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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 16, 1985)
Terrorism? Not in this town Terrorists of the world, take note. This isn’t Beirut, Ahmed. Try something at Eugene's Mahlon Sweet Municipal Air port and. by damn, you'll get your comeuppance! That's the word from the powers that be at Mahlon Sweet, remarking in a recent Register-Guard article that the airport is as secure from ter rorism as any airport in the world. Considering airport security at places like Athens and Frankfurt, 1 find little com fort in that thought. But my fears disappeared when 1 recently visited the air port and saw for myself its in penetrable bulwark of state-of the-art security devices. My hives have since cleared up. With its proximity to Prinevillo. Myrtle Creek, Junc tion City and other meccas of regional terrorism. Eugene is a prime target for hijackers and. terrorists. It would take only theo smallest gap in airport security for some dangurous fanatic from Islamic Jihad. Rajneeshpuram or .Old- Taylor's to hijack a Cascade Air flight ip Sclo. Rest -easy, .friends. Mahlon Sweet's . sole boarding area is . • encased by four sturdy, walls, and oncoming passengers must; pass through metal detectors . powerful enough to be set off-by . tooth fillings Similarly, carry on items must pass through an X-ray machine. And not just any X-ray machine, by golly, but the in credible Unescan One — the scourge of air pirates everywhere! Way 1 hear It. a hi jacker once tried to hide a gun in a teddy bear, and the Linescan One not only detected the gun, but the teddy bear died of cancer three weeks Lter. Mahlon Sweet has not always been so secure. The gang at the liquor store tells me that the air port once didn’t use security devices at all. But when local vagrants starting gathering at Offbeat the airport for strip-searches, the decision was made to modernize A plethora of federal regula tion s determine what passengers can and cannot br ing onto airplanes. Explosives, flammable material,- poisons and corrosives (not counting airline food), oxidizers and firearms are definite. nornos. The list does not include obnox ious children, although attemp ting to board with them should be grounds . for summary execution. People also are theoretically prohibited from carrying 'coin-. pressed gasses onto airplanes. However, I once traveled to Seattle next to an old woman who was carrying compressed gasses. That's the last time I take a flight that serves baked beans for lunch. Talk about your acts of terrorism. Secure as Mahlon Sweet sup posedly is. a photographer and I walked uninterrogated in an area clearly off limits to all by legitimate cargo customers. For tunately. 1 am not a terrorist, at least not recently, and the photographer presumably isn't either. But had we the slightest hostile intentions, it would have been pitifully simple to sabotage someone's luggage. It's just this kind of weakness terrorists can exploit. Mahlon Sweet isn’t the most bustling of airports. In fact. I en countered only two travelers. George Van't Zet and his son David who were leaving for George's native Amsterdam. Although bound overseas, neither of them seemed tori con cerned about international ter rorism. and David provided what may be the best solution to the problem. . "Wherever therels turmoil in an area, you don't want to go there," he said,.They couldn't have picked a-better-place than Mahlo.n. Sweet airport. . By Thomas Henderson Don’t abandon Donald Diick There used to be a time when yellow and green were the only official school colors and a thick-, which looked like a'popular Walt Disney character, was ihw.l (diversity's sole mascot-. But no more" ' ' • . • * '.Tfje University now can claim every color from pale violet .and neon pink to the dreaded Orange and black-as its-own. And our duck, . well/he has undergone so' many, trahforma • tioiis that the VVajt Disney version .no longer, holds a. monopoly here. •• The change occiicnd slowly at first and has .only picked up‘.speed in the.last few .years,. < atising many not to really notice "or give it . much thought I did not Ins nine, hilly aware of th.i.s changejny self.until last'wee.k when I stop ped to look at the racks of T-shirts for sahVout side the*boolistOre. ‘ ..• '• The racks contained every, color and style of T.-shirt imaginahle. except for the traditional * green and- yellow .model that clearly* spelled .out what university i| was from. . . ' ' . Inside, the bookstore, the "story was (he same.- The-bookstore carries, about 250 to :»()() different styles of T-shirts. And of all these shirts- only a few would pass for an accurate advertisement for the University., • • This all seems relatively unimportant at first, until ydu consider that only a small por tion of the .750.000 T-shirts 'sold annually at the bookstore go to those who know that orange and black are really the colors of the school up the road. During the summer, tourists make up most of the bookstore's T-shirt sales. This moans that the short; sleeved purple'shirt"with " .' ‘Oregon-’' swished across' the front t hat. I saw a Woman-buy last week improbably representing • the school right now in some.Vtate where'peo' pie have, never heard of Kugene; let alone the .. • University. ’ • . . • hvon during the school year many of the T-shirts sold go-to out-of-state, relatives -of friends vyho might Wrongly assume' that the" .‘Hugga Duck ’ slogan, ’on one qf the . bookstore’s more popular shirts, is a commop saying around here, just like ‘Go Trojans" or "Kiss Me, I'm Irish” are"at other schools.' , • One-of the bookstore's newest styl.es that . acts aSa spokesman for thy l lniversiiy isash.frt •• Reporter’s Notebook . .that glows in the dark. This-’s'hrrt" like the neon bright tank top introduced last spring, is doing ; well on its second order-now and likely'.will bef turning -up in places like. New York 'and . California .to spread the word’&hout what popr lighting 1he school'has, Beverly Emery., • the” bookstore’s T-shirt buyer', says that she fpl.lows the fashion trends of the clothing industry as', well as what is ' ■ popular at other universities .when deciding what to buy. • .; '• . About 75 percent of the shirts purchased. . no matter what the.desigln or Color, will sell, says Bob Spencer,- the bookstore’s merchandis ing manager,-who adds that fashion will con tinue to replace tradition in thisarea. • By Julie Freeman DIM 11 so *1.95 Special Fishball Noodle Soup Won Ton Noodle Soup Hoy Lum Gai Fuhn & 'I? tiL And Try Us For Dinner CHINA BLUE Ki'vlaiiruul K79 K. 13th 343-28*2 Oreaon Dailv Emerald TUESDAY Is LADIES MIGHT at the IMTERMATIOMAL j£g ALL DRIMK5 $1°° a 30 to 12 00 at the ShHo Inn QATCWAY 1-5 „.vs a^eeK '0:00 P"> SAM’S.1? 60 CORNER OF ALDER * 343*^* 24 VARIETIES coi^«hd*r On VO" !*°*2 wh«»* Wend wh*,e ,e ot *o 90 Have W nei BEER»«rf,*'L 3 iaRGE 50 oz. E"*ie 75 pitchers U SOMMEB °nfS^ch. BuV ° rood of same 9°r ^ *Tat" 4pm »h,u 7 22 ^ "^COUPON 1 Cheese and milk distribution set FOOL) for Lane Country will distribute cheese and milk to low-income residents at the University on Wednesday bet ween the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. To be eligible, recipients must present a verification of address, such as a postmarked envelope with a name on it. No proof of income is necessary, but participants must meet income guidelines. For information about additional sites or eligibility, con tact FOOD for lane County at 343-2822. l” German AUTO SERVICE VW’S MERCEDES BMW’S DATSUN TOYOTA Reliable Service <or your Q/[0 OQ-4 O 2025 Franklin Blvd foreign car since 1963 044*49 I £ Eugene. Ore 97403 D University Neighborhood Dentist Q Gentle care for students for 13 years. ^ Student Discount Available ^ J. Scott Baxter, d.m d . pc 680 E. 18th Ave., Eugene ^ (corner of 18th & Hilyard) Q Ch Ch ^ Q £Z^ C^ £Zv^-\ lr\
