Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 6, 1981)
opinion va rs A tasteless pleasure I am writing with regard to the April 1st issue of your paper, which contained the Daily Immorald. I found the contents of this rag to be pointless, tasteless and vicious. I am sure that it caused humilia tion and embarrassment to many de serving people. Congratulations! I never suspected you had it in you! It’s a real pleasure to see even a trifling portion of my incidental fee spent on something worthwhile for a change. However, I see by your April 2nd edition that you are back to the same old, tired, journalistic chit-chat. Oh well. At least you gave me a fucking break. Now where’s my five bucks? Jerome Berryhfll Senior, math & physics Sophomoric jerks While I am sure that some of them aren’t, I would hope most Salem legisla tors are smart enough to realize that a few sophomoric jerks on the Emerald represent only their own tiny, bruised egos, and not the University. Now perhaps your own futures are assured. Perhaps Lou Grant can’t wait until you all graduate so he can fill the "Trib" newsroom with U of O journalism hotshots. Or perhaps you all have a "Hinckley Complex” and Daddy is wait ing to bail you after your potshots. Some of us, though, are footing the bill ourselves. While we may not agree with their politics, whatever financial assis tance the State Legislature can provide is truly welcomed. What is not welcomed is the annual "Immoral” issue you tur keys confuse with satire, complete with full page "finger" and countless “f...ings". With neither wit, incisiveness, nor skill, you (and the rest of the student body, by association) have probably alienated a few more legislators Certainly Pat Horton and Greeks are deserving targets (though most of you must belong to the latter, given the gen eral level of the issue), and surely your own ethical purity entitles you to call Rich Brooks to question (though his THE LIGHT AT THIS END OT THE TUNNEL product is at least interesting to look at); but anyone who calls wheelchair-han dicapped “gimps", even to smugly snicker at those who find humor in the term, would need a proctologist to remove their head from where it lives. Next year, spare us the ire of the bud get writers, and stick to producing your ininspired birdcage fodder. Leave the Lampooning to those who do it well, and with some sense of ethics. Michael Morror BA Journalism, CSULA, 1969 Terrific Immorald I never thought news could be so ex citing or humorous as I found it to be on April 1. The Immorald is a creative idea and really added a touch of spice to the normal news. It's terrific to break up the monotony of the ho-hum syndrome. I enjoyed being so entertained after the hassles of drop-adds and all the other stuff which accompanies the first day of classes. Keep it up folks. Liz Coleman Not a joke Your April Fool edition is incredibly abominable. As one who has defended the Emerald on many occasions over the past 31 years, I can find absolutely noth ing defensible in this instance. To pass it off as “a big joke” suggests a misconception of humor that can be understood only in terms of a level of immaturity that beggars belief. To hold it to be “our policy never to apologize for it (the Immorald issue)” seems to say that you can do no wrong and even if you do, you are not sorry for it. Such arrogance is outrageous. You owe not only Pat Horton an apology; you owe apologies to all other persons insulted in and by this travesty of yours and to the university you represent to the public. Charles T. Duncan Professor of Journalism, Emeritus Hates squirrels After spending three years walking around the U of O campus it has become apparent to me that steps must be taken to combat Squirrel arrogance. As any one who has even walked across cam pus once can attest to, the U of O squirrel population lives in a wholly unnatural environment. Devoid of enemies, they’re developing characteristics unbecoming of an animal in their station. If this were a static arrogance I proba bly would have remained apathetic about the situation. Unfortunately, this is not the case. During my years here I've wit nessed them evolve from simply refusing to move off the sidewalk while eating, to openly taunting me from the trees, to actually assualting a friend of mine in an effort to steal the cookie she was eating. The rapid growth characteristics of this arrogance leads me to believe that if this situation is not curbed immediately there may be no stopping it short of squirrel genocide Being an animal lover, I would like to prevent this from occuring. I believe it can be prevented if everybody will just do their part. If you see a squirrel on your way to class, take the time to pick up a rock and throw it at the varmint. If you're early, or walking home and have some time, go ahead and try to catch one. Once caught it can be maimed in any number of fash ions, or simply roughed up a bit and thrown around. This isn’t asking much. Five to ten minutes a day, that’s all. Lets see if we can’t all pitch in to help remedy this ugly situation and return the U of O squirrel population to their ap propriate place among man and beast. Gordon Brown Chairman, Coalition to Stamp Out Squirrel Arrogance Junior, economics Supports Immorald Speaking for the Immorald — person ally I'd like to give Pat Horton a chance to back out of his mistake, but there is really no way to Imagining we (and I do as sociate the paper with myself and the school) are less than adults I suppose he was just condemning our immaturity. Mature people, however, can and do joke about the terrible things in life, the more absurd the better, with room for reflection even on the religious and Religious Studies by the way (in refer ence to the letter by Douglas Straton). But the worst things in life, particularly killings, are notoriously oppressive. The more brave can imagine they can laugh at such things, and the foolhardy may not even recognize such real allies against “infantile" acts. Of course humor about our worst sides is infantile. Our worst sides are infantile. We assume that such obviously infantile suggestions as murder could not be taken seriously, especially by what one would expect to be the most intelligent people — those in leadership positions. Perhaps Horton was one of the people who believed the Emerald was serious about such a thing as murder. Anyway, he and Olum have bigger fish to fry than the free press and "infantile” humor, don’t they? I understand them to be capable of much more, with time regarding this terrible problem only to laugh and move on. But respecting them and their social value I hope, that because of the controversy the Immorald happened to cause, that they will also have a better understanding in the future of who their friends really are and whether they are aptly acting to er adicate the same dishonors of which they are accused, namely immaturity and uncivility. My first reaction to this paper was shock but it was not an irresponsible publication. We need Horton, we need Paul Olum, and we need the Immorald with no toning down or “glory” aside. Jeanne Gray Sophomore, philosophy letters policy The Emerald will accept and try to print all letters containing fair comment on ideas and topics of interest to the University community Letters must be typewritten and no longer than 250 words Letters must be signed, the author's field of study or (acuity status noted and must include address and phone number for verification
