Severely handicapped class arrives - The Lowell

7V Ur-xJ, Urn* I. IMS Taf 7
.POLITICS
Ethiopia's future appears grim
ByVlkrmmPwrkh
^ masiive contriJ-JUon of
relief ud from Western nation, in*
tenul urift and « parched lane scape
may perpetuate the Eth opi*a
famine for vean.
Several factors braght about IIK
current famine, including the expansion
of the Sahara desert r*A a
severe drought, which has alto affected
nearly 30 other African nations.
Poor agricultural method*
resulted in extensive soil .rmton in
northern Ethiopia, while the Mani«
government** 'neffectivc «ate
farm system failr. to yield grain
production comtnenumtc with the
soaring binhrate.
Though the famine was predicted
as early *t 1992. both Western
governments ami the Ethiopian
regime were cither slow, or unwilling,
to react. The Reagan Ad*
ministration was reluctant to commit
long-term development aid to a
socialist suie. while Ethiopia's Col.
Mengism Hiilc Mariam »-ai accused
of using the fairine to weaken
Eritrean and Tigre separatist
movements in drought-sirickcn northern
Ethiopia.
By the time a BritiUi Broadcasting
Corp. film aierted the world to the
Ethiopian crisis, in October. 1984.
the famine had reached catastrophic
proportion*. At least 300.000 lives
had beer cluoi^l, whih it* million
more livoi on :he br.nk ct starvation.
The im-ncdiate reiponv! w« a
torrent of contributions to tntenuliorul
relief jgencict of CTtinf in
Ethiopia, from both [trivia group*
and Western govemmenu.
Thus far. the Urge*: zo
has been Cx Unfced States, whose
food shipments tottiled 55.000
metric to:» u *hr oj jf January.
The Reagan Adminluration. which
has already allocated S59O million
worth of aid to African famine
relief, wilt shift $176 million from
other hudjets, and ask Ccngreii for
a supplement of $235 million.
Parado-.icaUy. while aU is
reaching Ethiopia at record levels,
relief center* in Sudan are experiencing
an influ* ot*3.000 Ethiopians a
day, amounting to 850.000 refugees
by late Fcbruiry, The refugees,
whose pvirrary leaton for flight It
political fear, preterit a major strain
on the Suzanne economy. Sudan.
once ttpected to be "the breadbasket
of the Arab world" »jn w>
longer feed 2.3 million of it* people.
Sudan hi* also been cmbrcilcd ia
a controwny involving thtir connection
with liners airlift of the
Ethiopu.i )(r*i. i< Falashas. from
Cudar>csc refugee campi. In mid-
January, Sudan, fearful cf alienating
the other Arab nations, callcc a halt
to the seven-wee* covert eptrttico.
kuig 7,000 Fitajbu rfnnoeu in
Sd as nuny u 10.000 in
Ethiopian relief effort ha»
»lv. been beset by civil war in the
notihem part of tlie covntry. where
the famine is most severe Eritretn
goerilUs have been battling wcceuive
Ethiopian govemmenu fw
23 years, ia bopea of gaining In
dependence for their nometand, *bsorbed
by Ethicpu in 1962. Additionally,
Tigrcan guerillas have
dcmandcti grottcr autonomy for
their province since the mJd*70's. In
reprhal, Ethiopia's am/ has bombed
villages and mined agriculture
land in Eritrea and Tigre.
At this point, the prognosis for
Ethiopia'* future looks grim. According
u the Worldwatch Institute,
a Washington-based mean..*: group,
"population-induced climate
changes and long term soil erosion
may perpetuate the Ethiopian
famine lor yean." A possible
mean* of reversing this trend would
be a nviutve, combined treeplanting,
soil conservation, and
family planning effcrt. for in the
long run. Ethiopia's future depends
not MI much on famine relief, but on
long tern • development atd an end
to civil wa;.
Pro: A hope for peace Con: Keep 'Star Wars' fictional
By Robert Klni
President Ronald Rcasan. h
March of 1983. ittrod^ced "Star
Wars." the program that may
render enemy ICBMt (intercontinental
ballistic miuiies) "impotent
and obsolete" by ihr* use of interctptir
rockets and lasers.
The Star ^Vio defensive system,
describes James Fletcher, a science
adviser to Reagan, is divided into
three intercept phases in which
enemy mrsilcs will encounter in
succession.
