6The Daily Tar Heel Tuesday, August 26, 1986
0
Star Mni
94th year of editorial freedom
Taxpayers losing Stealth
In this era of high technology
espionage, it's improbable that the
KGB, the Soviet intelligence agency,
would remain in the dark for very long
about any U.S. defense project. The
Stealth fighter project is no exception.
And unfortunately for the United
States, the Stealth project exemplifies
a dangerously careless treatment of
classified information by the press and
defense contractors.
The Stealth fighter and bomber are
designed to elude the enemy by
absorbing radar waves rather than
reflecting them. The planes are part
of a new technology, one which has
thus far cost an estimated $5 billion
for the fighters alone. A hypothetical
mission would involve the planes
sneaking into enemy territory, striking
targets with nuclear or conventional
arms, then flying home undetected.
Pilots are presumably training in the
Nevada desert to handle just such a
mission.
While taxpayers have a right to
know how defense dollars are spent,
the public should remember that
disclosures of highly sensitive material
keep not only keep the citizenry
informed but the KGB as well.
Few people can say whether the
KGB knew the location of the fighter
base before The Washington Post and
other newspapers exposed the site.
Chances are that in this case the KGB
Silkwood justice at las
Kerr-McGee Corporation's recent
$ 1 .38 million settlement with the estate
of Karen Silkwood at first seems to
indicate that the big industry does have
a heart. But Kerr-McGee is getting off
easy compared to what would have
happened if Silkwood had lived.
On Nov. 13, 1974, Silkwood left a
meeting with fellow union members in
Oklahoma City to meet a New York
Times reporter and an official of the
Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers
International Union. She was carrying
a brown manila folder and a large
notebook containing damaging evi
dence of Kerr-McGee's health and
safety conditions, including plutonium
poisoning Silkwood sustained. Within
the next 30 minutes, a life ended and
a 12-year legal battle began.
No one has a definitive explanation
as to how Silkwood's fatal car accident
occurred. The Oklahoma Highway
Patrol and A. P. Pipkin, Jr., a private
investigator hired by the union,
reached completely different conclu
sions about the accident's cause. The
Highway Patrol said that Silkwood fell
asleep at the wheel; Pipkin concluded
that Silkwood's car was forced off the
Moses vs. the FP -
In all the rush to send out warning notices
to new and returning students regarding
the once-critical drought, University officials
forgot to warn, er, inform us of some new
visitors in selected campus libraries. They're
Panasonic FP-3002s, the latest thing in
vending copy machines. And like all "latest
things," the copiers pay homage to plastic
money.
Yes, no longer do ardent xerographers
have to spend precious study time trying to
coax nickel after nickel out of tight min
iskirts, Guess jeans and Levi's 501s. And yes,
no longer do study hounds have to endure
the incessant "clink!" of the change machine
as they try desperately to memorize the
Magna Charta.
That's right, to use the machines, you just
insert a nifty, magnetized card in the right
slot and copy to your heart's content (or until
your coded allotment of copies runs out,
whichever comes first). There's a rub, though:
You must first purchase a card, and learn
how to use it. Moses probably had an easier
time parting the Red Sea.
If that's not enough, first-time users must
decipher the meaning of Instruction No. 5
on each copier: "Position your original
according to the guide marks on the platen."
We always thought a platen was the rolling
pin gizmo on typewriters, until a trip to
JIM ZCX)K, Editor
Randy Farmer, Managing Editor
ED BRACKETT, Associate Editor
DEWEY MESSER, Associate Editor
Tracy Hill, News Editor
Grant Parsons, Vnitersity Editor
LlNDA MONTANARI, City Editor
JILL GERBER, State and National Editor
Scott Fowler, sports Editor
DEN1SE SM1THERMAN, Features Editor
ROBERT KEEFE, Business Editor
Elizabeth Ellen, Arts Editor
DAN CHARLSON, Photography Editor
not only knew the location, but has
had detailed photographs of the area
for weeks, thanks to satellite
surveillance.
To a degree, what the Soviets know
is not as important as how they gain
their knowledge, and from whom.
Again, it is doubtful that the media
frequently relinquish national secrets,
but when the information concerns
billions of dollars, can the United
States afford to take the chance?
