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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 1983)
cort fernald sidelong glances It was late Sunday night I noticed him hang ing around the front door of the Emerald office He paced about with short choppy steps He raked his hair with his hand, grabbing a handful and bending his head back as if in great pain In his other hand was a torn, crumpled slip of gray newsprint Something was consuming him — something that must have been burning inside him for a long time My curiosity was piqued, though I didn't want to pry I returned to my VDT and the wire stories I was editing, but kept one eye on the door An hour later he was still outside the office — tearing madly through the yellowing pages of old Emeralds I paused by the mailboxes, watching him out of the corner of my eye He noticed me nearby and staggered up to me "C-can you help me,” he struggled to say His voice was distant, disjointed in time He held out the crumpled piece of newsprint He had a wild intensity to his eyes I started, recognizing that gaze If not close — then he was damn near the edge of an abyss I had looked into many times before I took the torn bit of paper and read It was a classified ad circled in red ink, one of those odd and anonymous personals you read so often Guy with the eyes is that all you do. look? I'm here, where are you9 Interested. Darfc-haired woman I've watched you all term in class You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen Just give me a wink Your admirer. At once I knew his anguish, the soulful looks during lecture, sleepless nights when her face and voice becomes so huge in mind, the aching heart that hangs like lead and makes possiblity of meeting her hesitant and desperately futile I wanted to say, "I know what you're going through I’ve been there " But it seemed a pa tronizing remark "You don’t understand." he said, his trem bling finger pointing to the circled personal "I only have five days left I have to find out who this is." I began to get worried He appeared ob sessed with finding out who wrote that personal — so obsessed he might recklessly throw himself at anybody standing in his way. The anger fueled by his fierce frustration could compel him to do something rash As much as I empathized with the guy and wanted to help I knew that my efforts might end up in some sort of fight. I couldn't give out the name of the person who bought the personal It was policy It was bureaucracy And it was too bad This guy was really hurting. I stammered something inadequate, sug gesting he put in a personal asking the woman to meet him some place, some time It was a inane response I could tell by the blank look he gave me it did nothing to ease his anguish As if in a daze he took the personal from my hand, slowly turned and walked out Sometimes there are far too many people on this campus and a few get lost in the mass It can be pretty lonely There are so many faces, so many interesting characters in the swarm moving between build ings to classes It can be difficult to elbow your way through and become someone rather than just another somebody in a huge class I just can't forget that guy and his obsession for a woman with whom he has probably not spoken I've been reading the personals and haven't seen any more messages The "five days' have passed And I wonder if he ever found her — or if she ever found him I hope so There are enough strangers in this world letters Paid ad Thank you for printing the paid advertisement "In Memory of John Kaiser” in the Jan 13 edition of the Emerald Not since "Doonesbury” was taken out of circulation in early Jan uary have I been able to get such a good laugh at the ex pense of a groups's political ideology My special thanks to the members ot the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade tor providing me with such a hearty chuckle Tim Love pre-journalism Oregon daily . _ emerald The Oregon Daily Emerald is published Monday through Friday except during exam week and vacations by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co at the University of Oregon Eugene OR 97403 The Emerald operates independently of the University with offices on the third floor of the Erb Memorial Union and is a member of the Associated Press New* and Editorial m $511 Display Advertising and Business MA-3712 Classified Advertising MS 4343 Production SSS 4JS1 Circulation MS 5511 Page 2 Editor Managing Editor News Editor Assistant News Editor Editorial Page Editor Photo Editor Sports Editor Associate Sports Editor Entertainment Editor Night Editor Associate Editors Higher Education Departments and Schools Student Government E eatures Politics Politics Education Reporter General Staff Advertising Manager Classified Advertising Production Manager Controller Harry ESteve John Heaiy Manan Green Cmt Eernatd Joan Nyland Boh Baker Mike Ripimger Paul Danger Jonathan Siegie Dane Clausaan Sandy Johnstone frank $haw Richard Burr Bean Meyers Michele Males** Aiete /a* Danen# Gore Se«y Oi|#r Victoria Koch >ean Ownhey your turn Defense Ignorance Shortly