EDITORIAL
Time is running out
for dying Bosnians
The Clinton administration is facing its first serious
test in the international arena, and it's failing miserably.
Clinton inherited the Bosnian crisis from George Bush,
who is guilty of allowing the situation to develop as it
has, yet that is no excuse for continued inaction.
Unlike Kuwait, thero is no underlying U S. interest
(oil), and thus, no pressing need for American involve
ment. This is true only if you believe the United States
has no interest in whether tens of thousands of people
are butchered and tons of thousands more are perma
nently ’‘relocated."
Of course, the United States has never used military
force to come to the aid of a people, although it basks in
its self-proclaimed glory for the two times a race or eth
nic group of people were inadvertently "freed" as a
result of U.S. action.
In the first instance, African-American slaves were
freed following the Civil War. It is well known, or it
should be, that the Civil War was not about slavery, it
was about economics,
and Lincoln himself
said if ho could have
not freed the slaves, he
wouldn’t have.
The second case was
the liberation of huro
poan Jews from Nazi
concentration camps. It
is widely believed the
U.S. government knew
of the holocaust, hut
In time, the war In
Bosnia will bum
itself out without
intervention... It
will end because
there will be no
more Bosnians to
kill.
was not motivated to "
intervene until Hitler got too aggressive for U.S. tastes
and went to war with England.
The difference botween those two situations and the
one today in Bosnia is that Bosnia is not a secret. There
is no doubt the world knows what's going on there, and
there is no doubt the world doos not approve. There is
doubt, howover. as to whether it's in anyone's interest to
intervene.
In time, the war in Bosnia will burn itself out with
out intervention. When it ends, it will not be due to any
brilliantly negotiated peace plan, nor U.N. intervention,
nor the sudden realization by the Bosnian Serbs that
genocide is wrong. It will end because there will be no
more Bosnians to kill.
Then the world, and especially the United States, will
breath a sigh of relief. Embargoes will be placed on Ser
bia. International organizations will ban Serbian involve
ment. Memorials to Bosnia will be erected as proof of
our sorrow, inscribed with such solemn words as, "Nev
er Again (This Time Wo Really Mean It!)."
And if we all stand around holding our noses a little
longer, maybe the stench of the "ethnic cleansing” in
Bosnia will simply go away.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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COMMENTARY
Attitudes influence our daily lives
By Eli Babbs
Everyone at some time or
another has had a run-in
with altitudes from other
l**o[j|e These people may or may
not have felt violated, or tnayta
they were abusing one another
anti didn't ret agnize it
It turns out that one may feel
the pressure of society and devel
op an attitude in order to sustain
a feeling of power How tan alti
tudes of today lie shifted into pos
itive power7 Well, here are some
of my ideas:
Unfortunately, it seems a per
son with power is most likely to
have his or her voice heard Some
could argue they've been neglect
ed and have had no chance to
speak. Well. I'm writing to relay
this message that everyone, with
attitude or not. should write and
let it be known how they feel. If
your voice is restrained verbal
ly then let the words you've writ
ten do your talking.
We. the students of the Uni
versity. already have this gener
ally instilled attitude in our
minds that we're more liberal and
educated than others who don't
have a college education. Perhaps
it's from the amount of money we
pay to attend college
It is a loul concept mat money
will get you power, when actu
ally in comparison to others who
don't attend. I believe we are all
amateurs until our full develop
ment into a professional career.
The attitude that we're supposed
to become the advanced educat
ed elite still remains and can be
explained through the authority
Figures who teach us.
And where did those so-railed
authority figures come from? I
don't know how many times I’ve
felt insulted or degraded from the
strong attitude of a cop. teacher
or boss. Not everyone is ignorant,
and what does it mean when
you're frowned on for question
ing something?
I believe it means we're testing
power, and the ultimate test. 1
believe, is the interaction with
police and the judicial system.
Even an authoritative figure can
be hushed by the power of gov
ernment.
