Monday, April 4, 1983
Daily Nebraskan
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By Christopher Burbach
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The massive U.S. military buildup
since World War II has weakend American's
economy without increasing its national
security and the current administration's
proposed spending wOl heighten that trend,
according to two UNL professors.
Wallace Peterson, an economics
professor, said large sums of money spent
on U.S. military buildup are causing long
term damage to both the international and
domestic arenas of the U.S. economy.
Since the military buildup that began
with the Vietnam War in the late 1960s,
the U.S. economy's rate of growth, ratio of
exports to imports and productivity per
man hour have all declined, Peterson said.
He said the decline in the exports-to-im-ports
ratio shows a decline in America's
ability to compete internationally.
Partly because of the large amounts
of money and resources spent on the
military, U.S. industry has shifted from a
"cost minimizing approach" to a "cost
pass-along or cost indifferent approach,"
rather than increasing productivity,
Peterson said.
That has made the American economy
less competitve on the world market.
"I think that can be traced back to
resources going into the military," he
said.
According to Peterson, the current ad
ministration's proposed military spending
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will accelerate the forces that are weaken
ing the U.S. economy. He said Reagan
wants to spend SI. 5 trillion on defense
between 1984 and 1988.
The administration is proposing a
massive military buildup along with a tax
cut, which just won't work , Peterson said.
Those who are well off will benefit from
the tax cuts, he said, and those who are not
well off will pay for the buildup.
"Reagan thrust the real burden of the
buildup on the backs of those who can
least afford it," Peterson said.
The Reagan administration's rationale
that the Soviets have outspent us and we
have to catch up is erroneous, according
to Peterson. He said the United States
spent an average of SI 08 billion annually
between 1969 and 1978, while the Soviets
spent an average of SI 26 billion durhg the
same period.
Because of the greater efficiency of the
U.S. military-industrial complex, U.S.
dollars buy more than the Soviet's.
"1 just den't believe that there is strong
evidence that they have outspent us,"
Peterson said.
In spite of the U.S. military buildup
since World War II, the nation is less secure
today than it was in 1945, when it was the
most secure nation on earth, Peterson said.
"Today. after spending S23 billion,
we live in the shadow of nuclear
extinction," he said. "To say we are more
secure, you would have to be a complete
fool."
Peterson said the Reagan administration
is thinking in terms of World War II, when
a huge military buildup boosted the
economy. The results of such a buildup
now are different, he said.
"The only way we are going to do
something significant about the
deteriorating economy is to find a way to
stop the arms race - it's the only way
we're going to survive," he said.
Leo Sartori.a physics professor who
worked as a consultant to the SALT II
negotiations, said political conflict between
the United States and the Soviet Union is
the underlying factor contributing to the
difficulty in reaching an arms control
agreement.
"The disease is the political conflict;' the
arms race is a symptom. It behooves us to
deal with the symptoms before the disease
kills us all," Sartori said.
He said both the United States and the
Soviet Union want to avoid annhilation,so
arms control is a goal of both nations.
However, there are several obstacles to
such agreement.
One of those obstacles is mistrust
between the nations, Sartori said . Another
obstacle is the historical tradition of
nations of ensuring their national security
by armed forces. However, vast changes
in military relationships caused by the
development of nuclear and other
advanced weapons should change that
thinking, which is based on now irrelevant
non-nuclear wars, Sartori said.
The arms race in the last 20 years has
been fueled by the "action -reaction"
phenomenon. according to Sartori, in
which each side makes deployment
decisions based on what the other side has
or what they predict they will have.
Sartori said asy mmetry between the
United States and the Soviet Union in
geographical surroundings and types of
nuclear arsenals also has held back arms
control agreement. The Soviets, who are
virtually landlocked, and find hostile
nations nearby, have the majority of their
nuclear arsenal land-based missiles. The
United States, however, has a sizable
mount of nuclear weaponry on submarines
because of its access to the sea, and it is
surrounded by friendly nations.
The START (Strategic Arms Reduction
Talks) talks are faltering because the two
countries can not agree on the agenda of
the talks. Sartori said. The Soviets, with
their dependence on land-based missiles,
are against U.S. proposals to talk about
those types of missiles first.
"We better solve some of these obstacles
if we hope to preserve our civilization,"
Sartori said.
1)5. illiteracy extends to math,
science, E-Week iectaeii' ay
By Kevin Hanken
Today, a certain ambivalence toward
science and technology exists in the
United States, and America is losing its
lead in the field of technology, said
Stephen Kahnc, professor of systems
engineering at Case Vestern Reserve
University in Cleveland.
Kahne spoke at the Nebraska Union
Friday as part of Engineering Week, an
annual symposium sponsored by UNL's
College of Engineering and Technology.
During his lecture, titled "Technological
Illiteracy for the Masses: The American
Way," Kahne explored the causes of, and
possible remedies to, the situation.
Kahne said interest in math and science
has dropped tremendously in U.S. high
schools through the years.
At the age of 9, 50 percent of U.S.
students are interested in math, he said,
but bv the time they reach 17, only 25
percent show interest.
Only 20 percent of high school seniors
take a junior or a senior level science
course, Kahne said. Only one-third of all
secondary school graduates have had three
years of math, and only 6 percent take
four years of math.
By comparison, he said, graduating
students in Japan and the Soviet Union
have had three times the math education
as the U.S. student with four years of
math. Kahne called the difference
disastrous.
Kahne said it is very disturbing that
since 1977, Scholastic Aptitude Test
scores have dropped dramatically for the
best students, who often become student
engineers and scientists.
One-third of U.S. high schools fail to
offer their students enough mathematics
to permit them to study engineering, he
said.
Continued on Page 7
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