Mark Bearmon
The Daily Tar Heel
82nd Year of Editorial Freedom
All unsigned editorials tre the opinion of the editors. Letters and columns represent the opinions of
individuals.'
SG
to end
trie
apatiiy
Founded February 23,
Thursday, January 9, 1975
oveireor itiieir:
intoeraL same reforms
At a time when sufficient Presidential qualifications
seem to be one term as governor (Jimmy Carter), less-than-one-term
as senator (Lloyd Bentsen) or a few
years in the House, a famous brother, and senatorial
defeat (Mo Udall), it is quite refreshing to find
someone with a more substantial record.
Tom McCall has just completed two four-year terms
as governor of Oregon, and during that time has made
so many advances that he almost seems overqualified
to be Chief Executive. Yet he doesn't seem to covet the
White House, an even better recommendation of his
background and his sanity.
McCall's credentials would make other candidates
blush, if not from fear then from loathing. Just since
1966:
Pull-tab cans and nonreturnable bottles have been
outlawed in Oregon, reducing roadside litter by almost
90 per cent;
Real estate development has been banned on the
state's 361 -mile coastline, preserving much of Oregon's
scenic beauty for posterity;
Laws concerning abortion, homosexuality, and
marijuana have become some of the most liberal in the
nation. Possession is now a misdemeanor, not a felony;
The paper mills on the Willametter River have
been policed so effectively that both people and salmon
can now swim the length of the stream;
Highway funds have been used to build bicycle
trails, and thousands of billboards have been cleared
from state highways.
In North Carolina it would take political upheavel
just short of revolution to complete such a slate of
reforms.- But McCall is convinced that Oregon, with
its vast wilderness and homogeneous population, still
doesn't have to be unique in its success. We must also
believe that we can, in fact, soon change radically for
the better.
North Carolina, with its littered highways and
endangered coastline, should listen and listen well to
McCall's story of success. His warning against more
expansion, more population and more pollution
should be clear to us. Governor McCall has shown us a
cleaner, better future and it works.
For the capitalist diehards and corporate magnates
who oppose such plans (McCall's bottle law has
already been defeated by business interests in 40
states), there is always the consolation that initial
advances will please both the eye and the pocketbook.
Oregon has become so appealing that its growth rate
now exceeds California's and, until other states
improve, is likely to continue. McCall's legislative
program thus provides incentive to both the ecologists
and the executives of the immediate future.
One of the major problems that has
faced Student Government over the past
few years is student apathy. No matter
how efficient or inefficient student
government is, the majority of the
students just do not care.
For the past several months. Campus
Governing Council (CGC) and other
officials have searched for remedies to
the problem of student apathy. Finally,
about one month before the Christmas
holidays, the CGC formed two
committees to study student
government efficiency and policies as
well as student attitudes.
The first of these committees, the
CGC Reforms Committee, will look
into ways to make the CGC more
responsive to the student's needs. This
committee has scheduled a public
hearing on Wednesday evening, Jan. 15
where it will listen to ideas from
interested students.
The second committee, the Student
Concerns Committee, will look into
student government in general. It will
survey the present programs of SG and
make proposals as to how to make the
students more aware of student
government. The Student Concerns
Committee will hold public hearings
soon. All students are invited to attend.
Student apathy is not a new thing. It
began soon after the fall of the two
major student political parties on
campus in the late 1960s. One of the last
conventions of the Student Party, the
largest of the two parties, boasted an
attendance of over 3,000. And that was
in the days when 3,000 students would
be over 30 of the campus.
But student input into Student
Government has dwindled greatly over
the past few years. A recent telephone
survey revealed that over 50 per cent of
the student body did not even know
what the CGC was, despite the fact that
I..T. McRae
Ecologists must pay the price
In case you missed it over exams and
the holidays, President Ford exercised a
pocket veto of the strip-mining bill
passed in the waning days of the Ninety
third" Congress: The bnT required that
strip-mined land be restored to its
"approximate original; contours,"
which, according to the opal industry,
would have made strip-mining
prohibitively expensive. The President
accepted the industry's contention and
denounced the bill as inflationary.
("Inflationary" is apparently becoming
the Ford Administration's favorite
scare-word, somewhat in the same
category as the Nixoniaris "national
security.")
One is tempted to respond to Mr.
Ford in a condescending ijnanner: "Go
to the rear of the class, Jerry. Of course
it's inflationary. But tjie cost of
environmental quality is less material
output for everyone. One way to
manifest this reduced availability of
material goods is to raise prices while
money incomes remain constant. What
else is new?" The trouble is that such a
remark would come to Mr. Ford and
to almost everyone else as a blinding
revelation.
