The Knoxville News-Sentinel du lieu suivant : Knoxville, Tennessee • 66

SNf A n-i -W Vt EJ r9 F2 Sunday October 28 1990 I'- v'- EDITORIALS The Knoxville asU News-Sentinel Managinfl Editor VlnoeVtorler Aaalstant Managing Editors Sv Established December 23 1886 Frank CagiaNw Wade SayeProfadt Georalana VbtMAdHMiinMro RoMrtWttoonQrapNcs Harry Moskos Robert Hively Editor President and General Manager Senior Editors Hoyt CanadyEdMoiW Page Donald CnaaMna HBar Amy GeMSMa Editor Harold HtriowAModaii EdMor Jack LaHlMro Cdaor Hght and the people wN And their own way" Thanks for showing the way i I- 'Dr Dolly' Moderate course Cooper recognized public shift on clean air issue while sulfur coaL Cooper crib the final package a positive step Congress should have acted to cut the so-called pollution from coal burning years ago before it killed fish in many takas of North America rad clouded visibility in many cities and parks Including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park of East Tennessee Add rain ibo has killed trees end plant Bfo in the Smokies and erodes buildings and statues in many cities The dean air bill also will make new automobiles perhaps $500 more expensive because of additional anti-pollution equipment But fob ta necessary cost as bog as the auto industry refuses to produce less dirty forms of transportation Electric cars would emit no air pollution but automakers will not spend more money on thta cleaner means of travel until Consrea reauires it Environmentrartethoi the dera air bill did not go for enough while business complained it will be too costly But thb moderate approach to reducing pollution all that Congress and President Bush could agree ta Some day another Congress and president win have to impose even toui pollution controb to keep our aides ter protected for foture generations islThsl WASHINGTON Congress last was putting die finishing touches on the first comprehensive clean air legislation in 13 years Repi Jim Cooper D-Teno was a major player in its shaping Cooper who is from Shdbyville rad represent! a declining part of coal coun-try could have fought tougher controls coal-burning utilities as many members of Congress have for decades But Cooper a Rhodes scholar need a 2-by-4 between the eyea to wake up to the ahilt in public interest toward the environment and human pollution ii so bad in many malar cities that elderly people and those with respiratory problems cannot go outside on hot muggy summer days when auto exhaust hangs in the air Rather than do nothing or try to obstruct every proposed Cooper set about a moderate course for controls on coal-burning utilities that most areas of die country could meet without ex- burden Cooper and later President Bush on a target of cutting by half die sulfkvdkndde endeeions from coal bum-ing The 10-mflUon ton annual reduction would be phased in and peak fat the year 2000 Hatfthe reduction would occur by Jan 1993t Midwestern members of Congress such as Repi Phfl Sharp D-ImL saw the dean air train coming too and tried to THE BAND played the choir sang the professors processed and Carson-Newman College put "Dr" hi front of Dolly name on a sunny afternoon a week ago The small Baptist college in Jefferson City bestowed an honorary doctorate of letters on the popular enter-tainer who grew up in nearby Sevier County before gaining fame as a singer songwriter and movie star The college took the action college president Dr Cordell Maddox said because of commitment to education to service and to Christian faith" In her remaria accepting the degree Parton had to confront a tension between her own background and the academic honor being conferred on her The ringer first recognized her parents in the audience for their help noting that what little the mountain family had had was the product of arms and a strong back" not of formal schooling She confessed that she disliked school and barely hung on to get her high school diploma Further Partem and all those hearing her had to acknowledge one obvious fact The singer has parlayed her talents ambition and an innate intelligence into success beyond most hopes without the benefits of higher education Success like has historically been a source of pride for East Tennesseans whose fundamental makeup harbors an individualism and self-reliance that can produce startling accomplishments That pride however has often turned nasty toward education Greater Syria ABSORPTION of Lebanon has much in common with -absorption of Kuwait but also a fundamental difference: patient encroachment on its small neighbor over 15 years is succeeding while we trust bald conquest will be reversed The community" it seems will tolerate the one exercise in expansionism but not the other Yet Syria and Iraq are both radical Arab states aspiring to dominate the Middle East Both are controlled by ruthless secular leaders hostile to Western values Hafez Assad proves to be the shrewder strategist clever at exploiting opportunities then bid-l his time But the same nations ing that see the necessity of resisting Saddam aggression in Kuwait must beware of Assad As long ago as 1972 Assad proclaimed Lebanon part of Greater Syria That has never existed on the map but is nonetheless the berry's world CJcNVWKs CW we may be forced to raise the ceiling ahead of Education and taxes Voters giving McWherter Hi Richard Powelson gat financial help for cleaning up their