debbie howlett
reporter’s notebook
A group of young journalists, high school students at last
Wednesday's 56th Annual High School Press Conference, became
involved in an event that was not on their conference schedule — an
unplanned, spontaneous collision of beliefs
The event was a comment on the political inclinations of "today's
high school student ”
The students gathered in front of the EMU, out of curiosity most
likely, to listen to the rhetoric of the Revolutionary Communist
Youth Brigade paired with a goodly amount of right-wing rebuttal by
a not so organized assemblage The "leader'' of this assemblage
was Mike Cross, a University student and a Republican challenger
for a state senate seat
This group of onlookers, 90 percent of whom had conference
name tags affixed to their lapels, showed some of the things that the
high school students of the 1980s seem to be made of: A strong
conservative bent and genuine intolerance
What ensued was not the exchange and evaluation of ideals It
was a barrage of wadded paper, rash generalizations, immature
tittering about "how funny" the RCYB looked and taunting chants
of "USA, all the way."
My concern does not lie with the content of the spirited debate, I
feel the high school ranks could do well with such experience,
provided that both sides are given "equal" opportunity to speak —
and honest evaluation
It was the "inequity,” the total and complete intolerance for the
RCYB's words by these high school journalists, that bothers me
I am concerned and worried that this group, these young adults
so intent upon learning the parameters of journalism — objectivity,
fairness and the right of free speech — would conduct themselves
with such a level of intolerance
Even though some of these students may decide not to go into
journalism, it is none the less disheartening to view them voicing
opinions fraught with misplaced generalizations It was their
incomprehension of what they were opposing that scares me
My point is not that I am intolerant of their views: I appreciate their
patriotism and the right to believe in their country My point is that
their opinion was formed with incomplete information and very
minimal thought These students did not allow themselves to view
both sides objectively, to learn about a different ideal Instead,
these young students settled for an hour of name-calling and
heckling
This prejudice — opinion formed without full knowledge — is a
tragedy It is a shame that these students, many of whom will
undoubtedly become journalists, let emotion and personal bias,
guide them to their conclusions
It is a shame that on their trip home, they will pat each other on the
back, much like they do after a Friday night football game, and
congratulate themselves for being "journalists "
letters
Advocate
I am writing this letter to en
dorse Rep Margie Hendriksen
for the Oregon State Senate
During tfe 1981 Legislature
Rep Hendrirsen worked closely
with the Multnomah County
District Attorney s office and
proved to be one of the leading
victim advoca es in the House of
Representatives
She sponsored and helped
pass laws which protect people
from violent sexual attacks De
spite pressure from other
members of the House, Rep
Hendriksen pushed out of com
mittee and passed a bill allowing
the district attorney to appeal
erroneous pre-trial rulings by
trial courts in forcible sexual
assault cases She assisted my
office in its efforts to improve
the criminal laws protecting
children, handicapped and
senior citizens from abusive
conduct
At a time when the resources
of our communites are
precious, Rep Hendriksen has
helped law enforcement insure
the rights and well being of the
people of the State of Oregon I
hope the citizens of Lane
County allow Rep Hendriksen
to continue her efforts in the
next session of the Oregon
Legislature
Michael Schrunk
District Attorney
'WHO'S INSIDE?'
Dr\litinal Fairer
I VIIIIVUI I Ull V
Some clarifications are
necessary on the Political Faire
mentioned in the Oct 7 Emer
ald First, the Political Faire is
co-sponsored by the ASUO,
SUAB, and SURC Second,
Rep Jim Weaver's office did not
contact us requestng a special
time for an appearance
Originally, the Faire was
scheduled for three days Only
in the first phone call four weeks
ago did we mention to Weaver s
office, and all other candidates
involved in the faire, that there
was a choice to appear on one
of the three days
However, due to limited fund
ing and staff for the Faire, it was
necessary to combine all
debates into one day, Thursday
Oct 21, since we must pay for
the EMU Ballroom All
candidates were informed of
this change and rescheduled
for debates on Thursday except
in the debate planned between
Jim Weaver and Ross Anthony
We have gone through a great
deal of effort in preparing the
debate formats for the entire
day Both Anthony's and
Weaver's office were notified of
the debate formats possible, the
time period for Thursday even
ing, and the panelists from the
various media in Oregon who
would participate
Anthony's office confirmed
the time with the ASUO while
Weaver’s office did not We
hand delivered letters to
Weaver's office and made
numerous phone calls asking of
Jim Weaver s decision by Sept
27 Not one lettter or call was
returned to confirm the debate
Consequently, Ross Anthony
-1
Oregon daily _ _
emerald
The Oregon Daily Emerald is published Monday through
Today except during exam week and vacations, by the Oregon
Dally Emerald Publishing Co at the University of Oregon.
