WSC prof in Siberia says Glasnost not working Glasnost is neither working, nor is it understood by the most recent and perhaps stubborn territorial acquisition of the U.S.S.R. This according to Dr. Deon Greer, Weber State College professor tabloi Did you know? Stories on these pages by Howard Noel Executive Editor (class of ’75). Sagers is the senior economist and chief of the Soviet Branch in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Center for International Research. This is the second largest Soviet research function in the United States — the CIA being, of course, the first. It is Sager’s job to provide information on the Soviet Union to the rest of the government. “The intelliegnce community is the number one consumer,” said Sagers. “However we do not do research for ‘decision makers per-se’, but for government analysts,” he said. Sager’s most recent efforts can be seen in the November 20 issue of U.S. News and have to dig and dig for inford. “Now we are diluged with it. Sage ice subscribes to 200 Soviet journals and 15 newspapers. “Before Glasnost and peristroika, we always had to read between the lines — we had to guess,” he said. “Now they come out and tell us.” Sagers noted that the 1979 Soviet Census information was locked in a safe “and only 2 people had keys — They were afraid to make public unflattering information.” Sagers said that THAT unflattering information now tells of a Soviet Union rife with alcoholism, a high rate of work-related World Report — an issue dealing chiefly deaths, and an “enormous” national debt with the “Communist Meltdown: The Crumbling Iron Curtain and The Soviet Economy in Ruins.” He has also put together “Soviet perspectives” for such important occasions as President Reagan’s last summit with He said, “We find the Russian people are basically ecstatic about their new-found political freedoms, but very disappointed with the economy.” “They are struggling to find out what to Mikhail Gorbachev, and testified in the do,” he said. Earlier, according to Sagers, Senate Foreign Relations hearings on the effect of the Chernobyl tragedy on the energy system of the U.S.S.R. His main fields of study have been with the Soviet energy system, transportation system and regional development of the there was no unemployment. Now the Soviet idea of the free market has put some out of work. “The salaries of those who are now out of work is being re-distributed to the workers. Thus they have higher wages, but nothing to buy.” ¢ The average Soviet citizen earns 200 rubles per month, about $320, and almost 30 percent of the Soviet population lives below the poverty line. ¢ Commodity prices, in rubles: Used foreign car: 50,000-150,000 Athletic shoes: 400-500 Blue jeans: 200-400 Imported winter boots: 250 Pack of Western cigarettes: 25 Western shoelaces: 10-15 Lettuce: Unavailable at any price Oranges: Unavailable at any price ¢ The 1988 per capita Gross National Product for the Soviet Union is about $9,000, over half that of the United States. ¢ Soviet economists estimate that one fourth of all wheat grown in the U.S.S.R. is lost before it gets to market. The losses equal the value of Soviet grain imports, about $4 billion in 1988. , “Our research has confirmed many i i things we suspected for many years, but never really knew for sure because of the lack of ‘authorized’ information available in the Soviet Union,” he said. One of Sager’s current projects deals with the study of the causes of death in the U.S.S.R. “There is a strange pattern here,” he said. “It is altogether different from most other countries.” Sagers said the health “infrastructure” or living habits is much different than the east or west. “The Soviets are extremely heavy smokers,” he said. “There is a tremendous alcohol consumption, and a general disregard for healthful living.” As an example, Sagers told of a recent visit to the Soviet Union where he was offered the latest in Soviet “health food” — pure pork fat. Since Chernoby], and the relaxation of information imbargoes, the Soviet Union is facing things such as anti-nuclear groups who are protesting openly. “Soviet leaders are facing the same public protests that we have always had,” said Sagers. In addition to his duties with the (more than double that of the U.S.). Sagers said his research shows plants are not producing as they could and should. “There is more demand and higher expectations,” he said. There are other fascinating things Sagers is learning about the Soviet people. For example “The Soviets are very big on folk medicine — very superstitious,” he said “what we would call the ‘straight’ newspapers, in the Soviet Union deal with the bizarre stories of such things as alien visits from outer space and other subjects