EDITORIAL We’d move to CBS for $16 million too Most d.ivs. editorials are fairly sorious in ton*' This isn't one of those (fays. VV« could bo deliberating over important issues like the new ('Union administration, the Oregon Legislature, health care, environmental issues, the invasion of Iraq, or the Super Bowl. But vve'ro not. Our news judgment goes beyond that These are issues that the conglomerate media - over uxtensivoly in order to confuse the proletariat But we're interested in what’s really important Tate night television. David I.etterman announced Thursday he is splitting with NBC (iBS will reportedly pav him $H> million a \ ear and move him from 1 Tito a in. toll 10 p.m Tor University students, I.etterman switching net works solves a continu ing problem lot fh•* l.ist 10 \ I'.irs, students have debated whether to st.is awake for his late night show While fnhnnv Carson mav have been respected, he'd been stale tor a long time And Leno as a replai ement hasn't vet delivered Branford Marsalis' These are issues that the conglomerate media cover extensively in order to confuse the proletariat. talent can't save tin* show A lysoi ond mu.su * tip before i numwri ials doesn't justify wat( hing an entire hour of dull telovision. Lotto’s show fills dead time until Letterman comes on. but few watt h it for the show itself. I.etterman’s brand of humor appeals more to college students. His Top 10 list on Thursday gave a number of reasons for his decision "In order to grow as an artist. I feel it’s important to cio the same crap over at CHS,” "CHS had the best Aim Fisher movie." and "At NHC, they insist 1 wear pants We might add a few of our own. Any network that doesn’t give Dave what he wants doesn't deserve him it will be a pleasure watching him beat tin* pants off Arse nio. Ami at last CHS will have to stop flailing desper atolv for a late night talk show host no more Hat Sajuk from this moment on. Of course, this also brings up several problems for University students. First, night owls will be left with a grievous 1200 hole in their telovision schedule. Sec ond. sports fans will have to choose between Lotterman and SportsCenter at 11:30. And finally, there may be a few people out there who liked both Leno and Letter man and can’t decide between the two. Fortunately, as the Emerald sports editor pointed out, Fox moved Studs from Midnight to 10:30. At least he’ll rest easier. Tomorrow, expect some of those manipulative, main stream-media topics again. Dave is off our chest. We'll be writing about war and the bombing of Iraq. Enjoy. Oregon Daily PO DOl €VGtHt OAtGON 97403 Th© O©go« Da< » Fm©*akJ •* published daily Monday through Fnday dur"*g th© acbool yo©r and Tu#«day and Thursday dunng th© »urr>m«# by th© (>©gon 0©4y F Pub*«*h ivj Co Inc a! th© Uruv«w'nfy ol Oogon l jg©n©. Oagoo Th© Fme*aid op M©mo• .il l>von ,vvt r* a m©tr>b©« o* th© Aa*OCi3i©d Pr©*"i Th© { fr\©/ii*l » p#?vat© property Th© unlawful removal o* use ot pap©#* ■» prosecutable by >»* Editor Pat Maiach N#ws Editor Editorial Editor Graphics Editor Enlartammaot Editor J^e tv*g Martm f «'ve* W PaaUty f r«ya Horn fcCMtOf Editorial Editor Sports Editor Supp*#ms«ts Editor nop* R>vews Jantaw Dav* Owtoonnaau Cattay Andarton Night editor: vwmyn irappe Associate Editors. Tammy (latey. Student cieverrvnentActrv4b*s. Oarafyn T'appe Dynnv nrfy CoAeen Pohi*g. Htghev f ducstton. Ackr>**StrabOfi News Staff Chester AAen. Mandy Baucum. M«if? Bender Justm Brown Sarah Dark Dylan Coulter Meg Dedoiph. Amy Oevenport. Amanda f <*rn,e A oa I M-a- Terevt Hunts«nger t,y h'xw't* liuMaur Dem>an Mol ean. Stove M.m» TiM-.ni Muatt*" TnstaNoal Mathew Schuster f Ben Shaw M*:hae< Shexfer. Encfc Student**, Manon Sorter. K*Ch«4e Thompson Agu*ar Amy Van Tuy Todd W*8iama. JacqueAn* Woge Oerter a* Manager Judy «*** Production Manager M*cNwa Row Advertising Torn leach. Sharon Va/ S*'** Manager* Shawn Berven, Off*'* Manage Jia-va fro*a Teresa laatMSfle. Ph*t*> Johnson II. Chr\* KanoM Jeremy Mason. Van V DByran II. Ga*an Oh. Angw* W.