Texas Gulf Coast Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 46, Ed. 1 Friday, April 20, 1979 Page: 2 of 6
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Page 2
TEXAS GULF COAST CATHOLIC
Friday, Aj>*Ui i'i. I«>79
Editorial. . .
The following editorial, titled ‘‘Three Mile Island: Aftermath,” was to appear
in the April 13 issue of The Catholic Witness, newspaper of the Harrisburg, Pa.,
Diocese. It was written by Father Thomas R. Haney, executive editor.
Putting it all behind us is a favorite American pasttime. True we do reach the
saturation level rather quickly. The irony, however, is that we put troubling
events behind us before we really learn anything from them.
The proponents of nuclear energy, for example, will be depending on our
eagerness to forget. In fact they are already urging this eagerness along by
reducing the Three Mile Island accident to an incident.
There were some admitted mechanical failures, to be sure. But it appears
that human error will emerge as the scapegoat. Thus, human error will remove
the burden of responsibility from the mechanism of nuclear power plants.
Some, like Rep. Joseph Zeller (D-Allentown), suspect sabotage. The culprits,
he says,may be “radicals within our federal government who are out to stop all
nuclear energy plants.” The logic seems to be that those who have opposed
these plants because of their danger to human life would risk the lives of
hundreds of thousands to prove a point. Thus, human sabotage will remove the
burden of responsibility from the mechanism of nuclear power plants.
Putting it all behind us is a form of fatalism. And Americans have a great
reserve of fatalism. You hear it every day: “Nothing can be done.” “You can’t
change the world.” “You must be practical and realistic.” “You have to accept
things as they are.” “There is no hope.”
For us who profess belief in God, fatalism is the direct opposite of faith. A
faith that trusts: the ultimate triumph of God’s goodness. A goodness that can
weave the values and ideals of Christ into the fabric of human scientific and
technological progress. A goodness that can be thwarted by our fatalistic
inaction. God will not force us. He will wait for those with genuine faith to act.
There will be those who will smirk at or ridicule citizens who try to draw
attention to the dangers of nuclear power. Yet, we need people of faith who will
act to reduce industrial greed and consumer gluttony and give direction to
visionless leaders. Leaders who use their power to make excuses for the
failures of their previous solid and solemn assurances.
Until there is a concerted effort to develop alternative sources of power, we
need people of faith who will act to make conservation a maixmum priority.
We need people of faith who will lobby with a Proposition 13 zeal for sources of
energy from the sun, wind, coal and garbage at far less than the present cost so
that we will not be hostages either of foreign oil interests or of nuclear
holocausts in our own backyards.
We need people of faith who will use their personal energy not to pass the buck
but to roll up their sleeves and act against apathy. An apathy that wallows in
easy dreams of everlasting security. An apathy that is too indifferent even to
become increasingly more informed because raised {consciousness ;;wil)
necessarily mean action.
Faith cannot be relegated to church. People of faith are fragments of sanity
released into a world going mad with its own power of progress. Therefore faith
must be translated into active concern, for instance, over the systematic n
of nature and the slow but certain death of our planet, Earth.
Those of us who endured these horrendous days of uncertainty, anxiety and
fear can most readily identify, during the week called “Holy,” with the
suffering and death of him who loved to talk about the lilies of the field, the birds
of.the air and the readiness of the harvest. And we can resurrect a dynamically
involved faith from his victory over death.
Excitement at
Catholic University
by DALE FRANCIS
There is excitement at The Catholic
University of America. Things are
going to happen.
The university has been a quality
university under the outstanding
leadership of Dr. Clarence Walton.
When he decided to leave there was
real regret. A search began for his
successor and when his successor was
chosen it was a man who has a record
of making things happen.
Dr. Edmund D. Pellegrino is a
medical doctor. That's not unique.
There are other medical doctors
heading universities. But Doctor
Pellegrino has been in academics
most of his professional life.
He has been most of his academic
life what he calls a “clean canvas”
man. That means he has come to
institutions to found their schools. He
founded the University of Kentucky
Department of Internal Medicine, he
established the Health Science Center
of the State University of New York at
Stony Brook and he founded the
Yale-New Haven Medical Center. He
came to Catholic Univeristy directly
from Yale.
Why did a man in one of the top
medical school centers in the nation
come to Catholic Univeristy where
both pay and prestige is considerably
less? Dr. Pellegrino doesn’t hesitate.
He is a Catholic, he believes in
Catholic education, he believes in
Catholic University. He won’t come
into a "ciean canvas” situation but
what is clear is that he intends an
academic explosion that will make the
university realiy The Catholic Univer-
sity of America.
