Tufts explains reasons for anti-nuclear stand
By T. Jeffries
Of The Print
“A nuclear war is a low
probability event,” said
Marlene Tufts, Clackamas
Community
College
psychology instructor, of her
work in the nuclear arms freeze
movement. “But in extended
time, a low probability event
becomes inevitable. That’s not
conjecture, it’s a mathematical
fact.”
Tufts, 44, worked as a
management analyst for the
justice department for four
years before receiving her
Masters
degree
from
Sacramento State University.
She began teaching at the Col
lege in 1969 and is presently
enrolled in the Ph.D. program
at the University of Hawaii
Medical School. Her involve
ment in the nuclear freeze
movement began only recently
after attending a meeting of the
Physicians for Social Respon-
sibility at Lewis and Clark Col
lege.
“We were meeting to
discuss the problem of Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome (Crib
Death) when someone men
tioned that it wouldn’t do too
much good to save children
from SIDS only to have them
die in a nuclear war. Certainly
SIDS was worthy of considera
tion, but the probability of
nuclear war was a much
greater threat to the lives of
children, and adults as well,”
Tufts said. “At that time, the
AuCoin Weaver Bill calling for
a freeze on the development of
new nuclear arms was up, so I
began distributing petitions.
“Of course, my feelings
about it have been around
longer than that. I was frighten
ed during the Cuban missile
crisis. I remember Civil Defense
drills, where we were told that
a paper bag over your head
would protect against radia
tion.”
Her greatest fear is in the
generation of weapons that the
government wants to build, the
foremost being the Pershing II
missile. To be deployed in
Europe, the Pershing II has a
target error of only 120 feet
and a 99 percent kill factor. In
addition, it gives the Soviets
only four minutes to decide if it
is a real attack or only a com
puter malfunction. The pro
blem stems from the fact that
“every week something hap
pens that is interpreted as an
attack by one side or the other,
except that right now there is a
lag of 30 minutes, in which to
nail it down as either an error
or an attack,” Tufts said. “The
fate of the world then is depen
dent on the accuracy of Soviet
computers. It’s utterly incredi
ble that we want to do this. It’s
too risky for an accidential
war.”
Another attitude hampering
efforts is the “survivalist men
tality,” Tufts thinks. “It’s im
practical. They don’t under
stand the horror of a nuclear
war. To some it sounds like
fun. They don’t realize that 10
minutes exposure to the sun
would be lethal, or that normal
vegetable plants wouldn’t
grow. They could survive for a
short time, but it wouldn’t be
pleasant,” she said.
“In fact, we have so many
weapons that scientists have no
idea what would happen if we
set them all off. The worst
estimates expect the complete
elimination of life on earth,
with the exception of grasses
and a few insects. The best an
ticipates the reduction of the
United States and-USSR into
siolated pockets of semi
barbarism,” Tufts said.
“We’ve got to demand
that our government negotiate
honestly for a freeze on new
weapons. They increase the
chance of nuclear war by either
accident or design, and
unintentional use is the most
dangerous of all.”
Tufts
concludes,
“Historically, mankind has
always solved its problems
through armed conflict. It has
caused untold suffering but
never really" threatened the
continuation of the species.
Now war does threaten the
species, but mentalities haven’t
changed since we were
shooting arrows at each other.”
Elected Gardner guides group
Marlene Tufts
Staff Photo
“CCOSAC?” What is it?
“This is how Brian Gardner,
executive chairperson of the
organization feels many
Officers retreat to organize year
By Brett Bigham
Of The Print
“It was exciting to see
students go from not knowing
each other to a cohesive
team,”
Debbie
Baker,
Clackamas Community Col
lege’s activities director, said
about
last
weekend’s
Associated Student Govern
ment’s retreat.
Attending the retreat were
the College’s executive council
and the new Senate. “They got
to know one another and
learned skills to work with each
other and to use them,”
Baker said.
Students attended a series
of sessions to explain job
ELCOm
MH
page 4
responsibilities as well as ASG
rules and practices. It was a
very “productive” week, ASG
Activities Director Stephen
Vohs said.
Each member was given a
notebook divided into different
sections of information.
Budgets, activities and the
ASG Philosophy Statement
were among some of the sub
jects included.
Students also participated
in several indoor/outdoor ac
tivities including “name train,”
which helped members learn
each other’s names, volleyball
and several group cooperation
exercises. These included
blindfold games, relays and
team games.
Saturday, the council
members held a session on
parliamentary procedure. A
mock meeting was held to help
familiarize the new members
with the format of regular ASG
meetings.
Each Senator was assign
ed a group in which brainstor
ming and goal setting were us
ed to prepare for this year’s ac
tivities. A mock College Bowl
was also held to test the
members’ knowledge on the
ASG Constitution.
“The students as a group,”
Baker said, “ seem to be super
strong. There are no weak
links. These are the qualities to
make an outstanding student
government.”
students react when they hear
the acronym for Community
Colleges of Oregon Students
Association and Commissions.
CCOSAC is a statewide
organization involving all 13
community colleges of Oregon.
Its purpose is to allow member
colleges to meet and discuss
problems as a learning ex
perience and to decide on
statewide action if necessary.
CCOSAC’s membership is
exclusively students. It consists
of student body presidents
from each school and the ex
ecutive chair, who was selected
last spring.
“The executive chair is
basically an administrative of
fice” Gardner said. The posi
tion was first developed three
years ago because of a need for
a permanent chairperson at
meetings. He also takes care of
responsibilities the student
body presidents just don’t have
time for,” Gardner said.
The financial standing of
Brian Gardner
Oregon’s community colleges
is a big concern to CCOSAC
this year. The organization
wants to increase its lobbying
efforts. A new commission has
been formed. It is a Political In
volvement Commission (PIC)
which will consist of five to
seven students. The purpose of
PIC is “to create a high quality
lobby,” said Gardner. He in
vites any student interested to
apply for a lobby position.
“You don’t need experience
but you do need good speaking
abilities, interest in politics,
courage enough not to go out
on a limb, and you have to be a
full time student,” Gardner
said. Students interested in lob
bying must have letters of
recommendation and a letter of
intent.
Some other major goals of
CCOSAC this year include get
ting students on campus more
politically active and bringing a
new awareness of the organiza
tion to the student population
on each campus.
Staff Photo
Clackamas Community College