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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 22, 1978)
Viewpoint The Battalion Thursday Texas A&M University June 22, 1978 Tellico Dam involves more than fish By KERRY LIVENGOOD In reply to Viewpoint of June 20, having grown up in East Tennessee, I would like to add some perspective to the snail darter-Tellico Dam issue. This is not a simple confrontation of environmentalist against those who wish to develop our nation s resources as the press has led us to believe. The issues in volved are vastly more complex. Some statements in Viewpoint were misleading and some important facts were ignored. I would like to present just a few. FEW PEOPLE ALONG the Little Tennessee River consider the Tellico Dam to be a noble idea. If the land which your family had farmed for generations and upon which you depended for income were “acquired by TVA, the nobleness of the idea might escape you. The nobleness of the idea also escapes archeologists and the ancestors of the exiled Cherokee whose ancestral home along with a wealth of history is being destroyed. The Tellico Dam has no hydro-electric generaing capacity. There are no electric generators at the Tellico Dam. A canal was to connect the Tellico Lake with the nearby Loudon Lake. Whatever gain in electrical generating capacity derived from the project would come from the additional water behind the Loudon Dam. $116 million would not be wasted. Much of the money was spent on im provements in roads and bridges in the area and in land acquisition. While it is Reader s Forum true that some costs are irretrievable, such costs are irrelevant when deciding whether to continue the project or not. The decision should only be made by de termining whether or not soceity gains more from having a free-flowing stream or from an additional lake. ON ECONOMIC GROUNDS, the project as evaluated by TVA was to return $1.70 for each dollar invested. A study made by the University of Tennessee De partment of Economics was very critical of the procedures used in the derivation of this statistic. The rate of interest used by TVA was 3.25 percent for non-power ben efits and 4 percent for power benefits. Though legal under then existing laws, use of such low rates of interest make the justificaiton of sub-marginal projects much easier and therefore these projects are easier to fund. The study found that with use of a higher interest rate of 6 percent, benefits were $9 million less than the in itial cost of the project. The study also found procedures used by TVA for estima tion of recreational, fish and wildlife, in dustrial development, and navigational benefits overestimated benefits from the project. The habitat of the snail darter is the last undammed portion of a stream that has 22 major public reservoirs within a 50-mile radius and seven within a 20-minute drive of the Tellico Project. Obviously the rec reational facilities created by the Tellico project would not be unique to the area and would at best only compete with al ready existing facilities of the same type. The proposed impoundment would de stroy all but three of 33 miles of the stream’s further use as a float and trout fishing stream. THE SURVIVAL of the human species on this planet depends upon our coexis tence with others of our own species and those species of plants and animals that keep the life support system of this planet functioning. Until the time we become omniscient in the workings of this system, I for one am doubtful of our competence to judge which species are useful enough to us to merit their continues existence (if we can take such a conceited position). I would suggest that the size or weight of a species is not a sufficient criterion for judgement. If the decision to destroy another species must be made, the decision should be made at no lower level than Congress it self. The law should stand. If the decision is to be for extinction, I want nothing so inept as a Federal board granted such a right. Livengood is a graduate student in the department of ag ricultural economics. On roads & rocks The fear of success By QUEALY WATSON In his article on roadway inequality, (Battalion, June 20), Mark Willis validly questions the seemingly partial quality and distribution of roadway surfaces in the Bryan-College Station area. As an answer to this apparent discre pancy, Willis courageously suggests that the level of construction and maintenance of roadways is a function of “money and who’s got it.” Although this may be a vi able conclusion, Willis discredits his ar gument by misrepresenting the factors re sponsible for local road conditions. Reader s Forum Willis prepares the reader for several factors which allegedly “influence the condition of our streets and roads,” yet only mentions two. The first he considers to be the adverse weather conditions which are “tremendously hard on road sur faces.” The second is expense, which he relates to the quality of road construction and maintenance. A third factor, the caliche in the soil, is implied as being a jspor foundation material for road con struction! Of these facors, only the second can be considered appropriate. The first is questionable and the third is grossly mis construed. Willis fails to point out that the single most important factor influencing both the construction costs and the surface condi tions of roads in this area is the stability of the underlying soil. Soils in this area fre quently contain large amounts of highly expansive clays, which when hydrated, will exert tremendous pressures on overly ing material as they change in volume. Road surfaces will thus experience crack ing during both wet and dry seasons as clays in the soil change in volume concur rently with fluctuations in moisture con tent. These soils can be partially stabilized by adding calcium to the soil, which de creases the expansive potential of the clays. This is usually accomplished in this area by mixing lime (CaC03) in the soil during construction of roads, foundations, etc. Two of Willis’s factors may therefore be refitted. First of all. College Station very rarely receives weather conditions so se