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Don't rush memorial.


Byline: The Register-Guard

Those inclined to find public schools insufficiently respectful re·spect·ful  
adj.
Showing or marked by proper respect.



re·spectful·ly adv.
 of the armed forces and their veterans will undoubtedly add the Eugene School Board's latest decision to their stockpile stock·pile  
n.
A supply stored for future use, usually carefully accrued and maintained.

tr.v. stock·piled, stock·pil·ing, stock·piles
To accumulate and maintain a supply of for future use.
 of evidence. The board decided last week to postpone approval of a veteran's plans to create a memorial at his alma mater ma·ter  
n. Chiefly British
Mother.



[Latin mter; see m
, South Eugene High School South Eugene High School is a public high school located in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It was founded as Eugene High School around 1900, and was located at Willamette Street and West 11th Avenue in a brick building that later served as Eugene's city hall. , honoring graduates who were killed in the Vietnam War Vietnam War, conflict in Southeast Asia, primarily fought in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and guerrilla forces aided by North Vietnam. .

Yet the board acted with appropriate caution. War memorials are heavily freighted with meaning, and must be done right.

The board's decision came in response to students who expressed reservations about the memorial, after having earlier given their support. The comments of a few students indicate that there's more groundwork to be done on this project: Some worried that a memorial would glorify war, or honor people who killed.

A memorial to the nine South Eugene graduates known to have died in Vietnam would not glorify that war or any other. To the contrary, it would remind current and future students that young people's lives are cut short by war. A memorial, properly conceived and executed, would induce students to reflect on their fast-approaching obligations as citizens - obligations that include preventing wars when possible, and fighting them when necessary.

Nor does a memorial honor people who killed. This one would honor people who died. Whatever students may think about the Vietnam War, or any other war, those who die in their country's service deserve not to be forgotten.

Yet even if students at South Eugene can arrive at a proper understanding of the purpose of a war memorial and set aside their objections, the board would still have work to do.

South Eugene is not the only Eugene School District Eugene School District (4J) is a public school district in the U.S. state of Oregon. It serves the city of Eugene Elementary schools
  • Adams Elementary School
  • Alternative Kindergarten
  • Awbrey Park Elementary School
  • Bertha Holt Elementary School
 high school that sent graduates to Vietnam. And Vietnam is not the only place where graduates of Eugene high schools have died in service to their country. Should there be a Vietnam memorial at every high school, or one memorial for all of the schools? Why focus on Vietnam, rather than on all wars? What are the risks of giving inadvertent offense by memorializing some war dead and not others?

These are not easy questions, and the answers will depend on finding a consensus among students, administrators, graduates and veterans. Rushing to approve a memorial at South Eugene would have been an easy way to demonstrate superficial deference to a veterans' desire to honor fallen comrades Fallen Comrades is a first season episode of Beast Wars which first aired on September 30, 1996. Plot
The Axalon's cargo of Maximal protoforms in stasis pods had been launched into orbit before the crash, but eventually one of the pods fell to Earth in the northern
 and classmates Classmates can refer to either:
  • Classmates.com, a social networking website.
  • Classmates (film), a 2006 Malayalam blockbuster directed by Lal Jose, starring Prithviraj, Jayasurya, Indragith, Sunil, Jagathy, Kavya Madhavan, Balachandra Menon, ...
. Taking the time to come up with a plan that communicates a message of respect - not just for now, but for years to come, - is harder, but promises to yield the best possible result.
COPYRIGHT 2004 The Register Guard
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2004, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Article Details
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Title Annotation:Editorials; School board's delay is prudent
Publication:The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)
Article Type:Editorial
Date:Jun 2, 2004
Words:437
Previous Article:LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.
Next Article:The session that wasn't.



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