___editorial
Auditorium bonds offers arts boon
Relief may be on the way for cul
turally starved aficionados of the
performing arts who are tired of hav
ing to travel to Portland to see that
special show.
Eugene voters will consider a bal
lot measure Tuesday that seeks ap
proval of an $18.5-million bond
issue for a civic auditorium.
Such a facility contains rich poten
tial — both for spectators and par
ticipants — heretofore lacking either
on campus or in the Eugene area.
The Emerald endorses the funding
proposal and urges eligible students
and staff to vote their support of an
auditorium complex.
The heart of the new project
would lie in a combined concert hall
and legitimate theater seating about
2,500 and a multi-purpose commun
ity theater with room for approxi
mately 500. Along with ancillary
facilities — dressing rooms, exhibi
tion space, underground parking —
the complex would be opened just
north of the downtown mall following
a three-year construction phase.
Completion of actual building plans,
subject to public comment, awaits
passage of a funding measure.
An arts center of this description
would close an annoying gap in per
formance facilities for Eugene,
which now include massive, basi
cally sports-oriented structures
such as Mac Court and Autzen
Stadium on one side and the
400-seat University Theater and
500-seat Beall Hall on the other.
A medium-capacity auditorium
complex could serve as a home for
local theatrical, musical and dance
groups as well as house visiting per
formers who previously have by
passed Eugene because it lacks a
suitable site. Moreover, the down
town location would be convenient
for University folk and add to a phys
ical cohesiveness in the city often
lacking in contemporary urban de
velopment.
At present, civic-center directors
plan to sell the bonds as construc
tion funds are needed rather than in
a single sale when the project be
gins. By this approach, they hope to
avoid the high interest payments
necessary for $18.5 million. An addi
tion to city residents’ property-tax
rate of 5 cents per $1,000 true cash
value is anticipated in the first year
of construction, rising to a high of 69
cents per $1,000 by the third year.
These tax receipts would be used
only to service the bond-interest
debt. Once in use, the civic au
ditorium becomes eligible for an es
timated $400,000 a year — in addi
tion to rental receipts — to pay off
the bonds and cover an operating
deficit expected the first few years,
according to Dean Baumgartner,
civic center director. These re
venues derive from such sources as
a ticket tax, motel/hotel tax and pri
vate contributions through the re
cently created Eugene Community
Foundation.
Rents would be kept low to en
courage use by local groups and the
auditorium complex would never be
expected to do much more than
break even financially. But, as
Baumgartner points out, in a public
facility of this type — which would do
for the performing arts what parks
do for recreation — performance
and not profits is the motive.
Unregistered fans of a civic au
ditorium may qualify to vote until 8
p.m. the day of the election by sign
ing up at the Lane County voter re
gistration office, 175 W. 8th Ave.
L
Letters
Letters-Letters
Christianity right?
In a recent letter, Douglas
Groothuis sought to explain why
pantheism, mysticism, and Ta
oism in particular are wrong, and
why Christianity is right. There are
several points in his letter with
which I should like to take issue.
People who admit that there is
validity to more than one religion
Groothuis labels latitudinarians,
as if latitudinarianism were a dis
ease or a venial or mortal sin. For
tunately, not all Christians share
this narrow-minded view, al
though it does seem to be the
case that, in our society at least,
Christianity attracts its share of
narrow minded people.
On the other side, however, one
may note such statements as that
made by John A. Hutchison, a
Christian scholar, in the preface to
his Paths of Faith (McGraw-Hill,
2d ed. 1975, p. xiii), a study of the
world’s major religions: "The word
path or any of its numerous trans
lations is a recurring metaphor in
the literature of the world’s relig
ions. China has its tao. and the
Japanese have the analogous
term michi. Buddhists speak of
their faith as the path of the
Buddha, and Muslims charac
terize Islam as the straight path. In
both Old Testament and New Tes
tament, this same metaphor is
used extensively ... The religions
of mankind are so many paths of
life.”
Groothuis states that pan
theism is wrong and that mysticism
is not the lowest common de
nominator between all religions.'’
Christianity is, in his definition,
neither pantheistic nor mystical;
yet one of the most clearly pan
theistic statements that I have ever
read in any religious literature is
the statement of the Apostle Paul
in I Cor, 1528 that, at the end of
the divine scheme of things. God
will be "all in all."
Paul's ardent Christianity did
not hinder his thinking that God, in
his divine wisdom and power,
would be able finally to effect the
reconciliation of the entire cos
mos. It is this same Paul, further
more, who has not infrequently
been described as mystical.
A very famous study of his
theology was entitled, The Mysti
cism of Paul the Apostle (Albert
Schweitzer, Engl, trans. 1931.);
and one cannot overlook Paul s
•. frequent description.of the.Christ:
ian life as life "in Christ" or "in the
Spirit," e g., Gal. 326-28. In fact,
the whole history of Christianity
has included a considerable com
ponent of mysticism, and even
Christians who think that mysti
cism is something oriental and
strange and therefore sinful
should look again at what they
themselves think goes on when
they pray.
