EDITORIAL
An intelligent debate
without Ross n’ At
Call it "the tale of two debates."
Such was the case Tuesday, as two separate pairs of
political heavyweights clashed on cable-ready televisions
all over America. The subject was the same — the mer
its and faults of the North American Free Trade Agree
ment. But all similarity ended there.
The debate that received vastly more attention was the
Al Gore-Ross Perot face-off on CNN's Larry King Live.
Watching the two men bicker and interrupt each other
was like watching a couple of old farts arguing in a bar
ber shop — plenty of rhetoric, a fair amount of slander,
and virtually no substance.
But that wasn't the only diatribe on NAFTA that took
place Tuesday. Earlier that day (and subsequently
replayed several times) was another debate, this one on
the much-ignored non-commercial cable network. C
SPAN. Participants in this clearheaded discussion of the
trade agreement were Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Toxas, who
favors NAFTA, and Rep. Dick Gephardt. D-Missouri. who
is opposed.
Unlike their counterparts on Larry King Live, Gephardt
and Gramm presented intelligent, well-conceived argu
ments on both sides of the issue. Gramm, for example,
countered the argument that freo trade with Mexico would
cost American jobs by citing the example of the Euro
pean Community, which didn’t seem to suffer when it
admitted Mexico-like nations such as Portugal and Greece.
Gephardt, in turn, charged that the NAFTA agreement
would fail to Improve the conditions in Mexico, partic
ularly with regard to that country's labor movement.
In the other debate, such respectfully articulated ideas
were nowhere to be found. Both Perot and Gore did lit
tle more than insult each other and throw around accu
sations.
Gore bluntly insinuated that Perot was using NAFTA
as a platform for his own political career. Several times
Perot feigned ignorance, snook his head, and proceeded
to say. "You're lyin' now." Neither man seriously
addressed the question of NAFTA, choosing instead to
play to CNN’s close-up cameras, slyly aware of the way
politics in the age of the sound-bite work. They know
that a smile and a clever one-liner can sway millions of
viewers one way or another. Not surprisingly, that's about
all they offered.
Both Gephardt and Gramm, on the other hand, relied
on the strengths of their arguments rather than engaging
in personal attacks against one another. And, believe it
or not, the speeches weren't boring, oven though they
were on C-SPAN (which probably attracts more viewers
as an insomnia cure than as a source of entertainment).
Despite the superior quality of the Gephardt-Gramm
debate ovor the childish spectaclo of Gore and Perot, it
received no apparent attention from the media whatso
ever. That's not surprising, but it is disappointing.
It’s difficult to expect the media to emphasize mean
ingful discussions of the issues when the public doesn't
seem Interested in watching them. But if Americans ever
want to receive more information than can bo conveyed
in mere sound-bites, they’re going to have to ask for it.
naur Emerald
PO UOl )1« tvK*€M| OA|GON%?*OJ
th« 1>IVIV Hrefy f marald .5 published daily Monday through F'flay during the school
yeai ana Tuesday and Thursday during the lomayi by the Dragon Oaiiy Emerald
Publishing Co . Inc . at the Uorver viy ol Oregon. E ugane Oegon
The f nua at) operates independently oi me Umvervty win otlces al Suae 300 ot me
Erb Memorial Union and i* a mernbor oi the Associated F’less
The ErnaaU t» private property The unlawful removal or use ol paper* i» prosecutable
By law
Managing Edllor
Editorial Editor
Graphics Editor
Fraatanca Editor
Edltorln-Chlal: Jake IVxg
CAiHr> Anderton Sport* Editor
David T horn Editorial Editor
Jet* I’asiay Photo Editor
Jolt Winiori Supplamanlt Editor
Night Editor: Rx«a Jan»«K'
S»«rve Mims
Petard!
Arrthony fomey
K.«/> Solo
Associate Editors: Scot Clemens. student Government Actikwi tteoecca Menu.
Ccvrvnumfy. Rivers Janssen ragner EdGcarorvAdmiwstreton
News Staft Dave Charbonneau. Ricardo Davtco Meg Dedolph. Amy Devenport. Mai.a
I olds. Martin T iVier Sarah Henderson. Ar* MesaeldaN. Edward KtopHensteo. Yin Lang
Leong. Truta Moo: Elisabeth Moons!,Of Oil lia Sak.icc.il Scott Simonson. Stephan.a
Sisson. Susanna Steffens. Julie Swensen Michele Thompson Aguiar. Kevin Tripp. Amy
Van Tuyt, Daniel West
OanaraJ Manager: Judy Red
Advertising Director: Mars Walter Production Manager: Mrcnale Ross
Advertising Sube Delta. Nccke tterrmark. Teresa Isabelle Je« Mar on Jeremy Mason.
