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The Battalion
Opinion
Tuesday, August 4, 1992
Page 5
Time for Bush to take
offensive in campaign
Jon
DeShazo
ven tunes tank
t the use of indie
that aspect,
a stylistic rod
mpk* yet fashioa
is suggested ina
may well be th
the nineties.
omance, betrayal
make this onest
ut the most inani
i Cleese, Eric Idle,
ing away fromtkt
r and trying to dii-
v. It's as silly as it
I wrote Dave Barry
last week to get one
of his campaign
stickers. I also await
the answer to the ques
tion I posed to him:
since Perot has dropped
out of the race, can I
just scratch out "Perot"
and insert "Dave Barry"
on November's ballot?
The Olympics cov
erage has severely at
tenuated the media's
normally hyperactive
coverage of the political process, leaving
me to scour the back pages for any sign of
political life in George Bush.
Actually, in the past week I haven't
done any scouring, since I've had much
more pressing concerns weighing on my
consciousness. But I rest assured that my
favorite newspaper, the Wall Street Jour
nal (surely you didn't think it was The
Batt), would have given me notice of any
registerable vital signs in our illustrious
once (and future?) president.
Instead of giving us something tangi
ble to chew on (proverbially, of course).
Bush's elusive behavior and the Olympic
sized media blitz in Barcelona have given
some of us time to think undisturbed
about November's election.
Talk, talk, talk
I base the rest of this column on the
assumption that Bill Clinton and Eco-Boy
Wonder A1 Gore — and especially the
Democratic Party — do not deserve to
win the 1992 presidency. Clinton and
Gore's attempts to move their campaign
and their party away from the Democratic
National Flaming Liberal Image are inad
equate. Their talk of moving away from
"tax and spend" is just that — talk.
The party cannot, in the words of
Crossfire's John Sununu, claim to de
nounce "tax and spend" on one page of
the party platform, then discuss "tax" on
the next page and "spend" on the next.
The Democratic Party may be moving to
ward a generational leadership hand-off,
but the new, young Party just wants more
i environmental legislation,
i And since Perot is out of the picture,
we voters who actually care about eco
nomic growth are left with only one
choice: George Herbert Walker Bush,
who is presently hibernating in the moun
tains. He briefly appeared last week say
ing something about getting mad at the
Democrats, but that sighting turned out
to be Elvis in disguise.
Why did our illustrious president de
cide to keep quiet until the Republican
National Convention? And why did the
Battalion elect to send actual reporters in
stead of me, a columnist who mainly
wanted to try to meet Dave Barry? The
mind boggles at all the implications.
tppear on no othff
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Director Stanley
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Should Bush leave?
Bush is nowhere to be found at a time
when his image (and standings in the
opinion polls) is slipping into oblivion.
And his absence has led some conserva
tives to wonder if he should drop out of
the race.
Choosing to not run again has some
interesting implications. After all, Bush is
seen as a nice guy who isn't doing any
thing for the country. Dropping out
gracefully would leave a positive image
as his presidential legacy. Running, and
losing, could give him an image about as
poor as Carter's. Running, and barely
winning, sets the stage for a poor second
term, one that pits a lame duck against an
entrenched Democratic Congress.
Image problems
Second terms do little for an ex-presi
dent's image. Bush has been floundering
about for a year now with little visible di
rection. Whether this image is his fault or
not, the image could stick into his next
four years; he might be unable to do any
thing at all with Congress, which is noted
for its ability to attack lame ducks like
buzzards.
Stepping aside could give the Republi
cans an opportunity to nominate a
formidable counter to the pretty Clin
ton/Gore ticket. Head of Housing and
Urban Development Jack Kemp could
provide the nation with the new leader
ship the Democrats are trying to claim
while keeping us conservatives happy.
Dan Quayle would (you know this al
ready) have no chance whatsoever.
