Editorials
Contents Volume CVI, Number 13 . commonweal Correspondence 386 Editorials ...
...This shift is too by the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment...
...With total consumption...
...One way or another, it is a rare American family that does not own at least one car...
...By the mid-1980s if Congress and the public can be persuaded thaUhere is a real some experts expect this total to reach $100 billion...
...And he insisted the brightest- man to have made it to the sonal effort-has changed history...
...Today it is fifty percent...
...And to help the industry reach this goal, Secretary Adams A Time of Death: Ivan Sanders 412 proposes a massive government-funded program of basic automotive research, the In Brief: Jack Riemer, Jack Dick, price tag on which could reach $100 million a year-which is all right, provided that Jean Bethke Elshtqin 415 the program paid for at public expense is not allowed to become a giant rip-off on behalf of the big automakers...
...Staff What is obvious about such a plan, with or without government assistance, is that the American lifestyle would have to change accordingly...
...is grave doubt that the level of petroleum imports needed to editorial staff in January 1972, he was deeply involved in meet this shortfall can be reached or sustained, the study said both...
...Tentative and fragile though dismayed-by other things...
...Between these glacial institutions it has been the independent efforts-press campaigns for human rights, support for Soviet dissidents, Nobel juries, Amnesty POSTSCRIPT ON POLAND International -that have kept the human flame burning...
...Two problem and not just a temporary minor inconvenience...
...But he also carried out a full years ago, when gas at the pump cost one-third of its present range of editorial tasks, from composing major editorials to price, this would have seemed a ridiculous idea...
...Telephone: true that the hard winter of 1977-78 caused a severe drop in our fuel-oil reserves...
...shale and from tar sands, both in plentiful supply...
...I still remember being didate by giving voice to such thoughts...
...Basically what this seems to mean is that cars have to be redesigned to The Battle for the American Church: make them far more energy-efficient...
...According Whoever's guilty, what are the prospects...
...And even if became one of the most highly regarded teachers, unstintforeign oil continued to be available, its price would continue ingly responding to the emotional and moral needs of his to rise to the point that the cost of fuel would have a profound students as well as rigorously challenging them intellectually...
...A car that would get 50 Editor: James O'Gara miles to the gallon would almost certainly be much smaller and much lighter than Executive Editor: Peter Steinfels Associate Editor: Raymond A. Schroth present small, light cars...
...Loss of Iranian oil for a while obviously hurt, and Iranian production is Commonweal, A Review of Public Affairs, Liter- still substantially below previous levels...
...for the book review section, a section most recently honored, Is there any ray of hope...
...An uncle was the last publisher of theschedule of fuel economy imposed on the automakers by Eagle., the paper that Walt Whitman had edited a century: Congress is too stringent...
...What should be carefully the long run because of our continued reliance on foreign oil...
...One hopeful possibility would be a for the second consecutive year, with a first-place citation by federal program aimed at producing synthetic gasoline...
...Yearly subscriptions, U.S...
...editorials in the course of his career-for the Trenton Times, The O.T.A...
...nonetheless, it 6 July 1979: 387 does not really seem that everything can be blamed on them...
...and oil companies have to make up for this and prepare for a possibly hard winter ahead...
...Today, however, overall car sales are down -thirty percent in Verse: Lewis Turco, Mary Oliver 405 early June - and those of big gas-guzzlers are way down...
...scolded by my Girl Scout leader for And she may have been right...
...This is good, but it is still not enough to keep Joe Nicholson 410 up with rising demand...
...What was colorful political sym- "Considering the competition, Jimmy port or do not agree with him...
...contributed to his slide in the polls...
...What can be added to this display of There is a paradox here...
...The "Eurocatholicism," though in the spirit of the Pope's own Pope faces the challenge of maintaining his campaign for appeals to unity the term ought to have been "Eurochristian- pluralism, human rights and human dignity against all the ity...
...Contents Volume CVI, Number 13 . commonweal Correspondence 386 Editorials 387 The president we have: Abigail McCarthy 389 The American auto, R.I.P.: Frank Getlein 390 Pilgrim among symbols: Bogumil Kosciesza 392 THE GREAT Redefining death: Walter G. Jeffko 394 Dominican RSpublic, Inc.: 398 AMERICAN DREAMBOAT Joseph E. Mulligan The Vial of Elaine Harrington: Thomas J. Cottle 400 HE AUTOMOBILE has long been considered the bellwether of the American Stage: Gerdld.Weales 403 economy, the pride and joy of the American.male, and perhaps a potent sex Screen: Colin L. Westerbeck, Jr...
...There was much talk of appeals for the rights and dignity of all men and women...
...characterize a president...
...Ray estimated that his father had written over 40,00U times the current outlay...
...Complainbolism in the boroughs of New York was Carter is still the best hope for someday ing, yes-querulous, yes-but not so simply strange to us...
