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Email: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
www.dcdlyemerald.com
Thursday, October 17,2002
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Editors:.
Salena De La Cruz, Pat Payne
Editorial
Red flags are just
one step toward
stopping assaults
Over the past few years, sexual assaults of women on
campus have been prominent in the media. There were
11 forcible sexual assaults on campus last year, although
this figure may dramatically understate the actual num
ber, given that the FBI estimates 90 percent of assaults go
unreported. In March, a woman was almost raped on cam
pus before fighting off her attacker.
In response to these incidents, the major shutde services
on campus—SafeRide, Night Ride and the Designated Dri
ver Shutde—are instituting a policy that would place a red
flag on the antennae of their vehicles in the 48 hours after a
major sexual assault attempt, rape or armed robbery.
We applaud this action as a step in the right direction, but
feel it can go even further. The Department of Public Safety
should implement a similar program for their vehicles.
The problem with the plan is that the red flags are a warn
ing signal few may see. SafeRide, Night Ride and DDS vans
are not often seen by the majority of the student population
on campus at night, and we fear that the signal may go unno
ticed. The flags should be augmented by other means to an
nounce that an assault on students has occurred.
There are many additional ways to get the word out..
Among other things, the local media, including this newspa
per, must vigorously report when crimes occur. We suggest
also posting fliers in prominent places every time there is
an attack, as well as rigging the call boxes over campus to
flash when there’s an incident — or perhaps changing the
light color from blue to red for the 48-hour period.
But even more importantly, it is imperative to educate
the student body about their rights and responsibilities,
particularly in the case of sex crimes.
Sexual assault is never permissible, nor is it acceptable.
No one has the right of unfettered sexual access to anoth
er’s body. There must be strong encouragement for vic
tims to come forward and vigorous education for all stu
dents that sexual assault of any sort is emotionally
destructive, hurtful, illegal and abhorrent. Those who
commit such heinous crimes should be prosecuted to the
fullest extent of the law, and students, many of whom are
just feeling out their independence, should understand in
absolute terms that no means no.
The flags are a good starting point, but the campus com
munity has done precious little to prevent sexual assaults
from both without and within. This has to change.
Birthday greetings
to Nader’s students
Imagine this: Ralph Nader comes to campus three
times within a month, and his presence sparks a grass
roots student movement.
No, we’re not talking about the Green Party.
Thirty-two years and a few days ago, Nader and his
Raiders visited the University and told students that they
needed to get involved in politics.
“Anybody who is proud to be a member of the silent
majority has resigned from democracy, and that’s nothing
to be proud of,” he told the Emerald on Oct. 12,1970.
Instead of ending their civic involvement, University
students immediately created the Oregon Public Interest
Research Group (later to become OSPIRG, with the “S”
being added for “Student”).
In order to receive funding, OSPIRG needed to get 50
percent of the entire student body to sign a petition sup
porting the new group.
Within two weeks of canvassing, OSPIRG collected 7,744
names — more than the 50 percent needed. On March 9,
1971, the State Board of Higher Education approved the es
tablishment and funding of OSPIRG at OUS schools.
Today in Portland, OSPIRG is celebrating its 30th birth
day. For better or worse, OSPIRG receives many dollars in
student funds and works on a variety of issues and cam
paigns. Happy birthday.
Sickening strategy
Picture this: Aerosolized VX and
sarin nerve gas descends on Navy
ships. Biological and chemical agents
are released over thousands of civil
ians. A germ able to wipe out a coun
try’s wheat crop is stockpiled in secret.
What dastardly fiend is responsible?
Iraq? Libya? North Korea? al-Qaida?
No. The culprit is none other than our
own government.
From 1962 to 1973, the Department
of Defense planned 134 tests under Pro
ject 112, a chemical and biological
weapons “vulnerability-testing pro
gram,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon admitted
for the first time that some of the tests
used real chemical and biological
weapons, not harmless stimulants.
In all, 37 secret tests were conduct
ed in California, Alaska, Florida,
Hawaii, Maryland and Utah. Land tests
in Alaska and Hawaii used artillery
shells filled with sarin and VX gas —
the same deadly stuff our government
claims Saddam Hussein has been
stockpiling. Navy trials off the coast of
Florida, (Jalirorma
and Hawaii tested
the ability of ships
and crew to per
form under biologi
cal and chemical
warfare. The code
name for the sea
Philip
Huang
A different light
tests Project Ship
board Hazard and
Defense — “SHAD”
for short. The Pen
tagon has said that
both the crew and
the team disseminating nerve gas wore
protective gear and went through de
contamination, according to the New
York Times.
But the crew of ships exposed to bi
ological agents wore no such protec
tion. In effect, these sailors were
guinea pigs.
Last Thursday on CNN, Navy vets
George Brocklebank and Robert Bates
told the Senate Armed Forces Subcom
mittee on Personnel how their ships
sailed through mysterious mists re
leased from planes. When Brocklebank
asked the men who boarded his ship
wearing funny suits what was going on,
/'jowl 6AS ?n ^
WHAT ARE YOU
, TALKIM6 ABOUT ?