Mo han: M atte Van V O'Bryan It. Rachael Tm#. Kelsey Waken. Angie Wodherm
Classified Becky Merchant. Manager Victor Mena. Sim Tie Tack
Distribution: Brandon Anderson. John Long. Graham Simpson
Business: Kathy Carbone. Supervisor Judy Connolly
Production: Dee McCobb. Product on CoontnsKn Snawna Abeie Greg Desmond. Tara
Gauitney. Brad Joss. Jennifer Roland. Natl Thangnyt. Clayton Vee
Newsroom __J40-MU Display Advertising-34P-J712
Business Otttca.__J4*-S5I2 Classified Advertising..M-4M3
2 Oregon Daily Emerald Thursday. November 11. 1993
I'D JUST LIKE AU GoftE OR
SOMEfiOOV tOot* TH€
ADtAiN^TDAJfON It) AMSWCfi
JUST ON£ QUESTION
WOULD THEY BE So HOT ow
POOWTlNb tiAPTA IP THEY fTNEW
ROB A FACT T^AT IT WOULD
Disrupt their daughterly wed&**>?
££E 7WEV CAN rAWrtSk THAT.
LETTERS
Lies
Most people don’t know that
giving false information to a
police officer who is enforcing
motor vehicle laws is a crime
punishable by up to one year in
jail, a $2,500 fine or both. The
law requires that any name,
address or date of birth you give
the officer be truthful. This rule
applies to pedestrian, bicycle and
driving offenses.
Beginning fen. 1, 1094, giving
false information to police will
also get your driver's license sus
pended for one year. The DMV
will suspend your license
whether you plead guilty, are
found guilty or forfeit bail
If you don't hold an Oregon
license, the DMV will suspend
your driving privileges in Oregon
even if you have a valid license
from another state In addition,
news of the Oregon suspension
could reac h the DMV in your
home state and cause action
against your license there.
This new penalty will seem
particularly harsh to students
reporting permanent out-of-area
addresses to officers, who may
consider your failure to report
your temporary local address as
false* information. If you are a stu
dent who usets a permanent out
of-area address, you should also
report your local address to any
citing offie er This will avoid a
criminal charge and the resulting
suspension if convicted.
Giving false information to a
police officer is a bad idea With
computer information readily
available, the officer will easily
discover the lie. The likely result
is that you will still face two
charges instead of one. and the
charge for lying is usually more
serious than the charge you lied
to avoid.
Ilona E. Koleszar
ASUO Legal Services
Gas pains
Did you know the University
sells 4.500 to 5,000 parking per
mits each year for 2,900 spaces'
Automobiles are the No. 1
cause of air pollution in Oregon.
The average car produces 19
pounds of carbon dioxide pier gal
lon of gas. The city of Eugene is
planning to spend millions of
dollars to build a new bridge fun
neling high- speed traffic onto or
near campus. Transportation
alone uses more oil than our
nation produces.
If you are concerned about any
of these points, there are many
things you yourself (an be doing.
For instance, you could: ride
your hike; carpool. for if every
commuter carried one more per
son we could save 60.000 gallons
of gas everyday; ride the bus —
it'n free for all University stu
dents; walk, skateboard or roller
blade — you don't even have to
find a parking spot.
Write your congressional rep
resentative. Do something! Get
involved; join OSPIRG's Sus
tainable Energy Campaign. Come
to OSPIRG’s alternative trans
portation fair! Curb your car.
Learn about alternatives that
meet your needs and win prizes
for coming. Today in the EMU Fir
Room from to a m. to 2 p.m.
Anne Morris
Eugene
That's history
"History has made examples
of men wilting to sacrifice them
selves fur a cause.
"Those who die for religion
are called saints and martyrs.
Those who die for love are
called heroes and tragic fools.
We who will die for the state
and economic justice are called
leaders of the masses and revo
lutionaries.
"Perhaps the most noble rev
olutionary is the assassin.
Though usually not living to
see the fruition of his tHiliefs,
he changes history with a sin
gle movement of his finger. He
is the necessary instrument of
change, the tool that changes
the functioning of the machine.
He uses his life so that leaders
may use their minds." Author?
Edwin Marty
Anthropology
Sleep-out
The Amazon low-income
housing projects were originally
created so that students with fam
ilies could return to finish their
eduction and not pay phenome
nal rent prices and be burdened
with tiie huge tuition cost as well.
Unfortunately, the University
administration seems to have for
gotten that fact.
The students who live at Ama
zon have every right to an edu
cation and housing. That they are
balancing raising a family with
the additional responsibility of
completing their education
deserves our commendation.
What the University is doing
is not in the interest of its stu
dents, but rather its pocketbook.
Every student at this school
should he outraged and con
cerned; after all, if they can do
this to some part of the student
body, who’s to say they cannot
make executive decisions like
this about other areas of student
life? It is sail that this institution
seems to be run by money rather
than concern for its students and
their education.
If you are in any way con
cerned about this issue, if you
realize how serious this decision
is, come show your support at the
QSPIRG/Amazon sleep-out. Meet
the residents who could very
soon become Eugene's homeless
community. Stand in solidarity
with members of the University.
We will take over the EMU east
lawn Monday, Nov. 15, and will
camp until the next day. Come
show your support.
Kalpana Krishnamurthy
OSPIRG
LETTERS POLICY
The Oregon Daily Emerald will attempt to print all letters
containing comments on topics of interest to the University
community.
Letters to the editor must he limited to no more than 250
words, legible, signed and the identification of the writer must
he verified when the letter is submitted.
The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length or
style