12
Tuesday, September 5, 2000
Concerns or
Contjctthe
ombudsman at
ombudsmanWinc.eUu
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Kelli Boutin
EDrrORIAL PAGE EDITOR
Kim Minugh
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Ginny Sciabbarrasi
CITY EDITOR
Board Editorials
Just Say No
The U.S. should continue its active
role abroad in the war on drugs.
By Jonathan Chaney
Don’t let anyone tell you that the war on
drugs is a lost cause. America’s commitment
to eradicating drug abuse is alive and well,
just as it should be.
The war’s newest offensive is aimed at the
South American nation of Colombia. A
country ripped asunder by four decades of
civil strife, it is the source of 90 percent of the
cocaine consumed in the United States.
And the United States hopes to slash that
statistic with “Plan Colombia,” a $1.3 billion
aid package that President Clinton formally
gave a thumbs up to when he visited the
country last week.
The plan calls for $1 billion in military
spending, to train and equip the Colombian
army and police forces to fight the drug traf
fickers and give 18 Black Hawk helicopters
and 42 Huey 2 helicopters. In addition, the
package includes $238 million in social assis
tance for drug crop substitutions, reforms for
Colombia’s judicial system and improve
ments in human rights.
Though not a cure-all, the plan is a step in
the right direction.
The primary objective is to help the
Colombian government crack down on the
narcotics traffickers who are pushing illegal
drugs into the United States.
Cut off the supply at its head and it will
take years for the drug cartels to establish
their roots in another country. That’s valu
able time in which the United States can con
tinue its anti-drug programs at home, with
out a large influx of cocaine interfering.
But there is another benefit to the plan.
The drug cartels have been supplying the
Marxist rebels wh have plagued me W)UH- *
try with anti-government violence with “pro
tection money.”
It is estimated that they pay the guerril
las SSOO million a year, allowing the rebels
to buy better military equipment than the
Colombian army can afford. By eliminating
the drug cartels, the guerrillas lose their pri
mary source of funding, and the country’s
fragile democracy can be salvaged.
Plan Colombia is a two-pronged package
that embodies America’s ideals. It works
toward our national interests by cutting off
the nation’s major cocaine supply, and it
continues our tradition of supporting and
protecting democracy around the world.
Critics will tirelessly argue that the money
could be better spent on social programs in
the United States to curb drug abuse. But our
anti-drug campaign has been successful at
home. Just ask our drug czar, Gen. Barry
McCaffrey.
Statistics compiled by his office show that
the use of cocaine has decreased by 70 per
cent in the last 15 years, and drag consump
tion by 12- to 17-year-olds dropped 21 per
cent from 1997 to 1999 alone.
We’re doing something right. The num
bers reflect that quite clearly. But that does
not mean that we should stop our efforts
both at home and abroad to eradicate drag
usage. Our current social programs are
doing positive work in curbing drag abuse.
But the United State’s priorities must also
include cracking down on the suppliers who
funnel illegal drags through our nation’s bor
ders. Plan Colombia does that.
So if anyone claims the war on drags is
over, just say no.
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Money should be put into social
programs at home not overseas.
By Jenny Stepp
The recent decision of the U.S. govern
ment to spend $1.3 billion on aid in
Colombia is another egregious example of
U.S. drag policy gone horribly wrong.
Ninety percent of cocaine in the United
States comes from Colombia and a large
majority of the heroin finds its home there as
well. It is indeed a major source of illicit
drags in the United States. But sending bil
lions of dollars to one of the world’s most
notorious governments that is solidly linked
with paramilitary groups responsible for
more than 70 percent of the nation’s 3,000-
plus extra-judicial executions each year does
not appear to be a sensible drag policy.
Especially not when Clinton signs a waiver
so that Colombia will not have to abide by
even the most basic human rights standards
of operations.
But while it is especially disgusting that the
United States would send money to a gov
ernment so infamous for its paramilitary affil
iations, attempting to stop the drag problem
at its source is a policy that is flawed from the
beginning - no matter what country is
involved.
Case in point: A 1994 RAND study exam
ined the effectiveness of various approaches
to solving the drag problem in the United
States. The conclusion was remarkable. Drag
treatment was seven times more effective
than domestic law enforcement, 10 times
more effective than stopping cocaine at the
border and 23 times more effective than try
ing to stop drags at the source. The package
to Colombia has just funneled $1.3 billion
into the very least effective metluad of reduc
ftfftoiStine tblßtfßiptlßn iifthe U.S.
