Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
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■ In my opinion
Might of the masses
“The death of Yasser Arafat is a signif
icant moment in Palestinian history,”
reads President Bush’s written state
ment issued after Arafat’s passing. “We
hope that the future will bring peace
and the fulfillment of their aspirations
for an independent, democratic Pales
tine that is at peace with its neighbors. ”
The president and his men might not
openly celebrate the death of Arafat, but
they clearly see it as an opportunity to
create lasting Middle East peace. “I think
we’ve got a chance,” he told reporters,
when asked about finding peace with a
new Palestinian government.
It’s a pretty bit of wishful thinking, to
dream that one man was the single im
pediment to loving harmony between
Palestinians and Israelis. After so many
deaths, a single funeral, no matter how
prominent or problematic Arafat might
have been, will not go an inch toward
bridging this bloody rift. We must not
forget that part of the reason Arafat
turned down the historic peace deal of
fered by then-Prime Minister Ehud
Barak, which would have satisfied most
of the Palestinians’ demands, was be
cause he felt he could not persuade his
people to accept the plan. “If I accept
what Barak has offered, I will go and
have coffee with (the assassinated)
Yitzhak Rabin in heaven,” Arafat said to
President Clinton at the time.
Time and time again, broken
treaties prove how worthless pieces oi
paper are without the support of pop
ular or military strength behind them.
Therefore, the new Palestinian
leader’s goal will not be signing an
agreement with Israel; it will be
JENNIFER MCBRIDE
QUASHING DISSENT
persuading terrorists and their sympa
thizers, with logic and with force, that
an end to violence would be in their
own best interests. Given the history
and the divisions of the Arab world,
this task is probably impossible.
The successor of the Palestinian Lib
eration Organization will be facing an
electorate more divided than the Unit
ed States’ own, as proved by the recent
protests against PLO Chairman Mah
moud Abbas. Gunmen of extremist fac
tions shot and killed two security
guards when the former Prime Minis
ter Abbas was at a gathering, mourn
ing Arafat’s death. Though Abbas de
nied the gunmen were firing at him,
they shouted slogans accusing Abbas
of being an agent of the Americans.
Even if a moderate manages to attain
victory in January’s election, the PLO
leader will be hampered by extremists
in any attempts to deal with Israel. Is
raeli ministers last week refused to
comment on which candidates he
thought Sharon would work with for
fear of them being voted against in the
election for being supported by Israel.
If Sharon’s suggestion that he is able to
meet with someone results in a Pales
tinian backlash, it is difficult to see how
the new leader can work with the Is
raelis at all without being accused of
being a Jewish pawn. Until a leader can
consolidate his own power, no treaty
will be forthcoming, and unifying mod
erates and extremists under one harmo
nious government is most likely hope
less. Even Arafat himself professed
powerlessness at dealing with the
members of more extremist factions,
and his heir will not have the same
broad, popular support Arafat had.
Prime Minister Sharon’s task is to
not pull back the olive branch. Not ex
actly a hippie peacenik himself, Sharon
has made small concessions by with
drawing Israeli settlers from Gaza. Any
headway toward peace at this stage
will probably be incremental, and if
Sharon can face down the discontents
in his own party and continue making
these small gestures, we can hope
peace is not as far away as I think it is.
Paradoxically, the best the thing the
United States can do right now to sup
port the next Palestinian leader is to
not support the next Palestinian leader,
yet not undercut his government either.
But the Bush Administration has
demonstrated that it has the patience
of a 3-year-old when it comes to for
eign policy. In both North Korea and
Iraq, the president refused to deal un
less he got everything he wanted when
he wanted it. It is important that Con
doleezza Rice not show this customary
heavy-handedness and disregard for
nuance when she prepares to meet
with Arafat’s successor.
jennifermcbride@dailyemerald. com
■ Editorial
ASUO
should have
developed
proper policy
The ASUO has made some pretty big
mistakes in the past, but the malignant
and continuous attempts by the ASUO to
pull the wool over the eyes of their student
constituents marks an all-time low. Stu
dents who care about how their money is
being spent by elected representatives
should call, e-mail, kick and scream until
the ASUO sits up and pays attention; right
now they have every reason to believe that
the student body just doesn’t care.
