■ Guest commentary
CampU.S. Strike focuses struggle for peaceful future
Most people I meet in my daily
strike for peace on campus are un
aware that making and selling
weapons has been America’s top in
dustry since 1950, that we have sus
tained this weapons-based economy
by sponsoring, supplying and creating
more than 200 wars in 55 years, and
that about 310,000 companies and 350
colleges are on the Pentagon’s payroll.
My refusal to study inside class
rooms, after three years of intensive re
search, is part of a terminal project
goal to draw attention to disordered
national priorities that concern all
Americans. (For the record, I am the
only peace studies student in the Unit
ed States licensed to use the RAND
Corporation’s defense database, and I
spend approximately 200 hours a year
accessing the Pentagon’s Statistical In
formation Analysis Division. I study
year-round without traditional breaks;
I am completing all coursework out
side of class, and I completed my grad
ing requirements long ago.)
My graduate project is an informa
tion outreach campaign to make us
safer with a reasonable defense so we
don’t send our citizens to wars created
for profit and waste our future wealth.
I came to the University to get away
from wasteful Pentagon programs that
flooded companies for which I
worked. In my 15 years in Silicon Val
ley, I refused security clearance (and
higher pay) three times because our
taxes were not making America safer
or more prosperous. I received my
Bachelor of Arts here, and began grad
uate studies after Sept 11. In my third
year, I found Pentagon combat pro
grams in development at our schools,
including the University.
The European Union develops its
technology for alternative energy and
medical advancements and then for a
reasonable defense. The United States
develops its technology for battlefields
first, at tremendous detriment to do
mestic prosperity. Nearly every prob
lem our planet bears is caused, exploit
ed, or worsened by this priority.
While I strongly support research,
even some weapons research, I am
just as strongly against wasteful spend
ing, and America’s “defense” is exces
sively offensive. Research should ben
efit people first, and funding education
should reflect that priority.
I sincerely doubt that those who
conduct Pentagon— funded research
on our campuses have taken the time
to study our National Defense Strategy
and the Pentagon’s Future Combat
Systems program-the primary benefi
ciaries of such research. Secondary
benefits come at too great a price.
If the Postal Service started issuing
billion-dollar stamps and began mail
ing weapons around the world for
huge sums of profit for itself, Ameri
cans would demand change. The Pen
tagon receives and wastes more tax
payer dollars than other U.S. agencies
combined-all the more reason Ameri
cans should be in control of what it ex
ports, and what it engenders: declining
domestic prosperity and much more.
Our founders taught us that when
government strays from serving us we
have a duty to alter or abolish it and in
stitute new government to protect our
future security. If we adopt a people
based American economy, our prob
lems can be addressed.
The CampU.S. Strike for Peace Cam
paign urges citizens to recognize that
addressing symptoms, while neces
sary, falls short of effecting change.
People must demand a change in
America’s priority, from weapons for
profit to human prosperity, or the out
of-control misspending of our wealth
will deliver us the same fate that befell
the Soviet Union.
History’s greatest lesson tells us to
take the profit out of war, and until we
do that, we will increasingly suffer
from the misdirection of our advancing
technology. Both major parties have
sustained the war industry for 55
years; both are saturated with corrup
tion. Changing administrations with
out changing priorities will not alter
our course. America cannot be a
peace-loving nation-nor can its people
ever truly prosper-as long as its top in
dustry is making and selling weapons.
Only by focusing popular demand
on the single greatest cause of our
problems will we prevail over our
problems. We are all cogs in the war
machine unless we stand defiant
against it or actively support those
who do.
(The author, Brian Bogart, has
been invited by members of Parlia
ment to attend the December 2005 In
ternational Peace Conference in Lon
don as one of 1,000 delegates from the
United States, Britain and Iraq. To con
tribute to The London Fund to make
his journey possible, please visit the
Help Us page at strikeforpeace.org.)
INBOX
Respect is intrinsic
to University's mission
Now that we are settling into the
new school year, I would like once
again to discuss community standards
at the University of Oregon.
This university has long been dedi
cated to supporting and preserving the
freedom of thought and expression for
all its members. These freedoms are
so important they will underscore the
report on diversity I expect to receive
in the near future from the Diversity
Executive Working Group.
Community standards are a critical
part of what we are and what we
stand for at the University of Oregon.
In fact, the University of Oregon Affir
mation of Community Standards, a
resolution passed by the University
Senate in March 2000, is prominently
and permanently displayed in the Free
Speech Forum at the Erb Memorial
Union. The fact that the resolution
holds such a place illustrates the
importance the University ascribes to
values contained in the resolution.
Among the points in this affirma
tion of standards is the University’s
long and illustrious history in the ar
eas of academic freedom and freedom
of speech. The University seeks to fos
ter a culture of respect that honors the
rights, safety, dignity and worth of
every individual. We respect the priva
cy, property and freedom of others.
The University rejects bigotry, discrim
ination, violence or intimidation of
any kind. We practice personal and
academic integrity and we expect it
from others. We also promote the di
versity of opinions, ideas and back
grounds, all of which form the
lifeblood of this great university.
It is especially important to remind
ourselves of the importance of these
standards when we see behavior that
does not exemplify the qualities con
tained within the affirmation of com
munity standards. Displaying a lack
of sportsmanship at athletic events or
being unwilling to consider different
points of view are just a few examples.
Respect for the rights of all is an in
tegral part of our mission at the Uni
versity of Oregon. We should keep this
in mind as we continue with this aca
demic year.
Dave Frohnmayer
President, University of Oregon
Editorial misconstrues
merit of Bogart's project
News coverage in the Emerald on
Brian Bogart’s courageous strike-for
peace has been admirable. The ongo
ing story is rare and deserves the at
tention the Emerald has given it. So
it’s difficult for me to suggest that a re
cent editorial (“Protesting Not a Valid
Substitute for Classes,” ODE Oct. 4)
reveals a misunderstanding of Boga
rt’s effort, which is wisely approved
by political science professor Jane
Cramer.
Maybe a little jealousy creeps in
when student writers covet Bogart
earning credit “for sitting outside for
hours each day,” while classmates in
vest hours in the classroom. To the
contrary. When he is not explaining
the peace problem to pedestrians, Bri
an continues intensive individual
study of the course and its text —
when outdoor elements permit.
The Emerald editorial failed to
make note of the great number of
morning and evening hours Bogart
has spent — and continues to spend
— monitoring and studying Pentagon
and research Web sites on his comput
er. It acknowledges Bogart has been
given a freedom the Emerald supports
for students, namely “leeway to pur
sue their interests.” But it doesn’t go
far enough. While exploring and doc
umenting sinister aspects of military
funding for campus research, Bogart
also does a public service rarely
achieved by one student’s study.
By contrast, the Emerald ignores its
journalistic responsibility of investiga
tive reporting by responding to Uni
versity officials’ claim that “no
weapons research is being conducted
here” with the rebuttal: “We sincerely
hope this is true.”
That is naive, lazy journalism.
“Students,” concluded the editorial,
I
“deserve to know what their school is
up to.” If absence of investigative re
porting leaves a dangerous vacuum in
student awareness, how fortunate that
one student, Bogart, works hard for all
of us to bring facts to light.
George Beres
Former manager of the
University Speakers Bureau
1
023454
The Out List
in Tuesday’s paper was
published incorrectly
due to an error by the
Oregon Daily Emerald
Advertising Department.
We acknowledge the
importance of this list
both to the people
listed and to the
University community and
apologize for the situation
created by our error.
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