8 Th Dally Tar Heel Monday, November 28, 1977
( Oreo Porter
Editor
Ben Cornelius, Managing Editor
Ed Rankin, Associate Editor
J Lou Bilionis, Associate Editor
Laura Scism, University Editor
Elliott Potter, City Editor
Chuck Alston, State and National Editor
.' Sara Bullard, Features Editor
Chip Ensslin, Arts Editor
. Gene Upchurch, Sports Editor
Allen JernIgan, f holography Editor
N.C. delegates fail test
The report card is out, and most members of North Carolina's
Congressional delegation seem to be failing miserably in consumer
protection. Congress Watch, a Ralph Nader lobbying group, rated the
nation's representatives and senators on 40 votes the group considers
indicators of consumer interest. Only two North Carolinians, Rep. Stephen
Neal and Sen. Robert Morgan, scored above 50 percent. Neal was said to
have voted "right" on 66 percent of the issues and Morgan 53 percent.
In the middle were Reps. Charles Rose and Richardson Preyer (43
percent), Lamar Gudger (38 percent), Ike Andrews and William Hefner (33
percent). At the bottom of the scale were Reps. Charles Whitley (28
percent), L.H. Fountain and James G. Martin (20 percent), and James T.
Broyhill and Walter B. Jones (18 percent). Senator Jesse Helms logged 20
percent.
It is interesting to note that all those at the bottom of the scale, with the
exception of Walter Jones, are Republicans. The Republican party, in this
state at least, would seem to have little interest in the Nader group's
"consumer issues."
Voters in Chapel Hill and Carrboro should find it interesting that
Fountain's consumer record has been less than impressive. Fountain, who
drew praise not long ago for his committee's investigations into the Food
and Drug Administration, comes up for the Democratic primary and
possible reelection on the November ballot.
Also on the November ballot will be North Carolina's conservative oracle
Sen. Jesse Helms. Helms, who has quite a national and statewide following,
has been characteristically negative on consumer issues and any issue that
smells of liberality, constraint of free enterprise or increasing federal
responsibility.
Stands by Helms and other Republican and conservative leaders in the
state indicate that either citizens of North Carolina are unconcerned about .
consumer rights, or they are doing a poor job of making their concerns
known to their representatives. There are many methods for the people to
make themselves known letters, protests or even lobbying and score
keeping in the Nader tradition. But the best method is to exercise influence
with the vote. North Carolinians should take note of information such as the
Nader reports, storing it away for May and November when they will decide
whether to give candidates for re-election a passing grade.
South still leads nation
in civil rights violations
Thirteen years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, incidents of racial
discrimination, commonplace during the years of state Jim Crow laws,
continue to occur. And, unfortunately, the preponderance of civil rights
suits filed with the United States Department of Justice are reported in the
South
The civil rights movement of the last 20 years that most people thought
had ended incredible cases of racial discrimination still encounters Jim
Crow. According to a recent New, York Times article, public
accommodation suits are the biggest single category in the civil rights suits
filed. In Louisiana, a funeral home refused to bury the body of a black baby.
In Jacksonville, Fla., a black entered a barber shop and was told he could
not get a haircut. And in Marksville, La., one bar relegated black customers
to a back room while another provided only take-out service for blacks.
The South fared no better in the criminal civil rights violations filed last
year. Of the 57 persons charged, 36 came from the South and eight from
North Carolina.
Discrimination and improvement in race relations did not end with major
pieces of legislation or historic court decisions. The cases described above
demonstrate a total disregard of many of the major gains of the recent civil
rights movement. Distrust and gross inconsideration still exist in relations
between the races in all segments of life University life not excluded.
Today the Daily Tar Heel begins a series of articles examining race
relations o n campus. Although we realize racial problems on campus do not
approach the severity of those cases listed above, we do recognize the
necessity of trying to gauge racial progress here. Examining existing
conditions is the place to begin if race relations are to improve at the
University.
Exposing the solar energy hoax
Nuclear technology the 'leading edge' for social
By JULIAS' GRAJEWSKI
The key measure of an energy source js its
power density the higher the power
density, the lower the cost of its energy and
the greater its efficiency and overall value to
society.
At the surface of the earth the average
power del ivered by the sun is only about 200
watts per square meter (enough for a big
light bulb). Thus, this is the theoretical
energy output of any solar reflector,
collector or electricity generator; actual
efficiencies are much less. A modern oil or
gas burner has a reachable power density of
10,000 -Wowatts (10 million watts) per
square meter of generating surface, a
theoretical output 50,000 times greater than
any solar power device.
