Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 2000)
Thursday Editor in chief: Jack Clifford Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard Newsroom: (541) 346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com “Peace In Our Time?” Don’t Count On It CAPTAIN SENSIBLE PAT PAYNE It has been nine years since a coalition of nations, led by the United States and Britain, laid low an Iraqi army that had in vaded Kuwait. It has been at least eight years since sanctions were placed on Iraq because of Saddam Hussein’s intransigence concern ing the fulfillment of the terms of an armistice. Hussein has repeat edly prevented authorities from doing their jobs. Yet, there is no rush to resume the war or at least tighten Hussein’s leash. No, we can’t do that — he’s got oil. And France, Russia and other coalition members see profit in lifting the sanctions and gaining oil conces sions from the Hussein regime. The last few months have seen increasing pressure to lift the sanctions from nations that stand to benefit from trade with Iraq. In fact, France and Russia feel so strongly about lifting the embargo that they have been flying sup plies to Iraq without United Nations ap proval. Even in the United States, think tanks like the American Enter prise Institute are en couraging us to ap pease Hussein a little, so that he’ll give a little back. We would be foolish to lift the sanctions. To do so may invite war. World leaders of Hussein’s temperament don’t play games of compromise. Do you re ally think that by letting him back ipto the world community and giving him what he wants, he’ll behave? Well then, let’s do the time warp again. In September of 1938, leaders of arguably the four most powerful nations in Europe met in Mu nich, Germany, to discuss ten sions regarding the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia. Neville Chamberlain, then the British Prime Minister, and his French opposite number, Edouard Dal adier, both of whom were anxious to avoid a general European war, decided to give Hitler the region. They fervently hoped that the Sude tenland would be Hitler’s last territorial de mand. Chamberlain crowed that the world had achieved “peace in our time.” Only six months later, German troops marched into Prague, total ly dismembering Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain’s peace would last less than one year. On September 1,1939, German armies invaded Poland. Had Britain and France acted to quash Germany’s ambitions in 1935 when Hitler broke the Versailles Treaty, or in 1937 with the annex ation of Austria, or even as late as 1938, history would have been quite different. Ah, what could have been. But by giving Hitler a little in hopes of avoiding battle, what we got was a worse conflict. And appeasement forever entered the lexicon as a code word for kowtowing to a dic tator’s demands for fear of war or for hope of profits. And, again, we’re back to appease ment. Hussein is a new Hitler, writ somewhat smaller. After the Gulf War, Iraq signed an armistice which forced it to give up its nu clear, biological and chemical weapons capabilities. Hussein re fused access to United Nations in spectors sent to check on Iraq’s weaponry and shuffled the stock piles around the country. This was a blatant violation of the armistice agreement, and the U.N. reacted by imposing economic sanctions on the country. I know there are those of you who would argue, and rightfully so, that Hussein is being harmed very little by the embargo, and that it is the citizenry who must take the brunt of the hardship. However, there is little else that Bryan Dixon Emerald we can do other than form anoth er coalition and invade Iraq to force Hussein to destroy his weapons. The thing that we cannot do, as cruel as it is to say, is lift the sanc tions. We can bring in medical supplies for the people, but we can’t allow another dinar to enter Hussein’s coffers until he decides to follow the agreement he signed. Lifting the sanctions, removing the U.N. inspectors and hoping Hussein will behave is the same kind of bury-your-head-in-the sand thinking Chamberlain dis played. When dealing with tyrants, “peace in our time” isn’t. The world should have learned that af ter Hitler. Pat Payne is a columnist for the Oregon Daily Emerald. His views do not necessari ly represent those of the Emerald. He can be reached at Macross_SD@hotmail.com. Bringing back the Bicycle Taxi would benefit us all Guest Commentary Ben Andrews Fun, free, environmentally responsible'transportation for all. Sounds pretty good, eh? For the last two and a half years, the Bicycle Taxi provided just that kind of service to the University community. After the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, David Niles, a bicycle enthusiast, brought the program to the University. He came to Eu gene because he saw the impor tance of bicycles to this city, and he wanted to make responsible transportation even more accessi ble. The Department of Public Safety (OPS at that time) adminis trates transportation issues on campus, and thus David Niles’ Bi cycle Taxi program was placed under its jurisdiction. At the end of spring term 2000, David Niles left OPS, and since then, the Bicycle Taxi has been unable to provide a valuable and needed transportation alternative to students. The taxi benefits all members of the University. Last year, students who need to be picked up from the Greyhound or Amtrak stations could call Bi cycle Taxi and have a ride within 15 minutes. The taxi provided an alternative to the other university transportation services, such as DDS and Saferide. When Bicycle Taxi was operating, students who were not intoxicated vet tempted to call DDS for a ride home could choose to call the taxi. Students w:ho wpuld opt to call Sa'fefijip \ also had an alternative in the Bi cycle Taxi. Because the use of these two valuable programs is ex tensive and there can often be a wait before pick-up, many stu dents came to rely upon the Bicy cle Taxi for their evening com mutes. Perhaps the most important as pect of the Bicycle Taxi program was that it provided service dur ing the day. This daytime service was primarily for injured or dis abled students who had difficulty making it on time from one class to the next. The taxi was the only program that could assist these students. Now, without the pro gram, injured and disabled stu dents have little or no assistance to and from their classes and homes. The most attractive part of rein stating the Bicycle Taxi program is that the University already has the pedicab. The pedicab, last year’s most visible piece of the program, is the big, yellow super-tricycle that transported small groups of students all over Eugene. Many students enjoyed riding the pedi cab, which was easier to ride than a tandem or triplet bicycle and was thought by more than few to resemble a romantic carriage. When former Bicycle Taxi em ployees and riders learned that the program would no longer be running, an effort was started to bring the program back. The Bicy cle Taxi Advocates have been meeting regularly to re-establish the taxi. Now we are asking for your support. On Thursday and Friday, Nov. 16 and 17, we will be tabling in the EMU Amphitheater. At this time, we will have a state ment of support available for you to sign. Only with your support can we convince the department that owns the pedicab of the impor tance of the Bicycle Taxi to the University community. Let’s make sure that the pedicab is used for its intended purpose: providing fun, free, environmentally respon sible transportation to all. Ben Andrews is a geology student and a member of Bicycle Taxi Advocates. CORRECTION Junior fencing club member Jason Washburn was misidentified in an article on club sports [“Hockey skates by Idaho with ease," ODE, Nov. 15]. The Emerald regrets the error.
