EDITORIAL
New policy on Haiti
will assist refugees
Although Haiti’s authoritarian government isn't like
ly to be affected, a change in the U.S. polity toward
refugees of the small island nation represents a step in
the right direction.
President Clinton announced this weekend that the
Navy and Coast Guard would no longer bo required to
turn back boats of Haitian
refugees, as the old policy
dictated. Instead, the boats
will lie directed to a specif
ic location (as yet unnamed)
on American soil where
passengers' applications for
asylum will be processed.
The processing center
will be charged with the
task of determining whether
the refugees are fleeing
Haiti for political or oca
It is important
that the U.S.
remain a country
open to those
who are
politically
persecuted.
nomtc reasons, Political refugees may bn granted asylum
and allowed to remain In the United States. Economic
refugees will be returned to Haiti.
The plight of the "boat people" has been played out in
dramatic fashion on TV news programs. Many refugees
have endured tragic hardships in crossing the 200 miles
of water that separate Haiti from the southernmost tip of
Florida Some have died in the process; others have made
it almost all the way on tinv, crowded, almost unsea
worthy c raft, only to 1m* turned back in the last few miles
Now they won't 1m* turned bat k, either in the last few
miles or the first few at least not by Amerit an ships
Many refugees eventually will be forced to return any
way. if it is determined that they are fleeing Haiti for eco
nomic reasons only, but at least now thos.* few individ
uals with a legitimate case for political asylum will be
given a hearing out.
It is unfortunate that the United States can't be a haven
for ail the refugees, but Haiti has the lowest standard of
living of any country in I-at in America. If America opened
its doors to all who wished to enter, the inundation of
immigrants would have serious negative repercussions
in those states forced to accept them
But it is important that the U.S, remain a country open
to those who are politically persecuted and Haiti has
a lot of those Since the overthrow of Haiti's first demo
cratically elected president. )ean-Bertrand Aristide, in
1991, the military government of Haiti has continued
to suppress its opponents' voices in the country Those
individuals who run the risk of being imprisoned or
worse for nothing more than their opposition to an
illegal government, should have a place here.
But that shouldn't be the end of the story The Unit
ed States and the rest of the world community need to
adopt harsher sanctions against Haiti to help bring about
the return of Aristide to power. Only then will the polit
ii al refugees stop coming; only then will the e< onomy of
1 iaiti he allowed to grow and raise the standard of living
for Haitians; only then will the economic refugees stop
coming.
Oregon Doily
Emerald
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LETTERS
No killing
! would 11L<* in lake issue with
!• statement made b\ Michael
in a recent Emerald article
about kidney donation [OPE
April 21). Jette's comment that
Sat red Heart "makes a killing"
on dialysis couldn't be further
from the truth Dialysis (the
process of mechanically filtering
blood — a task usually performed
h\ healthy kidneys) is, in fact,
one of several services that the
hospital provides to patients for
which it receives relatively little
com pensation
For the fiscal year ending June
30. too t, for example. Sacred
Heart lost $1-03 million serving
dialysis patients Previous years'
statements tell a similar story
Hardly a killing, as Jette suggests
but nonetheless a service we will
continue to provide us long as
there is patient need
Beverly Mayhew
Director, Public Affairs &
Communications
Sacred Heart Health System
Think again
In his letter. "Don't talk" {GDI'.
April 22) Matthew liasek makes
it painfully dear that he is iII
atlvised as to what equality real
ly is Matthew lielieves that since
there are no physii ally chat
longed members in thegreuk s\s
tem. we don't know anything
a trout "lack of sensitivitv
Well, the truth is that Matthew
is ignorant as to what the greek
system is all about. J can't speak
for the greek system as a whole,
but 1 can assure you that the rea
son Matthew did not receive an
invitation to join Sigma Phi
Fpsilon was not because of any
physical characteristics.
When Matthew came through
Fall Rush three years ago it seems
he had a desire to prove the
stereotypes right. He didn't
When he entered the house, he
was loud and abrasive to all of us,
he talked about women in ways
we don't tolerate and made it
clear that he only wanted a place
to party. No man would receive
an invitation behoving in this
manner and thus no further
explanation is needed. However.
with views as skewed as
Matthew's I w rite
Sigma Phi Epsilon stands for
three cardinal principles, one of
which is virtue To hold virtue is
to keep alt relationships honest,
never using another person Invit
ing Matthew to join regardless of
his inexcusable behavior would
go against everything we trelieve.
Matthew closes his letter. "If
you can't walk the talk, then
don't talk!" This leads me to
believe that he wants to he
accepted for his physical attrib
utes, not as an equal When Dis
ability Awareness Week came
around and thegreek system got
involved, getting ridiculed is not
w hat 1 would have expected A
simple thank you would have
been Sufficient
Lee H Kole
Exercise and Movement
Science
Invisible
When I ivroll- inv letter, 1
assumed some would question it
But because 1 wrote to student
newspaper, do you assume that I
am hall your age'
M\ political career began in
lb'H. when, aged 15,1 went dix>r
to-door educating voters about
a California ballot initiative
designed to outlaw gav and les
bian teachers 1 participated ill
the Harvey Milk Riots by rolling
polo e curs Mv two Ixwt friends
form high school, with whom I
shared these experiences, died
from AIDS more than 1(1 years
ago
Yes, many names have been
used for ga\s and lesbians, and
each offended some who are
called those names. But truth
fully. no one individual is aver
age. and a huge range of behav
ioral variations are all normal
At 30 and with long hair, 1
share your campus invisibility I
wear my life-long clothing pref
erence: tiaggy pants, t-shirts and
flannels—that now peg me as an
aging grunger Ironically, this was
the lesbian "uniform" when 1
came out. The uniform changes
with each generation, and I’ll
pass on piercings or short hair.
But when my life partner and 1
hold hands in Valley River Cen
ter, we <ire anything but invisi
ble.
Betsy McCluer
Pre-journalism
Wotton Ward 4
A very important decision
ln< es voters of Ward 4. a choice
between Peter Wotton and Lau
rie Swan so ti -< rihskov for Eugene
Otv Council
These candidates are easily dis
tinguished on the basis of crucial
environmental issues, such as the
ozone initiative, Peter supports
it and Laurie opposes it, along
with the others who charge it is
redundant. Don’t la* deceived by
this argument. The federal gov
ernment has an established
record of poor regulation in the
face of well financed lobbying
efforts.
ff the measure is redundant,
why are the makers of CFCs.
which destroy the ozone layer,
contributing large sums of mon
ey to defeat the measure in
Eugene' We are carrying out a
dangerous, unnecessary, and
poorly advised experiment on
our earth; while humans who are
not careful may get melanoma,
animal and plant life t-an't put on
straw hats
(lharlie Ogle, diair of the Many
Rivers Group of the Sierra Club,
states. "Peter Walton is the supe
rior i andidate by far " Wotton is
also endorsed by Commissioner
)errv Rust and the League of Con
servation Voters
Wotton imposed a campaign
limit of $5,000 for his campaign,
with no contributions over $50.
Swanson-CiribsLov is spending
more money on her campaign
than both the candidates togeth
er s|H*nt in the 1090 Ward *t elec
tion She said she would limit
individual campaign contribu
tions to $50. but has accepted "in
kind" contributions in excess of
this limit.
I intend to vote for Wotton
because he has thought deeply
nl>out the important issues fac ing
city government and will he an
effective proponent of a more liv
able Eugene
Howie Bonnett
Biology