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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1989)
Editorial Portland must pass Valdez repair job While the oil sin k off the (.oast ol Alaska sprr.uk to r over more water, the headar Ires a.ssoi idled witli the Valdez incident are spreading even lartlier out One siu.h at lte has rrat lied Portland Cist week I-!won announced that it was consider mg the i it\ as a repair site lor the infamous supertank ei that ran aground March 24. resulting in the spill ol more than 10 million gallons in Alaskan waters \ormalk. the state and the Port of Portland would well ome a hig job bid such as this Hut this time around, we hope the Port passes up Kxxon’s offer. The Valdez job is unattractive because the ship poses an environmental risk wherever it goes as it it hasn't already done enough damage \nd while the Valdez will hav e to be repaired somewhere. I won must s.itisiv environmental concerns in deciding \\ here to dm k the tanker There is the very real possibility that the Valdez will continue to leak residual oil as it makes its wav to a repair port Given this. Fxxon must seek a coastal fa i iI it\ to repair the tanker; inland ports sin h as Port land and Seattle are not appropriate list nary and river systems, such as the Columbia River or Puget Sound, are simplv too fragile to accept the possibility of contamination that the Valdez pro poses And to reach Portland, the Valdez would have to i ling down the Columbia River lor more than lot) miles it is also important that the Valdez reach a close port quickly. II Portland isn't selected as the repair site. Kwon is likely to pick a city in the Par Fast Coastal ports such as Yokohama or Pusan are good hets Similar coastal ports in the I biited States, such as San Francist o or San I Jiego. are too iar away So Iar. (hivernor Neil Coldsi hmidt is taking a hard line on this issue "It is completely unacceptable to have our coast or the Columbia River endangered The burden of proof to show that safe passage is possible will he on Kxxon and Irust me' is not good enough ' Goldschmidt said at a press conference last week We hope the governor continues his stand The loss of the Valdez job v\ ill not he < rite al to the Port of Portland or the state’s economy In fact, the Port goi some verv good news Tuesday when it was auiintiiH ed that An o Alaska 11u has contrai led a S t > million i oiistim lion job that will employ Hilo to I .(KM) people lor a v eal Quite simply we can do without the Valdez eco nomically, and we i an do without it in our waters A LETHAL MIX Study will set needed policy for wetlands In these days ol environmental names over old growth forests and off-shore drill ing, one ( iin predict the kind of storm that will occur once Eugene residents find a con i ern right here at home And this is why we applaud the recent study, commissioned by local and federal governments, intended to help formulate a policy now concerning the 700 acres of wet lands in West Eugene. Wetlands .ire productive ecosystems, and Eugene's marshes, ponds and forests are teeming with life. Eor instance, at Willow Creek, one can find three rare plant species and red foxes. Vet at the same time, these wetlands are inside the city limits, and progress will one day dic tate that some of these lands need to be developed. The proposal for the study will feature much puhlii involvement. Public hearings, field trips and forums (the first of whic h was held two weeks ago) will allow concerned i iti/.eiis to have an input Undoubtedly, mm h of the coming con troversv will center around the large' chunk of 405 wetland ac res that were marked for future industrial use before the c ity was aware of their environmental worth. i ne city nas aireaoy invested minions oi dollars in these acres, preparing them for the expected industrial growth. These improve ments. which include a $2.3 million sewer line and a road net, will mostly go to waste if the area is reclassified. The study aims to compromise the con cerns of environmentalists with the needs of an industrial society. The working theory is that not all wetlands are created equal — some are more important than others. By working on a policy level instead of a case by-case basis, the most valuable habitats can be saved while Eugene expands. In fact, there is the possibility that some of Eugene's wetlands can be improved. Be cause federal law require development marked wetlands be replaced on an acre-by acre basis, the study will look at the possi bility of joining together small, isolated lands to form larger wetland areas that would provide better wildlife habitats. We hope the study will provide the means to form a reasonable wetlands policy. And while it is not likely that everybody will be happy with the compromises re quired in sue h a plan, it is the only pragmat ic solution to the problem. Letters Positive I hi' Students tor ci Progres sivo Agenda (SI'AI is running .1 pnsjtlvi* 1 ampnign Wo waul to inform Iho students on who wo ,110 and what wo ran do for them d oloi lod Wo aro fighting fur I ho lowest possible student fees affordable < Itild 1 are with better stale support 1111 leased I11idiu1.1l aid grunts, increased availability of cpiality student housing, ensuring a sate, well lit campus to prevent rape and and much more Kvon though wo will contin ue to run a 1 loan campaign, wo can't sit idlv In while certain people ale running an anonv moils hate 1 ampaign aimed at disi redding SPA. It's really easy to whine and complain, especially w him von have noth ing positive to offer in return! Don't let your head be turned by this empty, hateful propa ganda A vote tor SPA candi dates is a vote for an experi enced. taring student govern ment. Ann Reed ASI’AC Candidate Human life Will'll in a hum.in lih- mil ,i human life' WIumi people pretend that it is not. either by i«m>rinyj it or simply ru labeling it as fetal lissim" oi "the products of i oni option." in tin'll atti'iupt to |ustify abortion on demand Having listrni'il to thn speak ers at tin- local "pro-choice" rally ami hoard tlioir masoning. I find it grievous that those peo ple can so blithely overlook the reality that a woman s "right" to abortion i onus at the e\ pense of human lives To do fend this practice as a civil rights issue, or a means of lighting injustice seems partic ularly nun ahre Do we indeed have the moral right to destroy these iiinoi out lives' Should it not he obvious how far from truth and justice we have fallen when we can thus defend sacrificing the very lives of our own children lor the sake of naked self interest and then parade as though we were involved in some noble cause' The needs of women and families involved in i risis preg naiu n-s arc real anti must be addressed ll matters, htnveve huu we seek to address ttiem Will we be guided by consider ation of the inherent morality of this issue, or will we keep hardening ourselves against as pists of truth that interfere with our personal or social agenda, and < ontinue our prag matii and immoral destrut lion ol defenseless, unborn chil dren? Facts do not stop being tads (nor tin human beings stop be mg human beings) simply be i ause large numliers of people refuse to fat e moral reality William Moore Staff, music More on Morse The Kmerald's editorial of April A endorses the legislative proposal to name the layv school alter Wayne Morse, without making the distinction between .1 school and a build ing In tad. vour editorial re fers to both the l.au St bool and the Law Building .is though they are the same Changing >he name of the University of ()regon School ol laiw lo the Wayne Morse School of l.avv, as the hill pro post's, will create great confu sion in the publit eve and in le gal education circles Private si hools mav he named after fa mous people, but public si hools should retain that pub lic identification in their "ti tle As a former dean of the University School of l.aw, Morse, were he alive today, might well be the lirst person to make this observation in his usual forthright manner Shortly after Morse's death, the University, with the sup port of his friends and family, made a decision to honor him bv establishing a University ( hair called the Wavne Morse Chair of I .aw and Politics. It is a generously endowed Chair. The University has proce dures for the naming of campus buildings These procedures should not be preempted and bypassed by the legislature or the governor Your editorial makes light of this point, with out explanation. Morse always insisted upon the importance of fair procedure in arriving at public decisions. Although I agree with your praise of Sen. Morse, unfortu nalelv your editorial discusses none of the important issues which are raised by the legisla tive bill and which Morse him self would insist be debated. Chapin I). Clark Professor of Law _Letters Policy_ The Emerald will attempt to print all letters con taining comments on topics of interest to the Univer sity community. Comments must be factually accu rate and refrain from personal attacks on the character of others. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length or style.
