Page 39 - Phoenix2003

COMMENTARY Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - Page 3 Arnold and Asteroids and Bears ... Attention North OhMy! their environment. He had also ap- Village: Contractors peared as a guest on the "Late Show with David Letterman." Here to Stay Two weeks ago this advocate of Our first question this week comes from a concerned reader grizzly bear protection, along with who asks, Now that Arnold has a companion, was mauled and killed by several ungrateful bears been elected governor of Califor- in a remote part of Alaska's Katmai nia, what happens next? National Park and Preserve. Well first off, Arnold is going It is herd-to know the reasons to be taking a huge pay cut. For for why the bears acted as they did, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Ma- but it is possible the bears would chines" he took in $30 million, the have restrained themselves if they biggest payday to date for any ac- had been informed of Treadwell's tor, and the current salary for the Our next question comes from politics. Park rangers at the site governor of California is a mere another reader who asks, Should I where the bodies were recovered $175,000. Assuming Arnold would be concerned about asteroids hit- killed two bears described as "ag- have made four movies over the ting the Earth? gressive." Treadwell did not carry next four years, as he did over the a gun with him on his expeditions past four, he's giving up $119.3 The answer is yes, but not for in grizzly bear habitats because he if he was going to be at- million in income. another decade. Several weeks ago believed by a bear. then that's what tacked As for the general public, we British astronomers discovered an have to be upset that we'll be miss- was going to happen. asteroid that has a chance of hit- This incident coincides with the ing out on Arnold at the box office ting the earth in 2014. approval of a black bear hunt in over the next few years. Since If this asteroid does make con- 1999 he has starred in cinematic Western Maryland next fall. The tact with our planet the impact classics that include "End of Days," hunt will target about 30 animals would be devastating. It would un- "The 6'h Day," "Collateral Dam- that will be identified as nuisance leash a force of 350,000 megatons, age," and the aforeme~tione~ "Ter- roughly eight million times more bears by the Department of Natu- minator 3." I know I m gomg to powerful than the atomic bomb that ral Resources. Hunting permits will miss him. was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. be given out to applicants by 101- This also impacts Arnold be- While this should raise some tery and farmers will be allowed to cause he now finds himself in po- concern among the general public, shoot crop-damaging bears. sition to move up on the list of most I have a simple solution to this Wildlife advocates, in the mold influential Austrians. Istill think he problem. We can just use all the of Treadwell, have promised to is behind Adolf Hitler (he's not the weapons of mass destruction found fight the hunt in the state legisla- man Austria wants to be known for, ture calling it an unjustified "tTO in Iraq to knock the asteroid off but he did have a large impact on course before it even gets close. phy hunt." .Personally Iwould think the zo- century), but Arnold gets that in light of the Treadwell maul- the nod in front of Sigmund Freud Our last question comes from a ing, wildlife advocates would be in now that he is governer; plus reader who wants to know. How favor of these safety measures as Arnold can bench more. ironic was the death of Timothy to prevent more people from be- As for the results of the elec- Treadwell? coming one with the bears. As Joseph Campbell and Rush tion. it couldn't have worked out Limbaugh point out, a bear is go- any better for Arnold. ~e was able For those of you who don't ing to do what a bear does, and that to survive attacks on hts character know Timothy Treadwell, he was that included complaints regarding means an occasional mauling. You the founder of an organization sexual harassment from seve.ral called Grizzly People, a group de- can be a staunch advocate of bear women, and still win the election rights or finnly opposed to the pro- voted to the protection of grizzly in a landslide. He took 49 percent bears and their natural habitats. He tection of bear habitats, either way care less. the bears couldn't of the vote, while his closest com- co-authored the book "Among petitor received only 32 percen~. Grizzlies: Living with Wild Bears After the victory celebration in Alaska," and had traveled around dies down Arnold is going to rea~- the to lecture on bears and ize that he has a huge mess on his hands. The voters had good reason to vote Gray Davis out of office. California is in the midst of a huge economic recession that is a res~lt of the collapse of the dot-com. ).n- dustry and the state's energy cnsrs. Davis had trouble handling the po- litically mixed state legislator; an.d therefore had problems passing his balanced budget initiatives. . When Davis managed to get his initiatives passed they did little to put a dent in the state's $8 bill~n deficit, but they did put a dent in the governor's popularity. Th~ m.ost unpopular of these was the tripling of the vehicle license fee, more commonly know as the car tax. The point here is that Arnold has taken on an incredibly difficult job! It-will not be an easy task to trrectify the pro~le~~ of his ~~:~~~, ':JcessbrJA.I1'it tookwes ~97 ,lAmOrd ~ fiatMes to reiZ':il'JfDavis, and .. "