Opinion
Jana Pedersen, Editor, 472-1766
Eric Pfanner, Editorial Page Editor
Diane Brayton, Managing Editor
Waller Gholson, Columnist
Paul Domeier, Copy Desk Chief
Brian Shellito, Cartoonist
Jeremy Fitzpatrick, Senior Reporter
Pump up the battery
Electric car initiative should be supported
Automakers and used car salesmen often tout their prod
ucts as running “clean and quiet.” Those terms, how
ever, are relative. The cars may be clean and quiet
compared to older, less efficient vehicles. But another type of
vehicle, the electric car, beats any car lot’s offering.
Last week, President Bush endorsed a cooperative project
between the federal government and a consortium of U.S. auto
makers to develop batteries for such cars. The government will
help finance the venture with $260 million.
It seems wrong, somehow, to drive a car that plugs into a
power socket rather than a pump. Since the invention of
automobiles about a century ago, they have been propelled by
gasoline and other fossil fuels.
Imagine the benefits, however; no harmful emissions,
reduced smog and a decreased dependence on foreign oil.
Bush’s move came, in part, as a response to a new California
law that will require 10 percent of all cars sold in the state by
the year 2003 to be battery powered. The measure is part of a
comprehensive plan to fight pollution. It requires the use of
equipment on cars sold later this decade to make them run
cleaner. . .
The most striking pan oi tne pian, nowevci, iui^u
initiative to developing batteries that are more efficient. The
governors of nine Eastern states and the mayor of Washington,
D.C., Tuesday followed California’s lead by agreeing to call
for similar standards.
Together, these actions could force U.S. automakers to
change their stance on pollution-control measures. Detroit has
balked at proposals to require greater fuel efficiency in conven
tional cars.
That idea should not be rejected in favor of only developing
battery-operated cars. Recent progress on battery technology
shows that if the car manufacturers take a can-do attitude, tech
nological improvements follow. In this case, federal money and
the California mandate act as the carrot and the stick.
Some problems must still be overcome before the electric
car is an option for today’s buyer.
The major disadvantage is range. Current models need to be
recharged daily, making them impractical for long trips. For
commuters, though, current battery capabilities may be suffi
cient.
On Wednesday, U.S. automakers said the California plan
could work in other states, but that it would mean less varied
and more expensive vehicles. Similarly, they have said man
dated higher gas mileage standards would cause great expense.
However, the long-term costs of continued 100-pcrccnt reli
ance on fossil fuels for transportation are much greater.
The electric car initiative is a solid first step away from 100
pcrcent reliance. Electric car researchers must continue to
receive support from the government and automakers. A first
step won’t solve our energy problems. But it may point toward
other ways of weaning us from the pump.
*—E.F P.
University should engage
in self-examination on race
Joyce Ann Joyce’s letter (“UNL
basking in mediocrity,” DN,Ocl. 30)
cannot and must not be dismissed as
hysterical effluvium from an emo
tional, highly charged woman prone
to delusions.
Despite the justifiable iratcncss
evident in the tone of the letter, it
should be an occasion for self-exami
nation on the part of the officials of
the various administrative units of the
university, including the chancellery.
Despite pronouncements about the
university’s commitment to provid
ing a hospitable and supportive cli
mate for its minority members, and
despite such gestures as the Chancel
lor’s Commission on the Status of
Minorities, the experience Joyce wrote
about indicates a persistent lack of
sensitivity to the subtle forms racism
can and docs take, or worse, tolerance
of or condonation of them. After all,
such commissions can be pul to the
son of use lo which recent presidents
have put the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission.
Joyce’s experience is not isolated,
and other minority faculty members
have been subjected to even worse
indignity and persecution. The ac
tions of the grade appeals commit
tees, in the English department and in
the College of Arts and Sciences, arc
a regrettable and objectionable exer
cise of power: regrettable because
they set a bad precedent and objec
tionable because I suspect that Joyce
iscorrccl in contending that few white
full professors (perhaps even white
associate professors) would receive
the same sort of treatment from their
supposedly collegial colleagues.
Oyckan Owomoyela
professor
English
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PAUL DOMEIER
History too harsh on some
History can be quite harsh. Right
now, history has a number of
targets for anger far beyond
the merits of their actions.
And I feel sorry for them.
For example, Christopher Colum
bus. For goodness sakes, he wasn’t a
genocidal maniac. He was lost.