Somt sci-fi solar energy enthusiasts
propose using earth orbiting satellites to
gather and convert solar energy into
microwaves to be beamed down to earth. By
this far-fetched method only a power density
of about 2,000 Mowatts per square meter is
achieved, a fifth of the density possible in
earth-bound burners. Off the very surface of
the sun, energy density goes up to 20,000
fc;7owatts per square meter of generating
surface, barely twice that of an ordinary
fossil-fuel burner, and this advantage can
only be achieved by the huge expense of
sending out a lot of space hardware into the
solar system.
Present fission nuclear reactors provide a
power density of 70,000 it ;7w watts per square
meter of generating surface. Planned and
controlled thcrmonucIeari.tcw reactors
Battjj
85th year of editorial freedom
the next qualitative jump in energy
accessions and the energy mechanism of the
sun itself have a theoretical power density
of several billions of trillions of Aiowatts per
square meter of generating surface! The
fusion CTR's that will be on-line by the
1980s, early commercial devices, will prov ide
70,000 A;7twatts of power per square meter
of generating surface and give off no
radioactive products.
Barry Commoner has long been
promoting "solar electricity" either by solar
collectors in w hich gigantic arrays of mirrors
are focused on water boilers which drive
conventional electric generators or by the
use of solar cells using direct photovoltaic
generation. The first method has an
efficiency of 30 percent, the second a bare 10
percent. A conventional electrical generator
big enough to fulfill electricity needs for New
York City must produce 15 million
kilowatts. At 60 watts per square meter
effective generation, the total area of the
mirror system needed to provide heat to
drive such a generator is 240 square
kilometers! The total mass of the mirrors
(assuming a thickness of one centimeter to
assure minimal durability) would be five
million tons somewhat greater than the
mass of the Great Pyramid at Gia and more
than 20 times more bulky than fission or
fusion nuclear reactors of the same output.
And of course the materials used in this
boondoggle arc nonrenewable!
What about solar heating? At least 40
square meters ot solar heating area are
required for each family unit, thus ruling out ,
apartment complexes, mtilt -storied office
buildings, factories and piuetieally every
letters to the editor
Wilson one-armed bandits becoming
To the editor:
As a compulsive user of the one-armed
bandits in the Wilson Library Xerox room, 1
am resigned to wagering on the long shot
that my copies will turn out clear instead of
faint, tarry, unfocused, crumpled, bifurcated
or sopping wet. What 1 cannot overlook,
however, is having to wait in line for 20
minutes before I can place my bet because
half the machines are taking a siesta. Hey,
guys, either purchase some copying
machines that stay in operation, or I'll play
my nickels elsewhere.
Paul Grayson
A -7 Kingswood Apts.
Attorney needed
To the editor:
Those of you who may be confused by the
recent definition of the First Amendment in
the Tar Heel ("Students need voice against
University," Nov. 15) should know that we
are protected to our rights of court access
and legal representation rights that a few
students are trying to obtain for everyone
else at Carolina.
The Campus Governing Council now has
the funds to hire another attorney. That
attorney could be used to advise and
represent students against the University.
The first battle in the war was one with the
hike in student fees. Now we must see that
CGC uses the funds the way we want them to
before they are able to forget this strongly
abrasive move against the bureaucracy.
We who are working to get the CGC
restriction presenting Student Legal
Services from representing students against
the University removed need help. We need
to collect the long list of grievances we have
against the University and present them to
the Legal Advisory Committee which is
studying the resolution to remove the
restriction and to CGC. We must let them
see that we have definite reasons for wanting
an attorney.
This issue is important. If you can help,
please do. We need people to collect
grievances and people to tell how they have
been wronged.
We are going to get organized Tuesday
night. At 7:30 p.m. we're meeting in the table
and chair area next to the H unger H ut in the
Carolina Union. Please come. We need you.
In the mean time, think. An attorney to help
us lift the oppression of bureaucracy could
mean a lot.
Jennifer Burwell
Student Amendment Yell (SAY)
am
other structure except single family
dwellings.
Even for single family dwellings the most
optimistic cost estimates are $150 per square
meter of solar heating panels or $600 per
unit. Assuming a 20-year mortgage and
lifetime on the unit and house, the solar
heating will cost $75 per month on the
average. Even at the present fraudulently
rigged prices of energy this is a high cost.
The social cost of converting all American
homes to solar heating is staggering. The
primary expenditure would be the diversion
'Why, then, is the national media engaged
in a veritable propaganda blitz...?'
of one or two million skilled construction
workers into the entirely wasted effort of
building solar heating units instead of new
homes and factories which produce a real
social surplus.
