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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 1972)
Brtty Freidan Environmental lawyer irges pollution fight "Come on OSPIRG, you look like the U.S. Cavalry coming over the Mon t stumble on the way down,” urged and warned Marvin taming, Seattle environmental lawyer, at Friday night’s general ssembly of OSPIRG s three-day workshop Duming. named 1966 Conservationalist of the Year by President ,yndon Johnson, told the 40 to 50 OSPIRG delegates present that mencans have a national image, the cowboy, and that the United tales economy is a “cowboy economy” based on the assumption that more is better ” "Well, cowboys, there’s 280 million of us—it’s getting a little rowded out on our prairie,” he said. We’re accustomed to “taking hat you want (and then) throwing it away,” he continued, but now your away is my here.” The attorney Likened OSPIRG with the cavalry and with pacemen, and said, "the fight's for real” against pollution and ‘cowboy economists.” Even communists tend toward the “more is better " idea, Duming aid, only by different means But, “There people called ecologists— bey are really subversive—J. Edgar hasn’t found them yet.” In the battle between economics and ecology, “the tools of debate ndanalysis are not even there yet.” It is a “values fight” not an 'economic analysis fight,” the environmentalist declared. Duming cited several atrocities in Washington politics about dlution One example was the proposal by Seattle’s “Cowboy cwiomists for filling a large canyon with the city’s garbage. He said lose economists said the canyon had little value because it was too top for homes, etc. The canyon was situated up-stream from a million dollar park, fported the lawyer He said, “Value is what it would take the Corps of ngineers to build another one like it.” The speaker presented his own brief history of water in the U.S. He said the 1899 Refuse Act states that U.S. Attorneys will vigorously prosecute” anyone who pollutes navigable waterways. m|ng pointed out, however, “The Corps of Engineers never got ermt „ m 18^ to 1971, to get a program to administer Refuse Act ^The lawyer presented cases to the U.S. Attorney in Seattle against companies who were obviously violating the 1899 law and was told consensus is’ no prosecutions should be made. L . w'^e' burning tried to privately sue both companies, but unsuccessful He said other people across the country are ‘ e sam(‘ results when they try to sue. l[Kjakl|n Mitchell, Attorney General of the United States, is aiding mg water pollution” in this country, the lawyer stated. IWuds i|[>nc uc*eti Wlth more encouragement for OSPIRG and other e 11 anc* received a standing ovation from the audience. See relate story on page 7 Paul McCloskey to speak Jhfor*a Congressman Paul McCloskey, the maverick Presid IC,an, °Ut to c*e^eat Richard Nixon for the party •he EMi L>n0rn'nati°n’ *s schooled to speak today at 12:30 at Cultural,, a**room The speech is presented by the ASUO eontende "rUm am* 'S ^art ° their *ecture s61"*65 by presidential a candid 44’ *las Prev*°usly announced his intention to be made c(a *' ln Oregon’s May 23 primary election. He has also New Han'i'nifl/rnt'n^S en*-er the primaries in California and Political involvement of women stressed by Betty Freidan By SUE ROBINSON Of the Emerald Women are being forced into politics by the needs of their lives, said Betty Freidan Saturday to an overflowing crowd of about 500 at the Lane County Courthouse. Members and guests of the Oregon Women’s Political Caucus listened as the author of “The Feminine Mystique” stressed the need for women to become involved in politics, to “confront the issues really, without the rules, the time-wasting things, and to tune into the needs of all un derrepresented women.” Ms. Freidan believes in the new “human politics, which means that she belives every group of people should be represented in the government in ratio to its population proportion Since women constitute 51 per cent of the nation’s population, this is a radical belief. The women in this country are involved in a non-violent revolution, said Ms. Freidan. The first stage is awareness. Women are past the first stage, and many are past the second stage, which is a committment to action. The success of these phases are evidenced by the large turnouts to hear her speak that Ms.Freidan has found in all the states she has visited, and by the increasing willingness of many young couples to share household tasks. Women are now at the third stage, which is an assumption with men of political power. “Wre have to become political in order to make any in stitutional changes,” Ms. Freidan said. She gave President Richard Nixon’s veto of government funded child care centers as an example, and called it a ‘war against women and a war against children both it’s an outrage, and we won’t stand for it.” Ms. Freidan does not blame men for woman’s secondary citizenship. “Man is as much a victim as woman, she said. Ms. Freidan blames a facist society for imposing roles upon men and women. As soon as women take their political share of responsibility and as soon as men stop feeling the need to be all-powerful then, Ms. Freidan said, “we can seize the reality of the moment—do what we have to do—and move on to human liberation.” Ms. Freidan said that dedicated women “are perfectly prepared to unite outside of the political parties.” “We can demand more than a token representation of women,” she said, and added, “there is a serious possibility” of having a woman president in 1976. Ms. Freidan said, “I don’t idealize women but I don’t idealize men either.” There is nothing that the men in power are accomplishing that women couldn’t do, she stated. “Women have the power, and only women can help themselves.” Gutierrez says Chicanos denied ‘their Mexicaness ’ By KYLE JOHNSON Of the Emerald Jose Gutierrez, tounaer ot La naza umaa party, said Friday in a speech before more than 75 persons that “Chicanos have been left out of the mainstream of America.” ‘‘We are accused of being foreigners. This is a gross distortion. We were here before the first white man set foot on this land,” said Gutierrez who was in Oregon to help organize La Raza Unida party here. He said these distortions have been put into textbooks. Gutierrez said textbooks say Jamestown, Va. was the first settlement in the United States but St. AugMttine, Fla. was. . Gutierrez, who frequently spoke Spanish during his talk, said these distortions have often caused Chicanos to deny “their Mexicaness.” He said chewing gum had been invented by a Chicano and the LEM, the Lunar Excursion Module, had been designed by Chicanos. He said Chicanos had been caught in “a cultural genocide.” Chicanos have been put in “roundups” twice, after both World Wars, and sent back to Mexico. “Any Mexicano called a bandit was one of our heroes” said Gutierrez. He said these roundups had caused “gaps of leadership” in the Chicano movement. “For the last 30 or 40 years we have voted and gotten nothing Before they export racism and totalitariansim they practice it here” said Gutierrez of America. He said the only way a group can get things accomplished in American government is on the ‘‘installment plan.” It would take six years to end the “elite rule” of those in the United States Senate. “That’s why we looked for an alternative” said Gutierrez. “We wanted a say in what streets are paved, where money goes to education, and where medical services are located.” He said he had chosen “ballots over bullets. He said La Raza Unida had first formed because of a Homecoming Queen contest that had only six Chicanos involved. Gutierrez said 1,700 pickets had protested the decision When some of the pickets lost their jobs, selective boycotting of businesses was the next step La Raza Unida had used in trying to get the contest ^Hesaid registration of voters was the next step they had used and this had been very successful. Jose Gutierrez Gutierrez said at the next election he and two other Chicanos had been elected to the seven-member school board. He said four Chicanos now hold seats on the school board. He said the school board had “changed the education system” in Crystal City. He said kids who had previously dropped out of school had reenrolled and are now “jumping grades like crazy.” He also said a Chicano county commissioner had recently been elected by write-in votes in Texas. Gutierrez also said a new Chicano police chief had been appointed in Crystal City, and had reduced the number of arrests in one year from 526 to 26. “We haven’t stopped crime. We don’t think getting drunk is a crime. We don’t think fighting is a crime.” birth defects forever. ...unless you 4 Ke£ march of Dimes I THIS SPACE CONTRIBUTED BY THE PUBLISHER Pana *1
