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_
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