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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1982)
' Director Hawk bows out gracefully page 8 Oregon daily _ _ emerald Friday, December 10, 1982 Eugene. Oregon Volume 84, Number 69 Laser use lights way toward bright future By Frank Shaw Ol the Emerald Lasers, those intense beams of light from science fiction movies and used by rock groups in their shows, have entered the real world This was the message delivered by John Moseley, director of the University chemical physics institute, who spoke on the uses of lasers in research and the real world Thursday at the Eugene Conference Center There are currently 10 different types of research in laser technology being conducted at the University, according to Moseley. One study uses lasers to create and study highly reactive molecules called radicals which are useful in combustion research. Another is the use of lasers in holograms Some examples of holograms made at the University were on display at the presenta tion But Moseley squashed any hopes of 3-D, holographic movies any time in the near future, saying he thought it would be a while before they would become possible One of the more interesting uses of lasers in the laboratory is in the study of genetics and gene manipulation A laser can be used to study biological reactions like the way hereditary characteristics are passed on and the dynamics of the replication of DNA Lasers make possible the alteration of the DNA molecules by a short laser pulse that welds two parts of the DNA molecule together." Moseley discussed the use of lasers for medical operations, and in research into the way the visual system connects with the brain The field of medicine is another area where lasers have made a substantial Impact "There are a number of interesting properties of lasers that make them more useful than a surgeon's scalpel in particular cases," he said The examples he used involved areas of the throat and ear, where even the finest scalpel cuts too wide and is too large to wield. Another advantage the laser has over the surgeon's blade is that it cauterizes the incision as it cuts, making it useful in areas with the potential for excessive bleeding Lasers are also used in surgery involving the eye because the laser passes directly through the lens of the eye without the use of an incision Lasers have proved extremely useful in treating detached retinas An area of laser use Moseley is worried about is the use of lasers in rock shows, and the way they're flashed through the crowds "I'd close my eyes and get out of there," he said about some rock shows The idea of lasers as death rays is still as much science fiction as it was years ago, Moseley said. WOSC flunks inspection by corrections officials SALEM (AP) - Bob Watson, the administrator of the state corrections division, toured the Western Oregon State College campus Wednesday to assess its potential as a future prison site But Watson, who took along architects and members of his staff, said the college clearly wasn't suitable for conversion into a prison. Watson said he only under took the analysis because the Legislature ordered him to do so In the summer, the Legisla ture's Emergency Board or dered Watson to look at several state facilities and assess their potential as prisons In addition to WOSC, the divi sion was asked to evaluate an abandoned military base near Condon in central Oregon, the Delphian School near Sheridan, Dammasch State Hospital in Wilsonville, Eastern Oregon State Hospital in Pendleton and the Prigg Cottage Release Center in southeast Salem. Watson prefers remodeling Prigg Cottage into a medium security prison The cottage is already used by the division to house inmates getting ready for parole Gov Vic Atiyeh’s proposed budget contains $20 million to pay for the remodeling Watson said WOSC was too big and not at all suited for the needs of the Corrections Divi sion. Sen. Jack Ripper, D-North Bend, had suggested turning WOSC into a prison. The sena tor has questioned the need for the Monmouth school when Oregon State University and the University are so near. Atiyeh's press secretary, Denny Miles, said Wednesday that the governor is opposed to closing WOSC or turning it into a prison. “They'd have a hard time getting that across his desk," Miles said. Photo by Erich Boekelheide Nan Henderson, Oregon Free From Drug Abuse staff member and anti-marijuana activist, explains why she opposes relaxing penalties for pot use and possession. Pot penalties: pros and cons By Sean Meyers O! the Emerald Editor's Note: This is the last of a three part series examining current marijuana laws and proposals for changes Pro-marijuana forces know that to clear the path to more relaxed marijuana laws in Oregon, the 'wheels of justice" will have to roll over Nan Henderson along the way To her allies, Henderson, salaried director of the non-profit Oregon Free From Drug Abuse, is a champion of a cause. Under a banner of protecting youth from a dangerous drug, she has emerged as a leading opponent of any reductions in penalties for the possession, sale or cultivation of marijuana. To her adversaries, Henderson is a ‘‘born-again parent,” with a “reefer madness" mentality, a closed-minded political an imal bent on force-feeding marijuana scare stories to gullible children. Henderson says that stereotype doesn’t apply to her because she is not a mother and was an “occas sional user” of pot during her early years as a journalism and political science student at the University. While Henderson isn’t a parent, many members of Oregon Free From Drug Abuse are, and she defends their right to crusade against mar ijuana if they feel the safety of their children is jeopardized. “As far as I know, there is no scientific evidence that reproduction harms a person’s intelligence,” she says. Joe Wilson, spokesman for Oregonians Cooperating to Reduce Drug Abuse, doesn’t question Henderson’s intelligence. It is her reasoning that concerns his organization. "She cites studies that have no basis in reality. She’ll point to some report where they fed some laboratory monkey the equivalent of 20 joints in five minutes every day," says Wilson. "Then after a while they cut the mon keys open and find that some of them have brain damage. The conclusion is that mar ijuana causes brain damage ‘‘It’s that reefer madness’ type of mentali ty that’s endangering our kids,” says Wilson, a father of four. Henderson says she realized the error of her former attitude toward marijuana when her twin brothers, seven years her junior, became involved with marijuana and other drugs. Since then, first as a volunteer and for the past few months as the director of OFFDA, Henderson has waged war on drug abuse. She spent two years traveling around Oregon with another former drug user, Jevon Thompson, giving anti-drug lectures to students The seminar, entitled "Waking Up From Dope, On the Front of America's Newest Revolution"’ was the basis of a record on which Henderson spent her " life-time savings'" to have produced. She says it has sold about 1,000 copies. The evidence Henderson most often cites against marijuana use is a 1982 statement by U S Surgeon General C Everett Koop and a 1981 statement by the Amer ican Medical Association. The AMA, which 10 years ago decided that there was not enough conclusive research about marijuana to take a stance, has moved from the neutral corner, says Henderson. "There is now no doubt at all that marijuana is a dan gerous drug, with great po tential for serious harm to young American users,” the report states. " Marijuana is by no means the harmless amusement that many believe it to be." Countering Wilson’s charges that she encourages “scare” tactics, Henderson says her organization is "absolutely impeccable, and blameless, in choosing accurate informa tion. The only information we use is informa tion that has come from medical authors. The truth is scary.” But she doesn’t deny that she is a nimble politician. ' We re winning some great battles in establishing local programs that fight drug abuse, but we will lose the whole war if mar ijuana is legalized.” The most recent battleground between the pro- and anti-marijuana forces concerned a state-appointed study group that recommend ed sweeping reductions in penalties. Despite the recommendation, a judicial committee task force considering the state’s criminal code voted 10-3 to sustain present penalties because of the “tremendous amount % of letters and phone calls” initiated by her organization’s members, says Henderson.
