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Commentary Oregon Daily Emerald Wednesday, May 25, 2005 NEWS STAFF (541)346-5511 |EN SUOICK EDITOR IN CHIEF STEVEN R. NEUMAN MANAGING EDITOR JARED PABEN AY1SHA YAHYA NEWS EDITORS MEGHANN CUNIFF PARKER HOWELL SENIOR NEWS REPORTERS MORIAH BAUNCIT ADAM CHERRY BRITTNI McCLENAHAN EMILY SMITH EVA SYLWESTER SHELDON FRAVER NEWS REPORTERS CLAYTON JONES SPORTS EDITOR JON ROTHMAN SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER STEPHEN MILLER BRIAN SMITH SPORTS REPORTERS RYAN NYBURG PULSE EDITOR AMY EIGHTY SENIOR PULSE REPORTER JOSHUA LINTEREUR PULSE REPORTER CAT BALDWIN JOHN PALMER PULSE CARTOONISTS AILEE SLATER COMMENTARY EDITOR GABEBRADLEY ANNEMARIE KNEPPER CHUCK SLOTHOWER JENNIFER MCBRIDE COLUMNISTS ASHLEY GRIFFIN SUPPLEMENT FREELANCE EDITOR DANIELLE HICKEY PHOTO EDITOR LAUREN WIMER SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER NICOLE BARKER TIM BOBOSKY PHOTOGRAPHERS KATE HORTON ZANE RIFE PART-TIME PHOTOGRAPHERS BRET FURTWANCLER GRAPHIC ARTIST DUSTIN REESE SENIOR DESIGNER ELLIOTT ASBURY WENDY KIEFFER AMANDA LEE JONAH SCHROG1N DESIGNERS SHADRA BF.F.SLEY I FANNIE EVERS COPY CHIEFS KIMBERLY BLACKF1ELD JOSH NORRIS SPORTS COPY EDITORS GREG BILSLAND AMBER L1NDROS NEWS COPY EDITORS JENNY GERW1CK PULSE COPY EDITOR ADRIENNE NELSON ONLINE EDITOR WEBMASTER (541)3465511 IUDYRIEDL GENERAL MANAGER KATHY (ARBONE BUSINESS MANAGER IAUNA DE GIUSTI RECEPTIONIST JERED NAGEI. 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Unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. “SELF-SERVICE ONLY, LAD .. . I’M STILL BUSY PRETENDING I’VE NEVER EVEN SEEN THIS STUFF BEFORE!” Bret Furtwangler | Graphic artist In my opinion 10 reasons not to kill Bush Recently in Georgia, the president gave a speech only to have someone chuck a hand grenade at him. Lucky for all, the blast cap did not explode. Though originally thought to be a dud, the FBI later revealed the weapon was far from safe. I can’t possibly guess the assassin’s reasoning, but I’ve heard enough peo ple on campus proclaiming their hatred of George W. Bush to know that some wouldn’t have shed many tears. And that’s a shame. If the assassin were looking for a way to hurt America, blowing up the presi dent would be a good idea. Bush’s mar tyrdom would put the last nail in the coffin of the liberal agenda. So, for those Bush-haters out there, here are 10 reasons you should stop praying for an assassinated G.W.B.: 1) Killing the president immediately generates sympathy for his cause. If the president died tomorrow, there would be no question that all of his nominees for the judicial branch would make it through the Senate. 2) A dead President Bush leaves a live Dick Cheney in charge. Need I say more? 3) The Pakistani political situation is drastically fragile. Should President Bush die, Musharraf’s brutal, mostly secular dictatorship probably will be re placed by a brutal, religiously funda mental dictatorship, reducing the Unit ed States’ chances of bringing in Osama bin Laden to nil. 4) Any criticisms of the administra tion will be regarded as more unpatri otic than ever. In the next election, you could expect to see Democratic primary candidates proclaiming that their Re publican counterparts aren’t “fit to JENNIFER MCBRIDE QUASHING DISSENT follow in President Bush’s footsteps.” 5) Killing President Bush could spur another spate of international invasions, with or without U.N. ap proval. The U.S. military cannot deal with invading another country with out further hollowing our ability to defend ourselves and respond to threats from other countries, such as a nuclear North Korea. 6) The news cycle would be justly co-opted. With the media so focused on one story, there wouldn’t be time to examine important issues such as the government suppression in Uzbekistan or Egyptian election tampering. In fact, all foreign news that didn’t directly af fect the assassination would probably grind to a halt. 7) President Bush’s status as a mar tyr would leave the electorate more polarized than ever, especially if liber als were seen as publicly irreverent to President Bush’s memory. It would be a little different if natural selection de creed death-by-snacking, but toasting an assassin’s success leaves a decid edly bitter taste in the national mouth. 8) Jeb Bush’s popularity would sky rocket. He would undoubtedly win the Republican nomination and then the election in 2008. With the Supreme Court full of near-zombies, I would prefer a different man to pick the people who are going to strangle us with laws. 9) Killing George Bush won’t end any of the policies people disagree with. An assassination would mere ly strengthen our resolve to stay the course in Iraq, keep troops in Saudi Arabia, support our Israeli allies, etc. Policies don’t die just because the president does. 10) Slaying President Bush is sim ply immoral. Anyone who advocates purposefully killing someone de fenseless (and a democratically elected leader, no less) is clearly val ue-challenged. I don’t understand the logical contortions some people must go through to be anti-death penalty yet pro-assassination. In all seriousness, I don’t hate Pres ident Bush. I dislike a lot