T EDITORIAL
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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
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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