Senate approves field burning increase
By TOM JACKSON
Of the Emerald
SALEM — The Senate voted
Friday to allow an increase in
open field burning, signalling the
reverse of a 1975 legislative deci
sion to phase-down field burning
in the Willamette Valley.
The Senate voted 209 to ap
prove SB 535, which if approved
by the House will allow 235,000
acres of grass seed fields to be
burned this summer. The bill was
introduced by the Senate Commit
tee on Agriculture and Natural
Resources.
A minority of the members of
the committee presented a ver
sion of the bill which would have
allowed 165,000 acres to be
burned, but the Senate rejected
the minority report and also turned
back a drive to send the bill back tc
committee.
Both the committee and the
minority bills called tor an increase
in (he allowable burnable acreage
over the limits approved as a
phase-down of open-field burning
during the 1975 legislative ses
sion. Those limits would allow
95.000 acres to be burned this
summer, with the maximum ac
reage after 1977 to be reduced tc
50.000 acres
Sen. John Powell, D-Halsey
contended that "air quality is
number one under this proposal
and explained that the Depart
ment of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) “has the power to schedule
the time, even the hour of fielc
burning " Powell said the grass
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seed growers ' can only burn as
many acres as the DEQ says they
can. Field burning is going to be
even more tightly restricted than in
previous years."
Powell said the 1975 decision to
phase down field burning was
"based on the development of
machines for field burning All of
us know those machines were not
developed. I believe the 235,000
limit is justified
Sen. Jan Wyers, D-Portland,
argued the bill allows the "protec
tion of the economic stability of the
grass seed industry to rise to the
level of protection of public wel
fare Wyers called this a "gross
misstatement."
"The thing that has occurred to
me is how much we don t know,
said Wyers Wyers contended
that alternative crops could be
used in the valley to reduce the
need for field burning He also
said there are presently 150.000
acres ot poorly drained fields
which may have little value for
crops other than grass, and
pointed out that other fields with
better drainage could be used for
other crops
Another point on which Powell
and Wyers disagreed was to what
extent field burning contributes to
pollution. Powell said in 1976
most smoky days in the Eugene
area were not related to field burn
ing He cited slash burning, auto
emissions and industrial pollu
tion as greater problems
Wyers, on the other hand, said
the "DEQ can't tell whether the
smoke comes from field burning,
slash burning or autos, we have
no evidence To say that smoke
that is here today couldn t be from
field burning is preposterous "
Powell also argued the minonty
report would put an undue hard
ship on grass Tarmers ne saiu ai
ternative methods ot field sanita
tion. such as using straw rather
than burning it. are too expensive
for the farmers
He said reducing field burning
may result In the end of small fam
ily farms in the valley The aver
age size of our farms would go
right through the ceiling.' he said
Sen. George Wmgard,
R-Eugene. who moved to re-reter
the bill to committee, said the in
crease In field burning has omin
ous implications for the Eugene
Springfield area We have to
come up with a phase down that
we can say went through the sys
tem and wasn't pushed through,
said Wingard He added that field
burning may cause air quality
problems in the Eugene area
which may lead to industrial shut
downs to provide relief of the prob
lems
Surgeon to discuss acupuncture
Dr Glenn Gordon, a local
surgeon who visited China last
month, will give a slide presenta
tion of his trip tonight at 7:30 at the
Central Presbyterian Church,
1475 Ferry St
During his 18-day stay in the
People s Republic, Gordon had
the opportunity to observe
Chinese medical practices in op
eration While visiting Tsinan Gor
don watched as surgeons per
formed a thyroidectomy and a
lung operation using acupuncture
anesthesia Gordon, who
specializes in thoracic surgery,
was especially impressed with the
open-chest lung surgery
"The patient was wide awake
he said "It was phenomenal In
8:30 p.m.
Mac Court
Double-Tee
1:1
Concerts
C 001111 $4.50 UO Students
$6 general & reserved
Available at EMU Mam Desk & Everybody s Records
A Double Tee event
Stay in China
inspires lecture
our country we would never think
ol having a patient awake be
cause when you open the chest
the lung collapses, but that s what
they did to this woman She was
breathing on her own. wide
awake, even sipping orange
juice
Gordon, who worked in Da
Nang during the war in Vietnam
called China s accomplishments
in meeting the medical needs of
800 million people effective and
tremendous — it's like their entire
system which is based on the idea
of everyone working to serve
other people rather than working
for the benefit of just a few
Mao Tse-tungs directive to
serve the people can be seen
dramatically in China s barefoot
doctor system of medical care
Gordon stayed with a barefoot
doctor on a rural commune near
Shanghai The barefoot doctors
are selected by members of their
commune to receive several
s
months ot diagnostic and
paramedical training Afterward,
the barefoot doctor returns to the
commune where he or she is re
sponsible tor treating the local
population
Of course they do wear shoes
—barefoot is |ust a term — but
they re all very organized and
competent to give help
everyone may have access tO^
medicine. Gordon said If the
barefoot doctor decides he or she
can t handle a problem the patient
is sent m to the hospital for help
While Gordon was impressed
with acupuncture techniques he
saw used he doesn t think the
form of pain relief will over be
adopted widely in the United
States
It works but I really don t think it
is applicable to medicine in this
country By and large our hospital
set up requires a rapid patient
turnover and efficient use ol
facilities because our medical sys
tem is so expensive to operate
And of course it isn t effective for
all situations Our anesthesia is
excellent and we have expert|^^
who can use anesthesia under
variety of situations Gordon
said
ASUO elections set;
voters’ guides available
ASUO elections will be held Wednesday and Thursday.
April 27 and 28 at different polling places on campus Students
unable to vote on those days may fill out absentee ballots
today or Tuesday at the ASUO office at suite four in the EMU
Absentee voters should bring their student ID, spring term
fee card and a letter explaining why they could not vote on
Wednesday or Thursday when they vote, says Merrill
Schneider of the ASUO elections board
Most students should have received their voters guides
on Friday However, says Schneider, not all of theguides were
mailed until Friday afternoon If students do not have their
guides by Monday, they can pick them up at the ASUO office
According to Schneider, only students living in Lane
County will receive voters guides Students living outside the
county must pick them up at the ASUO office
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