Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.issues From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: issues Mon, May 11 1992 Date: Mon, 11 May 92 05:22:18 EDT Message-ID: 05-11 0000 DECISIONLINE: Issues & Debate USA TODAY Update May 11, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Here are some of the issues and topics being debated across the nation Monday morning in USA TODAY: NASA; Recovery; Redistricting. TODAY'S DEBATE - SPACE PROGRAM: USA TODAY'S OPINION: So close, so good - but not quite close or good enough. That was the final word on the shuttle Endeavour's attempt Sunday to snare a lame private satellite in a 17,500-mph pas de deux 223 miles above Earth. It also describes the post-Apollo space program. Congress and the White House consistently have failed to provide the planning and foresight that could move NASA into the sustained and focused performance needed to transport humanity to its next frontier. ... The shuttles always were meant as cheap ferries to a space station NASA hoped Congress would fund once it saw the glitzy vehicles in operation. ... Plans for using the assemblage of trusses, modules and solar panels remain hazy. NASA can't even say how it would fit into President Bush's vague goal of a Mars landing by 2019. Space is the frontier of the 21st century. Only by tapping into every nation's technology, and its treasury, can we ensure its timely exploration - at an affordable price. OTHER VIEW: SEN. JAKE GARN, R-Utah, ranking minority member of the space appropriations subcommittee: Today, hundreds of miles above the surface of the Earth, Space Shuttle Endeavour is orbiting the planet. This remarkable technology, which sends astronauts into space and returns them safely to Earth, displays our nation's pre-eminence in science and technology, symbolizes the pioneering spirit of our forefathers and produces spinoffs which improve the quality of life of every person on Earth, every day. Like the technological advances resulting from the shuttle program, Space Station Freedom will provide new and equally impressive breakthroughs in basic sciences that shortsighted naysayers cannot imagine. ... the real benefits of the space station will be right here on Earth: in new and better medical techniques, in pharmaceutical processing, in improved manufacturing techniques and in new jobs and opportunities. ... If Congress can have the courage to see beyond the next election and make smart choices for investment in our future, I guarantee we will have additional discoveries beyond our imagination. To oppose Space Station Freedom is to shortchange future generations. VOICES ACROSS THE NATION ON SIGNS OF ECONOMIC RECOVERY: DECATUR, Ga., Carolyn Gilbert, 55, teacher: In the businesses and professions represented among the members of my family, it's still definitely not what it used to be. Over the past year, I've been very pleased to have a salary and glad to have a secure job. I'd be very cautious about saying we're out of the recession. MUSKOGEE, Okla., Phyllis Thompson, 19, unemployed: I only see more violence happening in the United States. I haven't tried to get a job recently, but when I did, it was hard. CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Elizabeth Arnold, 29, social worker: There's probably some maneuvering on the part of the Bush administration to make it appear we're coming out of the recession, but we're not in the Northeast and certainly not in Massachusetts. There is still high unemployment. IRVING, Texas, Jeff La Selle, 26, salesman: I definitely see a recovery in sight. It seems slow, but with an election coming, there probably will be an initial boost. In the long term, I think it's heading in the right direction. TUCSON, Ariz., Dennis A. deNomme, 46, teacher: From my personal situation, I can see it's getting better. My wife is self-employed as a beautician, and her business is picking up dramatically. More people are getting their hair done. In fact, she's turning more people away, and that's a really good sign. TOPIC - REDISTRICTING: John Dunne, an assistant attorney general, is chief of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. The division oversees the revision of congressional districts based on the 1990 Census. He was interviewed by USA TODAY's Richard Wolf. WILL CONCENTRATING MINORITY VOTES LEAD TO POLITICAL SEGREGATION? The argument often is made that rather than make one clear district where minorities make up a majority of voters, why not spread African-Americans into three or four districts so elected officials will have to be responsive to them. That's almost a paternalistic approach. WON'T THESE MINORITY DISTRICTS POLARIZE VOTERS ALONG RACIAL LINES? It may have the effect of some polarization, but it really is necessary. I've got to believe Congress' intent [in requiring this approach by amending the Voting Rights Act in 1982] is the day when black representatives will interact and be just as effective as their Anglo counterparts. But at this stage, you're going to find some evidence of polarization. WHY NOT JUST DRAW DISTRICTS TO FIT COMMUNITIES? The purpose of the Voting Rights Act is to overcome a century of discrimination against blacks, principally in the exercise of their right to vote. This statute, which is one of the most intrusive into the traditional rights of the states, was necessary to remove the roots of discrimination. Issues & Debate Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM