University of Arkansas Monticello - Boll Weevil Yearbook (Monticello, AR)

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124 Student Life Synthetic fuels are an option, but one that will take time and money to develop, and will probably not be much cheaper than oil. It will reduce our dependence upon the Mideast, though, which is the ultimate goal. Back to neclear fission - radio- activity is the overriding fear. It’s a justifiable fear, though not deserving the general paranoia that it now creates. Sharks eat more people than reactors kill. In progressive terms, hundreds more die per year in car accidents (that ( () convenient contraption, a necessity not needed eighty years ago) than do “‘nukes.’’ How about electricity itself? Live wires kill people each year. Admittedly, the spectre of indiscriminant and overwhelming death by radiation is much different from the isolated car electrical line accident examples. The day that there is a nuclear accident which results in harm to the surrounding inhabitants, then let it end. To this day, there has not been a major accident, not even TMI (Three Mile Island). That may sound like a cruel game of risks to play with the American public, but we took greater risks when we sent troops into Iran on an abortive rescue mission. We must live with the constant possibility (however “ONE- ARMED BANDIT” remote) of nuclear warfare. Why don’t anti-nukes concentrate on the real nuclear threat - the one- and-for-all curtailment of nuclear weapons development? Besides, safe nuclear fusion (the reverse of fission, atom splitting, fusion joines nuclei and emits much smaller amounts of radiation) is technologically around the corner. We must figure out a way to generate a heat high enough to carry out the process on an economically feasable level. The sun does it every day, and with fusion we won’t have to be 93 million miles distant to harvest that power. On the home front, UAM experienced a successful year. Sports flourished and student life and activities received a much- needed boost. At the end of Dr. Fred Taylor’s first three years as Chancellor, notable progress has been made. Foremost in terms of benefit to the student body was last year’s

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foreign policy. And it’s our fault. Americans have become a bit to nosy concerning government ; affairs. At the risk of condoning covert activities, had the CIA not had its hands bound by the purges of the seventies and subsequently its effectiveness drastically diminished, many of | our problems could have been foreseen. American intelligence actually warned of potential | dangers to Americans in Iran, but the Carter administration characteristically listened with deaf ears. Though far from the point of desperation, America and the rest of the “‘free” world is staking | much on the outcome of November’s election. The question is, do we stick with an ex-peanut farmer, or elect an ex-actor as our next President? As for this writer, politics and acting seem much nearer kin than politics and peanut farming, even if the actor is typically | characterized (especially by | Pravda) as as ‘“‘warmonger.”’ Priorities and Progress A special interest group is a section of humanity, or in our case, Americans, opposed or devoted to a certain ideal or situation. As a rule, in order for them to have any success they must deal with a subject common to many Americans, and sympathetic to the same. Civil rights groups represent a special interest, and rightfully so as our country is founded, or supposedly so, upon justice, freedom, and equality for all of its citizens. The particular special interest that is so newsworthy today is that anti-nuclear group. They’re mothers and housewives and doctors, automobile mechanics, ex-flower children and earth- people, lawyers, politicians, in short, regular people like you and I, screaming ‘‘please save our children,” and “‘Hell no, we won’t glow.”’ With those battle cries they’ve lobbied their way into the Democratic Platform committees and have ala Ted Kennedy written in a provision that declares that nuclear energy IMPEACH HIM ABSURD PT, INFLATION THERMOMETER gradually be dumped like so much radioactive waste. This was effected at precisely the same time that Jimmy Carter, virtually uncontested Democratic nominee, proclaimed to a Venice Summit the development of that same fuel source. Small wonder that Europe has lost faith in the U.S.’s ability to make a clear decision. Nuclear alternatives? They are scarce. Oil is out of the question. Coal reignites the anti-pollution lobby and will result in the destruction of many beautiful acres, though it is our most practical alternative and considerably less expensive than oil. Solar energy as a sole source of power on a large scale is out of the question until our solar technology has time to advance. Maybe when we can post solar collectors on satellites orbiting earth and micro-wave the energy down to power stations, it will be feasable. For now, though, the idea of solar collectors for every home is not only grossly uneconomical but absurd. The modern home could not possibly function continuously on solar energy without a battery storage system too large to consider. Student Life 123 nnn Dace ee C“C:isCtCC

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4 Sound LIKE CASE ‘ OF OIL DEPEDENCY COMPLICATED BY LOSS OF FOREIGN INFLUENGE... TAKE A WAR ECONOMY AWD CALL ME IN Five securement of $4.5 million to be used in the construction of a student center. With groundbreaking scheduled for this fall, the center will be erected on the west side of the campus adjacent to Maxwell Hall. The student body’s reaction to the building’s construction was practically nil, though, a response that diminished the victory of attaining the funds. Any success is twice as sweet when the students stand up and support it. Support they did as the Weevils rolled to the AIC Championship, mopping up all of its conference opponents except Ouachita Baptist University. The only other game that the Weevils lost in their 9-2 season was a non-conference bout against Nicholls State at Thibodaux, La., | a NCAA Division II team. It was the season opener, and even die- hard UAM fans were wondering if it was to hail another bad to mediocre year. Not so as the YEARS.-..-. Weevils posted win after win, interrupted by a squeaker at Ouachita. The students filled the stand and the Green literally ran up and down the field against most opponents while a vicious defense held most rivals to low scores or shut-outs. It was a disappointment that the Weevils, in a banner year, failed to make the post-season play-offs. It was also disappointing to lose those thirteen starters to graduation. The men’s basketball team has suffered through a number of less-than-spectacular years. Coach Doug Barnes has had some talented players but has yet to assemble a truly outstanding team. This year’s Mean Green squad managed to hold its own against teams generally considered superior and went to the post-season tourney to lose in semi-finals to UA-PB, who won the tournament. UAM was led by senior Theodis Bealer, outstanding in all aspects of the game. Jeff Johnson and Darrell Rhodes came on to score crucial points and key assists throughout the season, along with Karl Smith who was sidelined as the Green slid into a mid-season slump. Center Joey Anders held his own against opponents who ranged from three to six inches taller than himself, the tallest starter on the squad. Perhaps the most positive side of the Mean Green’s season was the student body’s attitude toward men’s basketball. They packed the pit for most games, memorably the climax game when the Weevils downed All-star Anthony Avery and visiting Henderson State. Sports constitute only a part of the year and institution. While students may feel more pride with the success of a sports program, there are many other organizations that deserve proportional support. As UAM students, we can only hope to make things better through participation. For years we've been on the bottom of the AIC pile in virtually every category. A reversal of student attitudes, an adaptation of student interests to other important segments of student life, knowledge and willingness to work with a progressive administration are the keys to a bright future for UAM. Student Life 125