EDITORIAL
Hold student athletes
to consistent mles
The recent dismissal of Bob Fife from the Oregon
men s basketball team has once again raised questions
concerning the University's treatment of student ath
letes.
Fife, a junior, has been with the Ducks since the 1989
season but has never been a marquee player. During the
current season, his playing time has steadily decreased
until he played only three minutes against UCLA Feb. 14.
Following that game, Fife decided he needed to talk
things over with his parents, lie went home, and for that,
ho was kicked off the loam.
What was Fife's crime? He went homo to mom and
dad. He didn't tell coach Jerry Green. Certainly he vio
lated team rides, but just because a student receives an
athletic scholarship does not mean his or hor soul bo
longs to the University.
Students who receivo
academic scholarships
do not have thorn
revoked for missing
classes. And though
Fife's absence from the
team may or may not
have had an impact, it
did not cause the team
any substantial amount
of harm. Certainly not
Apparently the
University is
committed to its
athletes only until
somebody better
comes along.
enougn 10 warram expulsion.
Tho obvious explanation-is that Fife was a fair, but not
great, player and Green saw an opportunity to create
another scholarship opening. Apparently the University
is committed to its atnletes only until somebody better
comes along.
Another troubling aspect of Fife's dismissal was the
dear double standard being applied in the athletic
department. In the past year, a number of football play
ers. including a few highly regarded players, have been
arrested on various criminal charges or have been in
volved in incidents that reflect poorly on the Universi
ty and its football program.
Yet they're still around. Some may argue those players
haven't been convicted of anything, so they should
remain on the team unless they're convicted. And Fife
was convicted of ... what? Going homo. Certainly a
heinous crime.
Green demonstrated an incredible lack of sensitivity
to Fife in tho way ho dismissed him. He didn't wait for
Fifo to explain himself, ho simply gave him the boot.
Granted. Fife could have called. But he was dealing with
personal problems and. quite frankly. Fife's personal
problems are nobody’s business but nis own — Green
included.
Green's actions suggest he puts more emphasis on the
athletic part of student athletes. Many of those who play
intercollegiate sports are still maturing emotionally and
must be given some leeway when they make mistakes.
Athletic director Rich Brooks needs to re-evaluate how
his department deals with infractions by student ath
letes. Make tho rules consistent, make them reasonable,
but most important, make them fair.
Emerald
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Labels
This is in response to David
Oaks' Idler "KKKristianity"
(ODE, Feb. Hi), Let me briefly
tell you about myself. 1 am not
a bigoted, extremist, intolerant
bate-monger. The only thing I
hate is being labeled as such. I
am a Christian, and I use Gala
tians fi: I as one guide in every
day life, and, more specifically,
in writing this letter.
I consider myself a moral per
son. but no one is perfect. I can
assure Oaks, though, that nei
ther I nor any of my ancestors
have burned witches, invaded
natives on the Oregon Trail,
enslaved African-Americans or
electro-shocked emotional peo
ple for "mental illness." Please
don't lump all Christians into
on# group and label them bad
Some of them bother me too.
I'm happy Oaks is glad to be
an “independently thinking per
son." I guess I'm not as strong us
he; Cod plays an active role dai
ly in my thoughts and decisions.
I'm just sorry his "independent
thoughts" have fed him such
bitterness and hate He preaches
tolerance, but where is his toler
ant* for Christianity?
I have n>y own idea why Ore
gon is such a hateful state —
there's just not enough God go
ing around because people re
fuse to listen to what he really
has to say.
Here's the bottom line of tliy
story I love God and he loves
me. 1 look forward to spending a
blissful eternity with him in |wr
adise My dream is to share
heaven with everyone, regard
less of skin color or beliefs.
You're invited.
Tony Gunderson
National Student Exchange
Bleed for fees
I don't know where the mem
bers of the Incidental Fee Com
mittee are from, but this is the
home of Measure 5. What does
this mean? This means tuition
has increased more than 50 per
cent during the past two years,
leaving many students unable to
afford the University. It has also
given new meaning to the
"starving student" cliche.
In case tile IFC has forgotten.
Measure 5 is coming out of hi
bernation this year This will
mean a seven to 15 percent in
crease in tuition and also a Sev
an to 15 percent decrease in en
rollment In-state tuition will
rise by about SUM) per term next
year. If the IFC continues to
increase allocations to student
groups at its current 1H.7 per
cent clip, this, coupled with a
decrease in enrollment, could
result in a student fee increase
of up to $32 |>«r term
Ouch' Let go of my wallet. If
the IFC wants to spend money,
let them spend their own. As for
me, I believe Cal-Berkeley has
the right idea. Students at Berke
ley pay only $22 a term in stu
dent fees. In the face of a steep
increase in tuition, we should
lie looking to decrease student
fees, not inc rease them.
Now I might he just a lowly
student senator, but I do know
how to add, and I do know when
something smells rotten. That
something is the IFC. Students
can't afford higher student fees
next year. You have to remember
— we're going to need a quarter
to buy our c lass schedules
Braden D. Kelley
Business and Economics
IFC response
In the Feb. 22 issue of the
Emerald, an editorial ran titled
"IFC spending hinge will hurt
students." This statement as
sumes two things — one that the
IFC is on a spending hinge, and
two that IFC's[lending hurts stu
dents Both assumptions art* not
supported by fact
F'irst of all, if the author of the
editorial were to use mathe
matics rather than politics, the
author would see the IF'C allo
cates money based on en
rollment estimates. A larger en
rollment than expected has ere
ated an unused pool of fee dol
lars of almost $120,000 Because
enrollment is estimated to
remain the same next year, the
IFC may allocate this amount of
money to programs without
increasing the per student fee
The second portion of the ed
itorial was equally disturbing.
The argument that the student
body does not benefit from
many fee-supported programs is
inaccurate and insupportable.
Thifeditorial claimed it was not
justifiable to increase tin* budget
of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexu
al Alliance because it "repre
sents only a small segment of
students."
This logic seems to say the
presence of students of color or
of lesbian and gay organizations,
or of any organization that
involves a minority of students,
contributes nothing to other
members of the campus com
munity.
1 hope this editorial was the
result of a misunderstanding
and not of a conscious ideologi
cal position. In the future, it
would be good to see the Enter
aid devote as much space to tu
ition as it has to student foes.
Steve Masat
Lydia Leona
IFC
Neat slogans
"Tax and spend" were the
Republican gimmick buttons
worn in Congress Feb. 17 before
Clinton ever had a chance to
speak Why didn't the Democrats
respond to Republican rule of the
past 12 years with "Spend and
.spend into poverty and deficit"?
Any child can manage his
Finances that way. hut this was
national policy.
Clinton wants to stem this
super-real hemorrhage and gets
the expected opposition from
the other side, but did Republi
cans ever come up with a work
able solution over those long 12
years, or even now? They
should shut up in shame and
look clearly at the disastrous
shambles they left America with
and think up a more viable solu
tion than their tired slogan We
need to get back on our feet The
Republicans never did "get it."
Hilda K. Cherry
Eugene
Bad market
In the Feb. 17 Emerald article
about the plastics industry, it
was stated that currently only
No. 2 milk jugs are being recy
cled and No. 3, No. 5. No. 6 and
No. 7 are taken to the landfill.
This is not true.
Recycling collects No. 1. No.
2. No. 5 and No. 6 from Univer
sity situs and takes them to
BRING Recycling.
The problem is that BRING
must store most of the plastic it
receives because there is no
market for it.
Carrie Fenelon
PPPM