Editorial
Break ties with dirty
El Salvador regime
I'lii* recent guerrilla offensive in HI Salvador has
moved the long civil uar in lh.it tiny tountry !<> •*
prominent position at the top n! tin* front page Hut
headlines are transient Indore the dramatic news of
hotel seizures and death squad massac res fades and is
forgotten by the Ameru an puhiit it is time for this
country to reassess its i ornmitment to the brutal regime
of Alfredo (Iristiam
lire l ulled States pumps $1.5 million a day to
prop up this country of !> million people This level of
support has gone on. not unnoticed but < ertainlv un
heralded. all through the Reagan decade The question
must he asked: What has this level of commitment
brought us:’ What have we gotten lor our money?
Well, since I'.IHt). 70.OUtl civilians have been killed
in HI Salvador, and until we withdraw its support of
I fie right-wing government responsible for these kill
ings. we must bear some responsibility in those kill
mg'. He vo nought a lot ot moon sued won our dollars.
The money sent to Cristiani, and Duarte before
liim. was supposed to keep Marxist influence limited
to Nicaragua and away from Texas, the vulnerable soft
underbelly of the United States But the rebel offensive
puts the lie to any so-called success the U S -backed
counterinsurgency campaign could claim. There's also
reason to believe U.S. support has only lengthened,
not shortened, the unrest. In negotiating a possible
peace plan for the region, the leftists claim to only
want military reforms and the prosecution of govern
ment officials responsible for the civilian massacre. As
the war drags on. continued atrocities will only
strengthen the leftists’ resolve and determination
We’ve bought a lot of insecurity with our dollars.
So why does this country continue to send the
money to El Salvador?
It's not enough that the Bush Administration is
concerned over last week's slaughter of six Jesuit
priests involved with peace talks. Cristiani and his
death squads have committed similar atrocities daily.
It's not enough that Cristiani was elected in a pop
ular vote. Any leader who jails und kills his country’s
dissident citizens is an outlaw leader unworthy of our
support, no matter how he or she got into power.
It's not even enough that the rebels are Marxists
(gasp!) in this hemisphere. Drop the old Cold War rhet
oric. We're in a new age where it's been shown that
capitalist governments and communist governments
can peacefully co-exist.
There is absolutely no valid reason for the United
States to continue to prop up this dirty little regime
— Q»m
r
Changing colors still leaves plates ugly
Oregon s new Ik ense plates ami lamnn
Pave Hakker have a feu things in c ommon:
nglv. gfliifiy c olors and c onstant makeovers
On Pridav the state's Motor \’ehic les I )i
vision began selling the newest in a long
line of "new and improved" license plates.
Originally issued in the new plates
feature a tree in the1 c enter, framed by wood
ed lulls and sk\ in the bac kground.
I he biggest problems have been with the
colors liven Nanc \ Westm.cn. the Portland
graphic artist who designed the plates, was
disappointed with the colors that were used
lor the picture
On the plate that was first issued, the
tree was "golden." However, what some
saw as golden others saw as brown and
those who saw brown saw that the- tree
looked dead
Another hideous part of the plate was
the orange sk\ which looked as though it
was filled with smoke Coupled with the
dead tree and the hazy blue hills in the hac k
ground. the plates were basically a picture
pcistc ard of a forest fire W elcome to ()regon
So the colors wore c hanged. Shortly af
ter the plates were issued, the tree went
from (.rispy. golden brown to green .1
sickening shade of lime green. The color of
the skv went from peach to blue, <1 good
< h.mge Also pleasant was the hills' shilt
from blue to a majestic, shade of purple.
Hut even with the improvements, just
how necessary arc? decorative, picturesque
license plates?
It must be remembered that the intended
purpose of a license plate is identification of
the ear to which it is attached. This means
numbers and letters Not cowboys on buck
ing broncos Not panoramic sunsets. And
absolutely not day-glo trees and <1 dirty sky
The State shouldn’t get involved with
aesthetic attachments to personal objects,
because aesthetics is <1 matter of personal
t.iste You're not going to make? everybody
happy, and it’s a waste of time and tax dol
lars to try here.
Fortunately, drivers still have1 the option
of the basic: blue? and yellow tags Thev were*
ordinary, but they did their job Letters and
numbers didn't blend in with the- bac k
ground, and no one had to gripe about sic k
ening colors.
