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. ®’5Sr^Sfrlw^w.iH6 k ^PWMND,TKHow> NfoU WNHfcBN&OON, j 6CJ A IjjgOON. ^TKNiBOl.WJffSaoN' cj^2 \3 _ 7#^ 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 The Oregon Daily Emerald is published Monday through Friday except during exam week and vacations by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co., at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 97403. The Emerald operates independently of the Universi ty with offices on the third floor of the Erb Memorial Union and is a member of the Associated Press. General Staff Advertising Director Susan Thelen Advertising Sales: Laura Buckley, Tim Clevenger, Jen nifer Fox, Marcia Leonard, Rick Martz, Nancy Nielsen, Laurie Nobel, Roberta Oliver, David Wood. 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Michele Matassa Mike Sims Michael Kulaga Costas Christ Michael Clapp Brent De La Paz Sheila Landry Kim Carlson Mike Duncan Michael Clapp Michael Doke Michael Hosmar Paul Ertelt Julie Shippen Jolayne Houtz Cynthia Whitfield Lori Steinhauer Dave Berns, Dave Carlson, Kelly, Allan Lazo, Scott News and Editorial 686-5511 Display Advertising and Business 686-3712 Classified Advertising 686-4343 Production 686-4381 Circulation 686-5511 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