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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1996)
S!R5sas ■ OUR OPINION: Many sludenis apparenify don'! car© about bigger issues Whew What a wacky term this one tunnel out to be Most of us survived the wind storms, ice-storms. the big flood of ttMMi and win* ti*r‘* {wiling shot with the late snow fall in February. Often, the issues and top ical covered by our editorial staff and columnists over the last three months were as varied and as unpre dictable as Mother Nature herself. Despite our Journalistic commitment to cover a wide range of concerns, the timer old has had to routinely bat ten down its hatches to weather accusations of not only being mediocre and boring, hut of failing to com rnent on serious issues. And when we do cover the seri ous issues, which is often, then something strange hap pens. Nothing. That’s right. Throughout this |>ast term, our editorial desk and columnisis wrote about everything from national politic* to assisted suicide. Usually, feed bat k was light to non-existent. In trying to d«-< ipher the reason for this apathy, the editorial board recently came up with two conclu sions; either people agree with our slant on any given topic, or they flat out don’t can* one way or the other Don't get us wrong We sincerely welcome the feed back we do get Without it. there would be no healthy dialogue or debate It’s just that sometimes we are per plexed by the issues that do press the campus communi ty's hut buttons. 1-1*i week, when we pro posed that creationism (a# well as evolution) be taught to school children a* amah ei theory that attempts to explain the origin* of life, the glove* came off, and we worn buried alive with response*. When we suggested late last term dial it might (re a good idea for people to wear jH'cwmal locator device* when hiking or climbing (after two t ini varsity stu dents disappeared in the Sisters), people went nuts and aggressively opposed the Idea We even got salut ed in one lettwr-lo-thm-editor with the angry letter writer's middle finger Immature and petty, ye*, hut feedback nonetheless. But when our op ed writ ers delved into issues like the peace process in Israel and genocide in Bosnia, the silence was deafening. One of our columnists. Songt Sherwood, wrote about Israel. Ireland and China, at well as many aca demic-related issues, hut the campus had no response She got responses to only two of her columns: her tar t astic unveiling of lan Firm mg s Bond Giro netted one letter, and her tongue-in cheek look at the struggles between car drivers and bicyclists (she drive* a Buick) harvested a letter so vicious and mean that we decided tug to print U. When we editorialized about racism on campus, we only received four letters, legalizing prostitution brought in about the same number of response*. Despite the unpredictable meet urn*, we will continue to try and bring up issues we feel have an impact on the lives of students at this university. Emerald ] '*• ***** Wt'*wa«******* w«(ai iMat — <•* »<«'m. m >tai4» .fcrwg — ■*»«*• M. — Ontm (Mt t t*M *<—«» c« Mi an* mwm a *«*•»"* :*mgu> * MM* a *» tmmrnm taw a* iwa «m w-a-iMt a aa i—** «#• •a** a t<* MM a a* tit Mwiimmu ink ^ «—m ra— a» <*■» a aa (mu— «a—na i—w mt— aaaa ■»■■■« aa —a—> >M twrar a mmm r—at »*• <mimm «n«* « «m a naan « man k, mu laaada :*•«la» Mummb«M—roan***-* —u—*hm— taw. •mi*** ttantaat r.mmm*r tMrtMaaai aa— Malawi** MMm*u*mm UawMMm lataa tman c»*t im* aaav a—a aw— *tm *mm a**. imi WmtWnK 4*#*«8t** .artmUrn iftm m&&& fc—a * ---am- ^—-—» ■ ■ ' „ — ■ ■ ■ - ^w a*T vau—^ > aa^ tank laaian, Mu *«m»Savauat mummmm— aa**—. a— fowim— fnaama —1» maw Mu* <a— Mama bateWMlMtaa. a—i «a% ———an "aaa*j *«—* umaaa m» iji.uiMii m*h*wm («m Sum «*M»a ** mm «—■ *—w *a—Mt MaaMtinaaa >wv#ua **"**»' ■»*! M—wuMMa aa— Wm—mm t* Mr i—at t— Oat* —auaa Oaoammaaa »■— tenaftat —mm >— M——■ jJ»M **—«> —»»M*«<** law— tom a— WmuCtM* aa—ta— «—•— —mm» *a»a— '*»— ’—M—waat t-a-w—a l— t—uMiaHam Mkmm—m. aanaa* ****** MMM— t—ute —MCmmmmm—i law* tew* k<a«»nimM la*»<«** Mat mcmu cm, ham* **—■*■. urn* Zmrn* Mfamaw JMtCmt* m jmihwh, **+ uw>. hum •*** I M»MI1 MMH CNMttAffft !m» "ifliirthrM-i « ■ tMW 'MW *w I»iwm mint m—w mwm .