Schools under siege
Up have stirn tlw glory ol the burning of the
'•t hool U'c haw tortured every teat her. we have broken
even rule W e re gonna hang the principal tomorrow
after school
If vou wont to elementary school in Americ .1
i lumrcs are you oithor sang this song or at least hoard
it. Ami what liltlo kid hasn't walked to class after not
doing Ins or her homework and fantasized about seeing
fire troi ks hosing down the si hool after a midnight
blaze?
When an arsonist actualh burns a school to the
ground or vandals pulverize a third grade classroom,
however, it's different And recent events in 1 ommuni
ties surrounding Lugono have made l.ane Countv resi
dents wondoi just what the world, and the attitude to
ward the nation's si hoots, are coming to
The huge color photo 011 the front page of I-ritl.«\ s
Kugene Register-tiuaril says it all five first-graders and
their teachei stand behind <1 yellow tape barrier, look
ing on with grim fac es at the charred remains of their
classroom and the lest ol an entire wing of Veneta Lie
mentarv Si hool. tori lied by an arsonist the night of
Oil 1
Lite Thursday night, the madness continued l' 11 -
known suspects sneaked into 1 lassrooms at Dorena Lie
mentarv Si.hool isist of (.'ottage drove and thrashed
them, pulling posters and displays off walls, smearing
the little desks with glue and scattering papers every
where, {.‘lasses had to he canceled until the mess could
be 1 leaned up.
The past few years have been grim for Oregon's
schools Teachers at the Veneta school, for example,
had to do all the comforting in the week following
their school's blaze, the counselor positions eliminated
because of budget cuts. As it is. the cost of the fire will
be about $750.1)00. the last thing a financially strapped
sc hool district needs.
It all makes one wonder about the altitudes people
have about their educ ation system. Teac hers are under
paid. Schools c lose for lack of sound funding. Student
scores in the United States are falling against those of
our international noighlxirs
And now this. Sheesh.
These c ases were not the work of a single person or
group; the suspects in the Veneta case are 10. 11 and
1J. while the people who ransacked the Domna school
were tall enough to steal a school bus and drive it a
few miles before ditching it.
Parents, teachers, students and law enforcement
personnel in the area should be watchful of their
schools in the next few weeks, and hope that altitudes
— and ways of spending a slow evening — change.
Editorial
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Eugene's sister city program is good idea
The Soviets have come and gone, and
Eugene is tlic better lor it
This past weekend, five Soviet delegates
from Kngene’s sister ( ity Irkutsk ( ame to dis
c tiss and exchange opinions on various top
ics In an informal quostiun-and answer ses
sion Saturday, the University staged its own
form of Uoid War thawing.
The delegates shared their views with a
group of 75 interested local residents.
Through an interpreter, the Soviets told of
the problems facing the Siberian communi
ty. Among them; pollution and reduction of
forest land.
Sound familiar?
Pollution appears to be a major problem
in Irkutsk Apparently, a pulp and paper
mill in the city dumps chemical waste into
nearby hike Baikal.
The solution? The delegates said the
plant is being removed Seems like a pretty
good idea.
Well, the Soviet's have gone back home,
and a little bit of them was left in Eugene.
Their coming was just another step in the
whole process of detente, glasnost and open
DOSS.
Eugene’s sister city program helps bring
people of two diverse cultures together.
The Soviets take this city exchange pro
gram seriously enough to send a vice-mayor
and .t local party official half way around the
world to Eugene.
Among the delegates was a riveter from
an aircraft company. He said the leaders of
both countries are here for only a short time,
but the workers stay.
In other words, if workers of both coun
tries can make peace, so can the leaders.
After the meeting, the Soviets showed
pictures of their families, and Eugene resi
dents gave them gifts. And for all the vari
ous public posturing done by the U.S. and
Soviet governments, this simple little cultur
al exchange was probably the most benefi
cial.
We don’t know everything about the
world and neither do the Soviets. But maybe
if we get together and exchange ideas every
once in a while, things will get done.
And that's just what the sister city pro
gram does.
Forum
Bush keeps rhetoric going on importance of drug issue
By George Bush
Summer is over and classes
arc back in session. As we t>e
gin the school year, our
_Commentary
thoughts turn to the future a
future gravely threatened by
drugs.
Who is responsible? Every -
one uses drugs Kveryone sells
drugs Everyone looks the other
way.
Some people used to call
drugs |ust a benign form of re<
reation They're not Drugs are
a real and extremely serious
threat to our schools, our
houses, our friends and our
families It doesn't matter
where you live or what school
you attend No one is tree from
the threat of drugs Inner i ilies.
small towns, and college cam
puses are under siege be
i ause Amerii a is under siege
On Sept 5. I announced the
first comprehensive national
strategy to end the siege to
fight drugs with tougher laws
and enforcement. and with im
proved treatment, education
and prevention The programs
we've proposed are an all-out
assault against the evil of drug
use and drug traffir king We
are aggressively attacking the?
problem from every angle, and
proposing a t‘t(10 drug budget
totaling over $H billion the
largest single increase! in histo
ry.
America is fighting a war
against drugs Yet the most im
portant weapons in the war on
drugs are the least tangible:
self-discipline, courage, char
acter. support from one's fami
ly. faith in God and in one's
self.
Fundamentally. the drug
problem in America is not one
of supply, but of demand. We
are taking strong new action to
stop the flow of drugs into this
country and to stop the dealers
themselves, but as long as
Amerit ans are willing to buy il
legal drugs, somebody, some
where in the world will sell
them
Recently. I met with Mrs Kv
erett Hatcher, the widow of a
veteran L)EA (Drug Enforce
nient Agency) agent who was
killed by drug-using cowards
A woman of considerable dig
nity, she put responsibility for
her husband's death squarely
on "casual” users of cocaine
She’s right — and there is now
blood on their hands.
Similarly, President Barco of
Colombia recently made an ap
peal to Americans to stop buy
ing the cocaine causing the
slaughter of innocent civilians
in the drug wars there.
Every student in America at
some point — at a party, in a
locker room, in a dorm room
every student must choose to
accept or reject drugs But there
is another choice that college
students, as responsible adults,
must make — whether to get
involved in a personal way to
end drug use, or to look the
other way.
College campuses have long
been centers of conscience and
idealism in this country; places
where students have raised
their voices to protest oppres
sion. injustice and human suf
fering around the world. Yet,
no one would deny that often
drugs go hand and hand with
injustice, suffering and even
death.
But where is the sound of
protest? Innocent bystanders
are killed at random on city
streets Babies are born addict
ed to crack and heroin. Young
children are forced into the
drug trade by addicts. What
greater human rights violations
exist? What greater injustices?
Yet, recreational drug users on
some college campuses are still
ambivalent to the death and de
struction they are financing
We must appeal to the social
conscience of every college stu
dent on every college campus
in America. The way to protest
the misery and oppression
brought about by drugs is to
commit yourself to staying
away from drugs — and work
ing to keep them away from
your friends.
Drug use doesn't usually be
gin the way most people would
think, with young people get
ting their first drugs from an
addict or a dealer. Instead, they
get them free from "friends"
who think casual drug use
hurts no one. Peer pressure is
what spreads drug use, and
peer pressure can help stop it
You can help stop it — if you
get involved.
George Hush is President of
the United States This column
teas distributed by the Colle
giate Network
-Commentary Policy
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