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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1987)
Editorial Japanese needn't kill to conduct research Japan's Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone has been get ting a lot of heat lately from irate Americans regarding his country's unfair trade practices. These concerns surely will be raised today as Nakasone visits the President at the White Mouse. But not all of those lined up to protest Nakasone will to objecting to unfair trading policies — many will to con demning Japan's whaling policy. Japan's commercial whaling is to come to a close next year. This action would to adhering to a moratorium on commercial whaling handed down by the International Whaling Commission in 1982. But in what can only to inter preted as a circumvention of this moratorium, earlier this month Japan announced it would continue to conduct “research whaling” in the Antarctic. Japan will continue its slaughter of minke and sperm whales and has set the number to to killed at 825 and 50, resptnrtively. This would to roughly half of Japan's commer cial quota for these two species for 1986-87. This research whaling would bt( nothing more than a scaled-down version of commercial whaling. The same day the last lapanese commercial whalers returned home from the Antarctic, Japan declared it would conduct research whaling using the very same ships. According to Japan, the intent of its research would be to gather evidence supporting their claim that there are plen ty of minke and sperm whales for the killing. Stated dif ferently. they will be hunting whales to prove these whales can be hunted. International organizations estimate the minke whale population at 250.000. Population figures for sperm whales is harder to determine but researchers put their numbers at far less than their minke cousins. New Kngland whalers in the early !8th century claimed the Atlantic grey whale wes so numerous it could never be eradicated. The Atlantic grey is now extinct and eight species of great whales are currently on the endangered species list, including the blue, the southern and northern right, and the humpback. Japanese laboratories will busy themselves gleaning organs from minke and sperm whales to dertermine their diet, reproductive development and the fetal content of females. The meat, however, will waste no time in making its way to Japan's extensive consumer market. The Japanese have never denied their intentions of resuming commercial whaling when the moratorium ex pires in 1990. But they would not have to wait. The IVVC has no power to levy sanctions on offending nations. Moreover, if a nation wishes, it merely can exempt itself from IYVC authority. Nakusone, in light of America’s heightened concern for the plight of the whales and the strains caused by a nearing trade war, has asked his nation's fisheries agency to recon sider the number of whales to be harvested for "research” next year. Hut Japanese bureaucracy is notorious for its foot dragging. Unless more economic pressure is put on Japan and the other whaling nations of Iceland, the Soviet Union, and South Korea, these nations always will find whales for the killing. I HAVE SOME BAD NBB-.MWBE f 'YOU SHOULD * 5TT DOWN... Letters Assertions Upon reading John English's Idler (ODE. April 13). I was angered and disgusted, ig norant reactionaries such as English are by no means un common (particularly within the editorial page of the Emerald), and as such. I usually opt to ignore them. However, in this case my sense of futility is exceded by my desire to respond to English's muronic assertions. His letter begins with the statement that people are gay because of ''low self-esteem.” This remark is entirely without factual support, to say the least, as is his idea that one ‘‘consciously chooses'' homosexuality. It is almost embarrassing, at this |Kiint in history, to have to inform someone that sexual preference is innate in each in dividual. Further, he assumes that homosexuality is merely a preference regarding sexual ac tivity (in his words, gays "opt only for sex”), and not one that includes emotional orientation. As if being homophobic weren't enough of a handicap. English's logic is also hindered by his sexism. In his charge that homosex Oregon Daily Emerald The Oregon Daily Emerald la published Monday through Friday except during exam week and vacations by the Oregon Dally Emerald Publishing Co , at the University of Oregon. Eugene, Oregon, 97403 The Emerald operates independently ol 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 Qmiral SUM Advertising Director Susan Thelen Production Manager Wayne Michael Lottlnvltlo Classified Advertising Alyson Simmons Assistant to the Publisher Jean Ownbey Advertleing Sales Peter