vere as to damage road surfaces by out- wash, frost heave, freeze-thaw processes, etc. This area does however experience long wet and dry periods which indirectly crack road surfaces through expansion and contraction of underlying clays. And secondly, not only is caliche absent in this region, but caliche by its own defi nition (calcium rich soil) would be the most stable soil to build on because of its contribution of calcium to the soil. It could be that what Willis is calling “caliche with a two-inch layer of asphalt laid over it” is in fact the lime stabilization operation so fre quently employed in this area. Perhaps Willis should reconsider his conclusions. Although the city may be guilty of poor road maintenance, it is un fair to make accusations of partiality with no other evidence than “most roads iri the nicer residential areas are really quite well-constructed. There may exist a number of possible explanations including type, and density of traffic, building regu- altions, or age of a particular street. How ever, it is reasonable to assume that many discrepancies in road surfaces of the Bryan-College Station area are due to the area’s distribution of expansive soils. Willis would do well to consider all facts before drawing unsubstantiated conclu sions. Watson is a graduate student in geology. By ARNOLD DIBBLE United Press International MINNEAPOLIS — A Carleton College chaplain and professor of religion says col lege students of the 1970s shy from success as much’’as' they fearTailure. Dr. David Maitland drew his conclu sions after teaching a course called “Suc cess and the American Dream” at the lib eral arts college in Northfield, Minn. Education Maitland is skeptical that the idealism of graduation day will linger forever in the realities of the outside world, but he says the idealism of the ‘70s is different from that of the past two decades. “The generation of the ‘50s was un abashed in its desire to get ahead,” he said in an interview. "The kids of the ‘60s thumbed their noses, dropped their draw ers and all of that. “They were wildly moral. They believed any kind of moral conviction they held was reality itself. Whatever change they wanted, how could anybody argue against it? “The present generation has some ideals, but they Have understanding of more than one side. They believe they can thread a course through idealism and the general conception of success.” Maitland thinks theirs is not a lasting idealism. “Their ambition to be successful will make it easy for them to compromise when they are hit with hard decisions,” he said. “They want all the good stuff. Cars. Gasoline. I would think it’s pretty predict able when the choices come they will have to choose the success they believe in.” In a survey, Maitland found students put concern for others above financial gain. His survey was supported by find ings of the Cooperative Institutional Re search Program of California. The CIR? findings showed 68.4 percent of the nation’s college freshmen rate “help ing others in difficulty” above financial success (55.6 percent). “Students equate success with money, power, authority and luxuries which can be gained only by achievement in the work world and with little regard for others,” Maitland said. “The 18-20-year-olds in the class seem to totally and vehemently reject this con cept of success as a goal; yet, when asked what they feared most, nearly all the stu dents said failure. “Students see the success-driven person as a self-centered extremist — usually a male — who is indifferent to personal rela tionship; who has little energy, time or imagination available for friends or chil dren; who has little concern for commu nity affairs or social responsiblities; who lacks an enriching well-rounded view of life and culture; and who is a threat to friendship or romance.” He said young peoples’ goals today place primary emphasis on friendship and romance. Maitland said students react so vehe mently to success they are unable to make a distinction between success and fulfill ment. He said success is defined by soci ety; fulfillment, by the individual. Carleton students also questioned the American Dream as a goal. “Traditionally, the American Dream, or opportunity to be successful was limited to the white American male,” Maitland said. “Women, laborers and minorities never had access to it. They see it as discriminat ing. ” Last of the stock market gamblers United Press International NEW YORK — Sixteen months ago, New York Stock Exchange Chairman William M. Batten said he wanted to know why 5.5 million investors had deserted the stock market since 1970. Now he knows. Terming the answer “striking, but not surprising,” Batten has made public the results of a nationwide survey showing Americans are too concerned about infla tion to take a chance on investments with any more than a “small risk. ” Business To the financial decision-makers in most families, that means putting money in sav ings accounts and certificates, life insur ance, homes and other real estate. And it means shunning stocks, bonds and other types of investment, which survey re spondents confessed they often do not understand. Batten said he was concerned that infla tion, tax determents and inadequate pub lic knowledge was forcing Amercians into defensive money-management tactics that keeps needed investment funds out of the - economy. “We must act decisively to assure that misunderstanding, lack of knowledge and unrealistic public policies do not transform us from a nation of risk-takers into a nation of economically timid souls, ” he said. “The implications of this are tremendous.” The survey of 2,740 households with annual income of $10,000 or more found 70 percent will take only the smallest risk with their money. Their primary financial goal is to avoid losing what they have, either in principal or in earning power. Americans still believe in saving over spending and most say they expect corpo rate profits to increase in coming years. But only a minority say they will partici pate directly in those higher earnings FEEM through the stock market because most perceive the risk to be too high. The stock market