Summer 1984
Man and the Oceans
In Essence
Phil Duncan, in Congressional Quiet inCongress Quarterly Weekly Report (Mar. 24, 1984),
1414 22nd St. N.W., Washington. D.C. 20037.
In the 1980 elections, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives suffered a dramatic loss of 33 seats. Two years later it was the Republi- cans' turn to be ambushed: They lost 26 seats. Duncan, a Congressional Quarterly staff writer, predicts that 1984 will provide both parties a respite from all the excitement.
There are a number of reasons for the eerie calm...
Irwin Ross, in Fortune (Feb. 20, 1984), 541 North Fairbanks Ct., Chicago, 111.
Welfare? 60611.
If anybody in Washington is still trying to find fat in the federal budget, he need look no farther than just across the Potomac, to Arlington County, Virginia.
Ross, a Fortune writer, says that while congressional budget-cutters eye Washington's massive welfare and defense outlays, generous fed- eral aid to state and local governments escapes attention. Those gov- ernments "are generally in...
Irwin Ross, in Fortune (Feb. 20, 1984), 541 North Fairbanks Ct., Chicago, 111.
Welfare? 60611.
If anybody in Washington is still trying to find fat in the federal budget, he need look no farther than just across the Potomac, to Arlington County, Virginia.
Ross, a Fortune writer, says that while congressional budget-cutters eye Washington's massive welfare and defense outlays, generous fed- eral aid to state and local governments escapes attention. Those gov- ernments "are generally in m...
R. Gordon Hoxie, in Presi-dential Studies Quarterly (Spring 1984),
Cabinet Government Center for the Study of the Presidency, 208 East 75th St., ~ew
York, N.Y. 10021.
Nearly every U.S. president solemnly promises at the beginning of his first term that he will rely heavily on his cabinet. Yet the U.S. Constitu- tion makes no mention of a cabinet; the institution has varied in func- tion and importance according to the desires of each chief executive.
After his inauguration in April 1789, George...
a strong chief of staff and ambitious White House aides who were more powerful than members of the Cabinet." While it has been argued that the American cabinet system is obsolete, Hoxie believes that its very adaptability argues for its survival.
Business and Labor "Business, Labor, and the Anti-commu- nisi Struggle" Arch Puddington, in National Review (Jan. 27, 1984), 150 East 35th St., New York, N.Y. 10016.
It is no surprise when Big Business and Big Labor wind up on opposite...
PERIODICALS
FOREIGN POLICY & DEFENSE
"Assad and the Future of the Middle
Lebanon East" bv Robert G. Neumann, in Foreign Affairs (winter 1983/84), P.O. Box 2.515,
Post-Mortem Boulder, Colo. 80321.
Now that Syria's President Hafez al-Assad has blocked the U.S.-backed peace-keeping effort in Lebanon, he "has emerged from years of isola- tion and placed himself at the power switch of Middle-East policy. For some time to come, he will remain a man who cannot be ignored."
So w...
no means assured.
To win the wider leadership role that he seeks in the Arab world, As- sad will have to tackle the Arab-Israeli question. That will require a choice between pursuing diplomacy or launching a new Arab war against Israel. Despite Assad's alliance with Moscow, damage to U.S. interests is not foreordained. Washington, Neumann cautions, will have to master "the traditional Middle-Eastern game of opposing and cooperating at the same time."
'A Plan To Reshape NATO" Henry
Reshaping...
an American. And he would give European governments primary respon- sibility for conducting the arms control negotiations with Moscow on conventional forces and intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
Our NATO allies have long been reluctant to begin a conventional build-up. But Kissinger maintains that continued reliance on the U.S. nuclear deterrent is no longer practical. If the Europeans refuse to do their part, he concludes, Washington should consider a partial with- drawal of U.S. troops from...
Jonathan Wilkenfeld and
Michael ~recher, in International Studies
Quarterly (Mar. 1984), Quadrant Sub-
scription Services Ltd., Oakfield House,
Perrymount Rd., Haywards Heath RH16
3DH, England.
