-Editorial.
Athletes to benefit
from new statutes
At tlus week's NCAA convention in Dallas, the
passage of two important issues has improved colle
giate athletics
On Monday, the NCAA modified the controversial
Proposition 42. whir h wouldn't allow incoming fresh
man athletes financ ial aid if they did not meet the re
quirements set under Proposition 48 an athlete must
have a high school grade point average of 2.0 in col
lege preparatory classes and a combined SAT score of
7(H)
Ihidei the new rule. Proposition 2b. Prop 40 nth
lutes won't he eligible to receive athletic aid. but will
be eligible for student financ ial aid. should thus so
qualit v
Mam people believed Prop 42 was racially dis
criminatory because financial aid wouldn't t>c avail
abb* tor Prop 48 athletes Now. however, the NCAA
will allow athletes the same considerations as any stu
dent who seeks finartc ial to help meet the costs of col
lege
The second important decision by the NCAA was
the reduc tion of college basketball games from 28 per
season to 2'i This number does not include postseason
basketball tournaments
I bis new N'( AA legislation, to go into effec I starl
ing with the season, also pushes back the
starting time of preseason pra< lic e from Oct. 15 to Nov
1 and delays the start of the season (the first date a
game c an he plavedj from the fourth I'riday in Novem
ber to I )ec t
Once again the NCAA had to lake into account the
time pressures of the student-athlete Basketball season
eiic (impasses two terms fall and winter at schools
such .is Oregon and about a scmestei-and-a-half .it
other schools With conference games on Thursday
and Saturday or Sunday, athletes miss as many as
three days of sc hool because* of travel
Despite the ohjec turns raised by athletic directors
that the reduction of games will cost their schools
thousands of dollars, money is really not the issue
here. The issue* here is student-athletes.
The* reduction of the basketball season coincides
with (lit* decision reached by school presidents in the
Pacific-10 Conference to eliminate the Pac-1l) men's
basketball tournament after this season
Although the tournament was never really given a
chanc e* to survive, the elimination of the tournament
will aid the athletes, as the* tourney often falls during a
school’s dead week the period right before finals.
All three steps arc; moves the NCAA should be
lauded for as the needs of the student-athlete are final
ly given the attention they deserve.
EVEN IF IT DOESN'T
Get us ocrr or kerf
IT OUGRT4 LIVEN ’
"NING5 UP a BIT
Radio spots hurt cause of striking workers
A \f'lii and .1 li.d! .liter they walked off
tlie jolt, workers ,it tin* Nicolai door plant in
Springfield are still picketing Despite the
economic hardship strikers and their fami
lies have had to endure and the fait that
Nicolai is succeeding in using replacement
workers to keep the factory running the
striking workers are stic king with it. da\ in
and day out
One of the things that has undoubtedly
kept the strikers bv the gates has been com
munity support Community members have
formed organizations to help the workers
with sin h things as donations of food and
( lothing Students got out of bed early this
morning and stood with the picketers (!ars
honk their horns as they pass the strikers on
Main Street
Hut sini e the strike began, some radio
stations in Hugene have aired commen nils
advertising for replacement workers Most
recently the spots have advertised the open
ing of, curiously enough, a second shift .it
tli«* plant
We don’t mean to single out any radio
station. 01 any other media soun e as an evil
union-busting thug, and we realize that
most radio stations are businesses that need
advertising revenue to stay on the air In
most cases. ,i station should stick to its ad
vertising politics, which arc designed to
keep fraudulent or misleading claims from
the airwaves However, this is a case iu
whi( h an exception should be made.
There is a difference between advertis
ing to sell a product and advertising that
threatens peoples’ livelihoods. Ads an
nouncing openings at a plant that has been
picketed by workers asking for a fair work
ing agreement art; clearly the latter type
Someday, hopefully soon, the strike will
come to an end. with the striking workers
hack .it their jobs at something resembling a
fair wage Advertisements for < heaper re
placement workers will only help to keep
that day from arriving.
The Nicolai workers were told to take a
id-percent wage i ut from a company that is
widely believed to have been making a prol
it Now they, stand bv the company’s gate 1H
months later. Surely they deserve better
backing from the community’s media.
Thousands listen to Kugene's radio sta
tions even day. Perhaps the stations should
be a hit more responsible in their advertis
ing; responsible not only to the striking
workers and their families, but to the com
munity as well.