Letters_
Less qualified
I hr remarks m.uir In I mi
Hughes mm erning (hr lining
pr.ii In rs ol Ihr I l.\ ((1/1/ \m
l'>| i mil,nil misleading inlnr
ni.itlot) Hughes i I.inns hr was
denied .111 interv iew u 11h ihr
1 IA hrt .msr hr is gav Hmvr\
ri .1 ( loser examination nl ihr
uppliiulinn and interview pm
1 rss slums lh.it Hughes' 1 hum
is i|iirstii)ii.ihlr
Ihr siur\ fails in mention
sonir impnrtanl details
llnghrs' major philosophy
was not itti hided in the list of
majors lor recruitment In nr
i onium e with ( .inn Planning
and Platnnenl (’rnlei policy
Hughes would have the option
to plai r his Ind 1 ard in the. "rr
laird majors' category which
1 ommaiuls the lowest priority
lor an interview
I hr information requested on
the hid 1 ard mi hides name
major 1ili/enslup status and
sell reported ( d‘A rile I I \ up
phi alum requires personal in
formation, hut < ontains no
questions addressing sexual
orientation It appears Hughes
was denied an interview lie
i dllsr he was less qualified
than lilt' ntliri ,i|)|)lic ,ints not
I mm .nisi’ d! liis sexual prefer
I'll! ('
In i I,timing ilisi nmiii.ilion
u lien none i'msis, I lughrs Imi
■ilizrs (In' i I,inns ill iiihi'is vvhn
liii ■' tlir sin i.iI ey il nt prepidii i'
.mil dors .1 great disservice In
.ill diseufrant liisi'il proplr
Dayid Knight
M.itlii'm.iti< s
No pity
I in Hi months the workers nt
Mmg,in \n nl.ii hiivr i Imsrn tn
forego their ini ninr Sixteen
months .it S't O') .in hour i mill's
to around S.' t immi money
th.it should have hern used to
'feed their families and pay
their utility hills
At this p<>int it tin workers
were to lirt their S1 I n l an
hour hark, it would take over
five years tn make up for then
losses Obviously main of
these workers didn't take math
in si liool
Morgan/Nicolai lost money
for three of the last five years
Its not as d the company is
bleeding Springfield yyith its
greed \ prof it s
It is unfortunate th.it so main
lliiit nut .ill| unions tail tn mi
ilrrsl.mil a i oinpain i an t lusr
mimev and c ontinur to ii|irratr
People ut \11 olai might want In
i onsidel w hat happened to l as
trr Airlines
Koilnin l.avtnn
Kugene
Thankful
I applaud the Im idrntal Ire
( nmmitter tor its dri ision to
allocate much-needed funds to
the i hild i are suhsiik program
H\ t.iking this aition. < nmmit
tee members have shown that
the\ value the student-parent
population on this i ampus so
main ot whom could not In
here were it not tin this kind of
assistant r
The li t! ob\ ioush lewis that
providing Imam i.d help for
i hiId care does more than help
a small group of parents and
their children, Iml adds to the
prosperity of sot ict\ as a
whole lit believes that the
children who will soon enough
he running this country have a
tight Id cpialitv dav cure set
tings that lielp them ac liieve
their highest potential and he
come produc tive citizens
As a parent and a student. I
.im thankful that the lit is
making this investment in ev
er \ one's future
Kristen ifrandt
Kugene
Dump DeFazio?
When I S Kep Peter lie
I a/in was elected, to Congress a
feu \ears ago. Kugene Spring
fields large progressive c om
munitv was justifiahlv happv
Ue had apparentlv sent some
one into the midst of that exec
utive i onimittee of the ruling
< lass known as the t S Cov
einment who would defend the
average working citizen and
struggle within tin- beast to
promote human rights in Latin
Americ a
\ou three years later, we
hear that Defuzio has heeu
heart11\ promoting further c uts
in tlie c apital gains tax aimed at
throwing salt on the wounds of
the majority of our population
by further padding the wallets
of the ultra-rich.
More recentiv (01)1 Nov
15), we are hearing that Latin
America activists are not get
ting any follow up" from Do
Lazio's office at the very hour
of the Salvadoran people's
greatest struggle, that Del'azio
w ishes to "choose his battles
and the liberation ol an op
pressed people is not one of bis
( boil es
In light of Del azio's ini reus
mg tendencv to ai t in i omplii
its w ith the obs( enities proniot
ed by the t' S i apitalist class
the time is at hand lot a reas
sessment of the left communi
tv 's relationship to "our rep
resentalive
for too long now we have
lent our support and out al
reads overstretched resources
to “progressive" candidates in
an unqualified wav It Del'azio
continues to place Ins political
hide above the principles ot
justice and decency, then he is
betraying those ol us w ho ele< t
ed him for his "progressiv ism'
and we should consider with
drawing our support for him
Michael Dawson
GTF, sociology