Page 4-Thursday, October 27, 1977-The Michigan Daily ibe St baan aiIs Eighty-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 43 News Phone: 764-0552 j Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan*B r Tr iue to AnitaBrant is " " 1a * BEST OPTION IS NUCLEAR POWER: Energy need not be limited not a joke- HILE WE weren't looking, it seems, the Michigan State Leg- . islature has been conspiring to insult us. Members ofthe Michigan House of Representatives are considering a resolution of tribute to anti-gay activist Anita Bryant, for her "brave and righteous campaign" against M homosexuals in Dade County, Florida this summer. That a single House representative would even write a commendation for Bryant is shocking, but the fact that 50 other Michigan representatives are co- sponsoring the resolution is downright frightening. The tribute, which now sits before the Committee on House Policy in Lan- sing, applauds the singer for her strength against what is termed "a nonrepresentative national media," and a "massive, biased and shameful attack" against her. The resolution goes on to happily point out the defeat of Dade County's Homosexual Rights Ordinance by a 40 it's an insult Is Congres save energy TT HAS BEEN made evident these blast few months that the Carter ad- ministration's energy policy is in trou- ble. Both houses of Congress have shown no haste in dismantling the plan; adding some of their own pro- visions there and deleting others here. Washington representatives have been under constant heavy pressure from both the oil lobbies and from the White House. The President has made it clear that his plan is the centerpiece of his administration's domestic policy objectives. One provision of the energy plan as proposed by President Carter was a series of taxes to be levied on owners'of "gas-guzzling" cars. These taxes would have been gradually increased over a period of years, as would be the gas mileage standards on all cars. When the Senate Finance Commit- tee got hold of the tax, however, it was drastically altered. In place of the initial plan, Senator Howard Metzen- i baum (D-Ohio) asked for and received g Senate support for a proposal to ban , production of all gas-guzzling cars af- Ster 1980. Of course, this plan was decried by auto manufacturers. They let loose their own lobbyists on Washington, in an attempt to convince Congressmen to reject the Metzenbaum proposal. It per cent margin, primarily as a result of a campaign by Bryant. The com- mendation conveniently avoids characterizing the inflated and archaic arguments she used to secure such a defeat. What is perhaps more enraging than the wording of the resolution itself is the attitude of its primary sponsor, Mark Siljander (R-Three Rivers), who says he didn't introduce it "to make an issue." Getting the State House to take a stand against gay rights apparently doesn't qualify as an issue. It is at least a small relief to learn that a few members of the Committee are not seriously considering the tribute. As the chairman rightly points out, such a bill would honor a person "who favors taking away the rights of others." Any threat that such legislation could be approved is a step backward for human rights. Needless to say, the State Legislature has no right to commend Anita Bryant, nor has it any business to be considering such a bill. s trying to or waste it? was hard enough to conform to present government safety and gas mileage regulations, the companies claimed, and the newest proposal was an attem- pt by the administration to control their entire operations. Thus, under these circumstances, news came from the capital Tuesday that a House-Senate committee debating the Carter energy plan voted 23-1 to oppose the Metzenbaum plan. The' committee's decision has all but killed any chance of a final domestic energy plan including a ban on gas- guzzling cars. The Congress is running out of time to pass a meaningful new energy policy. Recent moves at chopping up the Carter policy are totally out of step with the directions this country will have to take in order to save itself from becoming an energy vaccuum. The Metzenbaum ban on gas- guzzling cars represented a construc- tive compromise. It would have helped persuade automakers to stop fighting energy conservation and start contrib- uting to it. After Tuesday's action, there is only one question to be asked of Con- gress: Which direction are you going in; are you attempting to conserve en- ergy or waste it? They do not seem to know the an- swer. By R. L. MARSH Recently, the Daily featured an article on the protest of some 100 misguided environmentalists against nuclear power. It is time to put this issue into its proper perspective. Despite the hysteria and at- tempted obfuscation, the stub- born fact persists: nuclear en- ergy remains the safest and most desirable form of large scale power generation. The opposition is not really based on considera- tions of safety, waste disposal, terrorism, etc. - as these have all been investigatedtand dealt with by competent individuals and groups worldwide. The oppo- sition is instead grounded in a more fundamental dislike of large-scale centralized energy conversion. However, consider the oft-cited alternatives of solar, wind, geothermal energy and others out - all of which are grossly inefficient by compari- son. These are so unsuited to the needs of a modern industrial' society that any attempt to base an energy policy upon them would mean a near irrevocable collapse of the economy (and the ecology!) IN FACT, as has been noted by many observers, there is a close correlation between the rate of energy consumption and the economic well-being of a country. It is a neo-Malthusian folly to think that this process is con- strained by some chimerical "limits to growth." Every society has been faced by resource or energy crises. There is really nothing surprising in this. Society at any point finds an existing lev- el of technology which defines a certain resource base. Such re- sources are, of course, exhausti- ble over time. The unique feature of human history is man's creative capacity to generate solutions (e.g. new technologies which define new resources) to such problems. That is, man de- velops more advanced scientific ceptable standard of living. In the face of such enormous challeng- es, one is left wondering how any- one can seriously propose cutting back energy consumption. That this point has not been lost on other nations is evidenced by the recent undertaking between west Germany and Brazil con- cerning the transfer of nuclear technology. Similar deals involv- ing France, the Soviet Union, Ja- "Despite the hysteria and attempt- ed obfuscation, the stubborn fact persists: nuclear energy remains the safest and most desirable form of large scle, power generation. and cultural conceptions which transform