VIEWPOINTS
Solution to Freemen?
FBI should be patient
■ OUR OPINION: The U S
should wait out the
standoff m Montana
Attorney General Janet
Reno and her 100-agent FBI
army seem to be handling
the Montana Freemen stand
off with kid glove*.
With memories of David
Koreah and the self-pro
claimed messiah's entire
Texas compound disappear
ing behind a controversial
explosion of fire and smoke,
the AG's caution is under
standable.
The hurry-up-and-wait
strategy Is probably the beat
thing to do.
While it ia undoubtedly
time consuming and expen
sive to pay. feed and house
100 FBI agents to stand
around and watch white a
handful of anti-government
rednecks thumb their noses
at and play war game* with
the moat powerful nation on
earth, any other action by
the feds would probably
play right into the hands of
the anti-government group
These people can't be
pushed By nature, many
militias and groups like lb#
Montana Freemen are
already intensely paranoid
of big government. They see
a conspiracy In every gov*
ernment-related agency or
event.
But when the government
makes mistakes like it did
with Waco. It just gives little
men like Timothy McVeigh
all the more reason to
believe their illusions and
become blinded by their
hate, and then act on it with
devastating results.
It is better to walk softly,
a* the FBI it now doing, and
carry a big stick.
These good ol’ boys slept
in Sunday school classes
■ OUR OPINION: Deacons
m Thomasville. Ga . need
lo read the»r R<t>tos
It could have lawn a sad
story burled somewhere in
the back pages of a small
newspaper In the 1860s
But it turned out to be a
story that ran on the front
page of almost every news
[taper ac ross the U S., right
uue in 1006.
Deacons of the Barnett
Creek Baptist Church in
lluimasviUe, Ca , rec ently
asked the relatives of a
mixed-race baby girl lhat
had been buried in the
church's all-while cemetery
to exhume the body because
some of the deacon* wanted
only white people them
The head deacon eventu
ally apologised, but the
damage had already been
done.
Even church member*
condemned the deacon*'
actions, and an official with
the Southern Baptist Con
vention went as far as call
ing the racist request an
"embarrassment to the
gospei of Christ ”
The deacons’ request
come* only one year after
Southern Baptists made a
public apology to African
Americans for slavery
Apparently, these particu
lar deacons have never read
the part in the Bible that
says "love your neighbor a*
yourself “
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Easter '9b
Right oppressive
Trent Donelson's critique (OOf. April I) of
Alesandra Berwick's "Fight the Right" letter
(OOF March tit) ignores a very important point
Herwii A s critique oI tin* Right Wing movement
does have merit
Done Ison conveniently ignore* White Ameri
ca's sordid past, electing instead to overlook
hardships endured by American minority groups
for centuries
Mis rhetorical stance seems to me all too
indicative Of a pervasive ideology, not uncom
mon among young White Americans, that
because they themselves did not participate in
past atrocities they have In ease to dismiss dis
tasteful appraisals of our collective past
By Invoking high ideals, i.e his allegiance to
"equality and (he human race" as evidence of his
enlightenment over hit ancestors. Done!son
ignores the amply documented White oppression
of the past This only recreates the American
White habit of disregarding American minority
history, which, in effect, continues an oppression
which sen Is our nation's hiv
Timothy Silva
History
Books too spendy
About three weeks ago. I put up flyers adver
tising various te*1 book* for sale No one tailed I
know people take these classes and need these
books Are people choosing to spend two to three
times as much for the same hook at the book
aims’ Why?
For the last two terms 1 have heard numerous
complaints about this University — OPS. bad
professors, high tuition, elt But the most com
mon complaints are about buying a book and
then only getting back a fraction of the purchase
price Why do we continue to include a middle
man (i.e.. Smith Family and the UO Bookstore)?
I rarely see fliers such as min* on the plethora
of poster hoards on campus. All these complaints
are shallow If the students of this campus truly
care, they will find a way to fi* the problem
My suggestion A Web Site Bookstore perhaps?
Elizabeth A. Kearney
Bwiogy
OSPHttS pitches in
I came to campus lari September as an Amen
Corps volunteer with Neighborhood Green Corps
working on a project called Stream walk
As one of our national partners, the Oregon
Student Public Interest Research Group adopted
our project. From there. Stream w alk took flight as
the most successful project group on campus
Since last fall, hundreds of students have vol
unteered to do clean ups, stream and habitat
restoration, water quality tests and environ men
tal education — end more than SO students have
participated in OSPIRC's internship program
with Stream walk With manpower like this, we
have been able to collaborate with local organi
sations and agencies like the Nature Conservan
cy. the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Mount Piagah. Wiilamalane Park and Recreation
District and Eugene and Springfield on large
scale projects.
So far. we have pulled more than five tons of
garbage out of local waterways, eradicated thou
sands of invasive plants, planted more than 500
native trees and plants, taught 700 elementary
students about crucial environmental issues and
have monitored and surveyed our river*, streams
and wetlands weekly
More than just the tangible accomplishments.
St ream walk Has offered an opportunity for stu
dents previously unavailable at this level to pilot,
coordinate and participate in active field work
M«*sk! Important. OSPIRC's Stroamwalk proj« t
ha* enabled students to develop and strengthen
links between campus and community.
My hope is ihat this opportunity for students
will continue to be made available OSPIRG is the
group that will make Streamwalk happen now
and in (he future
Deborah Mtkulma
AmenCorps Volunteer
Society still ill
Ideally, if we lived in a country where there
was no racism, prejudice, discrimination or
inequality of any sort, and people did not “judge
people on what they are or where they come
from" as Trent M Done Ison doe* (OEMs. April 1).
we would not need affirmative action, gay and
lesbian rights, reproductive right* or any civil
rights for that matter
However, to think this is so in IW6 is ludi
crous. In actuality, we live in a society infested
with these very same social ills: racism, prejudice
and discrimination These are as vivid today as
they ever have been And unfortunately, they
seem to be most perpetuated by the conserva
tives, Republicans and Christians who are striv
ing to take away and diminish protective right*
for the oppressed, women, minorities and gays.
In this great country of freedom and opportu
nity. all persons do not have equal Ufa chances
Because of rat*, sex ami sexual orientation, along
with our glorious history of slavery and oppres
sion. people are negated equal opportunity
These social ills are massive, and they can only
be remedied through heavy, constant and aggrvs
five litigation and protest. U is exactly for this
reason that we must rise out of our apathy and
fight back against the forces that wish to eternal
ize social inequality. The San Francisco "March
to Fight the Right" event Is a clear means to do
this and should be supported and encouraged by
all persons that believe in true social justice
CieudU A Viiiena
Socsoiogy