Editorials
NewGate and LINT—a contrast
The Emerald reported April 9 that
Project NewGate might be closed down for
want of $50,000 in supportive funds. This is a
program through which prisoners from the
state penetentiary can receive a college
education and counseling so that they may
lead a more useful and successful life after
leaving prison.
The success of Project NewGate is
overwhelming. Out of 126 prisoners in the
program, only two have returned to prison
for new crimes. Without this extra money the
students in the program will have to return to
the penetentiary and those that might have
benefited from the program in the future will
be denied a chance at a more productive life.
In the same issue of the Emerald there
was a report that the Lane Interagency
Narcotics Team (LINT) has received a
federal grant for $51,186 for the purchase of
undercover vehicles, pay for agents and
other items to make their arrest powers
more efficient.
The irony of these two items is heart
breaking. It seems to boil down to the fact
that our society is more willing to allocate
money to put people in jail than to help them
get out and stay out. While it is necessary to
make a major effort to stop the flow of hard
narcotics into the area, past performance by
LINT indicates that this is not the focus. It is
to be hoped that this additional money will
increase LINT s ability to stop truly harmful
drugs rather than drugs with debatable evils
such as marijuana and hashish
I his contradiction shows how urgent the
need is for us to re-examine our priorities in
the field of law enforcement and corrections.
That it is possible to neglect a program such
as Project NewGate a project that ha:
benefited both the individual and hi:
society and support a program of dubious
value such as LINT is appalling.
While there is no chance that LINT will
lose their money to NewGate. this problem
should he a lesson to those that see the neec
for positive approach to correction and law
enforcement
Faculty writings
Many people have congratulated the
Emerald this year for opening up the
editorial pages to a larger variety of views
than in the past. Thank you
One thing has been missing this year. We
have had almost no response to issues from
the faculty. Certain faculty members have
been periodic contributors to these pages but
a more varied range of views is desired by
the editors.
There may not be much status in writing
opinion columns for the Emerald and no
“publish or perish” credit is given but
faculty members are always welcome
contributors.
The Emerald has often said that the
faculty and administration should not be the
only ones that have a voice in the operation of
this university. Conversely, the students
shouldn't tie the only ones writing for the
Emerald.
Footnotes
In education, in marriage, in everything,
disappointment is the lot of woman. It shall
be the business of my life to deepen this
disappointment in every woman's heart until
she bows down to it no longer.
Lucy Stone, feminist leader. 18iV5
The very moment the capitalist press
credits me with being a wise labor leader, I
will invite you to investigate me 14)011 the
charge of treason Eugene Debs, 1906
Commentary
Michael Doran
Patronage refunds
Don Eullsr
Reaction to Calley
More interesting to me than the high
prices charged by the Co-op on trifles (as
demonstrated in the Emerald on April 1) is
the question on the patronage refunds
Although the Co-op is theoretically in
tended as a joining together of students to
provide a handy place to purchase text
books and sundries, in reality it is just
another merchandizing unit in "com
petition" with the other stores nearby. All
the others are joyfully gouging the
students, and it doesn’t make good
business sense for the Co-op not to do so as
well
The rebate system here seems
designed to appear superficially as a
benevolent means of returning profits to
the students, while underneath everything
possible is done to insure that this return
will be as small as possible. In order to
qualify for a rebate one has to buy into the
Co-op for 50c The motive behind this is not
explained in the Co-op Article's of In
corporation, but it is not hard to un
derstand For one thing, many people
who don't just forget about joining) are
just turned off by the bother of joining, or
recognize that they will have to buy a
certain amount of Co-op goods in order to
make this back and indignantly refuse
This means that a reduced number of
people will be able to collect at the end of
the year And for another thing, the Co-op
ls getting a kick-back on iu kick back,
which is favorable for it. I need hardly say
These forces conspire to make certain
that not all the monies potentially ready
for return will ever be claimed Indeed,
fast year the Co-op had available $131,449
worth of profits, which came under the
present system to a rate of return of about
6 per cent But as only about 57 per cent
$73,163) was claimed, there was a surplus
nm returned to members of some $58,386
I would suggest that the present
method of patronage refund is inadequate
It inaccurately assumes that although not
Oregon Daily Emerald
all purchasers become members and
therefore will not return with cash register
slips in hand, all profit return percentages
should be established on the assumption
