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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 1991)
EDITORIAL Actions, not words win battle with hate crimes Several recent incidents of hate crime have given rise to a statement from the ASUO that it will not toler ate such acts. Also, a new group called the Racial Ad vocacy Croup for Equality has been formed to address discrimination issues. The ASUO should be applauded for taking such a strong stance on the issue. And RAGE can be an effec - tive tool for giving students input into dealing with in cidents of harassment and discrimination on campus. However, taking strong stances by saying you will not tolerate something, and actually being able to do something about it, are worlds apart. Only time will tell if the ASUO’s statement is going to be. or can he. bac ked up with actions. RAGE also will face the same problem of bac king up its strong words against hale crimes. RAGE should concentrate on informational forums and working with the media to bring specific cases of discrimination — institutional or personal — to the attention of the press and the community. Many people who have never been victims of such ignorant actions do not understand the seriousness of them. Just like any other societal or personal problem, you need to identify it before any changes can be made. That is why specific cases of discrimination, ha rassment and bigotry must be brought to the public's attention. Everyone on campus with knowledge of such crimes should report them immediately to the authori ties or the ASUO. 7 s it H s! ^Americans ■' 1— flome Alone LETTERS Interested? Art' you really a Duck? I din I swim. 1 quack. I chuckle I am lazy I sun bathe Sometime* I migrate. I know that 1 have no re sponsibility to anyone other than myself I am Ameri can-bred, college-educated and pure-bred. Sometimes I am a paddle duck Drake Mallard Sometimes I am a black duck Other times I am a div ing duck hluehill. canvashack. goldenage I really like those secluded country places ponds, marshes, lakes, lake shores, bullrushes. lilly pads, wildlife refuges and mountain marshes Do you know you really are a duck? Hint: Ducks don't work all the time and an* wild Hating is a top priority. I.ife would lie easier for me if I had others in my flock Does this interest you? If it does. I am for now Donald Moody Kugene Reasonable I was intrigued by your editorial concerning the law school [ODE. Feb. 13). I agree that "since the Univer sity has the only public law school in the state, it would Im> foolish to cut it completely." Below is my reasoning I .aw is a field which is vital to the maintenance of a free society. In so lieing, it is imperative that all mem bers of that society have a voice in the creation and in terpretation of the law If just one class or section of society has these powers, then law can Ik- used to en slave the others (as with apartheid) With this in mind, the importance of having rela tively inexpensive (public) law schools is clear The study and practice of law must tie open to as great a di versity of people as possible in order to assure that all interests will lie addressed. This can only tie accom plished through cost-accessible law schools Kyle H. Dukelow School of l.aw More than oil In their letter to the editor [ODE. Feb 14) |im Bridge and Johnathan Bernstein an- absolutely correct in as serting that this war is about more than oil Consider what might have happened had the United States given the economic sanctions a fair chance to work According to the World Fact Hook. 1990 (pub lished by our C l A ), in 1088 agriculture accounted for less than 10 percent of Iraq's gross national prod uct. Iraq exported $12.5 billion in crude oil and re fined products, machinery, chemicals and dates Iraq imported $10.2 billion in manufactures and food. Iraq was deemed "not self-sufficient in food output " Twelve pen ent of Iraq's land is arable, but only A per i enl of their land is irrigated Sim e the early ltIBOs the government of Iraq has implemented austerity meas ures lw< a use of war expenditures Doesn't it seem likely that the economil sanctions would have worked? After all. an army cannot fight or operate without food We would have seen a peaceful resolution to this conflii t And then what would we have done to justify our continued military build up since the end of the Cold War? Do the pro-peace sup porters realize how hard this has been for our last two presidents? in a global economy it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a country sm h as Iraq to survive for very long when trade has been i ut off After all. it does take a lot of resounes to maintain an army (like Hu sein's) That is why President Bush had to act so quickly And I think that Bridge and Bernstein belong m the Persian Gulf right now So do us a favor and go volun teer. guys |anet Borschowa Eugene Doesn't fit The Emerald's letters policy states that "comments must lie fac tually an urate and refrain from personal attacks on the character of others ” I'm writing lie cause Meredith Kaplan's letter {ODE. Feb. 2) appears to violate this policy Kaplan accused l)r Ron Wixman of the Geography Department of: “Academic dishonesty." "shoddy scholarship." a "soft belly" (perhaps this is a meta phor) and of being a "false expert." Is this the sort of correspondence the Emerald seeks when it asks writers to "refrain from personal attacks"? Kaplan says "Wixman has never lived in the Middle Fast, does not speak a Middle Hastern language and has never published on the Middle Fast in a scholarly journal " To lie factually accurate. Wixman has lived in Egypt. Morocco and Turkey He speaks Turkish and has done scholarly research on Middle Eastern affairs. I admit I'm not familiar with Wixman's publica tions But how are they relevant? Are only those who've published allowed to speak at this university? More than 200 people felt Wixamn had something worthwhile to say Surely our judgment of his "exper tise” has some value. If Meredith Kaplan disagrees with what Wixman said on the causes of the conflict in the Middle East. I encourage the discussion and I would applaud the Em erald's decision to air that discussion But printing a letter which seeks to defame is a disservice to the Uni versity community. I am deeply disturbed at the Emer ald's decision. Alan Rice Osborn GTE, Geography Don't be fooled In their letter to the editor [ODE Feb. 14). Jonathan Bernstein and jim Bridge conclude that it is ignorant of war protesters to believe that the Persian Gulf War revolves "around materialistic gains, such as oil, rath er than a war for democracy and freedom." To this, gentlemen. 1 would have to say that if you're looking for ignorance you need only to look at each other Don't Ik* fooled by the promises of democ racy; instead stay w ith the promises of capitalism. It's not you or 1 who decides if America goes to war or not; it's the upper class, that one percent of the pop ulation in the United States that has the key to the po litical gate They are the "special interests" that tell the hounds what to do. Oil fuels their money machine. Without it the pro cess of the machine comes to a halt and their power position is in jeopardy. Do you think the upper class wants to lose their social status? I don’t think so. As far as your conclusions on world peace, whose world peace do you mean? Is it that “new world or der" thing again, i.e. Bush's way of pacifying the world through his own brand of tyranny and suppres sion Please, let us not forgot Panama. Lastly, to the question of freedom I would have to say. yes. 1 do believe in freedom. The kind of freedom that doesn't kill in the name of its political ideology or world peace. Don't let patriotism or nationalism cloud your eyes or the issue. lay B. Johnson Sociology A guy like this Why did Saddam Hussein think he could get away w ith invading Kuwait? We knew that Iraq was having a border dispute with Kuwait and on July. 25, 1990, according to the Seattle rimes (Jan. lb). Ambassador April Glaspie received the following written instructions from the secretary of state, approved by the president, to deliver the follow ing message to Hussein: " We will not become in volved in a border dispute with Kuwait and we take no position on this dispute." According to Ohio Repre sentative Mary Rose Oakar, Glaspie is now incom municado. Why did President Bush give the green light to Hus sein in July and then a few weeks later start calling him a "Hitler"? Was Hussein set up by Bush? Now Bush wants the Kmir of Kuwait restored to power (status quo ante). The Emir is not the American way of life — 70 wives, seven personal 747's, and sole owner of Kuwaiti Oil Company with half of the oil money going into his personal pocket. Are America's sons and daughters to be sacrificed for a guy like this? Men Rhode. Willoughby, Ohio