opinion
Can you imagine life
without the threat?
Imagine enjoying a bit of the occasional sunshine while sit
ting on the wall in front of the EMU.
Imagine casually laughing and talking with friends while a
lone guitar player in the brick courtyard below gently strums a
classical tune.
Imagine a gentle breeze swirling brittle brown and orange
leaves from the naked grey limbs of the trees lining 13th Avenue.
Imagine the radio of a car counterpointing the lone guitarist
as it eases up University Street.
Imagine a moment of quiet and then the sky being split by
the shrill scream of an air raid siren.
Imagine the looks of bewilderment on your friends' faces.
Imagine the hugeness of their eyes and the confusion as they
clap their hands to their ears and shout above the air raid siren,
"What's happening?"
Imagine the panic when you realize this is not a test, that the
thread upon which nuclear holocaust has dangled for almost
four decades has snapped.
Imagine running and running with no idea where to go. Im
agine the streets full of people running and shouting hysterical
ly. Imagine there is no turning back, no waking from this
nightmare. Imagine no place to hide and no future beyond the
score of moments remaining.
Imagine the sun and sky suddenly becoming white hot.
Then you are no longer able to imagine.
Perhaps this is fanciful — if one can be fanciful on nuclear
war — but the horrors are real. Perhaps more real and
unimaginable than can be captured by a snippet of prose.
Today at noon students who can imagine and fear the hor
rors of nuclear war will "die" for the cause of nuclear disarma
ment in the free speech area in front of the EMU. They "die" to
eradicte the fear and, what seems, the inevitability of nuclear
war.
The third annual Die-In culminates the "Week of Education"
conducted by Students for a Nuclear Free Future and the ASUO.
The seminars and speeches have been met with a lot of interest
and the response has been for the most part positive.
Imagine living your life without the spectre of nuclear war
lurking in the back of your mind. Impossible?
Assembly vote shows
political reality
Although the Emerald opposes the whole idea of the pro
posed governance system, student representation may have
reached its optimum at eight.
The overwhelming vote of the faculty at the Assembly
meeting Wednesday showed that the political reality of the
situation will not allow for more members. Eight has been set as
the “compromise" number and should be accepted by the
members of the Student University Affairs Board. Further ac
tions to change the number may only lead to a reduction, not an
increase, in the number of students on the Senate.
Few could argue successfully that the current Senate has
great influence over faculty decisions. On many issues, such as
the ROTC controversy last year, the Assembly has not adopted
the recommendation of the Senate. Even on the current gover
nance issue, the Assembly did not support the motion for 14 stu
dent representatives although it passed in the Senate.
Thus, students may actually have more power in the new
Senate with eight members, than they do in the Assembly with
18 students to 900 faculty.
But is a change in the governance system necessary or
desirable?
The Emerald would urge the faculty to retain the current
system.
Why does the University need to go to a representative
system? Granted, the town meeting may not be the quickest
form of governance, but at least all points of view are
represented.
There is no guarantee that a more powerful Senate would be
more effective. What is almost sure to happen is that some
voices will be left out of the process.
Oregon daily
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letters
Blood, treasure
When I see our country getting
involved in the internal affairs of
sovereign nations all over the
world, beginning with Korea,
pouring out our blood and
treasure, while our society sickens
at home, I am reminded of the
teachings of Jesus:
"Cast out the beam in thine own
eye, and then thou shalt see clear
ly to cast out the mote in they
neigherbor's eye."
We have plenty to do to set our
own house in order. "Pride goeth
before a fall."
Let us in all humility and com
mon sense, re-dedicate ourselves
to the political wisdom outlined in
Washington's farewell address
before it is too late.
Ken Tomkinson
citizen
Not upset, angry
I am neither upset nor angry
with Theresa Purviance-Carcia's
"views" (tmerai;4 Nov. 3) because
I am unable to see the point or
poinrs she is trying to make. If she
intended her "Comment" to be
humorous, then she has a queer
sense of humor.
