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Email: editor@dailyemerald.com
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Thursday, November, 14,2002
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor:
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Editors:
Salena De La Cruz, Pat Payne
Editorial
Editorial note: Quacks &
Smacks is a new addition to the
Commentary section that will
give props to a job well done or a
job done wrong for different peo
ple, places and things going on in
the news. Quacks are good —
Smacks are not.
Quacks to the Yellow Jackets
program and what it’s trying to ac
complish, and to the 12 people
who have already volunteered.
Note to members of the campus
community — volunteers are still
desperately needed.
Smacks to Georgia Gov.-elect
Sonny Purdue for having the au
dacity to quote Martin Luther
King Jr.’s line “Free at last, free at
last...” in his acceptance speech.
Purdue’s election victory is a far
cry from the achievements of the
Civil Rights movement — Pur
due’s use of the quote is nothing
but offensive.
Quacks to Leroy Stubblefield
for legally taking on the state of
Oregon and the federal govern
ment after his medical marijuana
was seized — and more Quacks to
The Hemp and Cannabis Founda
tion, which gave him new plants
and an ounce of medicine.
Smacks to the state for cutting
the most-needed health care serv
ices (drug and alcohol treatment,
mental health) for those who need
it most (poor adults covered by
the Oregon Health Plan). Double
Smacks to Oregonians for not
paying enough taxes to support
state services.
Quacks to the Student Recre
ation Center for wanting to paint
murals to beautify the center on
the inside.
Smacks to the Rec Center for
wanting to paint murals of people
working out on a wall in a room
filled with people working out.
Editorial policy
This editorial represents the
opinion of the Emerald
editorial board- Responses
can be sent to letters
#dailyemeraldxom. Letters
to the editor and guest
commentaries are
encouraged, fetters are
limited to 250 words and
guest commentaries to 550
words. Authors are limited
to one submission per
calendar month.
Submission must include
phone number and address
for verification. The Emerald
reserves the right to edit for
space, grammar and style.
Editorial board
members
Michael J. Kieckner
Editor in chief
Jessica Richelderfer
Managing editor
Salena De La Cruz
Editorial editor
Pat Payne
Editorial editor
Jenna Cunningham
Student representative
Love conquers hate
Three weeks ago, some young
vandals threw rocks inscribed with
swastikas at the Temple Beth Is
rael synagogue during the Shabbat
service. The next Friday, I attend
ed the service with two friends.
Hundreds of people held candles
for a vigil outside and overflowed
the aisles inside. It was not just
how many, but also who: Eugene
Mayor Jim Torrey, Cafe Soriah
owner Ibrahim Hamide, Tamam
Adi, director of the Islamic Cultur
al Center, and Minister Dan Bryant
of the First Christian Church. I
was pleasantly surprised to see
prominent representatives attend
this service. The vandals commit
ted a terrible act of hate, but the
city responded with acts of love.
In his sermon, Rabbi Yitzhak
Husbands-Henkin recalled the bib
lical charac
ter of Amalek,
who attacked
the weak and
powerless.
Like Amalek,
the hoodlums
attempted to
intimidate
and isolate
the Jewish
community.
They tried to
put fear into
the whole city. But very wise
hearts responded differently,
choosing instead to see the image
of God dwelling among us.
Jonathan Seidel, the rabbinic
assistant, read a 1790 letter from
George Washington to a Newport,
R.I., synagogue, affirming the
country’s commitment to toler
ance and pluralism, and its abhor
rence of bigotry. What followed
were latter-day messages of friend
ship from the heirs of Washington:
Mayor Torrey, a practicing
Catholic, praised the contributions
of Temple Beth Israel.
After Sept. 11, he said, the first
person he contacted was the rabbi,
to protect people of Middle Eastern
descent from potential reprisals.
Ibrahim Hamide spoke next, to
great cheer. Our love is much big
ger than their misguidedness, he
Philip
Huang
A different light
STRENGTH.
Peter Utsey Emerald
said. Tamam Adi greeted the con
gregation with Shalom — and
some members responded with
Salaam. Those two words —
shalom and salaam — signified the
shared cultural heritage of Mus
lims and Jews. He concluded with
a message to the vandals: Change.
Wake up. The world is changing.
Credit changes in mainstream
Christian theology for shaping this
climate of tolerance.