„. m»«m» ^ts'rtKsn & wjgi w —1 .. ! . — Stopt' yOuftf ‘ Friendship brings foreign violence home Han international conflict* threaten th* life of Mimmme we know, thow «(inflict* »uddert I y be* am* paraon at Last rrtday. Taiwanese student* staged a demonstration in the EMU Courtyard, calling attention to mainland China'* war games in the water* around Taiwan Those "games" are so threatening, so deliber ate. that many of those student* are talking about returning to Taiwan to help defend it again*! an invasion by China If thorn it an inva *ion. many will probably bo killed. The students were asking people to sign a petition begging the U S government to per suade China to stirp its aggression They were not asking fur military intervention because they know that if a war doe* start, there will be no winners, only survivor*, and not many of them They were asking the United State* to help prevent a war. to help present Taiwan from being swallowed up by Chin*, and to help pre vent a genocide similar to the one that took place in Tibet Three aspects of the demonstration are espe cially noteworthy The firs! was the earnestness and intensity of the demonstrators They were asking for help in defending ihor country , their home* form destruction They were asking for help in keep ing Taiwan safe and free," The second aspect was their consideration for the students and people of mainland China In America, we usually demonize real and poten tial enemies, but the demonstrator* emphasized that their enemy is not the people of China: it is the Communist gov ernment of China. 'The peo ple of China .to- like brothers and sisters to u» We do not want to fight them, we just want to live in peace and freedom " The last aspect wa* the reaction of petrple passing by the demonstration Many of them look the time to stop and listen Many took the time to road and sign ihe petition Others seemed to pass by without even giant ing toward the demonstrators I suppose that this is fairly normal, and I know that getting to classes, the EMU computer lab. or where* or can seem to be the most impor tant thing at the moment But it bothered me that st> many ignored the pleas of the Taiwanese students l must admit that I am biased on this subject. You see, one of the demonstrators is a friend He is one of the most positive, cheerful. Intelligent and talented people I have met at the Universe tv, and the thought that he will probably he killed If a peaceful solution it not found makes this conflict personal for roe Like most people, I feel 4 sympathy and a sad ness for the victims of the many war* that plague our planet. When l hear of the death tolls and atrocities in Bosnia. Rwanda. Mexic o. El Salvador and East Timor Ito name just a few}, it adds to the depressing weight that comes from seeing repeated examples of mankind's ability to dam age and destroy almost everything and every CZZIZI] one. our mwe examples remain almost abstractions, and they bring a dull pain, like fatigue or exhaustion. A good friend may die because of this conflict, and that makes it more than an abstraction. The thought of so many more people dying brings the pain of fatigue The thought of rum Doing Kilted because l Ju ne's leaders need to shore up their sagging pres tige and power tiring* a pain as sharp as a hard blow to the chest Perhaps that is what it takes to motivate people to take action against inju* tie*. China's aggression against Taiwan Is as unjust a* its invasion of Tibet Taiwan declared its independence from China in 1M«. and for the last 47 year* it has operated as a self-governing, sovereign state. How Tong does a country have to be self-gov erning lie (tire the world recognizes it as a sover eign nation? If Taiwan sat on an ocean of oil like Kuwait, the United States. Europe and Japan would be lining up to ensure its independence from Chi na. ! ’nfortunatelv. *u < ess to China * enormous consumer market is a much more powerful lure than supporting the moral right of Taiwan to govern itself. To their c redit. House Republicans passed a non-binding resolution that says. “U S military forte* should defend Taiwan in the event of invasion, missile attack or blockade by the Peo ple's Republic of (3dna." One li.S. carrier is already in the area and another is on its wav Like the Taiwanese students. I would rather see a non-military solution to this situation To that end I offer the following suggestion. Slop buying product* made in China Cert on the Internet and organize a world-wide, popular boycott. I know this sounds simplistic, and I can already hear the objections: “It won't work." "It only hurts the workers '' "American business u a positive influence in China." But consider this: One way to get someone * attention is to stap him in the face — the mill tary “solution.” It doesn't take much to imagine what happens if China decides to "slap” bach An alternative is to say. "Look, no one U going to buy your goods until you stop threaten ing your neighbors " If such a boycott is only partially successful. China may decide that the conquest of Taiwan is not worth the costs It may he a long-shot, but it's a lot better than the face-to-face confrontation between two mili tary super powers that is building right now And maybe my friend won't be killed. Ijtrry Ha ft l. senior majoring in journalism, is a columnist for the Emerald
