Bixby High School - Spartan Yearbook (Bixby, OK)

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V - - il A i I1 1 wi' J . Arab O11 The oil problem actually began during the Yom Kippur war, when the Arab states placed an embargo on oil sales to the Netherlands and the US. Perhaps greater than any other result, its success proved to the 12 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries COPECJ - which includes such non-Arab states as Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela - that by acting together to restrict oil supplies, they had the oil consuming countries over a barrel. It now became evident that dependence of the major in- dustrial countries on imported oil was so great that, at least in the short run, they would stand still for paying much higher oil prices. Em- boldened, OPEC instituted the now notorious fourfold increase in crude oil prices on jan, 1 of '74. At one stroke this price increase gave a further fillip to worldwide inflationary pressures and reduced real incomes in all oil-consuming nations. For this reason, it introduced a strongly contractive force into the world economy - con- tributing to, if not causing, the current world recession. 1974 did see the end however, of the oil em- bargo and production cutbacks that had been imposed by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries 4OAPECl in October, 1973, in support of the Arab war effort against Israel. It also witnessed the establishment of a price for oil fS11.65fbarrel for 34 degree crude from the Gulf producersl believed to be impossibly high only a few months before. In the roughest terms, the twin crises of the embargo and the high oil price levels contain the seeds of inevitable con- frontation between a bloc of industrialized con- suming states led by the US, and a bloc of producing states largely, but not exclusively con- centrated in the Middle East and probably led by Saudi Arabia and Iran. The embargo, which was lifted on March 18, 1974, was a political act designed to pressure the major oil consumers Cmostly allies of the USB and the US itself Cas Israelis principal source of outside helpj through a total ban on the shipment of Arab oil to the US, the Netherlands, South Africa and Portugal, combined with production cut backs at SWZJ a month applied selectively to consumers accor- ding to their position with regard to the Arab- Iseaeli conflict. In December of '73, the produc- tion cutbacks were eased by holding them at 15'-711. Thinl y Veiled Threats From ,Tl 21 lk E aa, -f-'Wi- c or-or 'eef'eee a z-F-a--'M--- e . 1112 x Z 8

