opinion
greg wesson
tabled indefinitely
January brings political developments on the
national scene depressing enough to make good
Lane County liberals quake in their down booties.
In fact, most have spent so much time lamenting
the inauguration of Ronald Reagan that they
haven’t taken time to cheer the passing of proba
bly the worst thing to happen to the county in
recent history: Archie Weinstein.
Self-ordained as the biggest of the little guys,
Weinstein has been a highly vocal example of the
philosophy and approach that threatens to ensure
that Lane County will repeat the mistakes of its
Californian and East Coast neighbors.
And as to the notion that Weinstein gives a
shit about the little guy — hogwash Weinstein s
decisions and efforts in the courthouse have been
aimed at helping not the little people, but the
people like him who have lots of money. Consider
his drive to open large tracts of land north of
Eugene to industrial development.
The area in question is a 1,800 acre parcel
that lies between the urban growth boundries of
Eugene and Junction City. The pre-1979 Com
mission ruled that the spacious fields and sheep
pastures remain in agricultural use. However,
when Weinstein’s Warriors became the majority,
they set about changing that. Oblivious to the
drive to keep the urban area contained rather than
allowing it to gobble up the surrounding land,
Archie and the boys did their best to clear the way
for unfettered development.
One wonders if such an effort benefits the
small farmer and home owner in the county, or if it
allows others to make enormous profits at their
expense
And what about efforts to create jobs while
dealing with the Lane waste problem by creating
an ongoing recycling project rather than building
enormous high-tech operations? The people ad
vocating such programs are at the end of the
income scale that Archie says he was looking out
for. Yet, rather than help them, he resisted them.
Oh, I forgot. Archie didn’t like their hairstyles
or the fact that they patched their jeans rather
than throw them away. They were, gasp, hippies.
Hippies wanting to work with the government.
Can't trust ’em. Guess legitimate little guys don’t
wear ponytails. Besides, Sen. Joseph McCarthy
proved that you can direct attention away from
your own excesses by creating fear and suspicion
of others.
But, that’s unfair. Maybe Archie didn’t need to
direct attention away from himself but is just a
mean, vicious person. At any rate, Lane County is
rid of him, and unless he makes good on his
threats to run for governor, no longer has to worry
about trying to neutralize him.
More on feminism
At the risk of perpetuating an ar
gument, I feel I must reply to Ms. Lorraine
("Feminists Will Win", Jan 12).
In her letter, she was very upset at the
"little fellows” who have argued for their
right to view pornographic films,
especially the "Story of O,” on campus.
She also defined what a feminist is for
those of us who read her letter For that
alone, we should all be eternally grateful
I found that I was wrong when I assumed
that a feminist was someone who sup
ported everyone’s freedom of choice
concerning lifestyle, for once regardless
of a person’s sex.
I did notice, though, that she and all
the feminists who have objected to por
nography on campus have forgotten one
segment of the population who were
present at the film in question Namely,
the women who went to the film of their
own volition. I was one of those women. I
was not brainwashed, coerced or
dragged to it In fact, I suggested going
Some feminists I know do not believe that
simply because I went with a man. It’s
kind of like having religious freedom in
Puritan Massachusetts It’s only allowed
if your religion is the same as theirs. As
the same holds true for these feminists,
no wonder they are so easily confused
with fundamentalists.
Ms. Lorraine doesn't seem interested
in people working together as equals,
nor do I think she wants unoppressed
women thinking for themselves. She's
simply offering her services as a substi
tute slave-master
Marcia Stysma
Sophomore, Chemistry
King’s birthday
Buried in the middle of last Monday's
Emerald, next to a small news item enti
tled "Rape Occurs in University Re
sidence Hall," was an article with the
headline, "Group wants King holiday." If
the Emerald’s response on Dr Martin
Luther King Jr.'s birthday is characteris
tic of the mood on campus and around
the country, no such holiday or national
commemoration is likely. Not one word
about Dr King appeared in the Emerald
on his birthday, although the rape story
glared at readers from the front page as it
had done the previous two days.
Naturally we all feel the immediacy of
the violent threat to our daily lives which
rape represents, particularly when it
occurs on campus, in the one place
where a student should expect to be
safe. But rape is an expression of hostili
ty and a symbol of injustice very close to
those forces which Dr King fought all his
adult life.
In his struggle for human dignity and
freedom, Martin Luther King awakened
the nation's conscience and mobilized a
generation. Now, when we daily witness
a resurgence of the forces of hatred — in
the renewed vitality of the Ku Klux Klan,
sniper shootings of blacks, a national
epidemic of rape, and the kidnapping
and murder of black children in Atlanta —
we need to be reminded of Dr King’s
mission and of his martyrdom. Although
the Emerald cannot be expected to func
tion as an advocate for social causes, at
least by the standards of objective journ
alism, it might have judged Dr. King's
birthday worthy of some brief mention
when there are visible efforts on campus
this week to bring it to the community’s
attention.
Louise Westling
Honors College
Two-faced attitudes
Discrimination is not the only problem
facing feminists. The women’s
movement is also hampered by The two
faced attitudes of supposedly liberated
men.
Bob Johnson’s Jan 14 letter is a study
in hypocrisy Although he claims to be in
favor of equality of the sexes, he persists
in keeping many of the values of the
typcial male chauvinist
Even though he apparently believes
that the “personal value and importance
of someone is independent of sex,’’ the
qualities he values in women are "big
tits, a tight ass and bubble-headed gig
gles ” He values intelligence ’’occasion
ally,’’ no doubt when it is accompanied
by the required bust and derriere mea
surements.
He also criticizes the women’s
movement for its rejection of passivity.
Page 4
Agreed, passivity is not nfecessarily a
negative quality. However, what Johnson
fails to realize is that passivity is a part of
the traditional female stereotype, and as
this outdated view is rejected, passivity is
disowned also. Johnson claims to sup
port equality, yet at the same time he
wants women to keep the stereotype of
rtieekness and passivity. The two images
are incompatible since passivity invokes
domination, the opposite of equality.
Although meekness may have its charms
(especially for the domineering side of
men), its positve aspects must be
sacrificed so that its negative connota
tions do not appear. If women are to
attain equality, some degree of aggres
siveness is necessary.
Furthermore, he censures feminists for
having "frustrated minds." How he ex
pects women to avoid frustration when
even supposed believers in equality
judge women by their attributes is un
clear.
Johnson asks, "What does the state
ment feminists will win' mean
anyway?" and asserts that it implies
someone will loose something. Should
the day come when feminists win, the
only things that will be lost are dis
criminating attitudes and actions.
Feminists are not fighting to make men
the losers, but to make everyone win
ners This end cannot come about unless
Johnson’s type of hypocrisy is eliminat
ed
Peg Maris
Freshman, pre-journalism
Plea to bikers
This letter is a plea to all the bicyclists
out there, especially those who ride in
the early morning and/or at dusk or dark.
Please light up! This fog is making it just
about impossible for a driver to see an
unlit object more than a few feet in front
of the car. This problem is magnified at
night when the cars’ headlights bounce
off the fog and the windows are con
stantly fogging and condensing. Please,
even if you only carry a flashlight, carry
or wear something which will differen
tiate you from the unseen; reflectors,
reflective tape, bright clothing and as
many lights as you have.
I also hope that (sober) drivers are
acutely aware of the limitations of their
visual range in this weather If the drivers
are defensive and the bicyclists as well
as the animal owners, parents of small
children and walkers who also take
special precautions, maybe fewer will get
hurt.
Constance M. Toomey
2577 Harris
Eugene
Monday, January 19, 1981