1981_10 The Daily Collegian October 1981

              Opinion
Page 8/October 1.1981—Daily Collegian
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Letters
ifrom readers
The nuke debate:
for and against
To the editor
Concerning the anti»fc_ke debate
that has suddenly arisen again, mainly
because of the Diablo protest, I feel
both sides are being totally unrealistic. Since I'm basically con, I'll attack
the pros first.
'America needs energy production,
not conservation." Are you mad?
Where have you been in the last 10 —
years? There are ways of conserving
Through technology we can substitute
our 'needs' with energy-conserving
ones and outlaw the antiquities we are
now living with I am, of course, "■■
speaking of individual needs, not
those of industry's. I'm not saying
these new substitutes have been invented yet, little alone on the markets,
but surely it cari be done. Look how far
we' ve come in the last 50 years!
There' s been so much progress with
the "alcohol' cars (which has been
stifled for the most part). A little bit of
research could produce all kinds of energy-conserving appliances, etc.
Chicken feed you say. Well I agree,
somewhat, but we've got to start
somewhere The main thing holding
us back is the lack of funds for that
research and the apathy of the pro-
nukes (who represent most of our government).
Something that Mr. Bruns said in
his letter (to the editor on Sept. 28)
that totally provoked me was this
statement: "They (nuclear wastes)are
only harmful when they are put on
public display in the atmosphere like
coal wastes." As egotistical as the human race is, I supose I shouldn't be
surprised. Those wastes aren 't in our
hands anymore Mr. Bruns. They're
now in the hands of Mother Nature,
and one of-tbese days she' s going to
spit them back out at us. To say
they 're harmless is absurd. Of course,
they're harmless right now, this minute. But what about tomorrow? If
there' s a major earthquake at Diablo
in a few years, what then? You sir can
try and protect yourself with your 25-
year safety record, but I don't think
it'll work. And as for that 25-year record! You make me laugh! That is
nothing That's only half the time
we've been playing around with this
stuff. Do you know how long life has
been on this earth? Do you know how
long man has been on this earth?
Twenty-five years isn't even a blink of
an eye Do you realize how long it
would take nuclear power to destroy
all of that? Not very long, a day maybe, if everybody went wacko and shot
off their bombs or if we pissed off
BIC MOM and she cleaned us out with
our wastes we've so "safely" burled
out of sight but not quite out of mind
You 're not dealing with total idiots
here, Mr Bruns, you're dealing with
scientists, lawyers, and doctors and
millions of people who have studied
and looked into the matter and they're
worried!
As for the anti-nukes and reality,
well they're pretty far off, too.
They're yelling out all of the oppositions without giving any answers to
the problems. It's not a cut and dry issue. We don't have the potential right
now to produce enough energy to keep
things running smoothly if we cut if off
now. It will have to be a slow transition. But the pro-nukes ask, "transition to what?" Coal isn't the answer,
we' II run out of it someday anyway,
especially if it were our main source.
It's got to be something we've got
lots of, with a never-ending supply,
and that won't kill us off in the future
The only thing that comes to mind is
solar energy. Yes, yes, I know it'sex-
pensive, five times as much to produce, but so what? It's pretty sad
when it comes down to "your money or
your life" but I think that's what it
has" come down to. And what most of
the ruckous is about is the fact that
the American people, no one in the
world for that matter, are being allowed to choose.
Judy Wehmeyer
Planning ahead
Too often we wait until something affects us personally
before we do anything about it. This may be the case for
many college students in their lower to mid-20s regarding
Social Security.
Social Security? That's for old people, ones who are
retired.
That statement may be true now, but for those attending college who are thinking they will get a job after
graduation, work until they're 65 and then retire and
live off of Social Security benefits the rest of their lives,
may be living in a fantasy land.
In his speech to the public last Thursday night, President Ronald Reagan recommended to Congress a 12 percent cut in many government agencies. However, he did
postpone deferring a cost-of-living increase for Social
Security beneficiaries, saving taxpayers approximately
$2.9 billion.
But how long can a system so insecure as Social Security survive? The president had considered asking
Congress to approve borrowing funds from the Medicare
and disability sections of Social Security to help bail out
the retirement funds. Is this the kind of system we as
citizens should expect to take care of us when we are too
old to care for ourselves?
Hardly.
But are we prepared to take care of ourselves?
That is questionable.
In grade school and high school we got allowances
from our parents. In college we survive on scholarships
and student loans, as well as what we can make during
summers and by working part-time during school.
We've been getting handouts for most of our lives.
We must be thinking of ways now, while we are still
getting our education, as to how we plan to manage
financially after that magic retirement age arrives.
Does the government owe us anything? No. But we owe
it to ourselves to do some planning for our futures without
the help of the government.
—By Joan Hietpas
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October 1,1981
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