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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1979)
daily§merald Holiday time The Emerald will publish its next issue Monday, Nov 26 Emerald business offices will be closed Thursday and Friday Happy Thanksgiving! Vol 81, No 55 Eugene, Oregon 97403 Wednesday, November 21,1979 Iran forum airs crisis frustrations By ALAN HARRIS Of the Emerald Iran has no basis in international law (or taking over fie American Embassy and holding 60 American hos tages in Tehran, said Robin White, visiting professor of nternational law. Tuesday at a panel discussion and open form sponsored by the Political Science Student Union. The ASUO and the Student University Affairs Board White told the panel and about 700 people packed nto the EMU Ballroom that although U S military action would not be wise given the hostage crisis, military action to obtain their release would be supported by a recognized code of international law Such action by the United States would definitely mean a loss of American lives Pres Carter and the U S government get high marks for adhering to interna tional law during the crisis m Iran. White said Besides White, panel members included represen ta’ivesfrom Fight Iranian Student Hypocrisy, the Muslim Student Union and the Iranian Student Union They joined Ron Sixman. a University geology professor, in answering questions posed by a PSSU panel and members of the audience Paul Gaske, University professor of speech, and Michael Lacey, director of the PSSU. monitored the forum Although audience response seemed to support White's contention that Iran was violating diplomatic 'aw by the taking of American hostages, it also leaned toward support of anti-shah sentiment Some American students sympathized with the attitude expressed by Iranian students that the Amer ican government was responsible for alleged atrocities committed by the deposed shah Amin, president of the ISU, asked Americans to look at both sides of the Iranian crisis • Then you would see how much we hate the shah,” Amm said We don't want U S support for the shah because of what he has done " Iranians accuse the ex-monarch of ordering the murder of 76,000 innocent people, watching people tortured on closed circuit T V , stealing $20 billion from the Iranian people and ruining Iran s economy Amin expressed his suspicion that U S acceptance of the shah into this country was a move to try to reinstate the ousted ruler or some other ruler sympath etic to U S politics, back into power in Iran The revolution in Iran is marked by a distinct ideology, one of self-sacrifice and martyrdom," said Alt, president of the MSU "The Iranian men are men of war. men of combat," he said referring to the recent revolution in Iran If faced with economic sanctions Iran would grow its own food and beyond that "they would save face and let their stomachs starve.” All said Wixman pointed out that many foreign officials are treated for ailments in the U S and that Iran was taking a very narrow view of the shah's presence in this country U S support for the shah should be put in the perspective of political preference at a time when the Middle East was in a very unstable situation At times of high emotion logic runs low," Sixaman said "Saving face is also very important in the United States " Tom Greider, representative for FISH, defended his group's counter-demonstrations aimed at Iranian students as an invitation to refute their position The demonstrations were meant to facilitate better under standing on both sides, he said The "go home" sign was a minority view of the crowd that packed the Ballroom to hear a forum on the Iranian crisis Tuesday. The anti-shah poster in the background Photo by Jtmmi Harris conveyed the majority opinion. Questions from the audience tended to be anti-shah and sympethetic to Iran 's internal turmoil Although Greider conceded that "hypocrisy'' might have been a stronq word to use in the name of the student group Greider said FISH does not support terrorist acts committed by the students in Iran nor do fiey support the shah Maybe BAIT would have been a more appropriate title," Greider said Battle All Iranian Terrorism " PSSU director Michael Lacey said the Iranian forum was organized to offer more than one point of view on the Iranian situation The recent release of 13 American hostages from the embassy in Iran, which left only white Americans hostages, was a slap in the face, Lacey said Women and blacks are oppressed groups in America and Iranians identify with them, Ali said On further points of international law, White said there was no obligation on the part of the U S govern ment to return the shah to Iran Since there is no joint extradition treaty, the only way the U S government could legally expel the shah is to find him an unde sireable alien. White said However, the shah has a right to due process in this country which could result in a lengthy trial, White added Asked what action the U S might take if the Amer ican hostages are harmed, White replied that he could not predict what the Carter administration might do But he said military intervention is "logistically" impossible Any attempt by the U S to send troops would be futile and only result in the loss of American lives, White said Amin said the hostages would not be harmed because it would consolidate adverse public opinion toward Iran A member of the audience complimented the panel and the audience for their show of interest in discussing a volatile topic in an organized and civil manner Universities across the country should look to Oregon as a model exampls for conduct in an open forum on the Iranian issue, he said today Jonah Sari, a Zimbabwe Luth eran bishop supports a Zirri babwe-Rhodesia peace treaty currently being negotiated in Great Britain Tuesday night "We must accept anything that gives us peace and justice," he said See Page 3A. ro the rest of the country Oregon and Oregon State s an nual season-ending clash is just another college rivalry But to fans of the two schools, it's called the Civil War and represents a chance to win the bragging rights to the state See Section B. r hree Eugene officials claim a plan by Gov Atiyeh that would allow the state to act as an agent for the sale of federal power from the Bonneville Power Administra tion to private utility customers would serve only the stockholders of those companies See Page 7A. I hanksgiving is traditionally a family meal, with lots of food and friends to share it with But some Eugene residents are left without a place to celebrate the holiday meal. For them local agencies offer a hearty turkey dinner See Page 8A.