The United Nations (UN) is an easy target for critics on many counts.
But according to Wilkenfeld and Brecher, political scientists at the Uni-
versity of Maryland and McGill University, respectively, it handles its
toughest job very well.
In 160 international crises that occurred between 1945 and...
Jonathan Wilkenfeld and
Michael ~recher, in International Studies
Quarterly (Mar. 1984), Quadrant Sub-
scription Services Ltd., Oakfield House,
Perrymount Rd., Haywards Heath RH16
3DH, England.
The United Nations (UN) is an easy target for critics on many counts.
But according to Wilkenfeld and Brecher, political scientists at the Uni-
versity of Maryland and McGill University, respectively, it handles its
toughest job very well.
In 160 international crises that occurred between 1945 and...
putting more money in Americans' hands, deficits increase the de- mand for goods and services and stimulate the economy. Too little stimulation can mean recession; too much, inflation. But in times of high inflation and interest rates, the stimulus that Washington pro- vides with one hand, it can take away with the other. And the authors believe that inflation and high interest rates since 1976 have eaten away the national debt-in effect, taking the money right out of gov- ernment bondholders' pockets-faster...
John Kenneth Gal- braith, in challenge"(Jan.-Feb. 1984), 80 In Keynesianism Business Park Dr., Armonk, N.Y.10504.
The past two years brought the centennials of the birth of Franklin De- lano Roosevelt (1982) and of John Maynard Keynes (1983), who to- gether transformed American economic thought and public policy. Yet the two men did not see eye-to-eye on the revolution they started.
As a student of Keynesian economics during the 1930s and as a war- time price-control official in the Roosevelt...
PERIODICALS
ECONOMICS, LABOR, & BUSINESS
"Keynes, Roosevelt, and the Complemen- What FDR Saw tary Revolutions" John Kenneth Gal- braith, in challenge"(Jan.-Feb. 1984), 80 In Keynesianism Business Park Dr., Armonk, N.Y.10504.
The past two years brought the centennials of the birth of Franklin De- lano Roosevelt (1982) and of John Maynard Keynes (1983), who to- gether transformed American economic thought and public policy. Yet the two men did not see eye-to-eye on the revolution...
the state were earning 20 percent less than men in "comparable" jobs.
Willis now recoils at the thought that his or anybody else's scorecard should become law, Cowley reports. He adds, "Maintaining a standard as vague as "worth" could make quantum mechanics look simple." The Wil- lis scale requires assigning each job a score based on skills required, men- tal demands, and working conditions. A clerk-typist might be classified as a "C1N 106 C2-f 23 C1N 23 L1A 0,"...
Paul E. Peterson, in The Brookings Review (Winter 1983), 1775Schools' Woes Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20036.
Last year, President Reagan's National Commission on Excellence in Education warned of a "rising tide of mediocrity" in the nation's schools. A host of other task forces soon echoed the dire news [see "Teaching in America," WQ, New Year's 19841. But according to Peter- son, a Brookings Institution political scientist, all the hoopla concealed the fact...
Paul E. Peterson, in The Brookings Review (Winter 1983), 1775Schools' Woes Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20036.
Last year, President Reagan's National Commission on Excellence in Education warned of a "rising tide of mediocrity" in the nation's schools. A host of other task forces soon echoed the dire news [see "Teaching in America," WQ, New Year's 19841. But according to Peter- son, a Brookings Institution political scientist, all the hoopla concealed the fact...
the authors' calculations, the new school enrollment rates account for 39 percent of the increase in the black-white employment differential.
Military enlistment patterns have also changed. Since the early 1970s, black enlistment rates have topped white rates, reversing the historic pattern. Nearly 15 percent of 20-to-23-year-old black men, but just over five percent of their white peers, were in uniform in 1981.
Because military personnel were not until recently counted as part of the U.S. work...
