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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 4, 1982)
emerald platform Resisters face felony charge in draft issue The fires of civil protest are again being fanned by the seemingly inextinguishable draft issue This week, beginning Feb. 28, all those 18 20-year-olds who didn’t register for the draft were “technically" federal felons. The deadline for the grace period was Sunday, yet, draft officials are saying they will allow registrants a couple of weeks, just in case they didn't “get the word." According to reports, nearly a million poten tial registrants failed to observe the Reagan ad ministration's second deadline. That may indicate those who chose not to register did indeed "get the word.” However, the Reagan administration's stand has become tougher. Thomas Turnage, director of the Selective Service, said, "the Justice Department will initiate appropriate enforcement action." That “appropriate" action for failure to register is a prosecutable felony punishable by a jail term of up to five years, a $10,000 fine, or both Attorney General William French Smith has promised to prosecute those who didn’t register It is inconceivable that nearly a million regis tration resisters will be brought to trial by the government. The government will probably choose a handful of cases to prosecute — and do so in selected areas of the country. From the government’s point of view, prosecuting a registration resister may frighten those not yet registered into compliance The prosecution of registration resisters amounts to coercion of those who oppose the concept of mandatory registration. All signs indicate that registration was the precursor to reinstitution of the draft that the government said it wasn’t. On March 20 the selective Service will stage a “mock call-up" of 1,000 army reservists to test the system. A larger “mock call-up” is planned for sometime this year. Why would the government be testing the draft apparatus and be willing to prosecute registration resisters if a full-scale draft were not imminent? Beyond all the rhetoric lies the individual’s dilemma Groups such as Eugene’s Coalition Opposing Registration and the Draft are against the entire mechanism of government draft regis tration, but it all comes down to the 18-year-old either registering or not by the dictates of their conscience No group, nor government, can die tate what that decision should be. The 18-year-old, in good conscience, knowing the risk involved, has to live with his decision. Perhaps the conception that history repeats itself is indeed accurate On March 11 an anti-draft demonstration will be held at the Federal Building in Eugene Add to this the reinstitution of the draft, and a trial for a registration resister, and the 1980s will resemble the 1960s It's a shame the same ground has to be gone over time and again <Hii MNAK 1WjP "BUDGn" taHDuP AT THE t>OuBLE-R NX letters ! Male curfew I saw the male curfew notices on the University campus and after reading your article on them, I feel the need to com ment At first I thought that they were amusing, but after thinking about them for a while I realized that they made an important point I otten feel frightened on the streets after dark Even though a curfew for men may not be a realistic answer, hopefully the notices made other people think A group of my friends were discussing the notices and we were surprised to find that the men among us did not realize that even walking to a night class is very scary. None of us realized how common rape is The poster pointed out that well over 100 rapes were reported in Eugene last year. That makes more that two rapes reported every week. It really makes you think, doesn’t it? Sarah Buckley Sociology Servile Congratulations In their servile desire to please their peer group the editors of the Emerald have missed the real story of the Springfield ratepayers march The huge increases in some electrical bills that brought peo ple into the streets of Springfield has nothing to do with WPPSS In an attempt to conserve elec tricity SUB changed the rate structure so that the more you use, the more you pay Con sequently, some people are facing bills in the $150-$200 range Termination of WPPSS reactors 3 and 5 has not affect ed electric bills yet and its effect on heavy users will be much smaller than the change in the rate of structure DeFazio, Ratley and Dix are well aware of this, I’m sure They care little for the Springfield ratepayer; their only interest is in their blind war against WPPSS and advancing their tacky political careers They are engaged in the shabbyist bit of demagogery I have seen since the days of Richard Nixon This is the real story behind the Springfield protest, three shameless politicians hoping that people will be too stupid to know what is really going on Obviously they have guaged the I.Q of the Emerald editorial staff accurately. Jim Linn Molecular biology Pluralism Last October when Paul Olum was formally installed as 13th President of the University, one of the inaugural events was a symposium on the challenges facing American public univer sities in the 1980's Among the participants in that stimulating exchange of ideas were Harold Enarson, president emeritus, Ohio State Univ.; and William Boyd, immediate past president of the University In their remarks, both Enar son and Boyd included higher education's responsibility to as sist students to deal effectively with problems of alienation and questions of identity I believe it was Boyd who asserted that during the recent past we may have "made a new god of plur alism," and that universities must help today's students to see themselves as whole human beings I was reminded of those ob servations the other day when Los Angeles Mayor Tom Brad ley, a black American, formally announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for governor of California When the matter of his race was broached during a press conference following his an nouncement, Bradley respond ed by noting that voters will decide, as they have in several previous elections in Los Angeles, on the basis of demonstrated competence and the contenders' proposed poli tical programs — rather than on the basis of irrelevant factors such as race I applaud Bradley's wholistic perspective ” And I shall con tinue to encourage those of us who belong to non-white Amer ican minority groups to learn to accept our racial characteris tics as only one component of a much larger mosaic of personal identity Ronald J. Rousseve Professor of Counselor Education letters policy The Emerald will accept and attempt tp 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 letteriis 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 space available The Oregon Dally Emerald la published Monday through Friday except during finals areek and vacations by the Oregon DaUy Emerald Publishing Co. News 686-5511 Advertising/Business 686-3712 Classifieds 686-4343 Production 686-4381 Editor Sally Hodgkmson managing Editor Gabriel Boehmer Newt. Editor Harry Esteve Assistant News Editor John Healy Photo Editor Bob Baker Graphica Editor Max DeRungs Editorial Page Editor Cort Fernald Sporta Editor Sieve Spalr Associate Sportt Editor Jeff Dickerson Entertainment Editor Matt Meyer Night Editor Harry Esteve At social* Editor* ASUO Dane Claussen Community Marian Green Department* end School* Debbie Howlett Ftitum Caroline Pelnch Higher Education Ann Portal Politic a / Environment Ron Hunt G»n»ral Staff Adretllelng Director Darlene Gore Cleeeltled Artrertlilng Sally Ol/ar Production Manager Ann Peterson Controller Jean Ownbey