The media are not the only party
involved in this general loosening of
security surrounding thev Stealth
project. Leaking classified data (some
of which usually reaches the Soviets)
puts defense contractors in a league
of their own. For example, Lockheed
Corp., which built the Stealth fighters,
has admitted to having "lost" 1,460
secret documents about the planes. A
House subcommittee investigation
revealed that one employee even had
the gumption to show the fighter's
blueprints to a friend.
Such lunacy is tantamount to
treason, and the taxpayers deserve
better protection for their investment.
Whether the American citizens
unanimously agree on the need for the
Stealth fighter is not the question.
Taxpayers have bought 50 of these
planes at $100 million each. The
United States can't afford to give that
technology away.
road by another car. Pipkin's evidence:
a dent in the side of Silkwood's car
and three track marks indicating that
she was forced off the road.
The Highway Patrol maintained
that the dent was created when the car
scraped against a concrete wall while
being towed, but further investigation
revealed no fragments of concrete in
the dent. Most importantly, the manila
folder and notebook containing all of
Silkwood's evidence was never found.
The $570,000 awarded to Silk
wood's three children and father (the
total award minus legal fees), com
bined with Kerr-McGee's statement
that they "in no way accepted blame
for Silkwood's alleged plutonium
contamination" constitute a lack of
caring for Silkwood and the causes for
which she fought to the end.
Had Silkwood lived, the evidence
she had compiled against Kerr-McGee
would have led to investigations that
would have been embarrassing and
expensive for the corporation. As it
is, $1.38 million is of little consequence
to Kerr-McGee. But it should be
hoped that Karen Silkwood's was not
a lost cause.
3002: No contest
Webster's assured us it's also "a flat plate
(as of metal); esp: one that exerts or receives
pressure." Whew.
Goodbye institutional,
hello cucumber
For centuries, it seems, students at
elementary, junior and senior high
schools everywhere have endured the among
the crudest punishments in academia
namely, having to stare at vomit-inducing,
"institutional green" walls and ceilings.
Sometimes, if the school's "decorators" were
in a sufficiently sadistic mood, they'd splash
the hideous color on the school's floors, even.
No more, say educators in Pittsburgh,
who're selecting other, more vibrant colors
for the city's schools. Colors such as
"cucumber," "hint of lime," "Colorado
sandstone" and "whisper gold."
It's about time someone considered the
welfare of America's school-age youth.
We've got just one bit of advice for the
Pittsburgh schools: stay away from "squash
yellow" and "essence of eggplant."
t?
The Bottom Line
Drags in sports the Bias legacy
In life he was the model of a superbly
conditioned athlete. In death he is a
nainful reminder of the sometimes fatal
consequences of drug use. As the twisted
plot of the Len Bias story untolds, we are
left with a sense of despair.
Larrv Bird called his death "the crudest
thine I ever heard." His tremendous Dhvsical
condition failed to prevent a fatal heart
attack. His strong moral convictions
seemingly gave way during a moment of
weakness on his proudest day. After being
drafted by the Boston Celtics, Bias claimed
he was living a "dream within a dream.
Fortv hours later, the dream became a
nightmare as Bias lay dead, the victim of
a cocaine overdose.
Now we are left with the Question of how
- - - -
to deal with the memory of Len Bias. Should
we simply dismiss his death as a tragedy
and a waste, and go on remembering him
as he lived, not as he died? Or should we
hold Bias up as an example, using him to
show the possible consequences of drug
abuse?
The fact that Bias was a nationally known
sports figure ensured that his death would
bring an avalanche of publicity. Nonetheless,
now that he is dead and buried, and now
that the media's focus has shifted from this
one player to possible improprieties at the
University of Maryland, a case can be made
that Bias should be allowed to rest in peace.
In the first place, doing so would spare
Bias' friends and family the anguish of seeing
his name raked over in the press every time
the subject of drug abuse comes up. The
media is often accused of belaboring the
negative too much as it is, and condemning
Bias as a drug user while ignoring all that
was good about him would be another
example of this negativism. The most
merciful way to handle Bias from the
standpoint of his family and friends would
be for the media to simply refrain from using
him as its scapegoat on drugs.
