EDITORIAL
Only death could
really defeat Nixon
Ry not taking any real blame far anything except "some
mistakes" in judgment, farmer Nixon showed himself to
he the same amoral, calculating, sneaky bastard he has
always been.
— l,eo Siogol
Editorial Page Editor
Oregon Daily Emerald. Aug 14. 1 974
Well, it seems the Emerald has come full circle.
It was almost 20 years ago that the Emerald joined iis
voice to those of millions of other Americans, begging
that justice be done and that President Richard Nixon,
who had resigned from offit c just days lx«fore. be brought
to trial on charges in connection with the infamous Water
gate scandal.
Thanks to a pardon from his successor. (Jerald Ford.
Nixon was never convicted of any crimes relating to
Watergate, although the specter of wrongdoing shadowed
him for the rest of his life — a life which came to an
end Saturday, the result of a stroke suffered earlier in the
week Nixon was 81.
Journalists and historians alike have been scrambling
to capture the life of Richard M. Nixon — a man who left
office in disgrai o (the only president ever to resign) but
remained a force in American and international politics
for two more decades, nonetheless.
What else would you expect from a man who. upon
narrowly losing the presidency to John F. Kennedy in
1900, ran for governor of California and promptly was
defeated? And i amo back to run for president again in
1968? The man was the Comeback King, whatever you
think of his politics.
Even Watergate wasn't enough to make Nixon give up.
Although he never served in an elected post again, he
was America's do facto ambassador to the world. Just this
winter, he went on a tour of Russia, consulting with many
of that country's leading figures (although he was snubtmd
by Boris Yeltsin). Nixon earned his pension.
Of course, such foreign policy duties were nothing
unusual tor Nixon, whose suer esses on the internation
al front were among the most impressive for any Amer
ican president. It was Nixon who opened the doors to
China; it was Nixon who vigorously pursued detente with
the Soviet Union; it was Nixon who began the long-over
due withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam.
Nixon's domestic efforts should not lx* forgotten, either.
His administration saw the creation of the Environmen
tal Protection Agency, and it was his signature that trans
formed the (dean Water and Clean Air acts from legis
lation to law. Health care, welfare — Nixon was there.
So the time has come to re-evaluate President Nixon.
His dishonesty and abuses of power notwithstanding, he
deserves to bo remembered in a better light than as the
"sleazy crook" Siegel called him 20 vears ago. Although
the Watergate scandal should not be glossed over, it
should also not lx? considered the whole story of Richard
Nixon.
I
a
Oregon Daily
Emerald
PO 00* Jl<* tuGC’tf OAfGOW ft 7453
THe Oregon Omty t "*«vafc? x% pubfcshsd da#y Monday through t r*Say during !h* *c#xx>:
)<»«' »rtcj T ustday and Thursday during the summer by the Oegon Oa>iy Emerald
Pubfcshmg Co . Inc . at the l)n rverety of Oregon, Eugene. Oegon
The trwatf operates 'xtopendanity oi the University w>-m ofocm <*t Su4e 300 of the
l *t> a: Uruan arxl ts a member o» the Associated Prow
The f rrweakJ is private property The untavriU removal or use tH papers it prosecutable
by fav*
Managing Editor
Editorial Editor
Graphics Editor
Freelance Editor
Edttor ln-Chiet: Jane Berg
Co- ey Anderson Sports Editor
Oawl Thorn Editorial Editor
Je« l\tv-4y Photo Editor
Aiama Baum Supplement• Editor
Wight Editor: Kaiy Soto
Steve Mtent
Jeh Pcfchardl
Me t\mi Shmdto
Ka>y Soto
Associate Editors: « dward KkjplensteMV Sfudanf Government Achvrhee. Rebecca Merritt
Commurvfy Meafherte ISmes Hyhar fdUcaPorVAJm irwj 0 ah on
Wewe Staff Ic Raftweak Wlion Chan. Dave Charbonnaau. Amy Colombo J*m Davts
Meg Dadoiph. Amy Davenport. Tatha Etchensehe' Ma a f -eids. Martin Fisher Sarah
i tender son, Y.n leng leone Manus Meland. Tnsta Worn { satetn Reanstjema. Robtve
Reeves Kate Sabovnn. l >a Naioccia. Scott Simonson, Stephanie SMson. Susanna Steffen*
Mcheie Thompson. Amy Van Tuyt. Dar*«l West
General Manager Judy Ref
Advertising Director. Mark Waiter Production Manager Me here Rosa
Advertising: Brian Daw Sub*r Dutta. N»coie Herimark. Teresa iiwtbet'e Jell Matron.
Jeremy Mason. Mchael M:**te Kelsey WekfH
Classified Becky Merchant. Manager Victor Mm-a. $*m Tj« Tecfc
Distribution: John tong. Terenc Rakoc/ . Graham Simpson
Business: Kathy Carbone. Superviso-* Judy ConnoBy
Proch/cUon Dee McCobb. ProdU"f«on CooaSnefor Shiwma Abeie. Oreg DesmorxJ, Tara
GauAney. Brad Joss. Jerwter Roland. Watt Ttwgvijrt. Clayton Yee
Weweroom--- 346-W11 Display Advertising..*46-3712
Business Offtc#...546-6512 Classified Advertising.146-4543
OK beautiful, save lor the cries
And ample graves of slain,
The purchased mounds of weaponry
Above the fruitless pain.