Nathan Glazer, in The New York Times Book Review (Feb. 26, 1984), Intellectuals P.O. Box 508, Hackensack, N.J. 07602.
From the 1930s to the 1950s, a small band of intellectuals in New York City hotly debated questions that nobody else cared about in obscure magazines that nobody else read. Today, some of those writers, while not household names, informally advise presidents and enjoy the status of minor media celebrities.
Glazer, a Harvard sociologist, is an alumnus of the New York world populated...
Nathan Glazer, in The New York Times Book Review (Feb. 26, 1984), Intellectuals P.O. Box 508, Hackensack, N.J. 07602.
From the 1930s to the 1950s, a small band of intellectuals in New York City hotly debated questions that nobody else cared about in obscure magazines that nobody else read. Today, some of those writers, while not household names, informally advise presidents and enjoy the status of minor media celebrities.
Glazer, a Harvard sociologist, is an alumnus of the New York world populated...
the social problems that might accom- pany a larger elderly population-greater numbers of invalids, more costly health and retirement programs, the development of a gerontoc- racy. Longevity would increase only over the course of decades, leaving plenty of time to make the necessary adjustments.
Medawar worries that unnecessary fears will deter us from pursuing life-extending research. As an antidote, he proposes that a small group of volunteers be the first to try life artificially prolonged to...
stripping parents of their authority and encouraging lawsuits their offspring, might make families just that.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
"The New Prohibitionists" by Stanton Abstinence Is Peele, in The Sciences (Mar.-Apr. 1984), Not the Answer P.O. Box 356, Martinsville, N.J. 08836.
"I am an alcoholic," Alcoholics Anonymous members ritually declare, "I cannot drink." That is the common view in the United States: Alco- holism is a disease, and abstinence is the onl...
Arthur F. Scott, in Scientific American (Jan. 1984),
Man's First Flight P.0.Box 5969, New York, N.Y. 10017.
On November 21, 1783, the first men ever to fly without tethers to the ground went aloft in a hot-air balloon over Paris. The featwas the work of two paper manufacturers, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Mont- golfier, who were encouraged by-and woefully misinformed about -recent breakthroughs in chemistry.
The two revolutionary developments of the day were the overthrow of the phlogiston...
burning straw to inflate their balloon, they were creating a light gas. Actually, all they got was hot air. But it was good enough. Anybody could have launched a hot-air balloon years before. It took a revolution in chemistry to give somebody the courage to try.
"Reinventing the Computer" TomAnother Computer Alexander, in Fortune (Mar. 5, 1984), 541 'Revolution'? North Fairbanks Ct., Chicago, 111.6061 1.
The computer industry seems to go through more revolutions than a long-playing record....
using many "parallel" processors. Each will work independently on one part of a given problem and exchange its findings with other processors.
simple-as it seems, parallel processing poses daunting technical challenges. Scientists must figure out how to break complex problems into manageable bites that can be worked on "in parallel" rather than sequentially, as in today's computers. And they must develop computer programs that will allow the processors to "talk" to...
the federal government years ago," Sun believes. Twenty
countries now permit some use of the process, developed during the
1950s; several international agencies, including the World Health Or-
ganization, have certified the safety of medium-energy irradiation. But
in this country, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has
barred all but a few uses. Food prepared for U.S. astronauts in space
and for people suffering from immune system deficiencies, for example,
is sterilized irradiation....
about seven percent; those who received the utility's version, not at all. A 1979 U.S. Department of Energy mailing to every household in New England achieved sig- nificant results including a plastic showerhead flow restrictor with each pamphlet. Apparently, Stern says, the flow restrictors were like a "foot in the door." Once people used them, they were more receptive to other conservation measures.
Consumers also seem to be willing to conserve as long as they feel that they are not...
another 44 to 67 percent. An alternative is to require industrial smokestack "scrubbers" to remove sulfur oxides in existing plants (fed- eral law already mandates them for big new ones). But a single scrub- ber can cost $200 million. A reduction of eight million tons in annual sulfur oxide emissions would cost $40 billion 1995.
