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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 1980)
emerald Vol. 82, No. 62 f Eugene, Oregon 97403 Tuesday, December 2, 1980 L’chaim Jewish Student Union striving for campus unity By MIKE RUST Of ttw EmaraM The University's Jewish Student Union is a jack-of-all trades On the one hand, the union reassures Jewish and Israeli students suddenly immersed in Eugene’s mellowspeak cul ture. On the other, the JSU promotes and explains Jewish culture to the University com munity. And the organization is poli tically involved because, as JSU director Bill DiMarco puts it, “the very existence of the State of Israel is itself a threat to some people's political thinking.” However, DiMarco is quick to point out that the JSU has no desire to become another obscure participant in the par tisan political battles fought with speeches and pamphlets in and around the EMU. “Instead of counter-demon strating, we d like to turn it around and be a force for unity on campus — a group that's known for cooperation with other groups.” In keeping with this goal, the JSU helped coordinate the benefit for Cambodian relief last spring The organization also has brought the plight of Soviet dissidents to the atten tion of the University com munity. Next February, the JSU will bring Edward Kuznet sov, a Jew who left the Soviet Union a year ago, to campus JSU members speak to high schools students, church groups or anyone else inter ested in Jewish culture Beginning winter term, JSU classes in Hebrew, Israeli cul ture and issues and folk danc ing will be accredited. “Around 25 percent of the people attending the classes and social events aren't Jewish, which we really try to encourage," DiMarco says. “We want students to know that the JSU exists for the whole campus.” Among the non-Jewish students of Hebrew are Christ ians who plan to use the lan guage in their Biblical studies However, DiMarco is realist ic about the union’s identity on campus. "Jewish culture isn’t what most people are interested in Most people are primarily in terested in Israel because of the Mideast situation and how it affects America " The JSU provides informa tion about study opportunities and travel in Israel as well as emigration. While most students as sociate the JSU with Israel, they probably hold many false stereotypes, DiMarco says The organization is “not a nest of Reaganites," nor is it filled with knee-jerk sup porters of the Israeli govern ment, he says. Rather, JSU members “support the ideas that established the State of Israel and the formation of a democratic society for all groups in the area “There are hotheads and fanatics on both sides Peace is a definite possibility if prob lems of leadership are elimin ated on both sides ” DiMarco half-seriously sug gests that removing the pre sent leaders of the Soviet Union, the United States and the Palestine Liberation Or ganization, as well as some Israeli leaders, would go a long way to promoting peace in the region The Mideast issue aside, most JSU members have no trouble blending into the poli tical landscape of the Univer sity Many are associated with a monthly newspaper called David's Sling that is published in Eugene. The paper en dorsed Independent presiden tial candidate John Anderson in the November election. Most JSU members con sider themselves Zionists, but only under their own defini Hanukkah finds new meaning For eight days beginning today, Jews around the world will light a candle at dusk in observance of Hanukkah. The "Festival of Lights" celebrates the ancient victory of Jewish patriots over Syrian armies that invaded Israel in 167 B.C. The Jewish uprising in 164 B.C. gave the Jews nearly a century of indepen dence Predictably, the holiday has changed since its beginnings "Hanukkah was much more spiritual than it is now, especially in the Middle Ages," says Rabbi Myron Kin berg of Eugene's Temple Beth Israel. "Since the establish merit of the State of Israel, it has become much more na tionalistic. “For Americans it's really cultural, but in Israel it’s more a nationalistic and political celebration.” The commercialization of Christmas also has affected Hanukkah in the United States and other predominantly Christian countries. Many Jews have adopted Christmas practices — such as sending cards — and many Jewish parents give gifts at Hanukkah so their children won’t feel left out. “In America, to balance the influence of Christmas parties, we do Hanukkah parties,” says Kinberg. Jodi Cohen, one of almost 500 Jewish students and faculty members at the University, plans to have a Hanukkah party for her gentile friends so they can "see what Hanukkah’s like.” The festival itself is a time for singing songs, eating “potato latkes” and spinning