EDITORIAL Tragic Texas drama calls for sympathy No one should have been surprised at the fierv ending of the 51-day standoff in Waco. Texas, by religious fanat i< David Korosh and his Branch Davidian followers. It had become clear shortly after the standoff began that Kuresh and company were not going to surrender. The only question was when would the assembled law enforcement agencies move in. The next several months will see the FBI. ATF and other agencies turned inside out in an attempt to under stand what went wrong, both with th*> initial assault that saw four ATF agents killed and with Monday's final siege. And until all of the facts are in. judgment should be withheld. Armchair quarterbacking, always a favorite American pastime, can serve no constructive purpose. However, if history is any indication, the blame for the entire incident will likely fall on Koresh. Koresh lied to FBI negotiators about when he would surren der. giving them sup posed timetables but refusing to follow through when the time It had become clear shortly after the standoff began that Koresh and company were not going to surrender at mo. Furthermore, the FBI had reliable information that Korosh was growing more violent every day and was increasingly abusive to the children who were held cap live in the group's compound. korosh exhibited paranoia that was frighteningly rem inistout of the last days of the Rev. |im Jones and his People's Temple. Jones, along with about 900 follow ers, committed suicide by drinking < vanide-!a< ed punch after killing a California legislator who had flown to the group's South American hideaway to investigate charges of mistreatment However, a primary difference in the two cases is that (ones' followers apparently took their lives willingly, whereas many of Koresh's followers seem to have tried escaping shortly before the blaze. At least nine people survived after fleeing the build ing Investigators now believe others may have been shot trying to floe the burning building. Some messiah Most upsetting was the murder of the several children within the compound, koresh could have taken steps to protect the children in the compound but apparently chose to sacrifice them instead. There have been reports that the children wore herded into an upper floor of the compound so they would burn, and presumably die. more quickly. Other reports suggest the children may have been poisoned before the fire so they wouldn 1 suf fer Whatever the final outcome of the myriad of upcom ing investigations, our sympathy should remain extend ed to the families of the victims, of the four dead ATF agents and for those agents who spent the past two months attempting to negotiate a no-win situation. Pails PO UOl JIM flXJEN* OAfGON«7403 In* Ur*®;*' Os.:* tT*aM •» pubi.VxM d*iy Monos* tmougn fnday Ooi.ng in* Itnot* *es* and Tu«tda* and Thu'tday during in* *u«*m*» by in* Oisgon 0 a * f y Em*iaKl l»ut*»hino Co me at m* Urv«*>s.t> ert O'***. E 09*0*. O*oon In* Iwrt 3p*rat*t md*p»nd«n!ly of tn« Umv*rtity «*tn otVst 11 Suo and it a of Ow *ttoc«*t*d Pi»*» in* I mwaid it pnvai* p*oe*»iy In* unlawful r«moval or ot* 01 pap*** « proMcutaa* by Urn Editor PatMaiacn Oregon Neat* Editor Editorial Editor OrapMca Editor Entertainment Editor Jake Borg MwHo Enhe> Jett Patiay Freya Horn Sports Editor Oavs cnptaonndp, Editorial EdMor Rnws Jsntaao Supptwndnl* Editor Cat*, Andorson Might Editor Jaha Barg Associate CdttOfS: Timmy Balmy Sfudenl Governm*nt/4ctrvrr.e« Daiatyn Trappe Ounmunty CoSae" Pohkg. r*ghev fdUeaftorv4drrw»**ra»wn News Sian Oast* Allen. Man Bander Ju*lm ftow' Sara" Oar* Meg Oadoipr Amy Davenport Jam (a ton. Amanda Terme Anmony for nay Baer nag* Teresa Hunitmger I. ta Maun Rebecca Mernn. Slava Mens. Katy Moaner. Mhn. Moaner Tnsta Moor E*en Snaa Emc* SludencM. Manon Suitor. Randy Tiueben WLcnew T nompton Agues; Amy van Tuy! Todd W.u«em* day!on Yea General Manager: Judy «•*<* Production Manager Menem Rom Advertising Tom leac* Sharon Var Sales Abmagws Shawn Be>ve>' OVe Manage jane troia Teresa Isabella Pimp Johnson It. O',* Kano" Jaramy Mason van V O'Bryan II. (Vs'*n O. R*ena#* AnQMI Classified. Bscfey M^fcnani Barry Log**. S**0* Sauv* 0»*Uibo!K>n BrsndO* And<**on. N*rpSiy' 0u *."•*» ***** Cmtx>*« Sup*rv**0f My Conoo^y Production logrtd W**« flrodwCSon Coot&Wttor Kfiflm# Grange' D«# fcfcrCoOfe S?*Cy KMcNr* Ro«£*d J«** V-* *yn»t* N*wvoo<,->o»n * jo VMJUt ADOED TM. tj rW Rj*t MkllX CAKt 'sCOMVl* fC** * VMUfc fcfcOfcD T#^t £, PVY kjft A nm* >mm t Vi . s iUnv#*‘U^t>n S^t> ntv '♦jmo tLKUP You-7?' • HKSI U. JJD A VAT *VAW VEMSl -rum nr «jwicrt> <**■ wo JJD Mt vnu» *U.Y HtMX* MfVW. HN'lXt 1U>MK i it Ev'fcR Inc, ■ v*r not w i v*«T A SffAPrV ^*1 ref A ar.S COMMENTARY Traditional does not mean moral By Ron Schhttler One tiling is clear lo me. Biblical authority in west ern culture arguing that humans are divinelv authorized to subdue the earth is suicidal Suth a position is not only arro gant. it is naive It rejects the reality that humans are |wrt of a vast and del ii ate network of all life It sup poses we have the wisdom and responsibility lo decide what aspects ol nature should or should not be. and how they should or should not exist. This isn't working The tntilier vs environment problems in our part of the world illustrate onlv one such narrow |y self-serving but long-honored tradition of short-sightedness Now it collides with the chal lenge of finding a workable out look lor the future that respects our inttH-conm* lion with all