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