Krohe doubts that scientists or politicians will be able to agree on what to do about acid rain any time soon. In the meantime, low-cost re- ductions of acid...
JosephThe Secret of Alper, in Science 84 (Mar. 1984), P.O. Box Stradivarius 10790,Des Moines, Iowa 50340.
For nearly 200 years, no one has been able to duplicate the sound of the stringed musical instruments made during the Renaissance Antonio Stradivari and by later Italian masters. But the work of a chemist in Texas could change all that, says Alper, a freelance writer.
From the mid-1500s to the late 1700s, a colony of uniquely skilled musical craftsmen flourished in the northern Italian town...
Anna Kisselgoff, in
The New York Times Magazine (Feb. 19,
1984), 229 West 43rd St., New York, N.Y.
Of Modem Dance ,0036.
Martha Graham, at age 90 "the most famous dancer and choreographer in the world," is still going strong. Though Graham herself stopped per- forming in 1969, she continues to choreograph startling new works for the New York dance company that bears her name.
Graham virtually created American modern dance in the late 1920s. Along with Picasso and Joyce, declares Kis...
the dances of American Indians and other primitive peo- ples, Graham stressed constant motion in her performances and avoided the fixed positions and poses of classical ballet. Standardizing her repertoire of movements in a training regimen (the "Graham tech- nique") allowed her to pass on her style to disciples, establishing a per- manent alternative to ballet.
"I don't want to be understandable, I want to be felt," Graham de- clares. Her chief principle is that dancing expresses...
"Report from Afghanistan" Claude
- Malhuret. in Foreien Affairs (Winter 1983/84), Reader .Services',' 58 ~ast 68th St., New York, N.Y. 10021.
Four years after invading Afghanistan, the Soviet Army is still bogged down in an inconclusive war. Yet Malhuret, head of the Paris-based vol- unteer group, Mkdecins sans Frontikres (Doctors without Borders), which operates six hospitals in Afghanistan, writes that the conflict is not, as it has been called, "Moscow's Vietnam."
American...
Murray Feshbach and Nick Eberstadt, in Population and Development
The Soviets? Review (Mar. 1984), The Population Council, 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10017.
In the Soviet Union, official statistics for the early 1970s reveal a sudden jump in infant mortality. Demographers Murray Feshbach of Georgetown University [see "A Different Crisis," WQ, Winter 19811 and Nick Eberstadt of Harvard have argued independently that the change in numbers is symptomatic of widespread ills...
IODICALS
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Book Reviews
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Essays
for food and fuel. One day, he may tap the sea-bed as an important new source of key minerals. Men and governments have yet to mark the seas with ruin, but preventing ruin, given man's proclivities, has not been easy. Here, marking the Year of the Oceans, historian Susan Schlee chronicles the evolution of marine science; political sci- entist Ann Hollick considers the use and misuse of the oceans and the United Nations' decade-long attempt to fashion a work- able Law of the Sea amid conflicting...
From outer space, Earth resembles a ball of azure liquid. With nearly 71 percent of its surface covered with water, the planet has been aptly called the "blue drifter." Even the white whorls of clouds that embroider the planet's atmosphere are va- porous extensions of the oceans below.
The seas have long piqued man's curiosity, and he has im- bued them with his fondest hopes and his most poignant fears. In the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh, based on tales told nearly 5,000 years ago,...
On April 30, 1982, the United Nations voted to adopt the Law of the Sea treaty that had been under negotiation for more than 10 years. The tally was 130 in favor, four opposed, and 17 ab- staining. The United States was one of the four states in opposi- tion. In the aftermath of this vote, proponents and opponents of the treaty began wielding their pens, variously campaigning to reverse or to reinforce the U.S. position.
By December, when 143 national delegations gathered at Montego Bay, Jamaica,...