...Publisher Edward S. Skillin We would like to think this was true, and there is a certain amount of evidence in that direction...
...They add up to a strong endorsement of the president on Fallows' part, yet who can doubt that his ALWAYS hesitate to write on political tenderfoot scout could weaken her can- emphasis on the president's weaknesses subjects...
...domestic sources, is almost exactly what it was a year ago...
...Raymond Schroth has been named Academic Dean of Rockhurst College, the Jesuit liberal arts college in Kansas City...
...For the church, too, has often living faith, this demonstration of the moral bankruptcy of an enough been frozen in official ideology, been subservient to imposed regime, this firm and yet diplomatic testimony of an official bureaucracy...
...One leading voice in this blues chorus is Secretary of TransportaThe Streets Were Paved with Gold: Michael Harrington 406 tion Brock Adams, who for months has been talking of the need to "reinvent" the automobile...
...Gasoline gust, by Commonweal Publishing Co., 232 Madi- consumption is up, but not enough to cause great alarm...
...404 symbol as well...
...In the course of this delicate journey," the years of internal Catholic dissidence on matters of human correspondent of L'Express concluded simply, "John Paul II rights, there would have been no visit to Poland, no stirring did not make a single mistake...
...10016...
...study on the automobile was commissioned by the New York Herald-Tribune, the Philadelphia Record, and the Senate to help in the on-going argument as to whether the the Brooklyn Eagle...
...warned government program, and the sooner we make a start, the that the nation's economy could be crippled by the cost of better...
...Communist countries is rising so sharply that the members of In the seven-and-a-half years since he came to Comthe Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would monweal, Ray Schroth never slackened in this double comhave to double their production by the year 2000 to keep up mitment, as an educator and a journalist...
...If the polls are accurate, Poetry: John Fandel a large majority of the American people believe that our current problems are due Staff: Linda F. Kayler, Harriette Balsky Advertising Manager: Ruth E. Taylor primarily to the shenanigans of the big oil companies, not to any real oil shortage...
...Stalin's sneer about the papacy's military power frozen structures of the political and economic worlds at the seemed to be definitively answered...
...Various efforts in this direcget better in the short run and worse in the long run...
...Writing in Esprit before gratitude and best wishes-as well as our expectations of the papal journey, Paul Thibaud noted that people have lost future contributions to these pages...
...on wearing his brown derby, headgear White House in this century or, given our Nor, apparently, is the president vinexotic beyond belief to rural Midwestern system, likely to make it...
...With the continuing talk of an energy crisis and the growing gasoline crunch, there is a swelling chorus of those Books who say that the much-vaunted auto is not the unmixed blessing that it was once cracked up to be...
...But with planning and guiding large-scale projects like last year's millions of tons of unused coal available to make synthetic Commonweal Papers: New Frontiers in Theology...
...A. Noting that there Schroth is one of them...
...We would be among the last to suggest that the $35...
...In a much for industry to handle...
...In addigasoline, government officials estimate that gasoline so pro- tion he produced a steady stream of reviews and articles, for duced could now be sold at $1.30 a gallon-a price that no The New York Times Book Review, America, The Month, and longer looks so prohibitive...
...The next issue, therefore, will be dated August 3. of the journalist...
...Special two-year rate: this...
...On the other hand, it is also son Ave., New York, N.Y...
...This is 6 July 1979: 389...
...The implications of this potential There are all-too-few individuals who recognize the comsupply shortage are profound and pose a serious threat to our plementary character of higher education and serious continued reliance on the automobile as the predominant mode journalism-and can excel in both areas...
...bringing the government under con- punitive that he pulls projects out of conBut our troop captain held that even a trol," he also wrote...
...of personal transportation," said the O.T...
...means less gasoline production...
...But our total national supply of crude, from ature and the Arts, is published biweekly, except monthly Christmas-New Year's and July and Au- foreign and...
...Without the flexibility of postone man to the powers of resistance and reconciliation re- conciliar Vatican policy toward Eastern Europe, without 150 vealed in.Christ...
...If it were to remain a prized status symbol, it would Abigail McCarthy, Thomas Powers have to be a new kind of status...
...At Fordham he with the demand-a highly dubious possibility...
...foreign, $39...
...Gasoline can also be made from of course Commonweal...
...Pope's visit to Poland...
...It House speechwriter who has written so macho in his attitudes toward provocaseemed to my young mind that even the critically about the president, holds, tive foreign adversaries, not so intent on voters in our little town who did not ob- nevertheless, that Carter has the greatest saving face that he is willing to risk war...
...Better in tion are being made: President Carter's proposals for a the short run as the oil companies step up gasoline production, windfall tax on the oil companies contains a provision for as gas is more equitably distributed and the panic dies...