He’s not new to a general academic
situation. A few years back he was
vice president in the University of
Tennessee system,chancellor of the
Memphis campus and consultant to
the commission of higher education
for Tennessee. His major accomplish-
ments have been in the establishment
of university medical centers but he
has expeirence and knowledge in
general university education.
The Catholic University of America
probably has a general image in the
nation as a university for the training
of priests and religious. There’s a
reason for this. There was a time it
was true. Catholic University has
graduated 150 of this nation’s bishops.
There are 10,000 priests and religious
among its graduates and 120 college
and university presidents, and more
than 5.000 college administrators and
professors.
But today the 7,731 students at
Catholic University are 92 percent lay
people. It is a coeducational institu-
tion and almost equally divided
between men and women.
Its Speech and Drama Department
is internationally famous, thanks to
the leadership of Father Gilbert
Hartke. It’s a prediction of an event a
long way off but one of its graduates,
Jon Voight, is going to be a strong
contender for an Academy Award
when “The Champ” reaches the
screen. Graduates seen often on
television are Ed McMahon, Henry
Gibson, Pat Carroli and Lawrence
Luckinbill. Playrights Jason Miller
a.:-d Jean Kerr and Jean’s husband,
Walter, are among the best figures in
today’s theater.
The School of Music is famous anu
two Catholic U. graduates won the
National Metropolitan Opera Audi-
tions. The Schools of Social Service,
Nursing and Education lead all
Catholic universities. The School ot
Engineering and Achitecture is
considered one of the top schools in
the country — there are Catholic U.
grads in a majority of the most
important architectual organizations.
The School of Nursing is the only
Catholic school in the nation with a
doctoral program. Three Catholic U.
professors in the departments of
physics and chemical engineering
developed a new glass storage for
nuclear wastes two years ago.
The Catholic University of America
is already one of the most dynamic
universities in the nation. But it has
problems. Not in getting students, the
enrollment has been rising. The
problem is that the university needs
financial help. And that’s where you
come in. The Catholic University of
America is already one of the most
dynamic universities in the nation.
But it has problems. Not in getting
students, the enrollment has been
rising. The problem is that the
university needs financial help. And
that’s where you come in. The
Catholic University of America needs
the support of Catholics everywhere.
There’s an annual collection for
Catholic University. Once the Catho-
lics of the nation contributed maybe 35
to 40 percent of the budget. Today that
contribution is less than five percent
of a lean $37 million budget.
I know what some of you will say, I
know because I get letters from
people on it regularly. It is that there
are some on the faculty who have
taken positions most see as contrary
to the magisterium of the Church.
That’s a fact but you can’t get around
tenure and anyhow those are viewed
that way are an infinitesimal part of
the university. Forget them and
help, things are happening at Catholic
U. and you are needed to make it
happen.
Texas House considers
aid to families with
dependent children
F riends
Two heads...stand out...from bodies blanketed with sand...on the ocean beach.
Two heads...so close together...seem symbols of friendship...at any age.
Friends are people...who know each other...as they really are...and still like one another.
Friends...affirm one another’s best qualities...yet accept each other's worst.
Friends...call forth their mutual strengths...while understanding their weaknesses.
True friends...are always there.
“A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter;
he who finds one finds a treasurer.
A faithful friend is beyond price;
no sum can balance his worth.”
(SirachS, 14-1S:
by RICHARD DALY
At presstime, the Texas House of
Representatives was beginning their
consideration of the biennial appro-
priations bill for the state of Texas.
House Bill 558 contains the House
Appropriations Committee’s proposed
state budget for 1980-1981.
The process of drafting this
legislation began almost two years
ago. The Legislative Budget Board
(LBB) staff has been working on the
budget virtually since the last session,
of the Legislature adjourned. The
LBB examines and reviews the
operations of each agency receiving
state aid. The LBB is composed of
four senators and four representa-
tives appointed by the Lieutenant
Governor and the Speaker. The
Lieutenant Governor serves as the
Chairman of the LBB and the Speaker
as Vice-Chairman. These ten people
have by far the most influence on the
budget writing process.
In addition, both former Governor
Dolph Briscoe and present Governor
Bill Clements have proposed budgets
for the next two years in Texas. All of
the state agencies concerned have
also suggestd budget figures for the
next biennium. The House Appro-
priations Committee carefully re-
viewed all these suggested budgets
before approving its final version of
H.B. 558. The Senate Finance
Committee has been considering the
proposals for the 1980-1981 budget but
will not take action until it receives
the House-appoved budget.
