Letters to the editor
GAP sickens students
Justice For All wants to try again
to completely disturb and disrupt its
fellow students by bringing the
Genocide Awareness Project back to
campus next year with the intention
of making it an annual event. Did
JFA not learn its lesson and realize
how damaging and threatening the
GAP presentation was? They do not
realize that students were not only
mentally and emotionally troubled
by the graphic display but were also
physically ill and unable to attend
their classes. The GAP presentation
also inconvenienced University
child care because of the inappro
priate location of GAP: in the mid
dle of campus. Is this really some
thing JFA wants to inflict onto its
campus, again?
The tactics of GAP did not work
to get people discussing the issue
of abortion, as JFA claimed it
would. Instead, it simply enraged
people. And furthermore, the GAP
presentation was not even a factual
presentation of abortion, but it was
instead a far stretch of attempting
to correlate the atrocity of genocide
with a woman’s right of obtaining
the legal and safe medical proce
dure of abortion.
I strongly encourage JFA to re
consider its plans of bringing GAP
back to campus. Wasn’t the stu
dents negative response to GAP
last fall proof enough that the dis
play should never come back? The
presence of GAP on campus creat
ed a lot of division and hostility.
This tension on campus has done
nothing but prevent further educa
tion on the issue of reproductive
health. An education, after all, is
why we are at the University.
Corina Alexander
political science, women’s studies
Christians wasting energy
I appreciate the recent eagerness
of Ryan and friends to share with
us the faith that they hold dear to
themselves. And I too honor Jesus
Christ (balanced, of course, with a
sense of Buddhist ecofeminism).
However, I am at direct odds with
post-modern Christian faith.
I contend that the term “Christ
ian Right” is paradoxical. A profit
driven economy cannot be openly
supported by the values of loving
God. Too much life is being ex
ploited by the system that many
Christians willingly adhere to. I
have heard no loud Christian
voice resisting the timber industry,
genetically modified foods or
sweatshop abuse. All of these are
cases of the profound rampant
everyday exploitation of “God’s
creation.”
Christians now waste energies
fighting homosexuals and abor
tion, while entire cultures are be
ing eradicated by globalized capi
talism. We have the responsibility
of challenging, and even jeopard
izing, our status (mostly middle
class white Americans) for God’s
will. It is all too comfortable to
point fingers at things that do not
directly effect our d^ily lives. Our
efforts would be best directed at
defying the military budget, not
teenage mothers. It is a sacrifice to
defy a regime. Our lives are at
stake when we do so. It is weak to
accost a child.
Christ was revolutionary. He
challenged the fundamental na
ture of the system he was born into
by devoting his life to spreading a
message of simplicity, humility
and faith. He challenged the greed
of the Roman Empire and was cru
cified for it. Society today is equal
ly repressive. Resist; Christ did.
Nick Vaughan
music
University is political
Until now, I have personally de
cided to stay out of the fray regard
ing the University’s recent deci
sion to join the Worker Rights
Consortium and Nike CEO Phil
Knight's announcement that he
was no longer going to “donate"
money to the University. However,
I must respond to one phrase that
has been used repeatedly in re
gard to this issue: “The University
should not have assunied a politi
cal position in this matter ...”
I wonder if any people who have
used this phrase in their letters
and/or comments have actually
taken the time to sit down and
think about what they are saying.
Regardless of what position the
University would have taken in de
ciding whether or not to join the
WRC, that decision would have re
flected a political position. If, ac
cording to the anti-WRC crowd,
the University would not have
joined the WRC, then we would
not have this “problem" now.
Granted, but would we rather bear
the guilt on our shoulders with the
knowledge that we are being irre
sponsible with our privilege by
simply ignoring the mistreatment
of others? Do we really want to
pimp out our University to the
highest corporate bidder? Support
ing the status quo is a very politi
cal position to take.
Christina Humbert
sociology, political science
Frohnmayer insulted Knight
I got a kick out of your editorial
(ODE, April 28). I agree with you, I
do not blame the students for their
decision. However, here is my big
problem. Why does a state-funded
institution have the right or reason
to join a political group? What is
the University going to next? En
dorse political candidates?
Why does the University feel it
needs to join the Worker Rights
Consortium? The University is not
privately owned; it is supported
by taxpayers, alumni and boosters.
For this reason, it should be strict
ly apolitical! If students want to
protest or join the WRC by them
selves, then more power to them.
But the University, unless private
ly owned, should not be involved
in politics or religion.
And one last thing I found very
funny: Because of University Pres
ident Dave Frohnmayer’s busy
travel schedule, he regretted not
being able to contact Nike CEO
Phil Knight prior to his decision to
join the WRC. Hasn’t Mr. Frohn
mayer ever heard of a cell phone
or e-mail? This lame excuse is
nothing more than a slap in the
face to Mr. Knight. The truth
would have been better.
Christopher R. Pellico
University graduate, 1983
Figures incorrect
When it comes to understanding
the concerns of sweatshop workers
(i.e. barely subsistence living, forced
birth control and abortion, constant
fatigue and harassment, two bath
room breaks during a 14 to 16 hour
work day and relentless political, so
cial and mental oppression), we, liv
ing relatively cozily in Eugene, are
all naive. The protesters outside of
Johnson Hall as well as other stu
dents, faculty and administrators
across the United States understand
the complexity of this issue and
have been doing considerable re
search (including the reform poli
cies being carried out by Nike) in
drafting their various licensee codes
of conduct. I have personally
learned first-hand (during a trip to
Indonesia in September of 1999)
from Reebok and Nike about the
hardships they face. I have shared
my experience with the Licensee
Code of Conduct Committee and
many students.
One letter claimed that, “COV
ERCO does monitoring for the
[Worker Rights Consortium]” and
the University membership to the
WRC will cost us “$50,000” (ODE,
April 24). If the author would have
looked more closely at the WRC
Web page, he would have noticed
that COVERCO and the other mon
itoring bodies are listed there for
readers to do further comparison
research if they so desire; these or
ganization do not monitor for the
WRC, however. The annual WRC
membership fee for the University
is $3,000.
Agatha Schmeadick
Licensee Code of Conduct Commit
tee and Human Rights Alliance
member
Music world changing
Oh what a sad, black day that a
musician would have to play a live
concert to receive a paycheck. How
obscene to deny Capitol, Virgin,
even Def Jam their eternal skim
mings of profit. Intellect is proper
ty, and property has owners and
owners must be paid to own.
The Internet provides an exciting
venue to distribute and sell for the
marketeers of the brave new capital
ism. Unfortunately, there is no store
door to lock, no security guard to
watch the thief/customer, no cash
register to collect the purchases.
Distribution becomes dissemi
nation, and soon the printed word
is freed from the page, then the
recorded event is freed from the
confinement of the recording. For
every Napster that is destroyed, 10
million Nutellas are born. My ad
vice to the
recording/software/publishing
world is finding a new way be
cause your day is nearly done.
Gary Malcolm
CIS