EDITORIAL Foster sacrificed in political game Pawn: The chessman of lowest value and the piece most often sacrificed to win the game. See i)r. Henry Poster |r. In the always think two-moves-ahead world of pre election-year politics, elected officials from both par ties sacrificed a qualified candidate for the position of U S surgeon general last week in preparation for a much bigger move: the presidency. After five-months of intense confirmation hearings and congressional scrutiny. Foster's nomination was withdrawn from the Republican-controlled Senate with out a vote because 43 Republican senators refused to halt the debate At issue foi Republicans was the 39 ebortkms that Foster performed during his 38 years as a gynecol ogist obstetrician As if setting the stage for next year's political comedy of errors, presidential hopefuls Senate Majority header Hob Dole and Son. Phil Gramm led the opposition. But abortion and Foster's qualifications never were the real reasons for the opposition. Foster's nomination and c onfirmation denial were little more than an opportu nity to establish agendas and exert ise strategies. White Dole end Gramm used Roster** nomination to public ize their anti abortion platforms and entrenc h themselves with powerful conservative lobbying groups. Democratic senators and President Clinton manipulated Poster’s re jet tlon into a 12 tissue appeal for relief from Republic an bullies. With Foster out of the way, troth par ties got to focus on the real enemy: each other. Phil Gramm held tin- Assm iated . , ili.it if (ii;uT<■ 11 nominated people wit h "radical idi s mis legal), ha should expect confrontation. Clinton coun tered that Republic ans had c hosen to ' side with extrem ists" who oppose a woman's right to choose. And the game continues. Fach side accuses the otla-r of.using Foster to it*, advantage, while both claim they are acting in the best interest of their constituents Contrary to what they say. Dole. Gramm and Clinton will all benefit from this inci dent. and all three have plat ed their quest for power above the interests of the American people. In tin* months ahead, with this fortuitous event behind them. Dole and Gramm will use the pro-life/pro-family rhetoric to garner support from the widening Bible bell, while Clinton will position himself as a reasonable, moderate loader in the face of freedom-crushing con servatives. The only losers arc1 Foster and the American people. More than a year before the election, the players have already established the* rules and set up the board So as wo sit down to watch this spectator sport wo call rep resentative1 democrat y. it's easy to forge! that wo have already been excluded from the most important aspect: deciding whit h game to play. This election will explore the never-ending debates over abortion, affirmative action and "family values.” We ll hear about flag-burning and mandatory school prayer. They'll all agree that we need smaller govern ment and disagree on which parts to be cut. The right moves to check the left, and the left counters. And in the end. we will still be arguing over these issues rather than finding common ground and moving forward. By deciding for then people what is important, the candidates ensure us that regardless of who wins, the most we can expect in the next year is a scattering of pawns and ultimately, a stalemate. 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FOSTER CHIU) ■ OPINION ‘Dave’s great’ but policy isn’t KHT1I l t SMV.MVM Gi' i*u Davtt Frohnmayer's current popularity within tin* University com mum - ly- an editorial attack on his credibility would lx* tanta mount to making fun of tofu at n vegetarian convention — it's one of those things you just don't do, i.uc ky for me. 1 have no inten tion of at tin king our new presi dent It would lie journidistit suicide to claim that Frohnmayer is not qualified for the challenges of his office. It s difficult not to salivate on a resume that includes adula tion at Harvard, Berkeley and a Rhodes Si holarship a! Ox fort! lest 1 forget Frohnmayer'x it years as Oregon attorney gener al, where he sm»e&sfuily argued six ol seven i uses lie fore the U S Supreme Court It s hard to imagine a person who i ould be more qualified. However, the dot ision made by the State Board of Higher Education to eliminate the interim status from Frohnmayer's president y is troubling in the rationale the Board cited for not undertaking a national search Chant.ellor Joseph Cox referred to the "high confidence" the University community has in Erohnmayer and qualities like "openness" ami "frankness" as reasons for appointing Frohnmayer to an indefinite tenure as University president Although these qual ities make Frohnmayer an excellent candidate, they do not justify ignoring a search process that should lx* the benchmark of any appointment to the University's highest post Twelve months ago Frohnmayer accepted the posi tion of interim president with the understanding that he was to govern the University for two years while a %eart h was con ducted for a permanent presi dent. Neither Frohnmayer. Cox nor any member of the Board i tainted at that time thut the appointment could become jmr mnnent if Frohnmayer passed a status-check 12 months into his term. This might lx- a non issue if Frohnmayer'* earlier appoint ment to the interim post had itself been the result of a nation al search However, the interim decision vvas based primarily on the recommendation of then Ghancollor Thomas Bartlett, without the i reation of any offi cial seareti committee Thus, in Ixith the interim and permanent appointments, Frohnmayer never faced the due process of a national hunt if there simply were no Ix-tter person to be found, then Frohnmayer could have easily proved his superiority within tile competition of u complete search. One possible argument for not undertaking a national exploration is the high financial burden involved However, the Board never cited this as a rea son for the permanent appoint ment instead, the company line was simply “Dave is great " Albeit true. not even Frohnmayer'* strengths should have superseded the need for a search that would have prov id ed him the opportunity to prove Ills excellence While the discrepancies are subtle, the idea of disregarding a democratu search has much greater implications Only a few weeks ago the University was honored by the presence of Corazon Aquino at the com mencement ceremony. Among the topics she addressed was the important* of democracy and rational analysis in deter mining public policy What if after her tenure had ended ns the Philippine*' presi dent. Aquino declared “Cori is great"? She could have simply stated (a la Castro) that olet • tions were unnecessary because she was certain that the Filipinos knew she was tile lies! i andidate for the job. Americans, being the lovers of democracy thut we are, would have Ixten outraged by Aquino's action. Just ns we demand that damot rath elections govern tbs rulers of the Philippine govern ment. the state Board should have endured the tedium of a search despite how "obvious" the Frohnmayer choice appeared What is particularly troubling about this situation is the tim ing and rushed nature of the appointment. Chancellor Cox stated that before he could dot ida whether or not to recom mend Frohnmayer to the Board, he wanted to understand the perceptions that the University community and student body had toward Frohnmayer. To achieve this, a forum took place on the VVednesdav night of finals week Let’s see now — if 1 wanted to listen to the voices of University students. I don’t think I could imagine a more effective time to do this than the Wednesday night of finals week Warning parts of this column may contain levels of sari asm that are dangerous to your health Again, maybe the students' love of Frohnmayer was |ust too obvious to seek out affirmation. To top off that awkward tim ing. the actual announcement of Frohnmayer'* appointment was made on the Friday of the week after finals. Again, why choose to announce this momentous appointment during the qui etest week of the year when them are practically no faculty, staff or students on campus? However, like a Hollywood movie, this storv has a happy ending. We are now lucky enough to have an abundantly qualified president. 1 am posi tive President Frohnmayer will attack the $?>•» million shortfall the University faces over the next two years with the same vigor and talent that he has used in all his life's achieve ments To put it succinctly, Frohnmayer is a man with unquestionable capabilities who regrettably was appointed under questionable circum stances Keith Cunningham is a columnist for the Emerald.