particularly dirty plants through a tax on TVAli ana power punta But Cooper took on Sharps an energy subcommittee riurimun nil beet haH bis efforts during along battle The cost-sharing plan a subsidy realhr for midwestem plants is not the final clean air pnrfragn Humify fo COO-per He used fairness arguments and a lot of lobbying techniques to prevent what would have been effect a 3 percent rate increase for TVA customers Abo the final nlra rwntafn an un-Washington-like idea allowing utilities to urn any method they choose to reduce sir pollution another proposal Cooper ntha advocated for many usually dictates one way to do something which often the most expensive ODQOue i of the bill utilities may use low-sulfur coal employ a coal-washing technique or reduce operating hours for cosl-flred jriantsas a way to cut i They opt for Tom Humphrey fer the post-election fate of McWherterfs tax plans (Still enough have staked themselves out as flatly opposed to a statutory income tax on the campaign trail to make that route unlikely now though not impassible) Nonetheless we can expect that once the election results are in the governor will proclaim a mandate for education ra-form and the taxes that go with it Which raises the question: Will then be a mandate? Short answer: Not really but so what? The vagueness of the whole situation may well allow McWherter to argue that there ia with enough effectiveness to easily sway lawmakers into passing anything that is not a statutory income tax If he called in all hta political chits he might do that though such boldness would be counter to all prior McWherter behavior Considering that hb Republican opponent inept (at best) and that many powerful Republicans an closet McWherter supporters (at least) McWherter should be embarrassed if he wins with lea than 65 percent of the vote That grants Republican Dwight Henry the base GOP statewide vote which he likely deserve by any objective measure money vent candidate opened Friday Construction ta expected to take at least two years After thb construction completed After construcuun Parton faced that tendency squarely printing out that strong backs and strong arms are not enough to let East Tennessee young people get by now Speaking of the wider world of that education could open up and the personal satisfaction it can bring" Par-ton said "Today everyone needs to be fluent in die language of that new world That fluency comes through education" She called the school dropout statistics for the region In presenting that message to the people gathered to honor her Parton was preaching to the choir those who have already seized for themselves the benefits of an education The ones who needed to hear her iMmy are scattered across East Tennessee not only in the rural communities among the ridges and hollows but also in urban and suburban -areas Fortunately Parton has shouldered a portion of that burden using her own wealth and prestige to foster education among the children of Sevier County In recognizing Parton for her educational efforts Carson-Newman has made its own positive gesture toward the region The rest of us must now pick up our share of die load search out ways of encouraging our youth to educate themselves and provide the resources they need to do it Through her personal dedication Dr Dolly has shown us what an important task that is Part I Lebanon for a potent nationalism When the fragile political balance between Lebanese Christians and Moslems broke down in the mid-1970s Syrian troops were invited to quell the dvO happy to oblige By 1980 he controlled two-thirds of Lebanon France Israel and the United States made short-lived attempts to shore up the position of the ancient Christian community Terrorist attacks and wariordism drove them out Recent events in the Persian Gulf gave Assad his chance to break Christian resistance By siding with the American-led alliance opposing Aug 2 invasion of Kuwait the Syrian dictator bought cover for a decisive move in Lebanon His final offensive against Christian Gen Michel Aoun on Oct 13 brought no international protest though it cost 750 lives The horrible assassination a week ago of a key political supporter of Aoun Dany Chamoun son of a former president of Lebanon is a further blow to those Christians still not reconciled to Syrian control of their country Whoever assassins were their work clears the way for a Syrian-backed government in Beirut That may leave Assad free to refocus his ambitions on Jordan unless others take heed from fate and resolve to contain him Harry Moskos Editor extension was the construction of the bridge across Fort Loudoun Lake The bridge completed although not officially open to traffic In fact law enforcement officials have to keep an eye on it to prevent motorists from scooting around barricades to make use of the bridge Vandalism to the new bridge another problem with graffiti and navigational lights already appearing and I being damaged ProjectTta i Project 2 from this river to Wrights Ferry Road in Blount County and was completed in August mandate credibility or whatever McWhorter's folk do not want to be embarrassed Though the governor himself has remained aloof from the political process hb aides have not been shy about printing out Henryk obvious neg-' ativea and complaining to reporters about perceived shortcomings in coverage or the Republican's multiple faults rad shrill