Broward Community College - Silver Sands Yearbook (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

Page 14 text:

0 Ralph Nader: Supercihze By Nancy Mixon l think one thing we've learned, even though we may not want to admit it, is that the sheer growth of our economy is solving fewer and fewer problems. Speaking to a group of three thousand students, faculty, and other community members on November 10, Ralph Nader conveyed his findings regarding the American economy, consumer protection, and environmental standards. The noted consumer advocates was introduced by SGA president, Larry Brannon, whose organization sponsored lVlr. Nader's ninety minute speech. Security police patroled the BCC gymnasium, while purses and bags were searched as additional safety measures. Speakers were operating outside for the benefit of those who were unable to enter the crowed building. Nader commented upon the unfair distribution of financial resources, citing crumbling cities, pollution of the environment, schools closing because of lack of revenue, and the high costs of medical care as examples of issues that are excluded from response to economic needs. He believes that Americans are too complacent about what occurs in the country and that many have a tendency to compare the American economy with those of foreign countries. However, he stated, we should only be compared with our own potential. We should be ashamed of oufselves for having such depressing problems in a country of unparalleled wealth and resourses and scientific and technological skills. There's no excuse for having 25,000,000 Americans live in a state of continual poverty and millions undernourished children , Nader added. He later stated, We must redefine democracy to meet new challenges and issues. The importance of the environmental crisis was outlined in three steps by lVlr. Nader. First, it creates a new level of perception from which pollution may be regarded, that is, as a form of destruction capable of generating epidemics. Pollution is a primary destroyer of private property from which it originates, in the form of corporations, plants, and mills. Second the environmental crisis m be considered systematically. Polluti is a part of the whole picture subj to no ecological barriers. Third promotes the effective organization citizens in an effort to combat problem. As Nader stated, Polluti can be controlled in two ways. 0 way is building more hospitals a providing more beds for the wheez l 1 l i i victims. The other way is to trace 1 problem and administer controls at 1 earliest point of commencement The consumer advocate descri The price is quite high, as is sho by its status as as health hazard wh often resuts in cancer and emphyse as well as genetic effects, for th who are subjected to prolon exposure to polluted areas necessitates far more controls than being used to combat the problem the cost of controlling pollution minimal in comparison to the pro of the corporations that are the ma polluters and the cost if pollution is stopped. Pollution is the cause of million worth of property dam annually. At this revelation, Na asked his audience Can we aff not to stop pollution? l 4 1 l I I ' I A Q . rl n l l .i ui , pollution as the price of progre 'v ii i ll ii I I ll Il i

Page 13 text:

was not considered a resident of s state. finite additional expenses include roximately S7 per week to run the that she and her sister have ently bought. Her financial ation may be changing however. At s writing, Miss Loftus is looking for apartment. st would agree that the student o must work in order to go to lege is pressed for both money and e. And most would agree that the :ident on a scholarship has life easy. ey would very possibly be wrong, ::ording to Monica Wilson. -cunica, an applied music major, is on ,BCC scholarship which pays her itriculation fees. She also receives a iiolarship from the Florida Atlantic sic Guild which covers applied sic fees. I E worked as a hostess in a restaurant Q. summer before coming to BCC in der to pay for last summer's school xms, which are not covered by either polarship. iwould really like to work but I just nt have the time, she stated, since ischolarship requires upholding a ipectable grade-point average. iso, the scholarships provide for the vious college expenses but provide I income. I s Wilson does, however, sing at an iaisional wedding for 310. Jsic is a time-consuming discipline. ere is much practicing involved, ncerts, and recitals. Monica rforms with the Broward Opera eatre and the Sine Nomine lWithout .imel Singers, a quartet, besides the CC Chamber Choir and Concert Iioir. She said that at least two or ee nights, often more, are taken up th rehearsals. Which doesn't leave ich time for a job. wich doesn't leave much money. iylene Corbett is paying, and rking her way through college. She eives a S99 per month workship as editor. That check can be filed as asset rather than income since it goes into the bank to be used toward tuition and costs at the University of South Florida, where she will transfer in January. She also holds a part-time job as a cashier, with a take-home pay of approximately S40 a week. Chylene lives at home, and so at present does not have any room and board expenditures. But I pay for all my clothes, all my medical bills, and though I use my father's car, it doesn't run on water, she added. Besides the more obvious kinds of financial assistance lloans, grants, scholarships, waivers of feesl BCC also has developed a program of Cooperative Education, whereby the student works full time one semester and attends classes the next semester, alternating the two until graduation requirements are met. The benefits from the Co-Op program are many. There is the opportunity to make college education lReady? All together now...l relevant, a chance to discover if your major field is really what you want to dedicate your life tO. And there is money. Average wages for a student working in the co-op program are over 32.50 an hour and students can earn between S1500 and S2000 a year from co-op employers. Assistant Director of Cooperative Education William Dery stated that money was a major part of the attraction to most of those entering the program, but both he and Walter F. Thomason, director of the program, agreed that the financial aspects lose importance as the student continues. Although BCC's program is still too young to have any conclusive evidence, in a nation-wide study it was shown that two out of three cooperative education students remain with the same employer even after graduation, according to Thomason. The director also said that most of those enrolled in the work-study curriculum probably could get by on part-time jobs. Dery added, however, that this method is a good way to seperate jobs and school. However, across campus from the Cooperative Education Office is the Financial Aid Office. Approximately 1500 full time students, or about a quarter of the total enrollment of full-time students, receive some sort of economic assistance from this office, according to Mrs. Betty Cooper. Mrs. Cooper said that all Term l grants and scholarships were distributed. These numbered about the same as for the previous year, but there were more student applicants this time around. ln addition, all 130 on-campus workships and 160 off-campus workships were filled. These levels were unchanged, too. Short-term, interest-free loans are available to students who apply during the week their fees are due. All these loans are to be paid by April 1. In the fall term, the entire fund was distrubuted. Mrs. Cooper also noted that many loans were still available to full-time students who have been residents of Florida for at least two years. All applications must be co-signed, even those of married persons, Mrs. Cooper added. Payment of these loans begins after graduation at an interest rate of 4 percent. So there is some financial assistance to be had. But with the increased emphasis on college education, not only for the academically oriented but for those interested in technical fields, the present status of financial aid may seem to some to be merely tokenism. And even those who do get it are not guaranteed a free ride. It may be incongrous, notwithstanding all the talk of meaningless education and a somewhat reactionary cry for simpler times, there are still many who care enough about an education to finance it themselves. We may be evolving into a species that will thrive on three hours sleep a night. And there are still probably a surprising number of BCC students who for three days of the week find themselves driving on E in possession 27 cents.

