the results of his prodigious
pondering is to deny him the tools of
creative nonresponsiveness".
His organization follows the three
principles: "When in charge, ponder.
When in trouble, delegate. When in
doubt, mumble."
NATAPROBU has about 500
members. New members receive a
"bureaucratic pencil", with erasers at
both ends.
| The Cavalier daily Thursday, February 10, 1972 | |