Certainly his importance has been
overplayed to the schoolchilren of
this nation. But landing on a few
islands doesn’t convict him of geno
cide and tyranny for the entire West
ern Hemisphere.
He and the other exploiting colo
nists brought terrible germs over, but
they didn’t know what germs were.
Perhaps our grade-school misin
formation on Columbus was just a
test of our underdeveloped reasoning
skills. Had we been smart, we would
have known something was wrong
when the teacher said, “He called the
natives Indians because he thought he
was in India.”
Or it was a test of our future revi
sionist furor, to see whether we would
get mad that the continents were named
after Amerigo Vespucci.
I feel sorry for Blythe and Hoffman,
the duo that converted styrene into
polystyrene in 1845.
Polystyrene foam is Styrofoam.
When Blythe and Hoffman came up
with polystyrene, they must have been
overjoyed at making this wonderful
advancement in plastics.
Because of Styrofoam, we have
had cheap picnicwarc, insulated food
and thousands of protective peanuts
for packaging.
How were Blythe and Hoffman
supposed to know that making this
plastic would cal away at the ozone
layer?
Now Michael Stipe ofR.E.M.and
other well-meaning, mouth-foaming
environmentalists are telling us that
Styrofoam is Satan on earth.
I agree that Styrofoam needs to be
phased out, but I would feel guilty
undercutting the people who have
made their livings from Styrofoam
unaware of the ecological conse
quences.
The same goes for other tradi
tional pollutants and the people who
have depended on their production.
Perhaps our, erade
school misinforma
tion on Columbus
mi iust g test of our.
underdeveloped rea
soning skills. Had we
been smart, we
would have known
something mu
wrong when the
teacher said. “He
called the natives
Indians because he
thought he was in
India. ”
Detroit is bad enough now; imagine
what will happen to that city when no
one will buy an internal-combustion
automobile.
I feel sorry for Stipe, too, but not
because of any great error he’s made.
It’s just pity for an idiot.
I also feel sorry for fans of the
Atlanta Braves.
The fans inherited this name. The
Atlanta National League baseball
franchise has existed since the league
was formed in 1876. The franchise
has moved from Boston to Milwau
kee and from Milwaukee to Atlanta,
carrying the Braves tag along with it.
1 don’t buy the argument that “Red
Stockings,” the name of the other
Boston team when the franchise was
formed, is better for a baseball team
than “Braves.” Boston teams also have
been nick-named the “Bostons” or
the “Beaneaters.” I’ll take “Braves”
anyday.
If it’s really that big a deal, change
the name. I offer “Krauts” or “Huns”
or some other tough-sounding Ger
man slur. This guy with German heri
tage won’t care.
However, I’d like these sensitive
groups to bring their complaints up
before the team in question gels to the
World Series or before the fans do
some offensive chant. If the names
are so unjust, they also should be
unjust when the team is in last place
and attendance is nil.
Braves fans, like Columbus, can’t
even claim to be originals. They’ve
been condemned for doing a chant I
they copied from Florida State.
I feel sorry for Dan Quayle.
He’s not as bright as we would
expect a vice president to be, but he’s
done his job just fine. He’s*smart
enougn 10 oe vitc prcuucm.
The true complaint Americans have
about him sounds quite silly: “1 don’t
like Dan Quayle because I don’t think
he’s smart enough to be president.'
Most people aren’t smart enough
to be president, but no one else is
criticized for it. Only Quayle gets
abused.
It’s President Bush’s fault. If you’re
a Republican senator and the Repub
lican nominee for president asks you
to be his running mate, you don ’ t say,
“Well, sir, I would, but I don’t think
I’m intelligent enough.” You say, “Yes,
sir.”
Quayle may be dumb compared to
other politicians, but he was elected
senator. No matter what, this means
he’s not dumb compared to the gen
eral public. He’s probably smarter
than tour-fifths of the comedians who
tell Dan Quayle jokes.
On the other hand, if Quayle gets
cocky and decides to run for president
someday, he’ll lose my sympathy. A
man has to know his limitations.
To err is human. To forgive appar
ently is not.
1 ’ m going to look the other way on
these offenses, though. These people
need a friend.
Domeier is a senior news-editorial jou*j
nalism major, the Daily Nebraskan copy desk
chief and a columnist.
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