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P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
Email: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
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Tuesday, November 26,2002
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Editors:
Salena De La Cruz, Pat Payne
Blindly following the political Hock
Activism on campus is not dead. While Eu
gene has recently gone through a relative
drought of political activism, the rally on
Wednesday (Nov. 20) revived my faith in democ
racy and freedom of speech.
On a day entitled the “Nationwide Youth
and Student Day of Solidarity Against the War,
Racism and Oppression,” students in Eugene
and around the country
united around the com
mon cause of bringing the
looming, preemptive war
against Iraq to an end.
People from all types of
backgrounds spoke or
tabled in an effort to bring
awareness and solidarity
to an issue that has large
ly been politicized and
misinterpreted.
It seems ironic to me
that on a day when a di
versity of people are unit
ing against oppression, racism and war that the
College Republicans should loom their ugly
heads — waving commercially made signs say
ing “Bush/Cheney,” and a poorly made sign
contending that “UO Students Support Ameri
ca,” this small band made their way to the
back of the EMU where they proceeded to
camp out. The only reason I give this group
any column space at all is to undermine their
attempt at stealing away the demonstration,
and to illuminate the fallacies in their stance.
While 1 am not against their presence, I take
serious offense when it is implied that I am un
patriotic, or un-American, simply because I am
against the current administration’s foreign poli
cy. By blindly holding up signs that do not depict
any stance on the war at all, only that they sup
port Bush and Cheney, implies that these con
servatives will follow their leaders blindly, and
with litde debate. How can someone “support”
America when our actions overseas have caused
thousands, if not millions, of people to despise
us? I am proud to be an American, but I do not
Meghann
Farnsworth
Just think about it
Mow my leaders purblind t° their true agenda
The Bush administration has not made
one legitimate claim as to why we
should attack Iraq; in fact, all ‘
of die “rights” and “morals”
he claims he wants to pro
mote abroad he is taking
away here at home (find out
why Bush says he will not
release names of detained
Muslim suspects, or what
the Homeland Security
bill will actually do).
This war has been
politicized for too long. If
you are pro-war, then say so. De
bate the issue on those grounds,
not by supporting Bush simply
because you are a registered
Republican. This is not the
time to draw a line in the
sand, and across that line
you cannot cross. As one
sign poignantly stated at the
rally, “The future is our common
ground.”
Do not let your stance be determined
by your political affiliation. Now is the
time to show where you stand as a person
of conscience, and as a person with the
ability to learn, critically ana
lyze a situation and
change your mind
when confronted
with different
ideas. Study the issue, and if
you can tell me that after you have
come to an unbiased pro-war conclusion, then
fine. You’re still wrong, but fine.
There is not enough space to speak of all the
issues surrounding this war. However, on a fi
nal note I would just like to point out the injus
tice that a corporate-run white male govern
ment should demand that the military, which
is the largest and most successful affirmative
action institution in the country for African
Americans, go fight a war which is relatively
against their interests. People of color, as well
as Caucasians, should be outraged that our ad
ministration wants them to fight the oil war for
them, and yet take away educational money in
poor urban areas. I did not see any students of
color in the College Republicans “demonstra
tion,” and I am not surprised.
“Not in our name, not by our hands, not
with our lives.”
Contact the columnist
atmeghannfarnsworth@dailyemerald.com.
Her views do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
Steve Baggs Emerald
Education, not patrols,
can bring party safety
Guest commentary
Recently, I was introduced to a fine
Oregon tradition: speaking at an out
door forum at the EMU Amphitheater.
I had corresponded with ASUO on the
subject of students’ rights in regard to
partying off-campus, and they gra
ciously invited me to speak. I shared
the dais with members of the Eugene
Police Department and the Depart
ment of Public Safety, as well as legal
advisers from the University. It was a
positive experience for me and most of
the students who attended.
As I spoke, I looked at the faces of
the participants. In the students’
faces I saw a desire to learn more of
the constitutional protections that
we all share, and on the faces of my
brothers and sisters in the law en
forcement community, I saw looks of
boredom at having to be there and
looks of disdain for me that I would
take the students’ side in this con
flict with the law. After the presenta
tion, I spoke with leaders of ASUO,
who are as determined as I to ease
the conflict. I think ASUO agrees
with me on the need to inform, but
I may be standing alone by insisting
that empowerment goes along
with knowledge.
