Villard Hall is having
a birthday party!
See the Friday Edition
Oregon Daily
Emerald
Friday. May 2. 1986
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 87, Number 144
Disaster kindles speculation
among University faculty
- By Chris Norred
- Ol Ihr Kmrmlil ” ‘ •’ ' *
; T*he Soviet Union's nuclear reactor accident,
and I In* subsequent radioactive clone).-’ lies sji.irjk.
ed speculation among .tome University faculty
alsnit the effects the disaster might: have upon
health, politics and nuclear energy'. * ‘ .
Thursday's .reports showed-t'hfj.chdid. cover-.J
ing .a large-part of Eastern and'Nbrthern Europe. /
• and possibly arriving in the United States within 0
the week. ' ■ • i
Accurate information* on- this exact nature of.
the accident.is essential for a complete analysis of
the possible health effects, 'said Bill. lames., i
health physicist at the .University's office of an*.."
vironmental health and safety. . °
As of now. however, the official word com- "
ing from the Soviet Union has been criticized as.,
slow, incomplete and undetailed - • ;
European political leaders and the Western
media have chastised the Soviets for failing.to,im
mediately inform the world about the. accident
Hut 'the isoviets- reluctance to immediately.”
release details of. the accident is very understanr
dahle and practical.'said |oseph Austin, instruc
tor oft he University's SEARCH" course, "War in
the Nuclear Age;"’ - ’ ’ ... •; %
"The first priority is to get people out of the
immediate area, and that's exactly'what it ap
pears they did.” Austin said. "Had ihey- 'an
nounced how terrible things were tie fore they got
them out,.there would have been such a.panic:
they wouldn't have been: able to save those
•: people.. .V. ....
"Supposing they had told everybody just,
what had happened.- what would those.goverh
mnnts In Europe do to head off those radioactive
winds?" Austin asked. - *
Hut the Soviet Union was negligent in the
.. .-.
. sense they were, not frank with their-pWn.people
iir their allies; said professor Joseph Fiszman, .a
. University political science professor. Fiszman
has 'spent many years traveling in the Soviet:
-Union.-.' * ■•••*. ’ . ■ . . ■ ...
' “ ">^e always, the:Soviet people are the last
v ’to know.ancl the least to.know4’ Fiszman sa.id. .
■ l.t'is the fault of a system-1hat'doe's riot divulge
its information'that we fear rumors and"analysef
oft tlie situation, that are contradictory! Fiszman
said? ‘ o- ' .. •
;' V\"The Russians generally tend"- to take
chances," Fishman said. "They an; daredevils,
there are no real safety indications When you
travel on Soviet airlines, "they are doing things
that from a safety point of view ought to be
.taboo!"- • . '
"Th'e Russians have less .experience with
»:*w:hnologv than we do. and we have accidents, so
> imagine the problems’ they have!" Austin said.
. 4 Americah offers of assistance in.fighting the
nuclear reactor lire have not been accepted', a'nd it
is unlikely.that the Soviets will accept the offer,’
Fiszman said.! . ‘ .
r ."The U.S: hash natural instinct to offer help *
in a disaster situation, but the Soviet Union will
reject.it," Fiszman said, v • •
' Some European political leaders called for
the Soviets to shut down all their nuclear plants
until-international inspections could be carried
out. But the Russians are not likely to agree with
;f this,' Fiszman' said,,
V-°. „"The Soviet.Union has some economic.pro
blems and has increasingly put their future stakes
in nuclear-energy," he said. •; . ’• -
' . "Obyjously their scientific community came
to the conclusion that nuclear power was a step
'.into' the “future; They put good money and con
- fidence in.it.” Austin said.
Blood-red handprints on an anti-apartheid banner
displayed at Wednesday’s GTE.rally symbolize the op
pression of blacks in South Africa. An anti-apartheid
rally,'originally scheduled for Thursday but canceled
because of rain, will take place Tuesday at 12:30 in the
EMU Courtyard.
