Editorial—
I
Supreme Court set
for another session
This past ivn k, thf 1 S Supremo (fourt opened tip
a new session and exportations of an even more din
mntii -dull to the riw;111 than last \eni are running high
With the smoke rivaled conservatives hold a solid
a i majority on the court Kon.dcl Reagan, in appoint
ing two conservatives to the bench during his eight
year tenure, put a definite rightward slant on the < nurt
And with another conservative. George Hush, oi ■
i u py ing the t K a I ()ffii e things don t look good for the
liberals
Supterne Gourt nominations are lor life Three of
the liberal |usii< es are mine than fit) \ears old It is pos
sible at least one of these seats will br< rune vni ant dur
ing the next four vents
The conservatives left no doubt lhe\ were in
charge last session, when lhe\ niadt several divisions
on such key issues as ahoition and civil liberties
However, the liberal cause is not all lost. Last year
lustit e Sandra l)av ()'< funner was not as hard line i on
servative as some of her cohorts would have liked On
issues such as abortion oi religion she is a definite
swing vote.
Abortion will 011c r .igain In* <i major part cj! the
court's docket. Lest July, the Justices gave states great
or regulators powers The decision got mixed reviews,
with both pro-and-anti choice advocates claiming vii -
tory Three c ase’s are scheduled and should clear up
the court's stand one way or another
A new dilemma is euthanasia For the first time.
Justices svill debate whether terminally ill patients can
choose tin* right to die Their decision will set a prece
dent.
Two Constitutional rights, that of freedom of
speech and separation of churt h and state, svill be up
for review. The court svill decide on the constitutional
ity of a federal act which opens public schools tor stu
dent religious group functions.
Other issues, such as obscenity, criminal lass and
race discrimination, svill 1m; up for discussion. These
decisions will affect national politics, as the abortion
decision has affected politics.
The conservative bent of the court has already in
fluenced the caseload for the session. Liberals are tak
ing their arguments to state courts, in the hopes of get
ting interpretations more to their liking
State legislatures art; also getting into the act The
Supreme Court seems content to let legislatures make
the tough decisions on volatile issues. Even the U.S.
Senate is getting involved. Several senators are talking
about legislation to overturn court decisions.
Whatever side oi the politic.al spec trurn one sub
scribes to, this year's < ourt session promises to be one
of the most influential of the past decade.
CA£ES IN THIS TERM. )
)
V A ^
»fu&wr & f Yfr <c»Vrr r**+r*p*~*
Reward outweighs risk for Galileo probe
(line more controversy over the space
program has leaped onto the front page of
the national st.ene This time it s over the
(ialileo probe, clue to he launc hed on the
spac e shuttle Atlantis Tuesdav morning
Problem is. (ialileo carries nearly 50
pounds of plutonium, vvliic h is used to pow
er the $1 1 billion spacecraft The* power
supply known as a radioisotope thermoelec
tric generator, or KT(i, carries lfi modules
l\ac h is filled u ith four golf ball-sized piec es
of plutonium dioxide ene ased in iridium
shells
Knvironmentahsts .ire worried about a
repeal of the Challenger tragedy If there
were to be another shuttle accident, oppo
nents contend (lalileo's fuel source would
spread into the atmosphere
A federal judge ruled against the .inti
nuclear group, and barring am more delays.
(Ialileo will finalK be on its way. after 15
\ears of stalling
After mut h soul-seen liing and thinking,
we support the (Ialileo program
Opponents say there is a 1 in- !5() c banc e
of another shuttle disaster and of (Ialileo
spreading its deadly fuel some e over c entral
and southern Florida On the* othei hand.
N ASA contends even it the shuttle explodes,
the chain es of plutonium threatening the c i
viliiin population is slim.
We recognize the dangers of the pro
gram. However, we also realize there is no
alternative fuel source, (ialileo is set to orbit
Jupiter, and solar power diminishes at lh.it
distance, making solar panels unattractive to
use.
In addition, (ialileo offers the promise ol
knowledge to fight environmental problems
on Karth Part of its flight will take it past
Venus, whose surface, warmed by the infa
mous "greenhouse effect.” is hot enough to
melt a Hoick It is hoped In studying Venus'
atmosphere, we can combat our own global
warming.
With the new technology contained in
the probe, we will, for the first time, get a
detailed look at Jupiter.
