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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1985)
editorial t---— Reagan decision a vote for lawlessness Shame on the United States of America. On the eve of the 50th U.S. presidential inauguration, President Ronald Reagan defied international law and order by declaring that the United States will not abide by any rulings of the Inter national Court of Justice (World Court) that deal with U.S. military policy towards Nicaragua. In April, Nicaragua went to the World Court stating that the United States had violated international law by mining Nicaraguan waters and participating in paramilitray efforts to overthrow the Sandinista government. In November, the World Court voted 15 to 1 that it had legal jurisdiction to hear Nicaragua’s case. Among those who voted in favor of Nicaragua in the jurisdiction ruling were some of America’s closest allies, including Japan, Britain, France, Italy and West Germany. The United States offered the only dissen ting vote. On Friday, Reagan said that the U.S. government would defy the World Court’s ruling on the Nicaragua case. This is the first time that the United States has walked out of the World Court in defiance of the Court’s rules, which this country promised to uphold when it became a member in 1946. Reagan’s decision sends a clear message that the United States will ignore international opinion when it is in America’s interests to do so. Furthermore, it reveals that under the Reagan administration, the United States has become a lawless nation governed by a philosophy of “might makes right,” rather than “peace through interna tional cooperation.” When Iran refused to abide by the rulings of the World Court five years ago, few Americans were surprised by such lawlessness on the part of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Today, at the start of his second term in office, it seems that Reagan and Khomeini share something in common. Bookstore’s priority must be educational materials During the summer, the University bookstore began remodeling itself. When fall term started, the word went out: “We’ve got a new look, we are changing with the times to better serve the students, faculty and staff of the Universi ty of Oregon.” Five months later, the question of whether the bookstore is better serving students and faculty is an im portant one. What concerns us the most is the trend the bookstore seems to be taking in the direction of stocking more calen dars, cookbooks, gift items, electronic appliances, etc....at the expense of educational materials. Is this what the bookstore considers better serving students and faculty? We hope not. To make room for more popular selling items, the bookstore has cut down on space previously reserved for academic materials. According to some University pro fessors, the amount of space allocated to sociology is now less than one fourth of what existed before. Reductions in the areas of political science and anthropology have also been cited. Most disturbing of all was the complete removal of the ethnic studies section of the bookstore during fall term. This section was removed on grounds that the books were not selling well, and that the space could be used more profitably for other purposes. Ethnic studies books are now scattered throughout the bookstore in different sections. While we realize that the bookstore must make enough money to cover its overhead costs, we feel that the bookstore must never lose sight of its primary purpose: serving the educational needs of the University community. SA *&g WMATElSE CAN I DO? I DID SPEAKfO HIM ABOUT MlS UNRUUNESS, AND HE PlD PROMISE Mg HE'D TW TO BEHM/E—ISN’T THAT RK3KT, CAP., ?r_ letters Pro-protests In response to Ron Munion’s letter (ODE, Jan.ll), I must ask when protest became an expletive? I agree with Ron that America is a great country in many ways. It has the potential to be even better. However, many r«f the rights, freedoms, and privileges Americans enjoy originated from people who protested. Would women have the right to vote if women from the suf frage movement had sat back and said, "Hey, this is a great country”? Would minorities have the civil rights they have today, if some courageous people hadn’t protested? As well as the right to become millionaires, citizens have an obligation to promote a fair and just society. No person, system, or government is perfect. We need to look at ourselves, our systems, and our government and think about how they might change, grow, or improve. Pro test is one vehicle for change. As long as protest is non violent, it is simply a way of voicing our opinions. Maybe Ron can look through rose-colored, Reagan eyeglasses at the country and see only the gloiy, but I think many people in our country and in other countries would disagree with him. See if the homeless unemployed and poor would agree with his glowing report. See if a person in Central or South America whose family has been murdered by U.S. sup ported dictators would agree. I do agree that we need to Oregon daily . _ emerald The Oregon Daily Emerald is published Monday throuqh Friday except during exam week and vacations by the Oregon Cfaily Emerald Publishing Co., at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 