Editorial
Drug abuse rallies
help fight problem
This Tuesday night. 2.000 people turned out .it
Mac.Arthur (lour! to pledge their support in the war on
drugs The rally is just another in a long list of organ
ized protest against drug abuse.
(’.eorge Hush has announced his administration
will light drug use as il the« ountry were in a real war.
( omplete with armed force both in and out of the coun
try if necessary
Drugs have been around as long as anyone can re
member Hut in the last few years, with crime and vio
lence around the drug trade skyrocketing, drugs have
now become a legitimate domestic threat
We'ie not saving drugs are going to topple Ameri
i .im sin letv. but they are a serious problem that needs
to be addressed Even presidential administration
i booses a theme With kennedv it was the spai e pro
gram With Nixon it vsas detente (among other
things) With Hush, it appears lighting drug use will
anchor Ins agenda
Using U S military (one to turn Columbian drug
i artel members into charcoal briquettes is not the an
swc-i blasting the soon e will onl\ open it up lor more
people to step in I he lure of lug money is |ust to pow
erful to eliminate the drug flow
The only v\a\ to light drug abuse is through edu< a
turn Tear long people about the dangers of drugs is
preferable to using an I I t to smoke a i o< nine proi ess
mg plant Simple ei onomii s i ome into plav H there is
no demand the snppK dries up
Since most ol Hush's drug-abuse budget went into
lighting the source, not eliminating demand the pub
Ik set 101 has been the one to fill in the educ ation part
In general we support anti-drug rallies like the
one Tuesday Organizers were upset at the turnout, as
the unrealistic alU expec led It).0(10 people- to show up
However, that 2.000 took time out of their schedules to
attend sends a signal that Eugene c itizens are eon
c ei ned
The rally stressed communiU support to tight what
is. unfortunateK. one of Oregon s biggest industries
Speakers, suc h as state attorney general Dave I rohn
mayor, gave frightening statistics concerning the- level
ol (begun drug abuse.
Speakers at Tuesday night's gathering also told
participants how to detec t symptoms of drug abuse,
and how to fight them. These arc: key issues, but more
importantly, the speakers wanted people to understand
the drug abuse solution depends as much on the com
munity as it does on law enforcement.
Eugene has always been a bastion of liberal think
ing toward drug use. We should not abandon this prin
ciple, but it is time to address the problem.
DRUG
WAR
l •sAY WE DO IN HA! WE SHOULD HAVE DONE IN VIETNAM. IF IT KN’T
OVER BY CHRISTMAS, DECLARE OURSELVES THE WINNER AND PULL OUT.
Late kickoff time nets financial windfall
(fregon's (null),ill team is .it liomr Inr thr
tliird time tins season. Imt once again there
won't hr llif nnrm.il 1 p.m starting limn
w him thr I hn ks .mil Washington State honk
up in .1 kr\ I’.n ilii Ill battle.
I'rinie l it ket television will an the
game and In doing so has pushed the kn k
ott hai k (last t tli p m mm h to the i hagrin
ol main llowevei the needs ol the few out
weigh the needs of the main ill tills I ase
In the i ugene Springfield area where
Dink football is almost a religion, the fans
love basking in the sun at Aul/eii Stadium
toi an afternoon game When the game starts
at t ill though, the fans get antsv The fans
don't get the sun and thin have to wait
around for the kii koff
Most people enjo\ the 1 p.m. start for
mam reasons (letting home at 4 it) has
main advantages over 7 p.m The fans don't
have to walk home in the dark They still
have a few hours of light to do something
outdoors .liter the game. A 4:40 kickoff just
seems to make the day longer
However, the financial needs of the foot
ball team and the athletic department are
just too important in the long run to bypass.
By being on cable television, Oregon
will take home .mother lucrative payday to
morrow, something the football team and
the athletic, department desperately need to
stav competitive in the I’ac- It)
The Ducks will net $102,000 for the
('.ougar game, the same amount they re
ceived for other games with California and
Arizona Oregon will also he on tin; Prime
l ie kel network against Arizona State later in
the season. With over $400,000 rolling in
from the cable network, the Ducks are re
i eiving a huge shot in the arm financially
judging by the attendance figures from
the California and Arizona games though
the fans don't mind the 4:20 starts and are
coining to Autzen in groves. Obviously the
4 40 kickoff isn’t bothering the fans too
much.
