1980_10 The Daily Collegian October 1980

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THE PAH.Y ggUgCUH
Environmental Outlook
U.S. has its own seal slaughter
By Marshall Paul Sr-.lth
There has been a world-wide protest over the killing of the baby
Harp seals off the coast of Canada's Newfoundland province Yet few
people realize that the United States government runs its own bloody
seal slaughter every year in the tiny Pnbilof Islands between Alaska
and Russia.
Approximately 650 Aleut Indians live on the barren and windswept
islands of St Paul and St. George. Since 1966 the federal government
has been responsible for the Aleuts, and they live in a total welfare
situation, with the U.S. government paying all bills and living ex-
The only livelihood open to Aleuts is hunting seals and the pro¬
cessing of pelts. So the U.S. government, in a classic example of
wasteful bureaucracy, 'hires* several hundred Aleuts to slaughter
and skin approximately 25,000 seals each year.
These seal skins are mostly sold abroad, and only one percent of
the seal meat is used for food.
The average seal skin brings $100on the world market. These same
skins, due to management, paperwork and transportation, cost the
U.S. government $260 each. So every seal skin that ends up on the
back of wealthy European women represents a loss to the American
taxpayer of $160.
These figures are hard for me to understand. Are we
really preserving Aleut culture by losing millions of dollars a year to
slaughter a bunch of helpless seals?
The seal hunt gives year-round work to only 35 residents of these
islands and temporary summer work to about 15U. As I've said, the
islands are a total welfare state of the U.S. government.
I'd like to know lust whose 'culture' Is being preserved and how.
You can't make money on the skins, plus the Aleuts an being
taken care of anyway.    It's a typical Catch-22 situation, with the •
thousands   of   seals   killed   every   year   joining   the   American
taxpayers in being the big losers.
The roots of the Alaska seal harvest go back to a treaty signed in
1911 between Russia. Canada. Japan and the United States. At that,
time, the North Pacific Fur Seal was in great danger of extinction due
to wholesale killing in the seas between Russia and the U.S.
The treaty agreed to a limited harvest on the Russian and American
Islands where the seals come each summer to mate with all parties
to the treaty sharing in the catch. Although all four countries'share In.
the catch, only the USSR and the U.S. do the actual killing. This
treaty expires in October 1980.
The Seal Rescue Fund (1925 K Street N.W. Washington, D.C.
20006) is lobbying for the U.S. government not to renew this treaty,
saying that the seal harvest is unnecessary and inhumane as well as
being unprofitable.
• Many environmentalists believe that the seals have reached a
balance in number that can be maintained without the annual har¬
vesting. The U.S. government is formulating its position on the
treaty, and all concerned citizens should express their opinion.
Milton M. Kaufman, member of the U. S. treaty delegation, be¬
lieves the current treaty to be both impractical and immoral.
'To kill wildlife for luxury garments is simply not consistent with
ecological humanism,* he says. Regarding the Pribilof Islanders
their life on welfare is 'an unhealthy socio-economic environment
for any American citizen.*
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Creationism
vs. evolution
To the Editor:
I read with great interest Bob Fis¬
cher's reply to David N. Jones in the
Oct 7 Collegian, but I sadly noted a fail¬
ure of both parties to come to terms with
the Issue of evolution in a scientific man¬
ner Ever since Of' Charlie Darwin pro¬
posed it and Johnny Scopes taught it,
evolution has been the subject of close-
mindedness. both by its proponents and
detractors.
To begin, neither evolution (as pre¬
sented) nor creationism (the alternative
to evolution) is scientific, that is, empir¬
ical, duplicable, and demonstrable. The
issues involved, as evolutionists will
admit when pressed, span such vast
amounts of time it is doubtful if either
model will be more than a theory-which
is what evolution Is, a theory. The only
proofs that either side can marshal are
inductive: thus, choosing one or the
other is likely to be made on personal
prejudice and how an individual per-
ceives certain facts.
For instance, using the Bible to deny a
(so-called) scientific theory such as evo¬
lution is hardly admissible. But some
things Mr. Jones said are relevant.
Without going into great detail, let it suf¬
fice to say that evolution postulates In¬
creasingly sophisticated order evolving
from chaos. This one postulate is in con¬
flict with entropy: what physicists be¬
lieve to be the nature of things. Simply
sUted, entrophy is the observed tenden¬
cy of all ordered systems to degenerate
toward chaos.
Moreover, careful examination of the
inductive evidence for evolution will re¬
veal that it is woefully slim-almost total
conjecture that begins with preconceived
notions about the origin of life. The
twentieth century is filled with 'scien¬
tific' travesties such as Peking Man,
Java Man, PiltdownMan. Space is insuf¬
ficient to report the number of hoaxes,
pranks, and out-and-out wishful thinking
that has been represented as established
fact by evolutionists. Without digressing
too long on what I believe to be the more
ludicrous aspects of the evolutionary
theory, allow me to say a few words
about Creationism.
Creationism, like evolution, is not
scientific. But, It is my considered opin¬
ion that the inductive evidence for crea¬
tionism is strong. Recent scientific dis¬
coveries concerning the age of the earth,
the universe, and the 'red shift' have
lent great credence to the idea that the
universe simply came into existence in
one 'Big Bang.* While It can never be
conclusive, the weight of astronomical
and geophysical evidence is for creation¬
ism.
