Free Congress Foundation's
Notable News Now
August 30,
2001
The Free Congress Commentary Inside: Paul
Weyrich's Commentary
Sucking Up to the Suckerfish - Ignoring Humanity The Start of
an Academic Revolution?
by John Nowacki
It seems as if every time you turn around, the Endangered Species Act is
wreaking more havoc, and once in a while, the problems it
creates actually attract widespread attention. The situation in Oregon's
Klamath Basin is one of those instances.
The 220,000 acres of the Klamath area, although arid, are home to farmers
whose water rights were established in 1907. As is the case in much of the
West, irrigation has made the land useful for farming. And even though
there's a drought this year, you'd think that the farmers and ranchers who
depend on the irrigation water would at least have some water to use.
Wrong. They've been completely cut off.
In the late 80s, two species of suckerfish found in the area's primary
reservoir were officially listed as "endangered" species. They were joined
on the list in 1997 by the coho salmon. Which brings us to the usual
problem with the Act: when it comes to balancing the needs of people with
the needs of suckerfish or the species of the day, people lose.
Environmentalists have been after the federal government -- which controls
access to the water--to cut off the irrigation water for a long time, and
they finally succeeded in making it happen in April. The Interior
Department closed the gates and stopped the flow of water to about 1,500
farms.
The effects have been devastating. Crops are dying, the wildlife that
depends on the release of water has been suffering, and the people whose
livelihoods depend upon farming and ranching--not all of them farmers or
ranchers, either--in Klamath are in serious trouble.
As you might expect, those people whose livelihoods are being destroyed are
not taking this lying down. They've protested right and left, held massive
rallies with supporters from all over the West -- one with 12,000 people in
attendance -- and even opened the headgates themselves a few times. But
even with all their exasperation, they've generally kept things peaceful.
In July, Interior Secretary Gale Norton ordered a limited release of water,
not nearly enough to save the situation, but it was something.
Environmentalists promptly sued to prevent anyone from actually using that
water, insisting that it all be reserved for a bird refuge downstream. And
while the farmers did use the water, they still allowed some to go to the
bird refuge. As they have always done.
That, right there, is the answer to the whole situation. There must be a
proper balance. Good stewardship of nature is important, but human lives
come first. People get the water they need, and the wildlife gets some,
too. Apart from the limitation on the release of water, that's being
reasonable - a concept many environmentalists seem to have completely
forgotten.
Secretary Norton has since asked for a scientific review of the policy that
led to the shut-off in the first place. Members of the National Academy of
Sciences are expected to examine what sort of conditions are actually needed
for the suckerfish and salmon to survive.
Meanwhile, that limited release of water has ended, and the people in the
Klamath Basin are wondering what it will take for them to survive. Property
values have dropped from $2,000 per acre to $200 per acre, and the economy
of the region is in shambles. In spite of the devaluation of their
properties, many people are ready to sell and get out.
That's just fine with the environmentalists. Anything to make those fish
more comfortable.
John Nowacki is deputy director of the Free Congress Foundation's Center for
Law and Democracy.
The Start of an Academic Revolution?
By Paul M. Weyrich
For most of the past century the United States boasted of the finest
universities in the world. But as millions of students head back to school
after Labor Day, they face a bleak prospect in higher education.
Unfortunately, toward the end of the 20th Century, the major institutions
which produced the best and the brightest began to be gripped by "political
correctness," a form of cultural Marxism. Whereas the objective at the best
colleges and universities used to be to teaching people how to pursue truth,
this has been turned on its head now. The pursuit of truth is largely
forbidden and has been replaced by an ideology which is every bit as
pernicious as what the Soviets pushed down the throats of their students for
seven decades.
There are a few exceptions to this rule, Hillsdale College in Michigan and
Christendom College in Virginia come to mind, but these, and the handful of
other sound academic institutions, are but a tiny drop in the sea of
political correctness. Now many students get failing grades, face
disciplinary measures or, worse yet, even the long arm of the law if they
challenge the current Marxist orthodoxy.
Not only that but the tuition costs have risen out of sight, in some cases
twenty times the rate of inflation. For average working men and women it has
become prohibitive to send their sons or daughters to the so-called best
institutions. Thanks, however, to the vision of one Richard Bishirjian, an
educator and businessman, the problem of high tuition costs coupled with the
extinction of the basic academic canon relating to Western civilization has
been solved.
Yorktownuniversity.com is to be launched after Labor Day with some fifty
courses offered by some of the finest academics in the nation. No college or
university, not even the few remaining good ones, can point to a faculty
like Yorktownuniversity.com. And the tuition charges are so reasonable that
a top-flight education is now within reach of virtually every American.
Yorktownuniversity.com makes use of a sophisticated software system which
permits the maximum exchange between student and professor. And the great
thing about online universities (there are a few others) is that the student
gets to hear the lectures at any time that is convenient for him.
This is the only online university dedicated to the restoration of Western
civilization based on the Judeo-Christian framework.
I have the honor of serving this institution as Chairman of the board. The
Free Congress Foundation was the first organization to back the idea. Morton
Blackwell's Leadership Institute is another investor. I say investor because
Yorktownuniversity.com is a for-profit organization. One board member,
without whose constant assistance and investment this online university
would not be able to launch, is former Virginia prosecutor Gil Davis. Davis
is seen frequently on national news/talk television programs on
Constitutional and other issues.
I cannot help but believe that this is such a brilliant idea, coming at
perhaps the low point in American education, that it will succeed beyond
measure. Bishirjian has worked harder than anyone I have ever met to make
this a reality.
If you know of parents looking for a place where their young adults will be
safe in what they are taught, this is it. Thus far, however, most of the
enrollees are graduate students, but Yorktownuniversity.com is open to all
comers.
The American Revolution began with a handful of dedicated supporters who
were willing to go the distance to win. Perhaps, just perhaps, this effort
represents the start of an academic revolution. Once there is a reliable
place worldwide for the truth to be pursued (and again our objective is to
teach students how to think not what to think) we may well see these
so-called great academic institutions crumble much as the Soviet Union
crumbled a decade ago. A system based on lies cannot last forever. Check it
out. Any computer with the Internet will take you there:
www.Yorktownuniversity.com
Paul Weyrich is president of the Free Congress Foundation.
For media inquiries, contact Steve Lilienthal [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For other questions or comments, contact Angie Wheeler
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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