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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 2, 1981)
opinion A feeble, but noble, first try at peace When national leaders begin thinking the unthinkable, its time to act. Thus, Senate Joint Memorial 5 — a state Legislature resolution against the lunacy of nu clear arms. Oregon is once again in the forefront, this time as the first state in the country to take the noble — if feeble — step in the fight against the idiocy of nuclear proliferation. SJM 5 is a memorial to Congress and the president asking for a national policy prohibiting the United States from ever initiating the use of nuclear weapons in international conflict. It also requests a mutual freeze with the Soviet Union on all further testing, production and deployment of nuclear weapons. Similar legislation is pending in a half dozen states around the country. But Oregon’s memorial — if passed — would probably be the first to make its way to Washingtion. SJM 5 received unanimous passage from the Senate justice committee, the full Senate, and the House judiciary subcommittee. Legislature sources say passage by the full committee is fairly certain. The House, however, remains a question mark. Sponsors encourage supporters to fire letters off to their representa tives. The bill’s passage would signal to Oregonians worried about nuclear weapons that the issue is on the move. And nationally, should enough states band together, the result could be such a policy somewhere down the road. Such a simple com mitment to life seems pretty much common sense. Yet it may be a pipe dream. With a hawkish administration clamoring for a massive defense build-up, efforts at limiting nuclear arms may be futile. But with stakes so high, that’s all the more reason. It’s time to slow man’s headlong race toward oblivion. yours Price too high The decision of the University Planning Committee to restrict bicycle traffic on campus next fall is unwise. This committee has wrestled with the problem of complaints and while I appreciate their concern I am convinced that their deci sion was wrong. After 44 years and at least 55,000 miles, I have come to the conclusion that the two outstanding advantages of the bicycle are its momentum and its ability to carry the rider to his or her exact destination (not even to mention the more obvious points such as no noise, propulsion without fuel, etc ). The airplane drops you off at a far away airport, trains take you only to distant stations, cars to outlying parking lots. The two-wheeled engineless vehicle takes you right to the door of the building you wish to enter. The authorities outside the campus try to partly destroy the momentum feature by insisting that we, bicyclists, make useless stops at stopsigns. I have written about this in the Register Guard long ago Now the authorities on campus wish to take away the second great advantage: ability to reach final destina tion. Like automobilists we will have to start walking all over campus. It is a fact that in a democratic society reasonable persons will, by and large, not obey unreasonable laws. Bicyclists still do not stop unnecessarily at stop signs. Neither is it likely that they will dismount on campus and walk need lessly. But there will be friction and unhappiness when pedestrians make remarks uncalled for, or when an over zealous ticketing program starts It is sad that so many people are not willing to tolerate minor nuisances such as bicycles on campus, smoking in pub lic places (I do not smoke), etc. The consequences of intolerance are over regulation, excessive bureaucracy, and a steady erosion of our freedom It’s too high a price. Huibert Paul Assistant professor Library Be discerning There are a few comments I think need to be made concerning the May 20 front page article entitled, " 'Immoral Minority’ heckles Rev. Falwell.” First of all, I’d like to mention that there were at least three different "born-again" Christian organ izations at the "I Love America" rally that were there to oppose the Moral Majority (on the grounds that both its methods and most of its "morals" are in opposition to the teachings of Jesus and the rest of the New Testament) Since Mr Falwell isn’t usually very willing (or perhaps isn’t able) to discuss issues reasonably, these groups mainly op posed the Moral Majority through litera ture that was distributed during the rally Since it wasn’t very well publicized by the media, I think it would be good for the public to know (and even better for Jerry Falwell to know) that it is not “just the abortion-rights people and the gay-rights groups that fear the Moral Majority,’’ as Falwell has claimed. There are many Christians, many born-again Christians, who fear that through groups like the Moral Majority, Christianity in America will be distorted (as it has been in the past) to accommodate the upper classes and used to oppress the poor both at home and abroad — something which Jesus never meant for his message or his people to do. Although the points on which the “Moral Majority" departs from the teachings of Scripture are too numerous to list here, I would encourage anyone who is interested to contact “World Peacemakers” at 5145 S.E. Lincoln Street, Portland, OR, 97215 for literature on this matter or drop by the “Evan gelicals for Peace’’ table any Friday at the EMU. Please be discerning. The "MM" of Christianity (if it can even be called Christianity) has little resemblance to the way of Jesus Christ. Ian Belvin Senior, linguistics Don’t need men? At the folk festival on Sunday, I felt both hurt and touched by a song by the women's vocal group Sweet Grass Enti tled, "We Don't Need the Men,” it came across as a virtual condemnation of the entire male sex Being a man, I feel prompted to speak out for those of us who are painfully aware of the oppres sion women fall victim to in our society. It is true, that as men, we shall never fully understand the personal degradation that women (of all ages) are confronted with. Afterall, we are not on the receiving end of the aggressive, self-centered atti tude our capitalist system demands. In stead we are taught to stand at its fore front. I would like to point out however, that many of us (out of either fear or human compassion) have rejected these inhumane norms. Sometimes labelled as “queers,” “commies” or "cowards,” we too must struggle against the oppression perpetrated by those “at the top” who are profitting from the social structure as it is. “We Don't Need Men" did illustrate some important and commendable points. It seemed to remind women that they can and should stand strong — as independently minded beings — capable of controlling their own lives rather than falling prey to arrogant men who think they can do a better job This type of conscience-raising is of fundamental importance but only if men and women work and fight together will we be able to destroy the exploitive neo-fascist system that is responsible for our oppression in the first place Christian Gunther Sophomore, undeclared The real Olum? As a senior preparing to graduate, I am ashamed that the school administration, under Pres Paul Olum, has agreed to "reorganize” the University Envir onmental Law Clinic to meet the desires of regional timber interests. This is an outrageous and inexcusable abandon ing of integrity which cannot be justified academically. It sets a dangerous precedent when certain political inter ests can effectively threaten the school with loss of contributions unless per fectly legal, if controversial, functions of the University are curtailed. So now the law clinic will be separated from the National Wildlife Federation, and the NWF may be asked to vacate their campus offices as well. Is this an example of the bold and progressive leadership we are to expect under Pres. Olum? Douglas Burkhardt Senior, politcal science Nuts to comic strip There has been considerable debate this term over what comic strip the Emerald should run. We aren’t anxious to stir up further controversy, but Mixed Nuts doesn’t seem to integrate into the college atmosphere. We want a cartoon that elicits positive response from the readers. We think Doonesbury accomp lishes this. Garry Trudeau is a witty, intelligent, humorous cartoonist who deserves recognition through college exposure. Many people read it for the political commentary while others for light humor. It is enjoyable on many levels and has educational value con cerning today’s society. Although Doon esbury will be more expensive we hope the Emerald will change its current policy and invest in this venture. Geoffrey Nlcholls Math, computer science And 191 co-signers
