Combined Germany
holds much promise
Tuesday's historic announcement of an eventual
reunified Germany is probably the best indicator that
the Cold War of the past 30 years is over.
The two Germanies sprang out of post-World War
II hysteria. The Allies, determined to forever end the
German threat on the European continent, divided the
conquered country* into four military sectors, con
trolled by the United States. France. Britain and the
Soviet Union.
But as fears of communism grew, and the Allies re
fused to give up their share of Berlin (which was deep
in the Soviet sector), the coalition forged out of a com
mon enemy broke apart The Soviet district became
East Germany: the other three allies formed West Ger
main
The ensuing years saw central Europe become the
dividing line between East and West The two coun
tries lived in shadow of the superpowers. Experts
agreed that if World War III started, it would most like
Iv take place on German soil
But with the democratization of Europe within the
last year, East Germany and the rest of the bloc coun
tries became free. Leaders of both East and West Ger
many began to speak, at first cautiously, then openly,
of eventual reunification.
The other European countries gave guarded opin- *
ions on reunification. A combined Germany would
dominate the continent geographically, and have the
ability to exert economic and political control over the
rest of the countries. European leaders were leary of
such a strong force in the European Economic Commu
nity.
But the accord reached Tuesday between the Unit
ed States. France. Britain, the Soviet Union and the
two Germanies opens the door for reunification. While
the actual event is still some time off, that the two
countries will combine seem* like a foregone conclu
sion.
The plan consists of two steps. In the first part.
East and West German officials would hold a series of
meetings to discuss the various difficulties reunifica
tion would involve. The second step would see the for
eign ministers of both countries meet with various
world powers (including the four who helped draw up
the proposal) to discuss the ramifications reunification
involved, and the role the new Germany will play in
European security.
It's hard to find any problems in the plan. While
some groups wanted instantaneous reunification, the
six countries involved realized that was not a viable
proposal. While both countries have strong cultural
ties, many other bonds have been severed. For years.
West Germans have been taught Fast Germans were
traitors, and vice versa. Each harbors deep resent
ments It will take a long time for both sides to get over
the effects of the Cold War.
There remain many barriers to overcome before for
mal reunification is complete. Legal, economic, politi
cal and security issues must be resolved. The eleven
other members of the EEC,’ must decide what part a
combined Germany will play in the organization.
While the proposal has mostly gotten a favorable
response, some groups have gone on record in opposi- j
turn West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who has
been the architect of the plan, has been accused by
some members of the West German Parliament for be
ing politically opportunistic. They say he is using the
reunification issue as a prop for his steadily deteriorat
ing power base.
Politics may be behind some of Kohl's statements,
but to charge him of such cynicism is too much. West
Germany has always wanted a unified country (it's in
their constitution) and chancellors in the past have
brought up the subject only to face sharp rebukes from
East German leaders. Kohl is only living up to this
precedent, and should not be blamed for taking advan
tage when the situation warrants it.
East Germany will be holding its first free election
on March 18. The reunification process will be set in
motion right after that. From this end, there are no ob
jections
_Letters Policy
letters to flit: editor must be limited to no more than
2oil words, legible. signed and the identification of
tin- writer must he verified when the letter is submit
ted __
Editorial—
<5 VV\
■*
...to -me COLOMBIAN DRUG SUMMIT 1
^ oeoRQC wsh’s AHWMfre imam
K
I
■/jmftr I
+J. *4 ImieL}
(5) isJwnaitdi W &
■W &tK. AA^tLf ■
— »ijT'
©
jjutopuL a*.‘O'
UUtrl, .
