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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 1982)
Oregon daily . _ emerald Ra|neesh: on a cloud? A Silver Cloud Part II see below Friday, October 22, 1982 Eugene, Oregon Volume 84, Number 35 The Political Faire brought candidates to campus to debate the issues While few students attended the all-day event. ASUO officials remain positive about their efforts Low student turnout mars Faire By Richard Burr Of th« Emerald The ASUO Political Faire was marked by tow student turnout Thursday, but faire officials say the event was worth the effort Attendance averaged 18 people through the first five debates The turnout reached its lowest point when no one except participating officials and the media showed for the 11:30 a m Rep District 42 debate with Democrat Larry Hill. Hill was delayed and was 20 minutes late for the debate, said Dan Allen, Student Universities Affairs Board chairer The Democrat decided to talk to the media and left, he said The faire was sponsored by ASUO, SUAB and Student University Relations Council Officials said the event ran smoothly and the sole problem was the attendance None of us are upset or disappointed,” ASUO Pres C J Balfe said ‘ We offered the students a service that was worth the effort and we ll keep on doing it "We've been fighting apathy for the three years that I've been here and it's a slow tight," he added But for Debi Lance, ASUO vice president of state and University affairs, the attendance prob lem was baffling “I really don't know what happened," she said "I'm confused " Allen said the debates ran smoothly and were informative for him "It's too bad more people didn’t show up," he said Although higher education is in trouble, students seem to need a larger incentive to attend the faire and become involved, Balfe said We can only go so far,” Lance added In another faire development, Rep Jim Weaver's office requested a Weaver representa tive be allowed to debate against Republican challenger Ross Anthony, Lance said The request was denied, she said. »>.<&?<« I / / L ? ef/>'cs a dSaf«ac* ic t»7 ^ °i'o",,e' zrn"«’“Xvo' CSL*w«2r’ co"’CD:r9seoi,e 1 fires?*,**, eve-» a*,1* <**>»£?' c°^°et9 * £c *"4; ***» ,ns"?d «X“> sfafe cw/boar<* *Ht *> s as r*p£ an° an ouf?,'nes Un‘*erS,le2B «nc, Iff0 rewew ., Sent*tives'T of „ G■£***£***> s,a,_ / Arid desert blooms under guru’s influence By Randy Malat Of the Emerald Editor's note This is the second part of a two-part series that looks at the reason people follow Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. ANTELOPE — Time is short — dance, sing, be joyous! Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh Followers of a religious leader from India are demonstrating that a blend of faith, money, leadership, technology and manpower can make the desert bloom and move mountains On a piece of desert twice the size of San Francis co, the Rajneesh Ranch has about 350 full-time re sidents and a supporting cast of 500 other Rajneesh disciples called "sannyasins." Selected by the com mune's leaders according to skills, depth of commit ment, wealth and available facilities, they work 70-80 hours a week without pay Rajneesh claims 270,000 followers worldwide; relocated from Poona, India in the summer of 1981, this is the religion's center, an international sensation. Reactions to the experiment are as much a product of the speaker’s values as the ranches' tangible signs of progress "It’s a pretty simple way to live,” says Prem Deep. "Get up in the morning and go to work. Be part of a growing farming community with a lot of nice people Eat like a king. Have a couple of hours at night for yourself.” "They're the new society dropouts," says Don Smith, a retired Marine who lives in nearby Antelope. "They claim all these skilled and professional people are driving tractors and milking cows and relying on the Rajneesh organization to provide for them. If that isn’t a dropout, I don’t know what a dropout is.” "This is not a hippy commune." says Krishna Deva, mayor of Rajneeshpuram, the newly-incorporated city that covers 2,000 acres of the 64,000-acre ranch "The people here are a very successful group. It has nothing to do with escaping They were successful but some thing was missing.” "All religious movements start with tremendous vitality,” says Dr. Hee-Jin Kim, chairer of the Universi ty’s religious studies department. "Right now this movement is highly idealistic. In the course of idealistic activity you get involved in political and economic issues Any religious movement is a mixture of good and bad " “There is no complaining, no bitching and moan ing, no contract signed,” says Sunshine, who shows visitors around the ranch. "People are here because they want to be,” she says. "If there’s anything they don't like they can leave There’s plenty of people that want to come and replace them Continued on Pages 10 and 11 Photo by Bob Baker Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's image is prominent throughout Rajneeshpuram.
