I opinion
Welcome reader
Welcome back readers to a year full of ironies In the
midst of the worst recession to hit Oregon since the Depres
sion, the city of Eugene and the University has decided to
celebrate The celebrations began with the opening of the
Hult Center for the Performing Arts They will continue next
Sunday with University of Oregon Day at the Eugene Per
forming Arts Center (now the Hult Center) The University
also will be holding a “Fall Convocation” on campus next
Monday afternoon.
The hopes of these festivities, besides removing our
thoughts momentarily from our joblessness, declining en
rollment and overall economic woes, is to unite us as a city
and University Officials of the city and University hope to
stimulate the arts and academia
The Emerald applauds the attempts of these groups to
encourage artistic, intellectual and economic expression
here However, the editors and staff do not intend to forget
the problems of the University and its environs in these
tenuous times
One way the Emerald hopes to strengthen its opinion
page is by instituting a new opinion feature “Your turn" is
the name of the column and as its name implies, the Emerald
hopes the space will entice University thinkers to take a turn
and present their informed opinions in the paper
The Emerald is earmarking some of this editorial space
for people we think have special points of view or expert
opinions on issues concerning the University The editorial
board invites any person to submit “Your turn.” Unsolicited
columns will be run on the basis of merit
Look for “Your turn" this Friday and every Friday
“Your turn” will not be changed by the editorial staff
The essay should be approximately 500 words in length and
typed It should be sent to the editorial page editor, ODE,
Suite 300 EMU, University of Oregon, 97403
The last bit of editorial news: This year the Emerald's
editorials will reflect the majority opinion of an editorial
board The new board will meet weekly to discuss and vote
on the editorials for the following week.
So, welcome back readers We re looking forward to
hearing from you
Article elicits anger
An article that I wrote for the Emerald's "Fall Orientation
Issue" has elicited a great deal more emotion and response
than I imagined it would Entitled "Springfield: The other
city," the article was a satirical attempt to portray some
observations of my own and to describe some typical Eugene
stereotypes of our neighboring city.
The article was not written with malice toward the good
citizens or businesses of Springfield
After living in Springfield for more than a year I felt
qualified to give some of my impressions of the city But in
doing so, I lost sight of my objectivity and the article became
a one-sided look at Springfield's bad side
The article did not mention the hard-working residents
who are proud of their city and who want to see it prosper
Nor did I mention the Island Park Professional Center, the
Senior Citizens Center and other projects designed to
enhance Springfield's livability and its image
As a result, the article caused some warranted anger
and displeasure
My primary consternation is that the article ran as a
straight news story and not as a column as it should have
This was a mistake and I regret it
Despite this particular article's overt one-sidedness, the
Emerald will continue to strive for accuracy, fairness and
excellence
Harry Esteve
Oregon daily m _
emerald
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Harry E steva
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'the Soft slanting light of autumn, the gentle, mellow air. funny little golored things falling
OFF THE TREES SUNDAY AFTERNOON THERE'S NO FOOTBALL. I'M OUTSIDE' AAASGW.''
Springfield reacts to story
Perpetuates
problem
The Economic Audit ot Lane
County commissioned for the
Lane Economic Foundation
revealed a "town-gown" dicho
tomy The editorial of Sept 20,
"Springfield, the Other City"'
certainly perpetuates this prob
lem
I thought we were all going to
work together to improve our
economic community, that the
University was trying to gather
support for its programs and its
future in towns all over Oregon
It will be difficult with attitudes
such as ones expressed in that
editorial
As a University alumna and
former writer for the Emerald, I
do defend the editorial freedom
required to produce a piece
such as the one in question
Freedom of the press protects
editors by allowing diverse
opinions, but nothing can pro
tect a writer from being foolish
and narrow minded
As a final comment, the horse
which stands at our west
gateway was designed by a
University student It has been
in disrepair for several years,
and this summer volunteers
have spent untold hours clean
ing. painting, weeding, tilling
and preparing a new planting In
fact, a group of Springfield
teenagers (some of the "edgy"
ones?) spent seven hours in the
hot sun on a Sunday hacking
brush I know; I was with them
If the selling and wearing of
Birkenstocks is a measure of the
worth of a community's inhabi
tants, I guess Springfield may
fail. Funny, I thought community
worth was measured by other
standards: pride, support of our
hospital, schools and business
communities, and the pleasure
of small-town life
Gall Norris
Springfield
Sophomoric
Your sophomoric and poorly
written piece on the city of
Springfield in your orientation
issue failed to mention one
thing: that big white horse was
created by a sculpture student
from the University in Eugene
Cynthia Anderson
Springfield
Unfortunate
Who is Harry Esteve, and why
is he saying such nasty things
about Springfield'?
I am prompted to respond to a
"story" in the Emerald s Com
munity publication by Mr
Esteve about Springfield I find It
difficult to express the extent of
my shame and embarassment at
his openly prejudiced and elitist
attitudes, not so much because
he has these tendencies, but
because he uses the news
media to actively promote them
When I studied journalism,
one of the first points we
learned was the responsibility of
--
balanced and objective
reporting I do not advocate
restricting the right of free ex
pression, but we must assume
that a fundamental purpose of
the Emerald's editorial staff is to
teach good journalistic stan
dards, not condone vicious
prattling
Mr Esteve attacks Springfield
residents with a bigoted fervor
reminiscent of the way Nazis
used the media to promote the
"inferiority” of Jews If I
believed Mr Esteve, I could
conclude that in addition to their
brown smiles, hick town atti
tudes and lack of Birkenstocks,
Springfield's citizens must also
have sloping foreheads, low IQs
and eat their young when they
run out of foodstamps
I would be curious to see his
story notes, which I assume in
clude interviews with the mayor
and other city residents Or did
he acquire his facts" after a
couple of beers and a quick
drive down Main Street?
I live and work in Eugene, but
for some time I have been ac
tively involved in Springfield It
is unfortunate that the very
cooperation so long sought
between these two cities is often
undercut by the egregious atti
tudes of people like Mr Esteve I
hope he senses no personal
thrill from having received a
journalistic "dueling scar "
Because of his poor reporting
abilities, to associate what he
writes with journalism is too far
for even me to stretch
Chrlntopher Pryor
Springfield
1
letters policy
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containing fair comment on issues, ideas and topics of
interest to the University community
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letter is turned in to The Emerald offices, EMU 300
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