Creationism Is gaining wide support in
this country, especially California, and is
being recognized for what it is: an ac¬
ceptable, alternative to the the evolu¬
tionary model. More information about
creationism and how It compares to
evolution can be obtained from the Insti¬
tute for Creation Research, 2100 Green¬
field Drive, El Cajon, CA 92021. (By the
way, this organization is hardly some
form of "born-again* Inquisition but
rather a group of prominent scientists
with master's degrees who assert the
respectability of the creation model.)
In the future, don't use the Bible to
disprove things outside the scope of reli¬
gion. In the future, too, please refrain
from using 'scientific* models to dis¬
prove things outside the scope of sci-
ScottFree
KKK coverage
media hype
I was saddened to see that the Dairy
Collegian has brought itself down to the
same level as the rest of Fresno's comm¬
ercial, hype*>riented media.
I >efer to your coverage of the KKK
(Friday, Oct. 3,1960) and your total lack
of respect for a recent Fresno County
Board of Supervisors resolution, which
called on the local media to actively ig¬
nore the KKK and its activities.
Believe me, there are many more con¬
structive issues and events to report on.
How about front page coverage of such
things as: What people and communities
are doing to fight inflation; how CSUF
students could get involved in local vol¬
unteer activities and share some of their
knowledge with the community; cover¬
age of the election issues (not personal¬
ities) right down to the local level; cov¬
erage of important local activities such
as neighborhood council meetings (to
encourage CSUF students to ge involved
in their respective councils), Fresno En¬
ergy Committee meetings (where Fresno
County's energy future Is being discus¬
sed (or even city council meetings
where important housing issues (which
affect students) are discussed; a com¬
munity resource directory that could
help students find constructive groups
and events to get Involved with (why also
focus on entertainment?) etc.
I recently read of a fairly widely circu¬
lated newspaper in Riverside that has re¬
fused to cover any KKK event, publish
any racist ad, or in any way perpetuate
racism through its pages.
I congratulate its coverage and hope
that Fresno's media will find the stren¬
gth to follow suit. I feel it's in the best In¬
terest of peace and harmony. So darn it,
let's learn to love one another and end
racism.
THEDAJ-YCOU-GIAN
AS vice president
chastizes senators
ByLerriOben
•Associated student senators were
chastized by Legislative Vice President
Jeff Watson at their Tuesday meeting for
*not being terribly effective* and 'not
having goals and direction.*
Watson told the senators that he was
•disappointed (In the AS) as an organiza¬
tion* because of its failure to generate
new projects for the AS committees to
work on.
The AS controls the spending of more
than $350,000 In student fees snd more
than $250,000 in reserve funds, Watson
JEFF WATSON A.S. PRESIDENT CHASTISED SENATE
He mm am Mnators mere not -ptrmg mury projects
Marketing internships offered
to 12 minority coilege students
the interns will benefit from a series of
orientation and general meetings where
they will discuss direct marketing with
experienced professionals in the field.
DMMEF internships are open to any
racial minority student who has comple¬
ted at least his or her junior year. There
are no requirements for degree speciali¬
zation, although demonstrated interest
in or preparation for a direct marketing
career will be considered in selecting
He added, 'I don't feel we're being
terribly effective In our role as a govern-
Watson said, *We have dozens of stu¬
dents (who volunteer for various commit¬
tees) who are ready and willing to go to
work.
Minority students from colleges across
the country will be able to explore career
opportunities In the rapidly-growing $87-
billion direct marketing field through an
industry-sponsored Internship program,
according to Richard L. Montesl, presi¬
dent, Direct Mail Marketing Educational
Foundation.
Starting in June 1981, twelve minority
students will Intern for eight weeks at
Nev* York Metropolitan area direct
marketing firms. The students' transpor¬
tation to and from New York, room-and-
board for two months, and a $200-per-
week stipend will be underwritten by the
direct marketing firms participating in
the DMMEF program.
In addition to on-the-lob experience.
*We have the mechanism, the ma¬
chinery (in student volunteers),* he said,
'but we can't get anything done unless
we make the wheels turn. *
One suggestion was that the program¬
ming committee look into arranging a
debate between candidates in the up¬
coming election, such as one between
senatorial candidates Paul Cann and
Alan Cranston.
Other suggestions included:
-Looking into the possibility of in¬
stalling chalk boards in campus rest-
rooms to help prevent graffiti. (A motion
to refer the item to a committee failed.)
—Continuing a project from last year
to install a sidewalk leading diagonally
from the Speech Arts building to the Joy-
al Administration building. A dirt path¬
way exists there now, Watson said, and
is very muddy and ugly in the winter.
(The project was sent to the finance and
budget committee.)
-Looking Into the Installation of art
work, such as statues and murals,
throughout the campus. (The item was
sent to the public affairs committee.)
In other AS action, the senators voted
to approve and Implement a dental
insurance plan to be available to CSUF
students.
', Work at home - no experience.
•   necessary-excellent pay.
■   Write: National Service
! 9041Mansfield
Suite 2004
Shreveport Louisiana 71121
Applications for the program should
be made through college placement off¬
icers and marketing/journalism profes¬
sors who will be sent full Information and
applications In December.
LOS ANGELES
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