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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 1982)
opinion Eugene Council has a lousy attitude Last week’s Eugene City Council meeting on the naming of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts was less a "public hearing” than it was a public embarassment The City Council made no secret of the fact that its mind was made up before the hearing A resolution, passed out days before the hearing, read “Having considered the testimony presented at that hearing,” the Council finds that the naming of the Hult Center was valid I he City Council could have put off forming the resolu tion until after the testimony by the Citizens for Open Government — the group calling for an open meeting to consider a name — was presented The wording of the resolution was simple enough that one of the members could have put it in the form of a formal motion during the meeting At least that would have given the meeting some sense of credulity Thfll pre-testimony resolution wasn’t the worst of it, however It was the "How dare you?” attitude of the majority of the councilors and of the "community leaders” who attended that made the meeting stink Consider some comments made by former Mayor Les Anderson, a strong supporter of the decision to name the center after millionaires Nils and Jewel Hult. The actions taken by CFOG were a "vicious slap” on the face of Eugene. Their protest against the way in which the city decided on the name change was “ill-mannered petti ness," Anderson said during the meeting. Perhaps this statement made by Anderson sums up Eugene’s attitude problem. "Can you blame the city coun cilors for thinking that no one would have the gall to debate the name?” Members of CFOG "had the gall” to protest what they considered poor government and this is what they got for it. Councilor Brian Obie: "With public participation should come some responsibility I do not see it here tonight." Councilor Bill Hamel: The ones who are protesting the name are “short-termers" while the ones who like the name are “long-term citizens." Whether the name “Hult” is the best one or not, isn’t necessarily the main issue here. The problem was the City Council made their decision during a meeting that violated Oregon open meetings statutes, and thus left out a very important segment of the decision-making process — the people of Eugene That needed to be pointed out and corrected So the City Council corrected itself to prevent a law suit Now all it needs to do is to work on its attitude Campus motels? Residence halls offer low-cost housing to visitors on Oregon's colleges and Universities They compete with motel-owners, in that sense, for "guests." During the last State Board meeting a small group of Ashland motel owners complained that the Southern Oregon State College was taking away their business by providing low-cost residence hall accommodations. The University also rents residence hall space to groups coming to Eugene. This is a large factor in having summer programs here on campus Currently the University is con sidering renting two empty Bean Hall wings year-round. This could become a problem for University/motel relations — though we don’t think it will. SOSC, like the University, should require a university based "sponsor" for every group that uses the colleges for accommoaauons All the state system institutions should have a policy of what groups they will acccommodate and why. Good relations between the local motel owners and convention bureaus need to be maintained In the vast majority of cases, the groups staying at the University are here because the University offers a program or facility that cannot be found except here or at some other institute of higher education — the Labor Education Re search Center or high school women’s track camps for instance. The cities and towns that house these institutions, like Ashland, are more than grateful that they have such an asset in their community The State Board need not waste too much time on this question of Ashland's dorm /motel dispute — they should just see that there is a policy spelled out that spe-oial plaoa, Eu-g*ene Dbwn-toivn. - ■ —— -. . Serious or not I would have thought that threatening the lives of nearly 200 people would have been a serious offense, but apparently not The two students who claimed they had set a bomb to go off in Room 150 Geology during a crowded midterm committed more than what I consider a “stunt” (Emerald 11-22-82) Their action caused the mid term to be cancelled; students became angry, and probably a few dropped the class But far worse, they threatened our lives As I recall, people who on another occasion burned a flag during a forum in the EMU Ball room are now serving time in jail Our terrorist classmates, however, are only asked to do each 50 hours of community service and are being placed on academic probation If they really had been members of the RCYB, would they have been treated any differently? The two students are lucky They remain anonymous. They will not be expelled, fined or put in jail Hopefully, they will learn a little compassion for others as they perform their community service and reflect on their own good fortune Greg Hutchings senior, psychology Motherhood I'm responding to the letter entitled "Human Life" in an Oc tober Emerald Ms Barn hurst seems to have disregard ed the psychological effects on the children she would like to see born She also seems to have disregarded an objective look at the development of a human fetus, but to argue about something not completely un derstood would not help any cause Consider this question: What advantage is there to bringing an unwanted child into this world? The Swedish govern ment did an interesting study quite 2 few years ago The government, which was anti choice at the time, denied abor tions to 100 women seeking them The children that were bom were then followed for 21 years As a control group, the government followed a group of children born to mothers desiring their pregnancies The children of the unwanted preg nancies performed poorly in life relative to their wanted coun terparts Most of the unwanted males failed tests to enter mili tary service, the school scores of the unwanted children paled in comparison to the scores of the wanted children, and many of the unwanted children grew up to be supported by the government dole Needless to say, the Swedish government changed its stand on abortion I am not saying that abortion should be forced on anyone I am saying that motherhood should not be forced on ever yone Eduard Eichnar biology Beer, boxing I'm not sure what is so disturbing about the large Miller Lite beer ad that appeared on page six of the Nov. 19 Emerald Perhaps it is the timing of its appearance: right after the recent destruction of the young Korean boxer's life Perhaps it is the blatant, smug celebration of violence and competition in the ad The picture is of a boxer lying unconscious at the feet of an other boxer (Carlos Palomino) who has this idiot grin on his face and a "quote" from the victor: "Boxers are a lot like beer Some go down easier than others." The implied connection is that just like a boxer gets pleasure from knocking out an opponent, you can get pleasure from drinking Miller beer The ad is disgusting and an outrage It is a forceful, simple message: “Isn't is wonderful how we in America can have vain machismo, com petition and violence in this cul ture." I suppose the ad is so disturbing because it actually celebrates (with beer and bold fanfare) the worst in our society I resent this callous attitude on the part of Miller Brewing Is the Emerald so despeiate for money that it takes all offers of advertising? Perhaps I am naive in thinking the Emerald staff normally screeens out the ads that are in very poor taste I recommend they cultivate a little chutzpah and say “no" to ads that celebrate violence — even when the company in volved in the rejection is a frequent advertiser John Jordan Eugene Oregon daily _ . emerald The Oregon Daily Emerald Is published Monday through Today except during exam week and vacations by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co at the University o* Oregon Eugene OR 9/403 The Emerald operates independently ot the University with offices on the third floor ol the Erb Memorial Union and m a member ot the Associated Pres* Newt and Editorial Mtsstt Display Advertising and Bvlsnee* SS* JMJ Classified Advertising SM 414] Production MMUI Circulation saassil Editor Harry E stave Managing editor New* Editor A**i*iant New* Editor I dilonal Page I ditto Photo Editor Sport* Editor A knot late Sport* t: it Hoi f ntertainrnenl tditoi Night Editor AmocIii* tdlon Higher Education Department* and School* Student Government Feature* Politic* Community General Stan Advertising Managai Claaamad Advertising Production Manager C onlr otter John H«aly Marian Green Cort Female! Joan Nyiand Bob Baker Mike Ripltnger Paul Oancei Jonathan Single Harry Esieve Debbie Hewlett Sandy John»tone Richard Burr Sean Meyer* Michele Matassa David Brown Darlene Gore Sally Oljar Vtclorta Koch Jean Ownbey