I
and religions gathered from the
world to plan for peace. One
weekend, 15,000 people marched
through the streets of New York
and gathered at the UN Plaza.
There were 502 Japanese peo
ple who brought 20,000,000 sig
natures pleading for peace and an
arms reduction. Gromyko, Rus
sian leader, and the French spoke
of the need for solutions. Gromyko
Defense budget bill coming to the
floor.
At noon I had a chance to speak
with Rep. John Rhoades
(Rep.-Ariz.) and I said, “How
come nobody in Washington
knows about the U N. Disarma
ment Conference?”
He replied, to the effect, “It isn’t
going to amount to anything. It is
just the third world countries trying
'i think :d rmher stat up here and plant we Tbmxs, awway: '
It was particularly painful to
read Groothuis’s statement that
Christ 'claimed unique liberating
power,” since Groothuis took a
class I offered last term on ancient
Mediterranean religions, in which
the other religions with which early
Christianity competed and which
often claimed “unique liberating
power" were studied. People who
hold strong religious convictions,
alas, will often hold them in spite of
all evidence
Finally, I have to correct
Groothuis on one of his opening
statements, that visiting lecturer
Michael Saso was from Harvard.
That was the ultimate insult; Saso
was from Yale.
J.T. Sanders, Professor
Religious Studies
No one knew
I just returned from the U N.
Disarmament Conference, which
started May 23 and will continue
. .for five weeks, People of aH races
said "Russia will never make a
neutron bomb unless the United
States makes one first.” The day
ended with a "die-in.” When the
siren blew, "Nuclear Victims”
slowly sank to the ground and lay
for 20 minutes while the Buddhist
beat their drums.
The tragedy is that people in
Washington, D.C did not know
that the conference was taking
place. I arrived in D C. about five
days before the opening day of
May 23. On May 23, I still had not
found anyone in D C. who knew
that there even was a conference.
That day I went to the Congres
sional offices to see if they knew
what was going on Mark Hatfield
had sent notices to the religious
communities of Oregon about two
months ago.
In the first four offices I visited,
there was no one who knew about
the Disarmament Conference.
They knew that NATO was com
mg to town and that there was a
to make the United States look
bad...” and many others things
along the same line of
thinking...which was later re
flected in the Washington Post,
and by the speech made by
Vice-President Mondale to the Un
ited Nations.
During my stay in New York, on
the second day of the Conference,
I found that the newspaper con
tained 11 pages of sports but no
thing on Disarmament.
I could find absolutely nothing
about the U.N. Disarmament Con
ference. WHY?
Parade carried a story on May
21, that the U S. should increase
the Defense Budget by another 12
billion to keep up with the Rus
sians in Civil Defense. It seems
that they are worried. I wonder
why?
Betty Luginbill
Campus minister
Wesley Center
Unsigned falsities
In response to the letter (June
5) of Mr. Anonymous, who is a
fraid to identify himself for fear of
Israeli reprisal, let me make the
following comments:
a) Arabs are not refused admis
sion to Israeli colleges; the oppo
site is in fact true. They are often
admitted in preference to other
students who have higher grades
and better preparation since the
colleges want to encourage Arab
students to get a higher education
(I served for three years on the
admissions committee at the Uni
versity of Tel-Aviv, the largest in
Israel).
b) The Israeli Arab is in the dif
ficult position of being required to
be loyal to the laws of a state in
which he is in the minority and
which is in confrontation with all its
neighboring Arab states — his
own brothers. During the 30 years
of Israel’s existence, most Israeli
Arabs have been loyal citizens.
Occasionally, however, a few
have participated in some of the
terrorist and sabotage activities,
which we experience almost
weekly. It is therefore under
standable why some Israelis are
reluctant to give jobs or rent
apartments to Arabs, even to the
innocent. In general, however, job
opportunity for the Israeli Arab is
the same as for any other citizen.
The fact is that the average stan
dard of living and education of the
Arab citizen in Israel, a country
with few economic resources, is
higher than in any other Arab
state. Can Mr. Anonymous deny
that?
c) True, the Zionist ideology
was and is to support a Jewish
State in Israel, but not at the ex
pense of Palestinians or anyone
else. It is the faulty and misleading
policy of the Arab leadership for
the past 30 years which has made
the Palestinian suffer. Only peace
negotiations and mutual conces
sions will solve these problems.
d) In many respects I oppose
the policy of the present Israeli
government. I do not hesitate to
say so and to sign my name.
Anonymity and false facts in Mr.
Anonymous' letter make it look
'ike more of the sheer anti-Israeli
propaganda so currently preval
ent in the Emerald.
Ezra Yagil
Visiting Associate Professor,
Institute of Molecular Biology