Since Bush's withdrawal is unlikely
and possibly inexpedient anyway, I await
with mixed anticipation his speech at the
upcoming convention. I foresee two pos
sible outcomes: the speech will be abso
lutely phenomenal, rocketing Bush and
Quayle up the polls and back into the
White House with a real mandate from
the proletariat; or Bush falls flat on his
face (possibly tossing his cookies for ef
fect), sending him into the record books
as another failed president.
I sound pessimistic; but I'm really
hopeful for the GOP convention, if for no
other reason I don't want Clinton to get
his hands on the White House. I have
nightmares of Gore coming to my house
at night and taking away my baby — my
old, anti-PC Ford Mustang (no EGR, no
catalytic converter, no emissions control
of any kind for that matter . . . sorry, just
had to gloat a little).
Time to strike back
It's time for President Bush to take the
offensive, to give the populace some tan
gible goals. It's time to apologize for
breaking his famous "no new taxes"
pledge.
It's time for Bush to expose Congress
and the Democrats that control it. Who
needs Willy Horton when we have Teddy
Kennedy to blast?
Bush is losing; it's his fault, and only
he can rescue his next term. I hope he can
reclaim the presidency over the Clinton-
Core ticket.
I don't want to pay taxes out the
proverbial wazoo for the next decade. I
don't want the US to turn into Sweden be
fore we find out what the Swedes have
learned about socialism(it still doesn't
work, in case you haven't been keeping
up with Sweden's problems).
Get with the program. Bush. End of
discussion.
DeShazo is a senior electrical engineering
major and a columnist for Tire Battalion.
Mail
Sinister column
on sororities
Mr. LoBaido's opinion column on
Monday, August 3, 1992 is one of the
most sinister yet I have seen in the Battal
ion. Apparently he views all women in
sororities as bubble-headed, incompetent
blondes. Obviously he has not met the
women who make the other half of these
organizations: the women who maintain
the day-to-day existence, provide the
reach-out and community care for which
these groups are known. My undergrad
uate career was "saved" by the care and
compassion of one of these women, for
whom 1 am eternally grateful.
Granted, there will always be women
like Devaney, but before you class all
sorority women as this, I suggest you
look further within these organizations
for the other half.
Mr. LoBaido, it is apparent that you
live in a dark, cold world.
CJ. Peoples
Graduate Student
Spell-checkers
check out fine
The article by Barbara Gastel on com
puter spell-checkers, in the July 30, 1992
Battalion, deserves comment. Some ex
amples presented included abbreviations
and place names. These "misspellings"
Have an opinion?
Express it!
The Battalion is interested in hearing
from its readers. All letters are welcome.
Letters must be signed and must
include classification, address and daytime
phone number for verification purposes.
They should be 250 words or less.
Anonymous letters will not be published.
The Battalion reserves the right to edit
all letters for length, style and accuracy.
There is no guarantee a letter will appear.
Letters may be brought to The Battalion at
013 Reed McDonald, sent to Campus Mail
Stop 1111 or faxed to 845-2647.
A look back at readers' responses
Mack
Harrison
A s summer
draws to a
JL ILclose and the
fall semester bears
down upon us, we
reflect back on the
highlights of the sea
son. My summer
stint as opinion edi
tor ends this week,
but before I fly off
into the sunset to
catch the Pigskin
Classic in California,
' : ::T T - 1 want to take one
last look at the semester.
I came to the opinion page straight
from city desk, where I played editor in
the spring semester. It was rather stress
ful, and Editor Todd Stone suggested a
change of pace.
It certainly was. Reader feedback
showed us that whether they agreed or
disagreed with us (mostly the latter),
people were thinking about what we
wrote.
We featured two viewpoints on
abortion, which certainly drew lots of
letters. Readers on both sides of the de
bate attacked the opposing viewpoint,
and even the opposing columnist.
When we ran side-by-side columns
on AIDS, however, we only received
one letter on the subject — but that one
letter did draw a response.
It seems that most issues we took a
serious stand on did not seem to matter
as much to the readers. Editorials on the
administration removing rape sketches
or closing the Student Attorney's office
did not elicit as much response from
you as the columns did.