Cialileo will also make two flvbys of
Karth. Kacli time, a video camera will be
pointed at the ozone hole over the South
Pole Maybe, just mavbe, we can learn more
about that too.
Space exploration in general has been
criticized as a waste ol both time and mon
ey We disagree No one will dispute we
have serious problems on Karth Hut In
studs mg other planets and their problems
maybe we < an learn something about our
own.
-Letters_
FjII guy
I'm relieved lh.il thf 01)1'
((lit li) believes Kep David
l)i\ vv.is unaware of (In- alleged
mishandling ol funds In thf
I >cmoi r.it ii daunts The ODl
si.ili'd tliiil om* nt tin* riMsons
ihm believe l)i\ is innoi fill is
be< ause hf's i ooper.it ing vvith
thf investigation
l)i\ is trff to cooperate with
thf investigation h«*< .mse hf
h.is allowfd thf hl.mif lo tall on
I arl Wifdfraendfrs. his good
triend and tornifr ( am us \d
ministratm forget lovaltv. it s
i rum h tinif Makes yon won
dfr how loval l)i\ is to thf fai f
Ifss voter whfii thf going gfts
tough ?
I)i\ and \\ ifdfr.ifndfrs
worked side hy side to promote
thf Oregon Demur rath I’artv
On Oi tuber ■) Dt\ was i]uoted
in 7Tie Oregii/i/.iii as saying
"(VVifderaendfrs) never told
me what hf was doing and I’vf
never asked and i wouldn't
even want to venture a guess
Wiederaenders worked for Div
I)i\ could have asked him
anything It sounds like |)i\
was afraid to ask questions Or
mavbe. just mavlie. I)i\ didn't
hav c to .isk
Hut. I'm overjoved that the
01)11 believrs l)iv I was morti
find that the people of Kugene
who are alwa\s on the move to
promote justiie in the world,
might stop lor a moment and
look in then ow n ba< kvanl
I II.ink ( aid lhe\ have not I was
afraid people might start asking
questions sillv me
|ulic lluher
journalism
Devastation
Many art* l>\ now aware ot
lilt* tragic destruction occurring
to tiit* rain forests of Central
and South America Debt rid
don. export-driven mmomiis
art* clearing land to. among
otln-r things satisfy our di‘sirt*s
for cheap beet
Perhaps not as well known
but mi less devastating is the
disappearance of tropic .tl rain
forests in Africa and Southeast
Asia I his has resulted in much
suffering to indigenous cut
lures as well as the loss of un
i minted flora and fauna All
this is done so that we may en
joy furniture or dinitoruare
made from teak, mahogany,
r.imin. and other tropical hard
In light ot the above, what
r an a person do? Boycott prod
m ts made of teak or other hard
woods, especially those labeled
"made in Thailand " There is
at least one business locally
marketing furniture made from
tropical woods, namely Scan
Design W rite or (.ill enc ourag
ing them to discontinue these
produc t lines
Kurt her. a local public sta
tion M.('( helps market these
products through underwriter
ails 1'his was brought to then
attention repeatedly, and the
ads were dropped before the
hist radiothon only to reappear
without explicit mention of
rosewood and teak
I or .m ostensibly progressive
voii r In carry announcements
ill this sort serins highly inap
propriate II \ou have thought
til contributing to hl.t'C, con
sulci postponing sending
liiiuls t all or write informing
them of your dec ision
Alternatively one might sup
port K\\ AX or send .1 donation
instead to the Rainforest Action
Network, till Hroadwav. Suite
A San I rani isi o (.A «I4 1 t t
(•art Nolan
Stall
Morale
I read the article. Morale at
Physical Plant better with new
director" |Ul)l'. ()i I ti) with ie
lief As one employed by tin
state tor over a decade it is
gratifying to know that one *1
my fellow workers. Linda king
has found no evideiu e 't
"real" nepotism at the Physical
I’l.ml
I i an rest easier now that I
know her husband was promat
ed to his position as grounds
crew supervisor solely oil the
basis of his abilities I hank
you. king, for straightening
that out. and for forthrighth
pronouncing that, while the
problem ot people in power
hiring their family and friends
has not existed before, it will
never happen again
Hill Smee
Staff
--Letters Policy_—
Ilit: Emerald will attempt to print all letters con
taining comments on topics ol interest to the Univer
sity community. Comments must be factually accu
rate and refrain from personal attacks on the character
of others.