EDITORIAL
Teacher apologizes,
as should students
Should law instructor Greg Johnson have to apol
ogise for discussing his homosexuality in class? He al
ready has.
An undisclosed number of students complained to
the administration because Johnson made personal
statements regarding his homosexuality in his legal re
search and writing class on National Coming Out Day.
Although the class was discussing a law case that
concerned right-to-privacy and its application to gays
and lesbians, complaints were lodged because Johnson
brought up his own homosexuality, which has no tech
nical bearing in the case.
To us, this appears to be a case of homophobia.
We agree that instructors should slick to class top
ics. But how often have instructors strayed off the topic
a little to relate real-life experiences?
Would anyone have complained if an instructor
reminisced about experiences in Vietnam on Veteran's
Day? Would anyone complain about an instructor that
talked about civil rights on Martin Luther King Jr.'s
birthday?
We seriously doubt it. Instructors relay anecdotes
all the time about situations and instances they incur
during their teaching lives. Quite often they prove en
lightening.
But Johnson's “mistake'' was to state he is gay. He
admits the last fifteen minutes of his Oct. 11 class did
not specifically relate to the subject matter. But John
son said that his “desire was to make the basic princi
pals of LRW come alive by using a very controversial
case."
Johnson believes the class is better off knowing he
is gay. And many students told lohnson that they
found his discussion in class on Oct. 11 to be very
worthwhile.
The complaints stated that Johnson “held thorn
captive" with his own "agenda." It's too bad the ob
jecting students didn’t approach Johnson with their
concerns first. For that they owe him an apology.
University President Myles Brand has asked the
Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity to
conduct a review of discrimination issues raised at the
law school. Johnson has not been disciplined and will
be teaching here next year.
At least the issue is out in the open. It's time for
the law school to set aside class time and discuss gay
and lesbian concerns, among other matters.
ZZ2Co*i'V8*B*=>
Pentagon should foot bill at Hanford
Although the Hanford nuclear weapons
production site has been the cause of con
cern for scientists and environmentalists for
some time, the release of information that
had been kept secret for more than a decade
has raised the controversy over the plant's
safety to new heights.
For the past 10 years, one of the million
gallon tanks housing radioactive waste has
been belching out pockets of hydrogen every
HO to 10‘) days While experts say the hydro
gen build up is a chemical reaction inside
the tank, they do not know the exact cause.
They also don't know how to cure the prob
lem.
Tank 101-SY is apparently not the only
storage tank th.it is plagued by the problem,
though it is by far the worst. It is also be
lieved that tio other single-shelled cauldrons
may be leaking their contents into the
ground.
Warnings about the waste storage poli
cies have been coming since HI4H. but have
been ignored until now. In the Cold-War
years, the need for weapons fuel outweighed
safety concerns. Now those attitudes of com
placency are slowly beginning to change.
With the end of the ('old War and the
dwindling need for massive nuclear arse
nals, it is time for the Defense Department to
clean up its mess. The billions of dollars
needed to clean up Hanford and other sites
should come from the Pentagon’s budget.
Because there is no longer a need to
spend large chunks of the nation’s wealth on
non-productive nuclear weapons, the money
should be diverted into cleaning up the dan
ger of the weapon byproducts.
We no longer have to worry about de
fending the country from the red menace.
Now the biggest threat to the safety of Amer
icans is our own ignorance.
LETTERS
In the dumps
Mow unfortunate and how
sad that most of the environ
mental ballot measures nation
wide were defeated this last
election
What an- the reasons' for the
corporations that raised mil
lions to defeat the measures the
reason was obviously bottom
line greed
What alxnit everyday people'
The people who got all excited
on I'larth May. blew a few whis
tles and iMiught re« voted party
hats for their kids
What atiout the people who.
like lemmings rushing into the
sea. collectively showed huge
shifts in the polls every time a
slickly produced 00-second
spot was shown on television
('.omuicn ials were very often
sponsored by out-of-stab* cor
porations Hitler would have
had a field day propagandizing
this bunch Until people begin
to do a little researt h on these
issues, our position can In1 seen
as no less than gulllhlc
Measures that ban certain
carcinogenic pesticides, or pro
mote the purchase of rec y< led
materials when our landfills are
overflowing, an* not extreme A
little preventative action at
Hanford decades ago could
have saved $200 billion in
cleanup Of course, there's that
inconvenienc e thing again.
Many of these environmental
_letters Policy_
The Emerald will attempt to print all letters contain
ing comments on topics of interest to the University
community. Comments must be factually accurate
and refrain from personal attacks on the character of
others.
letters to the editor must be limited to no more than
250 words, legible, signed and the identification of
the writer must be verified when the letter is submit
ted.
The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for
length or style.
bn I lot measures reflected a
i hange in cultural attitude A
slult away from the lake. rape,
utilize. throw away and move
on kind of thinking A bizarre
and strange concept called
stewardship of our land and re
sources.
What will future generations
think of our country? Among
other things, amazement at its
technological breakthroughs,
and a measure of rage aimed at
the everyday people who.
w hen given the opportnmU at
the ballot box. did nothing to
prevent a ravaged world ei o
syslem.
Gerry Rrmpel
Eugene
False picture
While reading Michelle K
(view's letter [ODF, Nov. 12) 1
nearh Iwi .ime sick She paints
a picture of an "obnoxious"
fraternity boy with "too much
money" who snorted "a good
portion" up his nose I met
Garret Hughes (not Bennett)
when he was in the fifth grade,
.old it is obvious to me that
leew never met him and
knows nothing about how his
family worked.
Ilis parents paid only for tui
turn, and only at the end of the
term after they had seen his
grades He worked summers as
a janitor to pay for school.
The autopsy on Garret
showed a minute amount of co
caine (almost immeasurable),
which is proportional to the
amount he used it; very rarely
However, Garret had a heart ir
regularity and this along with
strenuous exercise (two hours
of lull-court basketball), and
the trai l* amount of cocaine in
his system caused the cardiac
arrest.
In slandering Garret, and
blaming the Greek system for
Dan Williams' unfair and uu
just decision. Loew was guilty
of her own style of "bigoted ig
norance." There are hundreds
of Greeks who are against Wil
liams' decision. Attacking the
Greeks is a waste of energy
which should lx? channeled
into letters to Williams. State
senators, State representatives
and into circulating petitions.
If anyone wants to help, call
the Grateful For The Dead Gom
niittee at 343-7858, and ask for
Bo.
I-et the dead rest, and let the
Dead return.
Jeffrey Oswald
Student
Oregon
DAILY EMERALD
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