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
Thursday, October 18,2001
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Michael J. Kleckner
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Editorial
Customers must
make informed
consumer choices
Earlier this week, the Emerald reported that
some students have received services they
did not order after having phone service acti
vated by Qwest. Most of the complaints
stemmed from customers being billed for extended
features. Others said Qwest was uncooperative
when they called to ask that the mistake be correct
ed. While there are certainly people in the commu
nity who have not had problems with the phone
company, a substantial number have complained —
numerous enough that Oregon’s attorney general has
stepped up to address the problem.
While this issue certainly casts Qwest in a bad
light, the responsibility is twofold. “Cramming” is
not new. Shady sales tactics themselves are not new.
Now that the problem has been highlighted in Ore
gon, customers need to be smarter when connecting
their phones, or they should consider alternate
phone service.
Guess what happens when a customer goes to a
restaurant and orders a drink without stating what
size? Generally, the server will bring a large drink,
even if the customer wanted a small. Unless the cus
tomer explicitly states what service or product they
want, they’re likely to get more than they may have
intended. Businesses that do this could be character
ized as taking advantage of the customer, but the
customer really needs to be paying more attention.
Customers wanting telephone service can better
inform themselves about the packages and prices the
company offers before actually ordering services, so
they will know exactly what to request. Also, exam
ining the monthly bill when it arrives is a smart
idea. It sounds simple, but sometimes customers
don’t think of these things until a relatively minor
problem has developed into something bigger. -
Finally, customers should be informed about other
options on the market. Cellular phone service is one
alternative — often one that costs a similar price and
offers similar services. And if all the customers who
have complaints about Qwest were to stop doing
business with the company, it would add a powerful
incentive to improve services.
Qwest does need to fix its apparent customer-serv
ice problems and apologize to any customers who
feel the company “burned” them. To the company's
credit, it does seem to be putting forth some efforts to
improve services, with a plan to answer customer
service requests faster and to comply with a court
agreement to stop practices that might be misleading.
The solution to this type of issue involves both
businesses and consumers.
Editorial Policy
These editorials represent the opinion
of the Emerald editorial board. Responses can be sent to
letters@dailyemeraid.com. Letters to the editor and
guest commentaries are encouraged. Letters are limited
to 250 words and guest commentaries to 550 words.
Please include contact information. The Emerald
reserves the right to edit for space, grammar and style.
CORRECTION
I n a story on the front page of Wednesday’s paper (“G raduate
exchange student from Yemen shares perspective,” ODE. 10/17),
Khaled Ishaq’s name was misspelled.
The Emerald regrets the error.
AMERICA: supercop to the world
Now that the real war has actually
begun with bombing strikes, and
not just rhetoric, we should hope
that our national leaders stay com
mitted to the fight and when the threat of
world terrorism has been significantly
decreased that they don’t give up.
Instead, now that
we have the oppor
_ tunity, the United
States should use it
to achieve a posi
tion of global power
in the Middle East
and Asia from
which it can influ
H| ence the balance of
|i| power to protect
Iff our interests abroad
Adams
and ensure our do
mestic security. Not
only must the Unit
Columnist ec* States defeat our
- enemies militarily,
we must use our global economic weight
to reshape the region in such a way so
that the specter of fanatical Islamic ter
rorism can never again darken this na
tion’s skies. ,
With a thousand troops in Uzbekistan
and special forces believed by many to
be currently in operation throughout the
region, the United States has shown it is
serious about bringing justice to the ter
rorists. The next step is to continually
expand the scope of our operations to instill
fear in every person who hates freedom.
Many people have compared the
Sept. 11 attacks to the attack on Pearl
Harbor by the Japanese on Dec. 7. Like
wise the end of this current war must be
similar to that of World War II. The Unit
ed States can not come “to terms” with
Osama bin Laden and all the other ter
rorists in the world. Our objective must
be to eradicate the terrorists and topple
the governments that harbor them, and
HthW
then, as in World War n, the United
States must reshape those nations with
democratic freedoms and the benefits of
Western civilization.
