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Wednesday, October 12, 1983
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 85, Number 28
“I
Student seeks help
in financial aid suit
By Doug Nash
CM the Emerald
A University student says she
will seek the help of the
American Civil Liberties Union
to retrieve the $3,200 in financial
aid she was denied for refusing
to sign a selective service form.
Melissa Barker, a 26-year-old
graduate student in sociology,
says she refuses to comply with
the federal Solomon Amend
ment "on the basis of cons
cience." The amendment re
quires all students receiving
federal financial aid to certify
they registered with the Selec
tive Service or are exempt from
having to register.
All males at least 18 years of
age and born after 1959 must
register for the draft.
As a woman born prior to 1959,
Barker says she was untairly
targeted by the amendment.
"It (the Solomon Amendment)
is having an impact on a class
who were never intended to be
punished or impacted," Barker
says.
She is also bothered by the
University's agreement to en
force the law.
"I would hope that the Univer
sity would show some integrity
and say we are not going to be
the enforcement arm. of the
defense department," she says.
"I find that frightening from the
standpoint of academic
freedom."
Associate Provost Gerard
Moseley, however, says there is
"very little the University can
do" other than follow the
amendment's provisions.
"We can't do anything except
abide by the law,” he says.
Barker, who was denied $2,400
in work study and $800 in a
guaranteed student loan, says
she will seek the assistance of
the local ACLU chapter.
And Dave Fidanque, head of
Eugene's ACLU branch, says his
organization is prepared to help.
"By having refused to sign the
Solomon Amendment statement
on registration for reasons of
conscience, she is denied finan
cial aid by the federal govern
ment," Fidanque says. "The
ACLU would question whether
there is a constitutional obliga
tion on the part of the University
to then pick up the financial aid
directly."
That obligation comes from
Article One, Section Three of the
Oregon Constitution, which
states "No law shall in any case
whatever. . .interfere with the
rights of conscience." Fidanque
says there has been no litigation
under the provision.
"You've got a woman who
could never be drafted," says
campus ACLU Director Tom
Birktand. "She was punished
because she chose to exercise
her rights."
Fidanque adds it would be
useless to attack the amendment
on federal grounds, as there is
already just such a case pending
before the U. S. Supreme Court.
The case originated in Min
nesota, where the American
Civil Liberties Union and a
public interest group are suing
wmmmm
Photo by Davt Kao
Melissa Barker, a University graduate student in sociology, refused to sign a selective $prvice
form and has lost all federal financial aid.
the selective service system and
the Department of Education.
But local ACLU officials
believe Barker presents an op
portunity to attack the amend
ment on state grounds.
"The reason we'd br dCmf
this is to use it as a test case,"
Birkland says. "We might be
able to void what's happening in
Oregon under the Oregon
Constitution."
"If it were a state financial aid
program it would be clear-cut,"
Fidanque notes. "But it's a
federal program administered
by the state and that's where it
gets fuzzy.
"I personally think it's
something that deserves some
research and review by our
attorneys."
Barker says she was fortunate
~1o be 'SWF"f?n“bntinue at the
University at all.
"It's a luxury for me to be able
to object and to be able to follow
my conscience. There are people
I know who want to object but
the punishment (losing all
federal financial aid) makes
them unable to do so."
Barker says she has managed
by cutting her course load from
12 to three credit hours this term
and using the money she saved
last summer for school. Still,
much of the reading and con
ference work she is presently
engaged in will not appear on
her transcript, she says, because
she is unable to afford formally
registering for the courses.
"I'm basically eating a lot of
macaroni and waiting until
January when I will evaluate
whether I can continue," she
says.
"Personally I hope that my aid
is restored. I want to continue at
the University of Oregon."
Moonies, traditional Christians debate Scriptures
By loan Herman
Of fhe Emerald
A debate between a Unification
Church representative and a
Christian minister elicited
criticisms from both sides, as each
offered conflicting — and
sometimes heated — interpreta
tions of “God's Word."
The debate was filmed by Cable
11 Television, a local public access
station which airs noncommercial
programs produced by Eugene
community members. The
debate's creator, John Guardino,
produced the program to inform
the public about the religious dif
ferences between Rev. Sun
Myung Moon's controversial
Unification Church and tradi
tional Christian churches. The
debate will air sometime between
Oct. 16-22, Guardino said.
Although the Unification
Church, or Moonies as they often
are called, claim to be a Christian
church, Calvary Chapel minister
Photo by Dave Kao
A debate between a Christian minister and a representative of the Unification Church was filmed
Tuesday night by Cable 11 Television.
George Bryson attacked the
church's belief in Rev. Moon as a
"messiah" come to finish Jesus
Christ's work on earth and
repeatedly accused Moonies of
misinterpreting the Bible.
“The trouble with groups like
the Unification Church is they say
they like Christ and then they go
around contradicting everything
he stood for," said Bryson, who
hosts a weekly radio program,
Scripturally Speaking.
■ "Substantial differences" bet
ween the Unification Church and
traditional Christian churches in
clude the Moonie's belief that
God erred in having Christ
crucified before his < spiritual
message was communicated; that
communism is an earthly agent of
Satan; and that Moon will usher in
a newer, healthier world.
"Moon's 'healthy' world would
be sicker than the unhealthy one
today," Bryson said beneath glar
ing lights and television cameras.
“There are thousands of people
claiming to be messiahs today. But
the New Testament says the same
Christ will return to save us. The
word "messiah" is applied ex
clusively to Jesus Christ and no
one else," he told about 20 peo
ple, most of whom were Moonies.
Yet the Unification Church's
Oregon Director, Matthew Mor
rison, defended his church's
belief that Rev. Moon is a modern
messiah offering a Christian
counterproposal to communism's
"anti-Christ movement."
"America is called upon by God
to be a champion for Christianity
and Christianity must understand
the threat of atheistic com
munism. We are fools if we don't
respond to this threat," Morrison
said.
Yet, ironically, Bryson said, the
Moonies want to design a world
very similiar to the communistic
one they vehemently oppose.
"There is a big snow job
because if I hear Rev. Moon right,
he wants to take over the world,
he wants to rule under his rule.
And not only does he want to do
that, but he wants to replace
Christianity," he said, citing the
Unification Church's principle
text, The Divine Principles, as
stating "Christ must go " When
Morrison denied the claim,
Bryson retorted that the Divine
Principles must have been "revis
ed substantially."
During breaks while a television
crew inserted more film into the
cameras, Morrison and Bryson
continued to discuss their respec
tive churches' differences. Near
the program's end, audience
members posed questions and
several Moonies used the oppor
tunity to explain the spiritual
guidance they had received from
their church.