_Letters_
Petty offenses
The rt'<cut artic If t>\ Jolif
Andrade "Students speak out
against KIM) tickets" (01)1'
Nov l!‘l) argues that the Kugene
I’olii e Department has in
creased patrols in the (ampus
area to detour transients I n
fortunately, with the increased
patrols, more petty offenses,
suili .is |ayw.liking. are lieing
ti< keled
I i .111 understand why the po
le e are tr\ing to detour the
transients they are had tor bus
messes in the campus area
Stain businesses in the area ot
I llh Avenue have rei eived cus
turner complaints, saving they
vsill stop i oming into the htisi
ness out of fear ot harassment
The logical answer to this is
tor the KIM) to increase the
number of patrols in the area
Increasing the number ot patrol
cars or officers on fool would
detour transients from harass
ing the public
Although the me reased pres
ence ot more KIM) in the area is
positive, it unfortunately in
creases the number of tu kets
written for petty offenses H\
|>rtt\ offenses I IIIIMII |.IVWalk
mg .mil not li.ivmg .1 light on
your bike .it night Ihere am .1
lot ol students who arc paving
high lines for these offenses
Man) students that I know do
not have the money to pav for
those offenses
If the l l’l) cannot find hotter
way s of supporting their quo
tas there are going In he .1 lot
ol unhappy students The kI’l)
needs to focus more ol it s at
tention on things that adversely
effet t the campus
lay hudlicka
Kugene
Patronization
To the University sports pro
gram
As an environmentally con
corned student. I am disap
pointed by Hurger king s spoil
sorship on the hat k of f( initial I
and basketball game tickets
In tin- past, the University
has taken many steps (in< lud
mg the banning ol styrofoam
use in it s food servu es) to con
tribute to the fight to save the
environment I or tins reason I
<nn confused with the sponsor
ship hy Burner King to a sup
posedly environmentallv aware
universitv
I’overtv-strii ken third world
countries who feel they have
no other alternatives are burn
ing the rainforests so the land
can lie used to graze tattle
This beet is then sold i heaply
to industrial countries like the
l 'lilted States
Burger King supports this dc
struction by importing cheap
beet from these i ounlries B\
buying this beef. Burger King
does not aid or encourage these
countries to find another solo
lion to then econninu woes
The University, by encourag
ing the patrom/ation of Burger
King, contributes to the de
struction of these vital and pre
i ions forests There .ire proba
bly many bai kers that would be
willing to sponsor the tit kel
bucks ol the loothull and bas
ketball games
Should the University rain
tinue to be bai ked In a < orpora
lion that aids in the destruction
ot our already endangered envi
moment7 The Universitv
should take a stand on this is
sue and tind another sponsor
slll|)
(ill Robinson
Student
Give us a choice
I am appalled b\ the Student
Health Insurance Committee s
dei ision to rei ommend manda
tory student health insurance to
the l’diversity It was disturb
ini’ enough that it was pro
posed, let alone passed by a 4 I
vote Now the final dec ision
rests with the I'nivcrsity
(whose trai h record this year
has been rather questionable!
1 fail to see the logit of mak
ing insurance mandatory just
because optional health insur
ance is failing miserably I
agree that the cost of the cur
rent plan is absurd. Hut. is it
not also absurd to force some
one who is already covered to
pun base another plan, just so
they t .in get an edut ation?
And worse yet forte some
one wiio cannot afford insur
ant e to purt base it/ I fear that
Slllt: may have priced many
students anti potential students
out of an etltit ation
In the future. I hope SIIIC
and other like committees
would put mone\ matters that
involve students to a vote ol the
students The have potentialh
just voted a good month's
worth of rent out of my po< ket.
and I i anno) do anything about
it?
For those of us here on cam
pus who do not receive finan
i ial aid. and don't have parents
who will flip the hill, this is a
big chunk Muvhe too big Next
time think twice about spend
ing our hard earned pennies,
and give us a choice
Richard Overman
CIS
Pre-primitive?
Kxamination of the letter
"kettle black" (ODE. Her 7)
reveals half the :tH words used
were not original to < ontributor
Rob Hartsock This leads one to
contemplate the significance of
names.
Voila! An evolutionary
throw liai k before the inven
tion of tools the "missing
link" half-able to think
Bert Trvba
Kugene