desertion of the indi vidual investor — and the rise of institu tional investors — has been a major con cern to Wall Street. The latest NYSE in vestor census showed 5.5 million indi viduals abandoned the market between 1970 and 1975. Batten announced the start of the public attitude survey on investing, the first by the exchange in 18 years, in February 1977. It was conducted by Opinion Re search Corp. and Alvin J. Rosenstein As sociates at a cost of about $200,000. The defensive stance of household money managers could boomerang by spurring more inflation and a shortage of investment funds to create jobs. Batten said. “The deeply cautious attitudes toward financial risk-taking that permeate the survey findings may foreshadow the ero sion — rather than the desired protection — of household assets and purchasing power,” he said. by Doug Graham Top of the News Local Research funds up over last year Texas A&M University has received more than $49.6 million in research funds, an 8.3 percent increase over last year’s record, the third quarter report from the Office of University Research showed. One-half of the May total came from federal sources, 43 percent was from private organizations and 7 percent came from state agencies. State Car shortage hassles police Because of a temporary shortage of serviceable patrol cars, the Houston police department has ordered 400 plainclothes officers to leave their take-home vehicles at the station. Deputy Chief R.J. Clark said 500 police cars, one-fourth of the force’s wheels, were in the shop weekly and the end of the shortage is not in sight despite the purchase of 200 new cars.“We can’t fix the department’s vehicles fast enough because we don’t have enough mechanics,” Clark said. Torres parents convicted The parents of Joe Campos Torres were convicted in Houston Tuesday of public intoxication and await trial July 25 on resisting arrest charges in an allegedly drunken confrontation with patrolmen. Joe Luna Torres, 48, and his wife Margaret, 42, whose son was beaten and drowned in a bayou after a May 1977 arrest, were fined $100 and $50 respectively. Their lawyer said he planned to appeal. He tried to show the incident arose from anguish about the death of Torres’ son. Man convicted over $2 threat A Fort Worth man’s verbal threat of physical harm unless an Orange, Texas, high school student gave him $2 was sufficient evi dence to convict the man of robbery, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin ruled Wednesday. The indictment charged that James Earl Green, while trying to appropriate money from William Scott Clark at a downtown hotel, laced the high school student in fear of injury and death. Murder conviction reversed The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin Wednesday re versed a murder conviction against a San Antonio man because an order certifying him for criminal prosecution as an adult was void. John A. Grayless was 15 when he was arrested in the Aug. 17, 1973, killing of another man. He spent five months undergoing examination and treatment and was not indicted for murder until June 19, 1974, two months after a juvenile court had waived jurisdiction. Grayless was found guilty and handed a 25-year prison term. The appeals court ordered all charges against Grayless be dropped. Nation B-I bomber replacement '‘effective Defense Secretary Harold Brown watched a cruise missile fly against air defense systems Wednesday and pronounced it “a very effective weapon” that has vindicated President Carter’s decision to build it instead of the B-l bomber. Brown looked on as the two-tone gray missile, a mere speck above the jimson weed and sunbaked sand of the desert test site at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., streaked past air defense radars at heights sometimes lower than 100 feet. Wallace will not qualify Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace,58, announced Wednesday in Montgomery, that he will not run for either of the U.S. Senate seats from Alabama in this year’s elections, but said he will remain politi cally active. Wallace had been expected to qualify for the seat held by the late Sen. James B. Allen. He hinted he wanted that post although he withdrew in May from the race to succeed retiring Sen. John J. Sparkman. Carter told of army drug abuse Drug abuse among American soldiers in Europe is so widespread that it threatens the combat readiness of U.S. forces, Reps. Lester Wolff, D-N.Y., and Glenn English, D-Okla., said in Washington Tuesday. They offered their assessment of the situation in a meeting with President Carter. Wolff told reporters later that Carter was not aware the problem was so great, but that he was concerned about it. “The president indicated he will take steps with the secretary of defense to solve this problem, Wolff said. World Greenland downs prohibition The hunters and fishermen of Godthaab, Greenland, who admit tedly drink more than almost anybody else, have voted down prohibi tion, officials said Wednesday. But a two-part referendum on tem perance Tuesday produced a majority vote in favor of restricting the sale of liquor by rationing. Final results of the vote by 22,000 Green landers were delayed — complicated by bad weather and the normal difficulty of collecting ballots from the small communities scattered around the periphery of the world’s largest island. IRA firebombers shot by police A police-army ambush squad shot to death three Irish Republican Army firebombers at a post office depot in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Wednesday and killed a fourth man, a passerby, by accident, police said. The incident was the heaviest shooting incident in Belfast in recent months. Residents said bursts of heavy firing by automatic weapons lasted about five minutes. No weapons were found on the slain IRA men, who were gunned down in the post office yard where they reportedly were planting four firelpombs. Weather Partly cloudy and hot today through Friday. Highs today and tomorrow in the mid-90s. Low tonight in the mid-70s. Winds from the southeast at 10-15 mph diminishing tonight. 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