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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1983)
Page 2/The Battalion/Monday, April 25,1983 opinion Whither does modern man go? Editor’s note: This is the first of a two- part Reader’s Forum. Modern Man is in a dilemma. Having explored all of the possibilities for estab lishing a set of values and absolutes by which to guide his life and give it signifi cance, modern man has concluded that no meaningful absolutes or values exist. God is dead and there is no one home in the universe. Where should he, and we, go from here? This article examines the role of philosophy in our lives, traces its flow over the last 3,000 years, and pre dicts the outcome of our current philo sophy. A person’s philosophies, or presuppo sitions, are important. Swiss philosopher, Francis Schaeffer, says most people catch their presuppositions like thay catch the measles. Rather than carefully analyzing the implications of a given set of values, most people accept without question the values and philosophies handed down by their parents or peers. • Most people who claim to believe in - God do so because their parents did. - They have neither taken time to consider ► the facts which support the notion that • God exists nor the implications that such .' a belief holds for their lives. We need to .’ take a look at what we believe and make sure that our presuppositions hold water. A person’s actions are the result of his habits, and a person’s habits are the result of his philosophies. Schaeffer restates this thought by claiming that people will live more consistently on the basis of their presuppositions, their basic “world view,” than even they themselves may realize. One’s presuppositions, basic world view, or philosophies form the foundation for one’s values and ultimate ly the basis for one’s decisions. One’s pre suppositions are the most important aspects of one’s personality because allot one’s personality (i.e. attitudes, values, priorities, etc.) ultimately stems from these presuppositions. Not only do individuals have presup positions which influence the way that they behave, but societies as a whole also hold to basic tenets which influence the way that they behave. For example, most of us here in the United States support a capitalistic economy so we will continue Reader’s Forum to have such a system until enough peo ple become disenchanted with the system and replace it with another. Our philo sophies are the foundation of who we are, both as an individual and as a group. So far, I have tried to illustrate the purpose and importance of philosophy in our everyday lives. Now let us take a look at how both individual and societal philosophy have changed over the last 3,000 years. First, it is important to understand that all men have a basic, overwhelming need. That is the need to feel important. To feel significant. The desire for mean ing and significance is as basic to an indi vidual as the desire to survive. Where can man find significance? To what can man grasp that will give his life and existence meaning? Plato under stood that without absolutes, life can have no meaning. The Romans tried to build their societal base upon their gods. But if you are familiar with Roman mythology you will recall that their gods were finite, not infinite. They were amplified humanity, not divinity. When their society began to decay, the Romans turned to totalitarian dictators who tried to legislate values and morals. Both the Roman religious and human gods failed. Philosophical thought since the fall of Rome has led to humanism, the belief that man can find meaning and signifi cance through himself. Man is the refer ence point by which to understand the universe. Prior to the 18th century, hu manists were optimistic because they be lieved that given enough time man would eventually, through rationalism, estab lish^ a unified field of knowledge that would explain every event in the uni verse. This optimism, however, has turned to pessimism in the last 200 years. Swiss philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rous seau has told us whatever is allowed by “nature” is good. We can find freedom and meaning by doing whatever comes “naturally.” Unfortunately, nature is both cruel and non-cruel. What is “good” for one person may produce a bad result for another. For example, Rousseau placed his five illegitimate children into orphanages. Wes Volberding is a senior accounting major from Houston. Tuesday: The past 100 years. Letters: Nuclear explanations Editor: I find it amusing the Scott Peng feels he is so enlightened about nuclear power, if he’s so smart — why is he still here? I note that he doesn’t even have his own “facts” (or logic) straight. He also failed to produce any references for his “facts”, something he requests of others. He may be a nuclear engineering stu dent, but he’s obviously not a doctor. Do they teach him about food cycles, about the thymus, and what radiation (high or low level) does to these things? I doubt it. I, too, am an engineering student, but take the engineering part of the title se riously — I read information written by both sides of an issue and weigh the facts with an open mind. Something I suggest Mr. Peng and his associates do before they ruin this planet. The following are a few documented facts: FACT: Although “the containment building is kept air-tight and pressurized during reactor operation,” it was not dur ing the clean-up of T.M.I. — Krypton 85, Strontium 90 and radioactive iodine were all vented to the atmosphere, e Energy News Digest, March 27, 1981. FACT: You can NOT prove a nega tive postulate ( ... nuclear power to date has produced zero casualties)! B.S. (1.) There were at least 300 excess infant (age 0-1 year old) deaths that occurred within the 10-mile zone of T.M.I. in the months following the March 28, 1979 accident, r. Ernest Sternglass, Professor Radiation Physics, University of Pittsburgh Medical School. (2.) Twenty-five out of 100 work ers at a uranium mining and milling operation in New Mexico died of lung cancer within 30 years and an additional 45 had contracted lung cancer but had not yet died, e reference 3a. (3.) Several nuclear reactor facility employees (approximately 3, I lost the material) were killed when an explosion destroyed a reactor in Idaho several years back, their bodies were buried in lead caskets in a nuclear waste dump e reference 3b.. More complete book titles, addresses, and information are available for the asking, I have no faulty welds or cracked concrete to hide. Erich Friend ’85 Editor’s note: This letter was accompa nied by an article on nuclear power writ ten by Erich Friend. A good Ag