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
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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