editorial
Hunting continues
to threaten whales
Whales, the largest living creatures on earth, are again
in the midst of controversy. At the heart of the issue is the
fate of these mammals and the international movement to
prevent them from going extinct.
Since 1972, the United States has been in the vanguard
of the movement to “save the whales.” In that year. Con
gress passed the Marine Protection Act which, among other
things, declared all great whales to be endangered species
and banned all commercial whaling by U.S. firms. The In
ternational Whaling Commission, in a recent decision, also
decided to declare a ban on all whaling. The ban will take ef
fect on the last day of 1985.
What has provoked controversy is a recent agreement
between the United States and Japan. The agreement says
that Japan, a major whaling nation, will be able to hunt
whales up until March 31, 1988. It is unclear why the United
States established an agreement with Japan that in effect
gives Japan three more years to hunt whales, while other na
tions which have agreed to abide by the Commission ruling
must end whaling by Dec. 31, 1985.
Why did the United States make an agreement that lets
Japan continue to hunt whales in the face of a new ban on
whale hunting? If nothing else, it seems that the United
States, in its agreement with Japan, has set back the move
ment to stop the killing of whales. This is ironic considering
the strong role the U.S. has played in the past in trying to br
ing an end to whale hunting.
Should the United States have truly wished to stop
Japan’s whaling industry, it could have relied on current
U.S. laws, which declare that any nation found violating the
Whaling Commission’s edicts will be forced to reduce by at
least 50 percent the amount of fish that nation can harvest
from U.S. waters. In the case of Japan, the result would have
been devastating. Japan now harvests more than one million
tons of fish from U.S. waters.
It is widely believed that Japanese whale hunters have
^ begun this season’s sperm whale hunt, despite the fact that
_ the hunting of sperm whales was banned in 1983 by the
; Whaling Commission. Given the option of continuing the
sperm whale hunt or being forced to cut its fish harvest from
U.S. waters in half, Japan might well have decided to end its
lucrative sperm whaling within a few months. Instead, the
new agreement between the United States and Japan in ef
fect permits Japan to continue hunting whales for an addi
tional three years without penalty.
What effect will this new agreement have on other whal
ing nations such as the Soviet Union, Norway, and Iceland?
Will they, too, now request a three-year extension on whal
ing without harm to their fishing rights in U.S. waters? The
new agreement between Japan and the United States can on
ly be seen as a big mistake by those who oppose the con
tinued slaughter of whales. If the U.S. grants anymore ex
ceptions to whaling nations, then the struggle to “save the
whales” will suffer a severe set-back.
Editor’s Note: In Friday’s editorial the Emerald reported
that automatic weapons can be purchased in sporting goods
stores in in the United States. This is incorrect. It is semi
automatic weapons that are for sale. This error, however,
does not change the context of our editorial. We still ques
tion current gun control laws which permit the sale of
weapons such as the Uzi submachine gun, when it is clear
that these weapons are designed for the quick and easy kill
ing of people.
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letters
■ Misinformed
Leah Juniper’s letter (ODE
Nov. 13) sparked some in
teresting conversations. Many
of us who are fraternity men
were amused to note that we are
now collectively responsible for
rape and other deplorabe acts
against women.
Rape — the forcible posses
sion of another — is most ob
viously not anyone’s “right.” It
is also most obvious that it is
not a “joke.” Rape is an expres
sion of hatred and frustration by
a sick mind devoured by feel
ings of anger and
powerlessness. It is a
dangerous, perverted act
despised and deplored by every
responsible member of society.
Miss Juniper’s claim that
there is a rampant hatred of
women in this country is the
reaction of a radical to an
isolated problem. To put it
bluntly, we and our male
friends happen to both like and
respect women. Miss Juniper’s
accusation that fraternities, the
military and other all-male
groups promote this attitude is
ludicrous, at best, badly misin
formed as a rule, and stupid as a
matter of fact. If she were to
spend any time with any of
these groups, she would quick
ly notice that the disappearing
attitudes of chivalry and com
mon courtesy are practiced very
heavily in all of them.