For those fans who are angry with the
game being moved back, don't worry It
seems highly unlikely that the Ducks two
other home contests, with Long Beach State
and Oregon State, have no chance of being
televised and will indeed start at 1 p.m
However, even if those games aren't go
ing to start at 1, what's the big deal? What s
more important in the long run is what is in
the best interest of the football team and the
athletic department.
Forum.
'Rationality'
vs 'rationalism': which is the right truth?
By Thomas Payne
I'lic \ lew lliiil iii < list’s llii’isls
of irr.itional thinking i out,nils
two fallacies tint’, it confuses
"rationality" vsitli "rational
ism," ami two. it assumes,
with rationalism, that the only
path to truth is logii al ileiim
lion If something i annot he
_Commentary_
proven as a com lusion to a
chain of logically legitimate
premises and dedm turns, then
it i annot he "true
Rationality is the capac ity to
think It im hides a wide varie
tv ot wavs human liemgs obtain
information about the yvorld
Rationalism, on the other hand
isa philosophical sy stem pop
ulari/.ed in the 17th century.
th.it states essentially that the
only path to truth is logit .11 de
dm live reasoning
I contend that theism is in
lai t rational in the broad sense
of a reasonable system of think,
ing people to base their lives
on. though it may or may not
be provable by logu al deduc
live reasoning
it belief in mottes of learning
other than logical deduc tion
c Destitutes 'irrationality
then In lar the maturity of c ul
lures in the world are funda
mentally irrational A great
amount of what humankind
knons is In intuition and expo
rieni e not In logic .11 deduc
lion For example, people
know that seeds will sprout
into plants even if they 1 anno!
logic al I v explain the mec han
ism
One major way of knowing
t aid tor millions of people is
via tile experience of him her
m their lives liven in our "ra
tional” society, much of our
daily liyes is based on c one epts
th.it have not been proven, and
in tac t may not be provable, by
deduc tive reasoning
Sue h nmi epts as love, beau
tv. goodness, sincerity, and
trust are essential to our daily
functioning We i an observe
the t’flft ts ot these i om epts in
the rray human interact with
e.u h other, hut we c an not ne<
essarily /inn e their existent e in
a logic al iledui live manner
Although space does not per
mil a detailed analy sis ol the el
ted of rationalism on the per
sonality of c ultures. I (relieve
that mm h of the alienation, de
personalization and material
ism that is so prevalent in our
sen inty is a result of a mis
placed faith in logical deduc
tion as the sole souri e of trust
In arguments c homing the
barbarism ot Christianity it is
i ustomary to omit mention of
the i ountless quiet ai ts of love
constantly carried out by Chris
tians These ,n ts range from
one friend helping another
through a time of stress,
through the abolitionist move
ment in Pith century America,
to Mother Theresa's commit
ment to the outcasts of India.
A i ursorv reading of the New
Testament reveals that Christ
t.night love and compassion
(consistent with his condemna
lion of self-righteousness and
legalism) In fact, the whole
message of Christ turns the svs
terns of the world upside down
the last shall he first, the
meek shall inherit the earth,
the hungry shall lie filled while
the rn h are turned away emp
ty
I lie picture ol the new order
established by Christ is one of
"servant leadership" — he
who is first in the kingdom
must be servant to all This
prim iple is supremely demon
strated by Christ's secrifit ial of
fering of himself in the service
ot humaniU . and by his servit e
to tile outcasts of soi iety
I here have always been
those who have misunderstood
Christ's message of love, and
perverted it to serve their own
ends This is particularly dan
gerous when; many people call
themselves “Christians" sun
ply because “responsible
members of society are “Chris
tians," rather than because
they have personally i ousel
ered, understood and chosen
the way of (Christ .is their own
One should not dismiss
Christianity on the basis of the
fact that some who have i ailed
themselves Christians have
failed to exhibit the true char
acteristics of followers of
Christ
In conclusion, faith of some
kind is unavoidable since it >s
the basis of human life in com
munity Although faith need
not he based solely on logit a!
proof, honest critical reflection
on one's faith can have great
value, both for theists and for
those whose ultimate faith is
something other than a person
a I God.
Thomas Pay no is a Kesean h
Associate in the l.inffuistii s lie
partment.