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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 13, 1997)
T EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Steven Asbury MANAGING EDITOR: Thom Schoenbom NIGHT EDITOR: Thom Schoenbom EDITORIAL EDITORS: Ashley Bach & Brian Diamond v" '_s asss editorials, letters, commentary and perspective m NEWSROOM: E (541)346-5511 5 DISPLAY ADVERTISING: ■ (541)346-3712 BUSINESS OFFICE: ■j (541) 346-5512 * CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: M (541)346-4343 In foreign affairs, ignorance isn’t bliss ■ OUR OPINION: Being informed about what is going on around the world is an important responsibility of living in a democracy While Americans debate the Clintons’ role in White water, a bloody rebellion is devastating the na tion of Zaire. While we ponder the effects of clear-cutting on the Oregon landscape, an earthquake kills 2,000 in Iran. i All around the world, uprisings, revolutions and his toric events are taking place. And for the majority of us, they’re a complete mystery. Most people just don’t know a thing about foreign affairs — but they i should. I It’s not hard to understand why most people i don’t keep up on foreign affairs. The revolutions of |j Third World countries don’t seem to have a direct S impact on a college student’s daily life. With half ■ the population not voting in local elections, expect- 1 ing people to keep informed about what’s going on * thousands of miles across the ocean is a bit unrealis tic. In addition, foreign aftairs are hard to understand. Because we live in one of the most prosperous nations in the world, relating to the causes of starving countries isn’t easy. When there hasn’t been a war fought on our soil since the Civil War, imagining what it’s like to live in a war torn country is almost impossible. However, despite the complexities of foreign affairs, it is important for the average citizen to keep up on what’s going on in the world. If not just for general knowledge, for the fact that what happens in Africa and Central America can, and inevitably does affect everyone’s lives eventually. Our nation has a long, and somewhat less than admirable, history of meddling in other nation’s affairs. Unfortunately, most Americans have no clue what’s going on until it esca lates into a full-blown conflict (e.g. Vietnam). One of the reasons our country has been so active S around the world is that most citizens don’t keep up on foreign affairs. When people don’t know what’s going on around the world, they can’t protest how the government is dealing with ioreign events. And when this happens, the gov ernment has virtually free reign to do as it pleases, never hav ing to deal with or justify actions to the uneducated public. This has obvious and unfortunate consequences. For one thing, the U.S. government is acting around the globe in ways that the general public may or may not support. In addition, events tak ing place around the world now could be the grounds for future U.S. involvement. If people don’t understand these events, they won’t be able to evaluate what role they think the United States should play in them. Foreign affairs is one of the only roles of government in which public opinion plays little role in affecting policy. In a democratic society, this is unacceptable. It is the public’s responsibility to be come informed on affairs around the world. After all, as members of this country, we have a right to know what actions the leaders of our nation are doing outside our bor ders and to decide whether or not we approve of them. The events , - of the world do affect us. It’s time to get informed. JP This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. * CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald WINNERS “SEINFELD" CAST Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards (a.k.a. Elaine, George and Kramer) settled on a new contract last week with NBC. KEN KESEY The 1960s Merry Prankster is the subject of new publicity after his “Further" bus ar rived at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week. DAN QUAYLE The former vice presi dent is building his forces for a 2000 presi dential run, and is gen erating a lot of buzz in the process. MOBUTUSESESEKO The president of Zaire baffled many when he returned to his war-torn country Saturday af ter a meeting abroad. FAA The Federal Aviation Administration is under fire once again in the wake of the one-year an niversary of the ValuJet crash. BOBWHITSITT The Trail Blazers president fired coach P.J. Carlesimo last week, but according to a public opinion poll, it may be Whitsitt who should have been terminated. GARRY KASPAROV The world champion lost Sunday to Deep Blue in the final game of their six-game se ries, giving the super computer the series victory. EUGENE According to a May 11 Register-Guard arti cle, University graduates are leaving the Emerald City in droves for the greener pas tures of Portland. Elitist I us ■ ■ BY MAIL: P.O.Box 3159, | Eugene, OR 97403 ■ BY PHONE: (541)346-5511 ■ BYE-MAIL: ode@oregon. uoregon. edu ■ IN PERSON: Suite 300, EMU LETTERS Rice reality I couldn’t help but notice the other day that our presi dent, Dave Frohnmayer, is a racist because he said that people from eastern Asia eat rice. Great googly moogly, call in an ethics probe! Ap parently, our president is pa tronizing our foreign student contingent by providing them with familiar foods to their native diet. For one, I don’t see any racial statement being made here, whether it be intention al or not. You might even find out that the statement made is true; people of “Oriental” na tions do eat a lot of rice. They eat a lot of fish too, and they’re healthier for it. So why is it so bad to say they do? In trying to find the flaw in Frohnmayer’s statement, I tried to put this story in a dif ferent context. Let’s say I was studying in Korea. Let’s also say that a large majority of the dishes there involved rice. (Please don’t put any signs up about me for saying that.) Here’s the catch: I hate rice. But then the president of the university comes out and says: “In the interest of bring ing a more diverse menu to our international students, we have decided to set up a barbecue pit next to the cafe teria. We think the Americans will like this.” If anything, I’d thank the man. What I’m seeing here is an other example of University students searching desperate ly for a cause that just isn’t there. Look, we’re not our parents’ generation. The Uni versity of 30 years ago had a lot more to protest. What do we have? I’ll be damned. The presi dent said that Asians eat rice. That calls for another takeover of Johnson Hall, don’t you think? Guy Barker Sociology Wrong way I’m a little aggravated by this whole MEChA/Garden burger controversy. Regard less of what MEChA thinks, the students in University Housing do want Garden burgers on the menu. Over a two-month period, 702 Gar denburgers were sold as op posed to 386 other vegetarian burgers. A little math here and we get 316 more Garden burgers sold. It seems to me that if students really didn’t want Gardenburgers like MEChA claims, they would n’t outsell other vegetarian burgers. Maybe MEChA’s cause is good, but it’s been going about it wrong since day one. I used to be on the President’s Council for Hamilton Com plex. It was there that I first became aware of MEChA and the Gardenburger issue. MEChA’s original claims were very vague and lacked detail. They asked the Presi dent’s Council and Residence Hall Governance Committee to support them, even though the groups were confused on what exactly their support would entail. What it all boils down to is this and only this: whether students choose to eat Gar denburgers or not is a deci sion that should be made by the individual, not the insti tution. I hope that MEChA’s continuing campaign will fo cus on this. Erik Talbert Journalism
