Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 1985)
Seek common ground Lane’s legislators meet By Paul Ertelt Of Ilia Emerald Oregon House members representing Lane County met Tuesday morning to consider ways of tapping their potential clout and promoting issues of concern to the county. The representatives established the criteria and format for the regular forums they hope will further cooperation among themselves. The bipartisan caucus will meet every other Tuesday to hear presentations from a variety of groups and to discuss issues. “I feel really excited about it, ” said Rep. Mary McCauley Burrows, R Eugene. Strong personalities and par tisan politics prevented this type of cooperation during the 1983 legislative session, she said. “We should have walked away with the moon last session — we had the Senate president and the House speaker — but we’ve never learned to work together," Burrows said. Rep. Peggy Jolin, D-Cottage Grove, believes the problem has been a failure to recognize common issues. “I think we’ve had the tendency to carry out our own agendas... to be Irish folk artists to play on campus Mick Molony, Robbie O’Connell, James Keane and Liz Carroll will per form Irish folk music in Gerlinger Hall Lounge tonight at 8. Tickets are $3 and will be sold only at the door. Mick Molony specializes in tenor banjo and mandolin and has released several albums with various Irish per formers. Robbie O’Connell was raised in Ireland and is a singer/songwriter in the contemporary folk scene. James Keane is the foremost piano accordian player of traditional Irish music. Liz Carroll plays fiddle and has won the all-Ireland fiddle title twice. somewhat parochial,” she said. “The time has come when we’ve got to find common ground.” Jolin, who is in her third term, said past efforts to form a Lane County caucus hsve failed, but she recognizes a spirit of cooperation that was absent in the last session. The representatives also plan to keep each other informed of issues before their committees that might have an im pact on the county. The representatives serve on about a dozen house commit tees, Burrows said. Lane County senators have been in vited to attend the meetings and may eventually become formal members of the caucus, Jolin said. Funding for higher education will be one important issue for the caucus, she said. “I can’t name one of the Lane County delegates, Republican or Democrat, who is not interested in increasing the higher education budget,” she said. “Where you get to compromise and possible disagreement is on how much.” The caucus will meet again on Feb. 5 at noon in Room 354 of the Capitol. The representatives will chair the sessions on a rotating basis. That meeting, chaired by Jolin, will focus on improving the Port of Coos Bay and studying the feasibility of a highway linking that port with Interstate Highway 5. The Port of Coos Bay is essential for exporting Lane County products, Jolin said. Though not all Lane County House members attended Tuesday’s meeting, they have all shown an interest in work ing closer together, Jolin said. Jolin believes the creation of the caucus is part of the efforts toward better communication and increased coopera tion among all members of the Legislature. “We have a heavy agenda. I think we will have a difficult session, but 1 am op timistic,” Jolin said. “There’s a better attitude.” Russian religion still survives despite government opposition By Thomas Henderson Of the Emerald God is dead, said German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. However, according to British scholar Jane Ellis, reports of God’s death in the Soviet Union have been greatly exaggerated. Although the Soviet Union is often perceived as an atheistic state, Ellis Jane Ellis said religion continues to thrive despite its tense relationship with the Soviet government. A researcher from Keston College in England, Ellis spoke in the EMU last night on the Russian Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union. Keston College is a research institute for the study of religion in the Soviet bloc. Ellis said she has visited the Soviet Union nine times as a tourist and language student, and spent about a week in the country on each trip. Her lecture was sponsored by the Russian and East European Study Center and religious studies department. Though there is religion in the Soviet Union, Ellis said it is closely monitored ,'nd controlled by the government. The Soviet constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but such freedom is only applied to the actual worship service, she said. According to Ellis, other aspects of religious practice such as Sunday school, Bible study and charitable ac tivities are forbidden by law. Addi tionally, she said, individual parishes must register with the government before being allowed to conduct services. The registration requirement is us ed by the government to regulate religious worship, she added, and has resulted in a number of unregistered, and hence illegal, religious activities. Though illegal, Ellis said these unregistered activities are not “underground” in the sense that they are hidden from official view. Often, those engaged in illegal worship ser vices will write letters of protest to the government giving their name and address. People violating the laws governing religious associations are often fined, interrogated by the KGB, or sentenced to psychiatric institutions, she said. Research offers a conservative estimate that about one in five Rus sians have some sort of belief in God, she said. Though the Russian Or thodox Church has the largest membership, Ellis said, the group most persecuted by the government are the Baptists. Russia’s Baptist Church has about 3 million members (a 10th the size of the Orthodox Church), but Baptists make up one half of those imprttjfced & on religious offenses, she said. ' IS JUING FOR SOMETHING? SEARCH is offering winter workshops in Christians in the arts: Theory and practice Beginning Beer Making Intermediate Beer Making Tips For Filing Taxes In ‘85 Understanding Makeup Techniques Metaphysical Wisdom Shintaido Home Wines From Varietal Premenstrual Syndrome Concentrates ' Sign-up sheets and information in EMU m111 686-4305 SEARCH TW 55xB
