editorial
Philadelphia police
acted irrationally
It doesn’t look good for a nation that claims to uphold
the principles of justice. It doesn’t look good for a city mayor
who has the reputation of being calm and reserved. Most of
all, it makes a mockery of Philadelphia’s tradition of being
the “City of Brotherly Love.”
Americans have every reason to be both angered and
saddened over the events that took place in Philadelphia on
May 13. On that day, Mayor Wilson Goode gave the word to
the Philadelphia police department that it was time to evict
MOVE, a violent “back-to-the-land” group, from their
Philadelphia house. What followed was, in the words of
Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, “the most violent eviction
notice that’s ever been given.” Conyers’ statement is not out
of line. After laying siege to the MOVE house for several
hours, police dropped a bomb on the building. Within 24
hours, 61 homes had been burned to the ground, 250 people
had been left homeless, and 11 members of MOVE, in
cluding four children, had burned to death.
There is no question that the cult-group MOVE is
dangerous and violent. In a 1978 confrontation with the
group, Philadelphia police were involved in a shoot-out that
left one officer dead. For more than a year prior to the assault
on May 13, police had received complaints from people liv
ing near the MOVE house. In almost all cases, those who
made the complaints claimed that MOVE members had
threatened local people and were terrorizing the
neighborhood. The big question is, did the Philadelphia
police deal with the situation properly? Certainly not.
There is nothing that can justify bombing a building
that contains not only violent criminals but also innocent
children. It is analogous to police confronting a terrorist
hostage situation and opting to bomb the building that con
tains both the terrorists and the innocent hostages. Further
more, it is hard to understand why the police would risk
causing a fire by bombing a building located in a city
neighborhood consisting of row houses. There is no
justification for the police action taken in the MOVE
incident.
The police say that one of the reasons they decided to go
after MOVE was that the group had stated in a written letter
to city officals that, “We are going to bum them with smoke,
fire, gas, and bullets. We will bum this house down and you
up with us.” But as things now stand, it was not MOVE but
the police who burned down the neighborhood.
No One is accusing the city mayor or the police of want
ing to bum down 61 houses and kill four children and
seven adults in the process. MOVE was a danger and a threat
that had to be dealt with. But the action taken by the
Philadelphia police was irrational.
Dealing with terrorists or violent criminals holed up in
a building is not a new experience for American law enforce
ment groups. As recently as April, 200 FBI and state law en
forcement personnel lay siege to the Mountain Home, Ark.
camp of the neo-Nazi group called “The Covenant.”
Because of the presence of women and children in the camp,
the police ruled out any “heavy action.” They simply kept
the camp surrounded. Four days later, “The Covenant”
surrendered.
When dealing with such a dangerous situation, the key
is, and always has been, patience. This is what the
Philadelphia police lacked. They had no need to act hastily
and bomb the MOVE house. They could have cut off water,
food and electricity and then waited for the group to come
out. Whatever their options, bombing the building should
have never been considered.
'vJc^KEP CITY HALlfo6Sf‘MCVE" our OF OUR NEI6MBORMOCO, ANP YOU MUST ADMIT THEY
WAVE BEEN VERY RESFCNSIV/E 15 OUR COMPLAINT^.
letters
Unethical
Citizens need to support S.B.
409 (Parental notification of a
minor child’s intent to seek an
abortion) by writing letters to
the Senate Judiciary Committee
(Senator Bill Frye, chairman).
To deny a parent’s right to
know of any medical/surgical
procedure about to be perform
ed on their child is not only
anti-family, but unethical as
well. Government must support
the parent’s role as primary in
fluencer over their child’s
welfare, not attempt to subvert
that role. The greater a parent’s
involvement in their child’s
development, the less the risk of
deliquency, academic failure,
and sexual promiscuity. Unfor
tunate teen-age pregnancy
deserves the counseling and in
put that only a girl’s mother or
father can provide. Profit
motivated abortion facilities
should support parental in
volvement if they truly care
about a young girl’s physical
and psychological well-being.
Kit Greerty
Eugene
More aware
Recently, I had the opportuni
ty to accompany a new friend of
mine to the Bookstore. She is
physically limited and in a
wheelchair. I pushed her to the
store, helped her buy her books
and find the wheelchair en
trances into her classes. Until
then I had not realized how dif
ficult it is to get around in a
wheelchair — trying to open
doors, get through narrow
aisles, up steep ramps, into lit
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tie elevators, and over big
bumps in the road — things I
had never thought about. I was
immensely frustrated after the
trip to the store but my friend
has to deal with these things
every day. I will never again
look at a disabled person
without admiration.
On Tuesday, May 21, The Cir
cle K Service Club with the
ASUO is sponsoring Handicap
Awareness Day. Among other
events, there will be
wheelchairs in the EMU Court
yard from 10-3 and at 12:30
p.m., there will be a speaker on
handicapped issues. At 7 p.m.,
Eugene's men’s and women’s
wheelchair basketball teams,
along with UO basketball
seniors, will play at Mac Court.
Circle K is not hoping to solve
problems with these events, but
to help the University popula
tion become more aware. 1 en
courage everybody to attend
these events so that they will
become more informed of the
issues and problems that face
the physically limited.
fenny Munro
Circle K president
Owes apology
A long-time partner of mine,
a blues musician known as
Watermelon Slim, was openly
solicited to submit an audition
tape for the Willamette Folk
Festival. 1 was out of state at the
time; upon my return 1 submit
ted my folk album. It is beyond
me how he was selected to be
the opening act of the entire
festival, while I was rejected
altogether. When I asked about
it, I was offered a spot as a lead
in act for him. 1 agreed to play at
2:45 p.m. on Friday. Nobody
told me that 1 was one of five
acts who would not be billed on
festival advertisements, would
be relegated to the classified ads
as a "mini-festival,” and would
be set up on a tiny stage before a
small audience out of sight of
the festival grounds. We played
a half-hour set of my songs at
the top of our form. When
Watermelon Slim took the main
stage, 1 accompanied him on his
opening number, but my
microphone was turned off.
I think the Cultural Forum
owes five musical acts a sincere
apology for flagrantly treating
us as second-class musicians. It
would have been just as easy to
have set up the main stage and
sound system by noon on Fri
day, and to have billed the five
acts in the empty space on the
advertising posters. After much
anguish, I submitted to the
ridicule only because it would
have been unprofessional not
to.
Richard Phillips
Eugene
New tribe
We are a new tribe, perhaps
newly re-emerging. As with the
Gypsy tribe, many have called
themselves Hippy, who are not.
Some people consider the word
hippy an insult, as Gypsy, or In
dian, or other tribal cultures
have also become labels of in
sult to the ignorant.
We are a definable culture
with shared traits and customs
(a true ethnic group). We share
a system of universal moral
standards which basically say
that it's OK to believe in
anything, be anyone, do
anything so long as those
beliefs, ways, and doings don't
intrude unprovoked or
unwelcome into someone else’s
sphere of life.
We share the belief that it is
our duty to assist anyone suffer
ing unjust or unwelcomed in
trusion, if assistance is asked
for. We believe anyone thus in
vaded has every right to cast out
the invader. We believe we have
the duty to not seek to impose
upon others' sphere of life
uninvited.
There are no leaders among
us, or you. We are worldwide.
We are babies and elders and all
of the generation in between.
We are here to stay. Work for
peace and love of life.
Tommy Whalen
(Laughing Deer)
Eugene
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