-Commentary
Americans must become responsible
By the Oct. 14th Coalition
Wherever there is a country that poses a
situation of war, the international im
plications of that situation poses a warlike
situation in the world.
At the outset of the American in
volvement in Vietnam, we find the ver
biage of American presence there “ad
visors” or “support troops”, or “military
technicians”; but in fact what we had was
a dispersal of a part of the American
ground troops from an area or areas where
they were either concentrated or dispersed
(stored in the bottoms of ships, stationed
on Okinawa or in West Germany). They
were dispersed and transferred from some
advance point in S.E. Asia to Vietnam, or
they were flown strategically from rear
military bases in America. This is typical
of the technological advances of American
ordinance. The Cause Celebre being the
support of puppet governments and the
military defeat of French colonialism and
imperialism which left a vacuum for
United States colonialism and im
perialism. We must make it crystal clear
that at no time have the Pentagon
strategists been able to entertain the
thought that the United States was in
control of either dispersing or con
centrating American troops and war
material.
It was not a desire of the Vietnamese
people to have the United States occupy
their country. This violation of the Geneva
Accord and the international violation of
rights of territorial sovereignty of the
Indochinese people by force and deceit is
unprecedented. Nevertheless, these
agrarian farmers and peasants have
forced the government of the United States
to concentrate the largest air, naval and
land assaults in the history of warfare.
Their will to resist forced the United States
to concentrate over 300,000 ground troops,
an unceasing aerial and naval bom
bardment complemented with a one
million man mercenary Saigon army, a
two million man secret police force, and
another additional 200,000 shock troops
from other “rent-a-soldier” programs —
the Vietnamese people forced them to
concentrate, and now because of their high
caliber of resistance, they are forcing
them to disperse. The United States
government wants to call it withdrawing
with honor, but it’s the nature of im
perialism, the nature of aggression, to
leave only when forced.
A country whose industry is based 90 per
cent on a military budget cannot afford to
have peace, because if the war industries
were to stop, millions upon millions of
American industrialized workers would be
out of a job. They need not be, but
nevertheless, that is how the American
people have let the American government
run things.
So now we say, “Where next?” Now that
the big concentration buildup is phasing
out, United States imperialism is recycling
itself again. The military, logistical
retreat from Vietnam is already in the
process of manifesting its aggressive
behavior in Africa, Latin America, and
other parts of Asia. It is highly probable
they will surface in the Middle East, which
is the northern section of Africa, more
strongly than before. They are already
there; or they’ll be in Latin America.
They need a war to survive on.
It is the responsibility of the American
people, the American soldiers, the parents
of those people commonly called "of a
draftable age", to become well aware of
the nature of the United States govern
ment, of the nature of imperialism, of the
war machine, because the American
people get caught up in it and they will find
themselves on some far and distant shore
acting and perpetrating like the govern
ment was a victim of an unprovoked at
tack. And maybe the next time the
Congress of the United States, the people
of the United States, the workers and
students of the United States, will not be so
gullible as to allow themselves to be
pressganged into a so-called "backwards”
country.
Letters
• •
Be People
I feel that it is unfortunate that the game
of knocking your opponent is so prevalent
in the Emerald letters. Mr. Porter’s
supporters haven’t been working with
positivism. A campaign of mud-slinging is
a rut which I hope that people will climb
out of.
In getting the folks for Porter to stand up
for their candidate and not just sit around
knocking their opponent I think a point
should be made. Mr. Porter has spoken in
favor of cuts in Military Appropriations.
That’s great, many are a waste. But the
record shows that he voted for every single
Military Appropriation Bill while he was in
Congress. Even to the level of backing a
bill for the construction of 143 National
Guard Armories which the Department of
Defense felt were unnecessary.
There are a lot of good people on both
sides of the political spectrum. It would be
a crime to see respect, friendship and
people take a backseat to politics.
Mike Marsh
History Major
Likes service
My wife and I are students at the
University who live in the Amazon
Housing Project. Every day we receive the
Oregon Daily Emerald at our apartment.
We wish to express our appreciation for
this service.
Paul T. Abrams
Anna Lee Abrams
Open letter to Bogen
Based on the information you have
forwarded to us, on September 7, 1972, we
are responding to the position the
University has adopted with regard to the
Lettuce Boycott.
The University has taken the following
position: (1) The Erb Memorial Union and
dormitories will offer salads made with
and without iceberg (head) lettuce. (2)
The University purchases its lettuce from
Emerald Fruit and Produce Co., a firm
which tries to buy United Farm Worker
picked lettuce. To take such a position
makes little sense and has the effect of
taking no position at all.
First, the fact that Emerald Produce
tries to get United Farm Worker (UFW)
picked lettuce, in no way reflects
humanitarian sympathies on the part of
the University. Emerald Produce’s first
consideration in buying lettuce is price and
quality. (This is also true of Pacific
Produce and the chain stores.) We have
tried to talk to them about the human
price and the quality of life involved in this
struggle While some were sympathetic.
we were told that such things do not apply
to business decisions.
Second, the present policy means that
the University will buy non-union lettuce
when UFW is not available. Whenever the
University spends any money on scab
lettuce it is financing the exploitation of
farm workers.
Third, the University believes it is of
fering students a choice by serving salads
with and without head lettuce. In so doing,
the University ducks its responsibility to
take a stand on a moral issue.
In addition, because the University
never specifies if it is serving UFW let
tuce, the choice offered isn’t much of a
choice. On the one hand, you are offering
students the chance to boycott UFW let
tuce. On the other hand, you are inviting
students to join with you in financing
exploitation.
