marcw (06/19/82)
By now we all know that the next space shuttle flight
is due to land on July 4th and that President Reagan will be
giving a speech at the landing. The exact content of the
speech is still largely unknown. The L5 Society is making a
concerted effort to try to influence the content of this
message and thus the direction of the national space effort.
Everyone who supports the continued exploration and develop-
ment of space resources is strongly urged to make your feel-
ings known to the current administration by sending a
telegram to the President and George Keyworth, the presiden-
tial science advisor.
You can send a public opinion telegram to the President
(it gets delivered directly to his telex, usually before you
even hang up the phone) and a Mailgram to Dr. Keyworth. The
process is really quite simple and not tremendously expen-
sive, the public opinion telegram costs $5.25 for the first
20 words and the Mailgram costs $4.25 for the first 50 words
including the address. The charges may be billed directly
to your telephone.
It's a good idea to write out your message before cal-
ling Western Union, that way you don't spend a lot of time
with the operator trying to think of what to say and trying
to keep it under 20 words. The message should indicate gen-
eral support for the space program and mention some specific
goals or programs such as a permanent manned space platform,
development of solar power satellites, continued planetary
exploration, etc.. To send the telegrams, call Western
Union (there's a toll free number in the Portland area, 1-
800-648-4100, this may be a national WATS number, I don't
know) and tell the operator you want to send a public opin-
ion telegram, s/he will take it from there. The addresses
are as follows:
President Ronald Reagan Dr. George Keyworth
The Whitehouse Presidential Science Advisor
Washington, DC 20500 Old Executive Office Bldg. RM 360
Washington, DC 20500
Time is, obviously, of the essence. The more telegrams
sent and the sooner they arrive, the greater the effect.
The above information is accurate as far as I know, if
I've made any unpardonable goofs, please flame at me via
mail and I'll post a (very red-faced) apology and correc-
tion.
Thanks for your support,
Marc Wells
...!decvax!teklabs!marcw
...!ucbvax!teklabs!marcw