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