FORUM
Board betrayed Emerald’s ideals i
By Chris Bouneff
The student news staff at the
Oregon Daily Emerald. and all
the student journalists who
have ever spent late nights
writing last-minute stories or
putting the finishing touches
on the next day's paper at 2:30
in the morning, lost a strong
ally Monday evening.
Commentary
Jean Ownbey, head of the
Emerald business office for the
past 14 years, was forced out by
the Emerald Hoard of Directors
Monday night. This "personnel
decision" will not be notice
able to readers, nor will it affect
the paper’s news coverage.
However, it is being noticed by
those of us who have dedicated
long hours to this paper
To us. and to the many stu
dent journalists w*ho have been
employed at the Emerald dur
ing the past 14 years, lean has
been a fixture. To us. she has
always been more than the per
son who handles payroll and
does the corporate taxes. In
stead, Jean has been the guard
ian of our independence, and.
most importantly, our friend.
During the past 14 years,
lean has pleaded our case 1m*
fore the journalism school and
fought off suggestions that the
paper hire an adviser or a C’.TF
from the journalism department
to read copy before it's printed.
While many professors in the
journalism school will claim
lean's resistance to an adviser
created a rift between the
school and tin; Emerald, those
of us on the news staff have al
ways appreciated her obstina
cy. The lack of an adviser or
other authority figure has only
aided our learning experience
liecause it has forced us to af t
more responsibly.
It's not that we couldn't have
hired an adviser if we wanted
one. but year after year, stu
dents have decided against
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one. We learn more when we're
completely responsible for our
work. We t an learn journalism
school techniques at the )
school; lean always understood
this.
For myself, what is also dis
tressing about lean's dismissal
is that corporate America won
out over an individual Four
teen years is a lengthy stay in
any field; the least an employee
could expect is a little loyalty
from the company he or she has
given valuable years to.
This is not the case here at
the Oregon Daily Emerald be
cause. in the board's view, this
college daily, supposedly in
business to serve and train Uni
versity students, must be run in
a manner similar to Union Car
bide or General Motors if the
corporation’s $1 billion profit
drops by $1 million, then
somebody must be laid off
Hut the Emerald is not an
IBM or AT&T; it is a small col
legiate paper and should be
thought of as such. As a corpo
ration. we are unruly, undisci
plined and unstructured, but
we are still successful
Seeing )ean, who understood
students better than any of the
professional managers at the
Emerald, dismissed so that the
paper could fit the corporation
blueprint in Encyclopaedia Hri
tannica is depressing for those
of us who still believe "corpo
rate interests" should never su
persede human factors
And it is the human factor
that the Emerald board chose to
ignore by saluting an employee
of 14 years with the news her
contract with the corporation
would not l>e renewed
That brings up a final point,
which is that as a memlter of
the board of directors. I feet I
have somehow det rived lean
and that 1 have been deceived
hv several hoard members.
During the Emerald '.s search
for its first ever general mauag
er last spring, many of the
news staff, including myself.
believed board members' assur
ances that lean would not be
come (he victim of a hatchet
job once a general manager was
hired
We were com erned I ms ause
the general manager was being
asked to perform some of the
duties that lean performed dur
ing the last 14 years, but when
we brought our conc ern to the
board, we were told that there
would always be a place for
lean and that we should "join
the- team" by fully supporting
the board
And in private conversations
with several board members. 1
was told that the- board was not
looking to firc> anyone. The cor
poration needed a general man
ager for structural reasons, to
bring more order to the compa
ny.
But It seemed those assur
ances were only empty prom
ise's. as order arrived in the;
form of a new general manager
and 14 years of experience was
pushed out. It is in this way
that I feel I have somehow de
ceived a valued friend. I l>e
lieved what others were saying,
making me guilty of deception
through ignorance and naivete
With the dec'd done, the him
era/c/ continues on. The paper,
which will celebrate its 201h
anniversary of independence
from University supervision,
will continue to publish daily
But this occurrence has made
us re-examine why we are
working for this paper and
what our goals should be- We
fear for the autonomy of the
news department, the only
completely student-run divi
sion at the Emerald
We also fear for the paper it
self as it moves farther awa\
from being a student public a
tion .mil closer to being only a
public alion aimed at students
Chris Hon net! is the Kmerald's
/ten s editor and editorial stall
representative to the hoard ot
directors
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Oregon
DAILY EMERALD
Managing Editor
Editorial Editor
Politics Editor
Graphics Editor
Editor Ain
Christopher Blair
Rot) Ward
Joe Kidd
Sean Poston
Chris Boon#ft
Pat Maiach
Ashley Conklin
Layne lakefish
1*0 H<>« l|*H iMstiH.OrrBiKil’kl'
The Oregon Daily Emerald is published Monday through Friday accept during
»>»am *e«k and vacations by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co at the
University of Oregon Eugene. Oregon
The Emerald is operated independently of the University with offices on the
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