the society. It should be clear that exactly such progress is what is needed today. Present economic realities feature vast idle capacity, obso- lescence and shutdown in basic industry, collapsed exports, and a shrinkage of the skilled labor pool. when one looks at the Third World, the situation is even more staggering. It is an urgent neces- sity to eliminate the labor-inten- sity and low productivity of ag- riculture and to accelerate indus- trialization in order to bring the majority of humanity to an ac- pan, and Mexico have just been concluded. THE SITUATION in the U.S. is somewhat different, but equally promising. Congressional activi- ties have left Carter's conserva- tion-oriented energy policy in a shambles. In this context the U.S. Labor Party and the conserva- tive National Coalition of Inde- pendents on Issues have been ac- tively organizing political, indus- trial, and trade-union forces around a program of industrial growth, as outlined in the Labor Party's Nuclear Energy Develop- i ment Act. The critical features of this act include: * an immediate increase inth number of fission reactors. * full funding for the Clinch River Breeder project with the aim of late 1980s commercial production of the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR). * perhaps most importantly, the gearing up of research and development, and the infrastruc- tural work required to make nu- clear fusion realizable by the end of the century. Over the last few weeks, vari- ous political figures have ex- pressed an interest in or a com- mitment to such a policy. A num- ber of state legislatures and trade-union locals havetalready gone on record supporting the Labor Party's earlier call for the rapid development of fusion and the expansion of the fusion pro- gram by the earliest possible date. What is needed to realize this potential is appropriate action by persons in positions of responsi- bility and good old-fashioned grass roots pressure to force such action. Let Congress know,- nuclear energy is needed now! R. L. Marsh is a member ol the U.S. Labor Party, as well as the student chapter of the American Nuclear Society. I1 H PUP~rnCRO UG iT TO 'Ai. k Letters to The Daily r____. .. _- _. . ANYODY WHO HATE-S OIL. AND C-AS PRICE REGULA'notAS CAt" r BE ALL. BA, 9 " III ^ t , gyn. an" Sports advice To The Daily: Well, the University of Michigan finally lost their first game. While the season is cer- tainly not over, Bo would be wise to learn from his lesson. Now is the time to develop a passing attack to compliment his well bal- anced running. Certainly the weak passing at- tack against Minnesota showed that Michigan could use much improvement in that depart- ment. Every season finale, Michigan is caught by surprise when they play a well bal- anced team, be it USC or Ohio State. Michigan should begin to open up their attack so when the "big" games do come, they will be ready. - Todd Menenberg " defacing posters To The Daily: The practice of defacing publicity posters for campus events by the people who commis- sion them in order to discourage rip-offs is causing increasing uproar among those of us who work very hard to design them. In addition to their informational purpose the posters are designed to be'pieces of art and should be respected as such. Alternative means of distribution or dis- play may be in order such as the printing of more posters or even flyers so that the infor- mation reaches its intended audience before being ripped-off, without incurring too much added expense. Rip-off is preferable to defacement in our minds, however such poster collecting is en- couraged to take place after the publicized event has occurred. - The Graphic Design Production Workshop cern felt by those involved. I do agree that a more appropriate location for the gym annex could have been selected, but I question the allegations that the site near the scene of the 1970 shootings was deliberately chosen to cloud any further investigations into the mat- ter. I do believe that the interests of the KSU Board of Trustees are narrowly directed. Cer- tainly it is not the choice of the townspeople of Kent for such conflict to occur over the situation. Once before were their businesses defaced and their security threatened. It is not pleasant to live within the confines of National Guardsmen. I do appreciate your efforts to improve the situation at Kent State. So continue with your information meetings, flyers, and speeches, your petitions and armbands. Educate people about the progression of your goals in Kent. Be supportive, show concern. But please stay here. Neither the university nor the town deserve the anxiety and defamation induced by mass rallies on the KSU campus. The repu- tation of an educational institution is at stake. I am thankful that my diploma will bear the name of the University of Michigan, for I fear that Kent State University may be regarded in the future only by the light of this tumult. Continue your support, but please consider those primarily influenced by your impetu- ousness. - Ann Snyder south africa To The Daily: The admirably lucid article by Rod Kosann on the situation in South Africa provokes certain reflections. We must grant that it is difficult at best to secure racial har- mony and justice in a land where two European elements - the Dutch and the English - and four non-European elements Some form of literacy test, applied equally to allraces, would perhaps meet the needs of the moment. A racial test is always unjust. There is no race under the sun that does not contain many able people, quite competent to govern them- selves. There is also no race, unfortunately, which has not some individuals unfit to govern themselves or others. Moreover, the present South African government is not only undemocratic but highly illiberal as well. Arbitrary arrests, imprisonments, "house arrests," and censor- ships under the so-called "anti-Communist laws" reproduce the worst features of Com- munism. Tyrannical measures to "save civ- ilization" is "to commit suicide from fear of death." - Preston Slosson, professor emeritus " israel questio To The Daily: Dr. Zvi Gitelman, University of Michiga professor of political science, spoke on th Jewish-Palestinian question. His knowledg of the question was the knowledge that i necessary for anyone to reach a fair an honest judgment of the solution of this im portant question which must be solved t prevent a world wide and possibly an atomi war. He agrees that Israel is certainly entitle to a country of its own 'in Jerusalem an equally agrees that the Palestinians are en titled to a country of their own established o the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Both sides should agree to this becaus they both want peace, not war. And all th world should help both of them get it by en couraging both sides to get together and bot