Thursday, September 6, 1934
Page 4
Dally Nebrasksn
11
There's a new hoscr on the block this
week in Ottawa. Hi3 name is Brian
Mulroney and he says he wants to
be friends with the United States.
Mulroney and the Progressive Conser-.
vative Party both won si artirng victories
in Tuesdas national el' Jtions; startingly
large victories. Th fug -osers were Pierre
Trudeau's Liber, .1 .':rty and the entire
Third World.
r t w it, haven't Canada and the Uni
ted States always been friends? Haven't
the smiling Canucks stood by us from
arms buildups to Third World exploita
tion? Gordon Sinclair may have quieted som
of the uproar with his sappy vinyl trib
utes to American institutions, but much
of Canada didn't like the United States
during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Our involvement in the Vietnam War
and the Watergate scandal fueled Old
Glory burnings and demonstrations
across Canada similar to protests now
being heard in Western Europe.
Mulroney's election, a3 well as the take
over of Parliament by the Conservatives,
signals the end of the reisn of Pierre Tru
deau and Canadian leaders agitating U.S.
presidents. Through his resignation in
June, Trudeau pressed for justice in in
ternational politics.
Trudeau's successor, John Turner,
though not as liberal, promised to con
tinue many Trudeau policies. In fact, the
death knell of Turner's campaign rang
when he appointed 17 former Trudeau
staffers to posts in his prospective govern
ment. Trudeau always viewed himself &3 an
thA Third World, standing in
the breech created by the nationalistic
policies of Russia and the United States.
Reagan's policies ignore the Third World
if they aren't in the best interest of the
United States. Mulroney, like Turner, has
close friend3 In American business. Ob
viously he will concede economic policy
points to Reagan and American business
in Third World matters.
Mulroney's economic policies are al
most sure to improve Canada's struggling
economy, though. Currently, 11 percent
of the country's workers are unemployed
and the Canadian dollar is worth 77
cents on the American dollar.
Trudeau advocated taking chances to
improve East-West relations and ensure
peace. By chances, Trudeau supported
such risky endeavors as arms talks and
eventual reductions.
American presidents at times
testy because of Trudeau's insistence.
Ronald Reagan, who, as sure as Nebraska
will beat Wyoming, will win November's
election, must be heartened by Mulro
ney's concession to give the United States
the benefit of the doubt in foreign policy
matters.
No longer will our president labor under
the disapproving eye of a close ally. Presi
dent Reagan will work unencumbered by
the threat of re-election and bad Cana
dian public sentiment to establish the
United States as undoubtedly the mo
powerful country on earth. .
Good or bad, that is the case. Mulro
ney's election has placed that much more
power in the hands of Reagan and his
advisers. Frightening.
Jeff Browne
Daily Nebraska Staff Editor
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11 LETTERS CfVAe FROM JUtoioR AO CPX&be PRBSKVevT.x
Telethons deliver guilt
in attempt to gather
viewer hearts, money
I like a lot about America: I like the people; I like the
land; I like mom and apple pie, freedom and the
representative form of government. I just thought
you should know that. I don 't like the Jerry Lewis Labor
Day Telethon.
Be assured, my intention is not to put down Jerry
Lewis or belittle the work he's done for the Muscular
Dystrophy Association. He's unquestionably a sincere,
caring human being. No argument there. So if he's such a
fine person, why don't I like his telethon?
2.
ames A.
Fussell
Lumber company receives favors
A lumber company whose former general counsel
heads the U.S. Forest Service has its hand out for
multi-million-dollar favors from the federal govern
ment. Louisiana Pacific Corp. buys more government
owned timber than any other company, and has a long
history of receiving preferential treatment from Uncle
Sam. ,. ,
As we've reported in the past, Forest Service chief
Jack Anderson
and Joseph Spear
John Crowell went to bat for his old company on a $600
million timber-industry bailout, and Louisiana Pacific
subsequently posted record profits.
The Forest Service also refused to cooperate with a
congressional investigation of price-fixing and bid-rigging
charges against Louisiana Pacific, and the Justice
Department dropped a criminal case against the com
pany despite a federal judge's finding in a civil case that
Louisiana Pacific and another company "conspir ed to
restrain trade and to monopolize the timber industry in
southeastern Alaska."
Here are Louisiana Pacific's latest shenanigans in the
field of corporate welfare:
The company is expanding aggressively into wafer
board, a plywood substitute made of wood chips and
resin. The process uses previously worthless trees like
aspen, until now valuable chiefly for its brilliant autumn
foliage.
Enter the Forest Service, which had plans to "treat"
aspen stands in Coicrado a euphemism for wholesale
cutting of older trees that could be a fire hazard. Accord
ing to internal documents seen by our associate John
Dillon, the Forest Service originally planned to treat
some 2 million board feet of aspen in Colorado national
forests.
