EDITORIAL
What’s going on
with the IFu?
The Incidental Fee Committee, allocating millions of
dollars In student fees to various University organiza
tions. is a few members short.
For the IFC. it was back to the books this year. How
ever a few members have chosen not to participate.
Three members of the IFC have turned in their resigna
tions.
The question arises — why quit? Two members sight
ed increased tuition as reasons for resignation. It seems
if anyone would have a premonition of a tuition hike, it
would be someone on IFC. Unless you have spent a great
deal of time in another country or under a rock, it has
been no surprise that tuition is increasing. Elections are
held at the end of the year. Anyone, especially some
one running for an IFC position, must have known
tuition was increasing in the upcoming year.
It is scary to think that the people who manage mil
lions of student dollars can’t quite manage their own
money. At least not enough to foresee and incorporate
tuition hikes into their budgets.
One of the members who turned in a resignation grant
ed her continued service throughout fall term. This is
reassuring, considering one of the figures negotiating our
incidental foes has very little interest in what the future
holds. Furthermore, holding off her last day until the
end of the term allows for a nice paycheck over the
Christmas holiday, even though she will not be occupy
ing her seat when classes resume winter term.
This person is currently taking 21 credits in order to
graduate at the ond of the term. When elected at the end
of the previous school year the members obviously knew
the IFC term lasts through the school year. With only
21 credits remaining until graduation, a minimal full
time load of 12 credits would not substantiate a year
with the IFC regardless.
Upon resigning the IFC positions, members noted the
neod for a cohesive unit. We are talking about the man
agement of millions of dollars here. The need for cohe
sion is obviously evident. Now it will be up to ASUO
President Eric Bowen to appoint members to the IFC.
The IFC plays a unique and important role at the Uni
versity. Being a member is a commitment that is under
stood and explained before elections. IFC members are
vital in the dispersal of funds to the University. We all
suffer when they don’t have enough forethought to rep
resent the chosen office adequately. Hopefully Bowen
has an adequate pool of people to choose from as he
replaces the resigned members.
These positions are not for everyone. Those that run
should have the forethought and the commitment to
finish what they have started. There is a great deal of
money involved in this issue, and many campus orga
nizations rely on the IFC for their funds. The role of the
IFC is demanding enough; dealing with resignations is
another headache that just isn't needed.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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OPINION
Yeltsin: Good, Bad or Ugly?
Maries Meland
It was just like a cowboy
movie.
There were the Good Guys, and
there were the Bad Guys. After
a gradual build-up of suspense,
there was a bloody showdown
between the Good Guvs and the
Bad Guys. And in the final scene,
the Bad Guys were driven out of
their hide-out and captured.
Everyone applauded, and the
audience left the theater quietly
contented that, once again, jus
tice had been served.
The Bad Guy. Alexander Rul
skoi. had a suspicious moustache,
a malevolent sneer and a foreign
accent. And Boris Yeltsin, with
his bushy eyebrows and tall and
hefty build, looked like the Russ
ian version of John Wayne.
There were no saloons, no bar
girls and no horse chases through
the desert. But what do you
expect — this is modern-day
Russia, and to the best of my
knowledge, there are no saloons,
bars or deserts in Moscow.
Besides, everyone knew this
was reality, and reality can't be
exactly like a cowboy movie.
Everyone, that is. except the
newspaper editors and the tele
vision news directors.
If you've read the news from
Moscow in the past few days, you
might have been persuaded that
the conflict between the Russian
Parliament and President Yeltsin
is as simple as the conflict
between the Good, the Bad and
the Ugly. Unfortunately, reality
is more complex, perhaps too
complex to be explained in a
three-minute television segment
or a 15-inch newspaper article.
If we are to believe most jour
nalists. Boris Yeltsin is a cham
pion of liberty, justice, human
rights and democracy. The "hard
liners," on the other hand, are
"die-hards for the cause of a
return to a command economy.
centralization of power, gulags,
oppression, militarism, imperi
alism. employer mandates, the
whole discredited socialist
works," according to William
Safi re in the New York Times last
Sunday.
Some of these journalists
appear to be suffering from a
sovere case of amnesia. They
seem to have forgotten what they
wrote a couple of years ago. in the
midst of the power struggle
between Russian President Boris
Yeltsin and his Soviet counter
part. Mikhail Gorbachev. At that
time many Americans, including
President Bush, were more than
a little bit skeptical about the
Russian President.
Boris Yeltsin is himself a prod
uct of the Communist Party. Yes.
Boris Yeltsin may have rejected
Communism, but let s not forget
that it was the Communist Par
ty that afforded him a career in
politics. And through his breed
ing in the party he has formed
some attitudes that are far from
democratic.
One of the first things Yeltsin
did after the failed coup d’etat
and the kidnapping of Mikhail
Gorbachev, was ban the Com
munist Party and shut down the
communist press. It’s not in the
democratic spirit to prevent
opponents from organizing and
expressing themselves freely.
Now. once again taking advan
tage of the momentum. Yeltsin is
doing the same thing all over
again. He has taken full control
of the national television stations
and has banned the opposition
newspapers and magazines. It
makes you wonder, if Yeltsin
really wants "free and democra
tic" elections in December, why
is he so afraid of letting the oppo
sition express itself?
And don’t forget, the Parlia
ment was elected in what was
judged to be a “free and fair" elec
tion in 1990. It's true the election
took place in the communist era,
but so did the election of Boris
Yeltsin in May 1991. which fol
lowed similar nomination and
election procedures.
Some of Yeltsin’s power tactics
are highly peculiar, even by Russ
ian standards. Strangely enough,
people who dare criticize Yeltsin
seem to lose their privileges
shortly afterward.
After Mikhail Gorbachov crit
icized Yeltsin’s economic policy
in 1992. Yeltsin confiscated his
limousine. When Vice President
Kutskoi persisted with his criti
cism against the President,
Yeltsin took his limousine and
fired half his staff. And Consti
tutional Court Chairman Volery
Zorkin lost his dacha when he
sided with Yeltsin's opposition.
Kutskoi and his allies are not
democrats. They represent the
old guard of communist who
deplore Russia's development
toward a democracy and want to
rebuild the Soviet Union, with its
totalitarian power structure and
disregard of personal liberty and
human rights. To put it in cow
boy terminology, they belong
among the Bad and the Ugly —
they're far from Good Guys.
But the Western media is sim
plifying the political situation in
Russia when they try to portray
Boris Yeltsin as a Democratic
knight. Russia has no tradition
for democracy, and its leaders
have not had a chance to devel
op the kind of democratic ideals
and attitudes that permeate the
West.
Russia's democratization is a
learning process, and Yeltsin is
far from fully educated. At times,
he has demonstrated admirable
courage and determination in his
attempt to introduce democracy
to Russia. At other times, he has
acted with an imperial air, fail
ing to practice the ideals that he
claims to pursue.
But Yeltsin is our best bet for
now. Stretching over 11 time
zones, with a population of more
than 140 million, Russia is an
enormous country. A chaotic sit
uation in which the authority of
Russia's leader is in doubt would
be detrimental to the country.
Sometimes, restoring order and
government authority is more
important than practicing democ
racy.
For now. all we can do is
wait and see. But don’t wait for
a happy ending in Russia.
Yeltsin won't ride into the sun
set on his white horse. After all,
there are no cowboys in Russia.
Marius Meland is a colum
nist for the Emerald.