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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 2, 1977)
■3KB. N-.jwpft'. and wrap WHAT-THEm... " Letters Facts on China I was visiting friends a few days ago in Eugene and happened to see the opinion by Ralph McDonald (ODE, April 15). The ar ticle is full of distortions and malignments. The United States-China People's Friendship Association is financially supported by the Liaison Office of the Chinese Communist government in Washington, D.C., as a lobbying machine for the Communist pur pose. The opinion said that Kuomin tang rule means the bankrupting of the farmers. Actually, the land reform in Taiwan is often quoted as a miracle and has enabled the six million farmers to own their own land. The farmers' incomes are greatly improved. The per capita income is the second high est among Asian countries, next to Japan. How can Mr. McDonald bypass these facts? It is well known that there are no human rights in Communist China. People have no right to speak, no right not to speak. They have to take the job that the party designates. They have to get a permit before travelling to other places. Students are not allowed to apply for admission to foreign col leges. Even the arts have to follow the party lines and models. There has not been a single elec tion in China since 1949; even the Premier Hua Kuo-feng, strictly speaking, is illegal. How can such a “China” represent the whole Chinese people? I, as an overseas Chinese, sin cerely hope that human rights can prevail on the Chinese mainland and sincerely advise those who work for the Communists to speak the truth, or at least not ignore the truth. Alice L. Chang 133 Minor Ave. N. Seattle, Wash. Legislative goblin In pain we find the “gay rights” bill, SB 603, was tabled by the Se nate Committee on Aging and Minority Affairs. Even its chief sponsor, Sen. Steve Kafoury, D-Portland, voted to table SB 603. According to the Register-Guard, Kafoury said, “drafting errors" that were “inad vertently included” such as affir mative action requirements and “...a provision requiring the State Dept, of Labor to conduct educa tion programs against discrimina tion toward minorities (including) homosexuals... weren’t the things we wanted in the bill.” Page 4 If those “things" were not wanted in the bill, how did they get there and who put them in? Perhaps a little goblin or even a frenchied fairy wanders the halls of the Legislature putting “things” into bills that are not "wanted”? Possibly a pansy from the legisla tive hothouse sneaks little “things" into legislation? Considering the editorial post ure of the Oregon Daily edition of Izvestia and the other local daily, Pravda, this blow to gays must not be a nosegay. Just think of the utter prostration of those who crave “education programs against discrimination toward all minorities.” Now our children will not be ready for the modern and progressive world. Without this vital education chil dren and their parents may even be considered retarded. But even more important, children may grow up without knowing that Western Civilization would disin tegrate without affirmative action. Though we may all have to come together someday to work out a solution, those attending the Puzzle Palace of Oregon will have to be content to work out their af firmative action without require ments from the Department of Labor. Dean Kennedy Horton, Oregon 97448 Bookstore election As a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Oregon Bookstore, Inc., for the past year, I would like to ask your support of four candidates who are running for board positions in the bookstore election Monday and Tuesday, May 2 & 3. Keli Osborn, Jeff Warren, and Dave Price, student positions and Prof. Steve Girsch, write-in candi date for faculty position warrant your vote in the upcoming elec tion. They each embody the qual ities of independence, in quisitivensss, and imagination necessary for good board mem bers. If elected, I am sure that these individuals will work hard to ensure that our bookstore is totally committed to serving the con sumer needs of the students and faculty on this campus. Students and faculty can vote in the election at polling places set up in the EMU and bookstore Monday and Tuesday. I encour age you to assert your commit ment to a consumer-oriented bookstore by voting in the elec tion. Mark Cogan ASUO Vice-president State Affairs Deceptive drug Recently the movie Reefer Madness was shown on campus and I was in attendance. I realize that by today's sophisticated standards the movie arouses great hilarity among its viewers, but basic truths are still relevant. I have been a witness to many of my friends' odd actions while on “pot.” Dazed mannerisms, hyster ica I laughter, a tendency to gobble strange snacks, and a general preoccupation. I am disturbed. The film adopted the theme that solid education would put an end to the marijuana menace. Judging by the level of amusement from the audience, it has not. I think everyone using this de ceptive drug should be put into the Peace Corps for two years. They could be sent around the world to help others and forget their addic tion. I am concerned and am trying to put my feelings into action. But all of us are involved. We re the ones who have to do something. Let s do it! Thatcher Rawlston Junior-Recreation Student-produced In reference to the announce ment of the “Sideline Report" television sports show on KOZY TV in the "et al" column on Tues day, April 26, in all fairness it should be mentioned that this show was produced entirely by University students at the Division of Broadcast Services on campus. Since the loss of the University's own cable channel PL-3 last spring, Teleprompter's station KOZY, which also pro duces local programming, has served merely as a vehicle for showing University programs. It should also be noted the Divi sion of Broadcast Services, not KOZY. is responsible for produc ing three other programs on a weekly series basis: “UOCG Focus," produced by the UO Gerontology Center and the stu dent