Editorial—
Exxon indictment
a welcome surprise
All nr can say is "It's about time!"
Aflci almost ,1 year. a federal grand jltrv has passed
down a live-c ount criminal indictment against l-.won
and its shipping suhsidiaiv
I he indictment is for the damage i .msed h\ 1 t mil
lion gallons of oil that spilled from the Iaxoii Valdez
tanker whim it tan aground in Prim e William Sound
Alaska, in March t‘18‘1
Situ e the disaster individuals, small companies
and large organizations have tiled suit against I.vson
loi various damages caused b\ the wreck but until
now the federal government had not taken legal action
against the bxxon < lotporation
bxxon has tried to avoid preset ution, bet au.se that
could tost them a great deal ol money. hut Kxxon was
unwilling to accept a plea offer, which could have re
ipiired them to pav up tti Suit) million in tlamages Per
haps tliev thought it was too mm li money
l mfortiinateU there is no wa\ to assess the mone
tary value td the damages to the environment the
wiitllih" .nitl tin- waters td the 1.1)00 mile stielt li ol
\laskan toastline atlected by the spill With the new
intlit tmeul the t ompanv could he lined up to S on mil
lion oi more depending on the judge's final assess
The indictment ( barges I'wim with (lie violations
nt the following: the Ports .mil Wahruavs Salely
Ail (lie I longerons ( algo \( I the f .leiOi W alei Ail
the Refuse \i I and the Migrators Hint licalv
All nt these violations (.all for heavy tines which
could he ini leased hv the judge to amount to the actual
eusts ol the damages and repaiis In addition, am
court der isions against lAvon hv the federal govern
ment will not alter t any t ivil or piiv.ile suits filerf
against the compam Ihat s good, her uuse l-.xxon
should have to pay de.irly for its mistake
It is true that mistakes do happen, and human error
is inevitable, hut in the r ase ol the ptislinc land that
was ruined by the oil spill (loi who knows how long)
the mistake is hard il not impossible, to excuse
The courts should proser ute l\\xnn to the fullest
extent ot the law It is time to remind these huge oil
conglomerates that tliev have a responsibility to the en
vironment and they need to invest money into better
ship building and prevention of future oil spills
Perhaps after all is said and done the government
can take whatever money it receives in tines trom
Kwon and invest it in oil spill and prevention re
seart h We need to he better prepared tor accidents ol
this magnitude, and research would he the best invest
ment ot this monev
UJUAT
BUNNV ?
Court allows army to hold anti-gay rule
By passing on two opportunities to nili*
on the constitutionality ol anti ga\ discriini
nation in the nation s mint'd fun cs. tin- t S
Su pit'll it- ( out I gu\ t its till it approval to one
Ugh lfg.it \ ol (list i imin.ition that remains
in this t thi1111 \
I In- disi riniination is obvious on its
lute In 1‘itt.J. tin* Dftfiisf I lepartine nl is
suftl a pnlii \ staling that keeping gays, les
bians and bisexuals from the military would
help 'maintain (list ipline good ordei and
morale and "lostei mutual trust and conli
deut c among service members It further
stated that the ext lusion would somehow
‘'maintain the public at i eptabiliH ol mili
tary servil e and prevent bleat lies ol set u
iit\
l.awvers lor Miriam Hen Shalom, a \\ is
eonsin lesbian, hoped to demonstrate th.it
hei excellent servite record and proud ser
vile in the Arim Reserve since l‘i t> would
go iai in (list ounting that Defense Depart
ment statement Hen Shalom is outspoken
about her sexuality , and that fact alone not
a pom sei \ it e ret (ini prompted the army to
tlist barge her
I hr second case the court declined to
hear is peril.ips more insidious lames
Woodward was disi barged from the Xavv in
lo t after In1 admitted in a questionnaire
that lie was sexually attracted to men.
Woodward said he had novel engaged in ho
mosexual aits; he was discharged foi his
' propensity to engage in such ails lie
and Hen Shalom, were (list barged lor telling
the truth about themselves
There are some [mints to be noticed
here We re disappointed the court dei lined
to hear the i ase. because we'd like to see the
Defense Department lr\ and prove what its
polii \ sa\s. that gays and lesbians are some
how undisciplined, unmotivated soldiers
That's simple not the case
The defense department's polii \ is a re
minder ol fim\ far civil lights have yet to go
in this country before they apply equally to
all It the i urreut court. Reagan’s monument
to disi rimination. will not further the cause,
then the people are going to have to do it
themselves, in the legislatures and in the
state i ourts
_Letters.
