■““WitfW
.. . &S\lE— 1 EXPECT HE
THE WEANS,'*
Letters
Respect lacking
I wanted to express my opinion
concerning the man who spoke
outside the fishbowl on Monday
afternoon, and challenged people
to prove that God does not exist. I
am a Christian and I was disap
pointed about the way he pre
sented the Christian message for
two reasons.
For one, he did not show re
spect for people. The message of
the Bible teaches that man has
dignity because he was created
in the image of God. And man
was so important that the Son of
God became a human Himself
and gave His life to redeem man
from his fallen, sinful state. The
man who spoke on Monday did
not treat people as though they
were important.
Secondly, his presentation
lacked any attempt to justify the
Christian position. The existence
of God cannot be ultimately
proven or disproven to the satis
faction of everyone. The issues
are too complex. But the Christ
ian is still called to give reasons
for faith.
I do not know who this man is.
He may or may not be a true
Christian. But I do not believe his
manner was consistent with his
message. “Always be prepared
to give an answer to everyone
who asks you to give the reason
for the hope that you have. But do
this with gentleness and
respect...” — I Peter 3:15,16.
Gloria Hegge
Sophomore — Pre-Journalism
Protest SB 1048
The Senate Labor, Consumer
and Business Affairs Committee
likes SB 1048 and you must pro
test before it becomes law!
The bill reduces workmen’s
compensation insurance by (1)
deducting social security pay
ments, that thereby shift the costs
from the private insurance indus
try onto the taxpayers; (2) phas
ing out compensation payments
so that the middle-aged are
dumped on taxpayer-supported
agencies; (3) stopping permanent
total disability awards by demand
ing the injured disprove hypothet
ical job ability, training, experi
ence or retrainability, and (4) al
lowing insurance companys to in
vade injured workmen’s family
tax-statement and demand fre
quent hounding medical exami
nations.
The bill returns us to the days
when employers (1) hired you
only after physical and psycholog
ical tests proved your tolerance to
take abuse; (2) injured you with
long, back-breaking hours; (3)
used the fear of lost work, or
Pa<?e 4 Section A
being fired, to block injury reports;
(4) had their quack doctors mis
represent the seriousness of your
injury, (5) while they made your
work so painfully demanding that
you (a) sought new employment;
(b) or unemployment; (c) or wel
fare; (d) and finally, insurance
denied surgical treatment, that
meant no other employer would
hire you because of insurance
costs.
Oregon legislators failed to re
duce their own income protec
tions; stopped SAIF investment
practices; cut the doctors,
lawyers, psychologists and re
habilitation facilities costs; and
failed to mention the 50 per cent
capital-gains dividend savings
made by business, who earlier
shifted injury insurance to the
cost-of-good s-sold!
John M. Reed
1560 Lincoln Street #30
Eugene, Or.
Learn to question
A very grievous error has been
committed. Somebody has actu
ally had the audacity to equate
the ROTC program with killing!
Why, everyone knows that the
military is the most peaceful or
ganization in existence. After all,
didn’t they sponsor Vietnam as a
vacation spot for thousands of
our boys, some permanently.
Actually, however, I fail to un
derstand how someone could join
the armed services and then tell
you that they would never have
anything to do with violence. The
military is an organization created
for only one purpose: war. Do
people really expect to get an ob
jective view of the military from
military people?
This University is dedicated to
the ideal (theoretically, at least) of
higher education. Education does
not mean propaganda from a
biased source. Rather, it means
showing at least two, if not more,
sides to every question. It means
teaching you how to question,
how to learn, how to think for
yourself. If you really want to
learn about military strategy and
the like, you would be better
served to take a course or
courses from a department that
doesn’t have a vaunted interest in
that subject.
If you’re just looking for a way
to finance your schooling, that’s
one thing. But don’t waste your
breath defending ROTC just so
you don’t lose your money. At this
moment we may be losing two
good departments; CSPA and the
School of Librarianship. Presi
dent Boyd doesn’t seem to give a
damn about them, but he is work
ing to keep ROTC on campus.
Why?
Eric Frazier
Junior-Psychology
Power tactics
I would like to take issue with
Nick Gallo’s interpretation of a
happening at the Poetic Hoo
Haw. From his article, he would
have me believe that an audience
booing and hissing at someone
trying to read a poem is a reflec
tion of an 'adult' attitude. I wanted
to hear that poem and I contend
that it was the immaturity of a por
tion of the audience that pre
vented me and others from hear
ing it. I think Floyd Salas
had command of his words, and
effective delivery (and after many
amateur readers that was refresh
ing), and something to say. True,
his poem blatantly treated women
as sex objects. Perhaps the very
crudeness of his poem was in
tended to be a consciousness
raiser. If not, his attitude is so ob
vious to even the least “liberated’'
that it can be easily seen and re
futed, in contrast to more subtle
manipulations.
While Salas courageously
shouted his poem into the hostile
noise of the crowd, I found myself
thinking that this was how men
treated the early suffragists. Must
we women employ the same
lousy power tactics? We must
speak for our cause, but shouting
down the opposition ultimately
degrades both us and them.
There is enough oppression and
suppression in our society with
out us adding to it. What will be
the end result of a belief in free
dom of speech that extends only
to those things that we want to
hear?
Jane Laursen
Graduate Student —
Librarian ship
Waned a worthwhile
At the beginning of April you
published a letter denouncing the
exchange program with Waseda
University in Tokyo, Japan. I’m
presently participating in the pro
gram and would like to add a few
words of qualification.
