OPINION
University Daily Kansan, March 20, 1985
Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
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Nuclear albatross
Kansas was brought one step closer to having its own nuclear albatross when 110 tons of nuclear fuel were loaded into the Wolf Creek power plant last week.
into the Wolf Creek power plant in The Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted the plant a low-power testing license the day before the loading was completed. Plant officials say it will be three months before the plant is producing electricity and at least six months before it is operating commercially.
When plans for building the plant were announced in the mid-70s, utility officials said that it was needed to keep up with ever-increasing demands for electricity.
They promised that it would be producing cheap, clean and safe energy by 1982.
And they estimated that the 1,150-megawatt plant would cost about $1 billion.
cost about $1 billion. It is easy to look back now and say that the plant should never have been built. Hindsight is always 20-20. But there were those who warned against the plant, who opposed its existence from its very inception.
They said the demand for electricity would not increase as dramatically as utility officials predicted. They were proved right when the energy crisis, and its resulting higher utility bills, taught consumers the value of conservation.
bills," taught consumers the . Although they pointed out the need for safe, permanent storage sites for the radioactive wastes generated by nuclear energy production, utility officials said safe storage methods would evolve in time. But in this age of high technology, there is still talk of burying the wastes in the ground, dumping them in the oceans or sending them into space - a new variation on "out of sight, out of mind."
Those nuclear protesters also said the costs of building a nuclear power plant would consume any savings that nuclear fuel produced over coal. Utility officials now estimate the plant's cost at $2.9 billion, almost three times their original estimate. Customers of the utilities who own the plant — Kansas Gas & Electric Co., Kansas City Power & Light Co. and Kansas Electric Power Cooperatives Inc. — are getting ready for their electric bills to skyrocket once the plant begins operation.
Lawrence residents will not have to bear the financial burden of Wolf Creek because they will not be served by the plant, but they live uncomfortably close to this atom-smashing source of electricity.
Even before Three Mile Island, those anti-nuclear activists used to harp on the dangers of nuclear power and the consequences of an atomic accident.
Let's hope they're not as right about that as they were about everything else. Under the circumstances, not even they would enjoy saying, "We told you so."
Leading Soviet
The world must now wait to see what direction the new leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, will pursue in developing relations with the United States and the rest of the world.
While Gorbachev is one of the youngest men to lead the Soviet Union, it would be unwise to expect too much from him.
After all, he was selected by the same people who chose Konstantin Chernenko only 13 months ago. And these people are not likely to allow a radical departure from past policies.
The 54-year-old Gorbachev is said to be witty, articulate and charming in person. Some are comparing Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, a doctor of philosophy, to President John Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline.
But this is not necessarily a sign of new and different leadership in the Kremlin.
It only shows Gorbachev may understand the West better than his predecessors and that he speaks the language better.
The fact that the Soviet Union chose someone who will probably be able to give the country leadership and direction for several years is encouraging.
The United States should make every effort to work toward a constructive relationship with Gorbachev and the Soviet Union.
But it could be a serious miscalculation to assume there will be any fundamental change in Soviet goals and policies.
As one British analyst said, "One can expect the same policies more intelligently applied."
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Military pensions are incentive
Budget Director David Stockman said it was "a scandal . . . an outrage." Rep. Les Aspin, D-Wis, the new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said, "This is straining generosity a wee bit." In fact, he said, "This is not generous, its lavish."
the present growth rate, annual pension costs will rise to $149.6 billion by the year 2022. Almost 26 percent
What is the subject of this uncommon showing of budgetary bi-partisanship? Well, it is not the B-1 bomber, nor does it pertain to the stockpiling of neutron warheads. Aspin and Stockman are describing, as they see it, the military's 20-year in-and-out retirement system
Stockman, who has been saddled with the unpopular task of finding government largess that can be ended, is correct on this issue -- if numbers alone are the basis for determining policy. But numbers alone should not determine this question.
The numbers that give impetus to Stockman's remarks are indeed wormish. In fiscal 1983, military pensions totaled $16.2 billion. A mere two years later, the annual cost has rocketed by $2 billion, to $18.3 billion.
As reported by syndicated column-
Commission has calculated that at-
BRYAN DANIEL
Staff Columnist
Clearly, Stockman must have reasoned, since the president's military budget request is under attack and the nation is confronting a potentially lethal budget deficit, no other option exists for the pension fund that allows beneficiaries to qualify at the green age of 37.
will result from automatic cost-of living increases.
This is especially true in these days, when there is talk of delaying Social Security payments beyond the current age of 65.
And then there is the phenomenon called "double dipping." Not only does the beneficiary qualify for a military pension, but after retiring from the military, he or she usually can enter the civilian labor force and eventually qualify for Social Security and other employment-related pension programs.
But Stockman, whom I admire, respect and support, has reasoned incorrectly on this one.
President Reagan has helped restore respect for the armed services. The quality of recruits going into the service today is reportedly the best ever. Competition is fierce for active-duty commissions among college graduates.
But what do they have to look forward to after volunteering — I repeat, volunteering?
Young people with pride, personally called to the front line in the defense of freedom, can expect poverty-level incomes, substandard housing, long stints away from spouse and family, and rendezvous with unfriendly people who want to kill them.
They get food of questionable quality, cold, heat, rain, insects, and toilet paper that could convince them to do without the next time. And if, in the worst case, they are called into action and captured, they will be subjected to visits by the likes of Jane Fonda.
Just the prospect of such pain and sacrifice requires a heavy investment in incentives. Only incentives can insure that enough people will continue to be willing to sacrifice so much for so little. An attractive retirement program is the best incentive there is.
