Emerald Er(l.ltOI*l<l-l
Daily
Flag-burning issue
just a smokescreen
With cii 1 the hoopla surrounding flag-burning, one
would think it is the most pressing issue facing the
country We think Congress has much more to concern
itself with.
The House and the Senate are preparing to vote on
.1 constitutional amendment to make flag-burning un
lawful The Supreme Court, by a 5-4 margin, recent I \
overturned a Texas law that made flag-burning a
crime Justice William Mrennan, speaking for the ma
jority, said the law violated the underlying principle of
first Amendment law "That tin* government may not
prohibit the expression of an idea simply because soc i
etv finds the idea offensive or disagreeable
What is offensive and disagreeable is the amount of
time and energy lawmakers are spending on the flag
burning issue. With intense problems facing the coun
try, including the budget deficit, the Savings and Loan
iiisis AIDS, education funding, and militarv spend
ing, it is deplorable to see Congress expend energy on
restrii tine free exnression.
The c:rv for a constitutional amendment against
flag-burning is absurd Our flag is supposed to repre
sent our dediration to the principles of a democratic
society, in< ludmg free speech. It is illogic al to assume
that m prohibiting a certain form of tree speech, we are
protecting free; speech.
No one knows what effect a ban on flag-burning
would have on the First Amendment With the Nation
al Kndovvment for the Arts under attack IHiC.ausc' it
funds allegedly obscene art. and the performance of
the1 rap group 2 hive drew labeled "obscene” because
of the; lyrical content of its songs, free speech is under
light scrutiny. But the real scary aspect of the? proposed
amendment is the number of lawmakers jumping on
the bandwagon to support it. It is perceived that a vote
against an amendment is a vote against freedom in the;
l ’nite'd States.
Restricting flag-burning is in direct contrast to
what the First Amendment represents While President
Bush says flag-burning "endangers the; fabric of our
country." he fails to mention the cloak of secrecy sur
rounding his role* in the Iran-contra affair and his ties
to Manual Noriega It isn't the cloth of the flag that
needs protecting, hut the principles it represents.
What would Ire the cost, in time, money, and re
sources, in enforcing flag-burning? If our flag repre
sents all the good that the United States stands for,
what about the1 poor, the homeless, and the unem
ploved? Some people may feel justified in burning a
flag Instead of prosecuting, and perhaps putting in
jail, citizens who burn the* flag, the government should
Ire c one erned v\ ith the c auses of these people's frustra
tions
* jh*r0*'ntut &*>*-*
»-m «>i»j*"(*v"‘
Homelessness: not a seasonal problem
l or tlu> past two years. the beginning of
summer has signaled Lane bounty adminis
Irators that it is time to shut clown Kugenes
Opportunitv Shelter Perhaps countv ofli
c ials believe the homeless disappear in tin*
summer, th.it homelessness is a seasonal
problem
Those ol us w ith reasonable minds know
that this is not the i use
It is true that the i ount\ provided fami
lies who were still staying at the shelter and
were without permanent housing vouchers
tor local hotel rooms, hut the families claim
that the hotel rooms are unlivable
Bee ause of these problems, a few ot the
families dei ided to protest the i leisure by
c .imping out on the shelter's lawn
The c reation ol tin1 Opportunitv Shelter
two years ago was a definitive* move to deal
with a pressing problem Now the eountv
wants to put its money elsewhere and plans
on expanding current family shelter pro
grams and building more low-income hous
ing f'ntortunatelv these programs are not
reach non tor tin* people who need them
non
The continuing housing problem in this
area seems to be at the c enter of the* home
less problem Income is a he\ fa< tor in ob
taining housing Signing a lease on a place
is too expensive with first <mil last month's
rent plus a deposit due before tenants ran
move in.
Some rental agencies even require po
tential tenants to earn at least four times the
lost ol their rent before they will even con
sider their applii ation.
Landlords traditionally do not like fami
lies with a lot ol i hildren. even though it is
illegal to discriminate against such families.