The other derivations of solar energy, such
as water, wind and biomass energy
(collectively termed "soft energy" by Amory
Los ins), are merely technologies of the 14th
century (the century of 30-year life
expectancies, 50 percent infant mortality
rates, perpetual famine and periodic bubonic
plagues) and, being "stepped down"
adaptations of direct solar radiation, are
consequently much les power-dense and
efficient. For example, biomass energy, a
fanes name for burning firewood, alcohols
from vegetation and esen wastes
(chickenshit!) has a power density of a
Reviewer responds
To the editor:
In defense if 1 may: To all those who have
found discontent with my album review of
Dead Boys(Nov. 15) let me offer these words
of both rebuttal and appeasement.
First, some apologies are definitely due. I
publicly admit to being in error in basing the
group in Britain. It was totally an
assumption on my part, and a wrong one at
that. My knowledge of punk rock . limited,
much to my own decision, and what 1 do
know leads me to assume that the British
punk rock scene definitely suggest a change
in political structure. This is the basis,
though it now be proven false, for my
statement. Sorry, but I ain't gonna lose sleep
over it.
Now, let me address my next point to Mr.
Eisenmenger and Mr. Brown, Mr. Hartis
and Mr. Holsapple, who have so unaptly
donned my review as "an affront to objective
journalism." Where does the definition of an
editorial review lend itself to objectivity? My
article was never meant to be a prophecy or
an edict. I merely expressed what my feelings
and opinions were in accordance to the
album. Isn't that the point behind my
reviews? I've always understood it as so. I've
talked with many people who enjoy, even
appreciate what 1 said. To those of you who
didn't, fine. That's the whole purpose behind
the power of decision. Why don't you write a
review advocating punk rock? I might
disagree with your point of view, and might
even express such, but I certainly will not
stoop to assaulting your character with
phrases such as "neo-fascist," "narrow
minded." and "an affront to. . .journalism."
That is totally uncalled for. And if it's any of
your business, I have not one of Olivia
Newton John's albums and would not have a
Peter Frampton poster. I certainly never
realized that my reviews were going to incite
a mud-slinging attack.
I wholly agree with Mr. Hartis when he
says "maybe he doesn't need punk rock, but
someone else might." Punk rock may be for
some people. I think that's great. Obviously,
not for me and a number of other people who
have expressed my same feelings; I merely
expressed that in reviewing the album. So
why don't you write something constructive
in a different perspective? I'm not getting
paid, and I never said that every word that I
write is gold. What's for me may not be for
you and vice versa, but certainly you can find
something better to do than take pot shots at
someone's personal integrity. Accuracy is
important, and for the slight lack of that I
did and do apologize, but accuracy counts
fraction of a watt per square meter of
generating surface. These are not the much
vaunted "alternate energy sources," but
rather no energy sources!
In the last three years, 60 million people
have died across the globe from
malnutrition, its accompanying diseases and
outright starvation. A six-fold increase in
energy utilization is required to raise the
standard of living worldwide to a level where
people will be decently fed and sheltered and
further educated to develop industrial
agricultural infrastructures that can become
new markets and centers of manufacturing
able to participate in the required expansion
of world trade, i.e. the much discussed New
World Economic Order.
A commitment to solar energy instead of
fossil, fission and fusion energy means very
simply a drastic cutback in world energy
production energy required not only for
our ow n high standard of living but to make
fertilizers, tractors and irrigation equipment
essential to produce cheap and abundant
food for us and the rest of the world. This
cutback could result in the deaths of
hundreds of millions of people in the Third
World who are dependent on the
technological output of industrial societies.
This is called genocide, esen when couched
in euphemisms such as "pursuing a solt
energy path." "changing our life stsles."
Students as President and Mrs. Kennedy in Beat Dook parade
JFK re-enactment in poor taste
To the editor:
Inclusion of a re-enactment of
John F. Kennedy's assassination, as
part of Morrison dorm's "Salute to
the Sixties" in the Beat Dook parade,
was disgraceful. In an otherwise
only in facts, not in editorial subjectivity.
I still think punk rock sucks.
Gil Templeton
233 Butler Ct.
Foxcroft Apts.
Wolfe relative
To the editor:
I noted in a recent article in the Daily Tar
Heel from the great University of North
Carolina that you listed me as a medical
doctor, and that I spoke on the subject
"What really killed Thomas Wolfe" - all
true. It was up in Raleigh at little St. Mary's
College.
I do believe that after all these years, and
after all of the fame that Thomas Wolfe has
brought to UNC, that UNC should see fit to
honor their own great literary son, Thomas
Wolfe. Make no mistake about it, he was a
giant in more ways than one, and through
the years, he will bring great glory to UNC.
