EDITORIAL
Hotair, no substance
chamcterizac1 debate
President Bush has received the OK from Congress.
Saturday, after three days of debate, both the House
and the Senate approved resolutions giving Bush per
mission to use force to remove Saddam Hussein’s army
from Kuwait.
Although the votes were relatively close, reflecting
the division and lack of consensus among Americans
on the issue, the president has called this a clear and
decisive victory.
There are no longer any obstacles in the way of a
Persian Gulf war.
A “no force, give sanctions more time" resolution
from Congress was the last card most peace supporters
held to persuade Bush not to invade Kuwait and Iraq.
However, anyone watching the debates that were
broadcast on the public television station had to be dis
illusioned with the decision-making process used in
Washington.
Each senator and representative had an opportuni
ty to address other congressional colleagues. While a
scant few people in the debate wore moving and en
lightening, many of our leaders were long-winded and ;
had nothing substantial to say,
Alaska Rep. Don Young recognized this pattern
and asked to have the time limit for speakers reduced
to ten minutes. This was a good start, but that time
limit probably could have been cut In half.
It seemed that many of the speakers felt obliged to
use all of their allotted time when they really had noth
ing to say.
More than once, viewers were forced to sit through
15- to 20-minute diatribes that went in circles, never
making a point. When the orators of many of these fine
speeches were finished, it still was not clear which po
sition they favored. It appeared that they didn't want
to take sides on national TV. One speaker spent the
majority of his time comparing the debate to a decision
made in Athens in 421 B.C. What's the point?
There are more than 400.000 American men and
women waiting to face death in a desert halfway
around the world, and the “best minds in this coun
try” are more worried about using up all of their televi
sion time than they are about making a point.
The old saying "If you don’t have anything nice to
say don't say anything at all," should be changed to
“If you don't have anything at all to say, don't waste
our time." and painted on the walls of the Capitol.
COTTAR
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$x m Co
Walk out, attend rally, become involved
t 'Diversity budget problems due to the
passage of Measure 5 have students, faculty
and staff worrying about tuition costs and
job security.
An ASUO- and University Democrat
sponsored walkout of classes today at noon
to oppose proposed tuition increases should
encourage lawmakers to study alternative
means for funding higher education.
Students should, if they choose, walk
out of class in protest, but not just to take a
holiday. Students who walk out should at
tend the rally in front of Johnson Hail to
show the state of Oregon that they truly are
concerned about the future costs of attend
ing Oregon universities and colleges. Gover
nor Barbara Roberts' proposed budget pat k
age includes higher education cuts of about
$7-1 million. Besides predictions of higher
tuition costs, almost 500 jobs are scheduled
to be cut. The University could become the
most expensive public university in the i:t
Western states.
Oregon must find a source of revenue
that does not come out of student pockets.
Students can barely afford college at the cur
rent costs. If the University and the state do
not keep tuition costs reasonable, an exodus
of students from the University is certain.
The Legislature needs to study all possi
bilities. A sales tax is acceptable if all the
revenue is put into education. Hut we need
to see what the Legislature proposes before
the University increases tuition.
Once an increase is in place, nothing
will reduce it. If tuition is raised and then
the legislature finds alternative funding, tu
ition will not drop to reflect new revenue.
It is up to students to keep the Legisla
ture and the University honest. Walk out of
class and attend the rally today But don’t
stop there.
Write letters to legislators and newspa
pers. ('all your legislators and remind them
that you vote as well as attend school.
Oregon’s educational health is in our
hands. Make today a start in the reassurance
of Oregon's educational future.
OPINION
President Bush’s letter entertaining but incomplete
Editor's Huh' The letter from President George
Hush to college students is on Page 3.
On Thursday. I found a letter in my message box
from none other than the 41st president of the United
States. George Herbert Walker Bush, faxed to me from
the student newspaper at the University of Arizona.
The letter is interesting, but incomplete. And before I
pledge my support to Operation Desert Shield. I'd like
President Hush to answer a few of my questions.
Hush begins by setting up the Persian Gulf crisis as a
clear-cut battle between the forces of good and evil. He
then traipses through other familiar territory. He
writes of the brutal Iraqi forces torturing Kuwaiti citi
zens. He mentions the good-guy role of the United
States, and why it's our job "to stop ruthless aggres
sion.”
We then get to read a passage from a Christinas
card sent to Bush from a soldier somewhere in the
Saudi desert. "We will do what must lx? done.” writes
Sgt 1st Class Terry- Hatfield. "We stand ready and
waiting (awl bless you and the U.S.A."
Quick Somebody get me some Kleenex.
An Associated Press story about the president's let
ter said it was sent "urging college students to rally
behind the effort to force Iraq from Kuwait." An inter
esting word choice: Hally It brings to mind cheerlead
ers and basketball games, flags and confetti. Someone
who reads Mr. Hush's letter may sense a certain “rah
Pans *»
The Fine Print
by
CHRIS BLAIR
rah" attitude in his writing
"And so let us remember and support." he writes,
all our fine servicemen and women as they stand
ready on the frontier of freedom, willing to do their
duty and do it well."
I may be paranoid, but Hush sounds like a coach
making a desperate pre-game speech in a lockerroom;
“bench players" (college students) are being urged to
get ready to "come off the bench" (go to war) if most
of the "starters" (soldiers in the desert) happen to
"foul out of the game" (get shot or gassed) Why else
would he want the support of college students? Why
else would he try to set up his little Arabian Nights ad
venture as the ultimate battle between light and dark
ness? Is a draft on the horizon? I would like to know,
and. of course. Hush doesn't tell me.
Then* are some questions, however, that Bush
seems to answer on his own if Kuwait is worth thou
sands of American lives, why isn't Liberia or Somalia?
Hmv stupid of me. They have no oil. Why aren't Am
nesty International reports from regimes in Central and
South America worth our time? Oh, that’s right. Those
"aggressors" are our friends, as was Saddam when he
used chemical warfare on his own people includ
ing children."
Of course, all of this comes from a man who has giv
en the II.N. sanctions five whole months to work,
when less stringent sanctions in South Africa have
Ihhui in place for years. This is the same man who con
demns the invasion of Kuwait a year after he sends
paratroopers into Panama. Perhaps we shouldn’t be
surprised.
A war with Iraq is a matter of absolutes to Hush,
and when there are absolute problems, absolute solu
tions seem to follow. Again, the letter is lacking in
concrete, straightforward information. Do these solu
tions include drafting more soldiers? Bombing civilian
targets in Iraq? The use of nuclear weapons? Bush
raises more questions than he answers in his letter,
and if he wants our support, he should at least make
an effort to tell us what's really going on.
Then; s one last bit of information Mr. Bush left out:
the opinions of soldiers who don’t want to lx; in the
Middle Hast. "We’re being used.” said one reservist I
saw interviewed on TV news report. “These people
don t want us here." Of course, that serviceman prob
ably didn't send the president a Christmas card.