Oregon daily
emeraia
Monday, November 8, 1982
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 84. Number 47
Photo by Mark Pynes
Winter workout
Flying frisbees snd falling leaves competed for airspace Sunday as
dry weather brought out frisbee-golfers Craig Kotlarek and Marty Nills.
Balmy fall days will be shortlived, as the National Weather Service
predicts showers today and tonight with partial clearing Tuesday. High
today in the upper 40s.
Ex-University head
leads list of speakers
Activists Nader, McAliskey also appearing
Students with a couple hours of extra
time Monday can learn about civil liber
ties in America, political activities in
Ireland or government and corporate
responsibility to the public and the
environment as three prominent
speakers come to campus today
Former University president Arthur
Flemming, Irish political activist
Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and con
sumer rights advocate Ralph Nader will
lecture on their areas of expertise in a
busy day for listeners
The first speaker of the day is Nader,
who will discuss Corporate and
Governmental Irresponsibility towards
the Public and the Environment" at 12:30
p m in the EMU Ballroom Tickets are $1
for students and $2 for the public
Nader received nationwide attention in
1965 for attacks on the auto industry in
his book “Unsafe at any Speed.”
He has been active in government as
well, initiating the National Traffic and
Safety Act, the Highway Safety Act, the
Comprehensive Occupational Safety
and Health Act and the Wholesome Meat
Act among others.
Nader’s plan to establish public
interest research groups resulted in the
formation of OSPIRG at the University in
1972, the first campus PIRG More than
20 states now have PIRGs.
Nader’s appearance is sponsored by
the Cultural Forum, Survival Center,
OSPIRG, ASUO and Save Our Eco
systems. ’
Flemming recently became another
government watchdog. Dismissed from
his post as chairman of the Commission
of Civil Rights by Pres. Ronald Reagan
one year ago, Flemming has formed a
"shadow civil rights commission" to
monitor the civil rights policies of the
Reagan administration.
He will speak on the federal
government's civil rights responsibility at
4:3n p m. in the Gerlinger Hall Alumni
Lc ige.
Flemming, 77, has had a distinguished
career in both the academic and political
spheres
He has been president of three institu
tions of higher education — his alma
mater, Ohio Weslyan University, the
University, from 1961 to 1968, and
Macalester College in Minnesota
Following Flemming's speech, a five
member panel will respond to his
remarks. Panel members are Derrick
Bell, law school dean; Charlene Curry,
University government relations director;
Linda Greene, associate professor of
law; Gary Kim, coordinator of the Council
for Minority Eduation; and Norma
Comrada McFadden, University
affirmative action director.
The free program is sponsored by the
Office of University Relations.
Bernadette Devlin McAliskey gained
worldwide fame as a militant leader of
Northern Ireland's Catholic minority in
1969, when she became the youngest
person ever elected to Parliament.
Severs' years ago, McAliskey and her
husband were the victims of an
assassination attempt, in which she was
wounded five times.
She will speak at 8 p.m. in the EMU
Ballroom as part of a limited speaking
tour of North America
Her appearance is sponsored by the
United Ireland Support Committee, the
Cultural Forum and the ASUO. Admis
sion is $2.50 for students and $3.50 for
the public.
Music and dancing with Maria
O'Deachain Campbell, Nick Voreas and
Apples in Winter will accompany the
speech.
Kerans chosen House speaker
SALEM — For the second time in less than a
week Eugene Democrat Grattan Kerans has been
elected to office. Only this time, Kerans has been
been elected by his Democratic peers to the post
of speaker of the House of Representatives for the
1983 legislative session
Kerans successfully lobbied among the 35
returning or newly elected House Democrats to
get the job as speaker of the House The 36
Democrats spend most of Sunday evening in
caucus choosing who would lead the House in
January Kerans chief competition came from
tour veteran House members, Reps. Jeff Gilmour
of Jefferson, Glen Whalen of Milwaukie, Glenn
Otto of Troutdale and Vera Katz of Portland Rep
Hardy Myers of Portland, last session's speaker,
declined the job this year
The office of speaker is the most powerful
and influential in the House. As speaker of the
House Kerans appoints committee chairmen,
determines membership on committees and
routes the various bills to the appropriate com
mittees This makes the House speaker one of the
key forces in all legislative action. Much of the
attitude of the entire session is formed by the
temperment of the speaker himself.
Some House observers weren't surprised
that the Democrats chose Kerans as speaker He
did help recruit and aid in the campaigns of most
of those newly elected Democrats Keran s may
have been calling for the return of some early
Grattan Kerans
favors from many of the novice legislators.
As early as Thursday Kerans was conserva
tively estimating he had between 17 and 22 votes
for the speaker's job. A 19 vote majority would
have been enough to win.
The Democratic caucus elected Kerans by a
substantial margin.
Kerans is a former student at the University
and editor of the Oregon Daily Emerald In his
early career in the House (1975-77) he was
accused of being too partisan.
Lawsuit targets city council
in arts center name change
Controversy still surrounds the City Council’s name
change of the Eugene Performing Arts Center to the Hult
Center for the Performing Arts.
Citizens For Open Government is expected to file a
lawsuit in Lane County Circuit Court following a press
conference at 10:45 this morning. The lawsuit alleges that the
Eugene City Council violated the Oregon Public Meetings
Law when it changed the center s name at an improrfiptu
meeting during a $10-a-plate recognition dinner Sept. 23.
The 17-member CFOG lists three group members as
complainants in the suit: John Bauguess, Morley Young and
Rachele Raie. The group has retained Eugene attorney
Richard Houghton to represent them.
"The city council violated the public meetings law in
changing the name of the performing arts center in what was
essentially a closed meeting," says Bauguess. “The public
was not adequately notified of the event and the $10 ticket
price was a barrier.”
When group members approached the mayor and City
Council with their complaint some officials responded that
the action was legal and that "if we didn't like it we could go
ahead and sue," Bauguess says. "So we did."
The Oregon Public Meetings Law policy statement says it
i» the intent of the statute that "decisions of governing bodies
be arrived at openly." The law, which outlines how meetings
should be conducted, includes a provision (ORS 192.640)
specifically stating that "the governing body of a public body
shall provide for and give public notice, reasonably calculat
ed to give actual notice to interested persons. . ."