-x*ye*rT. Classified Peggy McGmn. Manager Barry logan Sharon Sauve Distribution *W;r«a ? Van Gorder Anthony Wynn Business k*thy Cartoon*. Supervisor Judy ConnoHy Production Ingrid Wh.te, Producfnvt Coordinator Kfut n# Granger Dee McCord Stacy Mtche*. Jennifer Roland. Jennrfer Smith Anne Stephenson N#w*/txxn. Bu*Jn«M Oftk« 346-5511 346-5512 Dispiey Advertising Classified Advertising 346-3712 346-4343 V\j£ SUPPOSED 7Z> BE OOING ? W^V IS |T SO DAPK IN HEPE? QUIET IN\ PbCOSiAjG N\y L&SER 8EAn\ OM TWt £CONOM'V. /P ONLV it WOULD HOLD STILL COMMENTARY Earth’s environment not self-healing By Sieve Close ii [an 11, the kmrmld published a column i>v V- Jf Stephanie Slaton that implied the earth is capable of rejfhiring all the damage that human beings are able to dish The main thrust of Sisson's argument was that humanity is not powerful enough to destrov the earth, and the "misplaced fear" created by statistic s that are "created to make Americans fuel guilty." may c ause us to lie overly ‘ autious I think anyone who studies the problem close ly would have an entirely differ ent opinion hirst of all, what does "overly cautious" moan? Is there a dan ger to being "overly cautious' 11 these statistic s c ause more people to bike to work or to roc vcle. what's the harm? livery bit of caution we use prolongs the* amount of time the earth continues to exist as wo know it out now. Sisson wrotn of catastrophes from which the earth has recov ered stn h as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions She does not consider the far t these are only catastrophe by human standards They don't damage the earth, which tregan with vol cano eruptions and earth quakes The damage that we do is in an entireh different class, and on an entirely different scale. Sisson said she believes what we are experiem mg right now is merely a symptom of our change from an agricultural way of life to a "mechanical” way of life, and that the earth must change with us. Unless Sisson plans to devel op new and exciting ways to cook toxic: waste, the combina tion of a depleted ozone layer, greenhouse gasses, erosion and massive gaps in the food chain w ill eventually make it impossi ble for humans and numerous other species to eat. Sisson might see this as the earth s way of "adjusting' to the human cat astrophe hut it seems a bit dras tic. Sisson appears to behove the earth lias some tvpe of magical cleansing process bv which it has eliminated mam of mankind's environmental blun ders The only evidence she gives of this is a quote from, of all people, tile federal cleanup coordinator for the Txxon Valdez oil spill l irst of all, chances are slim that he would sav. "1 tried, hut we did a rotten job, so please fire me " What he does say. however, is equally revealing Mother Nature, to a great degree, will eventually do the best job of cleaning up this spill." This is not a triumphant statement, but a statement of an unfortunate fai t The si i billion clean-up did very little in terms of restoring Prince William Sound to the state it was in before the spill The gist of what in being said in Mother Nature must do tin* best job of ( leaning up the spill. sin< e those w ho had the tot h nologv to cause it 1m k the Its h nology to correct it Sisson needs to reconsider her definition of the earth Although I agree with her that there will continue to he some thing orbiting our sun that is the ni/o and shape of our earth. I question whether it in earth. To me. earth has always been the place I share with peregrine falcons. California condors and more amphibians than one could shake a stick at — yet all of these creatures are in severe decline because of humanity s insistence on dirtying its own Sisson needs to reconsider her definition of the earth. nos!. The question is not whether earth will endure, hut what kind of earth will endure Sisson tares little enough about the earth in general to write a column that essentially condones polluting, hut she's certainly not apathetic Her writing of that column showed she is verv worried, not about the environment, hut about puhlu opinion. Sisson has tried to prove that ans intelligent person will share her opinion and give up on trying to slow down the degradation of the environment, possibly so that she won ! feel guilty for the damage that she herself does Sisson's column shows that slit1 finds people, and hv exten sion. herself, to he the most important things in the world; perhaps even more important that the world It's tins kind of self-i entered thinking that got us into trouble in the first place Steve ('lose is n GTF in the Fnglish Department. He wishes it to he known that he is not a "liranolo weirdo hippie Forth First'" type of guy. but if any one needs a reason to discount his opinion, he offers the fol lowing labels: a) enviro-bike geek, b) tofu-munching vegetar ian and c) used to have long hair COMMENTARY POLICY The Oregon Daily Emerald welcomes commentaries from the public concerning topics of interest to the University com munity Commentaries should l>e between 750 and 1,000 words, leg ible, signed and the identification of the writer must be veri fied when the letter is submitted. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length or style.