that we Department of International Research, Sagers is a faculty member at George Washington University and the University of Virginia. He has also been invited to be a member of a cooperative commission between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to study the ethnic problems between the Armenians and the Republican government of the Soviet Republic Azerbaijian, and is working with Soviet geographers on a book about Soviet regions and their change. of geography and his wife Julie, who are currently in Tuva, a territory in Southern Siberia, near the Mongolian border — an area which in recent years is reported to have been one of the “...least accessible spots on the earth.” Dr. Greer is there to participate in a joint “Soviet-Mongolian geographical experiment.” In a written account of their experiences thus far in the Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Greers noted, “The Tuvans today find themselves a somewhat unwilling, autonomous republic in the Soviet Union, with approximately one-fifth of them composed of Great Russians or other Soviet citizens.” According to the Greers, the Tuvans, who Even though glasnost is neither as well accepted nor understood as it is in European Russia, “the effects are spreading to the Tuvan A.S.S.R,” wrote the Greers. They told of a reporter friend of theirs who, in the past, had been harassed, arrested and beaten for his liberal reporting. On one evening when the reporter was visiting with the Greers, he was summoned to the lobby of the building by the Russian K.G.B. whereupon he was taken outside and ordered to “remove himself from the area.” In the spirit of glasnost, however, the reporter replied “I’Il give you five minutes to depart yourselves, before I expose you to the entire country as well as the world.” He and the Greers returned to their apartment without further incident. According to the Greers, life in Tuva is difficult, “with the shortage of many of the necessities like soap, matches, and razor blades.” They noted, however, that unlike European Russia “the shops did have plenty of dairy products, bread, meat, and fish.” And the free market in Kyzyl had a supply of fresh, local vegetables, plus a number of occupy the bottom of the economic ladder products from other republics, such as in 20th Century Russia, are experiencing a serious alcohol abuse problem, even by comparison to the rest of the Soviet Union. They wrote, “Because of the alcohol problem we noticed a shortage of items containing sugar, since the Soviet government is rationing sugar in order to prevent the making of bootleg alcohol.” watermelons from Uzbekistan and sunflower seeds from the Ukraine. “One of the most interesting finds in Kyzyl,” they wrote, “was the supply of books, unavailable in Moscow, or for that matter anywhere in the U.S.S.R. Apparently books are alloted to all republics according to their populations and since the Tuvans are not great readers, the books go unused.” The Greers noted that some of Dr. Greer’s Russian colleagues in the experiment “In Tuva,” they wrote, “unlike Moscow, alcohol is being rationed, in an attempt to limit the tremendous abuse problem among the Tuvan people.” The Greers wrote of a serious crime problem, particularly among the youth of Kyzyl, the Tuvan capitol with a population of about 60,000 — just a little smaller than Ogden. “(The crime rate) is one of the highest in the U.S.S.R,” they wrote, “with as many as seven knifings occurring in one night, creating a populace fearful of going out on the streets after dark.” There is also civil unrest in this area, with a “‘...spate of protests by Tuvans against the Russian population.” They noted this unrest was due principally to the unemployment and salary differences between the Tuvans and other-Russians. The Tuvans are convinced their lives would be better if they had the same job opportunities that other Russians have. “« .went wild, buying kilos of books to take back for their personal libraries in Moscow.” : The experiment in which Dr.Greer is participating involves a proposal to preserve the pristine state of Tuva then use the area as a norm against which to test the deterioration of the environment throughout other parts of the world. As part of the experiment, Dr. Greer and his colleagues will inventory the region’s natural, environmental assets, then monitor them to record future critical changes. According to Dr.Greer, however, “it appeared to us that the preservation of this untouched region would be nearly impossible, given the economic needs of the people and the readily exploitable resources available.” “In Tuva, unlike Moscow, alcohol _ is being rationed, in an attempt to limit the tremendous abuse problem among the Tuvan people.”