Many churches have denounced
anti-Semitism and taken responsi
bility for their historical role in fos
tering expulsions, inquisitions,
ghettos and pogroms. As Reverend
Bryant said, an attack on the tem
ple is an attack on all houses of
worship. I reflected that while
Amalek and his ilk attack the pow
erless, the Jewish culture has a tra
dition of caring for the vulnerable
and weak. One outside speaker de
scribed the congregation’s role in
helping folks in the larger commu
nity: supporting the cause of farm
workers, the homeless, gays and
lesbians, and last September,
keeping watch over the local
mosque after it was attacked.
Maariv, Shalom Aleyheim, She
ma, Amidah, Kaddish — my igno
rance of Hebrew kept me from tru
ly understanding the prayers and
songs. But I could appreciate their
dignity and harmony. I recognized
the word for peace, which popped
up often. And I remember one
prayer in English, by Judy Chica
go, which declared: “And then all
that has divided us will merge, and
then compassion will be wedded to
power, and then softness will come
to a world that is harsh and un
kind.” When the service ended af
ter two hours, I left to find people
still holding candles outside.
I thought about what had drawn
me to come that night. I went part
ly from a sense of outrage at the
act, and a desire to show solidari
ty. I went partly because I found
out the Emerald would not be cov
ering it. But I was drawn because
of the things I value — tolerance,
compassion, fairness, love and jus
tice. Because I learned these val
ues in part from my Jewish friends
and teachers. Because these sim
ple values seem at the present to
elude some people in this country
and abroad. Because love is the
opposite of hate, and therefore its
best response.
Contact the columnist
at philiphuang@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do no necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
Letters to the editor
Pencil inflation
Textbooks be damned! I know for a fact that
the University Bookstore scams students buy
ing even more basic items. On the ground floor,
pencils cost 15 cents. On the main level, where
students are expected to buy pencils, the prices
are inflated to a quarter? What?
Terence Li
freshman
undeclared
Tune out, turn off, stop bitching
In response to your editorial on KUGN-AM
being “the voice of the Ducks” (“Ducks should
find their voice, demand end to KUGN con
tract,” ODE, Nov. 12) while at the same time
airing such inflammatory social commentators
such as Michael Medved and Michael Savage, I
would just like to remind you that freedom of
speech is a double-edged sword.
By no means do I agree with the views ex
pressed on the talk shows in question. In fact, I
find them both to be quite sheltered and igno
rant. But at the same time, I listen to both be
cause their idiocy is entertaining, and I believe
they add valid viewpoints from time to time.
With that said, I find it funny how the extreme
left, at times, find it hard to live their own lives.
You preach tolerance and harmony, but
once you hear something you don’t like, you
can’t simply respect their freedom of speech.
You feel the need to force them admit to their
wrongness and change their ways. Pretty hyp
ocritical if you ask me. KUGN has the right to
do business how they see fit. Proclaiming
themselves as the “voice of the Ducks” is in
respect to the Athletic Department, not the
University as a whole.
If you don’t like what’s being said on a certain
radio station, you are more than free to turn
your dial elsewhere. Instead of bitching about
someone exercising the same freedom of ex
pression you have, make a stronger statement
by not tuning in at all.
Ben Lacy
senior
journalism
Campaigning lacked compassion
I have been wondering what the term “com
, passionate conservative” meant ever since
' ('President George W. Bush began calling himself
lY< r ■ Y
one. I now have a better understanding of what
a “compassionate conservative” is.
A compassionate conservative is a person who
never fought in Vietnam because his father got
him a place in the Texas Air National Guard, from
which he then went AWOL for over a year, who
then campaigns against a volunteer Vietnam war
hero and veteran, Max Cleland, who lost both legs
and his right arm serving his country.
A compassionate conservative is a person
who campaigns against a widow, Jean Carna
han, whose husband and oldest son were tragi
cally killed in a plane crash.
A compassionate conservative is a person who
campaigns against a respected statesman and for
mer vice president, Walter Mondale, who was
picked to run for the seat held by a visionary U.S.
senator, Paul Wellstone, who was killed in a plane
crash just a few days before an election.
Bush singled out and vigorously attacked
these sympathetic figures, and, as a result,
these were the only incumbent Democratic
seats which were lost in the Senate election.
That’s compassion? Sounds pretty mean to me.
Kevin Franken
second year
Law*