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Internationally, 1974-75 has been a dis- rupted year, with crises and upsets throughout the world - here, briefly, are a few of the major events: The current situation in Cyprus began when the Greek-Cypriot Nat'l Guard, encouraged by Greek officers, fomented an uprising to topple Cyprus' President, Archbishop Makarios. The officers wanted more direct control of the island in order to bring about the long dreamed of goal of Enosis - union of Cyprus with Greece. Events seemed to go their way at first as the Greek Cypriots took over many key installations and installed a new president, Nikos Sampson. But then rumblings began of military moves by Turkey to intervene directly in the Cyprus situa- tion. Despite pleas in various world quarters calling for a negotiated settlement, a full-scale Turkish invasion was soon under way. The Turks had come, they said, to protect the rights of the Turkish-Cypriot minority which com- prises only one fifth of the island's population. Turkish forces systematically destroyed Greek installations on the island - pounding into sub- mission the outgunned Greek Cypriots with arms and mortar. The Turks were then in their strongest position on Cyprus since the British took the island from them in 1914. The 40911 of Cyprus they now hold contains 7096 of the island's wealth. In the key agricultural sector, Turks control all the orange and lemon groves, as well as the island's breadbasket, the fertile Mesaoria Plain. All the Greeks have, one British economist observed, are grapes. The Turks also hold Cyprus' two most important tourist resorts, the port cities of Kyrenia and Famagusta. Turkey however, conceded little in victory, Greece conceded nothing in defeat. Athens demanded Turkish withdrawal from most of its conquered territory as a pre-condition to resumption of peace talks, while at the same time Turkey was pushing plans to develop its sector of the island as an autonomous state. Dur- ing the last week of August, '74, Greek-Cypriot gunmen, taking advantage of what began as a peaceful demonstration, shot and killed US Am- bassador to Cyprus Rodger P. Davies and a Greek-Cypriot secretary as she ran toward him. The assassination seemed to cool passions on Cyprus for a time, although it did appear to in- crease criticism of the way the US had handled the situation. Also, in a move that may per- manently weaken the West in the eastern Mediterranean, Athens summarily pulled its forces out of the NATO alliance. NATO is dis- pensable, Greek Premier Constantine Caramanlis said in a gesture of independence. It used us, but when we needed it, it closed its eyes. Like Vietnam, Cyprus seems to defy solu- tion. The last week of August also saw a military takeover of Ethiopia which left Emperor Haile Selassie virtually stripped of the absolute power he had enjoyed for nearly 44 years. As additional insult, the military forcibly entered Selassie's palace in Addis Ababa and arrested the com- mander of the Imperial Bodyguard. Perhaps most importantly, the Armed Forces Coor- dinating Committee, which dictates policy to Prime Minister Michael Imru's civilian govern- ment, announced that it was abolishing four of- fices through which Selassie had ruled the coun- try since 1930: the Crown Council, which issued the Emperor's decrees: the Imperial Ap- pointments Office, which implemented his selec- tion of all important gov't officials: the Military Advisory Council, by which he ran the armed forces: and the Court of Justice, which inter- preted the law according to his wish. Selassie was at first allowed to retain the title of Emperor, but has since been stripped of that, arrested and imprisoned - the man whose iron hand ruled Ethiopia for so long fell victim to his own methods, this time in the hands of someone else. In Ireland, the extended truce of the Provisional IRA's 26-day holiday cease-fire came to an end two weeks into January of 75. It marked Northern Ireland's longest period of non-violence since the troubles began five years ago. The truce also underscored ll how even such a short period of peace had almost miraculously transformed life in Ulster: and 21 how far apart both sides remained in failing to find a way to make it last. By the end of 1974, the British Army had stalemated the Provos in Northern Ireland. Things had been going wrong, commented one IRA leader, and the timing was right for a cease-fire. The only chance that it would succeed was a significant British concession on withdrawal. Failing that, the IRA's strategy for '75 involves an intensified campaign of terror - not in Ulster, but in Britian. In Febuary of 1974, Alexander Solzhenit- syn, Russia's passive yet dissident author, was exiled, deported from the Soviet Union, and is currently living in Switzerland. He was at last able to accept the Nobel Prize he had been awarded 4 years before but forbidden by the Russian government to accept - how ironic that it took an exile to accomplish this. In an open letter to the Soviet Union, written more in sorrow than in anger, Solzhenitsyn expressed what well may be his farewell message to the Politburo. It reveals Russia's greatest writer as an uncomfortable and uncompromising prophet, a utopian conservative who fears for the future of his beloved country as much as he hates what the Soviet system has done to its past. Neither Russia nor the Western world deserve the concern of such a man - they have both proven themselves unworthy. During 1974, improverished India shocked the world with the explosion of a nuclear device. It was the product of India's own nuclear reactors, ostensibly built to generate power for peaceful uses. And in December Israeli President Ephraim Katzir told the world what everyone already knew: that Israel fhas the potential to make atomic weapons and if we need it, we'll do it. And unless the Mid-East time bomb is diffused, US Senator J. W. Fulbright Know retired from 30 years in the Senatel said in November that the world could see a new war, a renewed oil boycott, and possibly consequences there ranging from another Great Depression to Armageddon itself . Natural disasters took their toll this year as well, in several different forms: Across Hon- duras, 50,000 people were driven from their homes by Hurricane Fifi, whose 20 inches of rain wiped out much of Honduras' banana crop and other harvests. More than 2,700 bodies were recovered from the flood-devastated town of Choloma, and another 1,000 were discovered in La Ceiba on the coast according to military spokesmen. The Honduran Nat'l Relief Emergency Committee estimated the total number of casulties in Honduras alone at 5,000. Four other nations and Mexico were also hard hit. December 20 and 21 saw avalanches in Austria and Iceland killing 17 persons within 24 hrs. At Kitzbuehel, Austria, an avalanche thundered down the 5,428 ft. Mt. Hahnenkamm, killing eight skiers, and at Neskaupstadur, Iceland, nine persons were killed when an avalanche descended on that east coast fishing center, destroying two of Iceland's largest fish factories as well. On December 25, Christmas Day, Cyclone Tracy roared out of the Timor Sea, lashing and cutting at Darwin, Australia for four hours, with winds up to 120 m.p.h., coupled with torrential rains. Forty persons were known dead, and sur- vivors reported that 9070 of the city's buildings were damaged or demolished. The city of 40,000 inhabitants, almost completely destroyed by the japanese in WW II, was left once again without adequate safe water, sewerage service or electric power. Continuing rains and wind up to 30 m.p.h. compounded the misery of the survivors and hampered relief work. Former Japanese Prime Minister Eiasku Sato and Sean McBride of Ireland were awarded the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to limit nuclear weapons and to protect human rights. Sato was cited for signing the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and for advocating that Japan not acquire nuclear weapons of its own. The committee said his policies contributed largely to stabilizing conditions in the Pacific. McBride, a former Irish foreign minister, is United Nations commissioner for Southwest Africa, a territory for which the UN is trying to gain independence from South Africa. His cita- tion however, covered many years of work in such bodies as Amnesty International and the International jurist Commission. Their efforts have come in areas that in our time are central to the work for peace. stated the committee. 7

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Embargo - -fl: , l Also vital to the success of the embargo Calthough not a party to itj was the earlier men- tioned price increase imposed by the OPEC. The adverse economic effects of the embargo on the producers were thus more than compensated for by higher prices: non-Arab producers were not particularly eager to fill the production gap feven if they were ablej because they were reap- ing fantastic incomes from the new price levels. The torrent of petrodollars - some S50 to S60 billion of annual oil revenues that the OPEC countries are unable to spend - is now flowing back to the oil consuming countries through a variety of other channels ranging from purchases of US Treasury notes and Canadian hydroelec- tric bonds to direct gov't-to-gov't loans, such as Saudi Arabia's recent S1 billion loan to japan Both Side S and Iran's S1 billion pre-payment to France for nuclear reactors. Arab governments are also len- ding directly to multinational corporations on acceptances from big banks. This vast rearrangement of international- payments flows raises several important problems: IJ While the oil funds will sooner or later come back to the major financial markets of the world, will they get channeled to those countries that need them in order to pay for their oil? 23 By shifting their large holdings of funds from place to place, can the OPEC countries play havoc with the world's financial and foreign-exchange markets? 35 As payment surpluses pile up year after year, will the OPEC countries own a substantial fraction of the world's assets by the end of the dec- , , D 1 ...... ,-, if ' ,'I, H ,Iix Y xxx . N u.'L- ll ll.. l 1 .gl .W l s ade? 41 By spending their vast new earnings, how much mischief Cintended or otherwise? can the OPEC countries do to the rest of the world and to each other? There is, on the part of the Arabs, a growing recognition of the danger inherrent in any threat to the stability of the West. Since the last oil embargo in the fall of '73, Western leaders have privately mulled the possi- bility of military intervention if the try to cut off the oil supply again the latter are wary. W Arabs - and