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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 16, 1985)
Outdoor Celebrations! See Special Supplement Oregon daily emerald Thursday, May 16, 1985 Eugene, Oregon Volume 86, Number 155 House passes right-to-know bill on waste A bill designed to inform citizens about toxic chemicals used in their communities was passed out of the Oregon House on Wednesday, 54-5. The so-called Community Right-to-Know Bill (House Bill 2255) directs the state fire marshal to survey Oregon industries to determine the types, quantities and locations of toxic chemicals used in the state. The survey would be distributed to the governor, the state Legislature and local police and firefighters. The information would also he available in public libraries. The survey, which would involve approximately 4800 Oregon industries, would cover 700 chemicals that are listed as hazardous by the state Accident Prevention Division. The fire marshal also would compile an annual report of all hazardous waste emergencies. The cost of the survey and report, estimated at $470,000, would be financed through a 1.5 percent increase in state fire in surance taxes. The bill is a “bold, farsighted approach to the toxic waste problem in Oregon,” said Jon Stubenvoll, toxic campaign coordinator for the Oregon State Public Research Interest Group. OSP1RG was the main propo nent of the legislation. The original bill was modeled after similar legisla tion in New York state. The bill now goes to the Senate. Blowin ’ a horn in celebration ofMayfest ’85 Trumpet-player Dana Heitman, a member of the University's Green Garter Band, enjoyed Wednesday's warm weather in the EMU Cour tyard, when the band contributed to the fun ofMayfest ’85. Many other University community members also frolicked — listening to music, sampling goodies from the ASUO Street Faire, playing frisbee golf or simply studying in the sunshine. What's more, the forecast for to day looks good, as Mayfest ’85 con tinues with the street faire and lots of entertainment, including a noon gig in the EMU Courtyard with the Ben Ferrell piano duet, followed by the University Song and Dance Troupe at 1 p.m. and a club sports Tae Kwon Do demonstration at 1:30 p.m. In addition, the Willamette Valley Folk Festival gets underway Friday afternoon on the EMU’s east lawn, and continues through the weekend. Photo by Brian Erb Only negotiation can alleviate East-West tensions, says expert By Thomas Henderson Of the Kmerald The United States and the Soviet Union have several policy options in dealing with the threat of nuclear weapons, Prof. Kosta Tsipis of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Wednesday night. Of these options, only negotiation has a realistic chance of alleviating East West tensions, he said. Tsipis spoke in Room 150 Geology to inaugurate the Distinguished Lec tureship program of the University Arms Kosta Tsipis Control Forum, a group of University faculty and staff organized to educate the public on nuclear weapons issues. Tsipis said if the world’s superpowers are to deal effectively with the nuclear dilemma, they must accept certain facts. First of all, he said, nuclear weapons are not going to go away. Though their numbers may be decreased, the weapons themselves are a fact of whatever re mains of human existence. “Human be ings cannot de-invent something,” he said. Secondly, East-West tensions are real and substantial and cannot be lightly dismissed from any consideration of nuclear weapons issues, he said. Lastly, the pragmatic benefits of relieving bi polar hostilities are greater than those of alleviating an unbridled arms race, he said. Tsipis outlined several policy options, dismissing both total disarmament and military victory as unrealistic.’ Military victory is impossible with mutually assured destruction but, in a nuclear-free world, any small, aggressive state could easily gain military superiority over the rest of world, he said. President Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars” proposal is absurd, said Tsipis, because any defense against nuclear weapons must be perfect, lest the enemy overwhelm with superior numbers. Even if such a system could be perfect, it would still be too vulnerable to enemy sabotage to be effective, he said. Deterrence, the “balance of terror” that supposedly keeps the superpowers at bay, is also ineffective as a policy op tion, he said, mainly because it has mov ed beyond the matter of choice. “It has become an avoidable situation rather than an option,” he said. Tsipis said the only effective strategy is broad-based negotiation that goes beyond self-serving squabbling over numbers and strives to create a consen sus on the need for peace and the necessity to reduce destabilizing weapons systems. “We need the voice of life, not of death, to speak up,” he said. Tsipis, a native of Greece, came to the United States in 1954 to study electrical engineering and physics. He has a bachelor's and master’s degree from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in high energy particle physics from Columbia University. He joined the physics department at M.I.T. in 1966. Since 1973, his research has been devoted primarily to scientific and technical questions involved in the possible effects of nuclear war. He has made frequent speeches on national television and radio on the subject of war and peace in the nuclear age. Before Tsipis’ lecture. Aaron Novick, a University biology professor and founder of the Arms Control Forum, was awarded the faculty group’s first Arms Control Peace Award. Hodel, others honored with alumni awards Interior Secretary Donald Hodel and foreign correspondent Bill Drozdiak will be honored by the University Alumni Association as outstanding alumni. Hodel, a native of Portland and a 1960 graduate of the University law school, will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award. Hodel will attend a recognition dinner Saturday at the Valley River Center. Drozdiak, currently on assignment in Bonn, West Germany, for the Washington Post, will receive the se cond annual Outstanding Young Alum nus award. Drozdiak received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University in 1971. Drozdiak was a guard on the Universi ty basketball team during the 1968-71 seasons. He ranks 13th in career scoring at Oregon, and, with a .835 average, has the second highest free-throw record for the Ducks. The association will also honor Lane County Circuit Judge Edwin Allen with the first Lane County Distinguished Alumni Award. Allen received a psychology degree from the University in 1946 and a law degree in 1949. Douglas White, chair of Lane Com munity College’s health occupations department, will receive the group’s Past President’s Award. White has served on the association’s board of directors since 1979 and as its president since 1980.