editorial
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EWEB heading for
some needed changes
The Eugene Water and Electric Board —often viewed
as an obscure office by many voters — may well become
the stage for some significant changes in the way
Eugene’s public utility views energy and environmental
problems.
Newly elected board members John Bartels and Jack
Craig will join Camilla Pratt for what will be the first majority
of EWEB members in history who oppose nuclear power
and the use of herbicides. All are strong proponents of
alternative energy sources and conservation, and all op
pose the use of herbicides which may endanger Eugene’s
water quality. That changes in EWEB’s outlook will occur
— especially with the innovative ideas of Bartels and Pratt
— seems obvious.
The board has been hesitant in the past to make any
bold proposals, particularly in the energy field. At a time
when energy prices are increasing, demand is increasing
and nuclear power is coming under more and more attack,
we think the board should have been more responsive to
new ideas and new ways of looking at energy problems.
The board has also been reluctant to deal with herbicide
questions, in spite of the fact that herbicides may be pene
trating Eugene’s water supply, which is fed by streams
where herbicides are used.
Now that a majority of the members are environmen
tally oriented, both ideas and sound proposals for the
future may be forthcoming. Among those may be EWEB’s
role in ownership of the Trojan nuclear plant, which all of
these three members have spoken out against. It may be
legally impossible to get EWEB out of Trojan, but the
matter should be investigated. There are a myriad of other
innovations that should also be addressed: The use of
solar, wind and geothermal power, creating lifeline rates
for senior citizens who are crunched by rising power costs,
and the role of the utility in keeping power rates at a
minimum.
We don’t expect the new majority to make sweeping
changes overnight. We don’t expect them to solve com
pletely the intricate energy and environmental puzzles be
fore them. But they have fine minds and fine ideas—ideas
we hope they will be able to bring to fruition during the next
few years of their terms.
y
Letters
A simpler request
With regard to Ester Hamer
mesz and Lyneil Chase’s recent
letter to the editor entitled “A Sim
ple Request” I must say that I too
agree with their perceptive obser
vations.
I am not at all surprised that they
both take such an active interest in
the hygienic status of other
i 111 1
people’s rectums considering the
fact that their noses are always in
other people’s business anyway.
My dear Nanny, rest her soul,
once offered this bit of advice to
me once when I was frustrated
and angered with what I thought
was an unjust situation. It is with
great reluctance that I now pass
this proverb on to Ester and
Lyneil. I think it went something
Letters
Hke this, “Blow it out you ass.”
What a delightful and clever
woman my Nanny was.
Vernon Campbell
Senior, Elementary Education
Witch-hunting
Readers of the Emerald may
still be mystified by the very scant
information about the recent de
velopments in the Sociology de
partment. Those of us who have
struggled unsuccessfully to avert
the current state of affairs were
reluctant to "wash the
department’s linen in public.”
However, in this case discretion
did not prove the better part of
valor. Some of the accounts and
hearsay reaching your readership
are either inaccurate or omit much
of the Byzantine details.
-T- I_X. .11. . • 1__I .4 lU A
IU UC lUliy II11 Vy 111 icu auv/ui ui^
situation would truly take pages,
so I’ll be very brief. The Sociology
department was in a position this
year to hire 3-4 full-time faculty
with potential tenure. The pros
pect was an exciting one and peo
ple repeatedly spoke with en
thusiasm about the possible addi
tions to the department. Our staff
development committee — com
posed of faculty and graduate
students — plus faculty and stu
dents who have specialties in
specific areas, pored over some
400 applicants’ files in order to
select the “best” and most suita
ble people.
The list of most favored candi
dates was to be submitted to a full
department meeting in order to
select those whom we would in
terview. At this point we found out
that a group of faculty acting as a
faction declared that it will oppose
the hiring of any Marxists regard
less of qualifications. Although the
department later went through the
motions of compromise, invita
tions to candidates, interviews of
and presentations by them — the
self-labeled “non-Marxists” fa
culty in truth never budged from
their resolve to “veto” any candi
date whose orientation was a rad
ical one. We and three left-leaning
candidates were in fact led
through a charade. The stone
walling by this group resulted in a
minority vote for their candidates
— nine of them to our 13 (which
included seven faculty votes). The
appointments which were finally
made are two tenure track posi
tions to unknown non-Marxists
and a visiting one to a world re
nowned Marxist.
In acting thus they not only to
kenized student participation but
also harmed the department as
I
they created factionalism and
perhaps permanent hostility be
tween the two factions. They also
disregard our chairperson s sin
cere and forthright pleas for com
promise and rational behavior.
They also created a situation in
which the chair’s position in un
tenable, the department is riven,
and students, although angry, are
petrified about possible retaliation
if they should speak the truth in
public.
