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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1998)
CONTACTING US NEWSROOM: (541)346-5511 ADDRESS: E-MAIL: Oregon Daily Emerald P.O. BOX 3159 ode@oregon uoregon edu Eugene, Oregon 97403 ONLINE EDITION: www uoregon.edu/-ode Perspectives EDITOR IN CHIEF Sarah Kickler EDITORIAL EDITOR Mike Schmierbach NIGHT EDITOR Holly Sanders $$$$,' < < $■_ 4'", 1 j Don’t scrutinize Clinton’s sex life Americans need to worry about policy issues, not personal affairs This is none of your business. It’s none of mine, either. For that matter, Bill Clin ton’s sex life is not the busi ness of anyone other than the presi dent and his wife. For weeks, we’ve heard about the president’s alleged affairs and how the government should not attempt to hide them. We’ve heard how Bill Clinton should be a role model. We’ve heard how the president should just come clean and resign. With all these "shoulds,” many people have failed to notice what President Clinton is: a married man and leader of this country. As a married man, it is Clinton’s duty to handle extramarital affairs with his spouse, not the public. Asa married man, the president’s respect for his wife comes into question, not his ability to run a nation. Asa mar ned man, Clinton is expected to be honest with his family, not just his drinking buddies. Clinton’s job as Commander-in Chief is not much different from his familial one. But these unproven do mestic delinquencies must not tar nish his presidential proficiency. Critics have charged that recent White House feats are attempts to di vert the public from the media blitz surrounding Monica Lewinsky. Re publicans have labeled threats of striking Iraq as a smoke screen to dis tract Americans from the controver sy. And the balanced budget pro posed earlier this week has not received the credit it deserves for the simple reason that it came on the high heels of a White House crisis. But this is not an administration in danger of losing respect. That’s illus trated by some of the highest ap proval ratings since Clinton was elected president. According to an Associated Press article, some con servatives blame this high support on public presumption of Clinton’s innocence. And that’s wrong? The American justice system Jonas Allen prides itself on finding defendants innocent until proven guilty. If con servative guesses are correct, that’s exactly what the public is doing. More importantly, Americans are fo cusing on the promises and accom plishments of the Clinton adminis tration. Although critics claim the bal anced budget proposal and threats to Iraq are distractions, those issues have been around much longer than the recent controversy. A balanced budget has been on Clinton’s agenda since day one of his administration. Military strikes against Iraq have been at the back of everyone’s mind since late 1997. Clinton has proved himself to be a capable leader. He has proposed a balanced budget for 1999, the first time that’s been done in three decades. He has steered this country through international crises and led America to one of its strongest eco nomic periods in years. The man even saw us through the O.J. Simp son trial, for goodness sakes. Several days after the accusations arose, Clinton looked the media straight in the eye and said he did not have sexual relations with Moni ca Lewinsky. He concluded by say ing he was “going to go back to work for the American people.” Bill Clinton has never stopped working for the American people. This nation needs to focus on the president’s proposals to improve the country, not the ones allegedly made to an intern. We need to focus on what this administration has achieved, not the scandals that have tried to bring it to its knees. This is especially important because none of the recent accusations has been proved. Washington, D.C., has seen a whirlwind of White House develop ments in the past few weeks. Clin ton’s critics have blown by his ac complishments and labeled him as a man unfaithful to his wife and coun try. Unless the sexual accusations are actually confirmed, President Clinton has been faithful to his promises, both marital and political. And that’s what should matter to America. Jonas Allen is a columnist for the Emer ald. His columns appear on alternate Friday’s. His views do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emeratd CORRECTION In the campus brief “Senate postpones court appointment” (ODE, Feb. 5), Andrew Oberriter should have been identified as a former con stitutional court justice. The Emerald regrets the error. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Protect all women Since I wrote an article last week for the Oregon Commentator regard ing the Danta Graham-Preston case, I have been actively sought out by several members of the ASUO and complemented on a well-written and thought-out article regarding the sensitive issue of rape on campus. While I want to pat myself on the back for a job well done, I can’t. I must have done something wrong because not one of them appears to understand my article. If there was one fundamental theme that ran throughout the article it was crystal: Campus judicial systems do not pro vide rape victims with any real jus tice, let alone create a safe University community. I thought my logic was clear. But don’t take my word for it: “Indeed, a college or a university should never undertake the adjudi cation of a felony or sexual violence without first reporting the incident to the local police and prosecutor. The duty of every citizen is to report serious crime when he or she be comes aware of it. Nor should schools allow crime victims to dic tate whether a crime is reported to the local police and prosecutor. In the face of serious crime, the greater good must sometimes displace the preferences of the individual.” Who said this? None other than Eileen Wagner, an attorney and for mer college professor who works for Security on Campus, a non-profit or ganization that specializes in pro viding legal defense for victims of rape on college campuses. But if the University wants to let a couple of students and administra tors who think they can come up with a court that is better than what a thousand years of common law tra dition has previously dictated run rampant ... God forbid I get in the way. If Graham-Preston is indeed guilty (and I might add that while it is obvi ous where my sympathy lies in this case, I am deeply concerned about the lack of protection for the accused in the campus court system), he should be in jail. Period. He should not be enrolling in the University of Washington next year, where there are even more available women, not the least of which are a few who happen to be friends of mine. If any thing happens to them, the Univer sity won’t just have blood on their hands, but by the time I’m done with those who are responsible for this abomination, it will be their own. Oh, I’m sorry. Did that sound like a threat? Perhaps not as big a threat as turning an alleged rapist loose on the community. So when the ASUO has a “candle light vigil” at 9 a.m. today to “sup port the victims and the campus ju dicial system,” forgive me if I get a little upset. First, it took anonymous posters saying, “Where is campus support for rape victims?” that made the ASUO look bad before they sprang into action. Second, you can’t have it both ways — if you support the campus judicial system, you’re not delivering any justice to the vic tims who have to go through the agony of another appeal, nor are you protecting the other women on cam pus and the community at large. The idea is about as incongruous as, well, a candlelight vigil at 9 a.m. Made Hemingway Editor, Oregon Commentator
