EDITORIAL
Operative word for
protests is peace
Speaking your mind when you think something is
wrong is a very valuable trait. And in the face of a war
that does not seem justified, voicing your opposition is
not only valuable, it is necessary
As you read this, men and women an; dying in the
Persian Gulf. As the war goes on, and people realize
that soldiers in the gulf are dying despite their pro
tests, actions taken by some people in tin* anti-war
movement are becoming violent.
The hypocrisy of this is obvious. The anti-war
movement is also called the peace movement because
it is advocating PEACE. Trying to attain peace through
violence drops the peace effort to the same level as the
two nations that are fighting.
People are justifiably opposed to President Bush's
attempts to gain peace through violence. So some are
attempting to do the same thing here at home
To anyone who thinks the peace movement should
resort to violence: wake up and look in the mirror. You
have become what you are protesting against.
Employees in the Eugene Federal Building did not
order troops into Iraq. And although the Federal Build
ing is a fine symbolic place for protests to take place,
threatening the workers inside is absolutely wrong, as
am bomb threats, arson, vandalism and all other vio
lent means of protest.
Don’t become a hypocrite. Prove to George Bush
that people can accomplish their objectives without re
sorting to violence. If you need proof of this, you need
only look as far as the man whose birthday we have
been celebrating for the past week. Martin Luther King
|r. made huge accomplishments by advocating non
violent civil disobedience.
If the movement devoted to peace cannot even
achieve its goals peacefully, why should we expect the
country to do so? Show policymakers the proper way
to reach peace. Get arrested at sit-ins. scream as loud
as vou can at protest marches, but do not destroy, van
dalize or intimidate. Those responses are what started
this mess in the first place.
While resorting to violence may relieve your own
pent up frustrations, it does no good for the movement
as a whole. The anti-war movement must be guided by
a calm voice of reason. It must be viewed as a move
ment made up of intelligent, thoughtful people from
all segments of society. Once the anti-war movement is
viewed as nothing but a bunch of radicals it will In*
rendered completely ineffective._
r
i f CAN’T N
TOUCH THE.
< /,. // c
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MLK day may be missed opportunity
Martin Luther King Jr week is coming to
.in end The only thing left to do is < nlehrute
the actual day the man was born a week
late.
Many students will be taking time Mon
day to learn more about King and how they
can take steps in their own lives to help
reac h his dream A conference at the Univer
sity on Monday will provide students and
others the chain e to do just that.
I'.dui ationnl workshops are si heduled in
conjunction with the conference covering
topic s from Alric un-Amerii an history to hate
crime intervention All students at the Uni
versity are enc nuraged to attend these yvork
s 1 lops and the conference Kduc ating our
selves to the history , attitudes and obstac les
faced by minorities in the Unites States is
something yve should all leel obliged to do
While the King c onlerenc e is .1 large leap
from the si arc e 1 elebnition that ot i lined on
i umpus last y ear, it is only a tirst step (!ele
bration organizers need to tmd yy.iys to in
volve students in a more direct manner
While in theory students should be attend
ing Monday's conference because they have
the day off. many will use the free time to
simply relax or leave town. The opportunity
to ediK ate and discuss minority issues will
be wasted.
Conference organizers should work with
the l University to integrate some ol the topics
into classroom discussions. Substance and
learning should be the goals of the King cel
ebration week
While eating birthday cakes and string
ing yellow ribbon around the campus signi
f\ the celebratory mood of the events, thev
are more fluff than substance. Hate crimes in
this countn are in< leasing at an alarming
rate Mui h of that is due to ignorance from
people who do not understand the complex
ities of living in a multii ultural nation
Workshops can change that; i akes and
ribbons will not
LETTERS
Invest wisely
Ian la has come and gone
and il ama7.es me th.it people
air mi passive in the l.li i' nl
war rtn* president dues not a<
i ept Hussein's "naked angles
SIOIl " \et llusll helped the
fluted States violate interna
tional law when it nn ailed
I’anania and Grenada and
armed the \u araguan (ainlras
The multi-millions per da\
disappearing in the American
militan presence in the null is
desperately needed elsew here
Is Saddam Hussein a greater
threat than the greenhouse el
feit the destruction ol the for
ests the poisoning ol air and
water or the population explo
sion?