But when Louisiana Pacific announced its plans to
build a waferboard mill near Montrose, Colo., the Forest
Service suddenly decided that 50 million board feet of
aspen needed to be treated.
In one document, a Forest Service official acknow
ledged candidly that the 25-fold increase in aspen
harvesting was "in response to Louisiana Pacific's re
quest for aspen." He wrote that the cost data was "based
on information as developed from recent contacts by
Louisiana Pacific regarding possible new markets for
aspen and expansion into this area with construction of
a new mill facility."
Louisiana Pacific has also been pressuring com
munities in Mississippi, Michigan and Minnesota to
apply for grants from the Department of Housing and
Urban Development to finance wafer-board plants in
their areas.
Nuclear phobia? Are you scared of nuclear
power? Rest your weary minds, friends. The Department
of Energy is spending $85,000 of your money for a study
of this particular anxiety. In all likelihood, you will soon
be informed that your fear of nuclear meltdowns is
' irrational a phobia, like fear of flying.
Conducting the survey is Dr. Robert DuPont, a psychi
atrist with decidedly pro-nuclear leanings. Appointed
by President Richard Nixon to head the National Insti
tute on Drug Abuse, DuPont is a phobia expert who
believes that the media plays to the public's fear of
nuclear energy. In a 1983 article, he wrote that the
nuclear-power debate "is being warped by an irrational
fear of this method of generating electricity."
DuPont's survey of about 1 60 people asked such ques
tions a3, "Generally, how afraid of nuclear power are you
personally?" He also asked respondents to agree or dis
agree with statements like, "I have confidence that the
government will see to it that nuclear plants are built
safely."
After the inital survey, DuPont asked his respondents
to read an "educational booklet" in which he concluded
that "some people fear nuclear power unreasonably and
that this fear i3 harmful both to the fearful individual
and to our community as a whole because it can distort
decisions about how best to meet our energy needs "
The respondents were then surveyed again to deter
mine if the exposure to pro-nuclear "education" eased
their anxieties.
Continued on Pag 3 6
Did you watch the end of that telethon, the middle or
even the beginning? If you did, you undoubtedly saw
celebrities fall all over themselves begging for money for
those charity children. Singers sang their guts out,
comedians made you laugh until you cried and untold
actors and actresses relentlessly extracted every ounce
of pity from an already exhausted audience.
The trouble is they did it so well that they made us feel
sorry for those kids. I could almost see myself mouthing
the words "those poor kids." And they made us feel guilty
with a capital GUILT.
I feel guilty and a little sad. I didn't send in any money.
Maybe I should have, I dont know. I didnt send in any
money because I resent being manipulated that way.
Yes, manipulated. They do some major league manipu
lating. The whole show is devoted to evoking pity and
guilt.
That's why they use a poster child. Ever see a poster
adult? Are you kidding? Not enough drama. Find me a
kid. Not too tall, arm braces, slight build with white
teeth, freckles and a Wonder Bread smile. Bingo. Poster
child.
I know, they're just trying to make me care. My heart is
tugged out of shape. Believe me, I care. They made me
care so much that I got to thinking about the whole idea
of telethons. And for that matter, jumpathons, walka
thons, skipathons, bounceathons and all the rest.
I resent, and I would venture to say that many self
respecting people with physical handicaps, resent the
way we have to beg, wheedle and plead for pity just to
get a few bucks for a disabling disease.
Excuse me for saying so, but it's Reaganomics run
rampant. Let the private sector take care of the poor,
the old, the emotionally and physically disabled. Not
when f m king. One of my favorite quotes goes something
like this: it wui be a great day on earth when needy
people get all money they need, and the Pentagon has to
have a bake sale to buy a bomber.
Jerry Lewis raised more than $32 million this year for
Muscular Dystrophy, breaking his own record. A lot of
money? Sure. But next time you're hanging around the
Pentagon, ask them how much just one B-l Bomber
costs. You're paying for it. Then ask yourself: Do we have
our priorities straight? You may think so. I hope not.
But even as I rail for change, I find myself mired in
Catch 22. Even if I could wave my magic pen and make
telethons disappear, I wouldn't. I couldn't at this tine.
The fact remains, the majority of the money gou$
toward curing disabling diseases comes from those pit-
uui iciecnons. If I were a person with physical nana
(and notice that thev are nmta first and handicapped
only incidentally) I would resent them and root for them
all in the same breath. Quite a quandry.
The alternative? Direct governmental support Otr.er
countries do it Even America has done it before.
Ccntinsssl ca Pa 9 .