LaFleur / Sales Manager Teresa Acosta. Janetle Heitmann, Catherine Ul|a. Rick MarU. Joseph Meruel. Joan Wtldermuth Advertising Apprentices Ten Bohrtg. Heather Mull. Bar bars Rogers. Julie Paul Nawa and editorial Display Adaartlalng and Businas* Class! Mod Advertising LaMar Partact Graphics Production Circulation •M-3712 SM-SS11 6M-4M1 •M-U11 Editor Managing Editor News Editor Spectrum Editor Spectrum Aeaietanl Editor Editorial Page Editora Sport a Editor Photo Editor Spectrum Photo Editor Qraphlca Editor Night Editor Aaaociate Editora Michelle Brence Lucinda Dillon Michael River* Stephen Maher Stanley Nelson Michael Drummond Angle MunU Dennis Fernandes Marta Corvallis John Qlustlna Lorraine Rath Chris Norred community Pollt tea Higher Education f Administration University Affairs Student Government Student Activities General Assignment General Assignment janei rauiaon B J Thomsen Chris Norred Laurie Schwartz Carolyn Lamberson Sarah Kitchen Alicia Qano Scott Matoen Reporters: Jackie Barry. Mary Courtts. Gary Hanley Photographers: Shertyn Blorkgran, Shu Shing Chan. Dar rel Hewitt, Tin* Jones. Bobbie Lo. Dan Wheeler Production: Michele Roes / Ad Coordinator Supervisors Sandra Bevant, Shu-Shlng Chen. Eliot Knight. Angela Munir, Ingrid White Technicians: Kelly Alexandre. Ronwm Nicole Ashton. Virginia Baniaga. Samantha Barbitta. Sara Briscoe. Janet Emery. Judith Gati. Lisa Haggerty. Jung Lee. Donna Leslie, Bobbie Lo. Curlls Lott. Kelli Mason, Mike McGraw, Rob Miles. Diana Moy. Julie Paul. Michael Wilhelm. Serena Williams. X. Kang Xte uals are responsible for the spread of Acquired Immune I)eficiency Syndrome, he must certainly be ignoring half of the population concerned. He forgets or (dare I suggest?) never knew that lesbians are in the lowest risk group for AIDS. Finally, "gay pride" is not a misnomer. There is no con tradiction in being proud of one s way of life, even in the face of the bigotry expressed by English and others like him. Gay Fh'ide Week is doubly necessary when one considers the pervasiveness of this bigotry. Kristen McBride Student Stop and save Save the whales! Save the baby seals! Save the KRA! Pro tect the snail darter! Protect homosexual “rights!" Preserve the wilderness areas! Preserve the redwoods! Stop strip min i ng ! Stop capital punishment!... ... Kill the unborn! How shameful is this tragical ly inconsistent set of values. Ion Wollander Eugene Moral health Three cheers for Dan Coulet! His article "Scenarios” (ODE, April 1) captured the essence of the crazy reasoning a lot of peo ple are applying to the AIDS epidemic. AIDS isn’t a disease that generally jumps out and grabs you. Remember — the ‘A’ stands for acquired. Nobody forced the homosexuals and drug users now infected with AIDS to participate in activities so anti-biological that AIDS became an inevitability. It's tragic that this disease has leaped out ofthese populations and infected innocent people. By innocent. I'm referring to the babies of drug users, unsuspec ting spouses of bisexual men as well as spouses of men who messed around and brought AIDS home, children molested by AIDS carriers and blood reci pients. Those are the truly inno cent victims of AIDS. As Elaine Beam pointed out in "We can repent” (ODE, April 6), if we don’t live according to the moral principles taught in the scriptures, we may quite literally be destroyed. That's not just opinion — that's well documented fact, where sexual morality is concerned. If we don't get our act together as a nation we may face diseases that make AIDS seem like a picnic. For all we know, there may be an organism in cubating in someone's body right njw ready to spread and make its mark — just like AIDS. Living morally is the only way to protect our health and insure venereal diseases won't be the downfall of society. Benjamin Davis Political science All incidental Having followed the articles in the Kmerald for the past several months on the I PC, it ap pears they are not really con cerned for the majority of the students. It looks like there are a few in dividuals who are top members of this or that organization and are also the people making the decisions on who gets what money. 1 personally do not like pay ing for fraternities or sororities or politically minded organiza tions. Someday the students may be paying more in inciden tal fees than for the basic func tioning of the University. I am going to school to become educated in the field of my choice, and if I have time left over, 1 will search out the incidental activities that In terest me. but I do not expect everybody else to be paying for them. Students need the opportuni ty to experience a wide range of cultural experiences, but it by no means needs to cost so many thousands of dollars. Randy James Psychology Friday. May 1. l»®7
