Editorial
■*.
Refused pesticide ban
bodes ill for public
The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision last
week to allow the pesticide chlordane to remain on the
market despite repeated calls for its ban leaves doubts about
the agency's willingness to protect the environment and
public health.
Chlordane, a termite killer, has shown to cause cancer
and a host of other health problems in laboratory animals.
Used in millions of American homes and businesses, this
chemical has been hotly protested as a dangerous product by
environmentalists and scientists since its introduction in the
1970s,
New York, Massachusetts and Japan have banned the
product because of its potential health hazard to humans,
and the KPA has prevented its use on food products. Despite
independent scientific evidence to the contrary, the KPA
said it did not have enough information to warrant an im
mediate ban on the pesticide and could not deem it “im
minently hazardous" under the national pesticide law.
Moreover, the agency concedes in contradictory terms
that chlordane is a risk to humans only when it’s used im
properly. stating that it causes "moderately severe" health
reactions when ingested, inhaled or in contact with the skin.
The pesticide also proves to cause chronic liver damage and
may cause eye irritation.
Yet the EPA claims there is insufficient evidence to
prove that it causes cancer and damages the immune and
nervous systems in humans — a claim many scientists
dispute.
The dispute renews old charges that the ERA is insen
sitive toward consumers and the environment. The issue
also recalls the dark days of the EFA under the direction of
Anne Burford, who often allowed dangerous pesticides on
the market despite recommendations that they be banned.
The EFA’s chlordane report goes only as far to say that it
"may pose enough risk of cancer to be a regulatory con
cern," and merely recommends warning labels be placed on
the product and that trained applicators use the chemical.
But these provisions are voluntary, and the onus of en
forcing these or more stringent measures against chlordane’s
use falls on individual states. Chlordane is used throughout
the country, and regulation of its use should be under
federal authority. Clearly, the EFA is not doing its job.
Another questionable aspect of the EFA’s decision not
to ban chlordane is that the federal agency requires the
pesticide’s manufacturer, Velsicol Chemical Corp., to pro
vide the EFA with testing information to fill in "data gaps"
regarding the effects of the chemical on human health and
the environment — essentially appointing Velsicol as its
own overseer.
The foreboding irony is that this same corporation
defeated attempts for an emergency ban on chlordane in
IfiBS. Suspicions were raised then that the EFA was involv
ed in closed-door decision making with the chemical cor
poration. These very suspicions have resurfaced today.
The EFA’s refusal to ban chlordane is unfortunate and
stands as rude testimony to its perverse practice of protec
ting corporate interests rather than taking responsibility for
what the agency was designed to do — protect the environ
ment and public health.
Letters
Tragedy
Recently 1 attended a showing
of the movie Blue Velvet on
campus in Room 150 Geology.
The film featured a character
named Flank, a middle-aged,
sadistic lunatic who concen
trated most of his abuse on a
female character, and was
graphically shown raping her
and punching her repeatedly.
It’s hard to know what to
make of such scenes, proffered
by the movie industry as
entertainment.
Equally puzzling, and more
disturbing than the film itself,
was the audience reaction.
Though the film’s protagonist
was a likable kid. the male
students in the audience iden
tified with Frank and were
cheering his exploits. A chorus
of ”Go, Frank! Yeah! Frank!"
accompanied the entire rape
scene, and wild applause
erupted each time Frank struck
the woman in the face with his
fist.
1 sat in the theater and felt
physically afraid to be a
woman.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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Can this sort of thing be
justified? Is the modern movie
going experience the new-age
equivalent of classical tragedy,
said to have purged the ancient
Greek populace of its dangerous
impulses?
But an audience comes away
from the tragedy with a sense of
the greatness inherent in human
nature. The only thing made
clear to me in watching Blue
Velvet with college students is
that human nature stinks. A
public stoning would have been
more fun.
Maxine Frost
Theater, English lit.
Jello protest
1 would just like to con
gratulate Don Arney and Matt
IJhre for writing what is
possibly the most eloquent
argument I have ever read
against the misuse of jello
(ODE, Jan. 28).
Their letter against the evil
food abusers at the Housing
Department is just what the peo
ple of this university need to
realize how much we abuse
jello. Just look at all the abuse
that finger jello takes.
They remind us that there is
famine and malnutrition in the
world, and I couldn’t agree
more. Since jello is so high in
nutritional value, I have decid
ed to try to organize a program
to mail jello to starving
countries.
I am now calling on the
residents of this university to
fight this jello abuse and mail
their jello to the starving person
of their choice.
If vom think that this letter is
sarcas , you’re right! But I
would .ke to point out that I do
think we should do something
about world hunger, but jello is
not the solution.
Eric J. Winkler
Journalism
Conflict
In mv letter to the Emerald
Jan. 8, 1 stated that for “post
Christian agnostics” like myself
the irresolvable conflict bet
ween religious faith and secular
reason has led to our reliance on
modes of inquiry that involve
the scientific study of the
natural world and critical
historical analysis.
I also suggested that univer
sities should encourage consis
tent critical analysis, and that
the realm of religious belief
should not be considered an ex
cept ion if undersirable
“psychological com part men
tali/.ation" is to be avoided.
Subsequently, a number of
dissenting reactions appeared
in the Emerald’s Letters section.
One such response was that of
Anton Tolman. pyschology
CTF. whose Jan. 18 letter con
tained the following: “...To
me the idea that Jesus is the pro
mised Messiah is a fact because
I have had experiences in my
life that have convinced my
once-skeptical self of the reality
of religious truths.”
Although Tolman is entitled
to his personal beliefs about
Jesus and the alleged existence
of a God. he cannot assert that
his beliefs represent truth or
verified knowledge unless they
can pass the kinds of validating
tests which scientific scholar
ship requires.
Surely as a psychology GTE.
Toman must be aware that mere
personal testimony is not a suf
ficient basis for determining the
veracity of a stated opinion!
Scientific inquiry seeks to
understand things on the basis
of objective rigor, rather than
unsubstantiated faith in some
pre-conceived world view that
is discontinuous with rational
processes. Tolman’s bifurcated
stance is an example of
'‘psychological com
partmentalization”
Ron Rouseseve
Counseling psychology
professor