Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 1973)
500 march in silent protest < i ■ —B-- , .fait - , . i Photo by James Link Unable to get a permit to “bomb” Eugene with leaflets, local at torney Charles Porter (right) assisted by two volunteers pushed a wooden sculpture of a bomb along the march route on Saturday. By DAVE WOODSON and GEORGE BUDDY Of the Emerald It started slowly. Only a handful of people — less than a dozen — had assembled on the EMU terrace by 10 a.m. Saturday, the announced gathering time for what could be the final protest march, possibly the last demonstration after 11 years of war and protest. The grey-hued Oregon morning was cold. Ominous black clouds, heavy with the threat of rain hung over Eugene. The crowd grew slowly as the last of the die-hards, drifted in. Hours before, three thousand miles away in Washington D.C., President Nixon, in his inaugural address, had once more promised that we were on the brink of peace. By 10:30 the crowd had grown to over a hundred. The Ninth Vietnamese flag was unfurled to take its place at the head of the march and the crowd moved out. They moved slowly along 13th St. and wound their way through the dormitory complexes, appealing to students to join them. “Out of the dorm and into the street!” they called. A red and black Nazi flag was draped from a third floor window in Hamilton Hall. A little child marching with his parents looked up at the swastika and yelled, “You’re stupid.” The blue light of the Eugene police escort car began to rotate slowly and the march moved off down 11th St. They sang and chanted as they marched but something was missing. When the marchers reached the Mall, they numbered around two hundred. It began to rain as the crowd grew silent. A half block away you wouldn’t have even know they were there. Charlie Porter stood in the Mall with Byron Krog’s bomb. The California sculptor’s wooden replica was strapped to a dolly and was resting atop one of Porter’s law books — Revised Oregon Statues 1963. There was a unison reading — like a church service — in the Mall. With dignity and restrained tones, the crowd read together excerpts from “Voices from the Plain of Jars.” The organizers announced that the march to Alton Baker Park would be a funeral march and they wanted it done quietly — with respect for the dead. No singing. No yelling. No chanting. The marchers moved slowly through Eugene on the sidewalk. At times they were stretched out over a quarter of a mile as the numbers grew to almost five hundred. At Fourth St., they moved out into the street escorted by the police. As the crowd snaked along the underpass, a truck came into the intersection, blasted his horn and kept coming. Hie crowd booed but he didn’t slow down. The protesters scrambled and ran as the truck plowed through. Nome was injured and the truck con tinued, without the driver having touched his brakes. Half-an-hour before the protestors reached the Ferry St. bridge, Eugene police received an anonymous phone call that there was a bomb planted m the bridge that would go off as the marchers crossed over. Police stopped traffic and searched the bridge. No bomb was found. In the park, there were a number of moments of silence, prayers, and low-keyed speeches by members of the local clergy. The rally ended with a creative performance of guerrilla theater. The idea of the theater was to show peaceful people of the North only wanting to harvest their rice, being bombed by a wood mock-up of a plane. Written on the underside of the plane was the words: “Bank of America.” Representing the United States was a priest and a capitalist in red pants, checkered sports jacket and big cigar. A South Vietnamese “general” was trying to get aid from them, while over in the “rice paddies,” the “bomb” attack commenced, ending with an anti-aircraft gun popping out of a mock water buffalo. The plane exploded in smoke and crashed down, signaling the victory of “the people.” And it was all over. And maybe this time, it’s really over. Meet with President Clark Chicanos issue reports Twelve leaders of the first Chicano Mobile Institute—Que Pasa Raza—met with University President Robert dark in an unscheduled conference at five p.m. Friday and issued a series of committee reports and recom mendations. The meeting came at the close of the two-day con ference. The first report, that of the Workshop on Ethnic Studies, was presented by Lila Gonzales, University of California at Berkeley. Gonzales’ recom mendations were as follows: — That the University establish an autonomous fully staffed Department of Chicano Studies. — That an “open admissions” policy for ethnic recruiting be instituted. — That the University give encouragement and participate in the creation of a local “free school.” — That the position of ethnic advisor to the Affirmative Action director be created. — That the Chicano Task Force work with the administration in the creation of a timetable for the implementation of the above recommendations. “I shall have to disappoint you,” Clark replied to the list of recommendations. “It is simply not possible to establish a department of Chicano studies at the present time,” Clark said, addressing himself to the first recom mendation. He cited lack of adequate funds as the reason and added, “The University is trying desperately to stay solvent.” Clark also noted the admissions standards and requirements were determined by the state legislature and the state board and not by the University ad ministration. However, he said that he favors the eventual creation of such a department and suggested that the first steps could be taken through the ethnic studies program. Maxine Baca-Zinn, University doctoral candidate in sociology, presented the second report, that of the committee on recruit ment and student services. She issued a resolution calling for: — Waiver of out-of-state tuition for Chicano students. — The hiring of several Chicanos to work in the coun seling center with Chicano students. — The recruitment of Chicano students for the University by Chicanos. — The creation of a special three-day orientation program for Chicano students. In reply to the resolution, Clark said that he would investigate the possibility of getting funds for the special orientation session, the possibility of using Chicano work study students in recruitment positions but he added that there was nothing he could do about the out-of-state tuition because it is governed by the state legislature. Former interim director of Affirmative Action at the University, Lorenza Schmidt tangled with Clark once again as she presented the report of the workshop on Affirmative Action. Schmidt’s recommendations were: — The setting aside of $100,000 for minority academic ap pointments. — The creation of an Af firmative Action advisory council with representives of minority groups. — That the Chicano Task Force be allowed to participate in the writing of a job description for the Affirmative Action director. Clark said that he felt that $100,000 was “not inrealistic’’ but that setting aside funds to hire minority instructors would, in (Continued on Page 2) Rock Mesa mining report filed Friday By NEAL ROSEN Of the Emerald A consulting mining engineer’s report supporting the validity of pumice claims in Rock Mesa was accepted Friday by the U.S. Forest Service. However, that doesn’t mean the agency will accept the report’s conclusions. The report accepted Friday is an enlargement of a prior report submitted by Leslie Richards of Portland to the Forest Service last November. At that time, the agency had asked that the report by enlarged to consider further mining costs. ' Zane Smith, supervisor of the Willamette National Forest, said he and Deschutes National Forest Supervisor Earl Nichols would be meeting with geologists and representatives from con servation and consumer groups, including OSPIRG who has been critical of Richard’s methods and conclusions. “Now it’s up to us to put the whole thing together,’’ Smith said. Smith said that it must be determined whether mining operations by U.S. Pumice Co., who hold claims to some 1,460 acres in the Three Sisters Wilderness Area, will be profitable. If so, the company will be granted a permit following the submitting of an environmental impact statement. If the Forest Service determines the claims to be invalid, then contest proceedings before the Bureau of Land Management will be held. Smith also said that there was some question as to whether the state’s Department of En vironmental Quality (DEQ) standards on pollution would apply. “I see the DEQ standards as being applicable,” Smith said. “However, since this is federal land we’re talking about, federal laws would be paramount to state regulations.” Contacted in Portland Sunday, OSPIRG lawyer Henry Rich mond, who wrote a study critical of Richard’s first report said, “We are going to develop every possible reason which will establish doubt that the claims are valid.”
