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EDITOR IN- HIEF
Sarah Kickler
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Mike Schmierbach
NIGHT EDITOR
Nicole Krueger
The media should he
focusing on whether the
president is a felon instead
of digging up irrelevant dirt
Did he or didn’t he?
Yes, we are talking
about President Clinton
and the scandal that has
been the focus of many conversa
tions in the nation this week. But
we aren't asking if Clinton had a re
lationship with former White
House intern Monica Lewinsky, be
cause that is not the heart of the is
sue. We are asking whether the
president suggested Lewinsky lie
under oath — whether the Presi
dent of the United States committed
a federal offense.
Ah, yes. The perjury issue. Re
member that one? It seems to have
gotten lost in the rage of headlines
like “Classmates recall boast of
earlier affair” (Oregonian, Jan. 25)
and “Lewinsky may have forged
letter, college says” (Oregonian,
Jan. 26) and interviews on the lo
cal news with Lewinsky’s neigh
bors and former classmates at
AN EMERALD EDITORIAL
Lewis and Clark College.
Scandal always seems to get the
attention of the media and of the
people, and this is a scandal with
massive implications if it is found
that Clinton did indeed suggest that
Lewinsky lie under oath. But it
seems that the media have been fol
lowing the road of the tabloids, dig
ging up dirt on everyone involved
under the guise of seeking the truth,
burying the issue of perjury in the
meantime.
What is getting buried concur
rently while all this is going on?
Perjury and obstruction of justice
are federal, and thus impeachable,
offenses. The implications of im
peachment or resignation are far
more important to the day-to-day
functioning of the United States
than whether the president had an
affair. (Not that we are condoning
that sort of behavior.) Where are the
examinations of how the country
will function in the event that Clin
ton is removed or steps down from
office?
Other issues are also getting over
shadowed by the large headlines
and head shots of Clinton, Lewin
sky, Kenneth Starr, Vernon Jordan
and Linda Tripp.
In the story in the bottom left cor
ner of Sunday’s Register-Guard, we
find the following: “White House
officials said a countdown to a mili
tary strike could begin as soon as
Ramadan — the Muslim holy
month of fasting — ends Friday.”
In a twist that makes the writers
of the film “Wag the Dog” look psy
chic, a potential military situation
starts brewing. Clinton would prob
ably like to see real life follow the
plot a bit more and have rumors of
war obliterate reports of the sex
scandal. But, unlike in the movie,
reports of the possibility of war
have not knocked the sex scandal
off the front page. Rather, the oppo
site seems to have happened.
The article goes on, “The White
House meeting came as a consensus
emerged in the president’s national
security staff that Iraq would never
comply with the U.N. inspectors,
and that smart bombs and cruise
missiles may be needed to destroy
Saddam’s hidden potential to build
crude weapons of mass destruc
tion.”
Another casualty of the scandal
was Clinton’s discussion of his pro
posal to crack down on Medicare
fraud. The main point of his plan is
to prevent overcharging “of every
thing from drugs to wheelchairs by
medical suppliers” (Register-Guard,
Jan. 25). He says his steps will save
Medicare $2 billion over five years.
This, too, seems pretty significant,
but in the most packed news week
in recent history, it got lost.
No one knows what really hap
pened between Lewinsky and Clin
ton except for Lewinsky and Clin
ton. While the media will continue
to speculate until the truth comes
out, remember the real question to
ask: Is he or isn’t he ... a felon?
This editorial represents the opinion
of the Emerald editorial hoard.
Responses may he sent to ode@oregon
uoregon.edu.
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JOHN GLENN
SPACE WALKER
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Uphold decision
Editor’s note: This is an open letter to
University President Dave Frohnmayer.
With respect to the recent decision by
the Appeals Committee to uphold the
finding in the Danta Graham-Preston case
that he was in violation of the Student
Conduct Code, we would like to encour
age you to stand by these decisions and
findings which have essentially been
made four times now. We believe in the
process which has been established by
students and faculty, and we believe that
the process has been followed thoroughly
to the end with the results essentially be
ing the same every time.
The sanctions ultimately handed down
need to be strengthened now by your sig
nature. We feel that anything less than cat
egorical acceptance of these sanctions
would seriously undermine the integrity
of the system that we have in place and
would put into question the importance
that the administration puts on the safety
of women on this campus and ultimately
the safety of students in general. The
process is what needs to be upheld now,
and that is what falls onto your shoulders
with this appeal.
We urge you to take this appeal and
place your endorsement on the final deci
sion that was already made. This will
send a clear message to the campus com
munity that feeling comfortable and safe
on this campus is of utmost importance to
you and the administration. Any other de
cision which might lessen any aspect of
these decisions would be a mistake and
would seriously damage student/admin
istration relations.
ASUO President Bill Miner,
Vice President Ben Unger and staff
University should accept ASL
I was pleased to see the front page arti
cle on the University’s lack of acceptance
of American Sign Language as a
second/foreign language requirement
(ODE, Jan. 27). I have been both disturbed
and surprised by this since arriving at the
University. After doing some research on
this subject, 1 found that many universi
ties and colleges across the country (at
least 85) accept ASL as a second/foreign
language for purposes of a degree. Some
of these include Harvard, Yale, NYU,
BYU, USC, Purdue and the entire Univer
sity of California system, just to name a
few. A full list is available at:
http://www.unm.edU/~wilcox/ASLFL/u
nivlist.html.
Often the misconception is that ASL is
English on the hands. Not so; that is an
other signing language called Signed Ex
act English. There is substantial research
in the area of ASL showing that it is in
deed a distinct language. Its syntax is not
the same as spoken English. ASL has its
own rhythm and meaning. Additionally,
the argument is the ASL is not a "foreign”
language. In some universities, Native
American languages such as Navajo are
accepted as “foreign" languages. I guess
we need to define "foreign,” whether this
means a foreign country’s language or a
foreign, unfamiliar language.
Finally, ASL is thought to not have its
own literature or culture. In fact, with the
statistic of 500,000 native signers in Amer
ica, the deaf culture may be the third
largest non-English speaking group in our
country. The literature of ASL includes po
etry, plays, narratives, films, etc.
Hopefully soon, the University of Ore
gon will join the ranks of the other 85 pro
gressive universities in the United States
by accepting ASL as a foreign/second lan
guage. I have chosen ASL as my second
language; I am in good company. And,
with instructors like Jo Larson-Muhr, we
have a wonderful opportunity to learn
from a tremendously talented native sign
er. We at the U of O have a very diverse of
fering of foreign dialects. I think it only
proper to add the third most used language
to them. I urge anyone interested in an ap
peal of the foreign language requirement to
include ASL, or for more information to
contact the Office of Student Advocacy.
Donna M. Oakes
Psychology