Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Monday, November 1, 2004
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f I KEEP MEETING WITH^
FOREIGN LEAPED AND
THEY ALL TELL ME/MAty
YOVVE JUST GOTTA
■ In my opinion
Voting for inner peace
“Increase in campus bike theft
leads to squirrels ... er, squirrels
proven to be leading cause in black
mail, cheating, wait, no...”
I don’t want to write another col
umn about what I’m going to do to
your firstborn if you don’t vote yes on
the newest state measure to end self
inflicted handgun fatalities among
quails. Save the quails, or I’ll shoot
you in the face! My roommates and
their squirrel plagiarism ring are not
much help.
Political issues are surely abound
ing in this time of immense political
hubbub, but I cannot get excited
about another round of attacks be
tween supporters of this white guy vs.
this white guy. Everyone is saying the
same thing, especially the candidates
themselves: Vote this way or die. The
presidential election has instilled an
unfortunate sense of dread in voters,
trying to sway them with a doctrine
of fear. Bush has summed up his
campaign by “saying he was the best
man to keep the nation safe from ter
rorists,” according to a recent Associ
ated Press article.
Perhaps it’s idealistic, but I expect
that guarding the lives of Americans
AILEE SLATER
FURTHER FROM PERFECTION
should be an essential undertone in
political decisions, rather than the
one, overarching plan of government.
I can pretty much assume that John
Kerry isn’t going to hand this country
over to extremist terrorists on a silver
platter either. Yet, it is these blanket
statements that propel U.S. citizens to
vote out of fear rather than because of
political and social beliefs.
It is moments like these that truly
make me remember the importance of
my ideals and political actions —
where I stop being a concerned Ameri
can citizen or an ardent feminist, a stu
dent with too much homework or run
ning late on my column. Here, I am
just a person, sitting back and enjoying
the breaths I inhale and the taste of wa
ter in my mouth. I don’t worry about
death, I worry about life, and it is here
that I think we all find a superb level of
happiness, and more importantly a
sublime satisfaction.
1 do not want to vote out of fear for
my own life; 1 want to vote out of re
alization that some people do not
have the opportunity to find this
peace that 1 am lucky enough to hold
onto, if even for a split second. I am a
woman who is socially allowed to ex
plore herself in every way, already a
step up from most of my gender
throughout the world; I am part of a
minority religion allowed to live in
peace; 1 am a young person allowed
the opportunity of education. It is
these freedoms that I am slowly com
ing to realize 1 cherish more than the
idea of simply staying alive.
So, take a few deep breaths when
the final candidate is announced.
Maybe it’s not your first choice, sec
ond, or even third. Remember: World
change comes from within. It’s time
for everyone to take a break from liv
ing so strongly for the idea of tomor
row and ending today with fear of
what is to come rather than exuber
ance in the moment.
aileeslater@ daily emerald, com
INBOX
Reconstruction bill
right to be defeated
I'm getting tired of Bush supporters
constantly pointing out the votes Kerry
and Edwards cast against the $87 bil
lion bill to reconstruct and re-supply
American troops in Iraq as an indica
tion of their poor judgment and refusal
to "support the troops." These people
seem to knowingly overlook the fact
that it was the president, not Kerry or
Edwards, whose terribly poor judg
ment sent our troops into Iraq despite
not being fully equipped with the
proper armor and equipment.
These people also tend to knowing
ly overlook the un-American clauses
in this bill that gave out "no bid” con
tracts to Halliburton, a company un
der investigation by the securities and
exchange committee for illegal ac
counting practices, not to mention the
vice president’s ties to the company
as its former CEO. And finally, these
people always seem to knowingly
overlook the fact that Kerry proposed
the exact same bill that would have
made Halliburton compete for the re
building contracts as opposed to
having them suspiciously bestowed
upon them by the administration.
The bottom line is that the $87 bil
lion bill the administration proposed
could have and should have been dras
tically improved, and the votes that
Kerry and Edwards cast against it are
an indication of that. It’s too bad that
people will immediately seize upon
this vote as some sort of indication of
poor judgment without taking the time
to delve a little deeper in order to figure
out why they voted the way they did.
Nathan O'Donnell
Eugene
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■ Editorial
ASUO's bad
behavior is
too much for
us to swallow
Recently, ASUO representatives said members
of the student government drank alcohol and
smoked marijuana on their retreat in Sunriver.
The ASUO has repeatedly dismissed requests
for the names of the student officials and repre
sentatives who broke the law. Currently, the
ASUO is sticking to a group punishment policy,
claiming the organization is accepting responsi
bility as a whole and no names will be released.
It is nice to see the groups that make up the
ASUO acting as a cohesive whole and working
as a group — we’ve been asking for such action
— but we were hoping to see this cooperation
under different circumstances.
The self-imposed group secrecy is a poorly
veiled attempt to spin some illegal events and
protect the ASUO officials who shirked their
responsibilities. When elections roll around
this spring and ASUO members decide to run
for re-election, how will the public make an
informed decision?
The students of the University have every
right to know who broke the law.
As elected officials, these individuals should
be held accountable for their actions. The pub
lic needs to be aware of which officials violat
ed the Student Conduct Code and should be ac
tively involved in the process of deciding the
fate of these students.
We commend the ASUO for taking steps to
ward making students sign sobriety agreements
on future retreats, but in this case it’s too little, too
late. While ASUO President Adam Petkun has
been forthcoming, he has essentially allowed a
string of illegally private “debriefing meetings”
about the retreat to take place under his nose.
This isn’t all about the $3,200 of incidental
funds used on the retreat. Although, it is diffi
cult to understand why the ASUO would need
to stay in “cultivated, executive-quality homes
and condominiums,” but that’s another topic.
The more serious issue is how disrespectful the
ASUO has been. The disdain shown in the note
(published in Friday’s ODE) left in Sunriver by
a retreat participant is inexcusable, and the lack
of concern for the incidental funds used is hor
rifically clear-cut: Students, your money is ours
to do with as we please, and there is nothing
you can do about it.
The next piece this mystery author should
write is a letter of resignation.
And honestly, we want to take the self-de
scribed “cocky, smooth” ASUO members seri
ously — once they start giving students a rea
son to trust them with money.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Jennifer Sudick
Editor in Chief
David Jagemauth
Editorial Editor
Steven R. Neuman
Managing Editor
Gabe Bradley
Freelance Editor
ONLINE POLL
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION
How should ASUO members who behaved inappropriately at the
October Sunriver retreat be punished for their misconduct?
Visit www.dailyemerald.com to vote.
• They should relinquish their salaries to repay the misused
student funds.
• They should resign from their positions at the ASUO.
• Each individual should present a public apology and admit
to what illegal activities they each participated in.
• They shouldn't be punished; they were just being normal
college students.
• What is the ASUO?