Speech: Alexander encourages
audience to 'become fluent'
Continued from page 1
to say that by emasculating the ene
my and placing suspicion on immi
grants and foreign students, “the
state" has created the “hetero-mascu
line patriot.”
“Every decade since the second
world war has been marked by U.S.
intervention in other countries,” said
Alexander. She also mentioned that
the American flags everyone was
waving around following the Sept. 11
attacks were made by immigrant la
bor while we were being encouraged
to believe they were the enemy.
Alexander suggested her audi
ence read both The PATRIOT Act
and the national security act to get
a better understanding of what is
really going on.
In conclusion, Alexander said ig
noring the empire-building and the
imperialism is a “dangerous privi
lege,” and encouraged “becoming
fluent in the struggles of the person
next to you.”
Alexander’s visit was supported by
the Rethinking Security: Gender,
Race, and Militarization Program, the
Ethnic Studies Program, the Wayne
Morse Center for Law and Politics,
the ASUO Women’s Center, the Mul
ticultural Center and the departments
of anthropology and sociology, Direc
tor of Women’s Gender Studies Julie
Novkov said.
emilysmith@ daily emerald, com
Silence: Mayor and student
leaders among rally speakers
Continued from page 1
“Today has been intense,” said
Sheldon High School junior Kenda
Pitetti. “There was a little bit of oppo
sition from teachers but we had a re
ally good reception from students.”
“No matter where you are in the
school system you are still fighting
the same oppression,” said Jet, a
Lane Community College student,
who uses only one name. “They are
fighting similar oppression that I fight
on a daily basis in my college class
room. I am going to show solidarity. ”
The Day of Silence is a nine-year
old project that started with more
than 150 students on the University
of Virginia campus in 1996. The proj
ect has grown since then and has be
come a Gay, Lesbian and Straight Ed
ucation Network project in
collaboration with the United States
Student Association.
The event is student-led. The si
lence represents the suppression that
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgen
der people and their allies experience
on a daily basis from discrimination,
prejudice and harassment. Students
participating in the Day of Silence
gave out fliers that explained why
they weren’t speaking.
“Please understand my reasons for
not speaking today... My deliberate
silence echoes that silence, which is
caused by harassment, prejudice, and
discrimination,” the flier read.
“It lets people stop to think about
what it means that people are being
silent,” University senior Maceo
Perrson said.
Speakers at the rally included Eu
gene Mayor Kitty Piercy, Elise Self,
co-chairwoman of Parents, Families
and Friends of Lesbians and Gays,
and various student leaders. There
was an open mic at the event to give
participants an opportunity to dis
cuss their experiences.
“It was a good walk,” University
senior Ryan Minor said of the march
to the high school. “Some people
honked; I didn’t hear anything
negative really.”
abolsinger@ daily emerald, com
IN BRIEF
Afghan leader seeks
U.S. military partnership
KABUL — Catching U.S. officials
slightly off guard, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai is seeking a long-term
security partnership that could keep
U.S. troops there indefinitely and
make permanent the military rela
tionship that began when American
forces invaded his country in 2001.
Karzai made the statement
Wednesday at a news conference
with Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld, who was reluctant to
discuss the Bush administration’s
level of interest in giving
Afghanistan security guarantees.
Pressed several times on this
point, Rumsfeld said it was a matter
for President Bush to decide. He
noted that the United States had
pledged to remain a friend to
Afghanistan and help rebuild
the country.
However, when it came to the
question of a permanent military
presence here, “We think more in
terms of what we’re doing rather
than the question of military bases
and that type of thing,” he said.
In Washington, White House
press secretary Scott McClellan said
“discussions are ongoing” with
Karzai on future security arrange
ments. “I don’t want to speculate
about anything beyond that,”
he said.
It is not clear whether Rumsfeld
would favor a long-term military
presence in Afghanistan. Some be
lieve he would prefer a more flexible
arrangement for U.S. aircraft over
flight rights and possibly access to an
Afghan air base for occasional train
ing, refueling and other activities.
The Pentagon has already made
such arrangements with other Cen
tral Asian nations. Rumsfeld gener
ally favors that approach because it
is less rigid and less expensive.
At the news conference with
Rumsfeld, Karzai appeared eager to
talk about his hopes for a permanent
relationship with the United States,
which he said would be built on eco
nomic as well as military pillars.
Karzai said he had consulted
many of his country’s citizens about
“a strategic security relationship,”
with the United States that could
help Afghanistan defend itself and
deter foreign aggression.
“The conclusion we have drawn
is that the Afghan people want a
long-term relationship with the
United States,” Karzai said. “They
want this relationship to be a sus
tained economic and political rela
tionship and most importantly of
all, a strategic security relationship
to enable Afghanistan to defend it
self, to continue to prosper.”
Karzai said he has discussed this
with Bush, but now plans to formal
ize the request. He did not say when.
—The Associated Press
1ST ANNUAL
ALL
YOU
CAN
EAT
PANCAKE BREAKFAST
Taylor's Chapter of Eugene Benefit
for Doernbecher Children's Hospital
I
Saturday,
April 16th
9:00am.
to 12:30pm
850 East 14th St.
THE MASONIC LODGE
Next to UO campus
$3.50 per person
■
dOernbecher
Off UftflfS HOSPITAL KKJWDAT10W
OHSU
Career fair
Spring 2005
Wednesday, April 27
10am * }pm
EMU Ballroom
Pre-Career Fair Seminar
Making the Career Fair Work For You
Tuesday, April 26 • 4:00 - 530 pm • EMU (oplle Room
% X
O UNIVERSITY OF OREGON f CdPSGf COrT^Sf
i 220 Hendricks Hall • 346-3235 • ht1p://uocareer.uoregon.edu