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 Fri, May 22 1992 Date: Fri, 22 May 92 05:21:01 EDT Message-ID: 05-22 0000 DECISIONLINE: Issues & Debate USA TODAY Update May 22-25, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Here are some of the issues and topics being debated across the nation Friday morning in USA TODAY: Safety; Voting; Neuharth. TODAY'S DEBATE - HIGHWAY SAFETY: USA TODAY'S OPINION: Somewhere this Memorial Day weekend, a radar detector-equipped 18-wheeler speeding down the highway will flatten a car and everyone in it. Somewhere else, a fast-moving car might slam into the rear of a 50-ton tractor-trailer, shearing the hood of the auto and guillotining the passengers. Two long-stalled proposals now nearing action by federal regulators could decrease such predictable tragedies. After wasting years studying the impact of radar-detector use in big trucks - with obvious results - the Federal Highway Administration finally proposes banning them. Reasons for delay wore thin long ago. ... The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants to equip the backs of trucks with "underride" guards. ... The argument is over cost. The guard the government wants, and the American Trucking Association favors, would cost truckers $112 per truck. Those favored by safety advocates cost $200. ... It's time to knock down the bureaucratic roadblocks and get the job done. OTHER VIEW: Patrick Cox, an associate policy analyst for the Competitive Enterprise Institute: The institutions and individuals leading the battle to regulate our economy claim to have the public's interests at heart. The facts indicate otherwise. Consider the push for additional trucking regulations. The so-called safety lobby, led by Joan Claybrook and friends, wants to force truckers to install expensive underride guards to prevent the deaths of less than two dozen drivers a year who run into the backs of trucks. Almost half of these drivers, by the way, are legally drunk, and nearly all are at fault. ... Obviously, the safety regulators are driven by love of regulation more than concern for human life and well-being. ... There is no evidence that detectors increase speeding or accident rates. In fact, many experts believe they help keep drivers alert, preventing accidents. Moreover, to be enforced, bans would require a police state. VOICES ACROSS THE NATION ON "MOTOR VOTER" REGISTRATION: CLARKSVILLE, Tenn., Raimon Williams Jr., 32, firefighter: It's a good idea to allow people to register to vote in different places because you're likely to get more people to register that way, especially young voters. I can understand the concern people have with fraud, but I don't really think that would be too much of a problem. FAYETTE, Ala., Suzanne Branyon, 49, homemaker: The most important thing we can do as American citizens is vote. Turnout of voters has been very dismal, and if that would encourage people to cast their ballots, it would be worthwhile. No one could then use the excuse that it's too difficult or "I can't go." LAS VEGAS, Nev., Bob Erb, 53, Realtor: I just moved to Las Vegas from San Diego. They have registration booths in southern California in supermarkets, on parking lots - but not here. This bill makes a heck of a lot of sense. It might not cause people to vote, but it would make it a lot easier if they wanted to. WASHINGTON, D.C., Stephanie Gold, 22, legal assistant: It sounds like a good idea to register that way. A lot of people don't bother to register out of laziness or don't get around to it. I don't know if it would get more people to vote or not. CARMEL, Ind., Kevin Wirthwein, 38, account executive: Oh, absolutely, the easier, the better. A problem with getting people to register has always been lack of access. I already vote, but I look forward to having easier opportunities to register. In the past, it took somebody literally coming to my door. TOPIC - NEUHARTH: Through the years, I've made dozens of commencement addresses at high schools, colleges and universities, large and small. None of those graduating classes has had a better mix of schooling and education than the 10 seniors I addressed last Saturday at my alma mater, tiny Alpena, S.D., High School. Each participated in a range of activities outside the classroom. ... Most had part-time jobs or time-consuming chores at home, especially farmers' son and daughters. What kind of education did they get in a school with only 130 students, grades one through 12? In the USA's public schools, the students-per-teacher average is 14.4. In private schools, 10.7. At Alpena, 8.7. Nationally, an estimated 60% of the 2.45 million high school graduates this year will go to college. At Alpena, 70% are certain to go, 80% or 90% likely, 100% possible. ... Small or medium-sized co-ed public schools offer education, not just schooling. Huge schools lose it because of an atmosphere of anonymity. Private schools provide artificiality, not diversity. ... Despite all the disdain, there really is such a thing as a good "free lunch" at some of our public schools. ADVISORY: Decisionlines will not be published Monday, May 25, in observance of Memorial Day. Decisionlines will resume publication on Tuesday, May 26. 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