Scarlet 8r Black. November 25. lSt77—page 2

 

 

Audubon rep criticizes Garrison water project

By John Shumway

On November I7, Richard Madson.
assistant regional representative for the
National Audubon Society spoke here on
the controversial irrigation project now
under construction in North Dakota, the
Garrison Experiment.

Madson was highly critical of the
project, noting that the plan had gone
wrong in many ways and was adversely
affecting people and the environment.

FOR ABOUT a century. North Dakota
farmers have supported damming the
Missouri River and using the water to
irrigate their drought ravaged farmlands
However, those concerned could not find a
means to finance such a large project.

In the 30‘s and 40's, the feeling‘ that
public works would provide jobs needed to
ease the depression gave rise to projects
such as Garrison. Although the projects
were envisioned in the laws of the 40's, it
was not until 1965 that the Garrison project
was authorized by Congress.

ACCORDING to Madson, the specific
function of the Garrison project is to divert
Missouri River water from the Garrison
Dam in North Dakota to halfa dozen farms
across the state. The water is to be sent
through a complex system of canals.
reservoirs and existing rivers.

Although the project will irrigate only
one-half of one percent of North Dakota’s
farmland (250,000 acres), it is an awesome
job. Garrison involves 33 miles of main
supply canals, some as deep as a tenestury
building, with a quarter of a mile right-of-
way. The project also has on square miles
of storage reserves, 2732 miles of pipes and
ditches, and 70 electric pumping stations.

THIS $500 million project is 20 per Cent
complete and is scheduled to be finished in

1993, However, according to Madson,
Garrison is far from being a clearecut
issue. Although the water is needed badly
by some farmers, many flaws have been
discovered Within the Garrison project
that could alter some attitudes Although
the idea of water resource diversion is
acceptable to many, the implementation
and management of this water diversion

water would be a definite boost to North
Dakota agriculture, but the management
of the diversion system quickly changed
their minds. When Ben Schatz of Burleigh
County attempted to stop construction of a
main supply canal through his farm.
Madson said, Schatz was told by the
Bureau of Reclamalion, “To us, Mr.
Schatz, you're just a dot on the map. When

Those people who object are told to accept.

the canal or move. And so,“a government

intended to be by andfor the people
is operating in spite of the people.”

project is not A coalition of environmental
organizations has called Garrison “a
classic example of poorly-planned water
resource development in America,”

In his appearance at Grinnell, Madson
cited an overall lack of logic and worth
behind the Garrison project. While it will
irrigate 250,000 acres, he said, the struc
ture itself (canals, reservoirs, etc) will
consume 220,000 acres, He added that the
project will take more land but of
production than it will put in. In addition to
the questionable financial benefits of
Garrison, Madson cited adverse affects on
people and the environment of North
Dakota.

HE GAVE riiaiiy examples of farmers
who were very dissatisfied With the
Garrison project, They had thought the

you get in the way we move you.”

Canals for the diversion project have
been built and are under construction
through farms throughout North Dakota,
While the government pays farmers for
the land lost, often the payments are far
short of the land’s true worth, Madson
said. Those people who object are told to
accept the canals or move, when laced
with this dilemma, many are financially
ruined, unable to absorb the loss and
unable to pay for a move. And so, in the
words of Madson, “a government intended
to be by and for the people is operating in
spite of the people."

THE cnnnlson project has already
had a negative effect on the environment
of North Dakota. Around the constructed
canals, massive erosion has taken place

Many water fowl, red-tailed hawk, blue
heron and white-tailed deer have been
chased away by construction: If building
continues as planned, many North Dakota
rivers, such as the James River, will be
channellzed and thus destroyed, Madson
noted,

Some developments have changed die
status of the Garrison project. in 1976.
litigation was brought against the Bureau
of Reclamation by farmers who had their
farms destroyed, This, in addition to press
conferences by antirGarrison individuals
including Madson, has given a great deal
of negative publicity to the Garrison
project,

CANADA has also been angered by the
water diversion project. Many Canadians
feel that Garrison will bring about
migratory duck losses in Manitoba. cause
pollution in Canadian waters and in
troduce undesirable fish and disease into
Canadian waters. The International Joint
Commission said that 30 per cent of the
project should be scrapped to avoid
Canadian difficulties.

