'A
Hi .H
M
Kim Adams, Sports Editor
Rachel Perry, Copy Editor
Kevin Kirk, Wire Editor
Eowina Ralston, Editor
John Drf.scher, Associate Editor
Li cv Hood, News Editor
Keith King, Arts and Features Editor
Scott Sharpe, Photography Editor
Staff: Clay Andrews, Ted Avery, Clifton Barnes. Maria Baxter, Lisa Carl, Matt Cooper, Margaret
Dlsai ssi re, Jackie Fields, Terri Garrard, Stephanie Graham, Bob Haas, Speed Hallman, Jeff H;day,
John Hinton, Lou Ann Jones, Jeft Knight, Kenneth Mincss, Ann Murphy, Sonja Payton, Ann Peters,
Carol Scales. Cuha Shankar, David Thompson, Lynne Thomson, Suzanne Townsend, Randy Walker,
Si san Walters, Clinton Weaver, Rena Zeya. Susinesj Manager: Rajeanne Caron. Advertising: Nancy
McKenzie. manager, and Paula Brewer, coordinator. SecretaryReceptionist: Linda Cooper. -Composition:
UNC Printing Department, FPG Composition. Printing: The Hinton Press, Mebane.
Looking inside
The N.C. Utilities Commissipn's decision Tuesday to audit Carolina Power
& Light Co. is a welcome and responsible choice that had to be made. As a
public utility, CP&L, which supplies about 40 percent of the state's power, is
accountable to North Carolina citizens who have increasingly grown con
cerned about the utility's performance and ability to meet its demand.
CP&L especially has had problems with its two Brunswick nuclear units
near Southport. Unit 1 was shut down July 6 and it is not expected to con
tinue service until October. Unit 2 was just returned to operation Monday
after being shut down July 18. '
The problems of CP&L's three nuclear units, which supply energy at the
cheapest price, can be seen in the decreasing amount of energy the units
have produced for CP&L in the last three years. In 1978, 47 percent of CP&L's :
power was generated by its nuclear units. In 1979, that number fell to 35
percent and last year the amount of nuclear energy produced fell to 28
percent.
As the amount of nuclear energy produced falls, CP&L must seek alter
nate, more expensive forms of producing electricity, and consequently, cus
tomers' bills rise. The loss of each Brunswick unit costs CP&L about
$300,000 a day, which is passed on to consumers. CP&L asked the utilities
commission last week to increase its October and November bills by 8 per
cent. CP&L has already requested a 16.4 percent rate increase to take effect
in December. The public will no longer accept rate increases without know
ing what is causing the problems at CP&L.
The audit, which will not begin for several months, will be a broad-scale
management audit. The Utilities Commission's Public Staff, which represents
consumer interests, has also said it would begin a separate investigation of
the Brunswick problems. Hopefully, both the needed audit and investigation
will give the public a look into a company whose operational problems con
tinue to cost the public more and more..
Fantastic voyage
Back in 1903 when Wilbur and Orville Wright made the world's first flight
in a power-driven aircraft, very few people took them seriously. Very few
people even heard about the flight. Only three or four newspapers reported
the event the next day and what they reported was inaccurate. . ,
' When the world's first sun-powered craft made its trek from near-Paris to
Canterbury, England, recently, that flight was met with almost as little fan
fare. In a world where high powered jets are everyday occurrences, many
people easily miss the point of the Solar Challenger's flight, which reached a.
top speed of only 43 m.p.h. The importance of the Challenger's flight is not
that it is a major breakthrough in world transportation but, as inventor Paul
MacCready pointed out, that it showed "just how much solar power can do."
The possibilities as well as the benefits of solar power are endless. Sun
power has already been used to heat buildings, power dams and now carry
a 28-year-old man 180 miles through the air. With research, solar energy
could eventually carry much of the burden that now rests on sources such
as oil. That solar power is readily available and, practically speaking, inde
spensible is undoubtedly its greatest benefit. During the lifetime of man
kind, we would not run out of sun and no nation could possibly build a
monopoly on the sun.
No one denies that we must explore new areas to meet growing energy
needs. Considering the benefits of solar power in combination with the dis
advantages of other sources such as the limited supply of oil and the
dangers and uncertainties of nuclear power, the most obvious choice for
exploration would be in the area of the sun's resources. Recognizing this,
last year the Department of Energy set a ccc! to provide 10 percent to 15
percent of the nation's electricity from solar energy by the year 2000.