America, America, *
Bloodshed is great indeed,
For all the charms C
Of firearms, ^
Hdvi long will this Wound bleed ?
■JhlTIL nj£ MIUT'4 f®
r; w£it gfoi/urfsT ^,i7
LETTERS
Bad people
|a< k Orn/i o in his remarks to
the Emerald regarding his resig
nation said. "There is so much
fin king hypocrisy
What, hypocrisy7 Poor lack,
he tiiinks he's tin* victim of an
atmosphere of hypocrisy that he
and other student leaders on
i jmpus have fanned into an
inferno of racist remarks. pei
sonnl attacks and plenty of wast
od time
These student leaders are the
ones that say in effect, "If you
don't agree with me. you're a
had person, and probably rat ist
We want diversity of opinion,
but only if it agrees with ours
What this attitude has done is
degrade procedures that are
important to many student
groups and involve matters of
the w hole student body of the
University into shouting match
es and immature Hatties
One example is the March 17
Incidental Fee Committee hear
ing w hen* members of MFChA
used extremely aggressive tac
tics to win their budget me reuse
of lfi (am ent Some [FC member
said, after the meeting, tiiat com
mittee members were intimidat
ed by the debate and their intim
idation affected their vote 1
hope the ends justified the
means
Disclaimer 1 am not singling
out the Chicano/Iaitino student
groups at the University There
are examples from all over the
ASUO/1FC-related realm that
highlight this point Many stu
dent leaders at the University
have overlooked one big part of
the leadership: maturity
A note to the Emerald editors
When other letters come por
traving me as a racist moron,
please include a note that at
least I'm a nice guy.
Aaron Ray
Journalism
Expand
recycling
1 would like to take this
opportunity to urge students to
vote yes for Ballot Measure 4 on
. i » i .*.'L
April 2fi and 27 This ballot
measure proposes to expand the
re< viding program i ampus-wide
I've been involved with cam
pus ris y< ling m different i.npai -
ities for the past two years am)
.nti very familiar with the bene
fits it provides to students The
recycling program gives stu
dents the i bailee to have <i dins t
impact on a hx .11 and global lev
el.
The program allows students
to apply their knowledge
through action and the evidence
of how sui cessful it has lieen is
apparent around campus in
refutable mugs. 100 peri ent
unbleached and other rei vi led
products, outside publli drop
sites. worm composting in the
child-r are centers, an informa
tional display in the EMU and
the i reation of the Environmeil
tnl Issues Committer
All of these things were initi
ated by University students and
are part of the positive opportu
nity offered by the ns vi ling pro
gram to individual students and
the campus at large I sincerely
hope that students renew their
commitment to a program which
affects the entire student body
mid is a positive force lor sot nil
and environmental change Vote
and vote yes for Measure -t
Kim letven
Student recycler
Wonder why?
Congratulations to the ASUO
and the Emerald for perpetuat
ing student apathy The ASUO
elections committee, part of
whose job it is to promote all
things regarding elec tions, did a
marvelous job of promoting each
of its presidential debates Not
only was there ample notifica
tion in the media (none), flyers
were posted us far away from the
EMU and ASUO headquarters as
20 feet. Nice job! The debates
changed time and place from
one to the other, and even stu
dents who gave a shit had diffi
culty finding them.
And kudos to the Emerald for
the colossal blunder [ODE, April
18) in the presentation of dark
horse candidate Todd Barnhart
V.V.’I*.-V.. C..•
ami Greg Hamilton Headline
and photo caption screw-ups
happen, but that was ndii ulous!
No wonder student apathy is
so high on tills campus. Even
those in power around here
don't seem to have much regard
for the AStO elections
Pat Daly
Pre-journalism
Oregon’s future
As a student at the University
and a native Oregonian. I am
deeply concerned about Ore
gon's future We are faced with a
myriad of problems, including
tile state budget and the (K1A In
a time like this we need a strong
lender with the courage to tackle
Oregon's problems That is why
1 am so e\i ited that John
kit/haber is running for gover
nor.
As a state senator, John
kit/haber tai kled many tough
problems and built a consensus
in a community that was facing
very diffit nit and frightening
obstai ios. Growing up in Kose
burg, I remember when
kit/haber fought to close the
Winchester Dam in response to
the concern that fish were dying
in its turbines lie succeeded in
shutting down the damn and in
passing legislation that would
prevent similar dams in the
future. This is just one example
of his consensus-building skills
.ind his commitment to the
health of our environment.
I believe tHat Oregon needs
John kit/haber We need his
leadership and Jiis courage to
tackle tile tough issues facing
Oregon. He served as a senator
from Douglas County and is the
father of the Oregon Health Plan
kit/haber lias the experience
tliat Oregon needs in the next
four years Much will be decid
ed for education, the economy
and the environment that will
affect our families That is why I
am urging you to register to vote,
educate yourself about the
issues and vote for John
Kit/haber in the primary elec
tion on May 17.
Kimberley Hanks
Political Scianca