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
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