Look, if people really want cocaine, they
will find ways of getting it. I am not propos
ing that we legalize cocaine use, but that the
U.S. government realize the real problems of
cocaine use are here in our own backyard.
The best, quick-fix method of help is pro
viding good treatment to everyone who asks
for it While the United States pours billions
of dollars into the “war on drags” every year,
less than 10 percent of that total expenditure
goes toward treating the hard-core users who
are the real problem. Every year, more than
two-thirds of the people who request treat
ment for their drag addiction are denied help
because the government is funneling billions
into guns for murderous Colombian para
military groups while denying medical help
for those desperate addicts who need it so
badly at home.
But truth be told, many drug addicts will
not seek out help, which is why a truly effec
tive, long-term strategy must address the
problems that lead people to seek out drags
in the first place. The large majority of
addicts are poor and undereducated, and if
the U.S. government wants a population
without the problems of drag addiction,
these “root cause” problems must be
addressed.
But for now, let the record show that I
have no doubt the $1.3 billion package to
Colombia will end up being one of the
biggest mistakes of the Clinton administra
tion. The next president will be dealing with
Colombian violence and corruption far into
the next decade.
And addicts at home will continue to go
untreated and ignored.
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LEADERSHIP THAT HAS UNITED THE REPUBLICAN PARTY"
Revisiting Left-Wing Persecution
I’ve been told by several readers that some
students have trouble reading “Harsh
Light” because it is too verbose (that
means that I use big words that they some
times don’t understand.)
After rereading my first two columns, I’ve
concluded that the complainers are right. My
writing can in fact be a variable plethora -
nay, even a cornucopia -of verbal plenitude.
Forsooth, forsooth. And since I am of no good
whatsoever if I cannot make myself under
stood, I thought I’d take a relaxed approach
to today’s column by hitting my main theme
from last week one more time, and then try
ing to shed a little much-needed light on a
local UNC issue. Besides, you can’t bite off a
chunk of meat that big every week.
So here it goes.
Last week I argued that many liberals in
American politics have stopped trying to per
suade other Americans to agree with their
ideas. Instead, liberals have developed a habit
of trying to silence or destroy groups that dis
agree with them. Since liberals are widely
known for their self-proclaimed love of toler
ance, I called this habit “hypocritical.”
To illustrate the phenomenon, I related the
story of Tufts Christian Fellowship, which was
booted from Tufts University by a liberal stu
dent government because it refused to elect a
bisexual woman to its leadership team. (TCF
believes that homosexual acts are sinful.) I
commented that Tufts had decimated religious
freedom on its campus by banning religious
views with which it disagrees.
Several left-leaning readers offered
thoughtful feedback.
One pointed out that not all liberals engage
in the type of intimidation and censorship
described in my article. This is (of course)
true. There are still some leftists who really
want to protect free speech - even when con
servative or religious speakers disagree with
them. I didn’t say that there weren’t such lib
erals. But lately, they have been in the minori
ty-
Another reader argued that Tufts is a pri
vate university, and can thus legally make any
ideological rules it wants. This is also true. If
Readers' Forum
Reader Encourages
More Involvement
With DiPhi Debates
TO THE EDITOR:
While grateful to columnist
McKinney for his description of the
Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies
as “the oldest" and “most respected
organizations on campus” (“Fanning
UNO’s Intellectual Flames” Aug. 31),
I’m disappointed by the conclusion
he drew about DiPhi’s role in pro
moting the intellectual life at UNC.
McKinney and anyone else inter
ested in promoting useful knowledge
should join DiPhi at our meetings this
semester - debate topics include
“Morality Is Objective,” “Conformity
Benefits Society More Than
Individualism” and “The Carolina
Computing Initiative Is Beneficial to
the University.” Once in a while, as
McKinney noted, DiPhi like to have
a little fun by debating for debate’s
sake; but he need not assume we are
failing in our 206-year-old service to
the University and its community.
Furthermore, DiPhi are.not the
only groups on campus that are high
Sefton Ipock
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Cobi Edelson
DESIGN EDITOR
Saleem Reshamwala
GRAPHICS EDITOR
CRAIG WARNER
HARSH LIGHT
Tufts wants to ban traditional Christian belief
from its campus, it probably has the right to
do so.
But Tufts also fancies itself a fortress of
intellectual freedom. The Tufts mission state
ment claims to “value a diverse community ...
of different races, religions... where differ
ences are understood and respected.”
