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.
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