opinion
Emotionalism marks end of student apathy
People who were on campus 10 years ago saw
this week’s rash of protests and counter-protests
is reminiscent of life at the University during the
Vietnam war.
Students are pissed again.
Behind the latest flare-up of tempers, which
has become atypical in the last decade, is ex
hostage Victor Tomseth’s return to Eugene
Springfield.
Tomseth’s homecoming has brought two'
sets of emotions to a boil — patriotism and anti
imperialism. The latter, expressed vociferously by
members of the Revolutionary Communist Youth
Brigade, has resulted in three arrests, at least two
yellow-ribbon burnings and several slogans and
chants.
In most cases, the RCYB's antics have
thawed latent patriotism in many University
students, some of whom have taken it upon them
selves to physically defend their country’s honor.
While we can’t condone all the actions of
either group, we think the new activity is a good
turn for campus life. It signals an end to the
pungent apathy that permeated duckdom
throughout the 1970s.
If this week’s protests are any indication,
students once again are examining current issues
and are less afraid to voice their views.
Unfortunately, 10 years of dormant emotion
alism haven’t taught temperance in political
demonstrations.
Members of the RCYB who objected to the
hoopla that met Tomseth when he rode into New
York and Springfield defended their protests on
First-Amendment grounds.
Fair enough. The young communists had
some good points, and they’re certainly free to
express their opinions. The flaw comes in mistak
ing the right to free speech for the right to incite
riot or throw flaming objects in crowded wooden
auditoriums. They’re just not the same thing.
The mistake made by the reborn patriots is no
less pathetic, however. That they didn’t recognize
the RCYB members’ right to express their opinion
is bad enough; reacting to the demonstration of
that opinion by physically and verbally attacking
some RCYB members is unconscionable.
It’s too much like throwing out the baby with
the bath water. Students are wisely giving up the
apathy of the 1970s. But that doesn’t mean they
have to abandon their composure or respect for
the right to free speech as well.
yours
‘Yes’ on EPUD
On Feb 17 the voters of most Urban
areas of Lane County will have the plea
sure of voting for or against the Emerald
PUD bond issue.
Below are some of the many reasons
why I will vote yes for the EPUD bonds
First: a budget of $75,000 was ap
proved by the voters for a feasibility study
by Center 4 Engineering of Redmond,
Oregon (a firm of high credibility) for the
purchase of Pacific Power and Light's
property
Second: The study reveals we can
acquire PP&L's system; wire, poles,
transformers, etc. for somewhere
between $11- and $23-million, not the
outragious sum of $53-million PP&L
claims. For another sum somewhere in
the region of $30,000, we can also ac
quire PP&L's dams on the North Ump
qua.
Third: Public Utility systems can mar
ket bonds and pay less interest than
private utilities. Seattle Northwest
Securities Corporation is eager to sell
EPUD bonds, as are other bonding
companies.
Fourth: Larry Cable, a Portland con
sulting attorney on bond financing
revealed that Gene Tolefson, a Bon
neville official, says passage of the
Northwest Power Bill solves Emerald’s
power supply problems.
In addition PP&L’s dams on the North
Umpqua could supply 100 percent of
Emerald’s power supply if they see fit to
purchase them
Fifth: If we vote yes for the bonds that
ends the taxes because EPUD will have
the money to operate
If we vote no, the EPUD could ask for
another budget and more taxes.
It's best to be wise, “VOTE YES” for
the bonds Feb, 17.
Joseph G. Guth
Creswell
New rec facility
Thanks to the enthusiasm and hard
work of 300 fraternity and sorority
members on Jan. 24, the University has
some renewed recreational facilities.
These students scraped the walls and
put on two coats of paint in the eight
indoor handball-racquetball courts and
stripped the floor and painted the walls in
the east gymnasium
Although most people knew of the
shabby condition of these facilities, in
these days of budget crunches there are
simply no funds available for such
projects. The fraternity and sorority
students and the several faculty and staff
who participated in this project have set
a bright example of volunteerism and
what we can do when working togther. I
hope that all people who use the facilities
will be grateful to the sororities and
fraternities and will give some thought to
how they too can help improve the
University for the benefit of everyone
Special thanks are due to Cindy
O’Connor and Eric Jacobsen, the coor
dinators of the Saturday blitz!
Bob Bowlin
Dean of Students
Trusts thesis
My first cause at the University of
Oregon is to LOVE in a sense each per
son here.
However, there are ways not under
stood. Sheer lunacy prevails so often.
The reason'is that my name is Lee
Wesctcott Ransom, US Army Special
Forces Green Beret, Captain. My Army
name remains simply: 540-62-4887 Cap
tain USA.
Finally I trust my thesis written early in
my life entitled “1964 Election Process.”
The thesis filed at Oregon State Univer
sity political science department may
indeed be valid. Simply put, “All people
make errors, which are not corrected.
Exceptions, usually are that the person
needs simply 1) wallet money; 2) pictures
— to enlarge themselve to people.
Lee Westcott Ransom
Pre-doctoral student, political science 1
Deja vu
Friday night I observed a group of
students roaming campus blindly and
pbediently singing “God Bless Amer
ica.” Could this be a psycho-historical
deja vu of German youth singing
“Deutschland Uber Alles?” Rather than
an expression of their enthusiasm for
America, I would suggest that their pack
behavior is instead an expression of their
insecurity and fear of the collapse of the
myth of America
Making pseudo-heroes out of 52 hos
tages or restructuring the image of the
Vietnam veteran from victim-executioner
to warrior-hero, will not ease our national
guilt. Only if we acknowledge the reality
of America, and aren’t blinded by the
myth, will we be able to evolve into a truly
democratic society.
But how can third-world, minority and
social change groups share their vision
fbUSH UNE-UP
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MV#**. MsV Cfyjfif&e
of America, when it is the policy of
reporters on the Emerald staff to erase
our message and instead print their edi
torial opinion. As example, my action of
standing on the American flag and read
ing war poems of Vietnam veterans is
stated to have ‘^enraged a crowd of
about 50 students” when in fact half the
people there gave support to my action.
Another reporter refers to the American
students attending the Iranian
(reporters’ quotation marks) “teach-in”
as Marxists. With such biased “report
ing" how can we expect a fair hearing of
what we have to say. In effect, by denying
us fair access to the media, you are
denying us our freedom of speech.
Ron Phillips
University Veterans
On abortion
Last Thursday, on Jan. 29, i had an
abortion. Some believe I have committed
murder. Ms. Beltran believes I have
adopted a Nazi-like "solution." I think
they should hear what I believe.
My reason for having the abortion was
quite simple. My birth control method
failed and I did not want to be pregnant.
Ms. Beltran says I killed a human be
ing She is confusing human life with
human being. What I killed was human
and alive, but then, so is my appendix.
Whether this human tissue, completely
dependent on my body for its life, was a
human being, is a matter of religious
belief. I happen to believe that it was a
part of my body with the special charac
teristic that, had I given it life support for
approximately nine months, it would
have become a separate human being.
Like any other part of my body, it is under
my control and dependent on my will for
its survival.
This is the way my body felt when I was
pregnant. This is my belief. This belief
has just'as much validity as any reliaious
belief that considers fertilized egg to
have a soul and therefore to be a human
being
It is particularly ironic that Ms Beltran
should compare my decision to have an
abortion to the Nazi solution. Part of the
Nazi solution was to outlaw abortion.
Mary Daly Skinner
Eugene
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