It seems that our department,
which was one of the most prog
ressive in the University, is herald
ing a new age of political witch
hunting and national paranoia.
That it should have happened to
us is the most cruel irony. That
McCarthyism returns at the be
hest of self-proclaimed liberals is
truly tragic. It behooves us all to
remember Marx’s advice about
the repetition of history —the first
time is a tragedy, the second — a
farce.
Aliza Keddem
Graduate Student
Department of Sociology
ASUO on target
I take exception to John
Iwasaki’s opinion, expressed in
Thursday’s Emerald, that the
ASUO acted inappropriately in
paying for “No on 51” ads last
week. If students had been polled,
as he suggested they should have
been, I suspect the ads would
have been given a firm okay. “No”
votes on 51 carried all
University-area, student-pre
dominated precincts except the
one containing Northwest Christ
ian College (where the measure
lost by only eight votes). It is pretty
obvious from looking at election
results that the majority of those
students who cared enough to
vote did favor the sexual orienta
tion amendment. And since
ASUO has had a stated policy of
“non-discrimination on the basis
of sexual orientation” for some
time now, it’s my felling that the
ads served both to accentuate
that position and link it to “the
world out there” — an appropriate
expression of political concern.
Whether or not Iwasaki is in
favor of it, it’s dear that odT stu
dent government has taken
stands and expressed itself both
within the University community
and outside. I hope it will continue
to do so. This is espedally sig
nificant in light of the attitudes of
seclusion and unconcern which
seems to dominate the outlook of
so many students. The University
is an important dtizen of this city
and this state, and I am impressed
that we have a student govern
ment which respects this relation
ship and is not afraid to speak out
strongly for an end to inequality
and injustice.
Lisa Reitzes
Graduate, Honors College
Good effort
On behalf of Eugene Citizens
for Human Rights I would like to
express my deepest thanks to
every member of the University
community who contributed their
time and energy to the campaign
against the repeal of the “gay
rights ordinance; whose
thoughts and well-wishes went
with us throughout the last several
weeks; who wore buttons, talked
to friends, and wrote letters to the
editor; who took the time to ex
press your support to us, and who
demonstrated that support by vot
ing No on measure 51.
We are all stronger for the chal
lenge that each of us faced in
his/her own way. Our efforts were
good and important, and we are
going to continue them; but we
couldn't have come as far as we
have without you.
Carol Queen
Eugene Citizens for
Human Rights
Imitation
All modesty aside, I feel like
Hunter S. Thompson must have
felt after he read Tom Wolfe s
“Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.”
Many of the best excerpts in
Wolfe’s book were borrowed from
Thompson’s book on the Hells
Angels.
Reading Jock Hatfield’s “fear
and loathing” bird-watching article
in Thursday’s Emerald, I recog
nized much of my work. I had writ
ten an article on owl watching
some weeks ago, and attempted
through Hatfield to get it into the
Emerald. He rejected it, but evi
dently liked it. If imitation is the
highest form of flattery, you’re
welcome, Jock.
Philip Ratcliff
Graduate, Undeclared
Editor’s note: Jock Hatfield, au
thor of the birdwatching article,
twice reviewed Ratcliff's article
and found it lacking. Hatfield later
decided to write an article on
birdwatching, and contacted
E.G. White-Swift, a local bird
watcher and former Emerald em
ployee, who took Hatfield on a
search for owls. While on this
search, Hatfield met several of the
same people Ratcliff had origi
nally talked to. Hatfield used none
of the material in Ratcliffs article,
and he contacted sources on his
own.
Did you miss it?
For those who may have mis
sed it in the Emerald:
There were demonstrations
Friday, May 19 in Eugene and
Salem to protest the recent deci
sion of Oregon Attorney General
James Redden concerning di
vestment of stocks related to
Southern Africa.
Over 100 attended a noon-time
rally on the EMU terrace. About
half of those then went up to
Salem, where, joined by smaller
groups from Salem and Portland,
they picketed the Public Sevice
Building housing Redden’s office.
Speeches by activists and
primary candidates, songs and
chants marked the demonstra
tion, which also supported affirma
tive action in the U.S.
Redden responded to an invita
tion and addressed the crowd,
which was cool but not openly
hostile.
The demonstrators were spon
sored by People for Southern Afri
can Freedom, the ASUO and Port
land Citizens Against Racism.
The first two groups are planning a
law suit to challenge Redden s rul
ing.
By the way, the reason you may
have missed it in the Emerald was
that it never appeared. The old
ODE was too busy to even notice
the first statewide demonstration
on a controversial issue of on
going interest to students. Good
work, folks.
Bob Guldin
261 N. Ash St., Eugene