The solution to the problem is not to cut benefits for those who serve their country, but to cut those programs whose efficacy is at best questionable.
For example, abolishing the Department of Education would provide savings that could be applied to the military pension budget. The "scandal," as such, would disappear, because the money pinch that led to the criticism of the program in the first place would be gone.
Legal marijuana could be regulated
I've been playing around with a fascinating number — 14,000, tons. That may be the amount of marijuana consumed each year in this country.
Actually, the federal narciss think it may be even higher. A recent raid in northern Mexico turned up 10,000 tons. The narciss were stunned because they thought Mexico produced only one-fourth of that amount.
But stay with 14,000 tons. Break that down to 448, 000, 000 ounces. I'm told that one ounce of marijuana yields 20 to 40 joints depending on their size and how much of the marijuana is wasted.
So stay with the conservative figure, 20 joints an ounce.
That's almost 10 billion joints a year. About 40 joints for every man, woman and child in this country.
biggest users are the groups that range from young adults to middle-agers. And being a large group, they account for a lot of demand.
So I have a simple question: If so many Americans want and use marijuana, if they can get it easily, if
Now, we can assume that millions of toddlers, even most children in elementary school, don't indulge in pot. Likewise a lot of old codgers.
So who's smoking the grass? Recent studies say that teen-agers
MIKE
ROYKO
Syndicated
Columnist
they insist on spending billions of dollars on it, why are we screaming at Mexico? Why are hordes of narcotics agents floundering around in futile attempts to find it, and why are police and courts wasting time and money trying to put dealers inail for selling it?
The politicians in Washington aren't going to stamp it out. It's one
of the country's biggest cash crops, and a big part of Mexico's economy.
So maybe it's time to give up trying to stamp it out, and to consider legalizing it in order to control it.
legalizing it. If it were legal, we wouldn't have dealers spraying machine-gun bullets and bribes across Florida, other big import states and importing countries. In other words, legalizing it would take it away from criminal doe dealers.
It would allow the nares to stop wasting their time on marijuana and concentrate on chasing far more drugs such as heroin and cocaine.
And best of all, marijuana could be taxed. A $10 or $20-anounce federal tax would bring in more than $5 billion or $10 billion a year. And every local government could slap on a little tax of its own.
Private enterprise would begin selling it, maybe in franchises, maybe on the Board of Trade. Sales and advertising would be regulated and age limits set as with liquor and cigarettes.
Sure, it would be impossible to enforce the laws 100 percent, but enforcement efforts could hardly be less successful than they are now.
And, yes, I'm aware that marri
juaana isn't good for us, although
scientists still aren't sure what the
effects really are.
However, the scientists do know a lot more about the effects of even the finest scotches, the most elegant gins, the most regal cognacus. Even if you pay $5 a shot and tip the bartender a deuce, they will still quiver your liver and strain your brain.
So it may be time for us to stop pretending that we can do something to stop marijuana from being sold and consumed. In a country where the citizens — and even illegal aliens
- have unlimited freedom of movement, and where there is almost no control of its own borders, we can do it.
They why not try at least to regulate it and let our own farmers and businessmen make a buck?
Churches uniting for doctrinal study
The World Council of Churches' watershed document reporting widespread theological agreement on baptism, eucharist and ministry is receiving unprecedented study by U.S. Christians.
What is even more remarkable, however, is the degree to which the document has penetrated the lives of local congregations and lighted a renewed fire under the grassroots ecumenical movement.
The ecumenical movement has been under widespread attack by conservative critics who dislike many political stands taken by the churches. But the "Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry" document indicates that neither the World Council nor the United States up their mandate to pursue the fundamental doctrinal issues involved in the quest for unity.
The statement recently was adopted by the council's Faith and Order Commission, which includes representatives of various religious members as the Roman Catholic Church.
the Southern Baptist Convention and Seventh-day Adventist Church. It reported widespread doctrinal convergence among theologians on the meaning in the various churches of bantism, eucharist and ministry.
In adopting the statement, the Faith and Order Commission sent it
DAVID E.
ANDERSON
United Press International
to the churches, asking for responses as to its truthfulness to the historic faith of the church.
The commission hopes that official responses by the 300 member bodies of the council will be made by December 1985.
December 12,
In the United States, the process of
the discovery of the document
has spawned countless theological
symposiums, official church study
groups and regional and local inter-
religious study meetings.
At one such recent meeting in Highland Park, N.J., the Rev. Thomas A. Prinz of the Lutheran Church in America said he was amazed at the congruence between the Lutheran conclusions on the Eucharist.
"The document compels us to study the text together," he said.
remain unresolved by the text, including the meaning of Christ's "real presence" at the sacramental meal and questions of leadership at communion.
But participants also noted that there continued to be differences especially in practice — that the bishopristist and ministry text unresolved.
Differences also exist on the Eucharist, or Holy Communion, that
The statement acknowledges that infant baptism was practiced in the early church but says baptism on personal profession of faith is the most clearly attested pattern in the New Testament.
For example, the Rev. Charles Wissink, professor of Christian education at New Brunswick Theological Seminary; said that disagreement continued about infant vs. adult baptism.
The most controversial section in the document — in part because the churches' practices vary so widely — is that on ministry.
That is especially true of what one Roman Catholic at the Highland Park meeting called the painful issue of ordained women. The issue cannot even be discussed under the present pope, he said.
Despite the differences, however, the document is stimulating these logical reflection among local churches, according to the Rev Thomas Trainor, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Englewood, N.J.
"A Lenten study by 23 churches in Montclair, N.J., is an indication of the influence of the document in local churches," he said.