opinion
Bow to democracy
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin should bow to
pressure and call for a full-scale investigation into Israel's
role in the the Palestinian Refugee Camp massacres
Last weeks naming of a court investigation without the
power of subpoena is not enough to insure full inquiry
President Reagan is long overdue in forcibly making the
Israeli government stop conducting an offensive war with
U S weaponry in Lebanon
If the Israeli's do not leave Beirut by Wednesday, and if
they continue to ignore Reagan's peacekeeping strategy for
the West Bank, the United States should drop its long-held
support of the Israeli government and give it to the anti-war
demonstrators
Begin should listen to the protests against his war in
Beirut The protests are becoming the only demonstrations
of democratic ideals in Israel
Recent interviews with Defense Minister Ariel Sharon
increasingly show that Israel approved of the entry of
Phalangist troops into the Sabra and Chatilla camps Com
mon sense, as well as the positioning of Israel troops in
seven-story buildings overlooking the camps, admits that
Israel knew of the massacre on Sept 15 long before the
government announced it
Sharon's statements that he let the Phalangist army into
the camps to find the remaining PLO fighters because he did
not want to risk his own men, and the further admission that
he would only take action if the Israeli army had solid
suspicions of a massacre (dead bodies) are the comments of
a commander who has given up his responsibility
These are the comments of a man who hires mercenar
ies to do a job he wants done and lays back and protects his
own troops They are not the statements of a military leader
following orders to conduct a peace-keeping mission and
eventual withdrawal. They are grounds, in this case, for a
forcible resignation
Begin has had every opportunity to placate the United
States (quickly becoming his sole ally) and establish some
precedents to make peace with his neighbors However,
Begin would rather fight, it seems. Israel has re-established
settlements on the West Bank, broken the Camp David
agreement and conducted an all out offensive war in
Lebanon
The current Israeli regime is fond of telling Washington
that they are not puppets and Tel Aviv is not Saigon even if
the United States pumps in armor and continues to support it
in the United Nations
If Israel is not the closed militaristic government it
appears to be, a forcible show of constitutional expression
such as an independent judicial inquiry will happen If the
Israelis are democratic in action then public outrage and
concern for the betterment of the whole nation will eventually
force Begin and Sharon out of office should the present
policies of Israel continue
Organize lobby
Last Friday's ASUO and the Oregon Student Lobby
conference on legislative tactics was deemed a success by
participants and Emerald observers alike
The day-long conference invited Oregon State Legisla
tors, a professional lobbyist and vice-chancellors to share
their insights on the upcoming legislative session and how to
lobby for higher education
Legislators such as Margie Hendriksen and Mary Bur
rows vowed their support for higher education Hendriksen
urged the students to strongly oppose Ballot Measure Three
which would freeze the increase in property tax to 1 5
percent and hurt the already wounded education revenues
Vice-chancellor Wil Post explained to the student lob
byists the shift of power from the Ways and Means committee
to the Revenue Committee in the last special session Post
called for a focused student lobby for higher education,
instead of various groups soliciting in behalf of their cause
Professional lobbyist Ted Hughes concurred with Post's
remarks and suggested strategies for lobbying, including
doing homework on the background of the legislators to be
lobbied
The ASUO and OSL are to be commended for the
timeliness, practicality and organization of the conference
The Emerald finds this somewhat ironic because conference
coordinator, Ann Portal, a former ASUO vice president,
resigned last week citing a lack of organization in the ASUO
as the primary reason
The information was vital Let's hope the OSL. ASUO
and other state system lobbyists use this information and
organize to increase their pressure for support of higher
education
/' Hi
letters
Food stamps
We are concerned with the
recent proposal by the State of
Oregon to become a demon
stration project to "cash-out”
food stamps The request to the
U S Department of Agriculture
would make it possible for the
State to give cash to Aid to
Dependent Children(ADC) and
Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) families instead of food
coupons
The cash would be added to
the grants However, the cash
would not be equal to the
amount of food coupons clients
are currently receiving The
State would develop a "magic"
formula to attain an average
allotment and would add that
amount to grants received by
ADC and SSI families
We feel that this proposal
would threaten the nutritional
integrity of the Food Stamp
program, mean the potential
demise of the Food Stamp Pro
gram and create additional
economic problems for low in
come people The Food Stamp
Program s goal was to eliminate
hunger in America and has
proven to be one of the most
successful and effective pro
grams for low income people
Strong support for the Food
Stamp Program has come from
large corporate farms, the
grocery industry and unions all
of whom realize that the Food
Stamp Program helps keep the
price of commodities up. guar
anteeing farmers, unions and
the grocery industry a profit
margin Without the support of
these groups, the Food Stamp
Program may be lost to low in
come people
Some local grocery industry
people feel that the Food Stamp
"Cash-Out" proposal could re
sult in a considerable reduction
in their revenues from Food
Stamp clients. In May, 1982,
$15 million dollars worth of
Food Coupons reached local
grocery stores in Lane County
The Lane County Client’s
Council, a low income advocacy
group, adamantly opposes the
proposal A recent Food Stamp
Cash-Out survey of 300 low in
come people, showed that 188
people preferred to receive
Food Coupons, 64 people
wanted cash, and 41 people
were undecided We feel that
the Food Stamp "cash-out"
project would threaten the nu
tritional integrity of the program
and could lead to its demise
For more information, please
call the Lane County Client's
Council, at 342-5I67
C.Poorman
Lane County Client's Council
Pesticides
Don't endanger your family,
friends, neighbors, pets and
wildlife by using poison sprays
Pesticides kill, as the word
implies pest (anything one has
been conditioned to regard as
such) plus cide (to kill)
Among the sprays' targets are
dandelion and clover, beneficial
plants which fix minerals in the
soil, making lawns green and
healthy Many wild plants, par
ticularly dandelions, have out
standing nutrient and medicinal
value as well. But the beautiful
dandelion (look at it) is every
where scorned and poisoned
When people spray wild
plants, their purchases enrich
huge pesticide corporations
while impoverishing our envir
onment, depriving birds of safe
food, grasses of wildflowers,
children of natural beauty and
safe places to play
Pesticides are controlled by
the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). Dominated by
industry from its conception, the
EPA is now administered entire
ly by former corporation attor
neys and executives By permit
ing chemicals whose "safety"
data is obtained from the man
ufacturers, the EPA is itself our
greatest environmental hazard
Pecficides may be absorbed
through inhalation, ingestion, or
the skin A National Cancer In
stitute study of 100 pesticides
found that 97 caused tumors
Pesticides can also cause per
manent mutations, resulting in
birth defects in present and fu
ture generations
We are absorbing these poi
sions The widely used
preservative Penta which
(before Reagan) was midway to
a ban because of its birth
deforming capability, has been
found in over 90 percent of the
population by a recent EPA
study Other chlorinated phen
ols, such as 2,4-D, were found in
about 50 percent
For documentation or infor
mation on non-toxic alterna
tives, contact:
Barbara Kelley
Save Our ecoSystems
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