We debuted, and you defined and
debated, the term "Femi-Nazi." One col
umn had animal rights advocates howl
ing in protest, and one reader growled
back. We had pro-nukes and no nukes.
One columnist told us, "It sucks to
be you." Readers responded with, "No,
it sucks to be you."
We had unique insights into South
Africa, from two different sources ~
and replies to those insights. (I still
don't know if the shit flew or not.)
And take politics — PLEASE! Some
people enjoy the election spectacle the
way they'd watch a horse race. The rest
of us look at it like we would a gory car
wreck — in fascinated horror.
I'll say this, though: The letters and
guest columns that dealt with politics
and the elections were very well-written
and thought-provoking.
Religion got airplay as well, enough
that some wits began to call page five
the "religion page."
Of course, we had the customary
"Thank you, good Ag, for returning my
wallet/ring/purse/boa constrictor" let
ters, and the equally traditional "PTTS
sucks" letter. We even ran an Aggie
joke. However, there were no pro- or
anti- Corps/Greek/Bonfire/etc. letters.
IT1 leave those for the sucker that has
this job in the fall.
But before I go. I'd like to thank each
of my columnists for providing quality
work every week. They covered new
ground and old cliches, but most of all
they made us think. Anas, Anthony, Ja
son, Jon, Paul, Stacy and Dr. Gastel,
thank you all for helping me make the
opinion page come alive this summer.
Bill, great cartoons, and thanks for filling
in when I was too lazy to write a col
umn. Todd, thanks for the editorial
writing and the advice. Jason, good
luck, sucker (you'll need it).
And muchas gracias to you, the read
ers — especially those of you who took
the time to pen your own opinions and
send them to us. This is your paper, and
you're taking good care of it with your
letters and guest columns.
Remember, our last day of publica
tion before the interim is Thursday, so if
you want to get a final word in, get it
here by Wednesday.
My work is done here. See you at
Duddley's.
Harrison is a senior journalism major
and opinion page editor for The Battalion, at
least through the rest of the week.
| »J?Aa
Itheat^r.
Nuclear power: Unsafe alternative
could not even be checked if one used a
dictionary. One would need a map or at
las to check the spelling of place names
and a telephone directory for company
names or last names. Slang words would
also be a problem with a normal dictio
nary and a computer spell-checker.
I find spell-checkers useful, even for
technical documents. So as not to use
"to" when I meant to type "too," I use a
grammar-checker (which includes a spell
checker). At the very least, these tools
(grammar- and spell-checkers) are a way
for us lesser mortals to think about
spelling and writing more correctly.
I believe that the article may lead stu
dents and staff in thinking that all spell-
and grammar-checkers are useless. This
is not always the case.
M. J. Savage
Professor, Department of Soil and
Crop Sciences
GUEST
COLUMN
Lara
Mears
for TEAC
I
ason Loughman's
promotion of nucle
ar power was fool-
rdy in both its basic
premise and in his
light-hearted and nar
rowly-focused treat
ment of a serious na
tional concern — ener
gy policy.
In 1990, less than 5
percent of U.S. electricity was produced
from oil, and less than 1 percent from for
eign oil. Ninety percent of this oil-gener
ated electricity represents peaking power,
for which nuclear power is not suited.
Residual oil left over from other processes
is used for electricity generation. The U.S.
would import the same amount of oil
even if none were used to produce elec
tricity, which is the only commercial ener
gy form nuclear reactors can produce.
Furthermore, oil and uranium are
both non-renewable resources. The U.S.
is as dependent on foreign uranium as it
is on foreign oil. Nearly half the uranium
used in U.S. reactors is imported, mostly
from the former Soviet Union.
