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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1977)
The Carter upheaval Political developments in China receive peculiar — and sometimes amusing — treatment in the American press. In trying to sift the news from the rhetoric of wall posters and official sources, American journalists have created a rhetoric of their own. Let's see what a news story about recent political developments in the U.S. might look like if Newsweek were headquartered in Peking instead of New York. HAVANA — Old America hands here in Cuba seem to agree that after a power struggle of monumental propor tions, strongman Jimmy Carter's grasp of state and party leadership is secure. The dramatic fall from power of the once-omnipotent Republican faction began in 1973 when rival Democratic forces usurped control of the press and began denouncing former Chairman Nixon as a ‘conspirator.” As the Democrat's drive for power accelerated, the Nixon-Erlichman-Haldeman-Mitchell "gang of four” was forced to install Gerald Ford as party leader, a man charac terised in recent campaign posters as “centrist." Ford managed to suppress demands for a public trial of Nixon, though “criticise Nixon" became the ideological watch word of all American political factions. The Republican's prestige was further shattered by the discovery of the Reagan-Schweiker “anti-party clique” operating within party ranks. Reagan and his lieutenant were discredited, but the Republicans lost the popular support needed to gain the upper hand in the recent power struggle. When the Democrats named Carter, an obscure rural functionary, to be the new party strongman, most veteran America watchers were surprised. But Carter proved to be exactly the man the Democrats needed to clinch their control of the state apparatus: a ruthless politician capable of crushing opposition and purging obstructionist elements within the Democratic ranks. Carter consolidated his control over the Democratic party, then proceeded to smash the Republican regime Ford retired to luxurious isolation far from the centers of power. America watchers are not sure what to expect of the era which began with the Carter upheaval. Massive de monstrations of popular support in Washington upon his ascension to power would seem to indicate the days of strife are over — at least for the time being. 7 Letters Offense unintended In my article which appeared in the opinion column on Wednes day of this week, I made reference to a “sex change operation.’’ My intention was not to offend anyone’s sexual orientation but rather to create a satirical com ment on the number of Greeks currently on the Incidental Fee Committee. It has been pointed out to me that I have indeed of fended people by treating the sub ject of sex change so lightly and for that, I apologize. Gary Feldman I.F.C. Chairer Lesson in life At the end of the trial Judge Allen asked, Who remembers the victim?" It is not easy to think of Eric Thede as a victim. He was our friend. We will always re member him. Eric wanted to be a landscape architect. He was fond of plants and knew their Latin names. He loved San Francisco, his home town He liked people and liked being with them Eric had the strongest kind of love for life, for the world and the people of it — he demanded truth. He had integrity and expected it from others. Eric cared enough for people to set them straight. He was alert to the world and saw it clearly. Sometimes people die and you find you had not realized how spe cial they were and are to you. We knew Eric was an important per son in our lives all the while we knew him It is hard to think of all he might have done. There is no way that society can appropriately avenge for a lost life because there is nothing that will make him alive again Eric's life shows how much we should value living. Richard Slayton Junior — Architecture Stephanie D. Slayton Senior — Anthropology Jessica Dole Senior — Geography Eric Thede, a University stu dent, was shot and killed on July 10 while working at Tom 's Market at 19th and Agate in Eugene. The killer was convicted and sen tenced to life in prison. - ed Problems relative In regards to the article pub lished on January 12th concern ing certain Australians brought "up-short' by the recent devalua tion (18 cents per dollar), consid eration should be paid to the rela tive financial positions of their fel low students, graduate, under graduate, foreign or otherwise. To most foreign students the undertaking of a course of study at a university such as the U of O involves existing on "saved" re sources and very little can be ex pected in the form of other monet ary assistance. Very few students attend universities under a scho larship provided by the home gov ernment and therefore are re sponsible for all costs incurred Some professionals, however, attend universities under the con cept of a "paid sabbatical" and some will even be eligible to return to a paid position upon the com pletion of their degree. Therefore, the students in the latter category cannot be considered to be in a similar economic situation as ex ists with most foreign or other stu dents. To those on study leave devaluation represents a de crease of 17 per cent in a source of income that a vast majority of students never have access to To many graduates, should they be so fortunate, a Graduate Teaching Fellowship from the host institution represents their only source of income regardless of marital status Alternatives such as having the spouse work even with a family, mdebtmg one self through loans, etc., are com monplace. Even with a F visa (enabling one to reside in the U S. but not work) employment is pos sible and many students have overcome this problem. Holidays are not spent travelling and stay ing at motels but