97403. The Emerald operates independently of the Universi ty with offices on the third floor of the Erb Memorial Union and is a member of the Associated Press. General Staff Advertising Director Production Manager Classified Advertising Controller Susan Thelen Russell Steele Vince Adams Jean Ownbey Advertising Sales: Laura Buckley, Tim Clevenger, Jen nifer Fox, Marcia Leonard, Rick Martz, Nancy Nielsen, Laurie Nobel, Roberta Oliver, Brett Pickman - Intern, David Wood. Production: David Bryant, Kelly Cornyn, Stormi Dykes, Julie Freeman, Kathy Gallagher, Dean Guernsey, Susan Hawkins, Ross Martin, Karin McKercher, Lauri Neely, Kel ly Neff, Curt Penrod, Tamye Riggs, Michele Ross, Alyson Simmons, Peg Solonika, Tim Swillinger, Colleen Tre maine, Hank Trotter. Editor Managing Editor News Editor Editorial Page Editor Photo Editor Sports Editor Sidelines Editor Entertainment Editor Assistant Entertainment Edito Night Editor Associate Editors Administration Higher Education Politics ASUO Student Activities Community Features Michele Matassa Mike Sims Michael Kulaga Costas Christ Michael Clapp Brent De La Paz Sheila Landry Kim Carlson Mike Duncan Michael Clapp Jolayne Houtz Michael Hosmar Paul Ertel't Julie Shippen Stasia Scarborough Cynthia Whitfield Lori Steinhauer Reporter*: Sean Axmaker, Dave Berns, Robert Colllas, Diana Elliott, Thomas Henderson, Allan Lazo, Capi Lynn, Scott McFetridge. News and Editorial Display Advertising and Business Classified Advertising Production Circulation 686-5511 686-3712 686-4343 686-4381 686-5511 look at the positive aspects of our country, but we cannot ig nore the things that are wrong. Bob Carbon Eugene Ludicrous! Jomes Phillips claims that the Marines protest last term was •’an net of non-violent civil disobedience,” assumedly pat terned after Thoreau and Gan dhi. He implies that the protest should be applauded, which is ludicrous. Even worse, Phillips blames the Marines for the disruption, because the Marines didn’t have them arrested! What the protestors did was wrong. They could have the best intent and very good reasons for doing what they did, but they committed the same crime they accused the Marines of committing: suppression of freedom. Mom always told me that two wrongs don’t make a right, and I see no reason to disagree with her. Freedom of speech gave Mar tin Luther King the right to speak, and it gives the KKK the right as well. If we start taking away rights of people we don’t agree with, they are no longer rights but privileges. Who is to determine who gets what privileges? Freedom of speech belongs to all; it even applies to those we disagree with. One final question: how come so many non-students read the Emerald for free, when the students have to pay for it? Brian Moore English Feeling safe It seems from reading the let ters that our three biggest prob lems are women are op pressed, homosexuals are persecuted, and Christians are suffering from what some call “homophobia.” The oppres sion of women can be alleviated when we stop using words with “man” in them to denote peo ple in general. For example, take the word “homosapiens.” •'Homo” means man, and “sapiens” means thinking. Therefore this is not a good word to be used for the populace in general because it does not include women. Likewise homosexuality should be replaced by a word that shows that sexuality belongs to both genders, not just men alone. We should replace homosexuality with heterosexuality, and kill two birds with one stone (no double meaning intended.) That leaves us with the hypocritical Christians to take care of, who not having homosexuals to berate, can turn to their own problems. "Homo” means man, and "phobia” means fear, so homophobia is simply the fear of man. But the Bible itself addresses this when it says, (Prov. 29:25) “the fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso puteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” Once Christians feel safe, they can start coming out of their closets. I mean, we already know there are a few Christians who do not think homosexuali ty is such a good idea. It would be interesting to find out how the rest of the Christians feel. Earl Gosnell Eugene New group Most groups on campus seem to take more than they give. But this is not the case with all groups. Finally there is a group that is trying to do something about problems in the world. Their answers are not political. They understand that words and pro tests don’t feed empty stomachs. This new dynamic group is A1ESEC (pronounced "eye — sek"). AIESEC is made up most ly of international exchange students. AIESEC understands that all nations must have strong leaders. One of the main objec tives of AIESEC is training these new leaders. Through understanding communications and a unique international perspective, members of AIESEC can solve economic and social problems in their respec tive countries. Members of AIESEC have great potential, because their academic preparation allows them the opportunity to work abroad. Their training includes a series of job-related seminars which focus on management training. AIESEC is a group that the whole University community can be very proud of. AIESEC is located in Room 16-A of the EMU. Ron Munion Political Science