Editor: I’m glad to find out that there are still “Good Ags” who practice the honesty and trustworthiness that has been a tradi tion for more than a hundred years at A&M. This fact was brought to light when I was visiting my three sisters on Parents’ Weekend. Although I had a great time visiting with some old Corps buddies and my sisters, the weekend was somewhat spoiled when I realized that I had misplaced my checkbook and some credit cards. Although losing a checkbook and cre dit cards isn’t the most earth-shaking problem, those of us who have ever lost one know how frustrating and costly it can be. My friends and co-workers had convinced me that nobody would return the lost items and I should prepare for a loss. Well, I got very lucky. Richard Matera, a junior in Company B-2 found my checkbook in the MSC on Sunday afternoon. Richard was good enough to mail it to me and I had it back in my pocket by Tuesday afternoon. While I was relieved; my wife and everyone else were amazed. It certainly renewed our faith in people, especially AGGIES. I want to publicly thank Mr. Matera for doing such a small, but very kind and thoughtful deed. Thanks again, Richard! Joseph A. Pearson ’80 Correction A story in Friday’s Battalion about an environmental design class’s projects in correctly identified the home country of a student. Guillermo Moreno is from Panama. His partner on the project, John Rogozinski, is from Guatemala. The Bat talion regrets the error. Slouch By Jim Earls 4 t< “What do you mean, ‘what is it?’ It’s a snapshot of the sun that I took; and it’s a rare photo, considering this spring’s weather.” Ifyi jor, y( ture e him a of the the b: game Anna being the ai sists ( tourn ment Stude fessio field the e’ end w ty bar In playd profe in thi come view panic P( tw Business, business even in nostalgia by Art Buchwald There was a lot of nostalgia about the Falkland Islands war a few weeks ago. The British celebrated, the Agrentines mourned, and we were all treated to a tour of the battleground by the TV net works. What wasn’t mentioned was that as soon as hostilities ceased, the world’s arms merchants descended on Argentina to replenish the loser’s arsenal. The French arrived first and said to the Argentine military, “We’re sorry you didn’t do as well as you expected, but the good news is that we can sell you our Exocet Missile again.” “Where were you when we needed you?” an Agrentine general wanted to know. “We couldn’t ship you the missiles while the war was going on because we didn’t want to upset Margaret Thatcher. But now that things have quieted down, we can sell you anything you want. Since you demonstrated to other countries how accurate our Exocet is, we’ll give you a free one for every dozen you buy. But you better act fast because we have a lot bf countries standing in line for the missile.” The Argentines put in their order im mediately. As soon as the French left, the West Germans walked in. “We told you you couldn’t win a war against the British if you didn’t have enough sea power. If the fight for the Malvinas proved anything, it’s that your country needs a strong, modernized Navy. West Germany is pre pared to build Agrentina the most mod ern ships on the high seas including first- rate attack submarines. You’ll never be militarily humiliated by England again.” The Argentine military chief of staff said, “I thought West Germany and Great Britain were both members of NATO.” “NATO is NATO,” the Western Ger mans told him. “Business is business. Give us a billion dollars and we’ll turn over four ships to you tomorrow.” The Argentines signed the order, mortgaged their grain crop fori ncomi :cond years. Next came the Israelis, the Bel Jnven and other Western arms salesmen B 50 °f one left without an order. A C( ritical ihite 1 eing h ighto Cab :ge St; lollege y Del Jeterso Th. Needles to say, the Pentagon was when t hey heard about the arms sale J had nothing to do with the faci: „ w e | Argentina was getting back intosha[e in t o ; take on the Brits again. It wasthatPii exas dent Carter had imposed a mil pfety embargo on Argentina becauseofit; man rights abuses, and U.S. weapons Dorters were left out in the cold, porters were left out in the cold The Pentagon dealers compl the White House. “We’re losing South American market to theFi and West Germans. The Argentines; committed to becoming a first-dass ary power, and need our stuff todo we don’t give them a waiver on rights, we’ll have to close down Buenos Aires store. Worse Soviets might offer to supply then the hi-tech equipment just so the give the British a bloody nose.” President Reagan, when info that U.S. military equipment wasd ing in Argentina, started pushing gress to lift the embargo immedii and promised he would cleal withthtl man rights problem later. In the meantime, private arms del in Virginia assured the Argentines could order any U.S. equipment wanted through third countries, would rather have the cash The Argentines, according to re| are now in hock up to their ears,bill; soon be militarily stronger than they ever been before. They are the fit admit they couldn’t do it alone. While most of the countries sup Argentina with new weapons are Britain’s closest allies, they haven't any conditions on their sales, l 1 you’re a major arms-producingcon it’s much more profitable not to sides. The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member ot Texas Press Association , Southwest Journalism Conference Editor Diana Sultenfuss Managing Editor Gary Barker Associate Editor Denise Richter City Editor Hope E. Paasch Assistant City Editor Beverly Hamilton Sports Editor John Wagner Assistant Sports Editor J°hn Lopez Entertainment Editor Colette Hutchings Assistant Entertainment Editor.. .. Diane Yount News Editors Daran Bishop, Brian Boyer, Jennifer Carr, Elaine Engstrom, Shelley Hoekstra, Johna Jo Maurer, Jan Swaner, Jan Werner, Rebeca ! Zimmermann Staff Writers Melissa Adair, Maureen Carmody, Frank Christlieb, Connie Edelmon, Scott Griffin, Patrice Koranek, Robert McGlohon, Ann Ramsbottom, Kim Schmidt, Karen Schrimsher, Patti Schwierzke, Kelley Smith, Angel i Stokes, Joe Tindel, Tracey Taylor, i Kathy Wiesepape Cartoonist Scott McCullar Graphic Artists Sergio Galvez Thompson, Fernando Andrade Photographers David Fisher, Guy Hood, Eric Lee, Irene Mees, Barry Papke, William Schulz Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting news paper operated as a community service to Tea* University and Bryan-College Station, pressed in The Battalion are those of the effcj 'thor, and do not necessarily represent tkopii l exas A&M University administrators or fscutlt* hers, or of the Board of Regents. 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