When she proclaims that
these institutions must be
abolished, we can only wonder
what her long-term view of
American society might be. To
give Miss Juniper some credit,
we heartily agree with her that
emerald
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rape is an unnatural act and that
both men and women must
work together in a sensible and
mature manner to stop it.
Clint Raster
Scott Moore
Sigma Nu Fraternity
Something new
Yes, the Yummies are here.
Who are the Yummies? Even
we’re not sure. But we are sure
of some things. For example:
1. The U.S. (or its surrogates,
i.e. Honduras) will invade
Nicaragua.
2. The Reagan administration
will raise taxes or create new
ones.
3. Unemployment will rise.
4. An “interval of medita
tion” (school prayer) amend
ment will be passed.
5. Women will have no legal
right to an abortion.
6. There will be no nuclear
freeze.
7. The constitutional right of
privacy will be gutted by the
Supreme Court.
8. Environmental conditions
will continue to worsen under
the Reagan administration.
9. TV will get worse.
Sound interesting? Exciting?
Disgusting? Do you know why?
Do you want to know why? If
you have answered yes to any of
these questions, come to the
Yummie meeting tonight at 8 in
Room 110 EMU. This is a call to
action. Don’t miss it! (or don’t
say we didn’t warn you.)
Yummies:
John Fike
Rob Taylor
Brian Maffly
Steve Brooks
Bible backing
In response to Ann Piazza:
Miss Piazza’s letter (ODE
Nov.8), it seemed to me, ran
high on emotionalism. Being
prone to that myself, I will at
tempt to make a level-headed
assertion of some facts as they
exist. The church and the KKK
are not the same thing. (This
answers Piazza’s first question.)
If Christians believe in the Bi
ble, then Christians should back
Shepard and Elledge because
the Bible is opposed to
homosexuality. Homosexuality
is a sin according to any of the
four “revisions” of the Bible
that I am familiar with, which
are the NASB, NIV, King James,
and the Amplified.
Proof of this is found in the
judgement of Sodom and
Gomorrah in Genesis Chapter
18. Other scriptures describing
the Bible's stance on homosex
uality are First Corinthians 6:9,
First Timothy 1:10, and Romans
1:26-27. However, the most
direct verse in scripture on the
subject is Leviticus 18:22,
which says. “You shall not lie
with a male as one who lies
with a female, it is an abomina
tion."(NASB). Webster defines
abomination as, “great hatred
and loathing, disgust." This is
how the Bible defines homosex
uality. The Bible also offers a
way of escape from this sin.
Anyone interested should begin
in Matthew.
Elledge and Shepard should
not switch schools, not just
because the Piazza’s of the world
ask them to, and they are back
ed by Bible-believing Chris
tians. (Fred, don’t worry about
your ‘‘psychological
tendencies.”)
Mitch Nosack
Math
No surprise
An invasion of Nicaragua?
After the mining of Nicaraguan
ports, the repeated murders and
kidnappings carried out by the
contras, the CIA manual and the
recent SR-71 flights over
Nicaraguan cities, a U.S. inva
sion should surprise no one.
The Pentagon recently stated
that those war-mongering San
dinistas are planning to expand
their borders into Honduras and
El Salvador. They must think
that the American people will
believe anything. It should be
obvious to everyone that the
Reagan administration is trying
to manipulate the public into
accepting military intervention
in Nicaragua, or at the very least
a resumption of contra funds.
The tension over the MIG
Crisis-That-Wasn’t is a good ex
ample of how the administra
tion is psychologically prepar
ing the American people for a
military confrontation. Don’t be
fooled! We are the terrorists in
Nicaragua. Write your elected
representatives and get involv
ed now.
Randall Harbour
Eugene