Large families put a lot of wear and tear on a
house, so landlords often prefer quiet, older
people with well-paying jobs.
Community concern has been growing
and some landlords are realizing the prob
lems and opening up their doors to a wider
variety of people. Over the weekend people
brought food, clothing and money to the
families camping out on the Opportunity
Shelter law n
What is truly disheartening is that while
public concern about homelessness contin
ues to grow in our community, there is little
direi t action by our elected officials.
Money has been set aside to enlarge pro
grams in the near future, but right now there
is still a gap: there are still people without
housing
The county should have left the shelter
open until it could provide needy people
with equal or better services elsew here.
Abuses
With Admiral )ohn I’oindex
ter's senteiu mg (six months jail
time and no fine). th»* scries ot
Iran-contra prosecutions wages
h\ Special Prosecutor laiwronce
Walsh threatens to draw to an
entirely unsatistai lory close
Despite all tile publicity over
Poindexter’s guilt on "all
counts." like the other delen
dants he was tried solely for
his role in the cover-up. and
not for the original i riminal at
tivitv he attempted to hide All
i barges relating to the ai tual
Iran-contra aitivities were
dropped liecause Keagan-ap
pomtee Attorney (leneral
Thornburgh refused to release
the classified documents net es
sar\ to prosecute Iran-contra
figures on these charges
The real issues look as if they
max never be addressed I he
crimes which Iran-contra fig
ures tried so desperately tried
to hide ( ontinue lu be prntei t<*<i
h\ tin- cloak ol national seen
ritv" and mam high-ranking
officials involved in these
(limes remain unprosecuted
1 he otl the shelf ( overt Kntei
prise" w hit h illegallv armed
the contras and was uncovered
In Congressional committees
and the ('hristit Institute, was
neither dismantled nor brought
to justice in addition, govern
ment collusion with drug traf
tii kers in support of the contra
war and illegal propaganda ef
forts In the ()ftu e of Public I )i
plomai v have all been ignored
When all is said and done,
nothing was done to prevent
the Iran i ontra abuses, or worse
vet. trom happening again
Those who planned and com
mitted the i rimes have not
been adequatelv punished and
the institutional weaknesses
that allowed the Iran-contra at
fair to happen have not been
corrected \o institutional re
forms have been made The co
vt’rt community .uni their il
legal ai tivities were protected
at (lie expense of mu political
system
Diiuglas K Slarfield
Eugene
No mincy steps
President Mvles Brand's
overseas journeys, and espe
i taliv his trip to South Korea,
remind me of a conversation I
enjoyed with a young man just
hei k from a vat ation to Kurope
I asked him it he had noticed
how Europeans can recognize
an American woman a blot k
and a halt away; by the easy
was she walks no minis
steps And certainls no walk
mg behind a male companion,
as in the Middle Hast |so as not
to interfere with the Great
Man s thinking)
This fellow bac k from Europe
had served in the 1' S military
over in South Korea. rind there,
lie told me, women walk a
blot k and .1 half m front of the
men they re with. \\ In ' Be
i ause all of the hind mines ha
ven't been found yet Well,
that's what he said
fames Heermance
kugene
Shocking photo
Kareh am I stopped dead in
my trai ks like I was when I
opened the Kmerald [ODE.
|une t) to a photo on page three
of three gene-rations of men en
gaged in "valuable leadership
skills" including teaching a
Letters
young boy how to aim ami
shoot an automata weapon' I
am shocked h\ what appears to
be the "fun" quality of the pa
lure Is KOT(! advocating tear fl
ing r hildren how to use auto
matic weapons/ What are these
folks smiling about7
We should be horrified flow
pervasive militarism is in our
society that a photo like this
r ail appear in a local newspa
per and make learning to use a
deadly weapon look like a fun
and appropriate activity Print
ing this photo was a grave mis
take
Janet Cromwell
United Methodist
Campus Ministry
-Letters Policy_
letters to tin; editor must be limited to no more than
.’."in words, legible, signed and the identification of
the writer must be verified when the letter is submit
ted.