the dreidel, a four-sided top that children and adults use in var ious gambling games. Unlike Yom Kippur, Hanukkah is not particularly religious. The only special prayer, says Kinberg, is one "reminding us about the vic tory of the poor over the rich." tion To many American Jews, Zionism “means signing a check,” DiMarco says. "If Zionism is sticking to a particular traditional border without regard to the con sequences for innocent peo ple, then I’m not a Zionist,” he explains. “But if it means believing that a State of Israel can be set up to benefit all the people, then I'm a Zionist.” While DiMarco downplays the issue, instances of anti Semitism pop up occasionally in the Eugene area. Nazi grafitti has appeared, and earlier this year a member of a communist organization shouted "Kill the Jews” at a rally outside the EMU “If something like an oil cutt off takes place, it'll be easier to blame it on Israel or the American Jewish community than it would be to blame it on American lack of finesse in dealing with the Arab govern ments in the Mideast, ” DiMar co says. Among members of the campus community, know ledge of the Jewish culture and the Mideast situation is “very rudimentary,” accord ing to DiMarco One small group is very aware and sup ports Israel, while to another small group it’s a "code word” similar to imperialism that evokes a strong negative re sponse. "Then there's a big middle ground," DiMarco says. “They’re not sure where it is. They may have read Exodus.' They know the Israelis are good fighters." Supreme Court decides to rule on all-male draft WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court said Monday it will decide whether any U S. military draft, or draft registra tion, must include women. In a case likely to become the most closely watched controversy now before the high court, the justices will decide whether a male-only draft unlawfully discriminates against men. The court’s eventual decision likely will not be announced until next May or June. Oral arguments probably will be held sometime in March. In Eugene, anti-draft activists received the news cooly. Alan Siporin, director of the Coalition Opposed to Registration and the Draft, said he would have to await more developments before commenting on the court's decision. "People would have been pretty sur prised if they (the court) hadn’t decided to hear the case,” said Dave Fidanque, legislative aide to Rep. Jim Weaver, D Ore. However, Fidanque said the case could lead to new precedents on the issue of equal protection for men and women. “There’s plenty of legal issues to deal with in there that they (the court) couldn’t ignore.” Historically, young American men have been required to register for possi ble military service and to serve. Young women face no such obligations. A three-judge federal court panel in Philadelphia last July struck down the system, citing unconstitutional sex bias. If the Supreme Court were to uphold that ruling, Congress would have to amend the Military Selective Service Act to include women as potential draftees. Despite the lower court’s ruling, some 4 million men were required to register for the draft last July. If registration and the draft are ruled unconstitutional, the goverment might have to destroy all records of that registration. There has been no military draft since 1973. Even if the male-only registration is upheld, Congress still would have to pass a new law before call-ups could be resumed. While arguments before the Supreme I I Emerald graphic Court likely will be limited to the validity of draft registration, the three-judge panel's decision struck down the entire Military Selective Service Act, which includes induction as well as registra tion. The case does not involve the separate policy of not assigning female enlistees to combat duty. The legal challenge that led to the July 18 ruling was filed in 1971 by three Pennsylvania men as a protest to the Vietnam war. It had gone unnoticed in the federal courts for years but was revived last December when President Carter reinstituted draft registration in the wake of the Soviet Union’s interven tion in Afghanistan. On July 19, Justice William Brennan allowed the government to go ahead with its July 21 registration of all 19- and 20-year-old men. The court’s decision conceivably could have an effect on the future of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment. Opponents to ERA have pointed to the drafting of women as one of the amend ment's evils, but such an obligation now could come about without the ERA. If the ERA were to become part of the Constitution, courts would have to use the same "strict scrutiny” to cases of alleged sexual bias as they now do in cases of alleged racial or religious dis crimination.
