Exploiting Space

In your Oct. 9 issue there were many letters regarding the recent launch of the space shuttle Discovery. A few of these letters questioned why we spend so much money on the space program when there is very little in living resources in space and a vast quantity of problems here on Earth that need to be dealt with.

The answer to this question is twofold. The first reason is, of course, military. The U.S. military perceives a race to conquer this vast area so that it cannot be used against us. This notion is supported by how much of the shuttle missions are used for military purposes.

Being a student at Claremont McKenna College, with its highly rated Economics Department and no lack of free market supporters in our student body, has given me an insight into the second. It seems that quite a few of these people, both here and in the American government, have no problem in exploiting space for its resources. And when their shortsighted, profit-oriented policies have rendered our planet a toxic wasteland inhospitable to any life, they shall be quite happy to leave, and carry on their senseless desecrations throughout the galaxy.

KEN G. SWEAT

Claremont