October 14, 1970 Committee Formed To Conquer Environmental Problems! by Daniel Durante This is an introduction to the committee and a general commentary on the pro blem today. Dan Durante, with the help of other students, will form the new com mittee. Dan is also a member of the Capitalist staff. Our earth is going to hell, and we are all responsible directly or indi rectly for its horrible condition. And, since we are responsible for its condition, it is our responsibility to fight against environmental de cay, to save the earth, not to men tion ourselves. Most of us are con sidered part of the younger genera tion, hence, this is our earth more than anyone else’s, for we will have to live with it longer for better or worse. In our youth, we also have something going for us in our fight against environmental decay. This is one of the many reasons we make the most sense out of a bad environ mental situation. Rene Dubus wrote, “The most hopeful sign for the fu ture is an attempt by the rebellious young to reject our social values, values which mislead us to believe we are helping our society when in reality we are destroying it.” The crisis we face now is one that affects not only young people but one that affects everyone in the way that earlier crises never did, for the Environmental Crisis is one that af fects the future of the entire world. A revolution is truly needed in our values, our outlooks on economic or ganizations, and even the way that we deal with such crises. It has been the American way to wait until we are in the middle of a crisis before we make an attempt to do anything about it. If we deal with the Envi ronmental crisis in the same way its effects will be irreversable and our Earth as wfe know it will come to an end. This Environmental Crisis is one that, basically stems from the legacy of economic and technological ad vances which have been pursued in the absence of ecological knowledge. Some of the other root causes are the exploding population, the mas sive military establishment equipped with and committed to employ from its arsenal both nuclear and bio chemical weapons. A set of tradi tional values which may have sus tained the human species in the past but now inhibits us from responding to the "present crisis”. We have to truly realize, possibly for the first time, that we are all dependent upon the natural ecosys tem, and we must realize that any act performed which endangers this system should be considered a vic ious and malicious act against all mankind. Pollution in all its forms is violence, environmental violence, a violence that will affect many more people than any other type of violence the earth has known, whether it be crime, war or what ever. I find it kind of amusing in a sad way, that the Judicial system of this country is set up in such a way that it has the responsibility under law to prosecute the perform ers of violent acts against society THE CAPITOLIST and against humanity, but at the same time the most violent offend ers the world has ever known bear no responsibility for their acts. The revolution that will save our environment; must happen now and it must be as effective or more ef fective than the revolution that this country was founded on. A revolu tion that stood for the rights of men. Now these rights and the more basic rights ‘to a clean and healthy environment are being challenged and are in jeopardy of being lost. We must fight for our rights, and we must fight against false rights. We do not have the right to exploit whatever lies ahead of us without 'concern or regard for anyone who might follow. We have to overcome the apathy of people, we will all have to make sacrifices in this revolution as people have had to do in every other revolution, the difference with this revolution is, if we lose it, it will most likely lead to the extinction of man. The first step in this revolution should be to make people aware of the seriousness of the problem, this will be an educational process, one which we all must become an active part of. With the new information revolution we now have, perhaps for the first time the potential for self understanding for an understanding of our relationship with each other, and with the environment. This ed ucational process will have to har ness this information revolution to man’s adantability. One of the ma ior objectives of this committee will be to carry out such an educating process. A process that will effec tively reach all the members of our local communities. We then must make our concerns known to our political leaders, or find new leaders that will work with us. We need new laws, new institu tions, new political action, action which must be initialed by the peo ple, by ourselves. We have to initiate a common con cern for the community, the coun try, and the world. A concern which is impaired by our selfish tenden cies, tendencies which are fed by our present socio-economic system. Let me mention at this time, one of these systems which drastically needs change, The Corporate Sys tem. The corporate drive is to re duce corporate cost, and invest only in machinery and systems that en hance sales and profits. The social costs of this type of a procedure, pollution, the draining of our natu ral resources, and many more are thrust back on the people, the con sumer. I have heard it said “Envi ronmental, pollution is the price of progress.” Is this true progress when we have to pay for it by the destruction of the earth and all its inhabitants? Large corporations of this country assume a conservative patriotic posture when in reality they are radical destroyers of natu ral resources, and the most funda- (continued on page 10 column 1) Clifford Mason - New Assistant Prof Appointment of an assistant pro fessor of engineering at The Penn sylvania State University’s Capitol Campus, has been announced by Dr. Richard H. Heindel, dean of faculty. He is Clifford A. Mason, former research assistant at‘the Universi ty’s Ordnance Research Laboratory, ,on the University Park Campus. A liberal arts graduate of Colum bia College, Mr. Mason received his B.S. from the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and his M.S. in electrical engineering from The Pennsylvania State University. He served as electronic engineer for the EDO Corp., College Point, L. 1., and ACF Electronics, Paramus, N. J., before joining the Ordnance Research Laboratory in 1965. Mr. Mason is a member of the In stitute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, which recently accepted for publication his paper on “The Optimum Bandwidth of a Low Pass Filter for Detection of a Pulse in Ndnstationary Noise.” He is married to the former Joyce Leigh. They are the parents of two children. Activities Planned. by Luann Berulis The social life on Campus is co ordinated through the Social Com mittee. This group of students works with the other organizations in plan ning most of the campus social ac tivities. For the first time, the committee has initiated a student activities card. This card is used to gain ad mittance to all of the activities on campus. Working with Steve - Forman, chairman, are five co-chairman. They are A 1 Litwak-finances, Mike Walsh-movies, Penny Wood-keggers, Ginger Gutekunst-dance committee, and Eileen Benjamin-Senior Ball. Membership to the Social Commit tee is open to any student who is interested in planning activities on campus. The President’s Council is an or ganization comprised of all of the Campus club’s Presidents. It meets to coordinate social activities on campus. The chairman is Steve For man, social secretary is Ginger Gute kunst, and S.G.A. representative is Rosemary Bennett. This column is reserved exclusive ly for student activities. It will keep you informed of the news and future happenings of all the clubs and or ganizations here on campus. If any club has information which would be newsworthy to the students, please contact any member of the newspaper staff, or phone 944-5662. NOTICES: WANTED! ONE BABYSITTER! Regular babysitter needed for Mon day, Wednesday, Friday, from 8:30 to 12:00, or any part of these hours. For faculty wife working part-time. One child, age 20 months. Meade Heights. Contact Mrs. Fiona Patter son 944-6461
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