before Christmas break I read some anti-nuclear letters and articles in the Emerald The stories dealt with important subjects, such as civil defense and verifiability, which is good. But they also displayed disturbing ignorance of those issues on the part of some anti-nuclear people Here are some examples: In a letter to the Emerald dated Dec 7 1982, Clifford Baker calls the MX a "first-strike" weapon But is it really? Baker didn't back up his assertion and he ignored the fact that the MX controversy has been over the missile's ability to withstand — not launch — a first-strike To further weaken Baker's argument, one need only ask a few questions about the first-strike issue For example, would the 100 planned MX s be sufficient to launch a first-strike against 1500 Soviet ICBM s9 If we wouldn t launch a first strike in the 1960's, when we had unquestioned nuclear superiority, why would we prepare to launch one now when it is widely believed that the Soviets currently have the capability to destroy us even if we hit them first? Furthermore, Baker never said what makes the MX a first-strike weapon Does he imply that we can't launch a first-strike without it? In his letter, Baker accused President Reagan of obfuscating nuclear issues. But by dogmatically affixing first-strike to the MX, he is guilty of his own accusation In the same Emerald, Charles Gray, a Eugene resident sym pathetic to Europe’s anti-nuclear movement, was quoted as saying that cruise missiles in Europe would be unverifiable because they fly below radar screens. The non-sequitur in that argument is as blatant as it is absurd How high a missile flies has nothing to do with verifiability, which involves counting missiles before — not after — they are launched Clearly, Gray doesn't know what verifiability means But that didn't keep him from talking about it. Finally, in the Dec. 3 Emerald Bill Hallmark said that civil defense won't work and therefore we shouldn't worry about major Soviet activity in that area or invest in it ourselves But Hallmark missed a very significant point in the civil defense issue: It's effect upon Soviet nuclear strategy. If civil defense won't work, why do the Soviets take it so seriously? Consider the following Soviet policy statement: "There is profound erroneousness and harm in the disorienting claims of bourgeois ideologies that there will be no victor in a thermonuclear world war." Source: "Why the Soviets think they can fight and win a nuclear war ," Commentary, July, 1977. See also, "Survival in Soviet wartime strategy," University of Miami Press, 1976 Clearly, the Soviets think that civil defense is worthwhile Hallmark basically ignored that important consideration in his letter Two salient points should be considered from these examples First, the nuclear debate is already complex enough Misinfor mation like the above examples only adds to the confusion and serves no constructive purpose Second, despite its humane appeal and "grassroots" support, the anti-nuclear movement will lack credibility with many decision makers in government as long as such misinformation is produced by a few anti-nuclear people And credibility with governments is important for any chance of real anti-nuclear success Misinformation, misunderstanding and misconceptions can only damage a worthy cause Is it too much to ask anti-nuclear writers to make sure their grasp of the issues is a strong one? Todd Weber Todd Weber is a senior in journalism letters 46 words What contains only 46 words, is frequently made reference to. yet the vast majority of Amer icans have never read? Answer the First Amendment to the Constitution which reads Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, of prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or of the right of the peo ple peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances " Notice the separation of church and state' never appear here They're not found any place else in the Constitution either The First Amendment was designed to prevent the federal government from creating an official" denomination or In terfering with religious practice It was never Intended to prevent religious organizations or in dividuals from lobbying for or against certain legislation or even to ban voluntary prayer in the classroom The "separation' phrase was actually coined by Jefferson in a letter to the Danbury Baptists Association in response to their request to proclaim an official day of fasting Though both Washington and Adams had made similar proclamations Jefferson had reservations about federal actions on this request But H Frank Way commented in "Liberty in the Balance" that the no establishment" clause has been substituted with Jef ferson's phrase but ‘‘with an absolutism that Jefferson had never intended “ In public education Jefferson opposed denominational control but "believed that the common core of religion should be included “ When considering today's is sues related to this subject please keep the Constitution's original intent in mind Brian Trager senior, architecture Thursday, January 20,1983
