EDITORIAL
Trading with China
in interests of U.S.
Allhough ho will surely suffer in the polls for It. Pres
ident Bill Clinton’s decision to onco again extend Most
Favored Nation trading status to China was not only
tho right choice when it comes to American financial
interests but may also be the best way to ensure that Chi
na's dismal record of human rights abuse improves in
the future.
A year ago, Clinton issued an ultimatum to China,
threatening to revoke the country's MFN status if it did
not improve its human rights record by June of this year.
Few, if any, improvements have boon made.
So. with the deadline fast approaching, Clinton was
faced with a choice. Ho could follow through on his threat
and revoke MFN status, but this would have serious neg
ative implications for those American companies — Boe
ing, AT&T and Wal-Mart, just to name a few — that have
chosen to invest in China during tho past few years Or.
he could recognize the economic reality of the situation,
b^.kdown on his threat and make the choice that stands
the greatest chance of protecting American interests and
promoting human rights in China.
Clinton chose the latter, when asking Congress last
week to renew MFN status for China.
Continued strong trade with China is clearly in Amer
ica's — and the world's — best interests. Tens of billions
of dollars can be made each year through trade with Chi
na. tho world’s third-largest economy and largest sin
gle market, with more than a billion potential consumers.
A nation with that much economic power doesn’t ne* -
ossarily require American trade. Other partners have
shown their willingness to look past China's human rights
transgressions. And unlike some tiny, backward Third
World nation, without any resources of its own. China
doesn't need tin* United States. It would greatly Ixemfit
from American help, but it isn't essential.
Chinese history includes many such periods of "intro
spection,” when tho country looked inward and let the
rest of the world go about its business without interfer
ence. It would be highly unwise to encourage, through
trading obstacles, a return to such isolationism. China is
one of tho most heavily armed countries in the world,
with a nuclear arsenal second only to the United States
and Russia. The more isolated the country becomes,
the less power the world community has in controlling
its actions. And global stability will suffer.
The same logic may be applied to the matter of human
rights. The more interconnected the world economy
becomes, the greater influence China s trading partners
including tho United States will have on China’s
internal policies. If trade between the United Stales and
China continues to expand, China’s need for that trade
will expand ns well. Shutting off MFN now won’t accom
plish nearly so much as shutting it off in another It) years,
after American investments have gotten a strong foothold.
Granting Chinn Most Favored Nation status, although
a 180-degree turn from Clinton's policy a year ago. is
in the best interests of American and Chinese business,
global stability and — perhaps ironically — the rights of
Chinese citizens.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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LETTERS
Special thanks
I would like to soy a big
T hank You" to nil the volun
Iwrs who helped moke the Ore
gon Special Olympics Summer
Games possible I attended some
of the events last Saturday morn
ing and note ed all of the vests
that said volunteer on them. 1
was very impressed by the num
ber of people who were gra
i iouslv giving this time to add
|oy to some very special people's
lives
My brother participated in
these games, and I know that he
couldn't have if it weren't for all
the volunteers They helped my
brother go home with not only
two medals hut a now sense of
confident e and self-worth that
he doesn't often ret five outside
of his home These special peo
ple learn to work together and
also get an opportunity to stand
m the spotlight for a weekend
1 hese memories stay with them
for a lifetime and it couldn’t las
done without you. Thank You!
Terra Wort
Psychology
Painful reality
About lti of us sit in a fresh
man seminar attempting to rec
ognize the dying planet and our
relationship with it
As yve si! together, talking
’ about the “environment,"
many of us are sincere only in
our words and have not quite
made the connection yvith our
actions Yes. yve probably oil
recvi le and some of us limit our
consumption and participate in
other measures Hosvever, what
1 am talking about nuyv is jobs.
As yve "discuss" boys vve will
soon kill the Earth, we accept
jobs that are destructive to the
Earth We justify our acceptance
of these unhealthy jobs (fast food,
mass fishing, forest-fire extin
guishing. paving, etc.) by using
the excuse that yve must earn
money to go to school.
Hello? 1 am the first m my
entire family to attend a univer
sity. 1 am paying non-resident
tuition (I know that is my
choice); and I am paying for the
bulk of my edui ation alone. I
must yvork if I want to attend col
lege, hut it absolutely does not
mean that I must accept a job that
yvill contribute to the destruction
of the Earth. 1 would rather not
work until 1 can find a job that is
healthy (yes. I'm quite aware they
are difficult to find ) However, it
is curtainly not impossible II
everyone in the world used the
excuse of needing money and
worked in whatever job we ( ould
find, the destruction we cause
would never change. I do under
stand that some people are lim
ited with their skills and need to
feed themselves and their fami
lies. but i>e are students and most
of us are not starving It hurts me
tremendously to see that in a
class where we are supposedly
becoming aware of our actions
and their relationship with the
Karth. the real con nix tion has not
Ih1 disc overed
Lori Nelson
Undeclared
A Profit
1 would like to apologize lor
slating that Sacred Heart Hospi
tal is "making a killing" on dial
ysis treatment My wording was
grossly inappropriate for the dis
cussion pertaining to hundreds
of thousands of individuals seek
ing treatment by dialysis.
Hut I would like to "take issue"
with a statement bv Heverly Mav
hew. at Sacred Heart, made in the
()DE of May 11 She commented
that "dialysis is. in fact, one of
several survii es that the hospital
provides to patients for which it
receives relatively little com
pensation Sacred Heart lost
SI.03 million serving dialysis
patients in 1993."
I contend that Sacred Heart's
dials sis treatment fm ility is mak
ing a positive contribution mar
gin. but once overhead is allo
cated. it obviously appears that
Sacred Heart's dialysis facility is
a money-losing operation. Dif
ferent methods of overhead allo
cation can have drastic impacts
on the profitability of each ser
vice Sacred Heart provides If
Sacred Heart were to use an activ
ity-based costing allocation
method, allocating overhead on
the Uisis of lalxir, equipment use,
spatial use. etc , Sacred Heart's
dialysis facility would show a
profit If Beverly Mayhew c ould
send me the financial break
down and ratios depicting the
dialysis facility's operation costs
and profits along with its net mar
ket contribution figures to P.O.
Box 24233. Kugene, OR. 97402. I
would be happy to discuss this
issue further.
As it stands, Sacred Heart is
making a substantial profit on its
dialysis operations hut when it
uses erroneous overhead alloca
tion procedures, it often depicts
different scenarios.
Michael Jette
Donors tor Lite
Rude habit
I think it is very inconsiderate
of those ot you who choose to
smoke in the doorways of the
buildings that everyone must
enter in order to attend classes
While you are congregating in
the doorways, you are creating
mass amounts of unwanted
smoke that is endured by all of
us who don't want to he subject
to this stale smell I am not alone
when 1 say it is very rude to
expose those of us who don't
smoke to this nasty odor. And.
how frustrating it is to be walk
ing to your classes m the heavy
stream of people when someone
stops just in front of you to light
their cigarette, producing a
cloud of smoke that you are
forced to breathe.
Smokers also have the habit of
throwing their cigarettes on the
ground instead of in the garbage
This is littering! I have heard
many people say that cigarette
butts are biodegradable, and it is
therefore OK to throw them on
the ground But this isn't a valid
argument, because everything is
biodegradable after a certain
length of time I think there
should be fines for everyone
breaking this law it is very ugly
to see cigarette butts all over the
ground. It is tolerable when one
is a considerate smoker, hut
becomes a rude habit when you
am subjecting others to the prod
uct of that habit without their
consent After all. it is subjec
tion that causes the objection.
Michelle Reyna
Pre-Business Administration
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