...day and by the year 2000 will be 15.4 million barrels, at a nals, including Commonweal, and a member of a newspaper conservatively estimated cost of $146 billion a year, three family...
...Only an extraordinary combination Commonweal: 388 of dedication and discipline allowed him to be a double-time Commonweal publishes only one issue each month editor in what was, officially, less than a half-time position...
...worse in synthetic gasoline production...
...Long before joining Commonweal's...
...The (212) MU 3-2042...
...The There has been so much said-and well said-about the Pope has taken the lead of these efforts...
...experience...
...While which government supplies all the capital and takes all the risk, Nixon was president, we imported less than 20 percent of our while the giant oil companies reap the ultimate bonanza...
...It would be an "in city" car, able to carry only a couple of Editorial Assistant: Anne Robertson people in comfort, unable to accommodate much luggage, not suitable for large Columnists: John Garvey, Frank Getlein, family outings or long trips...
...A Jesuit, a Ph.D...
...There is little in the report to give earlier and the subject of Ray's book, The Eagle and Brookcomfort to Detroit...
...It's as simple and as complicated as that...
...Canada, $20...
...The demand for petroleum in non- lyn, published in 1974...
...The president has other virtues...
...more inspiring, but none of the candiOf several minds: Abigail McCarthy dates now being discussed would have had the same four years of re-education in the problems presented by the bureaucracy...
...This year are good, and support for them would probably be forthcoming the bill will climb to around $55 billion...
...Others might be gressmen's districts, for example...
...ject to his Catholicism, even those who stability of character of any recent holder He has demonstrated his willingness to supported him because of it, were of the office, or anyone likely to hold it...
...THE PRESIDENT WE HAVE Stability of character, brains, the ability to learn-not bad traits with which to IWHY IS CARTER AT BAY...
...He takes with him Commonweal's represents even for non-believers...
...avoided are programs of government-industry partnership in U.S...
...Movies: Colin L.,Westerbeck, Jr...
...in American Studies and a professor that even if Arab oil continues to flow freely-something by in the Communications Department at Fordham University, no means certain-imports by 1985 will be 10 million barrels a he was also an experienced contributor to a number of jour...
...On balance, the to current calculations, a synthetic oil industry could within man who seems to us to have summed it up best was an five to ten years produce five million barrels a day -more than anonymous administration spokesman who said things would 20 percent of our current needs...
...dictive toward those who deny him sup= eyes...
...If present policies continue, said the study, the nation will face a DEPARTING EDITOR grave petroleum shortage...
...He is saying that I didn't think Al Smith was James Fallows, the erstwhile White strongly a peace president, not at all going to win the presidential election...
...What is needed, it is said, is a great technological leap by the The Malpractitioners/Pain and Profit: industry so that the fuel economy of the new cars would average 50 miles per gallon Joseph A. Page 411 by the year 2000...
...But, skeptics say, is this trip to the woodshed necessary...
...Ten the Catholic Press Association...
...foreign, $22...
...We suspect that not even all faith in official ideologies and official bureaucracies, both the well-known rigors of being a dean can long keep a East and West, cut off as they are from all particular human Raymond Schroth away from serious journalism...
...it will inevitably require a strong major study of the automobile in America, the O.T.A...
...same time as the papacy-and with it all of us-strives to What is the source of this spiritual authority that John Paul discover what these ideals will mean within the church itself...
...results would be well nigh inevitable: prices that would make So-yes, Virginia, there is a genuine long-range petroleum the present ones seem downright pleasant, and a serious crisis, whatever the short-term sins of the oil companies, and worldwide depression...
...Last year the that proviso noted, programs for synthetic gasoline production United States spent $42 billion to import foreign oil...
...go the other mile in order to get alienated-or, at the very least, He is also said to have told friends re- agreements...
...As of now, however, the educator has taken a jump ahead during July and August...
...Single copy, $I...
...imported petroleum in 20 years, barring rationing, large increases in gasoline prices, or a switch to gasoline substitutes...
...dependence on imported oil grows and grows...
...sooner or later a shift will have to be made from petroleum to Support for this gloomy prediction can be found in a study alternate energy sources for the automobile...
...effect on the balance of payments, the value of the dollar, the At Commonweal he had responsibility, in the first instance, level of employment and the general state of the economy...
...Raymond A...
...Right now, for instance, a federal mandate to John Jay Hughes 409 the industry is in the process of raising the average fuel economy of new cars from The Unsuspected Revolution: the current 19 miles per gallon to 27.5...
...He said cently that Carter is probably the it may be, the agreement in the "raddio" when everybody knew it was brightest-not the most intellectual, but Mideast-so much the result of his perradio with the long "a...
...sound of rising prices at the pump is not music to the ears of big oil...
Vol. 106 • July 1979 • No. 13