Peter Utsey Emerald
they told him to mind his own busi
ness. That was in 1965. Thirty-seven
years later, he found out the truth.
That cloud encountered by the ship
contained Bacillus globigii, a member of
the anthrax family. Considered harm
less at the time, it was later found to in
fect people with weak immune systems.
The Pentagon also admitted that
1,000 civilians might have been ex
posed to such germs in Oahu alone.
How many people got sick? They did
not keep track.
"I hear the sense of distress in your
voices, that your government has let
you down," said Senator Max Cleland,
who chaired Thursday’s hearing. Cle
land can empathize. He lost both legs
and his right arm to a grenade in Viet
nam and felt disaffection at the govern
ment’s shabby treatment of disabled
vets. Rather than give up, he worked to
change the system and eventually
headed the Veterans Administration.
With war against Iraq looming
ahead, Cleland offered these words:
"What an incredible irony that we are
here focused on weapons of mass de
struction in another country ... and
we're having to pull like teeth from our
own government information about
what we did to our own people.”
One test occurred near Yeehaw Junc
tion. No, it’s not a code name for the
Pentagon, but a remote Florida town
where our military tested wheat rust - a
fungus not toxic to humans. Instead, it
was developed to target Russia’s wheat
crop. In case of war, we were prepared
to kill millions of civilians.
The Gold War has ended, but our bad
habits are hard to kick. In 2000, the
London Observer reported that Con
gress was pressuring Columbia to eradi
cate coca plants using the deadly fungus
Fusarium oxysporum, or Agent Green,
as a condition for military aid. This fun
gus project employed many veterans of
the Soviet germ warfare program. Fortu
nately, President Clinton retracted this
condition, as it violated the treaties
against biological warfare.
When our enemies begin to adopt
our freedoms and liberties, we win.
When we begin to adopt their evil tac
tics and disregard the value of human
life, we lose. And we become our own
worst enemy.
Contact the columnist
at philiphuang@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
Letters to the editor
Poll shows bias
Furthering the Emerald’s tradition of
independent journalism (read: independ
ent of conservative thought), the author
of the Oct. 9 column (“Where’s the dis
sent for war on Iraq?”) stated:
“A Vietnamesque murkiness sur
rounds the issue as reflected in a recent
poll that found public support for military
action has cooled in recent weeks.”
Neither the source of this information
nor the raw numbers are cited, leaving the
average reader perplexed. As such, one can
only assume that the author is referring to a
recent poll conducted by The New York
Times. The first question of this report was
slanted, asking voters whether they would
be more likely to vote for a congressional
candidate because of their positions on the
economy or foreign policy.
When confronted by a vacuous term
such as “foreign policy,” I’m sure that the
average liberal is dumbstruck; most rea
sonable people are, too.
The Times further asked voters if they
approved of U.S. military action in Iraq; 67
percent responded affirmatively. Dissatis
fied with this result, the paper of record
asked its group whether they would still ap
prove of military action if there were sub
stantial military casualties or substantial
Iraqi civilian casualties. Only then did sup
port for military action cool.
I would direct readers to a recent Fox
News-Opinion Dynamics poll conducted
among 900 (as opposed to 564 for the
Times poll) registered voters which re
sulted in a good 66 percent of voters fa
voring military action.
Scott J. Kane
sophomore
pre-journalism
College Republicans member
Jarrett White
junior
business
College Republicans member
Grassroots birthday party
Senator Wayne Morse (1900-1974) be
lieved in the power of people and democ
racy. Join us on Sunday, Oct. 20, to cele
brate the 102nd anniversary of his birth.
Re-ignite the senator’s fiery spirit by
demonstrating whatyou are doing to car
ry on his legacy. The Wayne Morse Youth
Program, is hosting this all-ages event
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Wayne Morse
Park at 595 Crest Drive. We will sing
“Happy Birthday” at 1 p.m. and invite you
and your family to join us.
We will provide spaces for free speech, mu
sic, as well as card tables and bulletin boards
for people and organizations to display their
materials. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., we will be
taping a video directory of grassroots people
and organizations entitled “GRASS ROOTS:
The Real Homeland Security! ”
In addition, we will set up a small studio
in the senator’s office to videotape people
with personal stories about the senator.
So join us; bring the kids, old folks and
dogs. The Willamette Wildlife Rehabilita
tion Center will host an open house, and
there will be plenty of room for the dogs to
run off leash in the meadow.
Email morsenow@efti.org or call the
Glenwood Clubhouse at 741-0209 with
your questions or suggestions. Remember,
as Motse would remind us, “Free Speech
— use it or lose it!” “Dissent is patriotic,”
and “‘We the people’means it’s up to us.”
Eileen Erdelt
program director
Wayne Morse Youth Program