As a Muslim, I believe that the
All-compassionate, All-merciful
Cod will, in due course enlighten
you on the point you are trying to
make. In the meantime, I would
like to state the following:
The Ten Comandments handed
down to Moses are a wonderful
set of moral rules. However,
Purviance-Garcia ought to explain
how enforcing the observance of
the Sabbath (the fourth command
ment) would eliminate the various
social ills, such as promiscuity and
homosexuality. I can sympathize
with her displeasure at seeing her
fellow Christians mercilessly
treating those whose lifestyles
they find disagreeable. Perhaps
they are acting in the spirit of the
Old Testament Cod, who is, after
all, a "jealous God." (Exodus 20:5).
Probably the world would be bet
ter off if societies were to imple
ment the commandments of the
merciful and compassionate God
who speaks through the Holy
Koran. Since there exist states
whose rulers claim to be doing
this, maybe Christians could learn
the proper procedures from them.
Sharifah Munirah Alatas
biology
Central America
For five months, the ASUO's
Student Events office has been
working with students and com
munity groups to organize the up
coming "Crisis in Central
America: An educational Con
ference" Nov. 17-19 at the
University.
Why a conference on Central
America? The crisis in Central
America is deepening daily, and
although all parties involved agree
that the conflicts must be resolv
ed, there is little consensus on
how to go about this.
Because the U.S. government is
becoming increasingly involved in
Central America, the ASUO feels
it is extremely important that
students, faculty and the com
munity, as responsible par
ticipants in our democratic
system, have accurate information
about the region's history, the
current situation, and the wide
variety of viewpoints about how
the conflict should be resolved.
Since these issues are so con
troversial, the conference features
a wide variety of speakers and
viewpoints. Featured speakers
who will take part in panel discus
sions range from Col. Larry Tracy,
representing the U.S. State Dept.,
to Felix Kury of the Democratic
Revolutionary Front (the coalition
opposing the Salvadoran
government).
In addition, workshops ranging
from “Media Coverage of Central
America" to "Grenada, the Carib
bean and Central America" to a
report from the Oregon Women's
Tour of Nicaragua; and films in
cluding "The War at Home," "At
tack on the Americans" and "El
Salvador: Another Vietnam" will
take place during the afternoons
of the conference.
Best of all, this conference is
free, although donations will be
gratefully accepted. We invite and
encourage all students, faculty
and community to join us at this
educational conference.
Mary Lewis
David Herman
student events coordinators
Arm yourself
In response to the editorial
(Fmerald, Oct. 28) about the inva
sion of Grenada, I wish to point
out that while a blanket condem
nation of violence would not be
conducive to analysis, there are a
couple of points about which we
can be fairly certain and that
deserve our condemnation.
The invasion of Grenada was an
unprovoked attack on another
sovereign state and a violation of
the OAS charter. This should be
roundly condemned.
It is the United States, not the
Soviet Union, that is blatantly try
ing to overthrow a legitmate
government, i.e., the government
of Nicaragua, by employing ter
rorism, sabotage and
psychological warfare. It has per
sisted in these activities inspite of
repeated efforts by the
Nicaraguan government to
negotiate for peace. These actions
are a violation of international law
and should also be condemned.
Finally, while the invasion of
Grenada confused some people at
home, it sent a clear message to
all countries in the hemisphere
that do not follow the economic
and ideological line of the Reagan
administration. That message is:
do not negotiate, but rather arm
yourselves for the inevitable inva
sion, for the United States
respects neither national
sovereignty nor international
treaties, nor will this administra
tion accept a diplomatic solution
over a more simplistic military
one.
What is viewed as a glorious ex
ample of U.S. military superiority
over a tiny banana republic, may
turn out to be a tremendous
diplomatic disaster.
Bruce Bondurant
senior, chemistry
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