Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, April 13, 1983
opinion
Slouch By Jim Earle
“I live in fear that my batteries will go dead and the music
will stop. J don’t think my brain could take silence.”
Finding scientists —
‘Star Wars’ problem
by Art Buchwald
The biggest problem President
Reagan faces in developing a “Star Wars”
defense against nuclear weapons is find
ing the right thinking American scientists
to work on it. In this administration, a
scientist not only has to have impeccable
professional credentials, but he also has
to be screened to make sure he or she has
the same conservative ideology as the
party.
For example, 50 scientists were re
moved from advisory boards of the EPA
when their terms expired, because they
were considered “politically unreliable”
by Reagan loyalists.
Since the “Star Wars” concept will re
quire a lot more brains to perfect the
system, it may be very difficult to find
enough pro-Reagan scientists to get the
program off the ground.
I can just imagine the hustle and bustle
now going on in the White House.
“Sir, here’s the list of eminent scientists
that could be contacted for our crash
nuclear umbrella program.”
“Any good people?”
“They’re tops in their field. Professor
Heinz Hemlock is a genius when it comes
to laser beam research. He’s just turned
an enemy guidance system into oatmeal
in his lab.”
“Great. Let’s sign him up.”
“There is only one catch. He’s against
prayers in school.”
“He doesn’t sound like a team player.
Who else have you got?”
“Dr. Anne Marie Sten. She has done
extraordinary work in ultraviolet-
infrared-telescopic locators. The space
people say she’s the best in the field.”
“And she’s a woman. That should help
us with the female vote in ’84. Bring her
in for an interview.”
“There’s a problem, sir. Our security
check revealed she voted for Jimmy
Carter.”
“Maybe she was duped.”
“She’s also on the Planned Parenthood
Board at MIT.”
“Forget her.”
“I have a Nobel Prize winner in astro
physics who is working on spontaneous
combustion of hydrogen and fluorine at
the Livermore National Laboratory.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“He signed a petition last month for a
nuclear freeze.”
“Dammit, can’t we Find any American
scientists who aren’t bleeding heart activ
ists?”
“Edward Teller?”
“He’s already on the team. In fact he’s
the leader of the team. Read me out some
other names.”
“Professor Nino Bertolinni, wrote the
definitive paper on gamma rays — but
unacceptable to Senator Jesse Helms be
cause he’s a member of Common Cause
... Dr. Albert Ruben, subatomic particle
beam guru ... ardent supporter of hand
gun control and against death penalty ...
Dr. Sarah Tilton, microwave physicist at
University of Chicago ... son works for
Tip O’Neill.”
“That’s enough! There isn’t one per
son you’ve mentioned so far that could
pass muster with the Republican Nation
al Committee. But we have to have some
scientists for our ‘Star Wars’ program.”
“I think I have one here at the bottom
of the list. Professor Dalton Calhoun the
Third. He teaches physical astronomy at
the Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. He
wrote a book knocking down the big bang
theory of creation of the earth, and
proved scientifically it came about just as
it says in the Bible. Jerry Falwell recom
mends him very highly.”
“Find out when he can start.”
The Battalion
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Foreign policy towards Israel p
Editor’s note: This is the second of a
four-part analysis written by members of
the Israel Club in conjunction with Israel
Awareness Week.
,by Emanuel Parzen
What shduld be American foreign
policy towards Israel? I believe that the
answer to this question is important be
cause the U.S. government’s answer to it
will ultimately affect the moral and eco
nomic quality of life in the United States.
U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East
has always attempted to achieve an even-
handed balance between two goals: First,
to cultivate the friendship of Arab gov
ernments for the sake of oil and commer
cial relations and to prevent them from
becoming allies of the Soviet Union, and
second, to cultivate the friendship of
Israel for the sake of the many basically
non-financial partnerships (in religion,
science, medicine, tourism, defense, in
formation, consumer and high technolo
gy industry) which the U.S. enjoys with
Israel. It is appropriate to ask if the costs
to the U.S. of supporting Israel are too
high for the benefits received. I believe
the facts show that they are hot.
The ways in which Israel is a valued
friend, partner, and ally of the U.S. are
incontrovertible. First, Israel is an open,
unconditional and permanent ally of the
U.S. Second, Israel’s policy is reliable be
cause it expresses the views of its peojde;
Israel is a democracy in which elections,
not assassinations, bring about changes
of government. Also, Israel is able to
assist the defense of the U.S. in many
ways. Israel is one of America’s key intel
ligence partners. Its successes in provid
ing the U.S. with information about
Soviet military equipment are legendary.
Israel assists the U.S. in improving Amer
ican weapons and systems. And Israel has
the potential for further strategic
cooperation with the U.S.
Israel’s success militarily is related to
Israel’s success scientifically. As mea
sured by contributions to world science,
Israel ranks among the leading nations.
Information processing capability is a
new form of industrial power; in the
changed world economy of the 1980s a
successful and prospering Israel will be
come an increasingly valuable partner of
the U.S. Israel is becoming a leading pro
ducer of computer software.
Finally. Israel’s success in building a
Jewish state adds a valuable dimension to
world culture, and its destruction would
fundamentally change the meaning of
human existence for many citizens of
Western nations.
To discuss the costs to the U.S. of
supporting Israel, we list some of the
alleged costs.
