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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 1994)
EDITORIAL Condom warnings falling on deaf ears In the pest 15 years wo have witnessed many life altorlng events, the fall of communism, the crash of the Challenger space shuttle, the San Francisco earth quake. and the Ducks' Rosebowl berth. All those thing have had an impact on our global consc iousness and in doing so have in some small way shaped the society we now live in. But there is one thing that we have born witness to that has not had as profound an effec t on our lives as it should have —the AIDS epidemic. There are more than 1 million people with AIDS in the* United States Not gay men. people. People who are married, people who are single, people who are black, people who are white, people with children and children themselves are infected This disease does not discriminate. liven you. sitting in the there in the FMU drinking that stale coffee, are at risk I know you've heard it all before, and ves you believed that safe sex is important. Hut do you really use a condom every time you have sox, even with a ‘ faithful" partner? The truth of the matter is you can't be with that person every minute of every day. and you can never, ever, be sure that you are safe. The reality is brutal - a lifetime of latex. I was talking to a friend yesterday and she and l decided the situation can be likened to wearing seat belts. For a long time in this country seat belts were just not the way to go. They wore bulky and uncom fortable and you really didn’t get the same sensation that one dirt when riding without. Now. we are wiser. Wo put our seat belts on automatically. Wo do it because we know that that barrier may save our lives. Sex with a condom should lx* no different You must wear them, in this day and age there are just no other alternatives The difference between AIDS and t ar accidents is that you w ill see the Mack truck before it hit you You don't know what AIDS looks like, it comes in every human shape and si/e. So, while you're enjoying your self for that 3 seconds or 45 minutes you won't know that your body has boon invaded. You will pay for that physical pleasure with your life. We have to just accept condom usage ns the norm. Television and movies must reflect this, since they are where many of us get our romantic ideals. Even with it. there is risk, but it is substantially less Tomorrow is World AIDS Day, and there will be many speeches from community leaders and politi cians will give lots of flowery speeches about suffering Go and watch and listen, glean all that you can. We hope when the day is over you have gotten the mes sage We are in the throes of a terrible epidemic, one we have the power to prevent. Empower yourself, if you are going to have sex. any kind of sex. protect yourself. Oregon Daily 0 0 U0> >1»» lUGIM OMOOM«:«» Tfy» £Wy f •* put&ftNfcJ i**«> tW'Cnjgh Ff*Cl»y during »**» *-*0X5* »#»! 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TMiS’ STAND THE CORNER j -«f1 1*^0 IPJlIl (_4>v ACT ._/* t 4 M3CMAI AA^CS/CAM l-> I -wOtG 'MC M *fcA. ffy Aiw&tfrv >1 ■ OPINION Journalism vicious, irrational n November lath's Emerald. a column of mmc (*‘*Tedness‘ lln to Kennedy win") was printed where something hap pened for which I must apolo gize in contrast to the intelli gent analysis that I aspire towards, the pie*« in question was mean, rear nonary and basi cal I v against the principles of journalism in which 1 firmly believe I am sorrv if my words. where hurtful, offended the sen sibilities of any readers. Since I fell into the trap myself, 1 would like to discuss the current state of attack tour nalism. as well as the attack politics which have followed Both will have grave effects upon Our sin iety if they are not curbed immediately lournalism is obviously at its lowest (mint in modern history Shovss such .is Hurd ( and publications such as ( SA today have brought news to its basest levels However, this lowest i onv mmi denominator rejMHiing is not the most pressing of journalism s problems. those which Mthoul basis That would lie the viciousness and irrationality which is preva lent in the current news We should look at the greatest inno vator of this medium. Kush l.im haugh. In the midst of the Bush presidency, conservatism was at a troubling crossroads, stuck between the President's lack of a platform, a hostile takeover from the Christian Right and a conflu ence of other negative factors. Rather than starting the nec essary revolution using the words of one or some of today 's great conservative thinkers, such as George 1- Will, Robert Novak or William Safire. intel ligence such as theirs was for saken for audacity While Will and his counter parts represent the analytical and studious side of the rightist pop ulation. i.imbaugh is their reac tionary evil side His fiery and stringent tirades, which are large ly built upon unfounded “facts," fueled the fire which led to the GOP's usurpation of Congress a Pkimo A. J. Fo.vtana few weeks ago Quite obviously, he has been extremely effective. Yet he has raistxl the stakes for all opinion journalists in a manner which should not go unnoticed. Its this new t.untkiugh era. prudent* has been replat ed by pugnacity, and even more frighteningly, edifica tion by vilification. Where in another time a quick and biting wit was sufficient alongside the fat ts, the only current means of selling an opinion is through utter demolition of an opinion journalist’s opponent. This is not only a problem for the right (hi the left, the rut ent debate over the General Agree ment on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) has been a perfect exam ple. !.d*eral opponents of GATT have used l.tmliaugh-hko tactics in order to fight the agreements, espet itally in the bending num* tiers category. Also, magazines such as Moth crjon^i use ill-constructed argu ments and reactionary rhetoric in the same fashion as their right wing opponents in order to push the agenda of the PC left Instead of allowing the great liberal w rit ers of our day, such as Michael Kinsley. David Hroder and Rus s**l Baker to drive the left into the future, the radicals are holding them I wick in the dark and murky Imgs of socialism in health (are, isolationism in trade policy, and worst of all, fascism in the mul ticultural debate. The current situation in our political system is quite similar We could look at literally hun dreds of examples, but it would lie much simpler to simply look at the new leadership of the House. The recently retired Roliert Michel (R Illinois), the for user House Minority l-wider, has b»*m rvplm od by Newt Gingrich (R-Goorgia) This is an immense de-evolution The bipartisan col lugiality of Mu hel. which was suci essful on so many occasions, has been replaced bv the mali cious of >st ruction ism of Gingrich Although the new Washington throws out num bers and sound bites which may sound impressive, we must look towards what true substantive policy lies ahead for America To me, 1 see none We have heard tons about the sweeping change which wo are about to see, but let's look clos er. Gutting foreign aid You know, all of that money we send over seas'1 How about tile facts: for eign aid a< ( ounts for one-half of* one percent of the budget So if ive totally cut all programs, the savings would still tie minimal. How about welfare? Don't we just dump tons of tax dollars into the laps of greedy poor people? The facts again: welfare accounts for three percent of the budget, a tiny portion, especially compared to the monstrous budget of defense Term limits? Yeah right, this was the COP'S big joke on the vot ers Di< k Array, the new House Majority leader has backed away from the idea, and his party will likely follow. There goes the con tract. School Prayer? If you think that dumping the Constitution and instituting a civic religion will solve any of this country's problems. I've got a bridge to sell you, it's right on Ferry Street 1'he new Washington sounds like it is going to lead this coun try to a different future, but it really amounts to very little Its just like the new journalism. At first read, it seems to make a point. Simply take a closer look If someone must be vicious to push their point, they probably don't really have one. Primo A I Fontana is a colum rust for the Emerald
