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Something sinister in the games they play
There is more than a passing concern with
worldwide nuclear arms proliferation and the
game the superpowers are playing to maintain a
balance of power. The contest is at stalemate now
in what is aptly termed "mutual assured destruc
tion", but is best expressed with the acronym
MAD.
To say “concern" doesn't adequately convey
the extent of sentiment rising against nuclear
arms. In Europe tens of thousands of demonstra
tors have staged protests against the Soviets and
Americans stock-piling nuclear weaponry in NA
TO and Warsaw Pact countries. Demonstrations
calling for a nuclear-freeze have been held across
this country. But the demonstrators aren’t the
important players in this deadly game.
The Reagan administration is continually
talking peace and making what appears to be
overtures for disarmament to the Soviets. Yet,
in spite of the "public" peace-making the arms
race continues to escalate. Pres. Reagan's limited
disarmament plan of last fall named “Zero option"
apparently has been discarded.
Now comes a report that seemingly with the
blessing of the White House a five-day “mock"
nuclear crisis was staged in early March. The
report carried in the Wall Street Journal detailed
how former Secretary of State William Rogers
played "the president” and directed a world-wide
nuclear war game.
The five-day scenario included the movement
of over 1,000 civilian and military players
throughout the world. But the “ultimate moment”
was reported to have occurred late in day four
when the North American Air Defense Command
picked up a major incoming Soviet missile strike
Hundreds of Soviet missiles hit targets in the U.S.,
and Rogers, as president, figuratively died in the
situation room. Former CIA Director Richard
Helms, playing vice-president during the war
game, took over the government for the remainder
of the game.
It seems horrendous for the Reagan adminis
tration to be even indirectly participating in mock
nuclear war situations. Is this merely a game? Or is
it a test of the “first-strike" capability?
Reagan was reported to be convinced that
the mock nuclear war proved the government has
the capacity for a "continuity" of power during a
nuclear strike. That is extremely comforting to
know that as the fire-storms rake the planet there
will be a “continuity" in the U S. government.
This is an insane "game" to be playing. What
does this mock nuclear war say to the Soviets? It
implies the U S. is testing out its "first strike”
capabilities and ability to survive a retaliatory
strike. It will definitely be read as such by Kremlin
analysts.
This war game is indicative of the unrespon
siveness of the Reagan administration to the
concerns of the American people. A broad-based
coalition consisting of politicians, clergy, and
educators have joined in a call for a nuclear
freeze. But will the Reagan administration listen?
How many years did it take the government to
finally hear the shouts of protest against Viet Nam
involvement? Too many years and too many lives
were wasted in the waiting for the dawning of
peace. We are waiting still.
letters
Appreciation
We would like to express our
appreciation for the University
theater's production of "Peer
Gynt” last term We found the
production itself and Jim Con
ant's acting amazing, and
therefore were especially dis
appointed in retrospect about
the Emerald's review, which we
don’t feel did justice to the am
bition, energy, and creativity
which obviously went into the
play.
We hope that the cast and
production department know
how much we and the University
community appreciated the ef
fort, and remarkable achieve
ment.
Barbara and Chriatar Mossberg
English and Humanities
Congra tula tions
Your editorial “Davis’ task, a
challenge to the utmost" in the
March 15 Emerald was an ac
curate and perceptive analysis
of the circumstances surround
ing the recent appointment of
William Davis to the post of
Chancellor of the Oregon State
System of Higher Education.
We believe that the State
Board has employed the can
didate best suited to the Oregon
system. He has the experience,
and we believe the personal
qualities, to sustain and even
improve the system in the dif
ficult times that lie ahead
Again, congratulations on a
fair and perceptive editorial
Edward Harms
president, Oregon State
Board ot Higher Education
Fallibility
You recently published an
editorial article which criticized
a test given by the School of
Journalism for its apparent
over-emphasis on the spelling
of obscure words.
Since that time, I have noticed
in your pages several mis
spellings of words that are not at
all obscure (e.g.. "principle" for
“principal,” “conscious” for
“conscience,” "old-fashion"
for “old-fashioned,” “alledged"
for “alleged").
I hope that these misspellings
reflect mere carelessness and
not a new editorial policy.
Lawrence Crumb
Liberal tradition
The people bitching out Pres
Paul Olum ought to read Ken
Metzler's “Confrontation”, the
story of University Pres. Charles
Johnson’s tenure
Just as Johnson did, Olum is
speaking out strongly for our
liberal traditions He is not
fighting battles he cannot win or
building conflict that could
create even more enemies of
the University We lost a fair and
honest man in Johnson and
ended up with the Nixonian
Boyd
Herbert Scanlon
Alumnus
We dare you
We dare you to print this let
ter
Dave Kanner A Dan Clark
KZEL 96 radio
Faculty salary
It was with sorrow that I read
the Emerald's editorial of 5
March, in which you urged
faculty to take pay cuts in order
to solve our current financial
crisis, but not to take the
proposed educational leaves or
to accept being laid off, since
those options would mean
either larger classes for
students or less class time for
students or both You also state
that tuition has been increased
recently to meet the continuing
financial problems, whereas
faculty salaries have not been
decreased
What sorrows me is that the
Emerald, and perhaps other
students, seem to be eager to let
these difficult times bring divi
siveness, when we should be
uniting in a common front
You have made a serious er
ror in your contrast between
tuition and salaries, and that is
your failure to adjust for infla
tion. When adjusted for infla
tion, tuition has hardly risen at
all in the last five years, whereas
faculty salaries have fallen
drastically.
Jack T. Sanders
AAUP chapter president
editor's note: The editorial did
not urge University faculty to
take a pay cut but to postpone
for six months a scheduled
salary increase as a means to
meet the budget cut.
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