EDITORIAL
NATO can’t resolve
all Europe’s troubles
It may be shrouded in the melodramatic verbosity of
presidential speochwritors, but an actual coherent for
eign policy seems to be emorgingas Bill Clinton contin
ues his multi-nation tour of Europe this week.
Clinton has chosen a cautious path in his dealing with
three of the most pressing problems facing Europe today:
the troubled march toward capitalism and democracy for
the nations of Eastern Europe, the growing specter of Russ
ian nationalism, and the ongoing war in the former
republics of Yugoslavia.
Central to all three issues is the evolving role of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a Cold War creation
that is now being called on to cure most of the afflictions
of post-Cold War Europe.
While in Brussels to attend a NATO summit meeting,
Clinton is expected to urge his fellow NATO leaders not
to admit former Soviet bloc nations such as Poland and
the Czech Republic into the multinational defense orga
nization. Clinton’s plan, dubbed the "Partnership tor
Peace," offers closer cooperation but wisely resists the
temptation to welcome the fledgling democracies into the
NATO nest.
it is vitally necessary that Eastern Europe not be left
out in the cold. The strong Western democracies and eco
nomic powers need to encourage those countries, even
assist them financially. But to put them on an equal plane
with the long-time NATO powers would be negligent.
The nations of Eastern Europe are on the road to democ
racy. but there’s no guarantee that they'll get there. The
Bosnian situation proves that the potential for ethnic con
flicts and nationalistic warfare still exists In Eastern
Europe. If NATO agrees to accept an Eastern European
country prematurely, and such a conflict does break out,
the integrity of NATO could be shattered. What would
happen if a NATO country attacked another NATO coun
try? No one knows. Let’s not find out.
Closely related to the question of how to help Eastern
Europe is the debate over what the West can do to counter
the growing forces of nationalism in the Russian Repub
lic. The success of Russia’s ultranationalist Liberal Demo
cratic Party in parliamentary elections last month pre
sents a danger for the future of Europe as well as Russia.
Admitting Eastern European countries to NATO would
only inflame the nationalists and drive Russia further
away from democracy.
The final nagging problem in Europe, the war in Bosnia,
refuses to leave the consciences of world leaders, even
though it rarely makes the front page of the newspaper
anymore. Asking NATO to intervene is understandable,
but the United States should not end up carrying the bur
den all alone. It is first and foremost a European problem,
and if there’s a solution, Europe should be willing to lead
the way.
NATO is a military alliance. It was designed to repel
attacks from the outside. It was not designed as a wav
to ensure peace for everyone, just for its member nations.
In post-Cold War Europe, the role of NATO is differ
ent. Its members, particularly the United States, should
be careful not to let it be used for purposes that it was not
intended.
0,„, Emerald
PO OOI 31W. EUGENE OREGON 97403
: >*** i r.» > t "e*#a ■■* pubkshad iU , Monday fnday dwnng the schoc
yea/ and Tuesday *v'd Thursday during the summei by the Oregon Oa>‘> Emerald
Put* Sh(.'%g Co . frK at the U»‘tv«*»'ty of Oregon f ugene, 0^0#’
] h* tmtvaAJ1 op*va‘*rs mOeperxiew'Py of ?h« Un.*efS*t> with oh* os a! Su4e XX) of the
1 ft) Memorial and 4 a membm o' the Associated Press
The Emerald is private property The uniawM '«mchai o use of papers >t prosecutabw
Managing Editor
Editorial Editor
Graphic a Editor
f reelance Editor
Editor-ln-Chief Jake Be/g
C.i «*> A '.kr-^v Sport* Editor
Davd Thom Editorial Editor
Je« Pas ;*, Photo Editor
Je<’ W-nter-s Supplements Editor
Night Editor Sieve M•'■ns
Steve Mmy
Jell Pickhardt
Antt*ony F orney
Kasy Soto
Associate Editors Edward Ktopfenstem. Sfuoenf Government Acf-v/fraa Rebecca Me"*
Commumfy Juf>e Swenseo Hfepher £ cA«ca$ori 'Adhwv sfraf on
News Staff Mandy Baucum W«!son Chan. Dave Charbonnoau J»m Da vs Meg Dedcupn
Amy Devenport. Cara Echevarria Maka E<efcH. Mann Ft»h«r Sarah Henderson. Heathen*
Htmas Ym leng laong. Manus Meiand, Tnsta Noei. Elisabeth Reenst?ema. Kate SabOurw
Robbie Reeve, t-a Satacoa. Scott Simonson Stephana Seson. Susanna Stereos. JuMj
Swensen Mxrhftie Thompson Agu«ar. Kev/* Tripp. Amy Van Tuyt. Daniel West
General Manager Judy Rnxf
Advertising Director Marti Wane/ Production Manager Mchete Ross
Advertising Sub*r Dufta. Ncoe Msrimarfc. Teresa tsabetie. Jeff Marion. Jeremy Mason
M ■ .nr Miivette. Van V O'Bryan if Rachael Trufc Keisey Wwc Ang*e W ^m
Classified: Bec*y Merchant, Manager Victor Mejxi. S*m T/e Tecs
Distribution A/xJy Harvey John Long. Graham Simpson
Business: Kathy Carbone Supervisor Judy ConnoRy
Production Dee McCobb. Production Coordinator Shawna Abe*e Greg Desmond. Tara
GauAney. Brad Joss Jenifer Roland. Matt Thangvtpt. Dayton Yee
Newsroom 346-6511 Display Advertising..3*6-3712
Business Office...346-5512 Classified Advertising-->46-4343
lltdiFPc pence
|UnP|Rf«hJ>iN6
L£.
