Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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| ^ 'f )/\ /n ifrv /\ /a JDrvurtvr, By M. S. Daoudi Ph.D. candldato In Govammant The old man sitting in the university coffee shop, sipping his coffee and reading his morning paper, raised his eyes to me and said, "Was that you on television talking about energy?" I hesitated and then replied, "I guess so." I thought this answer would put an end to that conversation. I was tired and in no mood to discuss such a controversial topic in a fow minntoc HOWEVER, the old man persisted. "Tell me," he said, "what do you think is the solution for our energy problems?" I looked him straight in the eye and said, "Do you really want to know?" He seemed surprised, but answered, "Sure I do. Doesn'i everyone?" I did not mean to be obnoxious, but his sincerc interest appealed to me. | "It will cost you a dime," I answered. I He did not seem to mind as he searched his pocket for j dime and came up with two nickels. | "Not for me," I told him, "but to call USC Presiden i Holderman and urge him to set up an energy depart ment." Now he was sure I was putting him on. He turned hi: head, put the two nickels back in his pocket, and went 01 reading his paper and sipping his coffee. I deserved his snub. But I was very serious. Three years ago, John Blair, a public servant who ha< dedicated his life to energy problems, wrote in the preface to his highly-acclaimed book, "The Control of Oil,' (published in 1976): L . . ? On letters ? The Gamecock \\< unes letters from its readers Letters shu.,.j l>e a maximum of 3(X) C . . ^ words and must Ik* signed with the writer's ? > correct name, telephone, mailing address, />. ciass stanning and major. Pseudonyms arc y. /*//,,, - - " J3A& unacceptable, but the writer's name may be ' f|R withheld by request if circumstances warrant. * k v We reserve the right to edit letters for space. / Address letters to: Campus opinion. The (iamecock. Drawer A, liSC, Columbia. S C. ffpf gamecock{fill/, ! Foundud 1 908 S\\ 'Ms -.* ': I Tnm Trauic f.v/yy."- S.r> - ? mr vk Leigh Grogan Copy Desk Chief Ron Stokes News Editor J Brett Fnedtander Sports Editor J David Baker Entertainment Editor Stephen McCormack Graphics Editor Brian Duncan . Editorial Pago Editor '.fgi Janice Wood Graduate Assistant " Tony Gray Advertising Manaoer Fran George . . . . . . Production Manager 0-'.' Jon Clemmensen General Manager Sam McKee Business Manager . v, / W', Mark Ethridge Jr Adviser "" Newsroom: 777 7181 Advertising: 777 4249 Business Office: 777 3888 Sole reproduction rights granted to the Associated Press All othor material contained herein may not he reprinted without the permission of the editor. ' ' : ' / , Opinions expressed in the Gamecock are ; " > - , those, if signed, of the writer and, if unsigned, . of the senior editorial staff. ^ ' Guest Column n i n/jn r\/** uuurv yuuu sjjuji t In terms of both quantitative importance and essentiality, energy is outranked only by agriculture. Yet, although there are dozens of colleges of agricultural economics, scores of courses on various aspects of the subject and hundreds of textbooks, there are no colleges of energy economics, virtually no courses, and thus no textbooks. NOTHING could be more true. We are so ill-prepared on energy partly because of our past overconfidence about energy supplies and our traditional reliance on the oil companies. But mainly it is a result of the absence of academic establishments that would devote time and effort to produce experts and energy scientists who would be adequately informed and educated. This approach is detrimental in our search for energy [ solutions. America toaay is sunering trom a aisease i called 4 'energy dependency.'' There seems to be no one who is able and competent to give the proper diagnosis and offer the proper treatment, and those who claim to have the answers are frequently a witch doctors and false prophets. THE NUMBER of federal agencies concerned with it energy regulation is between 40 and 50, and the number of t- employees in the newly-created Department of Energy is around 20,000. So in terms of numbers, things look fine. But it seems that it is the quality and the calibre which s pose the problem, not to forget the affiliations and n background. When James Schlesinger was appointed secretary of enerev. the onlv exnerts he found to staff his Hpnartmpnt 0|, , ^ z ? ? came from the oil industry and were in one way or another affiliated with the oil companies. i It was this kind of expert who later advised Schlesinger e to announce there was a shortage when there was an oil " glut, and that prices had to go up when prices did not need to go up. * RE--SHUFFHNGj THi 7 * CkJ ? a aime ? A good number of the appointments were political in nature and few if any of the appointees had a solid background in energy politics or energy economics. What needs to be done is first to realize there are no immediate, overnight solutions to this problem. Those sitting at home in front of their televisions, waiting for a Newton or an Edison to emerge on the scene and announce he had discovered a safe, cheap, practical and very l:_l 1j 1 1 a. auuuuam tMieigy suuice winui wuuiu replace on, can sn sit there and wait. AS FOR ME, I entertain no such illusions. There was no way President Carter could have come down from his Camp David seclusion with an all-encompassing remedy j to our energy problems. President Carter means well, but he is no Moses. In my opinion, we cannot find solutions until we come to grips with the nature of the problem, and we cannot do this unless we steer ourselves in the rieht direction ? that of science, technology and education. What needs to be done is to start basic training centers around the country where students will be scientifically equipped and prepared to play an essential role in the planning of a sound energy policy. We need to raise our young generation with the facts and figures of energy that they may join hands to bring _1 il J - / Al A 1 ciuser me uawn 01 me posi-peiroieum era. MEANWHILE, we will do best by tightening our energy j consumption belts and stop driving five or seven miles to buy an ice cream or leave our house lights on to make it look as if we were at home. j What the hell. Save the dime and use a university extention. Editor's note: M.S. Daoudi is at present teaching a course on the politics of oil. ? ?? I gpIff M (KCAD E.M fHHi ST* ANP WEEP, lltilt" ' >; A Qan/C | *.y? t DECK " ss*as^l