As reporters dig further, more and more
issues are beginning to surface. Student
Senator Toby Hill-Meyer has told the
Emerald that there was a strong possibility
alcohol was transported in a state-owned
vehicle. The Green Tape Notebook states
that a violation of the state guidelines for
use of state-owned vehicles could allow
the ASUO president to revoke the group’s
use of the motor pool, and President
Adam Petkun should do just that.
Additionally, sources from within the
ASUO have said that the alcohol policy
was not made clear prior to the retreat.
But ASUO Accounting Coordinator and re
treat director Jennifer Creighton-Neiwert
has denied the claim that there was an im
plied acceptance of drinking.
Whether the drinking was condoned or
not, it is a gross oversight for the ASUO to
not have formed proper policy before it
spent student money on a retreat.
Creighton-Neiwert has also said that the
ASUO doesn’t have rules and regulations
regarding what goes on at the retreats, but
that in the future this will be a factor to be
considered.
Our officials cannot be trusted to be
caretakers of our hard-earned money. Al
though the ASUO craves the respectabili
ty of a large-scale turnout for its election,
the members’ relentlessly immature ac
tions prove they don’t deserve to be treat
ed as serious politicians — or as adults for
that matter.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Jennifer Sudick
Editor in Chief
David Jagemauth
Editorial Editor
Steven R. Neuman
Managing Editor
Gabe Bradley
Freelance Editor
INBOX
Bush Administration should
not cut down Roadless Rule
I’m outraged about the changes to the
Roadless Rule the Bush Administratior
is proposing. The Roadless Rule current
ly protects 58 million acres of public
forests, most of which are pristine an
cient forests. The Bush Administratior
wishes to, in effect, gut this law, allow
ing states to open up public land to log
ging industries. It’s possible to avoid ole
growth logging by embracing sustain
able forestry practices within the log
ging industry. Ravaging old growth
forests is not among these practices.
There are plenty of resources outside ol
the land set aside under the Roadless
Rule that, if used efficiently, could last
indefinitely. Once an old growth forest
is gone, it’s gone forever. More than just
a few old trees are lost: habitat for na
tive species, recreational areas and a vi
tal part of our heritage disappear along
with these majestic trees.
Instead of using up the few precious
resources we have left, why not explore
alternative sources for fuel and construc
tion materials? We all know it’s possible,
it’s just a matter of taking the first step by
putting our foot down and upholding the
Roadless Rule as is.
Adrienne Green
Eugene
Vegetarian, vegan foods
healthy for humans, animals
Kudos to Richard York for encouraging
his students to examine their individual
roles in ecological conservation by adopt
ing a vegan diet (“Environmental class
studies human relations with nature,”
ODE, Nov. 11).
The Worldwatch Institute, Union of
Concerned Scientists, and National
Audubon Society all recognize that rais
ing animals for food depletes and pol
lutes our land, water, and air perhaps
more than anything else we do. Quite
simply: Raising massive quantities of
crops to feed animals is grossly ineffi
cient. Every meat-based calorie you eat
represents 20 calories fed to the chicken,
pig, or other animal whose flesh you’re
consuming — it’s equivalent to throwing
20 plates of food into the trash for every
plate you consume. And a meat-based
diet uses up immeasurable amounts of
ozone-depleting fossil fuels while poison
ing the Earth with billions of tons of un
treated animal waste.
Choosing vegetarian or vegan foods is
the simplest and most practical way to re
duce our resource use and fight pollution.
And it also benefits animals, 10 billion of
whom are horribly abused and violently
slaughtered each year for their flesh.
Erica Meier
People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals