Tenure and promotion
Part Two
See Page 3
Oregon
Tuesday, February 19, 1985
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 86, Number 102
Bill pushes 'right to know9
about chemicals state uses
By Paul Ertelt
Of the Emerald
If passed by the Oregon Legislature, the
Community-Right-to-Know Bill will inform
citizens of dangerous chemicals being used in the
state and will better prepare authorities to deal
with a chemical emergency, says Erik Nilsson, an
OSP1RG legislative intern.
House Bill 2255, sponsored by the Oregon
State Public Interest Research Group, would
authorize the Oregon Department of Environmen
tal Quality to establish a survey of industrial
chemicals being used in the state. The DEQ
would then make that information available to
state officials and to local health boards, police
and fire departments.
The information
would be updated con
tinually and would be
made available to anyone
who requested it.
“Community right
to-know provides us a
first step in protecting
ourselves from dangerous
chemicals," Nilsson says.
“If we don’t know, there
is not much we can do.”
This bill is modeled
after a program recently
established in New York
state that is "operating
very successfully and very
inexpensively,” he says.
Under the right-to
know program, the DEQ
will compile information
on all the “priority
pollutants” manufac
tured. transported, stored
and disposed of in
Oregon. Priority
pollutants are chemicals
used in manufacturing that are listed by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency as health
hazards.
The survey would include all industries
listed by the EPA as having a history of pollution.
The EPA lists 21 categories of potentially
polluting industries, including timber products
processing and mechanical products
manufacturing.
Also, the survey would include all industries
requiring a waste-water disposal permit.
The DEQ also would compile an inventory of
the location of hazardous waste sites established
during the past 30 years.
Industries refusing to comply with the survey
could be subpoenaed by the state and would face
fines if they ignored the subpoena.
Although he admits that chemical hazards
are not as serious in Oregon as they are in New
York, Nilsson says Oregon industries do deal
with dangerous chemicals.
Of particular importance in Oregon are
“penochlorophenol,” a preservative used in the
timber industry, and "trichloralethylene,” a sol
vent used in electronics manufacturing. Both are
carcinogenic and do not break down rapidly in
the environment, Nilsson says.
Nilsson says he does
not believe this bill will
have a serious negative
impact on Oregon
industry.
“It would be an ex
pense to industry, but
everything we have seen
indicates it would be a
very small expense,” he
says. The only cost would
be in the labor to fill out
the required survey forms,
he says.
A clause of the bill
would allow an industry
to claim an exemption in
the case of a trade secret.
Information on those
chemicals could only be
released in an emergency
or after public hearings.
The House Environ
ment and Energy Commit
tee wilt begin hearings on
the bill Wednesday in Hearing Room F of the
Capitol Building in Salem. The committee will
only hear invited testimony from 3:30 p.m. to 5
p.m., but the public may attend and may testify
beginning at 7 p.m.
OSPIRG is organizing a carpool for those in
terested in attending or testifying at the evening
hearing.
Those interested can sign up in the OSPIRG
office in Suite 1 EMU before 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Open wide and say...
No, he’s not yawning. In fact, Bruce Fidler, direc
tor of the Maranatha Christian Center, rarely even
stands still on the EMU Courtyard mound when he
ascends the slope on sunnier days to sermonize.
But loud lectures and animated gestures weren’t
enough for Fidler Monday. To further catch the atten
tions of students passing by, Fidler dressed in early
Colonial American garb for his Presidents’ Day talk.
Photo By Michael Clapp
First day of drive earns $1,500
Donations open African Relief Week
By Diana Elliott
Of the Emerald
Contributions to the African Relief
Week Drive netted more than $1,500
Monday as University President Paul
Olum, International Studies director
Clarence Thurber and representatives
from the campus’ 25 fraternities and
sororities dropped their donations into a
4-foot-high glass case in the EMU lobby.
Olum officially designated next week
as African Relief Week, which will be
marked by a number of events dealing
with hunger relief and education in
Ethiopia and other East African
countries.
The event is sponsored by the Interna
tional Studies Association for the benefit
of Oxfam America’s African relief
efforts.
The fraternities and sororities will fast
next week, donating the money they
would have spent on food to the relief
drive. Each house projected how much
the members would save and donated
their checks during Monday’s ceremony.
“We have asked each house to skip at
least one meal during the week,’" says
Bob Kraus, public relations chair of the
Interfraternity Council. “Each house was
asked to make a minimum contribution
of $60.”
“We just paid beforehand from the
money that each house expected to save
from the fast,” says Stacy James, presi
dent of Panhellenic Council.
The Greek houses decided to fast dur
ing African Relief Week because
members wanted to do something to
help monetarily and to raise con
sciousness about the situation in Africa,
Kraus says.
“We’re affected by the pictures we see
of the starving Ethiopians,” Kraus says.
Kraus says he believes the house
members will make a sincere effort to
participate in the fast by not eating
elsewhere that day.
"It’s not like the whole Greek system
is going to be heading to McDonald’s,”
Kraus says.
Generally, when the houses decide to
do something as a group, they all stick
together, James says. “So far it’s been
well-received by all the houses,” she
adds.
The total Greek contribution has not
yet been calculated because each house
made individual donations. Although
the minimum contribution was set at
$1,500, both Kraus and James believe the
total donation will be higher.
Some houses will be fasting all day,
and others will fast during lunch and
dinner, James says.
“We’re a large group so we can come
up with more money,” James says. “Not
eating one sandwich can earn a lot of
money for this cause.”
Kenan Gibbs, a student coordinator of
African Relief Week, approached the In
terfraternity Council to seek help in rais
ing money.
“The fraternities and sororities are a
great resource,” Gibbs says. “Unfor
tunately they’re often overlooked as will
ing participants.”
The Residence Hall Governance Com
mittee also is sponsoring a fast in the
dormitories during African Relief Week,
says Marjory Ramey, housing director.
They will not be donating their contribu
tion until after they fast, however.