emerald
Vol. 82, No. 163
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Wednesday, May 27, 1981
Classified staff
opens picket line
University classified staff will
spend their lunch hour today
picketing near the University to
inform people of the slug
gishness of negotiations with
the state.
By carrying picket signs with
slogans such as, “Don't ba
lance the budget on state
employees' backs,” “Must we
strike?,” and "Fairness — An
important word to state
employees,” members of the
University’s chapter of the Ore
gon Public Employees Union
say they’ll try to send a message
to Gov. Vic Atiyeh and his
negotiating team.
Becky Bragg, an OPEU higher
education coalition member,
says the union organized the
picketing "to be visible to man
agement and to express con
cerns for the current negotia
tions."
Last Wednesday, the Univer
sity’s higher education coalition
held a preliminary vote on the
state’s final offers on six key
issues of negotiations, includ
ing salary packages and trial
service periods, Bragg says.
The results showed that the
state’s offers are ‘overwhelm
ingly unacceptable” to the
coalition’s members.
“We’re state employees, not
civil servants. Employees are
tired of not being shown the
dignity and respect they
deserve,” Bragg says. "This
can be shown through a fair
contract."
Bragg says a strike would
"cripple” the University
because more than 1,200 of the
University’s employees are OP
EU classified staff personnel.
The informational picketing is
one of several events planned
during May and June to inform
the public that state workers are
trying to negotiate a reasonable
contract. The state’s
negotiators insist on insulting
them with proposals that take
back benefits gained in
previous years of collective
bargaining, she says.
Beres suffers injuries
George Beres, director of
University’s sports information
office, was in critical condition
Tuesday night following surgery
for head injuries sustained after
a bicycle he was riding was
struck by a car.
Beres was travelling west on
30th Avenue and attempted to
make a right-hand turn onto
Harris Street. An automobile
pulled out of Harris onto 30th,
striking Beres as he turned.
Beres was taken by ambulan
ce to Sacred Heart Hospital,
where he underwent surgery for
several hours for head injuries.
. The car was driven by Edward
Bosshardt, Eugene. No cita
tions were issued, according to
the Eugene Police Department.
The investigation is pending.
A graduate of Northwestern
University, Beres has been
working in journalism for over
30 years with the last five spent
as director of sports information
at the University. In the past, he
has been a basketball commen
tator for radio and was the edi
tor of Bill Dellinger’s book,
"Winning Running.”
George Beres
Report shows mishandling of Agent Orange
Graphic by Sioux Andersc
By SALLY HODGKINSON
Ol the Emerald
A congressional draft report charges that
Dow Chemical Co. didn’t warn the government of
the possible health dangers of Agent Orange and
that the government mishandled data on the
toxicity of the herbicide used extensively during
the Vietnam War.
"The ultimate delay in the government’s
response to protect individuals against the
adverse health effects of Agent Orange expo
sure established a pattern of government
inaction and ineptitude,’’ said the 142-page draft
report.
The report, written by a subcommittee of the
House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Com
mittee, was released by University Veterans As
sociation Director Dave Isenberg at a Tuesday
press conference.
Isenberg said the I980 report “destroys”
claims that Agent Orange causes only minor
health problems.
"If dioxin used in Agent Orange is harmless,
and if they are confident of their product, then
why won’t the government release this report?’’
he said.
"This report just confirms what veterans have
known for years."
In a New York Times article on March 29, a
representative for the Oversight and Investiga
tions Subcommittee confirmed the existence of
the Agent Orange report Isenberg said he con
tacted a college professor in Washington D C.,
who obtained a copy of the report from a
subcommittee member.
Isenberg said he sent copies of the report to
several veterans groups, including the Vietnam
Veterans of America, to exert public pressure on
the commerce committee to hold hearings on the
report and release a final draft.
According to the subcommittee report, the
government and chemical companies knew by
I957 that dioxin — a chemical found in Agent
Orange — caused "adverse health effects on
n humans."
The 96 million pounds of Agent Orange
sprayed in Vietnam was 14 times stronger than a
similar herbicide used in the United States,
according to the report.
The report also charges that "while the
Department of Defense analyzed the efficacy of
Agent Orange as a herbicide, the department
failed to test for possible adverse health effects
and to take the necessary measures against
human exposure.
"Agent Orange was used with no special
precautions for limiting or preventing exposure of
ground troops, applicators and/or handlers."
The report claims the government down
played and ignored persistent reports from Viet
nam that the herbicide caused human health
problems and increased the use of Agent Orange.
In addition, the Veterans Administration has
neglected the development of an Agent Orange
compensation policy and has been slow and
unwilling to distribute information on the health
effects of Agent Orange, the report says.
The VA will treat only chloracne as a symp
tom of Agent Orange exposure. Many Vietnam
veterans claim exposure to the defoliant has
caused severe medical problems, including birth
defects, nausea, cancer, skin diseases and psy
chiatric problems
A I979 class-action suit filed by 52 law firms
representing Vietnam veterans and their families
against Dow Chemical and four other Agent
Orange manufacturers is expected to go to jury
trail later this summer The $4 billion to $40-billion
suit charges the companies with product liability.
Isenberg described the report as "an
account of bureaucratic stonewalling" that "tells
us the body count of the Vietnam War is not yet
over."
Isenberg said Pres. Ronald Reagan promised
him in an appearance last spring at the University
that his administration would demand a
comprehensive study of Agent Orange heahh
effects.
"To date he has done nothing to fulfill his
promise Many veterans feel once aga n
betrayed "