Word: sst
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Servant or Scourge? The most determined opponent of sonic boom-and of the nation's plans to build a supersonic transport (SST)-is Harvard Physicist William Shurcliff, 58, who worked on the atomic bomb with Vannevar Bush, and is now senior research associate at the Cambridge Electron Accelerator. Six months ago, Shurcliff, with nine friends, founded the Citizen's League Against the Sonic Boom, and membership has since grown to 1,320 in 45 states. In letters to members and newspaper ads, Shurcliff has propounded his fears that the SST might ultimately be permitted to fly at supersonic...
...single SST flying supersonic across the U.S., believes Shurcliff, would trail behind it a bang zone 50 miles wide that could destroy the peace of 20 million Americans. He also argues that competition from cheaper, larger "jumbo jets"-which will produce no sonic boom-could turn the SST venture into "a gigantic boomdoggle" with the taxpayers absorbing most of the loss. "We all believe in progress," he says for his group, "but some things just aren't progress. Aviation should be the servant of man, not his scourge...
...five hours every night writing letters to Congressmen and FAA officials and preparing news releases, which he sent to a selected list of 180 newspapers, 40 radio and television stations, and 30 "key individuals." He wrote to the mayors of cities which would be most directly affected by the SST, and mailed out application blanks which invite prospective members, "Do join this League! No dues...
Although he claims not to enjoy all the publicity, Shurcliff has developed a sure public relations touch. When Transportation Secretary Alan Boyd announced that transcontinental SST's might fly subsonic over the populated eastern half of the country and then supersonic from Chicago to Califor- nia, Shurcliff immediately wrote to western political leaders pointing out how little the SST's proponents seemed to care for the west's peace and quiet...
Obviously, grass roots organizational success, although impressive, will never be enough. The fact that the League hears regularly from a Chicago woman every time a military plane's boom damages her house means little; the SST's fate lies with Congress. The House recently voted SST appropriations for another year, and that bill is now in the Senate. Shurcliff is the first to admit that the chances of killing off the SST this fall in Congress look very slight. Only six Senators have expressed definite support for the League. And Shurcliff thinks many people have been confused by the Federal...