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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1996)
VIEWPOINTS f QifQRlAt S OPINIONS l f T T f fi $ TO T HI lOlTflR Martians, great leaders all contaminate earth ■ OUR OtttttON Life forces across (fie galaxy should learn some lac! A* you walk through the EMU Courtyard this wank, it la moat likely that you will hear environmentalists’ (Ties for an end to logging, an inc rease In recycling, and the need for civil disobedi ence to obtain the necessary reforms. What you probably won't hear are environmen talists' concerns about NASA bringing virulent Martian life to planet Earth. It seems that NAHA is planning a trip to Mars in the year 2005 The purpose of this mission will he to obtain rocks and ice from the planet and bring them bar k to Earth for further study. A special panel has been formed by the National Academy of Sciences to ascertain the potential haz ards of this mission, includ ing the possible contamination of the Earth NASA plum to use thi« |nmol to help explain to the Environmental Protection Agency the worn! cate sce nario* that could occur a* a result of this mtitian If the mission it approved, and NASA it allowed to study the material* not in space, hut within the familiar con fine* of the Earth's atmos phere. the organisation will then have to register the material* with the Depart ment of Agriculture, apply for emergency landing per mil* in every *tate — possi bly in other countries — and develop proper quarantine procedure* While our nation’s i|mc« and environmental organi sations are busy worrying about the arrival of alien species on Earth, the deputy commander of Russia’s <Gagarin (ImmorMui Train ing Center. Onenl Yurt Gtukov. is obviously not worried about contamina tion aboard the Mir space station Whan asked why American astronaut Shan non Lucid would be wel comed on Mir. Glaxkov said. "We know that women love to clean." Maybe his quote is an indication that our country should be a little less con cerned about the possibility of Martians multiplying on our planet's surface, and a little more concerned with the increasing number of sexist pigs that seem to be taking over space stations in our pari of the galaxy. Back on plane* Earth, sex ism U brooding at an Incred ible rate, as President Boris Yeltsin deflects Secretary of State Warren Christopher * attempt to engage him in a discussion of barriers to trade in c hicken parts, say ing. “President* don't do chicken leg* If, however, they were women * log* ” And as American newspa pers steer dear of remarks of this nature this week, they report that women have greater tendencies to vote lor the Democratic: Party. Marion Hammer, the first woman National Rifle Asso ciation president, however, does not vote like the major ity of women She does not favor ridding the nation of all firearms, but rather of all liberals So this Earth Week, as you remember all of the stars in the galaxy and in the public eye. feel free to wonder if they would like a little salt sprinkled on their feet as they proceed on their mission toward our planet’s ftreat (and often not so great) eaders* mouths ML -*» K«H » »*> •ufcu'MtW i dituMHti W&W* ** PWtiviT of Mo^aAfiofsi n no w*«i»sc Wild Duck pub ‘working out the details’ I have never (nil compelled to writ* « letter to • newspaper until i lead k*dl* Amtof««m » WWW ol the Wild Duels toot. April in} I (bund her juvenile name calling «n,l «»dlms* complaining quit* borii» She com plained about everything, but offered no solu tion* She uy« thr Wild I Hr Is it a 'i nuh itwiw In how not to design a brewery," but doe* not mention try mg the bent at ail If you were aspect tng * •» down dinner tlww, than of course you would h*>* l*wn disappoint ed. Out «M«tumBHtnt vmur It not a dinner thr »>m it t* a dam* hail annexed to out restaurant You tan alt down In out restaurant and ha we dinner batons moving into tha venue to enjoy a •how A *H down dinner show t» a groat idea, and it i* something w* will consider doing in tha futuro I agrov that our seating arrangement is not the bast in tha world, but it isn't jmminwK either Understand that wa am a tuna stub and it will taka a little time to work out all tha detail* Many of our show* are standing room only, or darn mg room only, so w* cannot odor seating (or 300 people t also understand that drinking good cognac out of a plastis glass is like driving a BMW down a logging road Wa do nut allow glass in the venue for safety masons A slippery floor coveted with broken glass presents a consider able safety risk After finding that our venue was not what tha expected had ! served Andersson a double cognac in a glass snifter. I'm sure the would have complained that it was half empty She goes on to complain about the price of drinks For the mathematically challenged, two double cognacs means four full shots Seventeen dollars divided by four is $4 IS per drink — cer tainly a fair price for good cognac in any town Andersson says ‘SI 7 dollars worth of alcohol at Rennie s will get four people passed out COMMENTARY ijyiFrniiiFPm under the table" If this U the kind of experience you are iniewiwl in having. then call tne — I'll buy the first round of drinks. Thu break between music aets is normally half an hour, but if the performer* run a little late, the best we an do is politely mention to them that it is time to take the stage The technical difficulty that you think our sound man experi enced that night was actually a blown fuse in Duke Kobillafd't amp Guitar strings break and fuses blow; these circumstances beyond our control Andersson churned that "in a past life, (the! mixed sound for a rock 'n‘ roll band ~ Does this appear on your resume? Did they believe it? If so. lei me know Ai my next interview for a pilot's Job. I may mention that I am type rated in the space shuttle, and I've logged three lunar landings I am sorry you did not enjoy our artichoke and pamtesan broad I would like to invite you back to our restaurant for dinner We have some groat entrees and sandwiches I'm sure you could find something you would like — If you would give us a second chance I would like to buy your dinner and give you the opportunity to •ample our beers Mease do not let one had experience keen you away If I had road one poorly written article in the blew York Times business section. I would not stop reading the whole paper The Wild Duck has something for everybody — a groat restaurant, a brew pub. and an enter tainment venue Why else would I hear so many people say. "Eugene has needed a place like this for a tong time “ Hyland Bryant is a bartender at the WUd Duck Software stealing Sonja Sherwood thou Id know the! computer software it the “intellectual property" of the author, whether that be a huge multinational corporation such at Microtoft or an individual [ODE. April 15} Stealing by the tubterfuge of rental, or purchasing and return ing is still stealing This same mentality says it is OK to go to Meier and Frank, buy a beauti ful garment, wear that garment to an important event, and then return the garment However, there are two added differences Meier and Frank doesn't get the restocking fee. and in the soft ware rental scam, you simply never return the garment Sherwood said. 'Companies like Microsoft lose thousands every year to pirating.' The fig ure is in the hundreds of mil' Items lor Microsoft and in the bil - lions for aU software companies Without those losses, these com panies would indeed be richer, but a very large percentage of those funds would go to employ ees and toward improving their company and products. In addition, software cumpa nies take these losses into account in thetr product pricing Themli**. innuinm pay tur the product and fur those who steal lit* product, raiiiag pricM and causing the vary situation you am complaining about If Sherwood doesn't like tha policies and pricing of the prod ucta. than aba abouldn‘1 uw them You could use one of the many shareware desktop pub luhing programs If you need the latest version of PageMaker. then pay tha author for the right to use his property, Robert L. Mctntoeb President. ComSource Auoctai#i. Inc
