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
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