opinion
Committee vote will
help divestiture suit
At a meeting of the Incidental Fee Committee Thursday,
ASUO Pres. Julie Davis requested and received $1,400 to for
ward to the law firm of Goldstein & Campbell for its
representation of the ASUO and other plaintiffs in a lawsuit
against the Oregon Investment Council.
If successful, the suit, which began in 1978, will force
the council to divest funds from South Africa and companies
that do business with the pro-apartheid republic. The funds
in question top the $25 million mark and are invested on
behalf of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education.
In 1977 the board voted to divest the money, but then
Attorney General James Redden ruled that the board did not
have “statutory authority” to make that decision. Conse
quently, the group did nothing and the suit was initiated.
Through the years the Goldstein & Campbell firm has
achieved small victories and donated plenty of sweat, blood
and time; what compensation they have received has come
primarily through the efforts of the ASUO. With a Nov. 29
trial date fast approaching, the firm needs money — a lot of
it — to assemble depositions and buy expert testimony.
With this recently-approved $1,400 and some previous
compensation, including about $6,000 the IFC allocated
toward the suit during the 1983-84 fiscal year, the firm
estimates the case may require still another $13,000 before
it’s over. Davis says the bulk of that sum also will come from
incidental fees, subject to the committee’s approval. She
says she hopes the committee will match last year’s $6,000,
with the rest coming from “collaborative fundraising” with
some of the other plaintiffs.
It would be ideal if the ASUO and Goldstein & Campbell
could put the finger on the remaining plaintiffs for much
needed financial support but that is not realistic. Generally,
the other plaintiffs are a collection of church and minority
groups that have from day one offerred all they have — most
ly moral support. If the suit is to be won, and the attorneys
are confident it will, the ASUO must support it and see it
through.
With the financial facts and the nature of the case in
mind, we congratulate the law firm, Davis and the IFC. Cer
tainly this is money well spent.
Stream of outsiders
rouses local cleanup
It’s interesting to watch how people react to the words
“company’s coming.’’ Seldom-used brooms, mops and dust
rags make their way out of the closets and into frantic hands
as cleanliness suddenly becomes a top priority.
In mid-February, the University and the cities of Eugene
and Springfield launched a widespread cleanup party in
response to notice that about 25,000 visitors would con
gregate here between May and September. Events such as
the NCAA Track and Field Championships, the Oregon
Bach Festival, the International Society for Music Educators
and the Olympic Scientific Congress are expected to bring
more than $9 million into the community.
With the money and attention these activities bring the
area, this massive effort to make our visitors feel welcome is
well-spent. Visitors and residents will benefit from the new
city law allowing sidewalk cafes, from the hand-designed
cloth signs hanging at downtown intersections and from
University-area tree-planting, painting and weed-pulling.
All who pitched in time and energy to this cause should be
applauded.
However, we shouldn’t get carried away with the “com
pany’s coming’’ mentality. It’s sad that only out-of-towners
could motivate such an effort, but now that the ball is roll
ing, don’t let it come to a stop. Keep the community clean
for our sake — even after the summer fun is over.
r
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'I'VE WNtoteDWJftRFAliRAWWS REMARKS
letters
■ NQWOuir CDMPUININ6 POWITfERE, WNDAIE,"
Fishin ’ for votes
It’s time we the people take
notice of who is to blame for the
condition this state and federal
government is in. It’s us, the
people, for not electing
Representatives, Congressmen,
Senators, Governors, etc., that
represent the people. We now
have a majority of our politi
cians in office at this time who
are afraid of their own shadow.
They only hold office for one
reason, for what “they” can get
out of it, prestige, money, etc.
They are incompetent, arrogant
and incapable of working for us
the people. Yes, the people pro
bably are starting to wake up
and take notice of these so
called public servants.
All across this great nation we
hear speeches. The mouths are
saying things that sound good.
Where is the action? Either
these politicians start working
in behalf of the people or there
should be a re-call on everyone
that refuses to work for, and
with us. Replace them with of
ficials that can connect their
speeches and promises with ac
tion. I’m referring to such agen
cies as L.C.D.C., ODFW,
P.F.M.C., and the list goes on.
They all claim they are working
for the betterment of the people.
Just when did we vote to put
these agencies into action? I’ll
tell you when. When we elected
politicians who, instead of do
ing the job they were elected to,
have designated the aforemen
tioned agencies to do it for
them. These small agencies
have affected us in our taxes,
building rights, fishing rights,
land rights, and this list, also,
goes on and on. The few state
officials working for us, and try
ing to do something on the
public behalf, are labeled
“radicals.”
Our state officials had better
do some soul searching. Who
knows, a re-call petition may be
laying close to your door step.
L.C.D.C has (7) people in
their group and are not even ac
countable to the Legislature.
This is only one example of con
trol over the people being ex
ecuted by these minority
groups.
Take a good look at the so
called state elected represen
tatives for the people who are
giving us nothing but lip ser
vice and go to the polls and
vote.
A person who loves this state
and nation.
Wayne W. Wolf
President
Independent Troll Fishermen
of Oregon
Liberal words
Why are the so-called liberals
on this campus so disinclined to
encourage, or even allow, a
variety of opinions to be heard
on issues of public concern?
The IFC refuses to fund the
Commentator, a member of Col
lege Republicans is physically
abused because of his views,
and now the ASLJO Executive
has determined that Coors
should be made unavailable
because of the political views of
the people who own the
brewery.
A university is supposed to be
a place where all sorts of ideas,
even strange or offensive ones,
can see the light of day and be
scrutinized. 1 disagree with
most of the opinions expressed
by the Commentator, but having
it around howling in the shrub
bery is very healthy for the
overall level of social and
political awareness on campus.
Fully a third of the student body
voted for it, yet the IFC gave in
to Mary Hotchkiss’ political
veto. They cited a rule requiring
all groups to exist for a year to
receive funding. This rule was
never intended to be applied to
a healthy, vigorous organiza
tion like the Commentator, and
has been read very loosely to
allow funding for some very
marginal programs.
The incidental fee is not in
tended to be used only for ac
tivities used or agreed with by
every student. In establishing
the fee to provide for cultural
development of students, the
Oregon State Board of Higher
Education intended to promote,
not discourage, diversity. The
University IFC has historically
taken this goal to heart and sup
ported activities that benefit all
sorts of students who are not in
the majority on campus, e.g.
greeks, gays, older women
reutrning to school, blacks and
so on.
I hope the new IFC will
realize the importance of open
ing, not strangling, channels
through which students are ex
posed to new ideas. I also hope
that incoming ASUO Pres. Julie
Davis will live up to her reputa
tion for fairness and set the tone
for this very important election
and legislative year. Student
government should strive to
make available to students a
varitey of viewpoints on issues
of public concern. It should not
serve to suppress or discourage
unpopular views, nor should it
resort to scrambling for
technicalities in order to
damage those with whom it
disagrees.
Alan Contreras
Law
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