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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 1978)
editorial i r Peace is at hand — maybe When Egyptian Presidant Anwar Sadat stepped off his airplane to set foot in Israel in late November, the prospect for peace in the Middle East brightened. The Christmas meeting between Sadat and Israeli Premier Begin gave reason for even more hope for peace. But relations since then have stalled, and Sadat re cently said he has “absolutely no hope” for an agreement on principles in the Jerusalem meeting scheduled for Monday. And it now appears that the Jerusalem meeting will be postponed because of the lack of agreement and because of argument over agenda items. The reasons for the cooling of relations seem to be two: the controversy over the Sinai peninsula and the dispute over the future of the West Bank of the Jordan River, where Palestinians believe they should have a homeland. The Sinai area, which has been under Israeli rule since the 1967 war, is the largest issue between Begin and Sadat, but the West Bank problem is an even larger prob lem which must be solved before any kind of lasting peace in the area can be achieved. In the Sinai, Begin believes, Israeli settlements should be maintained in the Eastern portion of the peninsula, while Egypt would be allowed to regain the western part of the area. A large portion in the middle, according to Begin’s plan, should be demilitarized. Some U.S. diplomatic sources have said Begin’s plan is more than most people expected Begin to concede, but that it would not be enough for Sadat. Apparently that analysis is correct, since Sadat said recently "there can be no room for any Israeli in the Sinai; there can be no agreement on this.” Sadat seems to be saying that Israel should be willing to make more concessions to the Egyptians, and that Israeli efforts have so far fallen short of Sadat’s expectations. Israel, on the other hand, seems to believe the Egyptians are expecting Israel to make all of the concessions, leaving them to wonder if Sadat’s plea for peace is sincere and whether he is wiling to compromise or not. Politically, Begin can’t cut off the settlements in the Sinai, because the Israelis there are calling for protection from return to Egypt. Sadat, who seems willing to let the settlements stay—if the citizens assume Egyptian citizen ship _ is calling for more than a compromise, he is calling for a return to pre-1967 borders. Though his desires are understandable, they are not the kind of desires that will bring peace to the area. Begin’s plan, or something like it, seems the best idea for the Sinai. The Palestinian question, now perhaps the thorniest issue for the Israelis as it has long been, may also be settled by compromise. So far, however, Israel has shown that it is unwilling to allow a Palestinian state in the area. To some extent, that is understandable. The Israelis are apprehensive about having a potentially belligerent state so near the heart of their nation. However, it is ironic that the Israelis are denying the Palestinians a homeland, which is something the Israelis have struggled for for cen turies — a right that should be given to the Palestinians. Israel is adamant about retaining Rerusalem, but it is so unwilling to compromise with the West Bank that peace may once again be lost. If a compromise could be struck to create a Palestinian state without relinquishing Jerusalem, perhaps that would be an acceptable compromise. If, however, the Gaza strip is included in a Palestinian state, trouble probably would follow. A Palestinian state separated by about 40 miles from Israeli territory would be a dangerous situation. Perhaps a good compromise would be the return of the Gaza strip to Israel and the creation of a Palestinian state on the West Bank. We don’t claim to have the perfect peace settlement in our back pocket, but with the decay of the feeling of op timism and the willingness to make compromises, it seems to us that both sides will have to agree to compromises on issues that have been for years the crux of the Middle Eastern situation. So far, the diplomats have been all smiles, but when it vomes to questions of substance, none have been willing to make cold proposals that might keep the prospect of peace alive. ^ - - ■ —- ..— Letters “D” dangers After the Scholastic Deficiency Committee meeting on Thursday, I want to let students know as quickly as possible the danger they face regarding the D grade so that they can protect themselves this quarter. Many petitions were received — and denied — asking for a change in grade option because the student had done D level work and thus received a No Pass in a course which he needed. He later realized that if he had taken the GRADE option, the D would have given him credit for the course. Faculty legislation, however, has long made it dear that the choice of grade option is binding after the date mentioned in the time schedule. What can a student do? First, he can be very dear that the word Pass in the Pass/No Pass option means “satisfactory work,” and the D grade is NOT a satisfactory grade. (See page 106 of the Time Schedule for a definition.) Sec ondly, he can be dear that if he is doing badly in a course, changing his option to P/NP may not be what he wants at all, contrary to past practice. Graduating seniors should take spedal care. Barbara Nicholls Member, Scholastic Deficiency Committee Zero-base myths Since Carter first popularized the concept of Zero-based budgeting in his campaign, the press has told us myths about what it is. Unfortu nately, Debby Abe in “ASUO adopts new budget-writing pro cess” (ODE, Jan. 11) has followed in this tradition. PPBS (Planning-programmed budgeting system) is NOT essen tially the same as Zero-based budgeting (ZBB). The major dis tinction between the two is their time horizon. PPBS is a long-range strategic planning technique. ZBB is a short-run tactical budgeting technique. A PPBS "program element” projects financial data throughout a program life cycle, while a ZBB "decision package” focuses on the fiscal year under consideration. PPBS has been criticized for its technical deficiencies. In itself it does not provide an operating tool for managers after budget adop tion. There is no mechanism to evaluate the impact of various funding levels. Old programs are not automaticaly re-evaluated from dollar zero. Finally, it has no formal methodology to transform goals into an efficient budget. ABB is an attempt to correct these fail ing. It may be that the ASUO has neither a PPBS or a ABB system, but only a line-item budget with goals tacked on. David Stewart Senior, Finance $ew iu -m jj^xr APPUCAIJX Pl#6£. V Heuo, IM 5AUy-MA5 parT9, im 7jr. I wMJf 1& 0£ H6M70F W F.0.I. » arc wo OPAUFieC? ^ 5UW- MAC 7 I &\A€% IU63(? i eeueie iu eoct? mJp bap aup PI6HT AUP WR0U6 I fcUOO HOD JO (ceeP secsEr~> l /'TvO I Rise AT 5TI oeev mv (weeurs. TRDMV HOMEWORK IW AW0MAU. I M FROM A MJ W*7J Letters Players are people If there is any truth to Blaine Newnham's report of the dismis sal of Joe Moreck from the Oregon basketball team for missing a practice, then it si lould be appar ent to all that Coach Harter has become so caught up in his role as mentor of the Ducks that his sense of justice has been seriously im paired. Discipline is an important, perhaps essential, component of success in any team sport. How ever, this does not give license to those in command to ignore the fact that team members are indi viduals who sometimes run into problems which are even more important than a basketball prac tice session. Even given the fact that Joe broke a major rule, there is absolutely no sense of propor tionality in the punishment pre scribed by Harter. After two and one-half years of solid commit ment to the Harter ethic, Joe’s mistake costs him his scholarship and embarrasses him before his family, friends, teammates, and the public. The coach who can turn his back on a person who he recruited from two thousand miles away for a single infraction of the rule is an nhumane and dangerous in dividual. Perhaps selfishly, we should ask ourselves what effect this and the departures of Gary Nelson and Beau McCloud will have on potential recruits. Of more immediate concern, what will Moreck’s Ouster do to the commitment and enthusiasm of the remaining eleven players throughoat the remainder of the season? Discipline and unity are impor tant. But they are not more impor tant than the realization that be fore the members of the Ducks are basketball machines, they are people and must be treated as such. If Harter cannot understand thisconcept, then I recommend he take Ns demented train of thought off campus. Rico Maloney Senior, Speech/ Political Science
