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Dr. Mary O'Brien, information coordinator for the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to
Pesticides, says the Air Force needs to address the effects of nuclear war in its environmental
impact statement.
No-GWEN Alliance vows to fight
construction of towers elsewhere
By Mary Courtis
OftW fllT«tlf
Members of the No-GWEN
Alliance adopted "Learning
from Success" as its platform
Wednesday at the First Chris
tian Church of Eugene. The
gathering was essentially a
celebration of the group’s vic
torious efforts to stop U.S. Air
Force plans to install a GWEN
tower in lane County.
GWEN, or Ground Wave
Emergency Network, is a low
frequency communications
system designed to transmit
coded messages in the event of a
nuclear war. The military
would use the network as a way
of maintaining communications
between various bases during a
prolonged nuclear conflict.
Currently, plans tall for the
installation for 50 reluy towers
and 37 radio terminals across
the United States. Possibly 70
more towers and 101 radio ter
minals would be built in the
future.
The Air Force and other sup
porters of the network argue
that additional towers will in
crease the chances of surviving
a nuclear war and thus deter
enemy attack.
But opponents say that the in
stallation of the towers could
result in serious social and
political consequences. They
argue that areas where GWEN
towers are installed would
automatically become military
targets.
Opponents worry also about
the towers' environmental
impact.
“The National Environmental
Protection Act states that all
federal agencies have to file an
environmental impact state
ment assessing the effects of any
proposed program as viewed
through the eyes of en
vironmentalists.” said l)r. Mary
O’Brien, information coor
dinator for the Northwest Goali
tion for Alternatives to
Pesticides. "This includes the
military."
The No-GWEN Alliance
brought suit against the military
charging the Air Force violated
the EPA by failing to provide an
environmental impact state
ment for the GWEN tower plan
ned for Eugene. O'Brien said.
The No-GWEN Alliance of
Eugene requested also that the
Air Force submit an en
vironmental impact statement.
"We asked them to address
the effects of using GWEN, and
not just the impact of building
and installing GWEN." she
said. "Since GWEN makes pro
longed nuclear war possible, we
have to evaluate what is the
chance of people and the en
vironment also surviving such a
conflict.”
A recent study ny mnceton
University indicates that the
odds of civilians surviving a
nuclear are not promising
The most conservative
estimate projects that 16.3
million people would die if 100
nuclear weapons were used
against military targets, (silos,
bomber bases, weapons storage
facilities).
"Nuclear war is a violent, en
vironmental disaster mediated
socially.*’ O’Brien said. "The
present mentality of the military
is to keep the military alive, not
nessarily the civilian popula
tion. linder NEPA, the Air
Force must come in contact
with the reality of this devasta
tion and take it into account."
Barabara Keller, local
building designer and legal
coordinator for the No-GWEN
Alliance agreed.
"The idea behind mutual
deterrence is that if we have
Continued on Pag* 5
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Hatfield, Packwood lose
committee chairmanships
By Shawn Wirta
Of dw I—M
The Democrats wrested control of the U.S. Senate away
from Republicans by a 55-45 margin and ousted Oregon
senators Bob Packwood and Mark Hatfield from their com
mittee chair positions in Tuesday’s elections.
Democrat John Stennis of Mississippi will replace Hat
field as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Hat
field will remain as the ranking Republican member
Hatfield and Stennis ‘ have an extraordinarily close and
unusual relationship.'* according to Hatfield's press
secretary Rick Rolf. "The most important thing is how they
function together.” Rolf said.
As a result, there will be little change in legislation com
ing through the committee. Rolf said.
"Stennis is a very conservative Democrat when it comes to
a lot of the military issues.” Rolf said. "For the Democrats to
re-enter the position of leadership will take some time The
Democrats still don’t have a real clear agenda.” he said.
"The Democrats have the majority on paper." but a con
siderable number of southern Democrats will vote with the
Republicans." he said.
As "the dean of moderate and progressive Republicans.
Hatfield will be a key person who will "bridge the gap" bet
ween conservatives and liberals. Rolf said.
"The senator will continue to be involved in the larger
issues of war and peace." including arms control and aid to
Central America. Rolf said. Hatfield has opposed presidential
policies in these areas.
Hatfield "will press for a re-ordering of national
priorities away from unnecessary and excessive defense
spending.” Rolf said.
Republicans losing control of the Senate, "certainly
makes the election bittersweet." for Packwood, "as it affects
Oregon. Both of (the senators) still will have ample oppor
tunity to do things for Oregon” though, according to
Packwood’s press secretary Bob Witteck.
VVitteck denied the election results translate into a rejec
tion of Reagan’s policies. "We’d have to stop and look at all
the races, " he said. "Each one of them had their own issues."
However, Witteck admitted. "Packwood has been one of
the more independent Republicans and that has helped.
Packwood will remain senior member of the Senate
Finance Committee. A Democrat will be selected to chair the
committee.
"The national implications are that yes, people believe
Ronald Reagan is a nice person, but the other side of the coin
has been proved that the American people don’t like his
policies." said Oregon Democratic Party Chairwoman Judy
Carnahan.
"The president might as well have stayed home as far as
campaigning is concerned,” she said. "Ronald Reagan pro
bably helped Slade Gorton in Washington to lose."
\ Democratic-controlled Senate "gives us a step up in
looking toward the presidential race in 1988.” she said. The
new majority also will boost Democratic fund raising, she
said
"Without having Ronald Reagan to personify the party,
what is left for the Republican party?" Carnahan said.
"Now the Democrats are in a position, since we have
both the House and the Senate, to have a fuller role in crafting
national policy,” she said.
"The big question of course is agriculture and what is the
role of government." she said. The new majority should exert
a "greal deal of influence on the amount of money spent on
the military."
In addition. "The president will have to be far more ac
countable for his actions," Carnahan said.
Carnahan is not worried about the Oregon senators' los
ing their chairmanships, she said. "I’m a little cynical when
it comes to that," she said.
"Right now our return back on federal dollars is between
39th and 49th. That has not added up to a great deal of ad
vocacy for Oregon,” she said.
"What we also have is our congressional members
becoming stronger in influence," Carnahan said.
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