anti-income tax litterings Thb one indication that the election can be taken for granted but the impact of the election on what comes afterwards (by way of the perceptions that are generated) cannot Another ta the willingnesa to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on fluff television commercials Re-election only the first round of what may become the most significant political battle in the state's history as far as the future of education and taxation goes The first round goes to McWherter so easily that he can be arrogant about it There a calculated risk that the public through their legislators can later be either talked into going along with the so-far-secret plan or lulled into remaining apathetic Instead of becoming outraged when the pig emerges from the poke It not often that a governor ta handed a blank check and there te something ad about the act being done by a deliberately uninformed electorate We can only hope McWherter makes good use of tt kaldslernw counties i point out the haif-do-verteaf has been the original for the Kingston Pike intersection because its proximity to 1-4075 would not permit two full doverieaf interchanges The Pellissippi Parkway has been a a time in coming On completion the project will have been built at a cost dose to $200 million But when finished it wiU be an important link to three counties Anderson Blount and Knox Now if we can only keep the billboards from cluttering IQ bedMor alTlto I NASHVILLE When voting Tennesseans apply the rubber stamp to a second term for Gov Ned McWherter in 10 days they will not knowingly be providing a mandate for anything Instead the predictable result will amount to extraordinary gesture of faith in the manipulative McWherter a gesture deliberately made blinder than the trust created for hta business and i bow to weakness and disarray within the Republican Party In effect McWherter has simply asked for a blank check under the vague slogan next four years are for the with no explanation of what that There of course a vague plan for bettering K-12 education with no estimate of how much that will coat Until after the election The Writer education leadership has chimed in with vague plan for bettering the lot of hiriwr education with no estimate of cost Until after the election Granted that education needs improvement and that Tennesseans might well be willing indeed should be willing to shoulder the financial burden entailed Yet they are not being as! evasive McWherter has been an bTuct wm reclusive candidate Unlike hta approach in the 1986 race he answer! no questions about specific plans for the next four years and makes no specific prombea There ta no political need to do ea Thera is abo a fear that if specifics were available candidates for the Legislature would be forced to take positions on i possible dire con Project 3 ta from Wrights Ferry Road to Alcoa Highway Construction ta under I should be and should be completed next year the fell doverieaf interchange with Aloca Highway Project 4 from Thole Bend Road to the river and Project 5 ta from North-shore Drive to Toole Bend Road Construction for both segments got under way in August under me contract that should be completed by the end of 199L Thta segment was delayed by a debate over the route and a request properly rejected by the state for additional interchange at Toole Bend After base ta completed on pro- and paving work beta one through be open for local five the parkwaywill a AlcoeHighr i open for local traffic from Alcoa 1 way to Northshore Drive Project 6 ta the three milee from Northman Drive to Kingston Pike end includes interchange at Pika Bids on the interchange Pellissippi Parkway extension eventually will link three ET location study under way There has been confusion over the interchange at Kingston Pike the parkway will be open for local traffic and the Pellissippi Parkway because it from Kingston Pike to Alcoa Highway will be a hatf-doverleaf design as con-prefect 7 from Kingston Pike to treated with the foil doverieaf that will be built at the 1-4075 connection with thei Dutchtown Road which ta only 15 miles but the most expensive and complex THE HISTORY of the Pellissippi Parkway project best can be described in two words extensive and expensive As far back as 1975 then Oak Ridge Mayor AJC Btasell was pushing the link by creating the 1-40 Connector Committee The 1915-mile Pellissippi Parkway project from Oak Ridge to Blount County was to be completedin 1992 The latest ta for sometime in 1995 and that date certainly ta not firm depending on the availability of federal interstate fUnds The Oak Ridge to Blount County portion of the parkway te being built in seven stages or as they are called by the state DOT The completion of the jecta will provide a direct link test Knox County from Oak Ridge to Aloca Highway Just north of McGh hee Tyson Airport Project 1 of the Pellbsippi Parkway in the entire project with 1-4071 Completion of this project has been set for 1995 Money to acquire the right-of-way much less the actual construction costs ta yet to be budgeted The state plana to start Inuring right-of-way for in 1992 Shops to award the construction contract by 1994 with the completion set for between the end of 1995 and 1996 A final seven-mite stretch of the parkway will be from Alcoa HghjW to U-S 321 in Blount County Thb only ta the preliminary stages although Its I 1.