of his admin istration’s choices, but I think he’s a good man doing a difficult job. As a leader, you’re always going to be hat ed. Iam too often shocked by the vit riolic repulsion many people feel for our leader and America in general, es pecially because the loathing is often poorly informed. I’ve met people on this campus who see America as the worst human rights abuser in the world (unlike the angelic paradise of Cambodia) and people who sway liberal not because they actually know anything about issues but because it’s popular. Liberalism has to be more than a col lege fad or a collection of loudmouths whose idiotic comments stir headlines. The rabid dislike some people feel for a man they’ve never even met makes me ashamed to be a Democrat. jennifermcbride@ dailyemerald, com INBOX Threats to OMAS staff harmful to civil discourse I am sorry to report that col leagues in our Office of Multicultural Academic Support recently have re ceived a significant amount of vitri olic mail, including personal threats in response to news stories about math and writing courses sponsored by OMAS. These programs have recently been the subject of considerable attention, both enthusiastic support and consid erable criticism. While there is no indication that these threats originat ed within our community, I cannot state strongly enough how we must support civil discourse and avoid personal attacks. Every member of our community is well within his or her rights to ex press views freely, without retalia tion, but we will not tolerate such threats. The University has a proud tradition of freedom of expression. The way we handle this important challenge today will define our future ability to implement any tangible actions that will move to ward a more inclusive and welcom ing community. We must accept these challenges with openness and commitment. Dave Frohnmayer University president ■ Editorial A look back at blunders, successes of the ASUO Looking back on Adam Petkun’s term as ASUO president, it is clear that with accomplishments and mistakes, there are things Adam Walsh, who begins his term as ASUO president today, can learn from the Petkun administration. With this in mind, we present a retrospective on the ASUO leader ship of 2004-05. In his first major action, Petkun opted to ban University graduate Dean Neiwert, hus band of then-ASUO Accounting Coordinator Jennifer Creighton-Neiwert, from performing contracted work for the ASUO. Petkun told the Emerald the decision was prompted by concerns about the appearance of nepo tism under his administration. He made the right move by taking swift action and not mincing words. Hot on the heels of the hiring ban came the infamous October ASUO Sunriver finance trip, in which elected student officials drank and smoked marijuana at a retreat paid for with student incidental fees. While Petkun re mained clear of scandal (mostly because he did not attend the retreat), his lack of hands on action in the immediate aftermath marks a leadership failure. Great leaders push for ac countability within their organization, and Petkun’s weak decisions showed the retreat attendees that it would be easy to evade be ing punished or being held accountable. When this year’s Programs Finance Commit tee wrongfully attempted to stall the budget of the Oregon Commentator pending the approval of its mission and goals statement, Petkun’s logic prevailed. Emerald columnist TVavis Wilse pegged the situation best in his column “Prais ing Petkun” (ODE, March 3): “Where other ad ministrations have faltered, Petkun remained true to the spirit of viewpoint neutrality, even citing and bringing copies of the Supreme Court’s Southworth decision.” When election season rolled around this term, Petkun’s decision to endorse a set of in sider candidates might go down as the great est personal blunder of his presidency. Shirk ing the responsibility of leading the government in trade for a yellow T-shirt and leaving management of the election in the hands of ASUO Vice President Mena Ravas sipour was irresponsible. The ASUO Executive registered a record number of voters in last fall’s registration campaign, kept its campaign promise to elim inate the “sketchy scheduling fee” and ce mented the final capstone in an almost decade-long march to provide Eugene with a housing standards code — all good things. We should consider the past year as a fitting example of what student government can teach the ASUO’s future leaders. EDITORIAL BOARD Jennifer Sudick Steven R. Neuman Editor in Chief Managing Editor Ailee Slater Commentary Editor Shadra Beesley Copy Chief Adrienne Nelson Online Editor OREGON DAILY EMERALD LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged, and should be sent to letters@daiiyemerald.com or submitted at the Oregon Daily Emerald office, EMU Suite 300. Electronic submissions are preferred. Let ters are limited to 250 words, and guest commentaries to 550 words. Au thors are limited to one submission per calendar month. Submissions should include phone number and address for verification. The Emerald reserves the right to edit for space, grammar and style. Guest submissions are published at the discretion of the Emerald.
