opinion
Democratic roadshow
comes to Eugene
The 1984 Democratic campaign for the presidential
nomination has been anything but predictable. The
Democratic roadshow comes to town Saturday when Col
orado Sen. Gary Hart makes a "whistlestop" at the
downtown mall devoting one day to Eugene of his scheduled
four days in Oregon.
Whether or not you would vote for Hart, even if you're
not a Democrat, it's important to take this opportunity and
hear what Hart has to say. How often do the citizens of
Eugene get a chance to hear the views and respond directly
to a national political figure?
Hart aides have said that the candidate considers Oregon
to be "extremely important" to his effort to gain the
Democratic nomination. But it appears Hart doesn't really
have to spend the time, nor the money in the state because
he is the odds-on favorite to win the primary. Yet, he plans a
stopover instead of playing strategic politics and bypassing
the state like Walter Mondale. That shows something of the
character of Hart.
Most of what we see and hear of the Democrats vying for
their parties nomination is filtered through the media. The
people with ink on their fingers, and those wearing blazers
standing before the cameras tend to select only the most in
teresting snippets of candidates' speeches. The time and
space constraints make this process necessary and
understandable. That's why voters should see and hear a
candidate in person.
Responsible voters vote by head and not heart — looking
into the positions of each candidate from the political parties
and making their choice. This is the essence of an informed
choice.
Politics in this country has always been a participatory
sport. However, unlike athletic competition, in politics its the
spectators not the players who determine the winner. The
spectators have to follow the play-by-play or they cannot vote
for what they consider the best candidate.
We advise all concerned voters, be they independent,
Democrat or Republican to turn out Saturday and hear what
candidate Hart has to say. That's the imperative of
democracy.
Law school rates
deserved high marks
There seems to be a camaraderie between deans of the
state's various law schools — they don't feel compelled to
play a game of oneupsmanship regarding the academic ex
cellence (or academic inferiority) of the other schools.
This is true of the recently published ranking of the
country's 172 law schools in the latest edition of The Cour
man Report. The report, written by Jack Courman, a political
science professor at California State University, ranked the
University's law school 51st in the nation. That ranking is
very good.
However, the report ranked Willamette University's Col
lege of Law 68th and Lewis and Clark College 150th.
Willamette University's law school ranking is good, while
Lewis and Clark 150th ranking is poor.
Instead of boasting, Derrick Bell, law school dean, behav
ed like a gentleman and commented "Lewis and Clark came
off far worse than it deserved_"
Gourman's report has generated a lot of controversy, in
part due to its method of evaluation. Nonetheless, we would
like to compliment the law school on its continued ex
cellence — especially the excellence maintained under the
onus of a constant budget crisis.
Oregon doily
emerald
The Oregon Daily Emerald is published Monday through Fn
day e*eepl during exam week and vacation* by the Oregon Daily
Emerald Publishing Co at Ihe University ol Oregon Eugene OR
97403
The Emerald operates independently ot the University with
ottices on Ihe third door ot the Erb Memorial Union and is a
member ol the Associated Press
General Stall
Advertising Manager Susan Theten
Classified Advertising Larry Swanson
Production Manager Victoria Koch
Controller Jean Own bey
Ad Seles Ftechei Bellamy Cmdi Biagg i aura Bui: Kiev Julie
Bulnr.e. David Kosse Jo Meeks Roberta Ottvei Richard Sr sen
Production Laurie Bee haras Sharia Cassidy Michael
Clapp Kelly Cornyn Kathy Gallagher Carrie Greaves C Hanson
Christy Horning LeeAnn Lovgren LHun Neely Kelly Ned Mark
Pynes Mu.rveie Ross Margaret Sotomsa Debbie Stmt Tim Switi
inger Colleen Tremaine Hank Trotter Kathy Vork
Pdjge 2, Sec tion A
we aon t get many students
from Guatemala coming into
the University Testing Office
where I work, so when Carlos
came into the office to take an
English language practice test it
was a surprise.
As it turned out Carlos had
completed his undergraduate
work at the University of San
Carlos in Guatemala city. I had
once attended the University of
San Carlos. What was even
more of a coincidence was that
we had both majored in en
vironmental science.
reporter's notebook
costas christ
As we talked I realized that
Carlos and I knew many of the
same professors. Memories of
my stay in Guatemala were sud
denly coming back to me.
"How is Mario Dady?" I asked
excitedly. Mario had been my
favorite biology professor. My
mind wandered back to the
afternoon walks we would take
in the University botanical
gardens where Mario would tell
me about his work to save the
beautiful Quetzal, Guatemala's
national bird, from the
threshold of extinction.
