editorial
Street vendor’s act
violated ODE policy
The Emerald has been thrust into the middle of an im
portant and controversial campus issue — the conflict bet
ween University-area business owners and the street ven
dors of the corner of 13th Avenue and Kincaid Street.
Sometime Wednesday morning, John Wilson, who
owns a coffee cart usually located on the sidewalk outside
the University Bookstore, slipped copies of a political hand
bill into some Emerald newspapers outside the store. The
fliers, printed on City of Eugene letterhead, announced an
upcoming public hearing on proposed regulation of the
pushcarts and included hand-written claims that ‘ ‘ local
businessmen” want to ‘‘eliminate unfair competition. As
soon as we learned that Wilson did this (he admitted to it),
we were pulled away from our position as objective
observer. We were then an involved party in this conflict.
That involvement may have contributed to our repor
ting error in Thursday’s front-page article. Because we
didn’t check our facts thoroughly, we reported that Wilson
stuffed. 3,600 newspapers, the total bookstore distribution.
In fact* he only got to 200 papers. Wilson and some
witnesses of his action called this to our attention, and we
admit our error. •
But some people who were upset about the error acted
as. if the inaccurate number made Wilson look bad. They
seemed to be saying that since he only inserted 200 copies of
the handbill the act was excusable. We see things
differently.
What can’t be overlooked is that Wilson’s act con
stitutes a civil offense. Slipping 200 handbills into a
newspaper without permission is just as detestable as inser
ting 3,600 copies. For this reason, we can’t drop this issue.
Wilson committed an offense and should have to pay the
consequences. Because his act is a civil offense, not a
criminal one, we’ll pursue the case through our lawyers, not
the police department.
We don’t want to harm Wilson’s business, and we aren’t
stating an opinion on the conflict between the street vendors
and the business owners. But we have to enforce the posi
tion that the Emerald is not public property and cannot be
abused without consequence.
A nuclear catastrophe
may occur before 2005
A Nuclear Regulatory Commission analyst estimates
there is a 50-50 chance of a meltdown at an American
nuclear reactor sometime in the next 20 years. The estimate
was made by Robert M. Bernero, a safety analyst with the
NRC. Bernero’s appraisal relates to the probability of a
“severe core melt accident,” which could be more serious
than the March 1979 partial meltdown at Pennsylvania’s
Three Mile Island. His calculation comes at a time when the
domestic nuclear power industry is suffering from a lack of
public confidence.
A meltdown is the worst possible nuclear reactor acci
dent. During a meltdown the reactor core overheats to such a
degree that its radioactive fuel — uranium — melts. If the
fuel penetrates its protective housing, radioactive materials
are released into the environment. Radiation kills body
cells, resulting in latent cancers, genetic damage or death.
Populations must be evacuated from irradiated land, while
irradiated water is a severe threat to human, animal and
plant life. The 50 percent probability of a nuclear meltdown
demonstrates the folly of relying on nuclear power.
HOWEVER, NS AN OPPONENT ONE MUST APMff HE IS A MOST EN6AG/N6 HERSoNAUTV AND A
CHARMING AND WrHV (SlVERSAftmiSr I AM GONNA MQlDA DA BUM, ANVWAV.'
letters
Was justified
1 would like to respond to Mr.
Cross’s letter (ODE, April 11).
The person with the nerve is
not Mr. Diaz, but Ms. Parkman
and people like her. As Cross
stated, no one has the right to
imply anything about the sexual
habits of someone they do not
know, but that is precisely what
Parkman did in her recent
homophobic letters to the
Emerald.
The letter from Diaz was writ
ten in anger, an anger 1 feel was
perfectly justified. Straight
societies’ attitude that AIDS is a
“gay disease” is unjustifiable,
as its attempt to use the disease
as a means of validating its own
moral judgments, judgments it
is not in the position to make.
As Cross also stated, a
number of heterosexuals have
died from AIDS. However, he
made no mention of the literally
thousands of gay men who have
also died from the disease.
Does this reflect an opinion
that their deaths do not matter,
or that they are of no impor
tance in the assessment of the
disease’s implications for socie
ty as a whole?
It is precisely this sort of at
titude that we need to change.
The gay community takes the
threat of AIDS very seriously
indeed.
The great majority of us are
not the irresponsible breeders of
disease Parkman would have
you believe.
Michael McHugh
Eugene
Oregon daily _ _
emerald
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University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 97403.
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Degrading
Heavan’s Gate Restaurant and
Springfield Spas, a silent part
ner of the restaurant, are spon
soring a wet t-shirt contest for
“girls”.
The ad appeared in the
Emerald last Friday and Mon
day and will also appear
Wednesday and Friday. We
urge all people to boycott these
businesses as a protest against
promoting sexism and the
degradation of women as
objects.
We recommend that all
women consider the implica
tions of participating in this
kind of event and refuse to be
contestants. We also ask men to
knock the bottom out of the con
test by refusing to be an
audience.
By viewing one woman as the
sum total of her breasts, it
becomes easy to view every
woman as a pair of teats.
Shawn Wirtz
Eugene
Sensationalism
The recent front-page article
on Professor Baker’s account on
Korea is a common example of
sensationalism, providing
neither enlightenment nor an
understanding of the situation
in Korea.
Kwangsook Chung
A concerned Korean student
Incon venience
An unfair banking practice
exists in Oregon. It is called the
“bank float” and under it, a
bank can put a hold on a
deposited check and not allow
the customer access to those
funds for a certain period of
time.
This hold can be too long,
and this is unfair and an in
convenience for fixed income
citizens.
I had trouble with my bank
last term. 1 deposited a check in
to my account and was told
there would be a 14-day hold on
it. I waited 14 days before
writing any checks on that
money, but my check bounced
because the hold had been ex
tended without notifying me.
I was spared from paying late
fines for my tuition only
through the generosity of
friends. Others may have trou
ble paying bills, etc. when
holds are placed.
This is particularly unfair
since the banks have use of the
money one Or two days after
deposit.
I have heard of a bill that
would solve the problem of
bank customers being
inconvenienced.
The bill, being supported by
the Oregon State Public Interest
Research Group (OSPIRG),
would set reasonable hold
periods for Oregon banks.
Although many bankers con
tend that check-holding and
long float periods are not a pro
blem in Oregon, I know several
people who have had problems
similar to mine.
I urge anyone who has had
problems with a bank to write to
OSPIRG at 027 S.W. Arthur St.,
Portland 97201 so that they can
show legislators that there is in
deed a problem.
Jenny Polakov
Eugene
rercepuons
I have been compelled to
write to you about the article on
Nuclear Winter. Dr. Ehrlich ask
ed, “Why is reducing arms so
frightening?” It is so frighten
ing because those in power on
both sides perceive a threat
from the other.
They are gambling, they
would rather die powerful than
weak. They fear that arms
reductions would be seen as a
weakness and the other side
would take advantage.
The only way we are going to
get arms reductions is if they
perceive a greater threat from
their own citizens by having
nuclear weapons, than the
threat from the other side by not
having them.
David Sternbergh
Eugene
Appreciation
I’d like to publicly express
my appreciation to Steve Bove
of Cinema 7 for his decision to
discontinue the weekend mid
night showings of films that
were objectionable to part of the
community.
Not only does Cinema 7 show
terrific films and have a friend
ly, comfortable atmosphere, it
also deserves the support of the
film-going community.
Jesse Ledgerwood
Eugene