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
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distribution set
FOOL) for Lane Country will distribute cheese and milk
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