Page 15 text:

pposition to pollution control is und in intransigent corporate wer. Thus the polluters are iolating a federal law established in 99 which prohibits the dumping of ntaminants into navigable rivers. is law was not discovered until . T get around this onvenient regulation, many rporations have been provided with enses t pollute by the xon-Agnew administration. der described the nation s citizenry eing more concerned with ' kpockets and rocks thrown through ndows than about corporations that og our cities or pollute our water . ardless of the fact that several bills ncerning such problems as water Ilution and pesticides have been posed to the Congress, citizens union by wri ing to their resentatives believing that one er doesn t count. On the contrary, lder revealed a small group of :zen lobbyists effected the defeat of SST bill. The Consumer Class tion Bill which at the time of this lnting is pending before Congress, II allow an individual citizen to sue orporation on behalf of cooperating sumers of the same item about ich he has a complaint. This type legislation has become necessary as esult of the inability of the judicial tem to handle small complaints. ider is wholeheartedly in favor of bill. Furthermore, he believes that influence of a minority of ncerned citizens would insure its ,ssage. have often said , he declared, that ree thousand citizens around the untry devoting five hours of their 'ne can get any bill passed in the nate . ader suggested that citizenship ould be regarded as a fulltime ofession . It may be employed on e job as a means of consumer otection. Nader cited, as an ample the case of a General Motors nployee who was aware of a defect 2114 million Chevrolets that had n distributed to dealers across the tion. Unable to attain any response m the company executives, the n ll I 69 O 1 Q 0 l ! . iz S b ll l ii- eal' I'ElUl'lCI8l1t to BXDFESS Bn 3 t ' I l I ll 5 , ll ll l n I n ll Il 1 u concerned employee reported the problem to the proper authorities in Washington and the vehicles in question were immediately called in for repairs. ln regard to their role in today's society, Nader views students as a group of individuals that need to learn about citizenship through developing issues it feels to be of importance. The most expeditious type of learning , he stated, is learning that deals and stems from problems faced by students and implies that it is present in all phases of academic education because realistic elements of life are not included in the curricula. For example, students at schools such as MIT and California Tech emerge with minimal knowledge concerning pollution and its effects. They are, he stated, singularly unequipped to deal with the problems of pollution . These schools succumb to what industries want and direct their curricula toward fulfilling those requirements. For example, Ford Motor Company teaches the requisite tunnel vision so that the employees don't have the authority not the resources to go to work on safety problems. Instead, they work on higher compression ratios and making the fins curve in one year and out the next . Following Mr. Nader's completely extemporaneous speech, the consumer advocate responded to written inquiries submitted by members of the audience and, later, to questions posed by reporters at a press conference in the Seahorse Room. He was questioned regarding the recent corporate tax cut in relation to corporate profit, to which he replied, The Nixon-Agnew administration is not concerned about corporate profit, only about the next election . Mr. Nader was quizzed concerning his rumored candidacy for president on a third party ticket, He confirmed that he has repeatedly denied any such possibility to the advocates of his nomination, stating, You can't be on the side of the consumer and a politician at the same time . Nader explained that he is in favor of the U.S. space program because it shows what technology can do . Further--more, he would rather see the defense budget cut than the space program , which evoked a round of applause from the audience. In response to a question concerning the use of cleaner forms of energy to replace that which releases chemicals into the atmosphere Mr. Nader advocated solar energy and fission as possible solutions to the increasing problem of air pollution, but excluded atomic energy for its potentially dangerous effects . He also advocated a replacement for the internal combustion engine as a means of eliminating pollution from automobiles. There is more pollution contained in a ten mile area of stop and go traffic than there is in one hundred miles of high speed driving , he stated. When asked what type of automobile he would choose should he decide to buy one, Mr. Nader replied, l'm waiting for a car that will withstand impact at sixty miles per hour without injuries and that doesn't pollute. That car does not exist yet. Furthermore, he conjectured that fifteen million Americans could do without cars by making use of public transportation. Mr. Nader predicted that the Volkswagen bug will be phased out of import by 1975 because it will be unable to compete with the Japanese competition . Ralph Nader exposed his audience to a number of problems which are, and should be, of major concern to Americans. He believes in the power of the individual and of minority groups who are united in a common cause. ll I lf ten people cant change . . I something. he sand, that doesnt I mean that twenty, or forty, wont change it. Students who are interested in investigating and effecting changes upon the problems in their government and their environment can obtain information by contacting Donald Ross 1025 NW 15 Street Washington, DC.