There are three alternatives for the
Garrison project of water diversion. ac
cording to Madson. There can be a total
reorganization of the diversion method, a
modification or scaling down of the
project, or construction can be halted, In
April, Congress will again consider
Garrison. -

THE PRDBLEMS of the Garrison
project, once remedied, should make
people aware of the many “worthless
water projects” in this country, Madson
commented. He added, “The Audubon
Society is trying to preserve a quality of
life” for present and future generations.

Letters

Stop feeding the washouts

To the editor: After mulling it over
for awhile, I find I concur whole
heartedly with Ms, Spector and
Mr. Anson (5&8, Nov. 13). Their
assertion that those students who

. perform well academically should
be rewarded with higher quality
meals is commendable, but I feel it
can be embellished. .
A gap within the Specter-Anson
plan is that the “middle class"
students, say those with Gf‘l‘»
between 3.0 and 349999, can
, probably afford to eat out most
nights, Also, with the development

of a class system on campus, those ’

students With less than 3.5 GPAS
may begin to feel resentment
toward the “upper classLthose
with GPAS above 35 Violence and
terrorism might result from i"s
antipathy.

Iranian 53)")
To the editor: I’m ashamed to read
an article in the S&B using ‘iy
name tand outeoi»ccntl xt
quotations) to justify a tone written
into the article. The tone of the
article implies that America is

aught between its oil hungry
public, it human rights ad
ministration and a politically

ppressive iranian Government. I
am used in the article to verify
Iran's oppressiveness: “You don't.
put your hand in the fIre and not
expect to get burned . . 1 know
better.” These quotations were
taken out of context in then"-
terview.

Here in America, the land of the
police state, where the political
terrorists of the Third World police
forces are trained iexcluding those
trained in the Soviet Union), one
cannot be condescending toward a
government struggling out from
under the hand of western imr
periallsm, The West has used the
people and thus the markets of tile
rest of the world ever Since land
maybe sooner lhant the British
subjugation of India during the
birth pangs of the industrial
revolution.

Through the financial nest egg,
Oil. the Middle Eesl embarked on a
journey to the land of economic
corn etitiorl The U S instituted Its

 

My contention is that, in keeping
with the American tradition of
achievement, anyone who cannot
attain a 35 or above GPA after the
freshman year does not deserve to
eat at all. Let’s lace it, without at
least a 3.5 GPA, all of the would-be
grad, med, and law Students are
washed out anyway.

With the money saved from this
the college could hire a unit of
crack anti~terrorist mercenaries.
This Elite Guard (which I humbly
suggest calling “The Scarlet and
Blackshirt—s") would stamp out
terrorism against the “upper
class” GPA people, and would
patrol the campus outskirts in
order to prevent “lower class"
food smuggling runs to Super Valu.
Now, in terms of offecampus
housing . . . .Andrew Schultz

story off

choice of government in Iran
America’s pathological paranoia
(the Red Scare) led to the world's
best police force, presently called
the intelligence community. One of
the countries the U.S. used for its
intelligence activities was Iran.
The US. taxpayer pays for the
policies instituted by the Iranian
police force. Such is politics, an
ugly, slimy business of human
subjugation.

In the midst of this mess, money
flowed into Iranilots of money.
Iran actually had something the
West wanted, so Iran decided to
charge for what had been given
away for next to nothing. (Like it
or not, all on American behest,
lran spends the money later in the
U,S.).

This money has been used in Iran
to ”westernizc " What a four letter
wordl Can anyone imagine what it
is like to live in a mud village for
hundreds of generations. trying to
grow food out of a desert? Then, as
a result of somc foreign intrigue, a
refrigerator, an electric pump tor
a well. a motor cycle or u car title
list is endless] lands in the middle
of the Village. The masses have no
one in thunk but thc Shah's
government; they are in material
heaven.

