Oregon State University - Beaver Yearbook (Corvallis, OR)

Page 31 text:

Krtf i HutU A Remembrance The Military Industrial Complex and Eisenhower Conference examined the 1961 warning by President Dwight D. Eisenhower about the potentially damaging link between the military, industrial and educa tional institutions in our society. Johan Galtung. professor of conflict and peace research at the University of Oslo in Norway, stated that the U.S. political discourse is not adequate to the task of peace. Two reasons were the United States inability to confront the possibility of economic difference and their inability to see their own exception-alism as a problem. Galtung related a reason the United States is failing to possess a non aggressive defense that will pose a visible threat to other countries. The U.S. discourse of economics is a very unhealthy discourse from a peace point of view. remarked Galtung. David Eisenhower, grandson of President Eisenhower, chose not to speak on the military-industrial conference itself, but rather on the circumstances behind his grandfathers farewell warning. I think it’s important to remember that Dwight Eisenhower's military-industrial complex speech was a farewell. said Eisenhower. This is not the kind of perspective necessarily that someone entering power would offer. There may be a conflict between the effectiveness and the philosophical aspects of his speech. The warnings concerning the military-industrial complex were almost outweighed by the warnings aimed at preventing the scientific technological lead in capturing control of public poli- cy. explained Eisenhower. Also speaking at the conference were Seymour Melman. professor emeritus of industrial engineering at Columbia University, and Paul Olum, president of the University of Oregon, who worked on the development of the atomic bomb in the 1940 s. The conference was a part of the Ava Helen Pauling Lectureship for World Peace. The lectureship was established at OSU in 1982 in honor of Pauling, a graduate of OSU and wife of Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling. The lectureship brought speakers recognized for their efforts in promoting world peace or related concerns. Johan Galtung was a really inspiring speaker. said Becky Brice. I was looking around and people were just enthralled. He was speaking with us. not at us. The conference attempted to answer such questions as the extent industry influences the military, the extent the military influences industry, the extent the military-industrial complex influences education and the rest of society and the alternative understanding of security. national budgeting and the structure of defense. Cosponsoring the three-day conference with Westminister House were the Pauling Peace Lectureship and the Du-bach Distinguished Lectureship. Previous lecturers in the series include Linus C. Pauling. Paul C. Warnke. Helen M. Caldicott. George W. Ball. John Kenneth Galbraith and Adolfo Perez Esquivel. —Qmfy Jtwf Steve Johnson. Mke Kopetski. Cynthia Wooten and Dr Clifford Trovv discuss ' Political Realties ot a Military-Industrial Economy m the MU Ballroom Adjusting his glasses. David Eisenhower answers questions from the Gazette-Times MILITARY LECTURE 27

Page 30 text:

26 MILITARY LECTURE

Page 32 text:

28 HORNER MUSEUM