Each week, Bear Facts will post an article from a past issue. These articles can demonstrate what life was like for a high school student in that year. What seemed important to them that seems commonplace now? This article ran in November 1979.
By Charley Kline
On November 12, Senator Robert Dole visited LZHS. Dole, a republican senator from Kansas, has been a senator for 11 years and served in the House of Representatives for eight years previous to his senatorial term.
Senator Dole was in the Lake Zurich area to open a campaign office in town. Hopefully, it will become the Midwest regional office. Lake Zurich was chosen over other and perhaps more convenient locations because, said Dole, “It’s nice to get away from perpetual urban surroundings into a quieter, roomier, and prettier environment.”
Some of the questions posed by students to Senator Dole during Mr. O’Malley’s regularly scheduled third hour class concerned the present situation in Iran, where Americans are being held hostage. “The last thing to do,” replied Dole, “would be to take violent action. We should approach this with caution, prudence, and restraint. First we should look to the safety of the hostages, and then we might take a look at the visas of so called Iranian ‘students’ here in the United States.” He further stated that the American embassy in Iran should not be reopened until their government becomes better organized.
In a supportive statement for nuclear energy, Dole said that America once was an energy surplus country, but since it is not at the present, it would be best to consider nuclear energy as a good alternative to conventional energy forms.
Senator Dole sides with an all-volunteer army. Since one half of the defense budget is used for the salaries of personnel, he feels that the incentive is there for people to volunteer to serve in the armed forces. Dole himself is partially paralyzed in his right arm as a result of a wound suffered in World War II. He also opposes the SALT treaty to slow the arms race between the United States and Russia.
Talk then turned to his presidential campaign. When asked if he would rather face Senator Kennedy, Governor Brown, or President Carter, among others, in the presidential race, Dole answered, “I would rather face Brown, but I don’t think he’ll make it past the primaries.” He predicted that the democratic candidate would be Senator Kennedy, and that in a debate against Kennedy, Dole would win on the issues. Ronald Reagan, he stated, is too old to win the nomination (Reagan is almost 70 years old), and that Reagan has no experience in the Federal government.
In a closing statement, Senator Dole told his audience to look for experience in the presidential candidates. “I have that experience and a very consistent record. Republicans have always been viewed as being negative, criticizing the issues instead of acting upon them. Our job is to turn that around and to break that image. I am not only criticizing the democrats but asking what they would do in these situations.”