There is little doubt in my mind and
and economic progress
"lowering our expectations" and other
currently bandied phrases.
Why, then, is the national media engaged
in a veritable propaganda blitz to con the
public into abandoning nuclear fission and
breeder technology because of their
supposed dangers, only to accept this solar
energy hoax and equally dubious
conservation schemes? Why is the media
largely censoring the significance of fusion
power, especially in light of recent major
breakthroughs in this new and spectacular
energy source which will solve our energy
problems for thousands of years? Why is an
unctuous posturer like Amory Lovins right
here in North Carolina peddling his "soft
energy path" frauds and testifying on the
"dangers" of fission before the Federal
Nuclear Regulatory Commission seated in
Raleigh?
Perhaps the question of the "dangers" of
fission should be answered first. The fact is
that the nuclear industry is the safest
industry ever developed by humanity.
Thousands of people die every year in the
coal and oil industries. No one has ever died
from a nulcear explosion or radioactive
accident.
All of the radioactive waste produced
since the nuclear age began can be stored in a
250 foot room. This easily answers the scare
propaganda portraying the "insolubility" of
the nuclear waste problem. When plutonium
breeder and fusion reactors come into line,
all of this waste will be recycled as nuclear
fuel, thus completely eliminating the
problem.
Plutonium is not "the most poisonous
substance known to man. Two hundred
real gamble
festive atmosphere, it was grossly
inappropriate to stage the JFK
assassination; a tragedy nowhere
deserving "salute."
Christopher Adams
100 Carr St.
thousands like me that when it will be
decided by the next century as to whom
caught America from small town to city
and the land between it will be your Own
son, Thomas Wolfe. It is destined to be that
way; he caught it the USA, and it was not
Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Dos
Passos, Lewis, Dreiser or any of the others.
It was your boy.
By the way, I am not Effie Wolfe's son.
She was my aunt. I am the son of "Steve," the
rather "early arrival" so noted in Look
Homeward, Angel.
R. Dietz Wolfe M.D.
Director of Medical Education
St. Joseph Infirmary
Associate Professor of Medicine
University of Louisville Medical School
Beyond help?
To the editor:
I would like to agree with Doug Dodson
("Pay for services," Letters, Nov. 18). It
should be evident that, because 18,000
students did not vote, the student fee
increase was not felt to be such an important
issue. Even if it is, the fact that so many
students decided not to say it was should
show such people as the editorialist of Nov.
18 that they are way off base in thinking that
they know what is good for the student body.
In fact, how can the DTH be striving to meet
an adequate level of service for the
University when it is evident that the paper is
still on the ground floor? I would say that the
DTH is struggling and not striving. The fee
increase was voted down in the law and
medical school voting areas. It probably was
voted down by most graduate students who
voted. Mr. Porter, we, the graduate and
professional students, know what is
important, and it surely is not a fee increase
to aid the Daily Tar Heel, which is beyond
help under your leadership.
Robert Allen
DeyHall
The Daily Tar Heel welcomes
contributions and letters Ux the editor.
Letters must be signed, typed on a 60
space line, double-spaced and must be
accompanied by a return address.
Letters chosen for publication are
subject to editing.
routinely handled industrial substances such
as chlorine and phosgene gas are far more
dangerous. One hundred and fifty people
have been exposed to plutonium dosages
some times 200 times greater than the
officially set lethal limit and have shown no
ill effects whatsoever.(This is not to say,
however, that one should handle plutonium
carelessly!) Ths fuel purity in fission reactors
is only about three percent. To have a
nuclear explosion or make a bomb one needs
fuel purities of at least 60 percent and one
needs about $100 million of complex
equipment such as machine tools to
configure the fuel to extremely high
tolerances. There is no possibility
whatsoever of an accidental nuclear
explosion. A meltdown (if one should occur
in spite of about 15 back-up systems) will
merely create a puddle of easily contained
radioactive material.
Nuclear terrorists could do nothing with
any plutonium they steal. If they,jnvaded a
nuclear plant, they would not be able to
reach the radioactive fuel rods to even cause
a meltdown, never mind a nuclear explosion.
The fact is that nuclear technology is the
leading edge of scientific and industrial
development; without it there is no future
possibility of economic and social progress.
Fission is needed as a vital interim
technology until fusion power comes fully
into line in the 1990s. Not to develop these
technologies will mean an economic collapse
followed by a general ecological holocaust
that could eventually destroy the human
species and most animal and plant life.
Julian Grajewski is a gradutte student in
English from New York, N.Y;'