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
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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