-opinion
Dave Tyler looks baek
I did a strange thing last Monday. I went to class for the first time in
three weeks. It’s nice to be just a student again. Now that the flood of
letters to the Emerald has slowed, I want to cap the ASUO election
controversy, at least for this year.
First, I’d like to congratulate Gary Feldman as his administration
begins. Having worked with Gary for a year, I’m confident he’ll do an
excellent job as “head of our collective bargaining unit.’’ The effective
ness of any ASUO President is determined by the support of the student
body. In talking to over a thousand students during the election, the
general impression I’ve received is that most students don't give a damn
about the ASUO or its activities. Voter turnout reflects this. The chal
lenge to the ASUO executive is to find a way to incorporate the majority
of the student body disenfranchised from the government they pay for.
The ASUO elections board would be wise to make a few changes
for next year. 1) A constitutional ruling on the legality of write-ins. 2)
Violations of University rules (i.e. dorm regulations) should be prohi
bited. 3) The Emerald should be informed of their responsiblitty to the
students to provide unbiased coverage of the election.
It certainly was bizarre “news” coverage by the Emerald this year.
Last year in the Oliver-Davis campaign, the Emerald condemned all the
mudslinging and namecalling against Jim Davis. This year they initiated
the mudslinging with their falsely attributed Earl Butz quote. The letter of
apology from the editorial staff was nice, but the damage had been
done.
In their first news article, 100 lines in length, the Emerald gave me
an entire nine lines! The endorsement article was especially interesting.
I wasn’t the only candidate to be grossly misrepresented. As an ordinary
citizen, I could have filed a libel suit for their false quote and Earl Butz
comment. But as a political candidate, the Emerald was free to call me
anything they wished without the fear of a well-deserved lawsuit. They
proceeded to do so.
The Emerald also broke with past tradition by printing articles about
the campaign on voting days. No other newspaper is so irresponsible as
to totally disregard any sense of journalistic principle. It’s pretty heavy
being labeled a racist, elitist, sexist bastard on the front page of the
paper on election day without any chance to respond to the damning lies
and innacuracies. The reporter who called to inform me of the next
morning’s article and to get my response continued to faithfully warp the
credibility of the paper. Instead of having my response printed at the
beginning of the article as promised, my response was cut and buried.
Although the Emerald denied my right to respond to the accusa
tions during the election, I might as well do it now. I’m tired of the jokes
and I’m tired of the “on the street” verbal attacks.
I’d sure make a terrible racist. I voted to fund every minority prog
ram at last year’s level, except for two programs which I felt deserved
cuts and two programs which deserved increases. In every case, I voted
to fund minority recruitment at the requested level.
I’d make a terrible elitist. My greatest concern about the ASUO is
that the majority of the students don’t know what nor care what the
ASUO is. And yet, every student pays $85 a year to keep the ASUO
alive. How can we incorporate the majority of the student body?
I’d make a terrible sexist. I voted to fund both the Women in Science
program and the Women’s Referral and Resource Center, and had
strong voter support from women athletes because I supported growth
of Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics.
As for being a bastard, my mother says it isn’t true, but you’ll have to
ask her yourself.
I’m not asking the Emerald to change drastically, but I do have two
suggestions. In the next election be especially careful that your articles
are unbiased. If you do decide to endorse a candidate, don’t bother to
cut down the other candidates. And finally, rest assured that if you need
target practice, you’ll still have me to kick around, because I’ll be
waiting.
Dave Tyler
Junior — Economics
a
JO LAST
miez.
PR6AK 5T25P
/
IU TM
VA\X£
l LOOK
0flCK
OU
ARCTIC
C0U7
BMI0PU06 swao
CRIPflUDG- WT;
$
(? THE
. IR9T (OC
(7AV5 OF
TIMMV
CARTER
VOU THINK
ir e a
Words from Wass
Naked people unite!
With the exception of voting no, there is
nothing Oregon voter's would rather do
than legislate someone else’s morals. Give
them a chance to tell someone else what
they should or shouldn’t do and they’ll grab
at it. The result is that Lane County has a
new anti-nudity ordinance, and this sum
mer liberating yourself from the bonds of
clothing could cost you $1,000 and 30 days
in the clink.
But, there is a loop-hole. The law allows
the county commission to designate certain
areas as places where nudity is legal allow
ing what has become a rather common
practice in this county and elsewhere:
skinny dipping.
