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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1986)
Off the Cuff Something You Just Don’t Talk About I'm not going lo hunt anymore. Hunting season opens tom morrow but I won't even buy a deer tag. I've only missed hunting season one time since I was 12, but I think I'll hang up the rifle for good this time. There are lots of reasons, I suppose. We still have a freezer full of deer meat my grandpa got last season when he and I went hunting in northern Oregon. I saved a lot of money on food last winter, but three months of venison dinners nearly made me ill. I don’t even want to smell it anymore. Grandpa doesn't cat much of the venison either. He said the steaks remind him of the deer's sad little eyes staring at him before he shot it. It really wasn't a very big deer. But the main reason I’m call ing it quits is discrimination The conservatives at the Commentator cry about discrimination because their op ponents say they're not politically correct. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance members fight discrimination because op ponents say they're not sexual ly correct. Those prejudices pale next to (he degradation facing hunters who come out of the closet on this campus It's recreational correctness amok. I seriously doubt hunters at OSU ever had their heads swayed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Well, maybe they have, but I'll bet they have some sort of hunters support group that meets on Wednesday nights so they can tell each other that bagging a prize buck is nothing to be ashamed of. For evidence of hunting's sorry state on this campus you only need to look at the cur riculum offered in outdoor recreation. The wilderness survival, backpacking and mountain climbing classes could definite ly prove useful to huntsmen. But the ease of discrimination is obvious when one notices an entire course devoted specifically to fly casting. Are fishermen more deserving of their own c.ass than huntsmen? Shakespeare was a fisher man Hemingway was, too, and so the folks who schedule classes seem convinced that fishing is a more culturally refined sport than hunting. Well 1 like fishing too, but it seems a shame the people on this campus have forgotten President Theodore Roosevelt's favorite pastime. Why not have a class in Big Game Stalking' The rip-roariiuj l omalv shov* fhai v ill knock von oui ol vour seal! THUR. OCT. 16th 8 P.M. PLAYWRIGHT HALL-EUGENE HILTON $8.50 ADV. ALL HU LT CENTER TICKET OUTLETS A /MtW /yiUOIW PRESENTATION NmmuI (. ii\ is Ixillitini S<ihilv A S(i|M'ilJ\ lunnv! mtnu.t/iM 'iv . jttcaV'ltounA 'Wma UP5TAIRS-U0 BOOKSTORE |_ OKING IN YOUR. USED TEXTBOOKS ANYTIME or ‘Dressing the Kill’? But I doubt that will ever happen I think I'm just going to give up I could try to form a hunter support group on this campus, but I don't think anyone would come. It's not that I haven't tried to find some huntsmen at the University, but my efforts have all led to ridicule and ostracization. I’ve even tried to convert were the basic manly cham pions of the male dominion. They had never seemed like ci ty boys, but they were always well enlightened about the modem do's and dont’s of America's young adult sect. My confidence that I wasn't a redneck or a hick began to waiver, but I had to stand up for my beliefs. “Well, S was sort of thinking Where I come from, the middle of September, beer, and guy talk always leads to one topic — hunting season: tracking deer, finding wild game and killing it. some companions to the hun ting life. The week before last I was sitting in the pub talking to a few friends We were all guys, college students. The conversation ran the garnet — current events, beer, women, football, music, cars — pretty much what most college guys spend their time talking about Anyway, all of that good, old fashioned guy talk must have ovcrwelmcd me I sort of forgot where I was and who I was talking to. -I should--have known better. - Kit ffi?'tTOWewS w£re stacked against me. I mean, here we were, four guys drinking beer and talking guy talk in the mid dle of September Where I come from, the mid dle of September, beer, and guy talk always leads to one topic hunting season: big bucks, tracking deer, finding wild game, and killing it. I guess it was that last part, about killing. I should have remembered first But I didn't. Instead, as the conversation seemed to dwindle. I decided to spark it a little with the natural topic. "You gonna get your license and bag a deer this year?" I asked. As soon as the last word was off my tongue, I realised my mistake. "Hunting,” gasped one of my quickly sobering pals. "Are you going to go hunting?” It didn't seem like such a bad thing to me. And these were not spineless intellectuals giv ing me the evil eye. No, these about going hunting around here this year,” 1 said. “Jesus, have you everkillcd a deer before?" they asked. “Yes," I answered in a strikingly Ted Bundy-like (or is it Mark Harmon) tone. “What was the first thing you ever killed?" they asked 1 began to believe they were honestly interested, and the conversion of their souls was on my mind. "I guess the first thing I ever killed hunting was a squirrel." I answered. '" That*- under Simula hi e. the squirrels are currently fh a state of overpopulation,” said one of my more reasonable pals “Look at the campus, for ex ample The squirrels are already competing for the limited food supply The new dog control regulations and the crackdown on transients have eliminated most of the squir rels' natural predators And the construction on campus is fur ther depleting their food supply. "These elements will even tually lead to extinction of all campus squirrels," he said. “ The only solution is human intervention. And the most effi cient and sporting means of population control is hunting of course." Holy smoke. I was suddenly thinking how I’d never looked at hunting in quite that way before. "So,” continued my con verted friend, "we have to convince the game commission and Paul Olum that open season on campus squirrels is Spectrum A publication of the Oregon Daily Emerald Editor.Curtis Condon Assistant Editor.Stephen Maher Contributors: Ross Martin, Chris Norred, Alyson Simmons Cover photo bv Ross Martin The editors will not he responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork Submissions must inc lude a stamped, self addressed envelope. Writer’s guidelines may he picked up at the Oregon Daily Emerald office, Rm *00, Erb Memorial Union Mailing address for Spectrum magazine is P O Box *ISV>, Eugene. Oregon l>740*. in everyone's best interest. Then I'll have to borrow my uncle's .357 magnum, and you and me will have to go squirrel hunting." I thought he was right. I started to smile. He started to smile. Then he started to laugh, and I realized he was laughing at me. I chuckled nervously and bought the next two pitchers. Silently I vowed to hang up my gun, or at least to put it back in the closet where it will have to slay as long as I live here. Campus squirrel hunting, indeed. - CHRIS NORRED A letter from the editors of Spectrum magazine Well, this is it. You're reading the first ever issue of Spectrum magazine. What started as an un polished idea five months ago is finally a reality. Even though Spectrum appears as a supplement to the Oregon Daily Emerald each week, it is our aim to offer something different than the newspaper. After all. we are a magazine. The stories and features that will appear in Spec trum are ones that will hopefully inform, entertain or move you in some way. That brings us to another point of business. Spectrum magazine is open to un solicited, freelance submis sions and story ideas. There is payment for those stories we publish, although you may not get rich on the fee. If you're interested, stop by the Oregon Daily Emerald offices, in room 300 of the EMU, to pick up a copy of our writer's guidelines. However, we are also open to ideas from those of you who may not want to write the actual piece yourself. If you match that description, give us a call or stop and talk to us. It's important for us to keep abreast of what you want to read and what you think of the job we are do ing. With that in mind, we invite you to send your comments. If you'd like to see more of a certain type of article, or less of something else, don't hesitate to let us know. Like we said, this is the first issue of Spectrum magazine, but we want Spectrum to be like a bag of peanuts— you can't stop at just one.