(Times Books, 1983), an en- grossing and brilliantly illustrated guide to the oceans and marine envi- ronment.
Into 272 tabloid-size pages, Alas- tair Dougal Couper, head of the De- partment of Maritime Studies at the University of Wales Institute of Sci- ence and Technology, has packed 400 color maps and a tightly written text brimming with information on every conceivable aspect of the sea.
This is the prime source book for the reader who wants to know the volume of sludge and sewage dumped...
/ No one can describe the topic that I have chosen to discuss
'
as a neglected and understudied one. How much ink has been spilled about it, how many library shelves have been filled with works on the subject, since the days of Thucydides! How many scholars from how many specialties have applied their expertise to this intractable problem! Mathematicians, meteorologists, sociologists, anthropologists, geographers, physicists, political scientists, philosophers, theologians, and lawyers are only...
may have their origins in inventive attempts to "establish or legiti- mize .. .status or relations of authority."
Hugh Trevor-Roper
Today, whenever Scotsmen gather together to celebrate their national identity, they wear the kilt, woven in a tartan whose colors and pattern indicate their clan. This apparel, to which they ascribe great antiquity, is, in fact, of fairly recent ori- gin. Indeed, the whole concept of a distinct Highland culture and tradition is a retrospective invention.
Before th...
Today, whenever Scotsmen gather together to celebrate their national identity, they wear the kilt, woven in a tartan whose colors and pattern indicate their clan. This apparel, to which they ascribe great antiquity, is, in fact, of fairly recent ori- gin. Indeed, the whole concept of a distinct Highland culture and tradition is a retrospective invention.
Before the later years of the 17th century, the Highlanders of Scotland did not form a distinct people. They were simply the overflow of Ireland....
took on a peculiar character, distinguishing them from both their European and Asian imperial forms.
In contrast to India, many parts of Africa became colonies of white settlement. This meant that the settlers had to define themselves as natural and undisputed masters of vast numbers of Africans. They drew upon the freshly minted European tradi- tions both to define and to justify their roles, and also to provide models of subservience into which it was possible to draw Afri- cans. In Africa,...
TRADITION
Man has always been shaped to some degree tradition, whether in his personal relations, his economic life, or his capacity as a political animal. As late as the 18th century in the West, most people still ordered their lives (as historian Marc Bloch wrote of medieval man) "on the assump- tion that the only title to perma- nence was that conferred by long usage. Life was ruled by tradition, by group custom." The intellectual up- heavals of the Renaissance and Ref- ormation,...
public agencies and private institutions
"Years of Poverty, Years of Plenty."
Institute for Social Research, Publishing Division, Box 1248, Ann Arbor, Mich.
48106.200 pp. $24.00.
Author: Greg J. Duncan
If you are on the top of the economic heap today, your chances of staying there during the next few years are not particularly good. But neither are you condemned to remain poor next year if you are now.
These are among the findings of Duncan and his colleagues at the Uni- versity o...
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With the discovery of fire, man conquered cold. Beating the heat was a more daunting challenge. In ancient Rome, patricians simply fled to the Alban Hills to wait out the sultry summer months. Caliph Mahdi of Baghdad was more ambitious. In A.D. 775, he began cooling his garden by packing the hollow walls around it with snow from nearby mountains. Some 700 years later, Leonardo da Vinci devised a water-driven fan for a pa- tron's home. Not to be outdone, one 19th-century inventor built a ve...
LECTIONS
Growing up in Hartford, Connecticut, the writer Brendan Gill occasionally caught sight of an aloof, well-dressed insurance ex- ecutive by the name of Wallace Stevens. "He marched," Gill later recalled, "like a tame bear through the streets of our city, but there was nothing tamed about him; he had chosen to im- prison his fiercer self in a cage of upper-middle-class decorum as Frost had hidden himself inside a canny bumpkin." Stevens's "fiercer self" was busy...
