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Oregon Daily Emerald
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Monday, June 3,2002
Editorial
Bush's patronizing
sarcasm inflames
anti-A merican
sentiment overseas
The relationship between Europe and the United
States has always been in flux, depending on
the values of the leaders on both continents.
When former President Bill Clinton was in office, a
sense of camaraderie among European leaders and
the White House was high. But now that George W.
Bush is in office, his conservative bent and nebulous
war on terror has drawn criticism from Europeans in
the form of large demonstrations last week. When an
esteemed American TV correspondent questioned
American-European relations during the president’s
visit to that continent last week, Bush derisively de
fended his administration with flip sarcasm — cer
tainly not a good way to improve Europeans’ opinions
of Americans, or our leader.
Last week during a joint news conference with
Bush and French President Jacques Chirac in Paris,
NBC News White House correspondent David Grego
ry asked Bush why he thought there was such a strong
sentiment in Europe against his American ideals. Gre
gory also asked him to comment on a popular view
that Bush was trying to impose American morals on
the rest of the world; Gregory then asked Chirac — in
French — if he would also care to comment on the
same subject.
In a child-like display of frustration, Bush snapped
back at Gregory and said, “Very good. The guy memo
i rizes four words, and he plays like he’s intercontinen
tal.” Gregory offered to continue in French and Bush
replied, “I’m impressed — que bueno. Now I’m liter
ate in two languages.”
Reportedly, roars of laughter followed Bush’s quip,
but Gregory’s question demanded a more serious an
swer. There were significant demonstrations against
Bush’s visit — protesters who numbered 20,000 in
Berlin, 4,500 in Paris and 300 in Moscow — evidence
that anti-American sentiment is only growing across
the Atlantic.
The White House has admitted it has been on the
outs with the American media, mostly because the
Bush administration thinks the media are making
| mountains out of molehills regarding widespread
dissent with traditional allies. But by addressing a
serious subject with an unprofessional personal at
tack on a journalist, the White House just appears to
be in denial about any European-American relation
ship problems.
At this uncertain time when we are finding out
more of what the White House knew of Sept. 11, jour
nalists should question the administration’s policies
and values relentlessly. Bush needs to keep his allies
in Europe and stop patronizing those who question
his dedication to upholding that friendship. With
Bush’s unprofessional display of condescending sar
casm. it’s no wonder some Europeans have a stigma
against Americans.
Editorial Policy
editorial board. Responses cart be sent to
ietters@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 editfor space, grammar and style.
Editorial Board Members
Jessica Blanchard
editor in relief
Jacquelyn Lewis
assistant editorial editor
managing editor
Julie Lauderbaugh
editorial editor
Peter Hockaday
newsroom representative
Jerad Nicholson
community representative
Rewarding ACHIEVEMENT with celebrity
Thursday night I found myself sitting
in a concert hall in downtown Port
land with hundreds of parents,
cousins, nieces, nephews and a lot of high
school-age friends all screaming their guts
out for their favorite princess. Nope, it was
n’t the Britney Spears concert going on
across town. I was in the frantic midst of a
spectacle far more confusing—Portland’s
annual Rose Queen Coronation Ceremony.
My friend’s little
sister was a Rose
Court princess in the
ceremony and
weeks ago she asked
if I was interested in
attending. Not
knowing what I had
agreed to, but naive
ly curious, I walked
into the Arlene
Schnitzer Concert
Hall last week ex
pecting a superficial
beauty pageant of
Editorial editor the Miss Teen USA
variety. And I was
kicking myself for thinking I could watch
such a pageant without feeling like I was
violating some silent rule of feminism that
denounces all beauty contests. I’ve always
felt like a traitor watching Miss America
pageants, but I grew up thinking these
contests were harmless fun—something I
could emulate with my Barbies.
And I was expecting the rose
princesses to be synthetic high school
age dolls also. But the coronation was
much more confusing because the
young women weren’t made of plastic.
They were chosen because of their out
standing community service achieve
ments and were elected by their peers
from 14 Portland-area high schools.
Realizing this in the midst of all the
familial hollering, my feminist views on
beauty pageants became mangled with
my Girl Scout virtues and my head
started to spin. Recognizing young
women because of their philanthropic
tendencies alone seemed even more
old-fashioned than any token swimsuit
(I’m sorry, “physical fitness”) contest.
