EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
Steven Asbury
MANAGING EDITOR:
Thom Schoenbom
NIGHT EDITOR:
Thom Schoenbom
EDITORIAL EDITORS:
Ashley Bach & Brian Diamond
*' \
s' \
, •
:
ill li
editorials, letters, commentary and perspective
NEWSROOM:
(541)346-5511
DISPLAY ADVERTISING:
(541)346-3712
BUSINESS OFFICE:
(541)346-5512
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING:
(541) 346-4343
Exploitation can’t be ignored
Until people face up to problem
in the world and respect life,
suffering will remain
We were all kids
once. And for
those of us who
didn’t have to
wonder if enough food would
be around for the next meal or
worry that a parent would use
a wooden spoon or a belt to
take out frustrations again or
sumeumig
worse, life
was good.
We knew
how to live
— have
fun, play,
laugh.
Somehow,
when we
grew up,
most of us
lost that
and learned a new way of life
— exploit, kill, take more. And
if that seems a bit extreme, look
around.
Who made those shoes
you’re wearing? Well-fed Mex
icans or Koreans who work
eight-hour days and receive
two weeks of paid vacation
and all the benefits, including
health and dental insurance?
Probably not. Instead, we
should be asking which sweat
shop your stereo came from —
one in the United States or one
in China? Who worked in a fac
tory with a temperature over
100 degrees so that you could
eat canned soup for lunch?
The product of exploitation
is everywhere around us, and
we just keep buying. Why? Are
we too concerned with our lit
tle corner of the world to think
about where the things we buy
come from and whether the
person who made it will get
the reward he or she deserves?
Are we so scared to face what’s
going on in the world that in
stead we choose to ignore it?
Of course, our society and
the rest of the world don’t ig
nore all problems. A friend of
mine recently pointed out that
another way the world deals
with people that it doesn’t like
is to kill them. If a woman is
pregnant and doesn’t want the
baby, hey, why not kill the
baby? Of course, some people
don’t approve of doctors per
forming abortions, so people
just take the doctors’ lives too.
If a group of people have differ
ent religious views, well, why
not just shoot them or kill them
off by some other equally effec
tive method? Some people
standing in the way of a coun
try acquiring more land? Get
rid of them.
Why must we kill? Why
can’t we agree to disagree? The
adults of the world should be
mature enough and wise
enough to see that nearly all
our problems begin in our own
backyards. We begin by teach
ing our children they are sec
ond class citizens “because I
said so.” Instead of teaching
tolerance, we teach that being
different is unsavory. If some
one is not of “our kind,” we tell
ourselves it’s okay to exploit
him or her. The earth is slowly
being changed into a waste
land, and it is populated most
ly by people who have had
their human rights taken away
by the small percentage of peo
ple who run the world.
If everyone acknowledges
the problems the adults before
us created, then we can start to
piece together a solution. Re
specting all life is the first step
to ending exploitation and
murder. That means we re
spect human beings from all
countries, religions, sexual ori
entations, as well as people
with disabilities and others
who are different from our
selves. If children can appreci
ate the beauty of a flower or a
song, then perhaps we adults
can appreciate and respect the
value that every human being
possesses.
Only humans can solve
these problems that humans
have created. It is time to open
our eyes.
Laura Daniel, a junior major
ing in biology, is a columnist
for the Emerald. Her views do
not necessarily represent those
of the newspaper. E-mail:
moonpie@
gladstone.uoregon.edu
LETTERS
Civil debate
Regarding Colin Campell’s reply to my
letter concerning the so-called “rampant”
use of LSD on campus, I was disappointed
to find that, instead of offering a reasoned,
civil, critique of my position, he decided to
wallow in insults and ad hominem attacks
(ODE, April 2).
If Colin indeed works at the Counseling
Center, I hope he considers finding a line
of work which would make better use of
his talents in the area of potty humor.
