s* -4 Doubt fogs defoliant’s effects
McKenzie
Coffee Co.
World’s finest coffees .
Mexican and Swiss (Jhocolate
Rare and Exotic Teas
Steamed Bagels
Mayflower Building
782 E. 11th 342-2071
By SALLY HODGKINSON
Of the Emerald
No one is sure of the effects of
Agent Orange on Vietnam ve
terans, four panelists agreed
during a regional conference
for Vietnam-era veterans at the
University Saturday.
But the two veteran activists
and two Veterans Administra
tion doctors disagreed on the
medical risks of Agent Orange
NOW OPEN LATE NIGHT
FOR YOUR
MUNCHING PLEASURE
667 E. 13th
MEXICAN FOOD
The Cactus Patch
Money Saving Specials each week
Mexican & Domestic Beers
Open til 3 A.M. Fri & Sat c
11 AM. to 1 A M. Mon-Thurst
Human Sexuality Symposium
May 15-17
Specialists in sex therapy, gender identity and family life
will be featured at the
6th Annual Pathfinder’s Symposium.
Speakers
Robert Stoller, Psychiatry professor - University of Washington
Lonnie Barbach, Clinical professor of Medical Psychology - University of
California Medical School
Richard Green, Psychiatry professor - State University of New York at
Stony brook.
UO Students $25/General Public $65
Daily fees: UO Students $10, Friday Night/UO Students $5
General Public $30
UO credit available. For registration and more information
contact the Continuation Center, 1479 Moss, 686-4231.
Co-sponsored by the Department of Counseling and
Educational Psychology and the Continuation Center.
RIDE YOUR BIKE
• HELP YOUR HEART
• HELP THE ENVIRONMENT
• HELP CAMPUS CROWDING
The Survival Center and Circle K are working to increase bicycle use on
campus Bikes are the fun and easy way to tackle gas shortages, and price
increases, air pollution and exercise needs.
Tuesday and Wednesday, special activities to promote bikes will be
happening in the EMU courtyard. Bike repair workshops will be running all
day, and mechanics will be doing repairs for up to
*0% OFF.
BIKE REPAIRS
UP TO 20% OFF
SPONSORED BY
THE SURVIVAL
CENTER AND CIRCLE K
and whether veterans should be
compensated for medical prob
lems attributed to the defoliant.
"There are lots of questions
and much confusion," said
Keith Martin, a faculty member
at Stanford University and the
environmental health physician
at Palo Alto's VA hopsital.
Martin said lab tests on an
imals indicate that dioxin, the
main toxin in Agent Orange,
causes medical damage, but the
effects vary from animal to an
imal.
"Clearly, it’s cause for
alarm,” but Agent Orange’s ef
fect on humans is still unknown,
Martin said.
"Science is not going to give
us the answer to this problem,”
said Paul Merrell, a member of
the Northwest Coalition for Al
ternatives to Pesticides and a
member of a national task force
on Agent Orange.
Merrell added it is obvious
that Agent Orange causes many
medical problems the VA
refuses to recognize.
But the biggest obstacle
preventing recognition of these
medical problems is disa
greement among veterans, he
said.
‘‘Our own house is not in
order when it comes to Agent
Orange.”
Because of the political and
financial strength of chemical
companies, veterans need to
band together on the issue if
they want to make progress,
Merrell said.
Don Belcher, a Seattle VA
hospital physician, said the ho
spital has tested 600 veterans
for symptoms of Agent Orange
poisoning since November,
1978. Reactions to dioxin poi
soning include minor skin dis
eases and minor nervous sys
tem disorders, Belcher said.
Most veterans tested for
those medical problems were
not directly exposed to Agent
Orange, Belcher said.
“A lot of people think that
there was an orange cloud over
Vietnam and no matter where
you were, you were exposed.”
Numb emotions follow
Vietnam veterans home
By SALLY HODGKINSON
Of the Emerald
A well-dressed man walked
into the veteran center in Port
land, drew the shades and
asked center director Mike
Maxwell who would listen to
him.
The man, a successful and
happily married lawyer, talked
for three hours about his exper
iences in Vietnam 13 years ear
lier, things he’d never told an
yone.
Many Vietnam veterans are
sharing feelings among them
selves for the first time in years,
Maxwell told a panel discussing
the delayed stress-reaction
syndrome — feelings they had
been numb to during those
years.
The workshop was part of the
Second Annual Western Con
ference for Vietnam-era veter
ans held Saturday.
Maxwell estimated that
750,000 to 1 million of the 8.9
million men and women who
served in Vietnam still are suf
fering from the war — many from
delayed stress.
“But let’s not make a mistake
and call veterans walking time
bombs.’ They are not mentally
ill."
While in Vietnam, many ve
terans shut off their emotions
and reactions to war and con
tinued to suppress their feelings
once they returned home, said
Maxwell, a Vietnam veteran.
“The most important thing
was to get back in one piece.
You learn to stuff your emotions
to become an effective combat
JOIN A WILDLANDS
RESEARCH TEAM
In the Mountain West or Canada
• Wildlife Research
• Wildlands Research
SUMMER 1981
Field Courses, 5 Units
FALL 1981
Field Quarter, 15 Units
Phone (408) 429-2822 or write:
WILDLANDS
RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Cardiff House
University of California, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
soldier. It wasn’t like the John
Wayne wars on TV. It wasn’t
glorious or honorable.”
If not dealt with, the emotional
numbness can lead to anger,
alienation, guilt, distrust of
authority, nightmares, drug
abuse or personal relationshiop
problems, Maxwell said.
University psychology Prof.
Linda Sherman estimated that
40-60 percent of Vietnam com
bat veterans suffer from some
form of delayed stress.
Audience reaction to the
panel varied. Some veterans
said the problem may be in
society, not them.
"Let's use our anger to
change the society that caused
it in the first place,” one vet
suggested.
“Anyone who has been in the
military experiences stress," a
woman veteran said.
A few veterans spoke for the
first time in public about their
war experiences. ,
"I put my time in, and I sur
vived,” said one. “Being back in
this country is survival all over
again. I got all the benefits of
being a vet: a Seiko watch, my
divorce papers and rambling
feet."
“I don’t know about delayed
stress,” said another veteran.
"I’m just trying to make it
though life."
’S
4c
Self Service
COPIES
• Binding
• Two-sided copies
• Reductions
344-7894 764 E. 13th
Recycle this paper