Environmentalism burst upon the
American scene five or six years ago
with all the appeal of the hula hoop and
quickly became a motherhood issue at
least in national politics where specific
choices did not have to be made. The
eco-freaks and their political allies
expressed a raucous confidence that
corporations could be made by law to
clean up America with no inconvenience
or cost to American, consumers. The
price would all be paid out of corporate
profits. Since the two principle heroes of
every American child are Santa Claus
and Robin Hood (in one or another of
their incarnations), this reasoning found
wide acceptance.
The squabble over strip-mining
points up the gulf between
environmentalists on the one hand and
government policy-makers and the
energy industry on the other. It also
reveals the. essential unreality of the
environmentalist position and
everybody's lack of understanding of
the economics of environmental quality.
The real questions about
environmental quality are 1) How
much are we willing to pay for it? and 2)
How will we apportion jthese costs
among ourselves? S far the
environmentalists have betf(n unwilling
to address these questions jat all while
the industry has tended to janswer that
any cost at all is too high.
If resources are to be used to cleanse
or preserve the environment, then it is
clear that those resources iwill not be
available to increase material output.
The real cost of consumption goods
must rise and, other things toeing equal,
our material standard of living must fall.
ftp fllf
If we wish to have a clean environment,
we must pay for it. Yet
environmentalists seem unwilling to
accept that these costs exist and must be
borne by the whole society. It is mere
fantasy to suppose that corporations
can or will bear the whole cost of
environmental quality.
Yet it was precisely this fantasy that
accounted for the apparent ready
acceptance of environmentalism in the
United States. Everyone could be in
favor of clean air and water since they
were free. When it became evident that
these things were not free, Americans, to
the chargin of the environmentalists,
quickly demonstrated that they weren't
willing to pay much for them. ,
To the more zealous and more vocal
environmentalists, every tree, every
duck and every deer is precious and
should be preserved for its own sake,
quite apart from any usefulness it may
have to human beings. Average
Americans and the energy industry find
this position quite incomprehensible.
On the other hand the genuine eco
freaks regard the energy moguls as evil
and greedy men. These men are not evil,
but like most of us they lack any
appreciation of how fragile life on earth
really is; like most of us, they think and
deal in short-run solutions while the
environment is a long-run problem;
and, like most of us, they regard
society's welfare as less important than
their own welfare. We might induce the
energy industry to bear a portion of
society's burden; we cannot induce them
to bear all of it, nor should we expect
them to perceive how desperately short-
VETO
sighted strip-mining is.
. If we had continued the fevered
economic growth of the 1960s, the
environmentalist position might have
carried without serious opposition. The
high rate of growth material well-being
would have concealed the fact that
without environmental restraints the
economy's material output would have
grown even faster. But inflation,
-recession, and most particularly the
energy crisis suddenly brought the costs
of environmental quality into sharp
focus.
The Congressional action which
overturned an apparent
environmentalist victory in the case of
the Alaskan oil pipeline was the first
sign that Americans were not really
willing to sacrifice their material
standard of living for the sake of a few
musk oxen. Further signs are evident in
the unseemly, if not downright
dangerous, push to speed up building
nuclear reactors and the granting of
leases for more off-shore drilling in the
Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic
Coast,
Americans on the whole are not
stupid, only ignorant. It may be possible
to convince them that a decent
environment is worth the price. But
presenting it as free and then
disappointing them only generates
mistrust of environmentalism as a
general proposition. In America Alistair
Cooke reports the response of an Italian
immigrant asked what he had learned
from his 40 years in America. The
immigrant replied that he had learned:
"There is no free lunch." It is a lesson the
environmentalists would do well to
learn.
Larry McRae is a grad student in
economics.
The
Daily
Tar Heel
Jim Cooper, Greg Turosck
Editors
David Ennis, Associate Editor
Lu Ann Jones, Associate Editor
David Klinger, News Editor
Harriet Sugar, Features Editor
Elliott Yarnock, Sports Editor
Gene Johnson, Wire Editor
Martha Stevens, Head Photographer
Jim Grimsley, Night Editor
students elect its members and the CGC
is in charge of allocating over $300,000
in student fees each year.
SG is now offering more services to
the students than ever before. For 75
cents per page, the Student Typing
Service will type your term paper or
whatever else you need typed. The Ride
Coordinating Service will try to help
you find a ride or riders for that
weekend trip home or to almost
anywhere else in the nation. The
Student Services Commission will rent
you a refrigerator for your dorm room
or a calculator to help you with your
homework.
Another major step SG has planned is
the expansion of WCAR, the campus
radio station, to a FM station. After
more than two years of hard work, plans
for WCAR-FM are almost complete
with next fall set as the tentative sign-on
date for the new station.
Although many students are taking
advantage of' these services at the
.present time, many more do not even
know they exist. If student participation
were to increase, SG could offer more
services that would benefit even more
-students. Currently, the only SG
supported organization that seems to
interest a large majority of the student
body is the Daily Tar Heel which, in the
most recent survey, boasted a
readership of 95 per cent of the student
body.