TV first phase, called the boost
intercept, tikes ptacc immedlitely
, after the launching of enemy
missiles. "Battle station" satellites
armed with "hyper-velocity guf»"
use electromagnetic energy to accelerate
"smart bullets." The smart
bullets possess enough kinetic
energy "to tear apart the miuJc
before it comp>ctes its ascent,"
describes Fletcher.
While ir space, the enemy
missiles would each release up to
tea bdcpcndcntly targeted nuclear
warhead^. US space-based sensors
using Usrr probes would detect the
warheads and guide thousa:.
and the 1CBM in particular, more as
a pre-emptive mcam by which to
draMicall? curtail any reulUtor>
reprisal in the event of war."
Star War* can "renxvr »he preemptive
option, both for the Soviet
Union and the United Sutes." if
either country *eek* a prc-emr/tt%c
fim strike.
In addition. Stir Wars would inevtubly
reduce the damages inflicted
by a nuclear attack.
Pcrhips the best argument for
moving tentatively w ith Star Wars is
that any new weapons system constitutes
barfainint chips when dealing
with the Soviets in arms talks.
After Reagan proposed his Star
Warv plan, the Snvicb announced
that they were billing to come ;u the
bargaining table jfter not nwtmg
for many months. The Soviets said
that they wanted to "d : scuu" space
weapons, in addition to nuclear
weapons.
GHtl
School 5up?3«s
ARCADE PHARMACY
1O94 BUSH ST.
SAN FRANCISCO. CA. 9-41 OS
Hv Alrtanckr t,au
Ptnidcnt Kitruld RcjfEan culls it
the Strategic Detente Imiutnc
(SDI). The inrtlu ^11 it "Sur
Wan."
Ihcrc arc at lea*: lour reawtns
uhy "Sur Wa»V,* as a def.-nsc
sjvtem^uvt nc*cr come int» bcinj;.
1. The »)*trm would hate to be
perfect. Th.s d«K*s not ippcar at-
Utnablc. Within one minaic. it muvt
track and destroy moving targets of
one square meter (the chm section
of a ttiiuilc) anywhere on the entire
earth"* surface. With submarines
able to fire misvilcs from just about
any of the water areas of the planet,
this would he a vcr> d'tricult tasK.
2. The sj»Jem h too npettslte.
Current pL" > to fund SOI call for
S2b billion oscr five >can. To this
end. the ftwal year 1985 buitgct includes
$4 billion for research and
dc\-cU«mcnt of space weapons.
3. The system h not practical.
President Reagan has suggested that
lavcn. oaittcle beams, ot projectiles
Or LCA.CMWOKTH «T
New and Previously Read Books
CHARING CROSS ROAD
booksellers
1687 Haight-San Francisco 552-4122
could he used n> destroy enemy
mitwlc* or uticlttcs. The Pentagon
has atcmrxftl to pnnc ihat this is
feasible h) icMmp jn jir-n>-jir
"homing oserla>" Uut tracked and
uestro)ed a single mimic wht>^c
launch timr and des'ttution were
known in advance.
The tcvhw)U»v> insclscd in tracking
potcntully thius^nds of missiles
nwvinp fatter than a thousand miles
an hour to unknown destinations
would appear to be the stuff that
dreams arc made of.
With the current level of
technology, a la«r could not
destroy a fl> in; seagull, let alone an
incoming missile.
4. The ssstcm tbilairs exhllnie
n^rrrtnents. In 1972. bu*h the
United States and the Soviet L'n**-.i
agreed to ban all defensive
weapon*. The jgrccment is called
the Anti-Hallistic Mivsilc >stcm vjpjWc ft misMlc iktcnsr
It would Jppcjr that the current
admmistratH>n is willing to abandon
the ABM treat) for an imperfect,
impractical dream :hat ssould be opprcssiscly
eipcntise.
The Picsident himself* as said the
only way to nuke nuclear svejpom
impotent and obsokte is to reduce
and cscntually abolish them.
"Sur Wars" don not appear to
be a logical way to reach tins gital.
THE NAVY.
ITS NOT JUST A JOB,
IT'S AN ADVENTURE.
I;. tV Navy, a Job means more (lun just a good paycheck.
It means the rdventurc of seeing places like Greece.
! Spain. Hawaii and Hong Kong. It means becoming an expen
on exdtinc technical equipment in our submarines, on
1 our jetn, and in our rihips. It means doing a job that really
I cnunu. with people who count on you to do iu
The N'avy can Rive you training in more than 60 career
fields, lalk It over 'with your Nnvy recruiter. Hell be able
to tell you wliat von can qualify for in the Navy:
Call collect:4i.5-452-2910 or visit
your recruiter at 1276 Market St.