With a solid grasp of both concepts,
the students could then begin to exer
cise tneir duty as citizens, observing
and reporting the actions of law en
forcement to their city and University
leaders. Such observations are the
necessary prelude to change. Public
safety is a two-way street. The citizen
ry can’t be safe if their police don’t fol
low the rules as set down by the city
and by the courts, and the police can’t
do their jobs in the face of noncooper
ation by the citizens.
In the present atmosphere of us ver
sus them, all students and all citizens
of Eugene are getting poor protection.
Resources are expended on preventa
tive patrols that haven’t changed the
behavior of either the students or the
more dangerous anarchists one whit.
The rest of the city has to get by with
little or no police service while these
harassing patrols are in use.
I think that if the students and resi
dents of the West University neigh
borhood organize and learn what
their rights are and what powers they
have, they will clearly see their duty
to cease putting their part of the city
at risk, and they will be able to effec
tively give EPD and DPS the con
structive criticism they badly need.
By that time, the EPD and DPS lead
ership will have shown themselves ei
ther amenable to policy change, or in
need of personnel change.
George Schneider works in law
enforcement and lives in Portland.
Letters to the editor
Make a smarter statement
The sub-heading from your Nov. 12 cover article, “Stu
dents provide educated opinions about possibility of U.S.
war in Iraq” was un-convincing. Not because of the copy
that followed, but rather the picture that accompanied
the article. The photo captured a student (supposedly)
holding a makeshift sign stating “WAR IS STUPID.”
Now, I’m not in full agreement with the move to go to
war with Iraq, but this over simplified statement on a
rudimentary sign does absolutely nothing to suggest
that Oregon students are actually providing educated
opinions on the matter.
To the protesters: Bring a more substantial vocabulary
to the table if you want someone to take serious notice.
Gene Willis
first year graduate
general business
Letter lies about Bush
For a history major, Zachary White’s letter to the ed
itor (ODE, “Bush shows heroism in stand against Iraq,”
Nov. 19) is a series of historical falsehoods.
First, White claims that President George W. Bush puts
the safety and security of the American people in high
priority. If this were true, Bush would be waging a war on
al-Qaida, not Iraq. Investigations by the FBI, the CIA and
Czech Intelligence have found no substance to rumors of
an Iraq-al-Qaida connection. Furthermore, the CIA
made a statement that Americans are more vulnerable
to terrorist attacks now than they were prior to Sept. 11,
yet Bush continues to push for war in Iraq.
White also plays upon the tiresome comparison of
Saddam Hussein to Hitler. No one denies that Hussein
is a brutal dictator, but that did not stop the U.S. gov
ernment from supplying Hussein with weapons during
the Iraq-Iran war. It also didn’t stop Vice President
Dick Cheney, when he was CEO of Halliburton, from
making a $23.8-million deal with Hussein so that he
could afford to build weapons of mass destruction.
All this going on while humanitarian aid to Iraq
— food and medical supplies that the people of Iraq
desperately needed — were withheld because they
may have a dual purpose.
As far as historical accuracy goes, the comparison made
by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s government
carries more validity than the one made by White.
Levi Strom
senior
sociology, political science
co-founder, Students For Peace
Make it legal and tax it
In response to the column, “Smoke-filled Logic,”
(ODE, Nov. 11), I find the argument hard to swallow. The
author says that Ballot Measure 20 “assumes that smok
ers can and should be penalized for choosing to do some
thing that society looks down on.” Isn’t that the way our
entire legislative system works? Society deems some act
unfavorable and then creates laws to limit it.
True, there are other behaviors in addition to smoking
that raise general health care costs. His comparison of
smoking to overeating is valid, and I would be in strong
support of a McDonald’s tax as well. What he fails to ad
dress, however, is that smoking is not only harmful to
the smoker, but to whoever happens to be nearby. To
bacco smoke is a pollutant that is offensive to the gener
al public, and some people are allergic to it.
I don’t smoke cigarettes, though I do enjoy cigars
and recently bought a tobacco pipe; I love good beer, I
think marijuana should be legal, etc.
While I strongly oppose any absolute prohibition of
these substances, I strongly support keeping them in
their respective places (e.g., alcohol out of cars and to
bacco out of enclosed spaces) and taxing the hell out
of them to pay for health plans, hospitals, schools or
whatever else the budget is failing to maintain. Buying
cigarettes at the old price is not a “basic right,” as he
claims. No one is born a smoker. If they don’t like the
tax, they can quit and do everyone a favor.
Harvey Rogers
senior
environmental science