I think that we should indeed insist on
evidence from policemen when they make
wild claims. To ignore the results of a sur
vey done by health care professionals in fa
vor of unsubstantiated propaganda from a
cop is not what I call reason. The “drug
war” is consuming ever larger quantities of
treasure and lives, and to swallow uncriti
cally anything a policeman says on this
topic would be ludicrous and irresponsi
ble on the part of an informed citizenry.
One acid freak-out in the dorms does not
constitute a huge problem. I maintain that
whatever problems arise from the use of
drugs in our society should be treated as a
medical problem, and a problem of infor
mation, not as a legal problem.
This means getting the cops off the “drug
war” sugar-tit, and getting them out there
solving real crimes. We are imprisoning
our citizens at an alarming rate, for viola
tions of idiotic, ineffective and constitu
tionally dangerous laws.
You do yourself no favor by trading in
insults, Colin. I invite you to write again in
response, if you find yourself able to dis
agree in a civil manner, as befits a member
of a civil society.
Joseph Renaud
Germanic Languages
Drug virtues
I sincerely hope that when Colin Camp
bell writes to us from “counseling ser
vices,” he does so as a part of either the
clerical or janitorial staff, because I would
sooner share my life’s dilemmas with a
stranger on the bus than with someone
who conveys such an antagonistic de
meanor and erratic logic as he does in his
April 2 letter to the Emerald editor.
Whether it’s smoking, drinking, eating,
watching or playing at something habitu
ally, what I find qualifies a behavior as
abusive is when that activity is used as a
repeated distraction from doing the work
that’s needed both within us and around
us. Psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin
mushrooms and peyote do not induce a
state of denial; on the contrary, they tend
to highlight and magnify both the painful
and joyful elements of one's life.
Call it ritual, religion or simply healing.
It’s certainly not something that started in
“the Sixties.” Tribes all over the world
have used psychedelics as part of their
rites of transformation since the dawn of
civilization. In speaking up for their poten
tial as such, I do not deny that problems
with addictions exist in our community.
Nor do I claim that psychedelics represent
the only path to enlightenment, freedom,
salvation, etc.
But I do claim that they are both less ad
dictive and physically less debilitating
than cracking one’s knuckles, and also that
the Constitution guarantees my right to
heal, be spiritual, or pursue happiness in
any way 1 see fit, so long as I respect the
rights of others. I invite Mr. Campbell to of
fer any evidence to the contrary and to pre
sent a rebuttal worthy of a university pub
lication, instead of falling back on such
rhetorical device as calling my opinion
“crap” or suggesting that I shove some
thing up my ass.
Scotty Perey
Alumnus
WINNERS
MAGIC JOHNSON
While the ex-basketball star is not free of HIV,
according to his doctors, the virus has been
reduced to undetectably small levels.
Dennis Rodman
In addition to being a
pro basketball player,
hosting his own televi
sion show and dab
bling in pro wrestling,
Rodman is now star
ring in the movie
“Double Team" with
Jean Claude Van
Damme.
Mad Magazine
The humor magazine recently celebrated
its 45th anniversary with a new and “unim
proved” look and “an edgier attitude.”
The Hult Center
Measure 47 cutbacks will probably lead to
serious funding cuts forthe entertainment
center.
Jason Priestley
The star of “Beverly Hills 90210” is, by his |
own admission, no longer a teenage heart- 1
throb but “the celebrity of yesteryear." |
THETOBACCO INDUSTRY
New documents show the tobacco industry
knew the perils of nicotine in the '60s and
also targeted advertisements at specific
ethnic groups.
JAGUAR
JAGUAR
The luxury car company is recalling almost
5,000 of its XK8 sports cars, close to half
the total supply currently being sold.
Eric Clapton
The famous blues
guitarist was fined
$480 for driving 101
mph — his third of
fense to date.
CORRECTION
In the April 1 edition of the Emerald, it was
reported that the trip to the Grand Canyon was
sponsored by the Office of International Edu
cation and Exchange. The group that spon
sored the program is the Office of Internation
al Education and the Peer Assistants. The
Emerald regrets the error.