1 was setting up to play music
at the campus bar Taylor's Col
lege Side Inn when I noticed my
friend Jeff being harassed by a
well-known campus cop. When
I got outside, two more cops
pulled up. both of whom I'd been
acquainted with.
I said. "What's going on? This
is my txuuui, ghat's he done?"
Almost m once everyone said,
"Go inside Eli, this has nothing
to do with you." Well, when it all
came down, |eff had a $505 tick
et for criminal mis< hief. On
another occasion a different
friend. Craig Soo, was handcuffed
near Taylor's and held for 40
minutes while the same officer
wrote him a ticket for unlawful
use of the street
So do we all get it. that this is
what happens when there's an
attitude struggle and ail unjust
edge of power that always seems
to win? Jeff was clicking the fray
phone's change return when the
officer grabbed him from behind
to ask what lie was doing. He had
lost his quarter in the telephone
and resisted the officer's unkind
concern.
In a similar way. it was unfor
tunate timing for Craig to run into
the offiier during an attitude fiair
up. Craig was merely walking
across the street during a snow
ball fight when he came across
the officer, who was already
angry from being hit by an anony
mous snowball. He just needed
to write a redemption ticket to
redeem his feeling of power
through his attitude to slop the
students from having fun.
These are some examples of
attitude conflicts that are the
hardest to win. We don't always
noed to challenge the top author
ity figure. If you have an attitude
about the way things are done,
then look into the problem. Well,
where does it all start and what
will our voice say? Who do we
question? When do we go too far.
and why is there always a stop
per?
These are five basic questions
that are the foundations of trust
Who. what, where, when and
why? If one tan honestly answer
all of the questions without a
flaw, then can't we assume
they're telling the truth?
Generally, yes. but what about
the problem of counter-persua
sion? Could people rehearse the
five Ws to perpetuate the truth to
the people who are ignorant or
uneducated for the purpose of
dishonest persuasion? Do these
powerful people show signs of
commitment or do they just seem
anxious to convince? At the least
we should be aware of their com
mitment to a goal. This way, trust
can be revealed from the out
come.
Problems of trust can also be
slowed by the changes of our
awareness. It’s the people with
attitudes that generate an aware
ness VVhetber it's a bad altitude
There’s no need to
kiss butt socially
or economically,
through people and
business; we have
the power of voice.
or a good attitude, we can social
ly depict what the right and
wrong thing is - attd if not that,
at least what is fair. Here's an
example of attitudes pulling up
an unfair rule.
I played on an intramural lias
ketball team for the students of
the University until our team was
disqualified for bad sportsman
ship. 1 felt our disqualification
was deeply unfair. We paid to
play, and our fellow student ref
erees took it within their power
to stop our arrogant winning.
We liked being good, we
deserved to play, and it was the
team's last season. We also liked
being amateurs because we didn't
receive much discrimination
from our peers. Who else are wo
to compete against while we're
in school? Well, it just goes to
show you what an arrogant atti
tude will get you — a snort sea
son and a weary head. Plus the
awareness of the way the rules
are. Too bad it's too late.
Well how about the leaders
who make these unfair rules?
People who are to lie our leaders
or role models must have a com
mitment to who we believe they
ought to be. And if they don't, let
us compete and challenge them,
because empowerment will come
more through knowledge and
trust than brown-nosing and
money.
There's no need to kiss ass
socially or economically, through
people and business: we have the
power of voice Our verbal voice
is sometimes hard because there's
always some abuse, but what
about our written voice? It's less
personal and the abuse is sus
tainable.
Plus, there's not much worry
about power struggles and dis
crimination problems. These atti
tudes should be a problem to
attack with a counter-attitude, a
motivated positive attitude about
fairness and equality.
Write to the editor on any prob
lem you need to attack. Or write
in a resjionse to this commentary.
Eli Uahbs is a student at the
L’luvt/rsity.