OPINION
Clinton, condoms and your TV
Robbie Reeves
Racing across the floor in a
room in which a couple is
passionately having sex. it
jumps under the sheets, post a
rather startled tat.
It's Supercondom to the rescue!
OK. so that's a hit on the
dramatic side, hut it did catch
your attention.
That’s exactly what the federal
government hopes to do with its
new condom and safer-sex
awareness campaign
The Clinton administration is
releasing a series of public service
announcements that describe
several ways to avoid contracting
HIV. the virus that leads to AIDS
One ad. described above, is
designed to urge young people to
use a condom if they are going to
have se\ While the condom on
the ad flies across the floor, tin
announcer savs something like
"It would he nice if latex
condoms were automatic But
since they're not. using them
should be."
Another of the ads has a man
and woman hugging, and while
she unbuttons his shirt, she asks.
Did you bring it ?" referring to
the "< " word. When he replies
that he forgot it. she says. "Then
forget it!".
In yet another ad, abstinence is
promoted. Two versions of the ad
have either a male or female talk
to an off-screen companion and
say that they would “never put
you in danger" and. "There is a
time to be lovers. We will wait
until that time comes.”
All of the ads have a toll-free
telephone number (1-800-342
AIDS) that a person can call to
ask questions or to get a free
brochure about AIDS
Who hasn't been told before
that if a person is going to have
sex. they should use a condom
because it can significantly
reduce one's chances of
controlling HIV or other dimsivi'
However. the word "condom
was taboo in both the Reagan and
Hush administrations because
(get this) they didn't want to
condone sex outside of marriage.
The most groundbreaking ad
that the Bush administration put
on the air to combat the spread of
AIDS didn’t even refer to
condoms at all Instead, the Hush
era anti-AIDS ad required a little
decoding.
In the ad, a young barefoot man
said that he could save his life by
putting on his socks. He then,
slowly and deliberately, put on
his socks and conceded that
while putting on his socks didn't
save his life, "there's something
just as simple that could."
The ad made people think of
preventing AIDS by putting on
a sock How prude. Kven in my
(rather conservative) high school.
Planned Parenthood came in and
put a condom on a cucumber
during a demonstration. Contrary
to tlie Bush message, a sock will
not prevent you from contracting
HIV
AIDS is a serious disease that
then- is no cure for AIDS needs
to be taken seriously These ads
are a step in that direction.
So, in a way. the Clinton
administration is breaking new
ground in telling Americans
about prolix ting themselves from
AIDS
It’s about time
According to statistii s, 40,000
new HIV cases will occur in
Amorii a this year. And not one
of those t ases needs to happen
The campaign is not without
its detrai tors, of course
As expected, the usual
complaints are coming from the
religious right and other
conservatives who claim that
these ads either promote
promiscuity or are a waste of
taxpayers' money
In case they didn't notice, or
they haven't hoard liefore, (faith
of which ! doubt) young people
are having sex. There is really
nothing that can be done to
eliminate sex among young
people And if young people are
going to have sex, then why
shouldn't they be told how to do
it as safely as possible?
And how could saving lives of
American youth not he worth
every tax dollar that is spent f
However, remarkably enough,
even those who are on the other
side of the debate have problems
with the campaign.
ACT-UP, an AIDS advocacy
group, stated that "Clinton's
dancing condoms won’t save
lives.”
They're exactly right. Condoms
by themselves won't save lives.
Hut people using condoms will.
And if there is a chance, even
a remote chance, to save a few
lives by reinforcing what should
be close to common knowledge
by now, then this ad campaign
would be worth every penny of
the $800,000 that it cost to
produce.
Another concern about the ads
are that they do not specifically
focus on safe sex for gays,
lesbians and bisexuals.
There is merit to that argument.
Hopefully the government will
have the courage to act on the
suggestion. As it stands now,
many of the ads, including the
initial "dancing condom" ad. are
designed to be gender-neutral.
One isn't supposed to know if a
man and a woman, two women
or two men are under the covers
Fortunately, Amaru ans seem
to be receptive to these ads
Unfortunately, on the other hand,
the teles ision networks are giving
the ads a rather chilly reception
ABC has revealed that it will
only show the ads after d p m
Other networks have not formally
announced their plans
Although it's a good sign that
television networks will
broadcast the word condom
(something that our government
wouldn't do), they still think that
it is "dirty” in some way that
would necessitate showing it later
in the evening
The word "condom" is not a
bad word. It is something that
could save someone’s life.
These ads should be broadcast
just as often, if not more often, as
the other public service
announcements. It is absolutely
essential that the message of safer
sex be ingrained upon the minds
of all of the sexually active
population of the country.
Hobbit" Beeves is a columnist
for the Emerald.