One advocate of natural swimming is
starting a drive to force the commission to
set up such areas. Dave Crockett, his long
hair, beard and suede jacket making him
look like someone from an era when no
body would have been around to notice
nude swimmers in Oregon’s creeks, stop
ped by the office the other day to stump for
his cause.
“A few weeks ago,” says Crockett, “I was
noticing how nice the weather was getting
so I called the commission’s office and was
told lots of people were asking about the
nude areas, but nobody had done anything
about it.”
So Crockett took the matter to heart, and
fired off a letter to the commission request
ing that Buford Park (at the base of Mt.
Pizgah southwest of Eugene) be set aside
as an area tor nuae swimming, inuw ^ruc*
ett is looking for people to join him in his
crusade.
While he realizes it’s a bit unlikely, Croc
kett argues that 40 per cent of the county's
voters opposed the ordinance, so 40 per
cent of Lane County shou'd be opened up
to those who don't like swimming with
clothes on.
"To do this,” he says, "we’ve got to get
some kind of organized effort consisting of
more than just one person.”
People interested in helping Crockett
can call him at 689-3570, or just drop a note
to the commission at 125 E. 8th, Eugene,
97401.
"What the law tells me,” says Crockett,
“is that there are a number of people who
can t view sex and nudity objectively. It's
too bad the people are that perverted, but
some of them are and designating areas for
the rest of us is probably a pretty reasona
ble solution for the time being.”
According to Crockett, the commission
ers will be accepting suggestions for nude
swimming areas until June 1, and have
scheduled a public hearing on the matter
for July 1.
From my viewpoint, the commissioners
should do what they can to accomodate the
number of county residents who realize
that putting on clothes to go swimming is a
little like wearing a wet suit in the shower.
After all, it's really pretty hard to be afraid of
someone who doesn't have any clothes on.
opinion
Liberation
ove
ents growing in Gulf
This is the final article in a spe
cial three-part series prepared by
the Gulf Solidarity Committee on
the political and economic situa
tion in a potentially explosive part
of the world, the Arabian Gulf reg
ion of the Middle East. -ed.
AfterWorld War II, Britain’s pos
ition as the number one colonizing
power in the Gulf area of the Mid
dle East was greatly weakened;
the U.S., which had emerged as
the top imperialist power
worldwide, replaced Britain to a
great extent in the Gulf area. Even
though U.S. economic and politi
cal domination in the area is more
subtle in form, in essence it is the
same. The discovery of oil in this
area in the first part of this century
made it crucial for the oil
monopolies to control the extrac
tion of this resource and the
economies of the Gulf states in
general.
The years of colonial and
neocolonial domination have in
creasingly impoverished the peo
ples of the Gulf. Since the exploi
tation of natural resources is con
trolled by foreign enterpnses in
order to produce maximum pro
fits, the people of the area are de
prived of control of these re
sources and derive no benefit
from them, despite the wealth of a
few oil sheiks. The fishing industry
in Oman, which is an important
source of income, has been sys
tematically given into the hands of
foreign corporations by govern
ment policy, forcing many small
fishermen to become wage
laborers for those same corpora
tions. Peasants are being forced
off their land, making it impossible
for them to earn a living. The only
path open to them is to become
wage laborers in the cities or
countryside where there is an ex
treme scarcity of jobs. Inflation,
which plagues the capitalist sys
tem worldwide, is exceptionally
high in the Gulf area, making it
nearly impossible for the people to
meet the costs of living.
These conditions have led to
the growth of liberation move
ments in all parts of the Gulf. It is
becoming increasingly dear to the
people that in order to gain control
of their own lives and benefit from
the natural wealth of their land,
foreign capital must be expelled
and all those who represent it
must be opposed.
In Iran, the national democratic
government of Dr. Mossadegh
was overthrown by a CIA-backed
military coup of 1953, which put
the Shah in power. This was done
in the face of widespread popular
opposition. Ever since his acces
sion to power, the Shah has en
couraged and defended the diver
sion of Iran's wealth into the pock
ets of U.S. monopoly capitalists
The high degree of political rep
ression under the Shah's regime
is a reflection of the need of U.S.
imperialism to maintain the status
quo. In Iran today, the most basic
human rights are routinely viol
ated and the people have no polit
ical rights.
Those who resist this regime
face violent reprisal. In an effort to
defend its plundering land policies,
military troops are used to subdue
peasants rising up against the
backward situation under which
they live. Workers are staging
strikes and other actions in resis
tance to extremely low wages and
(Continued on Page 8)