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Moday, March 10,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Editor
Pat Payne
Editorial
‘ASUO’ means
governance
of students,
by students
They may not be the most powerful jobs in
America (an ASUO official was recently over
heard saying “We may be the dregs of Oregon
elected officials, but we’re elected officials
nonetheless”), but they are critically impor
tant in their own way. This week is the begin
ning of the campaign season for all ASUO
elected offices.
It’s vitally important that students get in
volved in the ASUO elections process. This is
your chance to change those things on cam
pus that you feel need fixing. Don’t like the
way the PFC allocates money? Don’t think
the Executive has the right priorities? Run for
office and fix it.
This is also a perfect opportunity to learn
leadership skills. The ASUO is a functioning
government for the students of the University
and a laboratory environment for the elected
officials of tomorrow.
Tuesday is the last day that students can file
to run. Step up and join the campaign.
End-of-the-term
haiku for you
Have too much to do
Should sit down and concentrate
Nah, I’ll clean my room
A last-day midterm
Graphite missile in ceiling
Boredom is the king
Finals piling up
Too much thinking; make it stop
Only one term left
Weary end of term
Work ethic, free time dwindling
When will sleep find us?
Running class to class
College life has got me down
Six years is too long
Editorials
Why must we write so many?
Dead Week really blows
This editorial represents 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 limitedto
250 words and guest commentaries
to 550 words.
Editorial board
members
Jessica Richelderfer Julie Lauderbaugh
Managing editor Columnist
Jenna Cunningham
Student representative
Editorial policy
Michael J. Kleckner
Editor in chief
Pat Payne
Editorial editor
I p
Peter Utsey Emerald
Land of the tee, home of the scared
The American government is spooked.
After it was revealed that two Sept. 11,
2001 hijackers entered the country on stu
dent visas, the prospect of getting other
shady international students from evil coun
tries simply freaked us out.
We don’t want to make the same mistake
twice. That’s why the geniuses in Washing
ton created “special registration” for inter
national students from a laundry list of
mostly Muslim coun
tries - because every
one knows incognito
terrorists would feel
obligated to tell our
government their
whereabouts or face
deportation.
The office formerly
known as the Immi
gration and Naturaliza
tion Services — now
the Bureau of Citizen
ship and Immigration
Services — has been tracking students from
such truly evil countries as Eritrea. The
BCIS wants to see what they are studying,
track their money trail and monitor what
kinds of “terrorist” hobbies they participate
in, like diversifying our college campuses.
Julie
Lauderbaugh
Judge Julie
Letter to the editor
Counterterrorism efforts
fracture families, lives
The war on terrorism has reached
an impasse.
The United States and its allies are
moving closer to taking military action
against Iraq. Some military experts say
that a war with Iraq is only weeks away.
Many innocent lives will be lost; many
families will be destroyed. The sad reality
is that one need not wait for bombs to
drop on Baghdad to understand what im
The BGIS recently extended the special
registration deadline by a month for Group
three and four on the hit list, which include
nonimmigrant aliens from Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Jor
dan and Kuwait.
How exactly are these rules keeping me
safe from terrorism?
These actions are merely a symbolic
step to warn the international community
that the U.S. is too scared to take in “your
tired, your poor; your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free; the wretched re
fuse of your teeming shore ...” We’re basi
cally saying we don’t want any more for
eign students with “jihad” in their
vocabulary — they’re too risky.
The Bush Administration must have some
inkling that these steps are not going to have
any effect on potential terrorists. They are
designed to deter the actions of innocents
and instill the same nightmares in others
that have kept America from a good night’s
sleep for a year and a half.
The program will do nothing to make me
feel safer; instead I fear even more for what
is to come of my international friends who
are now blacklisted for the potential actions
of their fellow countrymen. As an American
student, I would feel better about my per
pact the war will have on families.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the federal gov
ernment has waged war against thou
sands of families. Under the pretext of
fighting terrorism, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service has destroyed fam
ilies by deporting males from Arab and
African nations. According to The New
York Times, approximately 3,000 individ
uals are waiting deportation. Some fami
lies, after waiting for weeks, have yet to
be told the whereabouts of their sons and
fathers.
The Bush administration asserts that the
tightening of immigration policy is necessary
sonal safety sitting next to a quiet, musta
chioed Pakistani man than a convicted
felon/future football star like Rodney Woods.
Then again, my fears are based on fact
and reality. Woods had due process and got a
conviction; the government is entering a
guilty plea for international students when
their only crime is an attempt to better
themselves with a quality education.
Inherent fear of the “enemy” — whoever
the flavor of the administration may be — is
just as part of Americana as baseball and hot
dogs. The United States is no longer the land
of the free and home of the brave. Land of
the paranoid and home of the ignorant is
more like it.
Those who have come here seeking an ed
ucation — centered on our American value
of freedom — are in for a rude awakening.
The wary mistrust of foreigners that has in
filtrated American minds will only encour
age hate crimes and more programs like spe
cial registration.
Freedom doesn’t exist here anymore.
We’re too scared to enjoy it.
Contact the columnist
atjulielauderbaugh@dailyemerald.com.
Her opinions do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
to weed out terrorists. The problem is that
only individuals of African and Arab descent
are being squeezed.
Timothy McVeigh was neither African nor
Arab, yet his terrorist actions were responsi
ble for killing hundreds of Americans. Imag
ine having a family member taken away by
the federal government. The federal govern
ment was never charged with waging war on
families. Yet this is exactly what the federal
government is currently executing under
the guise of terrorism.
Javier Ayala
second-year graduate
education