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 Tue, Jun 9 1992 Date: Tue, 9 Jun 92 05:19:54 EDT Message-ID: 06-09 0000 DECISIONLINE: Issues & Debate USA TODAY Update June 9, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Here are some of the issues and topics being debated across the nation Tuesday morning in USA TODAY: Summit; Police. TODAY'S DEBATE - BIODIVERSITY TREATY: USA TODAY'S OPINION: President Bush may be all alone this week in refusing to sign an Earth Summit treaty aimed at protecting endangered wildlife species. He also happens to be right. The so-called biodiversity treaty is long on good intentions. ... But the price demanded of the USA is too high, and the promise of meaningful results is too low. ... If the USA is going to spend money on conservation, it should be able to assure that the money is spent effectively. ... Too much sacrifice; too few results. Bush should resist pressure from home and abroad to sign the treaty and work for changes. Other developed countries pressing Bush to sign have less at stake. In fact, some could gain by opening up U.S. biotech efforts. ... President Bush should take the lead in advancing programs to prevent species from dying out. He should be willing to spend U.S. money and expertise to help avert environmental devastation. But he should keep his name off this document until rightful U.S. concerns are addressed. OTHER VIEW: MICHAEL J. BEAN, chairman of the wildlife program of the Environmental Defense Fund: Twenty years ago, the USA hosted the meeting that produced the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. We were first among 115 nations ratifying the treaty known here as CITES and elsewhere as "the Washington Convention" in recognition of its birthplace and America's leadership role in creating it. CITES was the first global effort to protect shrinking biological diversity. ... (But) recognition of the limitations of CITES prompted efforts at a broader agreement addressing the root causes of biodiversity loss. U.S. leadership of two decades ago, however, has vanished. Our government won't join the new biodiversity treaty. ... The retreat from world leadership in protecting biodiversity follows close on the heels of plans to weaken our own primary safety net for biodiversity, the Endangered Species Act. The USA should reconsider. Vanishing biodiversity is an urgent environmental problem because it is irreversible. Species lost today cannot be re-created tomorrow. With them disappear treasures of potential medicines, chemicals and knowledge to enrich human life in the future. On such vital matters, the USA should not be a nit-picking naysayer but a leader. VOICES ACROSS THE NATION ON POLICE CHIEFS' RESPONSIBILITY: CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Peter Hahn, 20, student: Yes. There should be departmental and public committees recommending to the mayor who should be police chief. It is clear a lot of people don't trust the way big-city politics work, but you definitely have to start opening it up more. BELLINGHAM, Wash., Chris Stearns, 37, cafe owner: Elected officials shouldn't appoint police chiefs. The regular hiring process of a city or municipality should apply. It would ensure that more than just political issues were addressed in the hiring process and that real job qualifications were considered. LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Tracy Steele, 28, governor's assistant: The reforms in Los Angeles will help bridge the gap between the people and the police. I think this country needs to take a serious look at police brutality, and a bipartisan committee of grass-roots people should be responsible for looking into cases of it. NEW YORK, N.Y., Sandy Rochelle, 44, actress, poet, producer: The mayor must override the police department. There must be someone it is accountable to. Most police are doing their job. But there is the guy who is in it because it gives him power, because he wants to carry a gun and feel important. LAWRENCE, Kan., Henry Collins, 50, security guard: I've been a chief of police in tribal enforcement in Oklahoma. The police are public servants; they serve the general public and should be responsible to it. The police chief should also be responsible for his men. We are mortals, subject to corruption and mistakes. 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