Oregonians weigh in on state issues
■ Oregonians are asked
about growth, the
dwindling water supply an
the Kinkel verdict
Tony Papillo
for the Emerald
It is often easy to speculate
about what the general public’s
opinion is on issues such as in
creasing population and the envi
ronment. The Oregon Survey Re
search Laboratory recently
released its second Oregon Annu
al Social Indicators Survey to find
out exactly what people think
about events that have affected
Oregon in the past year.
The OASIS, which was con
ducted-in November and Decem
ber, gauged resident reaction to a
variety of issues including views
on the sentencing of Kip Kinkel
for his part in the shootings at
Thurston High School.
According to the survey, the
principle concern for those inter
viewed is Oregon’s rising popula
tion, which is expected to experi
ence rapid growth.
Sixty-five percent responded
that the state’s population is now
“about the right size,” while 29
percent found the state’s popula
tion to be “too large.” Only 2 per
cent said that the state population
was “too small.”
Another concern for those sur
veyed is how to preserve the
state’s depleting water supply.
According to Stephen Johnson,
associate director of OSRL and
head director of the OASIS sur
vey, problems resulting from the
distribution of water resources
will be an important concern for
Oregonians in coming years.
Those problems are already be
ing perceived by Oregonians. The
survey showed that about 31 per
cent of them feel that there cur
rently is a “very” or “somewhat
serious” problem with Oregon’s
drinking water. As a result, 29
percent have an in-home water
treatment system and close to 53
percent purchased bottled water
during the past month.
The survey also gauged reac
tion to the Kinkel verdict, which
sentenced him to almost 112
years in prison without parole.
According to the report, 56 per
cent of people polled “strongly
agreed” with Kinkel’s sentence
while only 9 percent “strongly
disagreed” with the decision.
But Toshihiko Murata, a Grad
uate Teaching Fellow in the
OSRL, said the survey seems to
indicate that in spite of a strong
agreement with the verdict, the
results may not be as cut-and
dried as they seem.
“It’s clear that there would be a
relationship between the two per
centages: those who believe in life
in prison without parole and
those who strongly agree with
Kinkel’s sentence of 112 years,”
he said.
For more information and re
sults on the OASIS survey, it will
all be posted on the OSRL Web
page at darkwing.uoregon.edu/
~osrl/.
Lecturer accuses CIA of 1987 assassination
■ journalist Joan
Kruckewitt asserts her
views on Ben Linder’s
murder in Nicaragua
Alana Lynn
for the Emerald
In 1987, Ben Linder was the
first American to be killed during
the bloody takeover of Nicaragua.
Linder’s assassination at the
hands of U.S.-supported rebel
forces known as freedom fighters
has sparked controversy for more
than a decade.
Journalist Joan Kruckewitt ex
plored these contentious issues
surrounding Linder’s murder in
addition to the U.S. role in his
death during her lecture Tuesday
in the aptly-named Ben Linder
Room. Kruckewitt was in town to
promote her new book “The
Death of Ben Linder: The Story of
a North American in Sandinista
Nicaragua,” which was released
in November.
“I want people to know who
Ben Linder was, a risk-taker and
hero,” said Kruckewitt, who be
friended Linder in Nicaragua dur
ing the summer of 1983.
Linder, who was from Portland,
went to Nicaragua during the
summer of 1983 at the height of
the Sandinista government
takeover. During the takeover
40,000 Nicaraguans died. Accord
ing to Kruckewitt, Linder helped
build bomb shelters and tried to
introduce electrical power to
small, poverty-stricken towns. He
also led a key humanitarian effort
in Nicaragua until his murder.
In her book, Kruckewitt goes
into detail about what she be
lieves to be the planned assassina
tion of Linder, who she thinks
was targeted because of his hu
manitarian work in the area.
Kruckewitt said she believes,
based on classified CIA papers
that she has seen, that there is un
deniable proof that Linder’s death
was orchestrated by the CIA in an
effort to assist the rebel forces in
the area, who were being support
ed with American dollars to fight
the takeover of the government.
“I want the American people to
see where their tax dollars went
to,” Kruckewitt said.
Willie Thompson, an organizer
of the lecture, said he hoped
Kruckewitt’s lecture will provide
a better understanding for stu
dents of American intervention
overseas.
That message was transmitted
to many who attended the lecture.
“Ben Linder shared a bond
with oppressed people; he was a
benevolent man whom we can
learn a lot from,” said Brian Wolf,
a sociology graduate student.
“Americans need to be aware of
their government and not be
afraid to speak out against it,”
Kruckewitt said
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