Secrecy has obscured a deadly legacy
left by uranium mining. U.S. government
agencies deliberately kept secret from
15,000 American uranium miners their
job's radiation hazard. Over 400 miners
have died of lung cancer so far, five times
the non-miners' rate. Taxpayer subsidies
to uranium mining companies will be
used to clean up the tons of toxic uranium
mine tailings dumped in areas like the
Native American reservation land on the
II and AK Rivers.
The public is largely unaware that
uranium mining, processing and enrich
ment require fossil fuels which contribute
to C02 emissions. A Department of Ener
gy study of the total fuel cycle found that
boiling water nuclear reactors produce 7.8
metric tons of C02 per gigawatt-hour
(t/g-h), more than wind (7.0 t/g-h), pho
tovoltaic (5.0 t/g-h), and solar-thermal
(4.0 t/g-h). Biomass (wood) combustion
coupled with regrowth actually reduces
C02 concentration by 160 t/g-h.
Mr. Loughman greatly understated
the adverse health effects of nuclear plant
accidents. Unusual clusters of leukemia,
birth defects and hypothyroidism have
been reported around the Three Mile Is
land plant. The Chernobyl disaster killed
thousands of people, left untold numbers
of people contaminated by radiation, and
destroyed the Lapland culture by poison
ing the reindeer population.
In addition to Chernobyl and Three
Mile Island, cancer clusters have been
noted around other U.S. reactors, statis
tics with human faces the U.S. govern
ment and nuclear industry successfully
keep hidden.
The Massachusetts Department of
Health concluded that adults living and
working within ten miles of Boston Edi
son's Pilgrim reactor had a four times
greater risk of contracting leukemia dur
ing 1973-83 than those living elsewhere,
and that the risk increased the closer one
lived and worked to the plant.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission
admitted in 1985 that the odds of a severe
core meltdown in the next 20 years is 45
percent. Although the nuclear industry
promises new inherently safe reactors, it
continues to hide behind the Price-Ander
son Act, which limits the industry's liabil
ity if a power plant accident occurs.
In Texas, the Comanche Peak nuclear
plant was fined $50,000 in 1991 for falsify
ing records. Recently it was revealed that
Comanche Peak is continuing to install a
fire barrier called Thermo-lag, even
though their own tests showed Thermo
lag performs inadequately.
There are additional serious problems
with nuclear power. There is no safe
repository for nuclear waste, no satisfac
tory decommissioning of a large reactor.
Nuclear power is the foot in the door
for nuclear weapons development in oth
er countries, regular radioactive releases
from nuclear plants, attempts to deregu
late radioactive waste through "linguistic
detoxification," emergency evacuation
planning, $45 billion in subsidies for re
search and development alone, relicens
ing of aging and brittle reactors, govern
ment deception, and human erroj — an
uncontrollable variable.
Fortunately, there are alternatives.
Wind power potential in Texas is 250,000
megawatts, four times the current electri
cal generating capacity. Pacific Northwest
Labs reports that by 1995 the U.S. will be
technologically capable of producing
more electricity from wind than from all
current generation sources. The price of
wind power electricity per kilowatt/hour
went from 25 cents in 1980 to 6 - 8 cents in
1989 — without government subsidies.
Widespread use of energy efficient
light bulbs and lighting designs alone
could save the equivalent of 40 large nu
clear power plants. The Rocky Mountain
Institute, an independent energy think-
tank, says each dollar spent on energy ef
ficiency is up to seven times more effec
tive at reducing global warming gases as
a dollar spent on nuclear power.
There is also solar energy, ocean ther
mal energy conversion, ocean wind sys
tems, tide power, hydrogen energy sys
tems and energy savings from recycling,
highly efficient motors, and more plant-
based diets.
In most parts of the country there are
substantial energy reserve margins,
which gives us time to develop sensible
energy alternatives to coal, oil, and nucle
ar power — a strategy the Texas Environ
mental Action Coalition strongly sup
ports. TEAC also encourages campus,
community and national effort to pro
mote and implement energy conservation
measures to make the best use of
whichever source we do use.
Mears is president of the Texas Environ
mental Action Coalition.