Because the present policy has the above
implications and effects; and because our
previous attempts to gain a humane policy
have been unsuccessful, we are calling on
students to organize resistance to the
present policy and pressure for a policy of
buying only union head lettuce.
We are dismayed by the fact that the
University has been unable to see the
human price and quality of life for farm
workers involved in this issue.
Mel Kang
Eugene Friends of the Farm Workers
By Lee Gilbert Boutell
The current proposal for a downtown
auditorium convention center is to be
voted on November 7. Those backing the
measure say that the convention center is
for all the people of Eugene and that the
center will benefit all. Which raises these
questions:
1. Why build in the heart of downtown
(between 6th and 7th, Oak and Olive) and
increase traffic congestion, noise, and air
pollution when there are more favorable
sites with more room such as in the Autzen
Stadium area?
2. Why choose a “local firm backed up
by a Seattle firm” as has been done, to do
the designing and construction when the
necessary energy, creative force, and
resources are right in Eugene? Lets keep
the money and jobs right here.
3. Why use a 20 year property tax in
crease to raise the desired $5.5 million for
the issue when private or municipal bonds
can work with less red tape and waste, and
in a voluntary much fairer manner? With
the proposed tax a person owning a house
and property with a value of $40,000 would
pay 40 times $.83 for 20 years which
amounts to $664.00. Property worth $60,000
would be taxed $996.00, and so on. In
creased federal and state funds could be
solicited instead.
4. Why design the auditorium with only
2.800 seats and have the structure obsolete
even before construction? A seating
capacity of at least 12,000 should be con
sidered if this facility is in fact for all the
people of Eugene. Ticket prices for events
would be in the $6 to $10 range or higher
with only 2,800 seats, whereas increased
seating would allow tickets at peoples’
prices.
Why build a structure to be "owned by
the city and probably controlled by a
commission appointed by the City
Council” when comprehensive university
county (or city) control could satisfy the
needs of a larger part of the Lane Com
munity and people of the whole state? The
university needs a good auditorium
facility and it should be included in the
plans. The present proposal would have
the taxpayers own the structure but have
no say as to its use.
Lets have a well-planned multi-use
auditorium and recreation center for the
people of Lane County, but lets include all
the people. The present proposal as to be
voted on November 7 obviously favors
certain interested parties with economic
interests, as does the 1990 Plan in general,
of which the convention center proposal is
a part. Lets stop this problem before it is
forced on us. Remember, as you read this
the freeway and the bulldozer are moving
in.
By using our constitutional decision
making powers and by standing behind
them we can in fact do much to create a
happy, healthy, educational living en
vironment for ourselves and future
generations within the beauty of our
surroundings. Power to all the people.
Moo!
To Mr. Ken Kesey, in care of the lovely
editors of our very own Daily Emerald.
Your letter Ken, well it struck me.
Choice appears to be back, working like a
cornstarch of ecstasy. Everybody’s having
a grand old time learning how to spell X.
Wish this tea would turn into X. Wish the
sky “vote today, partner”. Ah, the song of
gratifying human fallacy. Scuse me if I’m
impolite, I suppose the letter was written
purely concerning the application of
language to voluntary behavior
modification; anything to make clarity out
of illusion, right old boy? Here I am,
blowing my nose, standing in line with
everyone else waiting to manipulate the
voting machine. Moo! Om! Hare Krishna!
Honesty!Ultimate choice! Humbug! It’s
almost the big day. Well, thanks for the
serious moments of high Baroque con
templation, Ken. See you in November
shot to flowers and higher consciousness
about things that matter in the Cosmos.
Tell me, does my number look identifying?
Maybe we’ll shake hands at a poll.
Ronald Smith
Student
More cycle parking
While a bicycle appears to be the most
popular and convenient method of tran
sportation to school for many students,
there are an increasing number of
students arriving by motorcycle for their
advantages over a car in parking and
economy of operation. But I have noticed a
pitiful lack of parking space for motor
cycles where they are needed most.
Converting one automobile space adjacent
to the most popular cycle parking spots to
motorcycle use would render a valuable
service to our minority number of cycle
riders.
1 would suggest that those in authority
over parking take a deserved look into
this.
Steve Fitch
Grad Student, Education
L.A. stickers
In the race for Congress locally, an issue
of importance appears to be the state of
the economy and who will do more to gain
new jobs for the people of Oregon. Charles
Porter has said that if elected he will work
to provide new jobs for unemployed
workers.
That is very interesting in light of the
fact that Porter has bumper stickers
printed in Los Angeles. Perhaps someone
should show Mr. Porter the boundary lines
of this congressional district. Or perhaps
we should just assume that workers in
Eugene, Springfield, Roseburg, Medford,
and Coos Bay aren't capable of doing the
job of their contemporaries in I>os
Angeles.
JoAnne L. Whitman
Junior U of O
Naslund endorsement
Every trial deputy district attorney on
the present staff of the l-ane County
District Attorney’s Office wishes to ex
press to the people of Lane County that
Robert K: Naslund has our unsolicited and
complete support and confidence. We urge
you to retain Robert K. Naslund as your
district attorney and keep this office in the
hands of a man whose honesty and in
tegrity are unquestioned.
Stephen II. Keutxer. Chief Deputy
and 13 names on file
Desmond needs money
I’ve hand written over 7,000 letters since
December. Now I’m broke. A few people
have given me a dollar without my asking.
Now I'm asking.
I can't receive money from your paper
but I can receive it from your readers.
Desmond 1971 (Next Pres. USA)
John J. Desmond. Jr.
Box 1000
Steilacoom, Wash. 98388