Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1981)
opinion greg wesson a quorum of one For Glen Ozonewood, the fight against the athletic fee had become an entertaining saga. He had once been elected to the student senate while urging no incidental fees for athletics (a position University rules won’t allow). Unfortunately, voters abolished the senate in the same election. Glen leafed through the scrap book of athletic department scandals and rip-offs he’d assembled over the past year. He lingered over a newspaper article on the $10 athletic fee imposed at the University last spring. The students, through the IFC, had recommended that incidental fees be increased to $40 per term. Their suggestion was ignored and the state board approved the special fee, authorizing collection of $50 each term. “Damnit,” he thought to himself, ’’reading about it reawakens my disgust. Together with the $7 per term already approved by the students, that means John Caine and the boys took $57 from me last year to fund a program that gives me little or no benefit. "And, over half of that they took after my elected representatives told them no. It’s so obviously unfair to take money from people when they democratically refuse to give it that the position requires no support.” ("No taxation without representation” sound familiar?) A few pages later, Glen found a copy of a note he’d penned to Brad Lemley, a friend now doing news in the nation’s captial. When writing about the fee, satire seemed the proper mode. “After I learned of the board’s action, I began the trek home angry and dejected. However, the anger faded as I realized how selfish my reaction was and how important it was for the Ducks to field quality teams. Besides, what's a few phony credits, illegal phone calls and stolen airplane tickets? "Guess I shouldn't complain that almost $60 is being taken from me to support athletics while programs are being cut because of lack of funds. Remember the words of the Eugene Register-Guard after a Duck win: Today a com munity feels better about itself. “It would be small-minded to object to people feeling good about themselves. Even if they do it at your expense.” Turning to the first blank page, Glen attached his latest clipping, an article detailing testimony on SB720, a senate bill that would give students absolute control over incidental fees. The legisla tion would prevent excesses like the athletic fee unless the students imposed it. Gluing the article to the page, he once more glanced at the highlighted paragraphs. A repre sentative of the state board had appeared to oppose the bill, arguing that students were too irresponsible to control the funds. “An interesting charge," countered Glen, “when it was the administration and the board, not the students, that allowed the athletic department to run up a $300,000 deficit.” yours Unprofessional rag As a member of your captive audience, well familiar with your reputation as a bias, unreliable, and unprofessional rag, I have several suggestions for upgrading your so-called publication. First, take lessons in OBJECTIVE reporting. Do something wild. For exam ple, publish newsworthy items EVEN if they don't coincide with the Emerald staff s drug crazed liberal view of the world. Further, dare I suggest that you report all items fairly. For example, don’t report on Pres. Reagan's economic policy with headlines like "Budget Sub mitted: EXXON HAPPY" or headline a drug story "Doctors Unanimously Agree: Pot is the Youth Drug." OBJECTIVE IS THE KEY. Second, why not search for some quality editorialist with a sense of balance and perspective. The constant ramblings of Wasson are tedious. In stead of allowing him to amuse himself with his own little illusions and fantasies couched in satire, you could find someone who is more concerned with addressing issues. How about letting a conservative express views in the ed itorial page? I know that the Emerald has never taken to the idea of free speech to' all, but it is an idea. Last, try to investigate real scandals at the University. Get off of Pat Horton’s case. Everyone who has lived in this area knows he is a jerk Why not investigate the morons in the athletic department who allow football and basketball players to rape women, steal university money, promote drug use and allow functionally illiterate ball players to graduate without taking exams? Or why University admin istrators who work only part time get full salaries for playing squash for hours at a time or swimming the afternoon away? This criticism is not new It’s been around since 1974 when I first attended this institution. If you are content to cover the bathroom floors keep up the fine work. At least it couldn’t get worse Steven Fogelson Law student Not newsworthy When I scanned the front page “story” on the racist letter, I was upset by the messge. However, after thinking about it, that wasn’t a major concern to me, as surely any intelligent person would quickly see the real problem: the person(s) who made the executive decision to give such prominence and some credibility to an otherwise unintelligible, non-creditable diatribe. An unsigned letter is no letter at all. Many of us continue to work to make our campus a better community for all people. Such a short-sighted editorial decision sets us back. For this I am sorry. Vincent J. Bilotta Alumni Director KEZI’s gay story I would like to clear up a misconcep tion in your story of April 14, “Local Media Find Gay News Difficult.” The article indicated that a story concerning gays was pulled from a KEZI-TV News l Broadcast because of the pressure of phone calls. I am the Producer of the 11 o’clock News. Telephone calls do not influence the type of stories broadcast on Eyewit ness News. The main reason the story about Gay Pride Week did not make the 11 o’clock News was time. Time is in extremely short supply during a half hour news show. The story about Gay Pride Week was unusually long, so rather than drop other news stories to fit that one in, we went with several other shorter stories, including a feature on the Primate Re search Center in Portland. We receive phone calls during every newscast. They do not affect the lineup of our stories. If we reacted to the calls, we would only broadcast “popular” news. David M. Lerner Eyewitness News Museum closure In reference to Gabriel Boehmer's ar ticle of April 21, regarding closure of the art museum on Easter Sunday, I found it very ironic that people complained to the director of the museum, Richard Paulin, instead of the real culprits, our state government and each individual tax payer. It is about time that some Oregonians, apart from the University community, directly felt the affects of higher education’s dwindling budget, because only when someone is person ally affected by a decision, will he or she take action. If last Sunday's closure of the museum prompts even a few people to complain to their legislator, then I say it was worth it. Maybe their disappoint ment can be constructively applied to ensure that the art museum is not forced to close indefinately, just because e nough people did not care. Joan Herman Junior, English letters policy Letters are limited to 250 words, and each must be signed and the author’s field of study or faculty-staff status noted. Letters should be dated, and must in clude the author's address and phone number for verification. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length, style or content. .A_II 4 AQ4
