Oregon doily
emerald
Locals unite for
World Food Day
See story Page 6A ~
Wednesday, October 17, 1984
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 86. Number 34
Scientists hail Beta Pictoris evidence
Photo by Bill Harpole
pm Kemp, University physics professor, explains new findings
from research done on developing solar systems.
r
Homecoming deadlines
By folayne Houtz
Of the Kmervld
Deadlines for several Homecoming activities approach as
preparatons for Homecoming week, Oct. 22-28. reach their
final stages.
This year’s event, titled “Welcome Back!,’’ includes a
Webfoot society brunch, the second annual Town and Gown
Light Parade, pep rally and giant snake dance, and a cake
decorating competition.
Sign-up deadlines for entering the cake competition and
the parade are Saturday.
The Town and Gown Light Parade is Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m.
The parade, with its illuminated floats, will start on campus
at 15th Avenue and Agate Street. Gampus organizatons are
paired with local civic groups to create a float combining
aspects of both the community and the University, giving the
parade its “Town and Gown” name.
This year, local coaches and athletes from the 1984
Olympics will be the special focus of the parade, says Charles
Van Duyn. parade coordinator.
Mary Decker will be involved in the parade, as well as
other area athletes, he says.
About 25 to 30 groups will be paired together to par
ticipate in the parade using floats, buses and cars, which
could involve as many as 200 people. Van Duyn says.
The only requirement is that the floats are lighted, he
says.
The parade will end at the downtown plaza, where a pep
rally will be led by the University rally squad, the Fighting
Duck marching band and head coach Rich Brooks.
Radio station KUGN will then sponsor a snake dance that
will wind its way through downtown Eugene, ending at
Center Court. Cake from the Duck Cake Decorating Contest
will then be served.
Winners of the cake decorating competition will be an
nounced immediately following the Light Parade on Oct. 26.
The competition is open to anyone interested, and entry
forms are available from the University Alumni Office in 221
Johnson Hall.
Cakes will be judged on their use of the “Welcome
Back!” theme, the best use of green and gold as well as other
categories. Judges are representatives from local radio, televi
sion and newspaper staffs.
Cakes will be received at the Literary Lion in the Center
Court, downtown Eugene, from 8-10 a.m.. on Oct. 26. Cakes
will be on display to the public during business hours on
Friday.
The Webfoot Society brunch is Oct. 28 at the Eugene
Hilton. The Alumni Association will induct the first
members in the newly formed organization to honor those
alumni who have distinguished themselves in their
professions.
Brunch tickets are $8 a person and are available at the
door or through the Alumni Office.
By Michael Doke
Of the finer did
Monday’s release of a photograph of the Beta
Pictoris star and what appears to be a young solar
system developing around it may have taken
many people by surprise, but not University
scientists at the Pine Mountain Observatory.
“To me it may be the most important
discovery in the astronomy field for the whole
century — we have a direct picture of (a young
solar system),” said Jim Kemp, professor of
physics and astronomy at the University.
“This is the beginning of proving theories
we’ve had for 20 years in terms of understanding
our solar system,” said geology Prof. Gordon
Coles.
But while the Beta Pictoris star is 50 billion
light years away, scientists at the University’s
observatory have been studying another star 2000
billion light years away, Goles said. The Epsilon
Aurigae body and a star that eclipses it every 27
years have been the objects of astronomer’s
telescopes since 1820, when it was discovered by
a German astronomer, Kemp said.
The two-year-long eclipse can be seen with
the naked eye; the system finished one five mon
ths ago, Kemp said.
While the Beta Pictoris star can only be seen
on ground from the Southern Hemisphere, Ep
silon Aurigae is seen from the Northern
Hemisphere. Scientists at the Pine Mountain
Observatory, located 30 miles southeast of Bend,
have been able to study the more distant star, he
said.
What scientists, both here and around the
world, have been looking at is the eclipse and its
relation to the Epsilon Aurigae star, Kemp said.
It appears that a smaller star surrounded by a
1 billion mile nebula of dense material orbits the
larger body every 27 years. During two years of
the rotation, this dark body reduces the larger
star’s light by some 50 percent.
This is the phenomenon scientists have been
studying, he said.
The significance of both stars is that scien
tists have found two bodies with what appear to
be solar systems in two different stages of crea
tion. Kemp said.
“We can’t wait for these systems to change,
but there may be many more of them out there
hatching like eggs,” Kemp said. “The real
answer is to catch a bunch of these things in dif
ferent stages.”
But scientists can only watch the Epsilon
Aurigae star from ground observatories until the
technology is developed that will enable people
to send a probe to get a closer look, he said.
“(The Epsilon Aurigae) is so far away it's im
possible to get a direct photo (like the Beta Pic
toris picture) at this time,” Kemp said.
Treasurer’s debate heats up
over investment policv issues
By Stasia Scarborough
Of the Emerald
In a race that has attracted
lackluster attention among
Oregon voters, the candidates
for the office of state treasurer
Tuesday battled over invest
ment policies in South Africa
and whether the State Land
Board director should be
replaced.
The debate, which continued
to return to-specific issues,
centered on the democratic can
didate Grattan Kerans’ calling
for the replacement of Ed Za
jonc, the director of the Land
Board, and divestiture of state
money in countries that practice
apartheid.
In what was the most heated
issue of the debate, Kerans ac
cused incumbent Bill Ruther
ford of allowing Zajonc to issue
a permit allowing for the ex
ploration of oil off the coast of
Oregon.
Kerans called for Zajonc’s
dismissal for giving Atlantic
Richfield Co. permission to ex
plore within the three-mile
limit for oil reserves without a
public hearing or notification,
he said.
Rutherford denied the im
plication that there will be drill
ing for oil, saying that before
any drilling would occur there
would be environmental impact
statements made and the proper
people notified.
Defending Zajonc’s perfor
mance as director, Rutherford
said the job is a difficult one at
best, with someone “always
unhappy that he (Zajonc)
doesn’t give away the store.”
Rutherford added that Za
jonc’s tenure as director will
most likely end soon anyway.
He noted that if Zajonc’s wife, a
candidate for secretary of state,
wins election, Zajonc would
resign, and if the democratic
candidate wins, Zajonc would
most likely be replaced.
Saying that Rutherford’s ex
planation was “a red herring
he’s trying to drag across our
path,” Kerans called for Za
jonc’s replacement and accused
Rutherford of not paying atten
tion to what was going on with
the Land Board.
The state treasurer, along
with the governor and the
secretary of state, directs the
Land Board and is responsible
for policies governing public
land use.
Also focusing on investment
policies — and decisions made
by the state treasurer — Kerans
called for divestiture of state
funds in South Africa, which
has been under fire for its apar
theid policies.
Rutherford defended the
state’s current policy of in
Grattan Kerans
vesting in only those companies
that follow the Sullivan princi
ple, which requires equal pay
and opportunities. He said
under the Sullivan guidelines,
divestiture isn’t necessary.
Rutherford added that he has
read reports that promote the
Sullivan principle as helping
direct South Africa toward
equality.
Saying that he ‘‘threw away”
those reports, Kerans defended
his call for divestiture on moral
grounds, saying that he believes
it’s wrong for anyone to make a
profit from a land where ‘‘the
people have no citizenship.”
Though the state treasurer is
bound by the ‘‘prudent person
rule” that requires the treasurer
to invest in the most profitable
ventures, Kerans said that
divestiture is still possible.
Rutherford, in his closing
statement, noted that he is not
against divestiture, but that it
doesn’t seem necessary, and
current policies allow for a
wider choice of investments.”