■ One budget item which has been
considered by all of those entities is
the funding level for the Department
of Human Resources program, Aid to
Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC.)
The Department of Human Re-
sources has requested an increased
amount of funding for the AFDC
program. The state now provides
about $32 per month per dependent
child. DHR was asking for an increase
in that level to about $38 per month
per child. Currently, Texas ranks 48th
among the 50 states in the amount of
money spent on dependent children.
The AFDC payment has not been
substantially increased since 1969
despite the rate of inflation.
Dependent children are typically
living in a single parent family with a
total income below the national
poverty level. The AFDC program
assists these children by providing
needed financial and social resources.
The program aims to enable these
children to lead productive lives as
adults.
The Legislative Budget Board has
recommended that the funding level
for AFDC remain the same. The
House Appropriations Committee
voted to accept the LBB recommenda-
tion for the regular monthly grants to
dependent children; however, the
Committee voted to provide a $100
non-recurring, annual grant to be
distributed over four payments to the
AFDC recipients.
The Legislature should raise the
funding level to at least $40 per month
per child and forget about the one
time only grants. However, they
probably won’t do that. The best
prospect for proponents of increased
AFDC payments is to receive an
appropriation of about $32 per month
per child with the $103 grant.
The AFDC program, as well as all
the other appropriative matters
coming out of the House Committee,
have been discussr d this week on the
floor of the V xas House of
Representatives. Hopefully, the
House, in its wisdom, will recommend
some increased funding for these
children who indeed are the poorest of
the poor.
Letter . . .
Dear Editor:
In the VICTORIA ADVOCATE on
Sunday the 25th of March - 1979 there
was an artical entitled, “Violence and
Threats Invade Abortion Clinics,”
Dateline Hempstead, N.Y. (AP) in
which there were several items with
which I disagree.
In the article a Ms. Faye Wattleton
president of planned parenthood
believes the violence is provoked by
rhetoric used by “pro-life” activists
who consider abortion to be murder.
She goes on to say that the Roman
Catholic Church is the “chief
architect’* of the pro-life movement.
A Mr. Bill Baird who owns an
abortion clinic states that they (the
Catholic Church) never tells you to go
firebomb a clinic, BUT they (the
Catholic Curch) have ways of firing
up the “troops”.
They (the Catholic Church) use
inflammatory rhetoric which contri-
butes to the climate of violence!
It appears to me that these people
who Kill the unborn Children are
using the Church as a scapegoat for
the violence which is caused by their
crimes.
The Church does not condone or like
the violence which goes on in the
abortion mills, and is not responsible
for any of their problems!
I personally consider killing a fetus
a crime against God and Mankind, no
different than the crimes of the Nazi’s
of Germany during the second world
war.
In this country the abortion mills, or
as I ctill them "Kill-Mills” have killed
almost as many babies as the Nazi’s
did during the holocaust.
Where will it end, is it not bad
enough that they can kill humans
legally, without placing the blame on
the church for all of their troubles?
They also state in their article that
the ABC Harris poll states the 73 per
cent of the American public approves
of abortion., I think that this is not only
false, but misleading as well; They
should have stated that 73 per cent of
THE PEOPLE POLLED, not 73 per
cent of the American public. I am one
of the American public a-'* * was not
polled. I wonder how many readers of
the Gulf Coast Catholic were among
the people polled? I feel that this
entire news article is midleading.
Sincerely yours in Christi,
David Martin Benedict Duke
St. Therese Church—Wo idsboro
REMEMBER
THE DIOCESE
OF CORPUS CHRISTI
IN YOUR WILL
foR too Re details coRite:
| THE CHANCERY — <520 LIPAN
| CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS 78401
texas gulf coast
CATHOLIC
Pw<X>vse4 weeciy. except me lest <MM ot DecernMr an* the lest week ot July
Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Corpus Christi
President...................Most Rev. ThomasJ. Drury D.D.
Editor and Business Manager..............Fr. Robert Freeman
News Editor...............................Terri Ackerman
Circulation /A dvertising Manager ..............M ary Vasquez
Address all communications:
TEXAS GULF COAST CATHOLIC
P O Box 2584, Corpus Christi, Texas 78403 /’jSy
Telephone 882 6191 sICDCM?
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Freeman, Robert E. Texas Gulf Coast Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 46, Ed. 1 Friday, April 20, 1979, newspaper, April 20, 1979; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth840825/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .