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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1987)
Editorial Presidents apology to nation falls short In his State of the Union Message Tuesday. Reagan finally admitted "serious mistakes were made" in the sales of arms to Iran to secure the freedom of hostages in Leban non and establish contacts with moderates in Iran. "We did not achieve what we wished." he said. This announcement is not news for anyone who has watched the Iran arms-deal affair unfold. The news is that Reagan has finally admitted error in the action, and is now taking "full responsibility." Unfortunately, his message fell far short of what the na tion. its foreign policy in the Middle Hast destroyed, and the new hostages captured this weekend deserve. Reagan fell far short of explaining who committed what mistakes and when the mistakes actually occurred. He did not explain how he would take responsibility, or how doing so would ease the severity of the conflict between Iran and Iraq — or the plight of hostages being held in the Middle Hast. Once again, although Reagan may believe he was pursu ing "worthy goals," faulty logic and administrative misdirection, or non-direction, worsened a crisis much more serious than Reagan's limited apology recognizes. Congress should pursue catastrophic illness plan President Reagan omitted a detailed plan for catastrophic illness insurance from his State of the Union Message Tuesday; Congress should now take; the re;igns on the; issue; and run with it. 1 he plan would e;ase; the; disastrous economic burden that accompanies catastrophic illnesses in this time of skyrocketing health care and hospital costs, which e>fte;n prove; to he; too much for ordinary insurance coverage. Although Reagan advanced the; program with his sup port of the; ide;a in last year s State e>f the Union Message, he; has now failed to me;e;t his own dealine, leaving congres sional le;aele;rs more; e;age;r to face the; issue than his ad ministration. which is split on proposals for the plan. Congressional committees have been hearing testimony on the; financial devastation wrought on people by short, severe medical ne;eds, or long-te;rm chronic care, and con gressional leaders of both parties say the;y are; now re;ady to tackle the; issue themselves. The current proposals center around a report calling for coverage of an unlimited number e;f days of hospital care, with the; beneficiary’s out-of-pocket payments limited to $2,000 a year. The ejuestion is whether these benefits should be; organized federally, which would cost an additional $4.92 a month in Medicare premiums, or privately by giving incen tives to insurance companies. Whate;ver solution Congress finds, Sen. John Heinz, R.-Penn., is e:orre;e:t in saying it must be truly comprehen sive;, providing a blanket of protection for those finding themselves in a desperate situation medically and financially. 6 5QJMBALL! J Letters Theoretical I for one am tired of having theories (a plausible or scien tifically acceptable general principle offered to explain phenomena) twisted to fit some ideological theo- political dogma. Though not a specialist in evolutionary theory, it may be helpful to the debate if the pro tagonists read Manfried Kigens thoughts on evolutionary processes. One point of Mr. Frary's and Mr. Richards’ that I would like to discuss is their sophomoric interpretation of the second law of thermodynamics. Their caveat assumption states that since the entropy of the system can only increase and that biological entities represent an astronomical decrease in en tropy, then life could not have originated from inorganic material. If we look at a scientifically stated second law (1): The en tropy change of an “adiabatical Iv isolated system” is always positive for a natural process. The essential point is in quotes. Adiabatic systems are those in which energy cannot enter or leave the system's boundaries. Obviously, the earth's surface Oregon Daily Emerald The Oregon Daily Emerald is published Monday through Friday except during exam week and vacations by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co , at the University of Oregon, Eugene. Oregon, 97403 The Emerald operates independently of the University with offices on the third floor of the Erb Memorial Union and is a member of the Associated Press The Emerald is private property The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law General Staff Advertising Director Susan Thelen Production Manager Wayne Michael Lottinville Classified Advertising Alyson Simmons Assistant to the Publisher Jean Ownbey Advertising Sales: Peter LaFleur / Sales Manager Teresa Acosta Brent Collins, Beryl Israel, Janelle Heil mann, Laura Goldstein, Catherine Lllja, Rick Martz, Joseph Menzel. Peter Miller, Joan Wildermuth News and Editorial 686 5511 Display Advertising and Business 686 3712 Classified Advertising 686-4343 Production 686-4381 Circulation 686 5511 Editor Managing Editor News Editor Spectrum Editor Spectrum Assistant Editor Editorial Page Editors Sports Editor Photo Editor Assistant Photo Editor Graphic Editor Night Editor Associate Editors Community Politics Higher Education / Administration University Affairs Student Government Student Activities General Assignment Michelle Brence Lucinda Dillon Michael Rivers Curlis Condon Stephen Maher James Young Michael Drummond Capi Lynn Michael Wilhelm John Giustina Lorraine Rath Stan Nelson Jolayne Houtz Shawn Wirt* Chris Norred Stan Nelson Sarah Kitchen Tonnie Dakin Dennis Fernandes Reporters: Sean Axmaker, Mary Courtis, Karen Creighton Gary Henley, Carolyn Lamberson, Scott Maben. Janet Paulson. B J Thomsen Photographers: Sherlyn Biorkgren, ShuShing Chen Maria Corvailts, Derrel Hewitt, Bobbie Lo. Dan Wheeler Production: Michele Ross / Ad Coordinator Kelly Alexandre, Elizabeth Asher, Ronwin Nicole Ashton Virginia Bamaga, Sandra Bevans, Sara Briscoe. Shu shing Chen, Janet Emery. Lisa Haggerty, Donna Leslie Curtis Lott, Kelli Mason, Mike McGraw, Rob Miles Angelina Muniz, Julie Paul, Ingrid White, X Kang Xie (the system) receives energy from the sun was well as the earth's interior. Therefore, the second law, by itself, is unable to deny evolution as a theory. One last philosphical point: Science and faith are not ex clusive of one another. My scientific knowledge serves to make my world more exciting and wondrous. Witnessing the birth of my daughter, the begin ning of an intelligent life, was a wondrous transcendental ex perience that helps me to ascer tain if their is a benevolent supreme being. Who is to say who is right and who is wrong? Certainly not 1. Dennis kallimanis Graduate, chemistry Jogging After some thought, I’ve con cluded that the reason 1 jog about 30 miles a week is that my brain is holding the rest of me hostage, and there’s within me a cover trade of fatique for en domorphines. the latter ensur ing the thrill of the treadmill. Oh well. Tim faques Undeclared The beginning Literal biblical scholars set the age of the earth and universe at around 6,000-years-old using genealogy. Astrophysists set tin* age of the universe at more than 1 0 -bi 11 io n y e a r s using measurements of elec tromagnetic radiation left over from the creation event. Geologists set the age of the earth at about 4.5 billion years using properties of the atoms that make up the earth. Paleon tologists have found very sim ple fossils that are 5.5 billion years old. Upon hearing the discrepan cy between science and literal biblical interpretation, some biblical scholars insist fossils and physical artifacts were created by God to fool scientists. Considering such a sense of humor, could God be above pulling the legs of a few' zealous interpreters of the Bible? All people are imperfect, if you believe in original sin. Is it like ly that the imperfect people who have received revelations, and the imperfect people who have copied, translated, and in terpreted those revelations for many generations have brought to this day a perfect Bible? In the fossil record, simple forms always appear in older (deeper) strata before more com plex forms. The debate over rate of evolution (gradualism vs. punctuated) is not a debate over the fact of evolution. If literal interpretation of the Bible sug gests that the earth is not very old. and that evolution did not occur then it is likely that either the Bible or the interpreter is in correct. In either case, Mr. Frary and Mr. Richards, $400 sounds good to me. Walter Dodds Visiting assistant professor Biology Letters Policy 1 he Emerald will attemt to print all letters con taining fair comment on topics of interest to the University community. Letters to the editor must be limited to 250 words, typed, signed and the identification of the writer must be verified when the letter is turned in. 1 he hmerald reserves the right to edit the letter for length or style. Letters to the editor should be turned into the Emerald office. Suite 300, EMU.