One of the co-editors of the DTH
recently suggested, that SG cease
operation for one day so the students
would realize exactly what it does offer
that is taken for granted. Hopefully this
will not be necessary. With a little effort,
the two committees recently formed to
study student apathy will come up with
proposals that will whip the condition
once and for all. Who knows? Maybe a
new student party is the answer.
Mark Dearmon is a senior journalism
major and Publications Board
Chairman.
Jacques Ceinteure
Editor's note: Incredible as it may seem, the following story is true.
LENINGRAD, USSR Every good Americanophile in this city knows
that North Carolina is famous for cigarettes, furniture, textiles, Jesse Helms
and basketball. When the directors of the UNC Russia Tour proposed a
friendly pick-up basketball game with some Russian students as part of their
trip, it was only logical (at least to the Russians) to presume that the
legendary round-ball behemoths of tobacco road were coming to take on
the Soviet Union. The result of this illogic was international mayhem and
one of the worst dustings "North Carolina University" has ever suffered,
losing to the All-Star Team of the Lesgaft Institute of Physical Culture 92
41. The offer of a game was made to the Soviet-American Friendship Society
by the tour directors in July. When no reply was received, the directors
concluded that the idea had no appeal to the Russians so plans were
dropped. Upon arrival in Russia, they found that not only had a game been
arranged, but it had been promoted Soviet-style into an international
spectacle. Directors Chuck Forrester and Gerry Onks were dismayed. They
had no plan, no equipment, and no team other than collection of Woollen
Gym "amateurs" who couldn't even have played croquet, much less as a
team.
The Friendship Society provided parts of the uniforms. Shoes were piled
in the center of the dressing room. Russian sizes aren't the same as
American, and some of the team ran onto the court flapping like Bozo the
Clown. No jocks and trunks, so rolled up jeans had to do. The shirts were
faded orange and black, completing these Halloween costumes. Even
Goodwill Industries wouldn't have picked up this crew in its Thrift Shop
drag.
Enter the Russian team of "students," resplendent in coordinated
uniforms. Their sizes ranged from huge to huger. In fact, their center was
reputed to own a goose that laid golden eggs. The setting in a huge arena was
low-camp Olympics. On the scoring table the Soviet and American flags
. were flying at equal heights, and two internationally certified referees were
on hand to officiate this sand-lot affair carried to absurdity.
Announcements had been made over radio, and some 2,000 citizens stood in
the cold for the 1,200 precious tickets. This was to be Leningrad's answer to
the ACC Tournament.
Despite constant protests, the Russians would not be convinced that
"North Carolina University" was a school of their own creation, not N.C.
State or Carolina. Soviet players came across the warm-up line to meet
Monte Towe and or Mitch Kupchak. The Russian coach insisted that Unks
had to be Norman Sloan or Dean Smith. After persistent denials, Unks
admitted he was Dean Smith (choosing the latter identity for obvious
reasons). When they spotted the name "Thompson" on the American roster,
the Russian team went wild. They insisted on posing with him for the
Prayda photographers (yes, they were there too). It didn't seem to matter
that this Thompson was 5-1 1, a guard and white.
The absurdity soared to ever greater heights. Before the game, the Vice
Rector of the Institute addressed the audience in lingering Castro style,
saying this "international competition is a continuation of the policy of
detente." It was as if Kissinger had swept the court in preparation. Then
came the grandiose introduction of players with fanfare and applause (most
of these American hot dogs had never played before more than seven other
people, including their mom and dad).
Next the Soviet players presented gifts; the Americans stood empty
handed. Who carries presents to a pick-up game? For the Americans, what
was intended to be a friendly little game was fast becoming a humiliation
or a preposterous joke. A commemorative plaque was given "to be
presented to your Rector in America." Then the tip-off.
The Americans scored the first basket, but after that it was all down hill.
They stood no chance against this gang of semi-pros the Russians had
assembled at great expense from throughout their nation. Everybody on the
U.S. team got to play irrespective of skill. The American sports information
director emerged in the person of an 1 1-year-old tour member armed with
an Instamatic.
When the great international exercise in detente was finally over, the
Americans were laughing harder than they were crying over the score.
Andperhaps the Soviet players realized, with a mixture of
disappointment and relief, that they had not played State or Carolina. Some
never wised up. As Unks left the gym, the coach yelled, "Good luck, Dean,
and tell Burleson hello."
When the President of the United States meets with the Chairman of the
Communist Part of the USSR, and they negotiate through an interpreter,
do you ever wonder whether something is lost in the process? Keep
wondering. In the course of translation, fictions such as "North Carolina
University" may be created, and David Thompson can lose five inches.
Jacques Ceinteure is an international sports correspondent based in Paris
and Fuquay-Varina.