Gerontology Association: "OSPIRG Impact, produced by University OSPIRG members; and anew series to premier May 7 called “The Kids Show, pro duced by students from the School of Librarianship In all of Broadcast Services productions, it's the students who make the show possible — from directing the program to running the cameras. Let's give credit where credit is due Mike Moskovitz Broadcast Production Coor dinator Division of Broadcast Services March for safety At the Amazon Married Student Housing Project residents live with close calls everyday. We have no sidewalks or separate parking areas so kids and cars share the same space. The community playground is located on the busiest street within the project and cars have passed the playground gate at speeds in excess of 30 mph. Even at 10 mph a 40-pound child loses out against a two-ton vehicle traveling at 14 feet per second Petitions were passed and pre sented to the Housing Office in 71 and 73 asking for better safety solutions. We have yet to see them. Petitions were again presented on April 18 of this year asking for lower speed limits, more speed bumps and a traffic barrier (similar to the one on 13th St.) to be lo cated by the playground. The only Housing Office re sponse so far has been to call in six traffic experts for their solu tions, ignoring the fact that the real experts in this case are the people that live with the problem day and night. No matter what the solution might be, we are the ones who have to deal with it. Over 60 peo ple feel they would rather live with a traffic barrier than die without one, yet outside "expertise" is being consulted and relied upon — residents are not. Relying on specialists but ignor ing community involvement (such as the 30th and Hilyard widening or the "Data General' annexation) is a popular bureaucratic pastime of which a number of Amazon re sidents have had enough On 11:30 a m Tuesday, May 3, we will be marching from the mam lib rary past Johnson Hall to the Hamilton-Dunn dorms where the Married Student Housing Council meets At that time we will let all the experts" know how we feel and anyone else who feels the same way is welcome to join Bill Groesz Sen ior- Journ al i sm member-married Student Housing Council Letters policy The Emerald will accept and try to print all letters containing fair comment on ideas and topics of concern or interest to the Univer sity community. Because of space limitations, letters must be no more than 250 words, typed, triple-spaced, dated and signed with the person s major No un signed letters will be published --opinion Wilderness not endangered Re: Wilderness articles of April 20. Of the flood of information and rhetoric pre sented, the main thrust seems to be: 1. A desire for more wilderness areas for the use and pleasure of recreation seekers, and 2. A fear of losing our “biotic endowment." Concerning the first statement, your own arti cles allege that more than 50,000 acres have been designated UDR (undeveloped roadless areas) in the past four or five years. Fifty thousand acres, in addition to the already estab lished Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington, Three Sis ters, and Diamond Peak wilderness areas, is quite an expansive accomodation. If we look further, we find an irony in expan sion: statistics reveal (again, according to your own article Forester notes use increase) that the total amount of space offered in a wilderness area is, in most cases, quite irrelevant, as the majority of hikers and backpackers frequent a few popular spots. In the Three Sisters Wilder ness, it is Green Lakes or the Sunshine areas. In the Mt. Jefferson area, 60 per cent of the visitors go either to Marion or Pamelia Lakes. To these people, and they are a majority, additional area does not matter, as already they disregard thousands of acres for the sake of their favored lake. To the other 40 per cent is devoted the entire wilderness area to enjoy practically undis turbed, for miles and days. The scenery in such country often equals or surpasses the heavily used places, and offers much more solitude. As a frequent hiker and backpacker in the Mt. Jefferson area, a forest technician for two sum mers, and a 17-year resident of the area, I can speak from experience and say that, with the exception of a few holiday weekends, this most popular wilderness area is not overcrowded, if one is simply willing to leave the city-park at mosphere of the most well-known spots. Last summer I took a three-day trip in there, and met only one other party of four people the entire time. And you demand more space? Let us move on to the spectre of the disappear ing biotic endowment A sufficient reply would be too long, so let s look at a few major points. 1. Contrary to popular opinion, logging is not some evil thing which destroys eco-systems. Particularly with a widely-used method known as selective cutting, which includes care of the forest floor, logged units are generally not even visible to travelers. Plants and animals continue living in such areas, for the environment is very little changed. In fact, I sincerely doubt that the denizens, be they plant or animal, are very picky about living in a de-facto" wilderness area, or one which simply looks and acts the part. Nor would meadowfoam wilt and wither at the pros pect of living near a second-growth tree. 2. The apparition of hills barren and wasted after logging can be safely dismissed. Reforest ation (systematic replanting of logged or burnt-out areas) is a part of nearly all logging procedures. Timber companies would hardly be likely to slit their own throats by failing to replant. And, strangely enough, forests as a result of reforestation look just like real! 3 Logging, recreation, and ecology need not be incompatible. Witness any re-grown unit (though you probably won't recognize it as such; you may have to ask where one is) as proof. In summary, your ‘wildlandsin danger" head line is quite unnecessary. Informed reasoning will belie the scare tactics. Lisa Barnhardt Freshman, Liberal Arts Monday, May 2, 1977
