The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 2, 1984 Page: 6 of 24
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Bell claims heavy military spending damaging economy
by David Friesenhahn
Professor of Administration
Philip Bell told a Tuesday night
gathering that the supposed
benefits derived from military
spending are highly overrated and
warned that increased military
spending poses dire consequences
for an already anemic economy.
Saying that "our strength as a
nation depends on maintaining a
strong economy as well as a
political and social system
befitting us," Bell mentioned that,
ironically, render the United
States' defense preparedness
weaker in many respects than it
had previously been.
In his lecture entitled The
Economic Consequences of the
Arms Race," part of the Alumni
Institute Lecture Series on Nuclear
Disarmament, Bell challenged the
prevalent assumption that military
spending strengthens the economy
by creating jobs and by
encouraging the development of
new technology.
With regard to employment,
Bell questioned the claim recently
made by U.S. Defense Secretary
Caspar Weinberger that cuts in the
defense budget would result in the
loss of 350,000 jobs in the
economy. He noted that military
spending "is relatively capital
intensive when compared to
private industry." Furthermore,
according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, twice as many jobs are
Dr. Philip Bell —P. Truzintki
created as a result of personal
consumption expenditures,
spending for consumer goods,
rather than by similar outlays for
military goods.
In addition, jobs created by
military spending, Bell said, do not
in a sense contribute to national
welfare. Military spending, he
said, comes under the heading of
what is called a "regrettable," a
service which may be necessary but
does not greatly contribute to the
overall quality of life.
"Jobs which are created by
military spending," said Bell,
"could be created by other
alternatives that would increase
the welfare of society."
The military's contributions to
technological innovation are also
suspect, maintained Bell. Though
military research and development
(R&D) have in the past acted as a
catalyst for technological
breakthroughs such as the
development of integrated circuits,
Bell pointed out that typically
"there is an emphasis on only the
types of technology that the
military can afford." This
emphasis, coupled with the fact
that the defense establishment
lures many of the nation's best
scientists into its ranks while,
annually siphonimg off one third
of all the R&D funds available in
the U.S. economy, may hinder
technological development in the
private sector, putting America at
a disadvantage relative to its
economic rivals.
The most telling indictment,
though, of military spending's
effects on economic health, said
Bell, is the economic performance
of nations which have had
relatively high levels of military
expenditures over the past 20
years. If military spending sparks
growth, contended Bell, then
"presumably we should have
climbed ahead of countries which
have spent less on military
expenditures. We have not."
Bell pointed out that the two
industrialized nations which have
had the highest military outlays
relative to the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) since 1960, the
United States and Great Britian,
both had productivity growth rates
of under five percent for the
period. Japan, on the other hand,
which had the lowest military
spending relative to the GDP, had
productivity increases of
approximately nine percent.
The poor economic perform-
ances of these two countries,
concluded Bell, "have to lead one
to at least question the merits of
military spending as a stimulus" to
economic growth. This lackluster
display suggests not only that
military spending fails to stimulate
growth but also that it is
detrimental to the economy
because it absorbs capital which
otherwise would have gone
towards the modernization of
industry. Growth and moderniza-
tion are both necessary
components of economic stability
as well as our strength as a nation.
Increasing military spending,
said Bell, "has very serious
consequences for investment. This
is the long-run problem. When you
do that, you inevitably cut into
funds for plant and equipment. We
all know Great Britain is behind
because of a failure to modernize
plant and equipment."
According to Bell, the federal
government's projected S200
billion budget deficit for fiscal
198S is largely a result of huge
increases in military outlays
compounded by a reduction in tax
revenues. The government, said
Bell, may be forced to borrow from
the private sector in order to
finance the growing debt, reducing
real balances of currency available
for private investment. Said Bell,
"Unless the Federal Reserve
System absorbs an undue amount
by printing money to cover the
deficit, for instance, which might
be inflationary, there will
inevitably be some upward
pressure on interest rates."
Higher interest rates make
industrial investments in plant
improvements, which are
necessary in order to increase
productivity and economic
see Bell, page 22
Panel on computing discusses hardware, electronic cheating
continued from page I
criticisms in the report; however,
said Burrus, "the negative things
were true, but there are positive
things that are true, too."
Professor of English Linda
Driskill questioned the panel
about the lack of concern with the
need for humanities faculty
dealing with the impact of
computers. Having previously
written the panel a letter on the
subject, she stated, "I had hoped
the committee would say, 'Yes, we
do need humanities people'
working with computers."
Panel members cited a number
of reasons why the issue was not
dealt with to Driskill's satisfaction
in the report. According to Burrus,
"We received a number of letters
dealing with specific issues," many
of which were lumped together and
dealt with under rather broad
recommendations.