Toppling the corrupt Taliban theocra
cy and eliminating bin Laden should
only be the starting point for our cam
paign. The United States should work to
solidify the power of legitimate demo
cratic governments and undermine the
power of dictatorships and terrorist
friendly regimes throughout the Middle
East and Asia. The former Soviet states
that have embraced democracy deserve
our support, as do other Islamic nations
that have denounced the terrorists—
and we must not forget our duty to Israel.
But the governments of Iraq, Iran and
others need to be undermined and re
moved from power, and once gone the
United States needs to step in to ensure
that the threat of Islamic fanaticism can
never again arise.
If the United States can be successful
in the first goal of defeating the mecha
Steve Baggs Emerald
nisms of terror, then our nation can use
its economic power to further eliminate
the threat. Governments that have sup
ported terrorist cells in the region have
kept Western businesses out of their na
tions. If the United States can remove
these corrupt regimes from power,
American and European businesses can
shift some of their foreign investments
into the region and stimulate the local
economies. Once that has occurred their
standard of living would improve and
the West would no longer be a foreign
evil, but a source of economic revival.
It is no longer feasible for the United
States to retreat to the relative safety of
the North American continent because
sadly, that safety no longer exists. Our
nation must now step up and assume its
role as a global superpower to rid the world
of this evil by extending our power outward.
Andrew Adams is a columnist for the Oregon
Daily Emerald. His views do not necessarily
reflect those of the Emerald. He can be reached
atandrewadams@dailyemerald.com.
Islamic religion not to blame
for acts of terrorism, violence
c
D
o not kill a child, a
woman or an eld
erly person, and
do not cut a tree
branch.’
These were the words of
Prophet Mohammed (peace be
upon him) to his followers.
These were his instructions,
even in wartime, and they
meant to reinforce the impor
tance of life, be it human or non
human. Respect for human life
and nature are some of the basic
values upon which the Quran,
the Muslim book of faith, and Is
lam are built. Muslims believe
that the human body is the
structure that God built and
those who destruct it earn the
wrath of God. Committing sui
cide is seen as defying God’s will
and rejecting his most precious
gift of life.
The Quran says “If anyone
killed a person not in retaliation
of murder, or (and) to spread
mischief in the land, it would be
as if he killed all mankind, and if
anyone saved a life, it would be
as if he or she saved the life of all
mankind” (V.5:32). Any good
Muslim knows he or she has to
respect life; even his orhrer own; *
Guest Commentary
Muslim Student
Association
andtobe kind to those less fortunate.
“Peace” is the word from
which the meaning of the Arabic
word “Islam” is derived. “Is
lam” simply means submission.
Islam means a complete submis
sion to the will of God—Allah.
Islam means tolerance, and it
states that clearly in the Quran.
“Approach the aggressors gently
and nicely then your most furi
ous enemy will turn into a good
friend” (V.41:34)—a teaching
of prophet Jesus (peace be upon
him).
Islam teaches its followers to
live in peace and spread wealth
in their community and in the
world. Islam teaches Muslims to
respect and preserve others’
property. Islam teaches Muslims
not to kill innocent people, such
as those killed during the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks.
The attack on Sept. 11 was a
multiple crime against humani
ty. There were major violations
that Islam prohibits, such as
killing innocent people, suicide,
destruction of property and dis
turbing people’s peaceful lives.
We, the Muslim Students As
sociation (MSA) at the Universi
ty of Oregon, would like to offer
our deepest condolences to the
families of those killed in the
World Trade Center and the Pen
tagon tragedies and to the entire
community. We strongly con
demn the attacks that occurred
on Sept. 11.
The terrorists not only at
tacked innocent people, but
they also attacked our culture
and religious beliefs. We will do
everything in our power to help
alleviate the sorrow that took
over the country on Sept. 11. We
thought we should start by shed
ding some light upon who we
are, Islam and its teachings
against terrorism.
To learn more about Islam, we
encourage you to contact us by
calling us at (541) 346-3790 or
by e-mailing at asuomsa@glad
stone.uoregon.edu.
Reda Mohammed, Mahmoud
Addul-Jawad and Claudi Ciobano
are members of the Muslim Students
Association. This column represents the
opinion of the Muslim Students Association.
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