 

Films explore pipe dreams, comedy

The organization that backed the
film version of The Iceman Cometh
(1973) sent us a promotional blurb,
saying its intent is to “promote a
series of films that don't play down
to the lowest common denominator
of the human mind." Does this
imply that the majority of films on
the market succeed only because
they titillate our baser instincts? If
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
and Taxi Driver were playing
down to my lowest common
denominator, l certainly enjoyed
every minute of it,

The Iceman Cometh features big
names—Eugene O'Neill as author,
John Frankenheimer as director,
and Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan,

target

The upper classithe small
minority in the country, the rich
bourgeoise elitists who can afford
to come to the U.S. to studyifinds
itself in the political arena. One of
these bourgeoise guys, myself, a
halfbreed, chooses to stay out of it.
The police activity of the Iranian
government (viz. American) is
immaterial to the Iranian working
classes. Only the rich can afford to
protest. I don't understand who the
protests are aimed at—the us.
lran or someone else7 In military
activities, the U.S. and Iran are
one. I don't refuse to condemn the
Iranian government because “I
know better" but because I feel
guilty living in America

The first question Doug Schultz
asked me in the interview was. to
paraphrase, “VIII-lat is the Shah's
relationship with the SAVAK?" I
asked, “Doug, what is the Pen-
tagon Intelligence Agency’s
relationship with Jimmy Carter“
I could have substituted any of our
myriad of police forces; it doesn’t
matter, they are all secret I told
Doug I didn't know the Shah‘s
relationship \\'ltl’l thc SAVAK I
don't think Doug knew uhat PIA or
FBI or CIA or BCI relationships
with Curtcr arc Sccret police are
secret police. Cameron lifziil

By Nancy Carpenter
Fredric March, Jeff Bridges, and
Bradford Dillman as the leads. I'm
told that this film is one of the best
of the American Film Theater
productions and that Robert Ryan.
as an aging anarchist. is par
ticularly good. Set in 1912. the play
focuses on a group of dninken
bums and whores who have found a
sanctuary in Harry Hope's saloon,
where they each construct their
own little illusions to help them
maintain their self-respect. Hickey
the salesman, the “iceman,”
arrives and attempts to help them
by exposing their lies. But in doing
so, he ruins their lives. In D'Neill's
words, this is a play about ”the
necessity of plpedreams.” The
film is cosponsored by the theater
department and is four hours long.

His Girl Friday (I940) also
features great talentiDirector
Howard Hawkes and actor Cary
Granlr (Dare I say “hubba-

hubba?) This ﬁlm is a comedic
remake of Ben I-Iecht's and
Charley McCarthy’s The Front
Page, with some major revisions,
This time around, Rosalind Russell
plays the newspaper reporter
working on her last story and Cary
Grant plays her editor and ex-
husband who wants her to stay
with the paper. The film is
especially distinguished by
Hawkes’ famous innovation of
overlapping dialogue. In almost
every scene, people are in
terrupting each other, with two or
even three conversations going on
at. once. This makes the film one of
the fastest paced comedies every

"Average white” oppresses

To the editor: I would like to
respond to the recent controversy
in the 5&8 over Curtis Cost and the
oppression of blacks. I agree with
Cost that the “average white" in
America is prejudiced against
blacks, and that “latent” prejudice
is more destructive and oppressive
to the individual black than the
more recognizable “overt”
prejudice. If you can't distinguish
your enemies, you can’t combat
them; if you cant recognize your
friends, you can't trust them. ,'

Excepting the sensitive letter by
Liz Garbart and John Hubbard, the
responses to Cost, all by whites,
have been naive and childish. By
being assertive, Cost has aroused
the defenses of these whites, and
probably many more. It's as if they
would prefer he slliit up and not
acknowledge a problem which
affects not only blacks, but
ultimatcly whites ulsc.

Cost makes a generalization tie.
“lhe average white"). and his
generalization is accurate, The
fact is. thc “average white" cannot
accept the ugly truth that by being
white in a society where blacks are
oppressed, every white, conv

sciously or unconsciously, op-
presses every black. Worse yet, the
same people who fail to
acknowledge the realities of black
oppression, also fail to
acknowledge the realities of other,
even greater (in that they are less
recognized) oppressions, such as c
gays and women,

Vicki Fontanini

Rebuts
Packer letter

To the editor:

This is in response to
“Ms.” Judy Packer’s “rebuttal." I
find in incredible that such
emotional gibberish was allowed to
be published, She did not attack
any point that I made or support
anything she said. “Ms.” Packer,
like the typical liberal-minded
white, pi‘Clei‘s to call individuals
who have awakened to the gravtty
of white oppression racist, Ho“
does She explain the fact that the
urban. Indian and Hawaiian
ghettos are occupied by non-
whites?

Curtis Cost

 