Dr. Randy Batsell, panel
member and chairman of the
University Committee on
Computers, said that the panel had
tried to do as much for the
humanities as for the other
departments, and that the funding
recommendations made included a
share of funding for liberal arts
needs.
Farrell Gerbode, assistant
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director of ICSA, noted, "We
shied away from proposing
specific academic programs." For
example, he said, the the original
computer science recommenda-
tions had included specifics about
faculty needs which were not
included in the final report.
Still, Driskill claimed, there are
no faculty members looking at the
ethics or social implications of
computerization, despite the
presence of other kinds of
computer-oriented faculty in the
humanities.
Baker junior Dan Lavin
suggested to the panel that
computerization is placing what
may become an intolerable burden
upon the Honor Council. The
council has looked into the
problem, he said, but it is not
wholly solved. Investigation of the
subject is necessary, because
without it, "The Honor Council
can get snowed with ad hoc
solutions." Lavin cited the
vagueness of Honor Code
restrictions in computer-assisted
projects as one complication.
"Computer science professors
especially make Honor Code
requirements vague," he stated.
Furthermore, noted Lavin, with
the increasing popularity of NOTS
(Night Owls Time Sharing)
accounts, available to any
undergraduate, the potential for
computer-assisted copying of
work is escalating.
One solution, said Burrus,
would be to avoid placing under
the Honor Code assignments
which could be copied in such a
manner.
Batsell suggested that the
problem of copying by computer
should not be particularly worse
than that of copying by hand.
According "to math sciences
research assistant Keith Cooper,
the issue Is partially an educational
one with the Honor Council — one
which would be lessened if all the
members were technically skilled
in computer science. But technical
problems will impact the ability of
the Honor Council to detect
copying.
Lavin suggested that, in order to
aid enforcement of the Honor
Code and document violations, the
copy command on the AS/9000
(the main computer at ICSA) be
monitored.
Dr. David Lane of psychology
disagreed with this philosophy of
enforcement, saying, "The Honor
Code depends on people not trying
to cheat."
Burrus agreed that the panel
could come up with some
recommendations, noting, "It is a
particularly vulnerable area, in
which there are a lot of people
unaware of ethical implications."
The panel also heard a request
for the provision of computer
tutorials during freshman week.
The consensus was that the week
was already too crowded, although
one spectator suggested that such
tutorials might be as useful as the
library orientation which is
already during Orientation Week.
Ken Smith, a research assistant
with the Center for Space Physics,
criticized the vagueness of the
panel's recommendations. He
asked, "Do you feel that some of
the recommendations are able to
be implemented rapidly,
forcefully, and implemented on the
time scale at which computing
changes?"
According to Burrus, the
university does act immediately —
but we also need goals, plans, and
directions. "If we dont do this over
a moderately long period of time,"
he said, "we may make big
mistakes."
Batsell suggested that it might be
useful for the administration to
appoint a computing planning
board. He noted, moreover, that
the panel's recommendations had
affected the administration even
before being published.
Rice is in a better shape than a
number of universities with overly
rigid plans for computerization,
panel members noted. Batsell cited
Baylor's example, where the
central computing department has
mandated the use of Digital
Equipment Corporation micros,
although software is unavailable
for a number of applications on the
machines.
"I like the idea of lots of little
experiments, where the winner gets
bought," said Batsell.
There is, however, a lack of
communication which dilutes the
utility of such experiments, said
Burrus. "Not only are we not
communicating with other
universities, but groups within are
often not communicating with
each other," he said; Some
purchasers have mistakenly
bought computers unsuited to
their purposes, such as the
purchase by one professor of a
Commodore PET to run an
experiment. The machine was
unsuitable for the task, a fact of
which a number of people on
campus could have forewarned
him.
Gerbode mentioned some
pending improvements in service:
the imminent conncecton of the
AS/9000 to the ROLM
telephone/data switch, and the*
eventual installation of blinds in
the Mudd building, which is, he
admitted, ICSA's responsibility.
After the meeting, a few other
noteworthy developments were
discussed: the first 24 Apple
Macintoshes have been delivered
to Rice. In March, 48 more are
due, then 50 each month from then
on.
ICSA will also be connecting
two Series I programmable
communications controllers to the
AS/9000 this spring, enabling
asynchronous terminals to run
software designed for IBM 3270
terminals. This allows an
inexpensive terminal, normally
viewed by the AS/9000 as a
"dumb," line-oriented terminal, to
run software designed for an
expensive screen-oriented graphics
terminal. These two devices are on
loan, but ICSA has placed some
permanent ones on its next budget
request.
TheRice Thresher, March 2, 1984, pate 6
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Mitchell, Mark M. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 2, 1984, newspaper, March 2, 1984; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245554/m1/6/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.