dailf'emerald
Vol. 82, No. 104
I
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Thursday, February 19,1981
Too hot to handle
A University science laboratory con
taminated with radioactive material
from a spill Tuesday may be decon
taminated by Friday, says University
health physicist Edward Bailey.
But decontamination doesn’t guar
antee the room will be re-opened,
Bailey says. After the room is decon
taminated, radioactive levels may still
be higher than regulations allow, and a
new floor may have to be laid, he says.
‘ Cleaning up a contaminated room
isn't like washing your clothes. ”
Bailey says he isn't sure how exten
sive the decontamination process will
be or what materials he will need.
“Soap and water may be all I need,
but I just don’t know. ”
Decontamination will be more dif
ficult because the liquid sprayed out
across the room.
"If this was just a spill it'd be easier to
clean up. It's the worst type of cleaning
situation."
Reagan calls for cuts from most corners
WASHINGTON (AP) - Pres. Reagan
urged Congress on Wednesday night to
“act forcefully, and now,” to cut $41
billion in spending and enact tax reduc
tions worth $1,500 to a middle-income
family of four over the next three years.
To the applause of a politically divided
Congress, Reagan proposed the most
drastic set of budget cuts ever recom
mended by a president, saying they were
necessary to reverse the course of a
government "somewhat out of control.”
Reagan said his proposal, if enacted in
full, would halve the inflation rate, create
3 million new jobs and balance the
federal budget by 1984
Reagan’s "program for economic
recovery” would put the government
upon an untested path leading away
from spending and regulatory trends that
date back almost 50 years to Franklin
Roosevelt and the New Deal.
“There is nothing wrong with America
that we can't fix,” he declared.
Reagan needs congressional approval
for almost all his proposals. Republicans,
predictably, said they will push for quick
action; Democrats, who control the
House, promised close scrutiny, but
nothing more.
Senate Democratic Leader Robert
Byrd said his colleagues would support a
tax cut, but not Reagan's proposal. "This
is an inflationary tax cut,” Byrd said
The president was greeted by a
prolonged standing ovation from Con
gress, his Cabinet, his wife Nancy and
spectators who watched from the House
galleries. His speech was interrupted 14
times by applause, when he mentioned
budget cuts and also when he promised
to boost defense spending. There was
only silence when Reagan pledged to
save major social programs from the
budget knife.
Reagan’s far-reaching fiscal program
is designed to trim the functions of
government and stimulate business
growth. In declaring war on the costs and
purposes of federal regulations, he said:
“The taxing power of government
must be used to provide revenues for
legitimate government purposes. It must
not be used to regulate the economy or
bring about social change ”
Nonetheless, he vowed, the nation s
poor can “rest assured that the social
safety net of programs they depend on’’
will not be cut.
Legislative rounaup
Pot paraphernalia hearings ignite debate
By GREG WASSON
Of the Emerald
SALEM — Marijuana and alcohol fan
ciers found their tastes debated at the
Oregon Legislature Wednesday.
The House Judiciary Committee held
public hearings on three bills restricting
the sale of devices used to consume
marijuana. Two bills, HB 2422 and HB
2585, would prohibit the sale of para
phernalia to youth under 18 and the
third, HB 2535, would outlaw sale of the
gadgets to anyone.
The main sponsor of the third bill, Rep.
Max Rijken, D-Newport, told the commit
tee that by outlawing the paraphernalia,
the Legislature would curb drug use. He
then listed a series of problems that
could be attributed to drugs.
“Violent crime by juveniles, a number
of rapes, and so on and so on — all drug
related,” Rijken said "We have statistics
— I don't have the statistics with me, but
we all know that so many of these
criminal activities are caused by drug
abuse, and the use of narcotics."
However, Lew Ward of Oregonians
Coordinating to Prevent Drug Abuse
charged that Rijken's condemnation was
too broad Rijken didn’t differentiate
between varied drugs and marijuana
can’t be medically classified as a narco
tic, Ward said. Further, Ward said the
claim that pot use leads to crime is simply
untrue.
"We have (a report) which was done
by a blue-ribbon panel appointed by
then-Pres. Nixon," Ward said. "And that
report concluded that there was no rela
tionship between marijuana and the
commission of crime other than using
marijuana."
HB 2422, sponsored at the request of
Ward's group, also allows licensed
adults to grow three marijuana plants for
personal use.
The committee took no action on any
of the bills and will hold a work session
that is as yet unscheduled.
Earlier in the day, the Senate Business
and Consumer Affairs Committee heard
testimony on SB 342, which would
require warning labels on all hard liquor
sold in the state.
Sen. Keith Burbidge, D-Salem, himself
a reformed alcoholic, spoke against the
idea.
‘‘Some people are able to use alcohol
in moderation over a whole lifetime and
not have it become injurious to their
health," he said. ‘‘I don’t like to see an
additional financial burden placed on
any industry at this time."
But the proponent of the legislation,
Sen. Rod Monore, D-Portland, coun
tered that the labels would be beneficial.
"By warning of the dangers, we'd be
doing the people of Oregon a service,
and filling a glaring gap in our warning
policies,” he said. “It's been shown that
similar warning labels on cigarettes and
cigarette ads have increased people’s
awarness of the dangers and, we have to
assume, affected behavior."
Meanwhile, the legislative field-burn
ing war is entering its second decade.
Last month it appeared Eugene had won
the latest battle when Gov. Vic Atiyeh
appointed a Stayton doctor to the field
burning advisory committee. The doctor,
Thomas Sims, has serious reservations
about the health aspects of field burning.
Wednesday, Atiyeh announced that
Sims had resigned, blaming pressures
from growers in the Stayton area.
Sen L B Day, R-Salem, whose consti
tuency includes many field burners, was
gleeful. According to Day, the search
now should be resumed for a member
with an open mind.