oth er life Western culture has system atically fought to ignore and sup press the reality that not every one is, or even should he, heterosexual Literature and si i entifn evidence that suggest homosexuality is nothing more than a natural human variation stu h as left-handedness are only beginning to rei oive fair tre.it ment As wilh our perception of our relationship to the nalural envi ronment, collectively we are iiegmmng to take note of a more honest perception of reality regarding human sexuality. This is reflected in the homosexual civil rights movement ol our decade and the fair-minded pub lit: policy it demands It is a challenging and painful cultural process. Many growing processes are. They ask us to set aside fondly held hut flawed per spectives. Nothing strikes at the core of our cultural self-percep tion quite so deeply as questions about the nature of sexual iden tity. And. generally speaking, west ern culture has never handled matters of sex in a very healthy vftiy. Denial, guilt, shame and [lower games are the stuff of coer cion and authoritarian control, not happiness The gut-wrem hing process many parents and families expe rience when an adolescent or adult child reveals his or her homosexuality is not unlike the anguish experienced of a Umber dependent family that learns its wav of life is about to end The anger, the sense of loss, the need to blame, the awful feeling the world will never be the same, the search for resolution; these are universals in the pro* ess of grap pling with fundamental chal lenges and views about life So whv have I tried to develop this rather far-reaching analogy ' Because it is my firm belief that our homosexual and bisexual mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, friends, neighbors and colleagues are as vital an ingre dient in a healthy e< osysiein of humankind as are heterosexuals Our stubborn resistance toward applet luting, nurturing and t oex istmg ssilh our natural human diversity is our ultimate chal lenge This is true when dealing with am of (tie value-laden issues of rat e. gender, age or sex ual orientation As President Bill Clinton said at the timber conference. "The status quo is unacceptable Whether learning to adapt to the reality of our natural environ mental diversity or our natural human diversity, we must learn to res|Mi t and nurture the whole system The option is to contin ue in .1 tragic, unnecessary battle against ourselves Our indis idual difforem.es are not so irreconcilable However, thev are abused In those w ho know how to exploit different es for (idlitii al anil jiersonal gain, or who try to excuse vicious liehav ior. The only productive question to ask is how we will learn to make the most ol w ho and what we are for the betterment of all. Lofty idealism perhaps, but hope dims spring oternal. Most of us are lieginning to learn to talk to each other. The gay and lesbian civil rights movement exists because of a deeply rooted status quo that per ceives homosexuals as somehow unnatural, and therefore unfit and illegible to partake in the American promise of pursuing life, liberty and happiness with all the benefits and respect due tax-paving, law-abiding citizens This status quo is unfair and unacceptable It should Is* no sur prise that the cry for t liange is sometimes strident. Do we even fulls understand what "natural” means' Is it nat ural to misunderstand and destroy tin* dive- itv of our ecosystems' It makes no more sense to misunderstand and refuse to |K*nnit acknowledgment of the full texture of our human family. Selectively applied distortions ol biblical traditions parading as morality have long permeated western culture They have always clashed with parallel tra ditions advocating fairness and reason. These distortions were used to trv to keep the work ol (ialileo from upsetting a view ol life and the world. They are also used to defend ways of life root ed in the exploiting ol (ample and land. In that grand tradition, such questionable value systems now continue to deny homosexuals the right to fully participate in their own self-determination. They deny access to public rit uals such as dating and marriage to create and celebrate relation ships There are no notii.es in the newspaper announcing inten tions to spend lives together or i eluhrations of silver anniver saries lor homosexuals Gas s and lesbians are denied ai i ess to the support ol family and community as they set out to form personally relevant house hold constructions. They are loudly chastised for promiscuity while explicitly and implicitly inhibited in the eflort to build sta ble relationships and • ontribute to society lust as yvith tin- problems imtween timber interests and the environment, as we strive to find a way to preserve the liest uf both, the challenge of finding equitable solutions raised by acknowledg ing sexual diversity will lie ham mered out in the courts and in the form of better public, policies. As the timber industries are learning, it is time to end old jus tifications that ultimately serve the interests of no one and ensure mutual destruction We are learn ing that the value of resources, whether human or material, is fundamentally tied to accepting and respecting the full range of their natural diversity. We are also learning that tra ditional values are not all good, right, or even moral — simply by virtue of being traditional. Hon Schlittler is a douhle mnjor in journalism and sociol ogy at the University