EDITORIAL
Congress can’t be
commander of army
"Thf! President shall be Commander in Chief of the
Army and Navy of the United States"
— U.S. Constitution. Articlo II, Section 2.
Even when the matter is black and white, some peo
ple will always try to fire up a debate.
Congress has proved that principle in recent weeks, as
it repoatedly has chosen to grapple with President Clin
ton over control of American foreign policy, particular
ly American military policy.
Although the president should never have the power
to engage in military action indefinitely without con
eressional (br popular) approval, expecting the presi
dent to put all foreign pol
icy decisions up for
congressional scrutiny is
both unrealistic and
unnecessary.
Ono of the more obvious
indications that Congress
is going to make its voice
heard in international mat
Military
Involvement In
the Island nation
will make
matters worse.
tors occurred last weok. as
loaders began exerting pressure on the president to clar
ify (and. in many cases, reduce) the role of American
troops in Somalia.
But the attempts made by congressional loaders to
prohibit any attempt by President Clinton to commit
U.S. troops to Haiti presents the most straightforward
assault on the president’s power as commander in chief.
Fortunately, the Senate rejected a proposal which
would have required the president to get congressional
approval for any military action in Haiti, with a few lim
ited exceptions.
Instead of such a drastic measure, most of the Con
gress chose to support a bill that said that the President
should OK any decisions with the Congress, but that
he is not required to do so.
This choice is superior because it allows Clinton a
reasonable degreo of latitude in deciding whether to in
volve the United States in Haiti without forcing him to
surrender control to the Congress.
However, the greatest mistake Clinton could make
would bo to take advantage of that latitude. Any Amer
ican military involvement in the island nation will make
matters worse.
If American troops were to ire committed there, one of
the missions they might be charged with would be to
put ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide back in
power and protect him from the military who overthrew
him soon aftor his election in 1990.
The American public has repeatedly sent the message
that it doesn’t want the United States involved in a pro
longed military operation, but keeping Aristide safe and
in power would bo just such an operation. By his own
count, Aristide has escaped nine assassination attempts.
Evon if ho is the democratically elected president of
Haiti, he has enemies. And he has enough of them to
occupy a U.S. peacekeeping force for a long, long time.
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LETTERS
We need it
While ihn University campus
has yet to respond to its call, the
sales tax measure needs us ns
much as we need it I don’t
believe the faculty realize the
damage that l(M)0's Ballot Mea
sure 5 will continue to do to all
public schools, including ours,
if tax reform is not approved.
When 1 arrived at the1 Univer
sity in lctK‘t. resident tuition and
fees were Sr>4-t per term With
out tax reform, tuition in 10<15
will be more than $3,500 per
year. What do students get for
the itu rvase? We get fewer pro
grams, more crowded class
rooms. more stressed-out facul
ty and more user fees
Please take a few minutes to
learn about Ballot Measure 1
and what it does It really will
help us as students. Vote yes
for Measure 1 Nov. 0.
Sean Meurisse
Journalism
Rude behavior?
In response to Stephanie R
Colheny's letter [ODE. Oi t 1H),
she makes quit k judgment out
of her brief presence and with
no idea of what the issues are.
This is. simply and ironic ally,
"rude behaviour.”
We think that it is only fair
that judgments be made after a
thorough analysis of the situa
tion and issues involved.
Nawab Chakaar
Concerned Muslim
Concerned
I am the person with long
white hair who you've seen
roaming around campus in
women's clothes. I have a great
love for women and derive great
satisfaction in exploring femi
nine aspects of myself.
I never wore women's clothes
in public until 1 moved to
Eugene in May 1092. I became
courageous,
1 have walked around seeing
and hearing of people who have
taken photographs and videos of
me. I also found out, after 1 dis
covered how popular I was, that
people were selling these pic
turns and videotapes Nul am;
person Inis ever shown me any
of the pictures or videos Nor
have they asked.
My last vear in Eugene has
been like getting continually
raped and abused by an entire
community, a team of psychia
trists, then driven out to some
dirt road, beaten and left there to
die You'll never know how
manv times I have wished 1 was
dead or wished 1 could die to get
away from what people have
done to Me
Michael Swatzel
Eugene
Congrats
Congratulations to Shannon
Wall for her recent appointment
to the Incidental Fee Committee.
Her expertise in diverse student
issues will bring much needed
wisdom and hope for a success
ful year.
Shannon, along with Caitilin
Twain, last year's ASUO safety
affairs coordinator, led a i am
pus-wide educational campaign
on a federal bill titled the Vio
lence Against Women Act and
lobbied at the White House on
numerous student financial aid
issues.
Her diplomatic and selfless
personality will help bring the
IK(- and other branches together
for the upcoming budget season
Good luck. Shannon!
Bobby Lee
Sociology
End this brawl
Leftists call conservatives
closet fascists (Gary Sudbor
ough, ODE, Oct. 20). Conserva
tives call leftists closet totalilar
ians. 1 Jit's end this brawl.
Fascism, as advocated by Hit
ler and Mussolini, implements
one basic moral premise. Com
munism implements that same
premise as an axiom.
Altruism is that moral prem
ise which it rationalized the
Nazis' and Soviets' slaughter of
millions of people. Hitler is
most eloquent: "This state of
mind, which subordinates the
interest of the ego to the conser
vation of the community, is real
ly the first premise for every tru
ly human culture. The basic:
attitude from which such activi
ty arises, we call — to dis
tinguish it from egoism and self
ishness — idealism. By this we
understand only the indi
vidual's capacity to make sacri
fices for the community, for his
fellow' men."
Neither Clintonites nor Rea
ganites challenge this premise;
they seek merely cheat on it.
Those people who truly wish
to oppose totalitarianism must
discover Ayn Rand’s code of ra
tional egoism and its political
corollary — laissez-faire capi
talism.
Damon A. Cole
Mathematics
Open house
Are you are one of hundreds
of students paying more for
housing now because of the cur
rent University freeze on allow
ing anyone into lower-cost
University housing projects?
Or perhaps you've suddenly
"evacuated" because for parts of
Amazon "planned" for dem
olition and know why a state
senator commented that “you
are being treated like animals."
Or maybe you are a past resident
of Amazon — like myself — still
living in Eugene, who questions
why some officials would
choose to forget the commit
ment the University made in
1980 to maintain Amazon indef
initely, or at least for 30 years, as
low-income housing.
Instead, these officials have
pursued a plan they admit is
flawed, using an expensive ar
chitect to design expensive
housing to replace the old — but
comfortable — soft and af
fordable housing most students
prefer.
If you are interested, please
attend an open house at Ama
zon (227 Patterson St.) Saturday,
between 2 and 4 p.m. Updates,
videos, tours and free re
freshments provided. If inter
ested, but unable to attend, call
Nancy at Amazon Community
Tenants at 484-6241, or me at
the Eugene Citizens for Low
Cost Housing at 484-9167.
David Zupan
Eugene