opinion
Nobel prize winner:
the value of research
It is particularly gratifying to see that Barbara McClintock, a
tireless scientific researcher from Cold Springs Harbor, N.Y.,
was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize for medicine.
This must also be gratifying to all those equally tirelss scien
tific researchers working with little reward or recognition
in college and university laboratories across the country. A few
of those dedicated scientific researchers are here at this
University.
McClintock won the Nobel Prize for her discovery that
genes can move from one spot to another on the chromosomes
of a plant and change the future generations of the plants it pro
duces. McClintock discovered these “mobile genetic elements"
in the late 1940s.
McClintock was far ahead of the startling discoveries in
genetics, including the discovery of the structure of DNA. She
was so far ahead that her research on the "mobile genetic
elements" was considered heretical.
There's been a lot of comment regarding the awarding of the
Nobel Prize to McClintock not so much because of her research,
but because of her gender. She is the first woman to win an un
shared Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and only the third
woman to win in that category. McClintock is but the third
woman to win an unshared Nobel science prize. The company
she keeps — Marie Curie won in 1911 and Dorothy Hodgkin won
in 1964 for chemistry — is exclusive and distinguished.
While it is significant the Nobel Committee granted the
prize to a woman, it is equally significant they awarded the prize
to McClintock, who has been a scientific researcher in the
strictest sense.
McClintock worked alone and largely on the outside of
mainstream scientific research for 30 years. When she announc
ed her findings on "mobile genetic elements" the scientific
community was wholly disbelieving. For years she sought to
convince the scientific community of the validity of her
research, but to no avail. Then in the 1970s experiments with
bacteria proved McClintock's "mobile genetic elements"
true.
But to McClintock recognition from her peers became less
and less important. Recognition didn't matter, the research did.
She believed in herself, she believed in her work. Research, of
course, expands the horizons of knowledge, though McClintock
shows that research possesses its own rewards and benefits.
When McClintock heard she was recipient of the Nobel
Prize she said it seemed unfair "to reward a person for having so
much pleasure over the years."
This attitude toward research and perserverance is admirable.
Not only did McClintock's research offer benefits to science and
society, it also offered her satisfaction in her life.
City handgun ban
good idea for Eugene
The U.S. Supreme Court recently aided the cause of hand
gun control in this country when it upheld the Morton Grove,
III. ordinance prohibiting the possession of handguns inside the
town's boundaries.
The Supreme Court also refused to take up complaints that
the handgun ban is a violation of the Second Amendment
guarantee of a right "to keep and bear arms." According to a
lower court, that Constitutional provision was to prevent Con
gress from interfering with the right of states to form their own
militias, not the absolute right to private gun ownership.
Morton Grove enacted its gun-control ordinance in 1981.
This was the first such ban on handguns in any city in the coun
try. After the Morton Grove ban similar legislation was passed in
San Francisco.
The Supreme Court decision could have far-reaching conse
quences in the fight to ban handguns. Although the decision
doesn't set a precedent it does set forth the perimeters for any
local or state government that seeks to adopt limits on the
possession of handguns. Now the local or state governments
can do so without fear they will be violating citizens' Second
Amendment rights.
We hope the decision by the Supreme Court is noticed by
the Eugene City Council. Eugene has always been noted for be
ing progressive. Now that the legalities have been mapped out
the.city could advance a handgun ban for Eugene on the Morton
Grove, III. model. ,
r
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letters
Task force
On Sept. 20, the Emerald
editorial expressed concern about
recommendations of the Vagran
cy Task Force. Based on those
comments, I fear the Emerald did
not read our reports, especially
our report to the council in June,
1983.
The Emerald stressed two
points: it asserted that our report
did not define the term "vagrant,”
and that to control the vagrant
population our primary emphasis
was on the police. Neither state
ment is true. To correct the
record, I would like to summarize
our actual approach to the
Emerald's concerns.
First, the task force worked at
length to study the vagrant
population, with all its diversity.
As a result, we not only developed
a definition of "vagrant," but also
eight pages of "findings of fact,"
including eight categories of
homeless people. By segmenting
the vagrant population, we were
able to develop recommendations
sensitive to the varying needs of
the homeless and the many peo
ple they affect.
Our recommendations were
grouped in two sections, service
and enforcement. The enforce
ment section, contrary to the
Emerald's perception, did not em
phasize police. Rather, they dealt
with mall mediators, park rangers,
camping areas (some prohibited,
others not), pedestrian circulation
on the downtown mall, waiting
spaces at blood plasma centers,
zoning, code enforcement against
landlords of abandoned proper
ties, and crime prevention
through community education.
Only one out of twelve "enforce
ment" recommendations dealt
with police discretion regarding
arrests. The Emerald need not
fear, therefore, that new city
policies will infringe on the rights
of vagrants or others mistaken for
vagrants.
The Vagrancy Task Force viewed
all Eugeneans, including the
homeless, as part of a community
which shares responsibility for its
members. The task force focused
new resources, coordinated
others, and provided a balanced
policy framework for everyone to
live in Eugene with greater peace
and comfort.
Mark Lindberg
Eugene city council
assistant professor, PPPM
Excuse
In response to Randy Shepard's
denunciation of Eugene's peace
activists (Emerald, Oct. 10):
What makes him think all the
facts are in — or ever will be — on
the Korean airliner incident? True,
the massacre of innocent people
is always abhorrent. But has he
bought into the mass media's
representation at face value?
There are those who have found
this tragedy a perfect excuse to
hate communists, and there are
those who question why it really
happened.
Bonnie Souza
Welcome back
Welcome back Creeks, we're
glad to have your support and in
volvement on campus — that is
what the Oct. 11 column by Frank
Shaw was supoosed to be saying,
right?
I have been going to school
here for three years now, and I
have been a Creek here for as
lom:, and it never fails that each
year it is always the same with the
Emerald. Each year, within the first
month of school, the Emerald
manages to downgrade Creeks,
be derogatory toward Creeks, or
run anti-Creek articles. Just
because the Creeks are the largest
organized body of students on
campus is not an open invitation
for the Emerald to take cheap
shots at them.
It seems that the Emerald is
always finding negative things to
write about our organizations. We
are not the only organizations to
tail-gate at Autzen Stadium before
the games, although we are the
most visible. We are also not the
only group to save seats for
themselves. Think about it
realistically; we often have as
many as 50-100 members from
each Creek organization attend
ing ther games. Obviously we
want to sit together so we can
show our school spirit as a group,
and talk and have a good time
with our friends. When you look
around you at the games the peo
ple making the most noise and try
ing to get the crowd going a lot of
the time are the Greeks.
I resent the fact that you repre
sent us as a loud, raucous, beer
guzzling group. We are not the
only ones having a good time at
the games After all, what are the
games for...to relax? I find it
disheartening that the Emerald
continually writes negatively
about the Greeks.
During the past year the Greeks
have been trying exceedingly hard
to change their image to more
positively-oriented within the
community and on campus. I saw
very little coverage on our com
munity service events, cultural
events, or community interaction
in the Emerald last year or this
year. I am disappointed with
Shaw, the Emerald, and the editor
for not recognizing a group that
has the potential and the will
ingness to help the University.
Please, in the future, give some
thought to what you are printing
and whether it is worthwhile to
criticize a group that does so
much for the University.
Mark Makler
junior, pub'ic relations
Oregon daily . .
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