Photo by lames Marks
• . ■ . ' ' :
v. •. .. •• •• • >. .• c.. •. •; 1
Emerald editor chosen
By Chris Norred
IW I Hr £mt*r*ltj
Th« Oregon Daily Emerald will
undergo some .significant changes in
the way it reports tin* news next year,
said now editor Paul Sturt/. Sturtz’s
selection as editor for the l‘J8t>-H7
school year was announced by the
Emerald board of directors Thursday!
night.
"I would like to have a perfect
blend between a newspaper that can
carry late-breaking news but also has
the flexibility to explore issues in a
more comprehensive way,” Sturt/.
»aid; r-. .*■ _ „
"No one but the Emerald can cover
campus news as thoroughly," he
said, "It is our responsibility to take
advantage of that distinction. As a
school newspaper, the Emerald
should not be afraid to challenge the
powers that he. and call them on their
bluffs."
I.engthier, in-depth news features
will be the major emphasis of the
paper next year. Other major changes
in the paper will include a reduction
in the number of stories from syn
dicated news services and a more
creative graphic design.
Writers will have more freedom to
experiment with style next year, he
said.
"I would like to see the paper have
more spunk,” Sturtz said. "1 would
like to have pimple open up the paper
in the morning and he surprised.”
Sturtz is presently the associate
editor of community and political
news at the Emerald and has four
years of experience as a freelance
reporter for the paper. Me also has
worked as an intern research assistant
at Mother Jones magazine and was
formerly a contributing editor to Big
Talk magazine, a now-defunct music
and issues magazine that was based in
Eugene.
Fee committee refuses funding
for another EMU staff position
By Stan Nelson
Of the Kmerald
In a move to make the EMU more of a
student-run operation, the Incidental
Fee Committee eliminated funding of
one staff position and denied funding for
a second at an EMU budget hearing
Thursday. The committee also approved
a Club Sports trainer position.
The I Ft' approved a 5 percent increase
that will give the EMU about $1.3
million in student incidental fees.
The Cultural Forum consultant posi
tion was eliminated despite EMU Board
and staff objections that the change
would cause disarray.
Many ASIIO and EMU programs pro
vide similar services and could be con
solidated. said Mary Kay Menard. ASUO
assistant finance coordinator.
1'he $26,978-a-year position at the
Cultural Forum is under contract for an
additional three years and will have to be
funded or bought out. FIMU staff
members said.
IFC members rejected an Outdoor Pro
gram request for a half-time GTF stipend
of $8,328 to coordinate program safety
and outings.
After three years of requests. Club
Sports was appropriated a $3,565 sti
pend for a part-time trainer. The stipend
replaced a lodging stipend received by
athletes in prior years. Club Sports was
budgeted $4,878 to subsidize 1985-86
lodging costs.
In other business, the committee
discussed University President Paul
Olum’s proposal to use surplus inciden
tal fee monies for loans to GTFs who are
subject to recent tax withholdings on tui
tion waivers.
“The proposal has the support of
Chancellor William Davis and Chairman
of the Board of Higher Education. Al
Batiste. The State System offices have re
quested advice as to the legality of this
use of the Incidental Fee reserve, and we
are quite hopeful that this use will be ap
proved." Olum said in a letter to the
committee.
The proposal still needs the approval
of the State Board of Higher Education
and the IFC. he said.
The biggest problem with the proposal
is there is no guarantee the loans will be
paid back, said 1PC Chairman James Ran
dall.
If one group is allowed to request an
emergency loan, it could start a prece
dent so that any struggling group of in
dividuals could request loans, said Ar
mando Morales, an IFC member.
IFC member Ka-yin Siew called the
proposal "an outrageous attempt by
Olum. the administration and the State
Board of Higher Education to deflect the
heat they ignited when they decided to
withhold the pay in the first place."
Olum will meet with Randall, the
Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation
President Chuck Hunt and ASUO Presi
dent Lynn Pinckney on Friday to discuss
the matter further. Randall said.