'uJj uo iw**
-0 ~4u. &m- fnJ~Aufc
•••
t
__Letters_
Sign up
Would whoever slnlc .1 lull
"slop I hi • parking garage peli
lion from my olfiee door kindly
reve.il yourself <ind your re.i
son? Shull sse assume sou sup
port llie building of .1 garage:’
Let's talk about 1! not rip dossil
petitions
Those sslro signed on the
door Iasi Thursdas and Friday
(Peb H and >1) might want to
sign again Anyone else op
posed to the garage please
come hs FIX’ l‘i and let vour
voice he heard
la't's proceed in a reasonable
manner, folks, and stop this
parking garage madness
|e(l Harrison
Knglish (>TI
Dream world
1 'itlikt* rai e ur gender sexual
pretereni r is .1 < oust ions
choice r h<1 i«ttempts by homo
sexuals organizations to link
themselves In the < 1 v 1 i lights
mmemon! is nothing short ol
ileplorahle
I ' S intelligent e and mill
ti»r\ 01 gani/atunis have valid
proved reasons tor refusing to
einplm sell professed homo
sexuals These convents 111
( hole security (most spies in
the Hritish and Ameruan gov
eminent* have tended to he ho
mosexuals) ami organization
moral (a combat unit with a
known homosexual shows a
much lower ottu ien< \ rating)
In short, this is ,1 rational
s< reening process
Neither the ( 11 A nor the mili
tary is under any obligation to
follow the Oregon Administra
live Kules or any motion ot the
University Student Senate
These are federal agencies and
an- subject to federal laws As a
public si bool th.it receives fed
eral money, the University has
no right to bar these organiza
tions from campus
NYU and Princeton are pri
vate schools: they can do am
thing they want The Universi
t\ must respond to tin- i itizens
ot Oregon, and. despite what
this isolated community may
think, most Oregonians support
a strong defense' and a good in
ti'lliXiMicr gathering organiza
1 ion
Maybe I he I'niversitv Stu
dent Senate will wake up from
the dream world, and, il it
doesn't, maylre the CIA will
take them to court
Kric: Kckman
Fugene
Anonymous
This tatter is addressed to our
"Align and Tired" neighbor.
You le)t a rather unexpected
note on our door Tuesday and
unfortunately. I know neither
\ our name nor number
I realize that living near a fra
ternilv t.an he an interesting
and sometimes trying experi
eni e further. I realize that our
a< tivities at times, are a hit
loud and i (line ,i hit late The
last thing th.it I want or need to
have happen is to anger the
people liv ing around us; this is
never our intention I respei t
vnui position and apprei iate
vour com ern
(’lease feel tree to contai t me
at the chapter house in order to
find a solution to the problem
Michael Weaver
Phi (.ultima Delta
Misinforms
In response to the T-shirt
hanging in the ASUO office,
which reads "See Did with
lane. See Dick, with I'at, See
Did with AIDS, Don't l>e a
Dick " This T-shirt is probably
meant to be a positive attempt
AIDS awareness However it
fails miserably; instead, it is a
sexist portrayal of a life-threat
ening virus
Hec ause "I'at" is not a gen
der spei ifii name, it leads one
to assume that in our predomi
nately heterosexual society that
the name refers to a woman
I Ins is offensive, because it im
plies that woman are the lead
ing cause of the spread of
AIDS Statistically. women
only pass the virus Jf» percent
of the time, w here as men pass
il 100 peri rnt tit the time dur
ing intercourse.
Tile T-shirt does not serve its
purpose Instead of causing
AIDS awareness, il misinforms
the general publii who is vul
nerable The T-shirt should
clarify that anyone could catch
or pass AIDS. The shirt blames
women for AIDS, and portrays
Dick as the victim. You don't
have to be homosexual, you
don't have to he a drug user,
and you assuredly don't have
to be a women to have AIDS
Kvervone is a victim AIDS
doesn't discriminate Nor
should we
Karbara Rodgers
Speech-RCHM
Bummer
In response to all those writ
mg letters saving tli.it .ujtoino
bile drivers .ire .ill milirei 11\ 01
directly responsible tor the le
cent oil spill, tli.il s It S
I don't own .1 i ar ha\e
never owned one although I
was given a license ti years ago
I do bike or take the bus To put
the blame on drivers is unlair
To all those who really want to
protest this h\ not driving then
you need to also not use plus
tics or am other bvprodui t
containing am cbemiials. he
cause oil is the source of all
petroi hemicais
So maybe you all should
move to leather, wool or fur,
instead of polyester blends, but
gee. that would probably hurt
the animals {or you could go
native, but that would hurt us),
or switch to wood products in
construction of appliances, but
oops, that might hurt the trees
Hummer.
Oh. well, maybe you can just
move in to the woods, hut then,
that might hurt the animals
who need their space (lee. life
sucks; don’t you hate when
that happens?
Stop blaming car drivers tor
all the problems, because guess
where bike parts come from?
(errick Juliette
Chemistry O IT