defy emerald
Vol. 82, No. 95
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Friday, February 6, 1981
Law clinic draws
further appraisal
By GREG WASSON
Of the Emerald
The University law school’s
environmental law program may
have a good reputation
throughout the country, but a
portion of the course and its
funding sources have been
receiving less than favorable
attention from some quarters.
The complaints center on the
Pacific Northwest Resources
Center, an enterprise funded
mainly by the National Wildlife
Federation. The resources clin
ic is one arm of the Environ
mental Law Clinic, and operates
under the joint direction of Ter
rance Thatcher, a staff member
of the foundation, and Universi
ty professor John Bonine.
One vocal opponent of the
clinic is Wilson Hulley, execu
tive director of the Federation
for Oregon Research and
Education, which first gained
recognition for its attempts to
dismantle the Oregon Student
Public Interest Research Group
(OSPIRG). Hulley is quick to
characterize FORE as a neutral
organization whose purpose is
“to ensure that the tax dollar
available to the state of Oregon
is spent in the most effective
manner.”
According to Hulley, this isn’t
being done at the clinic. He
called it "totally inappropriate”
that tax dollars be used to
provide Thatcher with office
space, supplies and support. In
short, Hulley charges the
University is being used as a
pawn by the wildlife federation.
Hulley began his complaints
last year in letters to then
University Pres. William Boyd,
the secretary of state, and the
attorney general. His concern
incited a letter from the secre
tary’s office asking about the
propriety of the clinic and why
Thatcher was allowed to estab
lish a base in a school.
Acting-provost Richard Hill
responded that the University
gained the most from the ar
rangement.
“Given the availability of his
(Thatcher's) services, the law
school is able to increase the
enrollment and faculty re
sources in a program where
demand has been heavy and
where supervisor-student ratios
must necessarily be low," Hill
said.
“Without the addition of Mr.
Thatcher s energy and exper
tise, operating the clinical pro
gram would have placed severe
burdens on law school re
sources.”
The secretary of state hasn’t
given Hulley his desired con
demnation of the clinic, and ac
cording to Assistant Attorney
General Jerry Casby, the AG's
office can be no more obliging.
"I'm aware of no phase of
what I see at the present time
that suggests to me there is a
legal violation.”
But Hulley’s still not con
vinced. The controversy now
centers on a lawsuit filed by the
Idaho Wilderness Foundation
challenging government plans
to open the Snake River drain
age area to logging. The area is
an important salmon-spawning
region, and the suit alleges the
government hasn’t adequately
addressed how the logging will
affect fish populations.
The Pacific Northwest Re
sources Clinic is representing
the Idaho foundation, with
Thatcher and Bonine listed as
the attorneys of record.
Bonine says the suit provides
a pretext for Hulley and other
Continued on Page 3
Ex-hostage returns
to Springfield area
Former hostage Victor Tomseth, a Springfield native, will
discuss his experiences as a hostage Monday at 3 p m in the
EMU Ballroom
A 1963 University graduate, Tomseth will arrive in the
Eugene area Friday night and will be honored at a reception
at the Springfield Rodeway Inn Saturday from 8 to 8:30 a m
The reception will include a speech by Springfield Mayor
John Lively and music by the Springfield High School Band
Tomseth graduated from the high school in 1959
On Tuesday from noon to 1:30 p m.. Tomseth will be
honored with a luncheon at the Inn Featured speakers will
include Lively; Lane County Commissioner Vance Freeman,
state Sen Ed Fadeley, D-Eugene: state Rep Vern Meyer
R-Springfield; and U S. Rep Jim Weaver. D-Ore
Tomseth. who was the political officer at the United
States Embassy in Tehran when it was captured in November.
1979. was held in the Iranian Foreign Ministry
Tomseth's campus appearance will be sponsored by the
EMU Cultural Forum
Photo by Erich Boekelheide
Gov. Vic Atiyeh
A tiyeh: Oregon needs
diversified economy
By MARIAN GREEN
Ol the Emerald
Oregon and Lane County should diversify to
save the state economy from the "dramatic”
depression that hit the lumber industry, says Gov.
Vic Atiyeh
National economic trends "hit hard Lane
County’s lumber and wood products industry,"
Atiyeh said Thursday night, "and the industry,
which is Oregon’s largest, has yet to recover.”
Atiyeh’s speech to a group of local business
leaders was part of an "Employment in Lane
County” meeting sponsored by the Eugene,
Springfield and Junction City chambers of com
merce.
In Oregon’s wood products industry alone,
Atiyeh said, unemployment reached over 17,000
early in 1980. In small communities, where wood
products is the major employer, the effects "were
almost devastating.”
To remedy the ailing economy, Oregon and
Lane County should diversify — even more than it
has in the past, Atiyeh said.
As an example of Oregon diversification,
Atiyeh noted that state-wide employment in high
technology industries increased 13 percent from
1955 to 1979, while employment in the forest
products industry declined by 15 percent.
“This is a very favorable trend, and one we
should encourage.”
However, Atiyeh stressed the need to attract
"new and developing” industries that are clean,
and said his appeal is “not a call to the smokes
tack chasers.”
Still, Oregon state and local governments
should not forget the importance of the lumber
products industry — "our number one industry” —
and the government’s responsibility to continue
employing Oregonians and utilizing Oregon’s
resources.
. “Economic development does not need an
in-rush from outside the state,” Atiyeh said
"Oregonians should be able to find jobs in their
own state."
Atiyeh said although the wood products
industry looks bad now, "the long term outlook for
Oregon is bright for wood products.”
“The demand for housing, while held down
by interest rates, remains,” he said. “The housing
units that are not being built today will have to be
built tomorrow."
And its productivity has increased with the
use of computerized saw mill equipment, he
added.
"Employment in the forest products industry
depends on a variety of federal government
policies, largely beyond our control — for example
timber harvesting policy on federal lands," Atiyeh
said. "On the other hand, the technology-orient
ed industries depend on the national and inter
national market demand for their products.
"This points out the dependence of Lane
County on wood products and the desirability of
continuing to focus energies on achieving
balanced economic and industrial development ”