Hoopla
U 11!i .ill till' lump!.i .11>■ it11
turn tin' I imrrsitv isn't paring
tfiii hi'is t.mlv I hml it r.ilhiT
amusing w lii'ii- tin- money is
going mslr.nl Perhaps Mill h.i
\ rii t nutH nl it lint insnir I)rs
rlintrs II.ill tlirir .nr ,i mimhri
lit llrw Mai llltosll i OHiptltl'IS
till tlliisr III till' Iitlii I ,unl thr
priiti-sMirs In thr inmputing
i enter unr i .ill liuil niliiirn Ills
Mai This i i nnputri s
I .mi nut pointing this out to
kriui k thr t ’n i vim sit \ tin busing
i iiinpiitrrs hut I illi nurstiijti it
Ini tuning irl.ltlVrtv expensive
St.n iiitush i iimputrrs (luisnli
ut thr I imrisiU stuilrnts th.it
will hr working w till i ompti
Ins In business w III .ilnmsl i n
t.iuiK hr using MSIM1S |IBM|
h.isril ill.ii hiiirs .tiiil not Mai s
(not to mention thr t.u t th.it
MSI H )S < ontpulri s are relalivr
h i heap i umpai'i'il In M.u si
So I ant assuming that thr
I nilrrsits has pun hast'd thr
Mats hri ausr ot thru ras\ to
usr graphii rnvironmrnt Vrl
therr are other computers out
there w hit h also have the
gi.iphu environment run last
t'l h.ivc liettei graphii v have
lll'ltel St HI II i i I ,l|l.till I ll It'S i .m
mn M.n inlusli .mil MSIKIS
software .mil i .111 t os) less ill.hi
lull tin' | >r ii i i*ii u hf!i w r
i onsidei I In* 'disi mints" tin
1 imhisil\ gets Imm Apple
Sliiilftils like ni\ sell ( .in I
.itlulil the |Hli e id .1 M.n intush
i iiilipillei .mil lute being
tun ed In bil\ one hei ause till*
I'niversitv linils il neiessnrv to
puri base these nverprii ed s\ s
Ictus 1 helieu' i! would he ill
tile best inlerest ul the I'liner
sit\ to le think its i onipiitet
bin mg polti \ huv better i om
[inters and re direi I the let!
over hinds to teai her salaries
| oil ii in 11 hat'l Miinti'ith
Student
Viewpoint
t )n I eh "> Nit aragua held
tree denim rat ii elei lions lot
tile set und tune suit e the lit. I
overthrow o! the I S bat ked
da taint Somo/.a Opposition
candidate Violeta Han ins do
( hamorro is the \ it tot
1 ln> i him {- In huhl multi-p.it
l\ «*lt*i turns to im Iti1 interna
llull.ll observers, .Mill III i Mi;.Ill
i/i* tin* mi\ i'i mill-lit nl \ii .11.1
t;u.i in -i demoi r.itii framework
is nnl ,i result nl tin* I 'nili-il
Status' insistent r on tin- sub
|in i il is ,i n-sull ut llu- hard
uoik nl tin- S.iiuliulshi |i.nl\
.uni tbi* i itizens ut \n arairun
I l.iiiit-l ()rteira ilul uni v\ in
this'election. lull il should not
III- Sl-l-ll ,|S ,| ( I 11111111-t 1 - loss Im
tin- S.milmisi.i parts Tin's have
overt ome tin- seeminnh insui
mooiil.ilili- obstacle ut ovi-r
thruwiiiK n dictator who was
pul into power In tin- inosl
powertlll round's mi earth
I Ih-v li.ive instituted ,i demo
train i oi ist it t ■ t ii in, agrarian re
tornis .uni envlionmeiitalh pro
li'ilivi' programs Musi uma/
ingl\ the\ h,i\r done these
thinh?. in tin* taco of tin* I'nited
Si,lies ( iiuli.i warfare and ecu
nornii embargo.
In many t uses the media has
appfOai lied the Issues Invnh
mi;\it nragiiu and Latin Amen
i.i f rum a North Ameiican
viewpoint, taking the piopa
ganda ot the I S government
without examining the histori
i al i untext and i intent realities
of "til involvement in the i uun
11x I he freedom" in \n era
gua did not i oine onh from
this elei tion; the freedom came
when the Sandimstas ovei
threw Siimo/a and the strug
gle will i out lime until the f S
recognizes Nicaragua s light to
make its own dec isiuns regard
_Letters Policy_
I-etters lo the editor must he limited to no more than
250 words, legible, signed and the identilication of
the writer must be verified when the letter is submit
ted.
The Emerald reserves the right to edit am letter for
length or style.
less ut OUI ow 11 posit loll
Amanda Weber
lournalisni
_Correction
A storv in I'hursdav s
/-.'mera/t/ misidentif ied
AM '( ) presidential i andc
date Steve Maples as
president ot the KMl
Board ol 1 )irei tors I le is
president ot the l niversi
tv Bookstore Board ol l)i
rei tors
In Thursd.n 's Betters
i oluilin. Boh Weigel's let
lei should have stated
"I tenth. ot course. has al
wavs been the one thing
that proves that none of
us has ultimate control
over our bodies I atil glad
mv creator is in < ontrol ot
in\ bod\ bet ause he
knows me better than I
know linselt
The Kmrr.ild regrets
these errors, and apol
ogi/es for am income
iiitmt e thes may have
i a used