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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 2001)
Newsroom: (541) 346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union PO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com Online Edition: www.dailyemerald.com Editor in Chief: Jessica Blanchard Managing Editor: Michael J. Kleckner Editorial Editor: Julie Lauderbaugh Assistant Editorial Editor: Jacquelyn Lewis Letters to the editor West, Islamic world need perspective Those who have learned history from the point of view of the West would likely be surprised if they read Amin Maaloufs book, “The Crusades Through Arab Eyes.” While the English word “crusade” means an enterprise filled with high ideals and heroic deeds, the people living in the countries that represented the military objectives of the crusaders saw the Crusades as for eign invasions to be repulsed as quickly as possible. The long history of strife between Christianity and Islam has created two conflicting collective memories. Past con frontations have produced the two communities of “Islam” and “the West” and have caused the West to view Islam as a source of antagonism. Muslims are aware of the decline of the Islamic world since the Renaissance. Looking at the world from the exact opposite perspective, Muslims feel themselves under attack from the West; there is a sense from both camps of being under siege (see Graham E. Fuller and Ian O. Lesser, “A Sense of Siege”). The opposite sides have an ignorance about the experience and perspectives of the other camp. A solution to conflict not based simply on superior force requires people to use empathy and imagination in an attempt to figure out how their antago nists see things. Everything depends on your point of view. Milton Takei Master’s degree, Class of ’92 Eugene Emerald should show respect for Springfield It was with sad amazement that I read the Emerald edito rial, “Eugene healing needs to begin” (ODE, 10/01). What were you thinking? Painting Springfield residents as low-class folks who | spend their time driving around in pick-up trucks with monster wheels undermines any message of healing. At a j time when community, in the broadest sense, is so impor tant to all of us, cheap shots, ridicule and misinformation are unacceptable. We must all work harder to find common I ground, bring our hearts and minds into our efforts and re sist the temptation to label anyone as “less than” or “other.” For the record, students, faculty, staff and administrators who call Springfield home contribute daily to the success of the University. They teach and attend classes, participate in our governance, plan, attend programs and solve a myriad of problems on behalf of our community. They work across our entire campus — in our buildings, academic depart ments, residence halls and, yes, in Johnson Hall and the EMU. They are an integral part of the teamwork keeping our campus warm, welcoming and working. There is no “shame” in being born in Springfield. Can you understand the damage that such a remark causes? Does it not occur to you that in making such statements it is your in tegrity and credibility that suffers? The University of Oregon is a state institution, not a city college. Our local home is the Eugene/Springfield metropol itan region. The city leadership of Springfield is a valued partner as we strategize and work with other public entities to solve problems around local, state and federal issues, public safety, economic development, diversity, transporta tion and more. The University community works hard to provide a safe, inclusive, respectful environment for everyone; we expect and deserve more from our campus journalists. Jan Oliver associate vice president for institutional affairs University of Oregon Tips for cyclists Cyclists new to Eugene shouldn't have to learn the following the hard way [by accident!): • Bike lanes are one-way • Sidewalk cyclists yield to everyone else • Trust no driver—consider yourself invisible, night and day • Hang up your “cellys.’^snuff out your “ciggys,” keep your hands near die brakes. Go play in traffic! GaryTrendler junior art How do you feel about the military action? The Emerald encourages all voices to express their concerns about this sensitive topic and its implications in the future. All letters are limited to 250 words and guest commentaries are limited to 550 words. Letters and commentaries can be sent to Ietters@daily8merald.com. Campuses Speak Out College campuses across the nation are stunned by the air strikes the United States began against Afghanistan on Sunday. Here are a few of the re actions from college newspapers: Where’s the other news? The news is dominated, as it should be, by the reverberations around the world from the attacks on America. The front page always in cludes the big developments in this ongoing dilemma for that day. But can't some news exist outside this right now? Is it possible that every piece of news has been touched by the events of the 11th? Is there such a thing as an isolated event? The biggest news of late is that George W. Bush has sent $320 mil lion dollars in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. We're flying dangerous missions through possible Taliban anti-aircraft fire and desert storms that spring from nowhere to bring supplies into this impoverished na tion. Why? Well, there is poverty, disease and starvation. Yes, that's all true but that's not really, really why. The real reason is that we’re trying to butter up these guys in the Middle East and widen the divide between the people of Afghanistan and the Taliban. Chris Townsend FSView & Florida Flambeau (Florida State U.) Media mustn’t settle fora press release war Sure, there are humanitarian justi fications for the bombings. Some 7.5 million lives are at risk from starva tion or exposure. Not that we expect cruise missiles and high ordinance explosions to abate the famine in Afghanistan. Not that we expect any of the aid packages we drop to be dis tributed. Nor should we expect more success in Afghanistan than in hu manitarian actions in Somalia. We run the risk of dropping food and blankets on people who need other things — like infrastructure and sustainable agriculture. Air dropping supplies is a patchwork so lution to systemic problems and may even create refugees while exposing recipients to further repression. So, we're at war. At this point, what we must do is challenge the press to refuse to settle for Pentagon press re leases. The media should be free to in vestigate and interrogate the practices of our government. Citizens inside and outside the university communi ty should explore and debate U.S. for eign policy, including the rationale of training men like Osama bin Laden. Staff Editorial Daily Texan (U. Texas-Austin) U.S. must use force cautiously The Taliban asked bin Laden to leave, but did not give him to U.S. au thorities. The training camps re mained open. And Sunday, U.S. forces responded with military action. U.S. officials moved cautiously, and for this they should be com mended. They didn't cave in to the cries for Afghan blood. Instead they were methodical about making sure of bin Laden's involvement and the safe haven the Taliban was provid ing. Sunday's strikes were calculated and aimed at Afghanistan's military, rather than its innocent civilians. Now, the United States needs to re main just as cautious as before. Our government must continue to act with jurisprudence. If we stop using good judgment, this conflict will turn into a politically motivated coup rather than a justified retaliation. Staff Editorial Kentucky Kernel (U. Kentucky) Country’s response is becoming vigilantism The U.S, response to the tragedies of Sept. 11 is turning from shock and anger into a fanaticism that leaves no room for rational critique and analysis. Hate crimes across the nation are only a glimpse of the emotionality that threatens to plunge the country into blind vigilantism. Everyone knows of someone who has been threatened or harassed since the at tacks — Guardian staffers, too, have suffered from the backlash—but few seem to realize that the spirit behind the harassment is perpetuated through other, more socially accept able means. Catherine Navarro The Guardian (U. California-San Diego) Killing bin Laden will only continue war Bin Laden would be a martyr like no other. His death in the face of the "American war mongers" would serve as a rallying point for other fun damentalists all around the world. Thousands of young Islamic men would take up arms—young men out to prove something, orphaned adolescents with no one else to fol low, and other extremists looking for a reason to terrorize. Should bin Laden fall victim to a U.S. strike, his followers and new sup porters from all over the world will continue his war against America. Matt Chain Washington Square News (New York U.) Keep eating bagels War is war. It is a scary and morally ambiguous thing. And while it will affect us all in one way or another, it is vital to the running of America to continue with our lives. Go to class. Eat a bagel. Watch a movie, pay your bills, play a game of football—just keep living. Osama bin Laden wants to disrupt our lives and destroy our "evil Western deca dence." If that's not a rally cry for us to eat, drink and be merry, then what is? We can't live in fear because that means we lose. That makes us cowards and America isnot about cowardice— it's about freedom, so enjoy it. Staff Editorial Daily O'Collegian (Oklahoma State U.)
