Jan. 8, 1998 Contact Pauline Austin (541) 346-3129 EUGENE--The national Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is as much about human rights as it is about black-white relations, says King's close friend and associate, Pastor James M. Lawson Jr. Lawson, who collaborated with King to develop the philosophy of nonviolence that became the cornerstone of the civil rights movement, will speak at the University of Oregon on Jan. 15, the 69th anniversary of King's birth. The free public lecture, "Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?" begins at 4 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 15, in the Ballroom of the Erb Memorial Union, 1222 E. 13th Ave. Lawson also will speak with local community leaders at 8 p.m. on Thursday in the EMU Ballroom. Sponsored by the Oregon Humanities Center, both events are open to the public. "The press and most Americans saw Dr. King and the movement he represented as primarily for black people," Lawson says. "However, King himself saw his movement as an effort to get America to redeem her soul." Lawson says America must live up to the promise of the preamble to the Constitution by basing our national values on the ideas it contains. "We still have time to make a choice," he says. "We can become a nation where every child has a good chance or we can face the reality of growing chaos." "Pastor Lawson is an unusual, very inspiring man. He has worked for a just society with remarkable single-mindedness and integrity his entire life," says Spencie Love, UO adjunct professor of history, who is working on a biography of Lawson. Lawson has been pastor of the Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles since 1974. He is national chairman of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the oldest pacifist organization in the country. The talk and the community meeting are part of a series of UO events planned in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. The campus observance includes a free public forum on the status and future of civil rights in the United States at 4 p.m., Friday, Jan. 16, and a speech by Cornel West, author of "Race Matters" and "Restoring Hope," at 4 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 29. Sponsored by the Oregon Humanities Center, both events will be held in the Ballroom of the Erb Memorial Union. For more information, contact the Oregon Humanities Center, (541) 346-3934. Thursday, Jan. 15 Noon-1:30 p.m. Reception and informal discussion with Pastor James M. Lawson Jr. and law school faculty and students. Location TBA. 4 p.m. "Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?" Public lecture by Pastor James M. Lawson Jr. in the Ballroom. of the Erb Memorial Union, 1222 E. 13th Ave. 8 p.m. Meeting with community leaders, open to public, in the EMU Ballroom. Friday, Jan. 16 9 a.m. Lawson visits "Politics of Race and Ethnicity" class. 11 a.m. Lawson visits "Problems in U.S. Politics" class. 1:45-1:15 p.m. Pacifica Forum, presentation and discussion of nonviolence and civil rights, Wesley Center, 1236 Kincaid St. 4 p.m. "Reclaiming the Flame: American Civil Rights in the Twenty-First Century," roundtable discusson on the status and future of civil rights in the United States. Seven panelists will represent different policy and scholarship areas, including law, education and the media. Moderator: UO associate law professor Dennis Greene, EMU Ballroom. Thursday, Jan. 29 4 p.m. Public lecture by Cornel West, author of "Race Matters," EMU Ballroom. -30- #P-6041/Local,OreDailies,PDX,A&E