I met Aaron in the late 1970s at the University of Oregon, where he was founding head of the Institute of Molecular Biology. As he guided the institute to international prominence, he remained true to his personal commitment as an activist for peace. I attended with him meetings of the University Arms Control Forum, which he helped found.

It was, as he once told me, "but a gesture in the continuing effort we all must make to protect ourselves and our earth from nuclear devastation." There were many such gestures in his stubborn effort to defuse an ultimate explosion for which he felt personal accountability.

Aaron became part of the historic race to create the atomic bomb in the early 1940s during World War II. As a member of the Manhattan Project, he helped create the bombs that were dropped on two Japanese cities to end the war in August 1945.

In later years, Aaron described how jubilation over the war's sudden end -- orchestrated by him and his fellow scientists -- turned to bitterness they directed at themselves.

"The cheers were barely out of our mouths, after hearing of the successful bombing of Hiroshima," he recalled, "before most of us came to our senses, realizing what terrible things this meant for the future of the earth."

Sudden end to the war stopped preparations for an invasion of Japan, which would have meant a terrible toll in death on both sides.

However, Novick said, "What we were not able to calculate in our rush to perfect the bomb was the greater price humans would pay in the years ahead in a time of terrifying brinksmanship by atomic powers."

Anxious to escape the morbid reminders at Los Alamos after the war, Aaron left to join other troubled scientists as they worked against legislation that would have put the nuclear program in the hands of the military. He made hundreds of speaking appearances in which he talked of how continued development of nuclear weapons would threaten the life of the planet.

During my years as manager of the university's Speakers Bureau, Aaron was most in demand among faculty members. He valued chances to speak to audiences of children. I heard him comment to a group of 5th graders at Eugene's Washington School: "We as human beings are used to settling our conflicts through war. You as children can try to educate adults that there are other ways to settle those differences."

Asked about his feelings of guilt, Novick told the students: "I feel guilty. We established the bad, bad precedent of being willing to use a terrible weapon we could not control."

Aaron and members of the Arms Control Forum took flack for their opposition to the Vietnam War during a time when the United States and the Soviet Union challenged each other in the Cold War. During one meeting of the forum, some UO students shouted at the group: "Go back to Russia, you commies."

Aaron's efforts often took him off campus. He was a key figure in the successful effort of Eugene activists in 1969 to halt, against heavy odds, plans for the Eugene Water & Electric Board to convert to atomic power. They were labeled troublemakers by those who supported the transition. Years later, advocates of the nuclear plant thanked the activists for their vision.

In 1989, Novick met in Eugene with a Nagasaki bomb survivor, Senji Yamaguchi, during the International Nuclear Free Zone Conference. Yamaguchi told Aaron: "Even in Japan, people who have been with the peace movements have received many threats. Several times I have been threatened by the right wing because they felt this was related to communism. But I want to encourage you to continue giving the truth to the public."

Aaron responded: "It would be criminal for us to not pursue this for as long as we can. People must dedicate themselves for all future history to deal with this problem."

I wonder if that conversation brought to Aaron a measure of catharsis from his self-imposed feelings of guilt -- a cleansing his labors surely earned him. The challenge to continue his efforts is a legacy left to all who knew him.

George Beres, former University of Oregon sports information director and manager of the Speakers Bureau, lives in Eugene.

Copyright 2001 Oregon Live

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