()tir real sei uritv lies in in
vesting in conservation and re
newable energv rather than
committing billions in what
iii,ii lie a futile attempt to sr
i ure inonart hu al sheikdoms
haltwav .H ross the glolie
Improving our cars bv three
Mlt; would rrpl.lt e I S 111!
ports ot oil fmm Ir.u) and hu
wait, which would save us the
IH.OtK) plus Amerit an lives that
are e\pi*ctrd to die in a Middle
East w ar
I’art ni being a tinted Slates
< iti/.en is refusing In lie silent
.is (letirge Kush prepares In till
luu.nun ImhI\ hugs with im
Henrr.it ion
As ,i i iii/rsi of I lie world I
feel .1 < erlain obligation to edu
i ate imselt In get .11 live and be
Via al As students at the I ni
versitv ue eat li have the abililv
to make .III ili)p.it t ||\ utilizing
one ot the mam student
groups
Kighl nm\ is the time to
t (tunnel our energies so that we
i an mohili/.e tur global dangers
as we do lor war
Caitlin Twain
OSI’IKIi Chair
Be an activist
It is encouraging to unlit e a
ret ent upsurge ol interest and
participation in events which
aren't net.cssarilv campus-spe
t itii The com ern anti discon
tent about the situation in the
Mul hast t learlv has been a t at
ulvst tor many people, a
galvani/er which moved them
from mere observation of
events and into the realm ol n<
livism War will do that some
times; it kind of goes with the
territorv
Mut I don't want to write
.liiout war. I want to write
about .11 tu isin Hoi ausi- it is ,»
In ism in all its lorms and lev
els will! h is so < mi i.tl to a po
liln al system 11ki■ our own a
politic al s\ slt'm in which dec i
sums w hich alloc t us at everv
l«*\i*l. whether as students, i ill
zens. or residents of a polluted
environment or consumers of
dangerous prodm ts are lieing
made w ithout our input in even
our know ledge Being an ac In
1st does not nei essariK mean
devoting one's life to a i ause It
does not necessarily mean ad
locating fmm a position so far
from the mainstream that no
one listens
Being an activist does mean,
however, that you care almiit
something and are w illing to go
Ix'Vond i aring and get in
volved The level to which you
give yourself to lh.it cause or is
sue is your del ision
Happily, there exists oil this
campus many groups and or
ganizations which facilitate
and cm our.ige activism;
()SI’IKC is one ot them
It vou want mom information
uhout the Oregon Student I’uii
in Interest Research Croup,
c all I4f> 4 177
I .cum how to he an ac ti\ ist
Peter Drake
OSPIKt.
Good dead, bad
Dead
II there is anyone out there
who can explain to me why
war is ()k ami the (hateful
Dead is not I would really ap
pre< iate some insight into your
wisdom
Darrel Keeton
Accounting
First step
(liven this nation's sudden
iit(if nd interest in t hemical
warfare in the Persian (lull, it's
ironii that first use of such
weapons should he initiated hy
representatives of our govern
ment on t ivilians resisting an
unnecessary (and therefore un
just) war
Police iim' ot teargas and
mace mi unarmed civilians
i nnsliluli'S the tirsl violent .11
lion of the war.
Martin Hive/inski
Kugene
Sensational
Once tig,nil Tim Hughes Inis
proven just how lar removed
from reality he really is [ODE
|,«n lt>| To accuse the l'.S Mil
itary of the ,n ts ot torture he
desi ribed is unfounded, and
insulting to the men and wom
en ot the Armed forces.
Hughes should refrain from
sue h sensationalist and hlatant
ly false drivel I can understand
how you must like seeing your
name in print, hut in the future
trv and limit your vivid iniagi
nation to tin* plausible.
Charles Deister
History
Howdy Stout
journalism
LETTERS POLICY
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