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EDITOR IN CHIEF
Ryan Frank
EDITORIAL EDITORS
Kameron Cole
Stefanie Knowlton
Student riots in Indonesia
put University problems in
perspective
JL. ered at Atma Jaya Uni
versity in Jakarta, Indonesia, to
protest anti-democracy govern
ment legislation.
When some of the students
started uprooting street signs
and throwing things at the mass
of police that had gathered, the
police reacted.
Sound familiar? Well, of
course it does, it is a scenario al
most identical to the one that
played itself out Halloween
night on the streets of Eugene.
There are some major differ
ence, though. For one, when the
Indonesian students gathered in
the streets, they were doing it to
advocate the democratization of
their country. And when the
clash with the police was over,
10 people were dead and hun
dreds more were injured.
By and large, we are pretty
comfortable with the life we live.
The chance that this country will
see a large scale revolution dur
ing our lifetime is pretty low.
Still, it is admirable to see oth
er people do it, especially people
our age. Students are the driving
force behind much of the politi
cal reform sweeping through In
donesia toady. Friday’s violence
|his past Friday, thou
sands of protesters,
mostly students, gath
was only the latest incident re
lated to that movement. Last
May, more than 1,000 people
were killed in rioting that erupt
ed after two students were shot
by the military at Trisakti Uni
versity. This lead to the much
publicized ousting of President
Suharto.
Watching these events unfold,
we can’t help but feel even more
embarrassed by the unruly be
havior of our peers. Indeed, if the
Halloween riots showed us any
thing, it was that we might just
have it too good here. The fact
that people here were driven to
revolt not by tyranny but by beer
says more about the American
character than anything written
by Thomas Jefferson ever could.
This is not to say, however,
that we in anyway envy the situ
ation of our Indonesian counter
parts. We are, for better or worse,
Americans, and that means it’s a
good thing that our country is
relatively stable socially and
economically.
The issues students are facing
in Indonesia are not our issues,
but they can serve as an inspira
tion and a reminder not to take
our freedom for granted.
We should not be ashamed of
our privilege; that’s a dangerous
trap to fall into. But we shouldn’t
abuse it either.
This editorial represents the opin
ion of the Emerald editorial board.
Responses may he sent to ode@ore
gon.uoregon.edu
Said
&Done
"l wouldn’t
miss it for the
world”
-Brenda
Solomon, on the
upcoming exe
cution of Ken
neth Allen Mc
Duff, the man
convicted ot
murdering her
daughter in
Texas six years
These people
loved the South.
They weren’t
looking for some
Yankees to come
down here and
save them.”
-Herman
White, main lec
turer tor a class
at Randolph
Community Col
lege in Virginia,
speaking ot
slaves.
“We remain
poised to act if
there is any evi
dence that Iraq
will not honor the
unconditional
commitments
they made over
the weekend . The
reconfiguration
of forces has en
abled us to act
quickly and deci
sively. There is
no middle
ground for Sad
dam Hussein any
more."
-Whits House
spokesman Joe
Lockhart on the
possibility of
conflict with
Iraq.
-AU,WV! SO YOU
REALLY ARE
the FATHER
TOUR COUNTRY/
I MORE REPUDIATION...
MONICA LEWINSKY
; WON A HOUSE SEAT...