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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1981)
opinion To preserve life, hundreds to die in EMU Hundreds die in EMU at noon tomorrow when the sky burns blinding white fire from the sur rounding nuclear blasts Silence descends over the building after the screams of the wounded and the dying fade into small echoes Strange figures in bulky white radiation suits walk among the dead They leave the corpses to rot. Radiation burned and diseased beggars creep through the decaying bodies, taking wallets and jewelry One uses pliers to pull the gold teeth from a corpse The head comes away from the torso The gold and paper money are things of past value Scavengers glean the dead almost from habit After the war, there's no market Sound like a scenario for a science fiction movie set in the distant future7 Unfortunately, it's not the distant future, nor entirely fictional Many hundreds of thousands of people con cerned with the plausibility of a nuclear holocaust are participating this week in a nationwide cam paign calling for a halt to development of all new nuclear weapons systems by the United States and the Soviet Union The day traditionally reserved to commemo rate the end of World War I and honor America's veterans is being used by Eugene and University groups to educate the public on the con sequences of a nuclear war The teach-ins and symposiums will be on a range of topics — from the draft to civil defense, to the chronological letters Bench the duck As if our poor football team isn't having enough problems on its own, Super Duck has been sent to the sidelines adding to Oregon s disappointing season If I were a real duck, I'd be pretty embarrassed by this incredulous rendition of a web-footed creature which looks more like the cartoon character "Hair Bear than a duck I'm afraid that the awkward off-beat person beneath Super Duck s mask just does not pull off the "Super Cool' image he is trying to portray I admire the purpose behind the creation of Super Duck but I'm sure we could come up with a much better mascot and I hope that we will I can’t really stomach the idea of a Super Duck making surprising appearances at future university activities that would surely be terrorism Why can't we have a mascot that's just a little bit more natural than an odd looking being with green and yellow striped hair"? To me. Super Duck looks like a bizarre reptile with a beak Since a mascot is supposed to be a symbol of good luck, why not get a mallard for the sidelines like the Air Force team had a falcon7 At least it wouldn't embarrass us I’ll admit that the San Diego Chicken looks pretty ridiculous at first too, but at ieast he knows how to pull oft a "cool" act; Super Duck just doesn’t cut it Lani Nicholson Rumors flying There has been a rumor flying around campus that the Legislature has decided to phase out the university system In several years, students tell me, the University will be closed and turned into a museum commerorating higher education in Oregon I thought I'd sneak some advice to students; you had better plan on leaving this state if you want a complete education — move to the east coast — move to Greenland — perhaps even Washington Start checking matchbook covers for correspondence courses If you don’t believe the rumors look around You can see the decline beginning here in Eugene with budget cuts They are hacking off chunks of our fine faculty. They have put our library on a devastating budget They might throw the international education program into deep freeze and they are jackmg-up our tuition and fees This is only the begin ning So, you students who are serious about educa tion, you had better consider leaving this state of mixed-up priorities James Taylor Senior, history development of nuclear warfare Many of the symposiums are on subjects that chill by their mere mention A number of the movies wouldn’t do for a Friday night date Then again, if Friday night is to continue, knowing the nuclear situation is essential The times in which we live seem to be critical The proliferation of nuclear weapons under Pres Ronald Reagan has alarmed people in this country and worldwide The methods of massing in protest, marching and committing small acts of civil disobedience are again being utilized by the people of the world to have their voices heard in loud disagreement with the governments' (be they east or west) nuclear weapons policies These are not a few loonies on the fringe saying we are nearing the point of no return Students are invited to mime nuclear death tomorrow noon in the EMU Lobby The mock die-in is an effort to graphically depict the results of a nuclear war in the future But, the die-in might serve best to remind people of what has already happened to humanity at Hiroshima and Nagasa ki It must never occur again lEONlE. utTS juSTMKETmS k UMlTED EjRGPEAK NUCltA"R S*C HANGt' (X7 Multi-national banking Democrats appreciate the plight of the worker That's why those sitting on the House Banking Com mittee handed over $13 billion of U S taxpayers money to finance Chase Manhatten and other multi-national banks Who needs enemies with friends like these7 According to Republican representative Ron Paul of Texas it took the Democrat controlled committee only 13 minutes to grant the appropriation The funds go to the World Bank and the International Development Assocation These bodies "lend' the money to various dictatorships who funnel some into their own corrupt pockets and use the rest to pay off debts to the multi national banks The poor get hardly anything except the best dictators the multi-nationals can buy with our money! In his book With No Apologies" Senator Barry Goldwater condemned this situation and stated. "The international bankers and the multi-national corpora tions are the principle beneficiaries of American for eign aid Congressman Paul has stated, "Money goes from the American taxpayer to the World Bank, to the borrowing countries, to the big U S banks — all under the heading of 'helping the poor In fact, this kind of program is welfare for the wealthy, and it was done on short notice with virtually no debate or questioning allowed This giant spending bill was railroaded through the Banking Committee without a thought for the taxpayer " Hopefully Republicans and conservative Democrats will take control of the House in 1982 Then representatives including Ron Paul and Idaho's George Hansen will gain in power The winners in that situation will be the American taxpayer — who currently gets no sympathy from “liberal'’ representatives Michael Cross Junior, political science Investment opportunity Fred Meyer is one of the best investment oppor tunities that has ever been opened to the Public Em ployees Retirement System The benefits from this transaction will clearly fall on all Oregonians and particularly the members of the Retirement System The management structure of Fred Meyer will not be changed by the sale And, the current management will own a considerably larger portion of the company than they do now Fred Meyer employs thousands of Oregonians and will continue to be headquartered in Portland Concern over potential contlicts between regula tory agencies and Fred Meyer was expressed in a recent letter to the editor Retirement tunds are not owned by the state They belong to the workers and retirees in the system The retirement fund is currently invested in hundreds of other companies doing business in Oregon It is unlikely that the Investment Council, as trustees of this fund would consider trying to affect any state or regulatory decisions concerning one of its holdings They never have in the past The Fred Meyer investment will not tavor one retailor over another Retirement funds are already invested in Sears, May Department Stores (Meier & Frank), K-Mart, Albertsons, and many other retail businesses Fred Meyer is a very strong retailer with high earnings that will continue to prosper for the benefit of Oregon s retirees Roger Meier Oregon Investment Council Imperfect justice Tooraj Fooladi's letter in the Oct 29 Emerald reminds us that justice in capitalistic countries is imperfect and probably biased I look forward to read ing a letter from him that gives examples of justice in non-capitalistic countries Dick Ricketts Dept, of computer & information letters policy The Emerald will accept and attempt to print all letters containing fair comment on issues, ideas and topics of interest to the University community The letters must be limited to 250 words, signed and the identification of the writer must be verified when the letter is turned in to The Emerald offices, EMU 300 The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length, style or content Publication is dependent upon the space available