Most of Liz Falconer’s criticism
regarding the educational aspect
of Waseda is quite true. The ad
ministration is old-fashioned,
the campus and buildings are
run-down, and many of the class
es are boring.
However, the program also of
fers some wonderful oppor
tunities.
One is convenience. The has
sles of applying for a visa, finding
a round-trip, low-cost flight,
searching for living quarters and
registering for school were com
pletely arranged for us.
It may be hard to realize how
difficult adjusting to a foreign
country is — most of us needed
and relied on the host families
which the program provided for
us. The families are carefully
chosen and generally fantastic.
Another nice aspect of the
program is financing. Waseda of
fers several large scholarships,
and the University is sympathetic
towards exchange students and
generous with financial aid.
Falconer, like many of us, feels
that next year’s exchange stu
dents should be aware of the
program’s weak points. I agree
with her on the necessity of
thoroughly informing students be
forehand. However, I also think
that before deciding against the
program, students should con
sider these points:
First, the University of Oregon
has investigated exchange prog
rams with other schools and cho
sen to remain with Waseda.
Second, there may be no other
program in which credits earned
abroad are fully recognized and
easily transferred to a state uni
versity.
Third, if you’re considering
going to Japan on your own, ob
taining a visa is not an easy mat
ter. A guarantor is required, and
few students have connections in
Japan.
Fourth, finding a flight as
reasonable as the one arranged
for us is almost impossible.
And fifth, trying to find your way
around Tokyo and searching for
an apartment in a city with a hous
ing shortage and sky-high rent is
quite a challenge.
Finally, if receiving a good edu
cation at school is your main
reason for wanting to study in
Japan, then you'd better stay
home. If you’re interested in
learning about the Japanese cul
ture, talking with Japanese peo
ple and seeing the various parts
of Japan, then by all means
come.
Arlene Wagar
Junior — Journalism
More than jobs
The opinion column by Lisa
Barnhardt that appeared in the
ODE on May 2 has drawn a dis
couraging number of comments
from Emerald readers. Clearly,
wilderness would be just another
obscure issue, but not so. The
facts on the wilderness issue
need to be heard.
1) Jobs are not lost when an
area is designated wilderness by
Congress. Jobs are lost as the
timber industry develops more ef
ficient logging and milling techni
ques. Jobs are exported to Japan
in the form of raw timber. Jobs
are lost when private lands are
overcut and put out of production.
2) Lands chosen for wilderness
may be prime timber producing
areas. Resistance to wilderness,
then, comes from private timber
companies who have so mis
managed their own land that Na
tional Forest timber is necessary
to keep them alive. And over a
million acres of public and private
land in Oregon are sitting idle
awaiting reforestation. Employ
ment and allowable cut would rise
were these areas reforested.
But wilderness is more than
jobs and logs. Equally important
are streams and fish populations,
soils, and wildlife. Wilderness is
also for people. A wilderness ex
perience allows us to ‘‘get our
bearings. We can keep from get
ting blinded in our great human
success to the fact that we are
part of the life of this planet, and
we would do well to keep our
perspective and keep in touch
with some of the basic facts of
life.' (Rep. John Saylor,
D—Penn.) I support wilderness.
Dulcy Berri
Junior-Geology
Chance for freedom
My name is Eva Kutas and I am
presently imprisoned at Pleasan
ton Federal Correctional Institu
tion near San Francisco. I am
writing to you as an alumni of the
University of Oregon, having re
ceived both a BA and MA degree
there. My only hope is that the
truth will be made known, and
that I will be granted a new trial,
or a directed acquittal.
Let me tell you a little about
myself and the events that have
led up to the present. I came with
my family as immigrants from
Hungary in 1957, in search of
what we had pictured a free and
open society. As I grew up this
picture was marred by the reality
of what we saw — the struggles
of women, workers, chicano,
black and other peoples.
I came to the University of
Oregon in 1968. It was here that
my real learning and understand
ing began. I learned in my clas
ses and protested the illegal and
immoral war being fought in Viet
Nam. My student teaching sent
me to the Tongue Point Job
Corps Center where 600 poor
and minority women were being
taught to be waitresses, maids,
institutional food service workers
and nurses by an all white staff
My understanding of the prob
lems of this society deepened
and so did my commitment to
solving them, contributing my tal
ents and skills as best I could.
Following my graduation I
worked with community groups,
and ex-prisoners to establish an
alternative to incarceration for
women. Well-supported by the
community, it became estab
lished as the Women's Transi
tional Living Center (an article
was written at about this time in
the alumni section of Old Oregon
and several in the R-Guard). It
was a viable and unique program
eventually dosed by the Oregon
State Department of Corrections.
During this time I obtained by
Master s Degree at the University
and made plans to attend law
scnoot.
My arrest in December of 1974
seriously damaged the path
which I had chosed to make my
contribution towards effective
changes in. I was tried, convicted
and sentenced to two years im
prisonment. Even more important
is the fact that I am innocent. I
have exhausted all legal re
medies available to me and see
that my chance for freedom lies
with the publicizing of the case
and in seeking the support of the,
Oregon and national com
munities.
The police have told me that
they "have known about me all
along, had my pictures while at
tending those anti-war campus
demonstrations.” Much of the
basis of my imprisonment lies
there, I hope that you will respond
to the need to make the truth of
this case known.
Eva Kutas #3070
Box 1000
Pleasonton, Calif. 94566
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 Uni
versity 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.
Longer opinion columns will be
published whenever possible
after being submitted to the
editorial page editor. The limit on
opinion columns is 800 words,
using the same format as letters.