Give blood
To the editor:
As some students know, the
Red Cross Bloodmobile
returns Wednesday to the
Great Hall in the Student
Union. What most students do
not know is that this is an
emergency bloodmobile. For
various reasons the Red Cross
usually runs low on blood
during the summer months.
However, this summer the
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Red
Cross has been particularly
low. For this reason it is
especially important that
donors turn out on Wednesday
between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
The process of giving blood
only takes 30 minutes to an
hour of your time and it is
painless. I do not like needles,
but my dislike is offset by
remembering that I may be
saving the life of a kidney
patient, someone having
surgery or an accident victim.
Also, as has been pointed out
before, you cannot get acquired
immune deficiency syndrome
(AIDS) by donating blood.
Please donate on Wednesday.
Someone is counting on you.
CURTIS HEDGEPETH
Sophomore
Psychology
Letters?
Columns?
This section of the editorial
page has traditionally been
reserved for comments from the
Robertson:
"The emergence of Pat Robertson as a
presidential hopeful has given many com
mentators the opportunity to take lascivious
notice of such things as. well, God, about
whom we are supposed to hear only outside
the earshot of Norman Lear. "
William F. Buckley
"1 veryone from Roy Rogers to William
F. Buckley seems to have drafted Pat
Robertson as a presidential candi
date, so what the hey, damn the torpedoes
let's call him "Pat Robertson, presidential
candidate."
Why not? lt'd be, well, different if we had
a well-known preacher running for the
White House for preaching's sake.
A prominent preacher has run before, of
course, and recently Jesse Jackson in the
1984 race. Unlike Robertson, though,
Jackson represented many different things
in the eyes of voters. He was the black
candidate, the results-minded foreign policy
envoy, champion of the poor, gadfly of the
Democratic Party, oratorical dynamo. His
credentials as preacher occupied more of a
background position.
With Robertson, it's a different story.
The Almighty and Robertson are an
almost inseparable pair; in fact, he openly
claims a direct line to Him, replete with
conversations including a language only the
two understand. God, says Robertson, told
him to build his Christian Broadcasting
Network (CBN), the Virginia Beach, Va.,
John Gibbs
Guest Writer
A second argument in favor of letting Bias
rest in peace is that it will allow the public
to remember him as he lived, not as he died.
Bias became famous as a basketball player,
not as a cocaine user. Constantly linking
his name with drugs will only tarnish the
image he created that of a great athlete.
It will also make the public skeptical of
sports figures, and undermine the type of
hero worship that stars such as Bias inspire
especially among children.
A final argument against making an
example of Bias contends that he should
be held to no higher standard than the rest
of us. Simply because he was a famous
athlete does not mean that he should be used
as exhibit A in any argument against drug
abuse. Most of us live secure in the
knowledge that whatever vice we choose,
whether it be drugs, alcohol or smoking,
it will be ours alone. The public and the
media are not privy to knowledge of our
personal habits.
Yet Bias, as a star, was forced to endure
a great deal of scrutiny about his private
life. He was judged on much more than just
his basketball skills. Many believe that this
is wrong, and that he should be treated solely
on the basis of these abilities. His personal
life ought to be a thing apart, and should
be granted the same privacy as our own.
Unfortunately, these arguments are not
entirely convincing. In the first place, they
are unrealistic. Bias was a very famous
person. His death would have been big news
regardless of how he died, but the fact that
it was drug-induced made it a major news
story.
That is really the bottom line. The
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student body on current issues,
as well as feedback regarding the
newspaper or its policies. How
ever, we have suffered from a
notable dearth of such insightful
observations and we've been
force to run this letters policy
AGAIN.
So get off your duffs and let
us know what you think! When
you write, we ask that you
observe the following
guidelines:
H All letters and columns
must be signed by the author(s).
We maintain a limit of two
signatures per letter or column.
B Students who submit let
ters or columns should include
their name, year in school,
major and phone number. Pro
fessors and other University
employees should include their
title and department. If the
writer holds a position in an
organization relevant to the
content of the piece, that posi
tion should be indicated.
n All letters and columns
must be typed. We ask that you
double space, using a 60-space
Religion on
Gd Bracked
Associate Editor
empire that brings in $230 million a year.