Hopefully, we can all see the hypocrisy in a
university that claims to value intellectual
diversity and then exiles the first group that
disagrees with it about something important.
Finally, one reader argued that the Tufts
episode was not enough to prove that liberals
had developed a tendency to silence and
destroy groups that disagree with them. He
asked me to give him some more examples of
leftist coercion.
Fair enough. But exacdy how many exam
ples is enough to “prove” a tendency? If 1 list
six episodes of censorship and coercion, will
we all agree that the left is acting hypocritical
ly? Or 12? What if I mentioned a thousand
“isolated” incidents?
When the Vatican refused to back down
from its strong pro-life beliefs, left-wing femi
nists tried to exile it from the United Nations.
When anti-affirmative action activist Ward
Connerly traveled to UNC, liberal “protest
ers” stormed the lecture hall and denied him
the right to speak.
At Cornell University, two separate print
ings of the conservative “Cornell Review”
were stolen and burned by members of the
Black Student Union. The BSU President
called the action a victory for “free speech.”
At Yale, a similar theft was actually aided
ly successful in promoting the intel
lectual climate, and I suspect more
freshmen will participate in these
groups throughout the year than will
have read McKinney’s summer read
ing book -but that’s just a guess.
Still, rather than arguing about
which effort most enhances the aca
demic life, we ought to be putting our
heads together to better the intellec
tual climate. DiPhi welcome any sug
gestions, including McKinney’s,
about how that might be done.
Brandon Briscoe
President, Joint Senate of the
Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies
Senior
Journalism and Mass
Communication
Milk “Propaganda”
Does Not Always
“Do A Body Good”
TO THE EDITOR:
No doubt you are correct to take
People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals to task for its insensitive por
trayal of cancer patients in its current
Cate Doty & Lauren Beal
MANAGING EDITORS
Josh Williams
ONLINE EDITOR
Brian Frederick
OMBUDSMAN
by a dean of the university.
I could list examples of leftist speech-tram
pling and argument-by-coercion for the rest of
this column.
But that would be a waste of space.
Some liberals simply aren’t going to be
convinced - because they really believe it is
acceptable to violate the constitutional rights “
of certain “evil" groups of Americans.
Of course, we’re expected to allow these
same liberals to decide exacdy which groups
are “evil.” But I’m sure we can trust them.
After all, they’ve done such an amazing job
protecting free speech.
One other item has been on my mind this ’
week:
I’m taking an excellent history course this ’
semester on the Civil War. The class has more 1
than 100 students, but I’ve noticed that there ‘
is only one black student enrolled.
I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that
the Civil War was an event of some conse
quence for the African-American community. 1
So why on earth are African-American stu- ‘
dents at UNC avoiding this exceptionally
well-taught class?
Could it be that they’ve been ushered
instead into lightweight “complain about
America” sociology courses like African
American Studies 40 by administrators who
have no respect for the African-American
intellect?
Or have African-American students decid
ed that American history (even the part about’
the war over slavery) doesn’t concern them?
In either case, the results are devastating.
My Civil War course is taught in an all-white
classroom. UNC African-Americans are not
learning about the most momentous event in
American history. Blacks and whites at UNC
are becoming more divided every day.
And here I thought that the “separate but ?
equal” doctrine on education died with the ■
Jim Crowe laws.
Craig Warner is a senior political science
major from Latrobe Pa. who thinks that Calvin
and Hobbes is fine art. To rant at him, send
emails to cmwarner@email.unc.edu. r,
anti-milk campaign (“Bad Taste’s
Poster Child,” Sept. 1). Now I hope
you will apply the same scrutiny to
the far more powerful dairy industry,
which, though adept and tactful at
public relations, is as irresponsible as
PETA when pursuing its agenda.
Milk is believed by most
Americans to be the quintessential
healthful drink, a symbol of all that is
pure (white) and good, loaded with
essential calcium and vitamin D. In
fact not only has milk never been
shown to prevent osteoporosis, sever
al studies have indicated it may con
tribute to many ailments including
sinus congestion, resistance to antibi
otics and, yes, prostate cancer.
The dairy industry distorts
research in its commercials and lob
bies the Department of Agriculture to
maintain the ridiculous pro-milk slant
of the supposedly scientific “food
pyramid.”
PETA has shown poor judgement,
but the dairy industry outdoes all
comers with its cynical propaganda
disguised as soggy medical advice.
Daniel Brezenoff
Class of 2000
(Efp Hath} (Ear Hrrl
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