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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 2, 1981)
opinion_ I: JK greg wesson I jEl q quorum of one Thomas Jefferson said if he had to select between a government with no press and a press with no government, he would unhesitantly choose the latter. And, according to a 1946 U S. Supreme Court opinion, Jefferson was not alone. ‘‘Those who won our independence . . . knew that order cannot be secured merely through fear of punishment . . .; that it is hazardous to dis courage thought, hope and imagination; that fear breeds repression; that repression breeds hate; that hate menaces stable government; that the path to safety lies in the opportunity to discuss freely supposed grievances and proposed remedies.” Thus, the First Amendment. However, paper guarantees remain paper guaratees unless those in control of power respect them. Case in point: Rep. Drew Davis, D-Portland or Lake Oswego depending on whether he is loung ing or running for office, finds my style offensive. To punish me, he refuses to grant me any inter views. It makes one to wonder — what good are constitutional protections without access? Isn't Davis trying to do what the drafters wanted to avoid? If every member adopted his approach, the fear of offending would stifle any meaningful exchange of ideas. However, for Davis, there might be a stronger argument. Since he won’t talk to me I can only surmise his motivation, but his list of bills hints as to his direction. The urban representative, who lives out of his district, has introduced bills man dating the teaching of creationism in public schools, wants to ban abortion and thinks nativity voi jr s Error in story I am writing to correct a gross error on the Jackson Browne-Chris Williamson concert (story). The objectionable line stated that eight local groups working on nuclear issues will receive "five or six thousand dollars each” from concert proceeds. This is not true. The money allocated for all of these groups together comes to only five thousand total. I received this figure from Lois Wads worth, program director of KOZY’s Nuclear Questions, who organized the concert. It is important for people to know that these local groups operate on miniscule budgets comprised mainly of volunteer labor and contributions. Eugene’s por tion of concert proceeds will not go far when divided among so many. Sharon Rucker Junior, film studies Rude crowd The "No-nukes” concert at Mac Court Feb 23 served a very valuable function by illuminating what appears to be a growing attitude among the general college populace. A very vocal majority of those attending was extremely rude and insensitive to all of the performers that evening, including Jackson Browne. Jackson made the unfortunate attempt to throw a small measure of education in along with some very fine music. Music is an excellent tool for communication and education, conveying messages and r emotion like few mediums can. For years, Jackson Browne has used his musical aptitude to express his deepest emotions, not only to bare his life to the world but to cause other people to stop long enough to look inside of themselves, to discover their worth and the worth of life around them. Anyone who proclaims an affinity for Browne's music should be attuned to the extreme sensitivity inherent in his art. The concert Monday night was an excellent testimony of the man and his concern, not only for himself, but for those of us sharing this tiny planet. Un fortunately, most of the audience had little or no concern for anyone but themselves, a sad statement by those who supposedly will shape the future. You don’t have to be a musician, a Cosmic Cowboy, a Native American, or an Earth-mother to show respect for the only Earth we all have, or for those people who try to make you think past the next exam, the next six-pack, and the next sticky night in bed. Brad Garber Community Education Program Scary parallels In 1964, Lyndon Johnson promised to involve no "American boys" in an Asian War. A few days ago, Feb. 24, 1981, Ronald Reagan awarded the Congres sional Medal of Honor to a Viet Nam veteran. In his speech he praised the American boys who did become involved in an Asian war, over 50,000 of whom died, as heroes who “were not allowed to win.” Also on that day Mr. Reagan provised no Viet Nam in Latin America. I don’t think he means it. I pray he is not so blind that he cannot see the parallels between the situation in Viet Nam before we came to save it and that in El Salvador now. He can’t be. Nor can I understand how he expects the American people to ignore the parallels between the government’s media campaign to set the stage for what turned out to be unredeemed tragedy — the destruction of millions of lives and an entire country — and that underway now over El Salvador and the rest of Latin America. Think back and compare the revelations about Soviet supplies in the hands of the Viet Cong that preceded the Tonkin Gulf resolutions with the recent release of so-called proof that there are Communist suppliers to the left wing in El Salvador. The memories should be fresh in our minds — we cannot afford to let them submerge. If we choose to ignore those memor ies, we will then learn in El Salvador, or Guatemala, or Nicaragua, what we should have learned in Viet Nam: that winning a war for a government rejected by the people means killing and maiming most of those people, scorching or poi soning the earth that supports them, and burdening our own people with misery enough from having their young men and women set to this brutal and horrifying work to choke the country with rage, fear and tears. Russ Hauge First year, law l scenes should be allowed in government build ings. Davis evidently has, or perceives that he should have, a “moral” bent. With that in mind, I dirct his attention to the Fifteenth Psalm where David asks: “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?" In the third verse the Bible teaches tolerance. What sort of person shall ascend to heaven? “He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.” Judge not lest ye be judged? So, let’s see. That gives us a constitution, a Supreme Court and a Supreme being — that’s three strikes and you’re out. Hypocritical? I wonder. If Jackson Browne really wanted to make a point about nuclear power, why didn’t he use 15 “Birken stockers” pedaling bicycles to generate the power used for his amps? My guess is that Trojan contributed about 25 percent of the total power used Monday night. Hypocritical? You judge. Anna Hoyt Senior, journalism Gary Shanahan Senior, political science Toritilla waver As organizer of the tortilla-waving in cident at the Oregon-Oregon State basketball game Feb. 12, I felt the need to respond to Russ Winick’s letter to the editor (Feb. 23 Emerald). He charged us who waved tortillas at referee Rich Ballesteros with racism towards a Mexican-American. Balleste ros is, in fact, of Spanish descent. Therefore, waving tortillas at him does not carry racist overtones. Ballesteros himself thought the event was funny. Upon entering the court before the game, fellow referee Bob Garibaldi pointed out the sign to Ballesteros and both laughed. Later, during a game timeout, Rich came up to me and we talked about the incident — his smiling face and laugh indicated to me he did not consider the episode a racial slur. In an article by executive sports editor Bill Mulflur of Portland’s Oregon Journal on Feb. 17, Mulflur analyzed basketball officiating in the Pac-10 conference this year and concluded it was worse than ever. In a ranking of all conference referees, Mulflur rated Rich Ballesteros as one of the four worst. As Winick suggested, there is some thing wrong with ethnocentrism. My prejudice is not agaisnt ethnic minorities, but rather poor referees. John Sowell Sophomore, pre-journalism letters policy The Emerald will accept and try to print all letters containing fair comment on ideas and topics of interest to the University community Letters must be typewritten and no longer than 250 words Letters must be signed, the author’s field of study or faculty status noted and must include address and phone number for verification