The Almighty even acted as real estate
counselor for the complex ("Buy the land,
buy it all," Robertson reports he heard) and
suggested a particular brand of transmitter
(RCA) for Robertson's inaugural television
venture, which, in 1961, became the coun
try's first Christian TV station.
Robertson's desire to become commander
in chief has divine origins as well. Last year,
as Hurricane Gloria skirted the Carolinas
coast, headed for CBN and its affiliated
university, Robertson ordered the storm to
change course "in the name of Jesus." It
did, unfortunately for some Long Island
residents, who received the storm's waning
wrath.
Robertson said that, had Gloria not
cooperated, he wouldn't have considered the
presidency. "If I couldn't move a hurricane,'"
he told a CBN reporter, "1 could hardly
move a nation."
Would Robertson move a nation by
similar, biblical means if elected? No doubt.
But to what degree, and for what issues?
That's another question entirely, one not
easily answered by Robertson's ambiguous
remarks, a compendium of which appears
combination of an ail-American killed by
cocaine is too big a story to ignore or gloss
over. The press has bombarded us with items
from the Bias case because it is newsworthy,
it sells papers. In the future it can be expected
to continue linking Bias' name with drugs.
Even if it hurts his family, his friends and
those who admired him, Len Bias will be
included along with the likes of Don Rogers,
John Belushi, David Kennedy and the other
victims of drug abuse. It is sad, but Bias
may one day be remembered more for how
he died than how he lived. Though unfor
tunate, the manner in which he died ensures
that this be the case.
Another reason Bias deserves to be
condemned is that he should be held to a
higher standard than the rest of us. As a
superstar athlete, Bias was in the unique
position of being able to influence people
who only knew him through their TV screens
or their local sports pages. The things he
said and did had meaning. He was a symbol
of the lofty goals that can be accomplished
through talent and dedication. By becoming
a celebrity, Bias had taken on the weighty
responsibility of being admired and emu
lated especially by children. He had a
responsibility to those who looked up to
him, and he failed it.
Now he is a symbol of another sort. He
is a symbol of our weakness. He is a symbol
of the vulnerability that we all must endure.
And by exposing this side of Bias, if even
one person can be saved from the same fate,
if even one deprived kid in a slum or one
rich kid in a mansion can have his nightmare
exchanged for a dream, then it is worth
dragging Len Bias' name through the mud.
Ignoring his death will serve only to render
it meaningless. And then it will be as wasted
as his life.
John Gibbs is a senior history major from
Lynchburg, Va.
line.
B In general, letters to the
editor are shorter (fewer than
800 words) and aren't as argu
mentative as columns.
B Th? Daily Tar Heel
reserves the right to edit for
style, taste, grammar and
accuracy.
Please place letters or
columns in the green box
located in front of The Daily Tar
Heel office Room 105 of the
Student Union. Deadline is 12
noon.
the move
in a recent issue of New York magazine.
He's "a great believer in personal freedom
and the non-intervention of government in
people's lives." "Don't call me a television
evangelist," he said, "I run a network, I'm
a businessman, an economist, a lawyer."
Yet "The minute you turn (the Consti
tution) into the hands of non-Christian
people, . . . they can use it to destroy the
very foundation of our society." And "a
Supreme Court ruling is not the law of the
land."
There's a place, even in the secular world,
for a religious leader, whether the leader's
"religion" is a balanced budget, social
reform, Christianity or even atheism.
Robertson's near-certain candidacy, which
is an attempt to place Christianity within
the earshot of voters, is a useful reminder
of this.
Besides, the genteel Robertson's far
reaching ambition adds spark to the stale
debate of how involved a church should be
in government affairs. A Robertson candi
dacy is guaranteed to set the atheists on fire
and may even have Christians squabbling
amongst themselves. And since we're talking
about an aspirant leader of the free world
here, intellectuals the guardians of that
world are bound to get into the act also.
And we get to watch, without having to
pay an admission charge or anything.
Eil Bracken is a senior journalism major
from Hendersonville.