1984_02 The Daily Collegian February 1984

              Feb.23,1984
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Resourse abuse endangers the future
The Worldwatch Institute in Washington has taken a look at the
"State of the World,** and has concluded that some dangerous
abuses of resources risk the future.
"Over the past generation the world has yielded to an excessive
dependence on oil, moved from farming soils to mining them, and
begun to consume the economy's biological support systems,"
according to Lester R. Brown, president of the institute and direc¬
tor of the project. "In short, the world economy has moved onto a
development path that is unsustainable."
The remedies are familiar ones but, for all their familiarity,
things that governments and societies generally resist implement¬
ing. Among them are stabilizing population, reducing the depend¬
ence on oil, developing renewable energy resources, conserving
soil, protecting the Earth's biological support systems and recy¬
cling materials.
There are notes of encouragement from Worldwatch that give
substance to the importance of doing something. Ihe most singu¬
lar success has been in reducing the dependence on petroleum, with
oil consumption down 14 percent since 1979—down 19 percent in
the United States.
Nothing in the report is more disturbing than the account of
losses of soil to erosion and forests to poor management. "Because
ofthe shortsighted way one-third to one-half of the world's cro¬
plands are being managed, the soils on these lands have been
converted from a renewable to a non-renewable resource,"accord-
ing to the report. The forests arc essential for timber, paper, fuel
and environmental protection, but they are being depleted, with an
increase of 13 percent in the rate of new planting if the needs ofthe
year 2000 are to be met.
The report addresses the needs of rich nations as well as poor
nations, noting the interdependence that links success and survival
for them all. Both industrialized and Third World nations have in
common the need, for example,-to reconsider the future of the
automobile, with some wealthy nations such as Sweden and Den¬
mark already acting to discourage an increased dependence on the
automobile.
For the casual reader, there are immediate actions that can be
taken to help nudge the world toward sustainable development,
among them conserving energy and recycling paper and metals.
Much planning is crippled, the report concludes, because eco¬
nomic indicators encourage doing the wrong thing. "Under the
existing national accounting system," it notes, "the production of
shoddy goods that have to be replaced or repaired frequently raises
the GNP (gross national product), whereas a modest additional
investment in high-quality engineering that greatly extends the
lifetime of products lowers the GNP." What are needed, it says are
economic indicators designed to measure progress toward a sus¬
tainable society.
"A sustainable society is one that shapes its economic and social
systems so that natural resources and life-support systems are
maintained," the report says. "Today we study the archeological
sites of earlier civilizations that failed to do so, depleting their soils,
mismanaging their irrigation systems or otherwise embarking on
' lable developmental path."
-emembering.
— Reprint from LA Times
Feb. 20, 1984
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THE HCX/SC MAM.' '
The Daily Collegian
Founded in 1922
Letters
lhat I would come under some heavy fire
from those professors who do keep their
office hours regularly. To them I say
"keep up the good work." To the others,
my article was long overdue. The column
was meant to express" my opinion and
frustration with the lax attitude many
professors have in this area. Since then a
Recently. James M. Highsmith, chair¬
man of the department of Finance and
Industry criticized me for what seemed to
him my half-way altcmpt lo find out if
professors in the School of Business and
Administrative Science hold Friday office
hours. For the record. Mr. Highsmith. 1
identified myself on Ihe phone when I
spoke with the secretary. When she would
not answer my question without speaking
with you first, she said "All I can suggest is
lhat vou call back later." I tried another
department in the SOBAS and again
found myself put off. Through my own
Embarrassment
Editor, the Collegian:
An open letter to Sheryl Boggs:
Be sure lo keep a copy of your cutes;
simplistic article on vomen's place i
society. Put it some safe place. I have il
Cut out a copy and put it in your women
studies textbook.
Then in a'few years you're likely t
For goodness sake, keep taking wo¬
men's studies. You've got a lot to learn. 1
love men loo. 1 have a beautiful grown son
and a couple of sweet lovers. Today's
young men seem to be a lot more open and
adaptable than the men of my generation
(your father's generation), but they need
making light of serious questions.
Generalizations
mated by Society?) which inferred that the
Women's Studies department revolves
around the premise that there is a male
dominated conspiracy that consciously
attempts to subjugate women.
As a journalist herself, it would seem
thai Boggs would be careful not lb make
generalizations lhat pigeon-hole a group
of people based on the cc " '
single pewon. Also, there
of whether this teacher ac
belief in this conspiracy oi
chose, for her own reaso
ually conveyed
whether Boggs
is, to interpret
•See Letter*, Page 4
going V
imbarr
, Depar
through the posted listings. From lhat 1
got my statistics.
What I cant understand, is why I would
they have so freely and publicly posted in
a hallway. If the secretary had told me
immediately that Ihe list was posted, I
would not have had to bother anyone for
the information.
Mr. Highsmith,-if professors sincerely
do schedule office as a matter of conven¬
ience for the students ihcn why aren't they
kepi consistently? Since I wrote the col¬
umn, two more professors I had hoped <o
catch during their office hours have not
been available during the times scheduled.
Also for the record. 1 co'uld not be con¬
tacted at the Collegian immediately after I
called the SOBAS because I was calling
from my home phone.) did not want to tie
up the Collegian's phone for an hour while
I did the survey. Perhaps Mr. Highsmith.
if you had left a name and number or a
message, I could have called you back and
cleared things up.
1 'm sure we can argue this point forever.
d. That ,.
ncd enough to be embar-
And l hope it's only
ou suffer, not the disillu-
irse 1 fear is in store for
Your snail analogy was interesting: how
 :ls defecate (? Rcallvl Can't yot
n the Daily Collegian*) on thci
that the patriarchal customs cum habils
heaped ,shit on women's heads — and stil
At present with a college education yot
can expect to earn less in your lifetimi
than a man with an eighth grade educa,
tion. Howabout that? Women
in heads.
FOOD
SERVICE
COMMITTEE  .   ||
Applications now being taken
for student positions. Freshmen
and sophomores particularly
encouraged to apply.
Apply at the Food Service
offices, lower level of
Residence Dining Hall or
call 294-3904
-  .-,  ing
.__     „_j sixty-five cents compared
i dollai^carQed by men. Women in evea
ie wage or salary as men, not to men-
i Ihe question of comparable worth
I the sjrange phenomenon of pay scale
Eggjjsg
Thursday,
February 23
8:00. P.M.
Roosevelt High School
Info (209)226-0541
Tickets available at the
Fresno Bible House and
KFSR schedule for
Request Line 294-4082
Office Line 294-2598
Friday:
6AM-Noon Jazz
12PM-2AM Progressive Music
NEWS: NOON & 5PM
SPOUTS; 12:45.2:45.5:45 o
MarSOn Graphics Inc.     Exhibition and sale ';
College.Union East Lobby of original graphic art
February 22 & 23
10AM-4PM