I
Deny MX toy box
How the Congress could deny the president his new
Wyoming-based toy box is beyond the ken of the Emer
ald
Vet, there are some concerned defense-oriented Con
gressmen who actually have the unmitigated audacity to
fight our commander-in-chief on the truly lethal dense pack
MX
But a look at the defense capabilities of the weapon will
assure the most skeptical that this weapon is based on the
deafest of defense plans
The MX is based on the profound fear of a nuclear
first-strike attack on the United States by the Soviets
The greatness of the $35 billion little set of explosives
depends on a fratricide theory — they nuke one pack of our
bombs, but can't get them all in one fell swoop Their
radioactive mist is so thick that they deflect their own second
or third cluster of bombs giving the MX time to deploy.
The fratricide theory also assumes that our dense pack
of bombs — kind of a six-pack of bombs stored in a 14 by 1 5
mile block of silos — will be able to get through the radioac
tive stuff and counterattack
Opponents of the MX mention that the dense pack missiles
could be destroyed by one big bomb developed by 1990 But
in their infinite wisdom the military strategists have an
answer: The Soviets are cheap They will not spend money
on a bomb big enough to take out the rectangle of densely
packed MX's.
And if that isn't enough insurance, the weapons tinkers
could eventually build an anti-ballistic missile that would
explode any Whooper Soviet bomb
The ABM’s would break our SALT agreement to “limit"
ABM usage, but gosh were talking about a system that
assumes a first strike
MX’s are better than the Minutemen because they can
be moved — loaded on trucks and discharged from them
The Congress already considered the “Peace train" MX
under Carter — nobody wanted it rumbling through their
land Now the President wants a “Peacekeeper.”
What logic defies installing an easily-moveable-temporari
ly-permanent set of bombs that presuppose a nuclear war so
that we never have one?
The Emerald understands.
However, we support the Congressional clear-thinkers
who ask that our defense budget be scrutinized Even funds
for conventional warfare or aid to the personnel in the armed
forces would be better than this continued saga of escalation
before negotiation
Ultimately, the president should consider giving up the
toy box and consider arms reductions. But that definitely is
above the Emerald's ken
opinion
letters
Love letter
This is an open love letter to
everyone connected with the
University Theatre production
of "Oh, What a Lovely War!"
It was a marvelous production
of the play, superior to the film
version The juxtaposition of
monstrous and horrifying World
War I experience with a com
bination of dance, farce, music
hall routines, poignant scenes
and bitter comedy came as a
shock to older people in the
audience, but to a Saturday
Night Live generation, it seemed
very effective
I’d love to see the theatre
jammed with students We
laughed, caught our breaths,
even came close to tears during
this fine and imaginative
production Thanks to eveyone,
in particular those incredibly
fine singers
Barbara Nlcholls
Counselor for Student Athletes
|| letters
Butchered
By now I am quite accus
tomed to being misquoted by
Emerald interviewers, although
I still wish they would employ a
tape recorder or at least learn to
use shorthand when interview
ing I am less accustomed to but
not very concerned about my
utterances (for a change
accurately reported) being
attributed to my good friend
Ron Wixman; although the
quote ran contra to his own
"absolute beliefs,” I felt it makes
him at least look good — so why
not? (Emerald, Nov 12 and 15)
Neither am I bothered by
having my picture (taken by
your very talented Dave Kao)
appear in reverse (Nov 12) or
being described as "a professor
of Russian" (Nov 18); the Rus
sian language is, after all, very
beautiful and I love Russian
literature
What really annoys me is
having my jokes butchered
(Nov 18) Once Stalin executed
the stationmaster, engineer and
conductor, they were obviously
no longer available for "re
education" by Khrushchev, or
anyone else
What Khrushchev did was
"rehabilitate” the stationmas
ter, engineer and conductor —
posthumously, of course — but
the train still did not move It is
only at that point that Brezhnev
stepped in to draw the blinds
and pretend movement
Unlike the train in the Soviet
joke, the Emerald does move
and fast — but, unfortunately,
too often along some wayward
tracks
Joseph Flszman
professor, political science
No resolutions
Speaking only for myself and
not as a spokesperson for
Students Opposed to Registra
tion and the Draft (SORD), I
would like to provide a few
corrections in order to clarify
what occurred at the Nov. 23
meeting reported in the
Emerald
The new group has made very
few actual resolutions so far,
because it is so new, and the
goal is for unanimous
agreement on permanent deci
sions Your article gave the
impression that some topics
which were only debated were
actually resolved No "vows"
were taken as to opposition to
the many war-related organiza
tions your article quoted Those
were not resolutions We are
concentrating on simple logis
tics and organization of a
student groups at this stage,
and those "vows" we felt were
premature, though later they will
be debated again
A particularly important mis
understanding on the part of
your reporter was the statement
that "some members opposed
having to abide by University
rules " That was never an issue
at the meeting for one moment
The discussion was of the pos
sibility of University control im
pinging on the goals of the
group to organize its admin
istration and activities along the
equitable lines we have adopt
ed.
Our affiliation with the
University as a student group
was not postponed After our
third organizational meeting
today, we will apply as a student
group The more members we
have, the happier we will be
One last correction must be
made Our third meeting and the
last one for this term will be held
in Room 112 EMU, not the room
your article said It will be held
today at 7 00 pm and anyone
interested is urged to come help
tie things together It is a fine,
enthusiastic group
Molly Wtdmer
Eugmno
Human factor
If you support the use of United
States soldiers in other nations'
conflicts then maybe you should
think about who would and
wouldn't be drafted into a war
Homosexuals, drug addicts,
members of anti-American
groups and the like are currently
exempt from military service
They stay home if war breaks
out. Also exempt are those with
mental and physical problems.
Instead our country sends its
healthy, intelligent and patriotic
young men to die on foreign
battlefields. In nature the strong
survive to raise posterity, but in
the human world the strong are
chosen to be blasted away
Remember, for every young
man of that group killed that's
one less father who would have
passed on desirable traits to
another generation
Besides sacrificing men of
that category, now some
"champions of equality" want
to place young women in the
ranks as well I see no better
way to accelerate the depletion
of the cream of the crop of a
nation
Whose side are pro-draft,
pro-war types on anyway? Each
war has sapped this country's
strength not only economically,
but socially and genetically as
well
Each war this century has
taken heavy toll on the finest
products of our culture nearly
every two decades Such a
weeding out process will be
disasterous for our civilization s
strength in the longrun
Think about it Extinction is
forever and when a young
person is killed in combat that's
the end of that potential family
line Are our national interests
best served in fighting in some
foreign war or protecting our
greatest resource — our
people?
Lori Parkman
Oregon daily , _
emerald
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