"Mario's dead," Carlos
replied. "He was killed by
unkown gunmen who sprayed
his car with bullets."
Poor Mario, I thought. His on
ly crime, it turned out, had been
to complain to the authorities
that police harassment of
students on campus was
resulting in fewer and fewer
people showing up for classes.
Editor
Managing Editor
News Editor
Assistant News Editor
Editorial Page Editoi
Photo Editor
Sports Editor
Sidelines Editor
Entertainment Editor
Assistant Entertainment Editor
Night Editor
Associate Editors
Higher Education
Departments and Schools
Student Government
Features
Politics
Community
Reporters Costas Christ Diana Elliott
Slemhauei David Stone Steve Turcotte
News and Editorial
Otsplay Advertising and Business
Classified Advertising
Production
Circulation
Debbie Howlett
Sandy Johnstone
Frank Shaw
Brenda Thornton
Cort Fernald
Michael Clapp
Doug Levy
John Healy
Angela Allen Morgan
Kim Carlson
John Healy
Oouq Nash
Melissa Martin
Jim Moore
Julie Shtppen
Brooks Dareff
Michael Doke
Paul Edell Brenl Pa/ tori
Lois Yoshishige
686 5511
686 3712
666-4343
686 4381
686 5511
'G^fWUl^nONS? NtXJKPEWXRATIC ELECTIONS QUALIFY YOU TORGERTMM RflYIL-EGES... '
Eyewitness to oppression
it seems tney soivea tne pro
blem by making sure that Mario
would no longer show up
either.
"What about julio Quan?” I
asked. As a professor of
geography and political science
it was Julio who first showed me
the hardship of life for the ma
jority of Guatemala's Indian
population.
"Julio is living in exile in Costa
Rica," Carlos said.
"He left Guatemala after lear
ning of an assassination attempt
that was planned for him."
Although stories of death
squad murders in Central
America are nothing new, talk
ing with Carlos and learning
about Mario's death and Julio's
self-imposed exile brought back
many bitter memories of my ex
periences in Guatemala.
My six months there taught
me things I never expected to
learn. I learned that saying that
the United States is promoting
democracy and freedom in
Guatemala by giving military aid
to the leaders of that country is
a lie.
I went down to Guatemala to
study environmental science. I
came back convinced that our
government is making a terrible
mistake. It wasn't an easy con
clusion to arrive at.
One morning in November
1976, I awoke to the news that
two fellow students, both of
them friends, had been killed
during the night and their
bodies dumped onto the street
only three blocks from where I
uvea.
A month later, in Guatemala
city, I watched horrified as
police opened fire on a crowd of
demonstrators who had
gathered to protest military rule.
Then, five days before my
departure from Guatemala I
found myself being taken at
gunpoint into a small room
where I was interrogated for
over an hour by soldiers. A book
I was carrying, Ten Keys To Latin
America by Frank Tannenbaum,
was declared "subversive
literature.” Two soldiers backed
me against the wall and pressed
their machine gun barrels into
my ribs.
The irony was too much. I was
in a foreign country while
soldiers wearing U.S.-made ar
my fatigues and holding
U.S.-made guns, were about to
kill a U.S. citizen, or so I
thought. Needless to say, they
didn't. But I will never forget
what happened to me and what
I saw happening to
Guatemalans.
It's hard for me to forgive the
government, our government,
for giving these madmen in
Guatemala weapons and
political support in the name of
promoting democracy and
freedom. We're still doing it to
day, which is why many of my
friends in Guatemala are dead.
In such circumstances it doesn't
take communism to start a
revolution.
Costas Christ is a freelance
reporter writing for the Emerald.
letters
Credit due
Regarding your May 7 article
on the Alumni/Oregon football
game, I must clarify some points
you made. Most of the article
was good, but when you got to
the kicking game of Oregon,
your treatment of Matt MacLeod
was terrible. His performance
was quite admirable, I believe.
I his was MacLeod's first college
football game and the pressure
on him was tremendous.
You assume that the "whopp
ing" 28 yard average return of
kickoffs is directly resultant of
MacLeod's kicking. This is not
only not true, it is stupid. You
should give the return man
some credit, or take credit away
from the rest of the kickoff
team, but do not blame the
kicker. In fact, his kicks were
quite good. They were long, and
they had good hang-time (which
means they were in the air
longer). This is what kickers are
supposed to do.
MacLeod is a sophomore
kicker and not a junior. He was
nervous going into the game,
and he did very well for a young
kicker. Four extra points and a
25 yard field goal is a great
opening performance.
I realize you are not ruining
his career, but MacLeod did a
very good job for the Ducks on
Saturday, and I feel that he
deserves credit.
Fred Johnson
Friday, May 11, 1984