that all monies will be claimed' An answer
to this situation would be a system of
percentage formulation in which the
number of actual members is related to
the annual cash available for return If this
concept had been applied last year, every
member would have received 43 per cent
more at the end of the year
As a former naval officer and a
veteran of the Vietnam war <1W56 6H>, I can
appreciate the nature of war generally and
the injustice of blaming one individual in
particular As a Hlack American,
however, there is a perspective I feel
compelled to articulate to those
Americans anguishing over the fate of Lt
('alley
There are at least three ways in which
the reaction to this military trial has made
the racist nature of America and this war
Mel Hull
Love and Eternal Life
I would like to ask Mr Gaines Smith if
he talked to any of the* Jesus Freaks”
behind the table at the Student Union I
don't know of one "Jesus Freak" who has
the negative out look of "only being in it for
fear of the consequences" The Love of
Christ and eternal life is the reward for
believing in Him There is as much to gain
in Heaven as there is to avoid in Hell
I believe in the existence of Hell
because the Bible speaks of Hell and Jesus
said "So it will be at the end of the age the
angels shall come forth, and take out the
wicked from among the righteous and wilL
cast them into the furnace of fire there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth
Math 13 49. SOi
l believe what the Bible and Jesus say
on Jesus' authority as Son of God I believe
that Jesus is the Son of (kid because of the
miracles He performed when He was on
earth and because He rose again after
dying on the cross and because of the
many prophecies in the Bible which have
come true, concerning Him The Bible
contains the testimonies of men who ac
tually knew Christ and who saw Him die
and who spoke to Him afterwards Peter
in II Peter 1 16 says, -For we did not
follow Cleverly devised tales when we
made known to you the power and coming
of our lx»rd Jesus Chnst. but were
eyewitnesses of Hi* majesty ."
There an* many book* stating the cane
for the accuracy of the Bible. If anyone
would care to look into the matter Un
fortunately mo*t people aren't motivated
enough to look seriously into this most
important subject, but assume it to be
untrue because it sound* so incredible, but
the Creator of the universe i* capabl.* of
anyting. He is capable of coming down to
the level of men and has done so
Mr Smith says that "Hell is a
psychological gun ” Perhaps this is true,
but if someone is planting a gun at your
head don't you do something to avoid being
shot’
It is true that we are all sinful and we
cannot avoid being sinful, but we do not
have to go to Hell for our un*. Mr Smith
Jesus said Truly, truly, I say unto you. he
who hears My word and believe* Him who
sent Mr. has eternal life and does not come
into judgment. but has passed out of death
into life ” John 5 24) "IM not your heart
be troubled believe in God. believe also m •
Me In My Father's houar are many
dwelling places, if It were not so. I would
not have told you. for I go to prepare a
place for you And if I prepare a place for
you. I will come again, and receive you to
Myself that where I am there you may be
also " John 14 1-31
obvious lo every thoughtful non white
throughout the world
First, we have the spectacle of the
President of the United State* taking an
Unprecedented actual on th«* mailer* of
confinement and review of the procc<<ding*
in direct refutation of hi* previous
statements of personal interest in the cane
Thin sort of political maneuver Is not
unusual for the president, hut one should
ask whether this would tie done If the
Hlack, Nut Mitchell, had lieeu convicted
Then there are the governors of
Alabama and (•<<orgia. who, like the
president. certainly must share the* guilt of
sending 12 ('alley to Vietnam with an
implied promise to wink at the murder of
anyone brown, while standing on the "solid
100 to 1” consensus of outcry, screaming
like Hitler for the support of cretins on the
fi 30 news
Finally, there is the pervasive sense
that, obscene as l.t (alleys action may
have been, he is a white American boy
worth far more than 102 brown people
anywhere, anytime and that the trial was
only for public relations anyway
If all this is an overstatement and
biased it is certainly nut Inaccurate to say
that this military trial confronts all
America with her gudt as no other event in
(he war The fact is that this is the first
condemnation and conviction of an im
moral act equal to that of any enemy The
national reaction however, weakens any
moral stand we take on the criminal
treatment of prisoners by the North
Vietnamese
12 ('alley should not have been tried,
in my opinion, but having played the
"game" of a court martial, America
should have the character to face the
implications of the war and the trial
Kacism, of course, is not logical and to
argue that a man convicted of murder be
released is illogical, racist and damned
near schizoid This column is not an at
tempt to establish dialogue on moral
versus physical courage <or cowardice i; it
is simply an expression of what my
country doesn’t want to hear from me now
or ever- and there it is
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