First, American financial aid to Israel
is said to be too much. But it buys great
Israeli contributions to America’s de
fense at a cost which is a small fraction of
the amount the U.S. expends in the de
fense of Europe, Korea and Japan. It is
called “foreign aid” in the budget for
jjolitical reasons, to make it easier to pro
vide real foreign aid to countries such as
Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and El Salvador.
Second, we hear that Israel’s invasion
of Lebanon caused great destruction.
Israel’s war against the PLO enabled
Lebanon to start the process of liberating
itself from foreign occupation. Of the
destruction in Lebanon during the seven
years of PLO and Syrian occupation, at
most 15 percent occurred during the
months in 1982 when Israel was fighting
the PLO.
Third, some say Israel’s leaders are
not nice. Some Americans claim to be f or
Israel but believe it should be punished
for the quality of leaders that it has
elected. Should Israel not be rewarded
for its Peace Now movement?!
sion of these critics is groundbij
cause the newly appointed
Minister and Army Chief ofS
peacef ul gentlemen who do i
that might makes right, and wbl
relied on to avoid preemptivemR ii(I(
Logic and morality compel the)
strive for friendly relations withtkBr '
Middle East, but it is not logicalil
price should be U.S. actions i
Israel so that the U.S. cani
“evenhanded.” The Arabs willnev
believing that the U.S. isbiasedt:
of Israel. Logic indicates thatU|
tions with the Arab states wi
when the U.S. stops defendinJ
against the Arab taunt thatthetL
biased in favor of Israel. Thiswoii^ 1
pen for the reasons given inthelaM^
ence of this article.
11 may be dif ficult to determine
the most logical U.S. policy inthd dies
East. It is clear that the most illegal H
policy would be putting pressi'||>y
Israel to make agreements withtlit i 11 ' 1
which do not guarantee Israel'sw^j ll(
If the U.S. were to adopt this pc"
would weaken a valuable
without gaining strength frail
friends in return. The PLO in
would {day the role of Cuba intf ,
tory it controlled. i!
The most logical policy fc
is to renounce the [jath ofterroral
who are preventing truly mdl
Arabs f rom seeking peace with t
appears to be a sad fact of life intkl
Middle East that fantasy (and. thr f
tion) beats logic at least nine time
ten. ■L*
afiei
Emanuel Parzen is a distinguislmr ,li
lessor of statistics at Texas AM In vl
day: Ancient roots of a neu Mil
AMP NOW, JAMES WATT AMD THE BEACH BOYS., if
Letters: Nuclear power called safe
Editor:
This is in response to the three people
who responded to Rube Williams’ letter
of “Nuclear Energy — The Great De
bate.”
First of all I would like to clarify the
statement “strolling inside the contain
ment building.” The containment build
ing is kept airtight and pressurized dur
ing reactor operations and no one includ
ing maintenance personnel is allowed
into the building much less stroll around.
Secondly, your statement “eating ura
nium” strikes me as being rather odd.
Uranium, contrary to your belief , is not
ingested as part of the daily meal on plant
premises. Actually if you smoke cigaret
tes, the radiation that you are exposed to
from the tobacco smoke is of a much
higher level than what you would receive
were you living next to a nuclear power
plant.
Your claim of world repudiaton of
nuclear power is also in error. Were you
up on world events, you would probably
know that most of the West European
nations, Japan, and even the Soviet Un
ion are scaling up their nuclear power
plant production. France, the world’s
frontrunner in nuclear power plant pro
duction has approximately 50 percent of
its electricity generated by nuclear means
and plans to increase that to 80 percent
by the end of this century. T hus it would
appear that your assessment of the world
nuclear situation is quite different from
reality.
You also mentioned the Three Mile
Island accident, which I grant you was
caused by operator error. Nevertheless,
you never mentioned the fact that we
face daily threats to our health from ex
ternal sources such as murders, auto acci
dents, and chemical spills. It is a world of
risks in which we live and one must con
sider the relative health hazards before
passingjudgment on commercial nuclear
power.which to date has produced zero
casualties. Could that claim be made by
the chemical, gas or coal industry?
You also mentioned the hazards of
nuclear waste. Did you know that the
radiation dose you receive from lumines
cent watches is more than the (low level)
wastes you so adamantly oppose? Finally
I would like to know what your major is
and what makes you the all knowledge
able authority on nuclear power. Most of
your claims were absolutely incorrect and
I do wonder at your information sources.
I mean, good grief, if you can’t even get
your facts straight before writing a letter,
DON’T WRITE ONE! In conclusion,
GO NUKES!
Scott Peng, ’84
Nuclear Engineering
Slave sale compli
Editor:
I am writing once again toobn
event which I consider offensive]
referring to Crocker Hall's i
hold a slave auction under thegul
“Brooster Sale.” I consider theadf
sive because it is an imitation ofa ? i
by which human beings are 1
sold. This event jilanned by the “Cl
Cocks” is therefore offensive tollf
us who have not forgotten thef
tory of this country and don’tcarei ( |
it re-enacted before our eyes.
I cannot figure out why thesi
victuals have chosen to partake'j
ritual again. However, I mustcoj
that they probably mean
although harm is done. I further]
that they are probably just esj
their freedom, but when thisscW
more minority maids and janitors]
has minority students and adn
tors, and when we can’t even geta'^A
into our band —don’t talk to nitfll
freedom!
Kevin Johns 1 '