But, because the price of developing solar energy remains exorbitant
and the government places little emphasis cn its advancement, that
goal seems unlikely. It will take much more than casual consideration before
we can take full advantage of our most available resource. Unfortunately,
for now, the Solar Challenger is only a reminder cf what can be done but its
flight should be applauded. Perhaps it will supply the needed inspiration to
drive full-force ahead toward the sun.
'"rtVei
r
t
f
!
(
i
. i
'XT'
fills Yanks colonial void
By KEITH KING
By KEITH KING
' , We Americans might have done a lot of
running around just a little over 200 years
ago shouting about throwing off the reigns
of royalty and declaring our independence,
but still we're a bunch of closet monarchists.
My only wish is that the closet had a bed.
If s tough on us over here in the colonies
having to get up at the crack of dawn to see
the royal hitch of Prince Charles and Lady
Diana Spencer live. About half of the Tar Heel
staff was half-dead yesterday morning, hav- -ing
risen early for a Royal Wedding breakfast
(we're still not speaking to the other half who
turned off their alarm clocks and didn't show
up) and to watch the couple take their vows.
With the miracle of television we all have
surely achieved a modern wonder vicarious
jetlag.
Why are we Yanks so infatuated with a de
clining kingdom whose major stars owe their
positions to the luck of birth? We have a void
which only England fills. We need a king or
queen, someone to look up to that shines in
the grace of Cod. How can one possibly look
up to somebody one elects? George Wash
ington should have done us all a favor and
taken up the offer of some of our founding
fathers to make him king. Or, better yet we
could have stayed with the mother country.
This Royal Wedding, more specifically,
helped brighten an otherwise drab summer.
It was hard celebrating the 205th year of in
dependence, it just doesn't have that bicen
tennial ring. And the all-star baseball game
was canceled over labor disputes (will that
colonial rabble never settle down?).
But we Americans have nothing of which
to be ashamed in our admiration for the royal
couple and the royal festival. Or at least we
can spread the royal guilt around some: esti
mates said that one of every five people on
earth witnessed the wedding. Invitations to
attend the ceremony in St Paul's Cathedral
in London were sent out to 2,500 heads of
state, dignitaries, Royal Family and Royal
Friends. About another million watched
along the Strand where the Royal Procession
traveled to the church and then back to
Buckingham Palace. Another 750 million
commoners watched on TV.
The wedding was too long (one hour, ten
minutes) like those I attended as a child.
But the view and the sound was better than I
had been used to. I clearly saw and heard
Lady Diana rearrange the order of her Prince's
names. "I, Diana Frances, take thee, Philip
Charles Arthur George (Charles is his first
name) to be my wedded husband.. ."
The royal family looked nervous, just like
all the commoners that have taken part in
similar ceremonies, afraid someone might
not hold his peace or Prince Andnw might
have forgotten the Royal Ring. Queen Eliza
beth was her usual solemn self; her husband.
Prince Philip, and the Queen Mother appear
ed relatively at ease. But the new daughter-in-law
seemed the happiest of the bunch, her
wide smile clearly visible through her white
veil. .
(The pictures provided for us over here
came from the BBC They were not concern
ed with what Nancy Reagan wore, so all that
speculation was for naught)
Surely the interest and media coverage will
continue throughout the Royal Honeymoon,
as the Prince and Princess of Wales start their
married life together. The biggest adjustment
will probably be for the Princess, who must
now wear hats in public, never address her
husband in public by his Christian name and
never arrive anywhere unannounced. Her
friends will have to curtsie to her and address
her as "ma'am." There are hundreds of other
rules of protocol and royalty that might seem
stifling to us republicans, but Royal Fortitude
and Endurance will see her through.
The American fascination with this fairy
tale will continue for years, undoubtedly. He
will become King Charles III and she will be
Queen Diana (actually, the Queen Consort).
This American can hardly wait 'or the royal
coronation and, more importantly, the royal
birth announcement
Keith Kins, a senior journalism and English
major from Rocky Mount is rarely in royal
form as arts and features editor for The Tar
Heel.
mm m
H I
it nj x,jJ
n m m
The Tar HccJ welcomes letters to the editors and contributions of
columns for the editorial page..
Such contributions should be typed, triple-spaced, on a CO-spaee
line, and are subject to editing. Contributions must be submitted
by 5 p.m. each Monday.
101 he Tar HeelThursday, July SO, 1S31