EDITORIAL
Bush doesn’t want CIA
activities scmtinized
List week President Bush vetoed a $2?l billion in
telligonce funding bill thut would have given Congress
more input into covert intelligence operations in other
countries. Operations by the CIA would have been in
cluded.
Members of Congress passed the measure, with its
provisions giving the legislators more knowledge of in
telligence activities, in reaction to the Iran-Contra
scandal of the Reagan administration.
Supporters believed the CIA's involvement in the
scandal proved the intelligence community has too
free a rein to do its business, legislators who support
ed the measure said they believe the CIA and other in
telligence groups needed to be mom in line with the
rest of the government and be more accountable in the
checks-and-balances system.
Because of this lack of accountability by intelli
gence groups it was impossible to trace the lines of
communication from Oliver North and the CIA back to
their origins. Many people in Washington. D C. want
ed to pass legislation that would make abuses of pow
er. such as Iran/Contra, less likely to happen.
Hut Bush, a former CIA director himself, said the
provision providing mom oversight by Congress "pur
ports to regulate diplomacy by the President" and
would "seriously impair the conduct of our nation's
foreign relations.”
Ho seems to be implying that if Congress is al
lowed to know what the CIA is doing, covert opera
tions might be compromised, minimizing the effective
ness of the president's "diplomacy."
What does Bush mean by diplomacy? If he is afraid
Cungress won’t approve of the CIA’s methods of "di
plomacy." then maybe they shouldn't be involved in
the activity in the first place. No one is saying intelli
gence is unnecessary: in fact, there often appears to be
a shortage of it in the capitol.
However, the CIA is involved in a lot more than
just gathering and passing on information. Concerned
members of Congress just want to make sure the CIA
does not overstep its bounds anymore. The only way
more supervision of intelligence organizations by Con
gress could hurt the President's foreign policy is if the
organizations are doing things Congress wouldn't ap
prove of. And if that is the case, the activity shouldn’t
be part of the president's foreign policy.
Degree in four years a rare commodity
Recent studies show that more and more
students are taking five or six years to attain
bachelor's degrees
There is no great mystery as to why most
students do not receive bachelor degrees in
four years. It is a simple reflection of socie
ty. Twenty years ago most students went to
school on their parents' money. They had
but one worry: Go to class.
Today many students are working their
way through college. Many are parents and
have dependents that take up much of their
time, making fifteen credits ton much of a
load to carry every term.
The cost of attending college is rising
much faster than students' ability to afford
it. and the demographics of college students
is changing nearly as fast.
The rise of women and minority stu
dents has led to an increase in tin; need for
support services. Twenty years ago there
were mostly white male students. It is obvi
ously easier and cheaper to service a homo
geneous population.
The students of 20 years ago also had
fewer choices, especially for women and mi
norities. Nowadays career choices are more
plentiful and it’s common for students to
change majors during their college years.
Students begin their college career full
of ideals, but are quick to change their ways
if a decent-paying job is not readily available
in their chosen fields. So many students owe
so much in student loans by the time they
graduate that changing majors strictly for
monetary purposes is worth the extra year or
two in college.
A 1‘tHH survey by the University Plan
ning and Placement Center revealed that
only 53 percent of that graduating class held
a full-time, career-related position. That's
much more unfortunate than graduating in
five or six years.
LETTERS
Moral crusader
In .1 ni rnl .irlu le |ODI'. Nov
.J't) M.iry Ager. direi lor ol Stu
(lent Campaign tor Disarma
ntttnl said, "the issue of the
rights of those students who
want interviews is a difficult
one. lint she (relieves their op
position to the CIA. is for a
higher ethical good '
I was glad to see the recruiter
leave campus And I hope that
he does not come liai k in the
spring The CIA is one branch
of the government that is out of
control
Hut Ager's reasoning trotIr
ered me The sacrificing of the
rights of others for a "higher
ethu al good" sounds similar to
the pro-life movement ideolo
gy And Jessie Helms seems to
raise the "higher ethical
goods" reasoning quite a hit
himself
Croups that ac t for the higher
ethical good while making de
risions for others are plat ing
themselves on .1 superior moral
level slightly arrogant and
egocentric
Sadlv enough, people who
really want to work for the CIA
will find a way to 1 ontac.t them
Keallv stopping the CIA will
take lull ions- and ImIIuius of
sears of. waking, politicians up
to tin- f.ii t tli.it till- agem y is out
of control
Hopefully, tilling tin- road to
i hanging tin- purr.-option of the
(' 1A. people who recognize the
I’lhiial dilemma of letting them
recruit on campus won't start
hvpiH ritual patterns of making
ntlirr people's ili'i isiims for
them.
Mil hael W. Keller
Kugene
Commitment
The undersigned students
would like to take this lime to
recognize a University stall
member. Dianna Kale, for the
professional assistance she has
given us time and time again
As older. Indian students who
have encountered in our tjuest
for higher education a compli
cated hureaut rain system and a
sometimes seemingly hostile
environment, we apprei iate the
unfailing support given us bv
Dianna
In the competitive environ
menl of the University Dianna
has been our mentor, our
friend, and source of inspira
tion to keep going, in a way
that another Indian person
could Ire The personal atten
tion she has given to our sta\
rug in v liool. at Vlasas|w*o*** <d
her own lime, has made us feel
like wt* were a priority.
Her personal commitment to
retraining Indian students has
contributed to more than one
Indian student staying in
si hool Her professionalism has
never waivered and is a credit
to the Office of Multii ullural
Affairs The high expectations
she has for her own work has
set an exatuple lor us in ours
Andrew Viles
Kegina K. Hovel
Gloria Aragon
Kamon Murillo
Alida Koyce Gulley
Bonnie Teeman
Olncy Patt
Students
Birthright
Hear, hear for those who tag
left-wing hippie pinkos for the
hvpo< rites they are As a w hite,
red-blooded Arnerii an male, it
is my birthright to fight for my
country.
We have been at war openh
or covertly since Columbus
took the first slaves and infect
ed the "New World" with Ku*
ropean diseases Surely the
genoi ide against the native
peoples that we have nearly ac
complished is a state of war
that has never muled. • • . >
Oh yeah, there is also the
t'.S Civil War. even today the
bloodiest war in the history of
our proud country. Then there
are all those foreign wars in
whir h we protected national
set urity
There have been just too
many to name, although it
should Ik* something every
American should know
The 20th century has been
one little invasion and skirmish
after another with two world
wars and two major "conflicts"
in Korea and Vietnam. Even the
last thirty years have been fair
ly at live thanks to the CIA
They have never left the Far
East, moved into Africa, and
have really shone in Central
and South America with assas
sination.torture, rape, and all
manner of wonderful tactics to
terrify the people into submis
sion to the governments we
want.
And then (here am friends
like Noriega who we were able
to put in power and then over
throw What a Country.
They talk about the rights of
women, minorities, lesbians,
gays, and even animals, but
what about the rights of us
white men?
Phillip Nebergall
Student
LETTERS POLICY
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