I would expect a small town like
Drain to recognize its outstanding high
school humanitarian with a scepter and
a cape, not a metropolis like Portland.
So WHAT V \T> v<? u do to
t>65e^V€T THAT?
ABO^r 5,0°° HOOK.S
Peter Utsey Emerald
And it’s such a big deal. I couldn’t be
lieve the coronation was broadcast live
on KOIN across western Oregon. And
what’s more disturbing is that people
who didn’t know anyone on stage actu
ally watched and had a vested interest in
which high school girl would represent
their city. But then again, this is the city
that is still riding high on the success of
Gresham native Katie Harman, who won
the Miss America title months ago.
Maybe it’s just because I’m not from
the state. But I think honoring high
school girls for their community serv
ice by freezing their grades a month
and a half prior to graduation, clothing
them with the sponsors’ digs and stick
ing them on a float with a crown is
kind of outdated. And not because so
ciety shouldn’t recognize outstanding
youth; on the contrary, we should en
courage our youth leaders to continue
their work. But doing so on such a
grand scale only turns good Samaritans
into celebrities and cynical people like
me stop taking them seriously.
Hopefully this fate won’t befall my
friend’s little sister, who actually won the
whole thing, much to the delight of many
frenzied audience members, including
myself. I finally met Portland’s new
Queen of Rosaria on Friday morning as
she was brushing her teeth, preparing to
be whisked off to do a morning television
interview and begin the first day of her
yearlong reign as Queen Leela. That awk
ward meeting over toothpaste will proba
bly be my only brush with royalty in my
lifetime. But I’m hoping Queen Leela can
dispel some of the stereotypes that have
been bequeathed to her by previous pag
eant winners and stay true to the anti-vi
olence work that put her on such a rosy
pedestal in the first place.
E-mail editorial editor Julie Lauderbaugh at ^
julielauderbaugh@dailyemerald.com. Her opinions
do not necessarily reflect those of the Emerald.
poll question for r ext weetthe poll can be accessed from the main
page of our Web site, www.dailyemerald.com. We encourage you to
send us feedback about the poll questions and results.
This week's poll question: What song would you like to hear Enk
Brashers, the campus “banjo man ’’ ptayv
Total votes: 40
m “Stairway to Heaven” ™~ 7.5 percent, or 3 votes
M ‘Year of the Witch” — 2.5 percent, or 1 vote
m “Desperado" — 10.0 percent, or 4 votes
■ “Layla”—7.5 percent, or 3 votes
ft “Freebird"—10,0 percent, or4 votes
■ Don't know Enk Brashers—30,0 percent, or 12 votes
■ Don’t care—32.5 percent, dr 13 votes
' Next week’s poll question: What do you think of “Akbars Garden," the
structure in front of the Student Recreation Center on 15th Avenue and
University Street?
The choices:
■ It’s beautiful art
• It's ugly art
Silt’s not art
■ It's a waste of space
Don’t know/don’t care
&&&£#£ xV-Xv wv.- • y.- ■ -V.V.+.-.
■ * 4* <t- H H h h la U.
«-**<r*i l?- i
Letter to the editor
True patriotism means
acceptance, not contempt
In the wake of Sept. 11, the patriotism in our country has
rapidly increased. Bumper stickers displaying the quip
“Proud to be an American” grace nearly every car on the
road these days, along with wishes for world peace and the
elimination of certain Middle Eastern radical groups.
Behind the wheels of these flag-waving cars are citizens
of the United States who have experienced anger over the
attacks upon our nation. Some of these people have grown
to see that the violence implicated with these displays of
patriotism is unnecessary, as well as the ostracizing of the
many citizens of our country with certain ethnicities.
It is such a shame to see the uplifting messages of sup
port for our country be misconstrued into a direct attack
upon all cultures unfamiliar to Americans. This attack
upon cultures other than our own is quite hypocritical.
Our country is based upon those who have come from
around the world seeking acceptance and freedom.
These immigrants have made our country into a most
unique combination of histories, which are all still very
relevant today but should not keep us from growing as a
national community.
As citizens of a “nation of immigrants,” we should all
keep in mind our country’s humble beginnings and con
tinually evade the ever present monster of ignorance.
Stephanie Morton
freshman
biology