working to re main even marginally solvent Devaluation does not result in a decrease of money earned while in the U S. nor does it affect fi nance transferred to the U S. prior to devaluation An attempt by the interviewer to cover a broader spectrum of the Australian student population would have resulted in a more objective assessment of the effects of devaluation upon student life. In any event, those "up-short Australians need only to inquire into the financial stand ing of their fellow students to be come aware of the fortune of their position. Keith Mountain (Australia) Graduate, Geography Biased article In reference to the front page article on Bella Abzug by Tom Wolfe: Wolfe wrote the article in an unfair, biased manner, leaving out the most emphasized issues of Bella Abzug’s speech, women s rignts and lack of women in posi tions of power politics. Bella stres - sed the fact that women, being a majority of 51 oercent ofthepopu lation, are represented by a per centage of less than 10 per cent in the government. Women have built this country as pioneers, farmers, and labor ers They have been, and continue to be, the grass roots of the nation, and yet discrimination and injus tice continue in the forms of un equal pay, lack of funding for day care, and the continued rejection of the E R A Bella Abzug talked at length about all of these issues and yet none of them were men tioned in Wotfe s article. The one reference Wolfe does make to Bella Abzug is the follow ing statement, Bella Abzug brought an applauding EMU crowd to its feet Tuesday night with her pulsating tirade against the gross distortion of our times — the domination of white upper class males in positions of power Here Wolfe portrays her as a ranting, raving emotional female carrying on nothing but a "pulsating tirade Women will continue to be op pressed and denied equality if they are constantly misrep resented by the press Janice Rubin Junior — English Parking problems i am pleased to see the article in the ODE (1-13-77) about the park ing restrictions in the area directly south of the University The re striction is an attempt to prevent students from parking in the area and force the University to deal with the student parking "prob lem ' Support for the restrictions is not unanimous within the af fected area It causes problems for some of the area's residents as well as the students and employes who parked there I urge those who prefer to park in this area to express their opin ion to the Eugene Traffic En gineering Department (687 5261). Michael V. Hoffman 1308 E. 19th Avenue Eugene Lenin - a man who shaped history Today marks the 53rd anniversary of the death of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin; a man who has had more impact on the lives of common working people around the world than perhaps any other person who has lived in the 20th Century. The ideas formulated by Lenin, ideas of re volutionary strategy, analysis and organization, have played an immense and liberating role since 1917. It was Lenin, and the political organization he helped build who took the science of socialism developed by Marx and Engels and fashioned it into a weapon of liberation used by the oppressed peasants and workers of every continent. Lenin’s books have been printed and reprinted in more editions, in more lan guages and in greater quantities than the books of any other writer in the history of the world. It was Lenin who played the key role in the creation of the Bolshevik Party in Russia in the years before 1917. And it was Lenin and the Bolshevik Party who led the Russian working class to power in 1917. Two years later Lenin and the Party smashed a counter-revolutionary invasion by more than 15 dif ferent capitalist countries, including the United States. And it was Lenin who inspired the formation of a new worldwide organization of revolutionary working class parties that made the rich and powerful of the world realize their rule would never again be unchallenged. The analysis, strategies and organizational forms that bear the name "Leninism” are the ideolog ical roots of the Chinese Communist Party and of the teachings of Mao Tse-tung. Leninism guided the Na tional Liberation Front in its successful struggle to Page 4 liberate Vietnam from landlord, military and U.S. domination. The ideas developed by Lenin have al lowed millions upon millions of common people in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America to rid them selves of foreign intervention and to seize control of their own lives. Today these people are no longer the tools of landlords, foreigners and rapacious corpo rations nor passive beings who exist only to produce wealth for others. In America we are insulated from many of the forces making world history in our time. While most people in the world live in countries with either Marxist-Leninist governments or with massive politi cal organizations of working people who embrace Marxism-Leninism as their guiding principle, we in America have grown up to believe Leninism is an oppressive philosophy. Many are the teachers, the professors, the jour nalists, the screen writers, the artists, the union or ganizers and the political leaders who have been fired, driven into exile, blacklisted, and even exe cuted for defying the anathema put by the rich and powerful in this country on the ideas of Lenin. But the time is coming when the conditions of the American people will lead us all to understand what the common people of the rest of the world have already come to know: the principles developed by Lenin are essential tools for guiding us as we too send the corporations and those who run them pack ing and establish a truly democratic and egalitarian society in these United States. Lenin lived, Lenin lives, Lenin will live. Staff Column
