Oregon daily
Now that winter’s
finally over....
See Page IB
Wednesday, March 13, 1985
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 86, Number 118
Dunkin ’ in the sun
Uchenna Agu looks for a landing spot after slam
dunking a pass from teammate Stan Sykes. Agu and
Sykes dominated a three-on-three basketball game
under sunny skies Tuesday afternoon.
Photo by Michael Clapp
Nicaraguan assemblyman
defends ‘fruits of freedom’
By Scott McFetridge
Of the Emerald
For the first time in
Nicaragua’s history, the people
are tasting the “fruits of
freedom,” but the Central
American country will be turn
ed into a graveyard if the United
States tries to take that freedom
away, a Nicaragua national
assemblyman said Tuesday
night.
“The people of Nicaragua
shall never cry ‘uncle’ because
we've begun to walk along
freedom’s highway,” Ray
Hooker said. “Once you’ve
begun to walk freedom’s
highway, there is no other road
you can travel.”
Hooker, a native of the sparse
ly populated east coast of
Nicaragua, was kidnapped last
September by anti-Sand inista
“contra” rebels and held for
nearly two months. His release
was obtained through a prisoner
exchange between the
Nicaraguan government and the
contras.
Hooker’s speech was spon
sored by the Council for Human
Rights in Latin America and is
part of a nationwide speaking
tour of more than a dozen
American universities: He
spoke to about 200 people in
167 EMU.
The. Reagan administration
has disregarded Nicaragua’s at
tempt to build a better way «pf
life for its people, Hooker-said.
The current administration has
consistently discredited such
programs as free health care and
free education, which were*in
. stituted after the revolution in
"1979, he said. ^ ^
"Because we teach these peo
ple to read and write, we are ac
cused of extinguishing
democracy by this country (the
United States),” Hooker said.
Schools in Nicaragua operate
24 hours a day, and since the
revolution, the illiteracy rate
has dropped from 50 percent to
12 percent, Hooker said. More
than one million people have
been taught to read in the last
five years, he said.
There are problems in
Nicaragua, but many are caused
because the new government is
attempting to implement so
many changes, he said. The
American Revolution lasted 18
years, and experienced tremen
dous turmoil before becoming a
stable country, he said.
“You’ve done things step by
Ray Hooker
step over a 200 year history,”
Hooker said. “We’ve tried to do
everything at once. Maybe
we’re crazy.” *
One of the Nicaraguan
government’s most ambitious
plans is to create several
autonomous states within the
country, Hooker said. There are
a number of different races in
Nicaragua, and they should be
able to govern themselves, he
said.
“Instead of cultural annihila
tion, you have to strive for
cultural preservation,” Hooker
said.
Although President Ronald
Reagan has labeled the
Nicaraguan government
socialist, private ownership of
land is higher than ever before,
Hooker said. Before the revolu
tion, 2 percent of the people
owned 90 percent of the land,
he said.
The current administration
has ignored these facts and con
tinues to supply money and
arms to the contras. Hooker
said. Reagan believes the con
tras are glorious fighters, and
has even compared them to
Thomas Jefferson, James
Madison and Patrick Henry, he
said.
“Your forefathers were not
mercenaries hired to do the dir
ty work of a foreign power,”
Hooker said. “They were not
rapists, paid a salary to ravage
the women of an impoverished
country.”
Since the fighting began bet
ween government forces and
the U.S.-backed contras, more
than $700 million in
Nicaraguan property has been
destroyed, Hooker said. That is
a huge sum * considering
Nicaragua's total exports
amount to only about $400
million a year, he said.
Freedom is costly, and if
Nicaragua is called upon to pay
the total cost for freedom, it will
respond, Hooker said.
Rust fears dioxin in gypsy moth spray
By Cynthia Whitfield
Of the Emerald
County Commissioner Jerry Rust has sent a formal
letter to the Oregon Department of Agriculture re
questing that the department revise a Lane County gyp
sy moth management program that includes the use of
the bacterial insecticide B.t. and the chemical insec
ticides Dimilin and Orthene,
Rust said he learned Friday that the federal En
vironmental Protection Agency has included Dimilin
on a list of 76 chemicals that are possibly contaminated
with dioxin.
"I’m for the bacterial insecticide B.t. because it is
target specific,” Rust said. "It does not kill other
aquatic species or insects, does not poison the water,
and does not persist in the environment like chemical
insecticides do. Moreover, it has been shown to be ex
tremely effective."
Rust’s statements came after a recently released
public opinion survey revealed that 85 percent of those
surveyed believe the gypsy moth is a serious problem
facing the county. The survey also showed that 90 per
cent believe something should be done to eradicate the
moths.
The survey was authorized by the Eugene-based
organization Help Eradicate Lane’s Pest (HELP), a
group of small woodland ownors, Christmas tree
growers, small-lumber people, and other citizens con
cerned about the threat of the gypsy moth, said Jim
Mischkot, HELP chair.
Mischkot, who is employed by a pesticide applica
tion company, said it would “surprise” him very much
if Dimilin contained Dioxin.
“Oregon State University has been reviewing the
chemical and have almost completed their analysis. If
dioxin was there, I think they would have found it,”
Mischkot said.
Mischkot said HELP did the survey to find out
what the people think.
“We wanted to be sure the public knew the facts,
and we’ve done a lot to encourage people to attend the
gypsy moth public hearings,” Mischkot said. “We are
prepared to defend the chemicals and support the
ODA’s recommendations.”
The survey was based on 500 telephone interviews
with Lane County residents conducted by Survey
Research Institute between Feb. 8 and 16. The institute
is owned and operated by the Kennedy Research
Group, an independent public opinion research
organization.
According to ODA’s management plan, the entire
237,000 acres recommended for spraying will be
sprayed with B.t. In addition, 5,000 acres in Pleasant
Hill will be sprayed with Dimilin; 30 acres in Eugene’s
Hawkins Heights area will be sprayed with Orthene;
and another 10 acres near Cheshire with Orthene.
There has been almost no objection to spraying B.t.
because it is considered a relatively safe insecticide.
But many people believe the plan to spray the chemical
insecticides Orthene and Dimilin is a mistake, saying
that the ODA does not have enough information about
the effects of the two chemicals.
Unlike most chemical insecticides, B.t. will not
kill honey bees or affect the bird population, said Mary
O’Brien, a botanist working with the Northwest Coali
tion for Alternatives to Pesticides. She says some
studies have linked Orthene to cancer-causing
disorders. In addition, exposure to the chemical may
cause a skin rash, she said.
Orthene has been sprayed on only five of the
40,000 acres sprayed nationwide because it ‘‘doesn’t
work and because the health effects aren’t known,”
O’Brien said.
However, the survey shows that 50 percent of Lane
County residents favor the eradication program propos
ed by ODA, 26 percent are opposed and 24 percent are
undecided. Of those undecided, 85 percent say they
lean toward favoring ODA’s plan.
In addition, if no county-wide program to eradicate
the moths is implemented, 83 percent of the
respondents say they will either spray their own pro
perty or seek a cooperative spraying program with their
neighbors.