Eugene, OR, 97403
The Emerald operates independently ot the University with
offices on the third floor of fhe Erb Memorial Union and is a
member of the Associated Press
News and Editorial 68* 55 It
Display Advertising and Business 6** 3712
Classified Advertising 63* 4343
Production 666-43*1
Circulation 6**5511
Editor Harry Esfeve
Page 2
Managing Editor
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Assistant News Editor
Editorial Page Editor
Photo Editor
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Associate Sports Editor
Entertainment Editor
Night Editor
Associate Editors
Higher Education
Departments and Schools
Student Government
features
Politics
Community
Genera! Start
Advertising Manager
Classified Advertising
Production Manager
Controller
John Healy
Marian Green
Cort Fernald
Joan Nyland
Bob Baker
Mike Riplingpf
Paul Da.uer
Jonathan Siegi*
Cort Fernald
Debbie Mowlett
Sandy Johnstone
Richard Burr
Sean Meyers
Michele Malataa
David Brown
Darlene Gore
Sally Oljar
Victoria Koch
Jean Qwnbey
will be speaking to the students
and the Eugene-Springfield
community In place of the
debate, questions from the
audience will be addressed
However, through-out the entire
day, debates between legisla
tive candidates will be held and
both Vic Atiyeh and Ted Kulon
goski have been invited to
speak as well
The ASUO, SUAB, SURC
cordially invite all students and
citizens of Eugene and Spring
field to attend this event and find
out more about the candidates
in their districts. We are only
sorry that the public will not
have the opportunity to attend a
formal debate between the
Fourth District Congressional
candidates
Michael Prothe
representative, SUAB
Topsy-turvy
This letter is in response to
George Streisinger's "Constitu
tional letter" (Oct 5)
Mr Streisinger. and others
like him. need to do their histor
ical homework For if any party
has been guilty of (naking "end
runs" around the Constitution it
has been the Supreme Court
itself
To use Mr StreisingOr's ball
game analogy, the Supreme
Court is no longer merely an
umpire making judgement calls
based on a faithful adherence to
the rulebook (Constitution) as It
was originally written Rather
modern Supreme Courts have
re-written the rulebook at every
turn
Blithely ignoring volumes of
commentaries by the architects
of the Constitution about the
original meaning of such things
as the First Amendment, the
Court opted instead for the
maxim set forth by Justice
Evans Hughes in 190? "The
Constitution is what the judges
say it is "
Thus nine |udges now arbi
trarily mold the Constitution to
achieve whatever they perceive
to be the greatest social good
For example, in 1973 when
the Court decided that women
must have the "right" to abor
tion. it played Silly Putty with the
14th Amendments and voila' the
constitutional right" to abor
tion
Many constitutional scholars
(even pro-abortionists) noted
that the Court had greatly over
stepped its jurisdiction in Roe v
Wade Indeed, Court insiders,
recognizing the constitutional
absurdity of the decision,
named it "Harry's abortion” in
honor of Justice Harry Black
mun who brokered it.
No, the beloved senator from
North Carolina is not undermin
ing the Constituiion On the
contrary, it is an imperial Court,
handing down its arbitrary,
amoral, unquestionable deci
sions from on high, that has
turned our constitutional foun
dation topsy-turvy
Tom Visoky
graduate, journalism
Scathing
The scathing attack on
Springfield "The other city” in
the Emerald deserves an equal
ly scathing response in defense
of Springfield's honor Eugene
and Springfield at the core are
mill towns, but that's where the
similarity ends
Eugene has four layers of
slime that have defaced its true
identity and good character
The first layer is the pseudo
socialities comprised mostly of
eastern carpet bagging snobs
who dress fashionably, love the
arts and should be in Boston to
pursue their snooty endeavors
The second layer is the
burned out hippie sect circa
1969 who roam the Fifth Street
Market sampling afterbirth
quiche with Keseybransprout
yogurt and rave about the low
ash content in Haight-berry
shakes
The third and possibly most
repulsive layer is the Chicago
L A suburbanites who brought
thetr sterile upper middle class
lifestyles with them
The last layer is a composite
of tne other three with a dash of
University intellectuals who
combine to create the worse
America has to offer
People who live in glass
houses shouldn't throw stones
By the way, the Springfield Per
forming Arts Menage or
SPAM debuts next weekend
It s a puppet show at the Big M
Shopping Centre
Greg Hume
Springfield
Monday, October 18.1982