EDITORIAL
Newsletters, flyers
don’t justify $ 13,960
Technology has never come cheap.
Even so, Si 3.OfJO seems a little much.
That's how much money the Incidental Fee Commit
tee has agreed to allocate to the new Student Media
Resource Center, which would be a central computer
workroom used by several ASl JO student groups to cre
ate newsletters and flyers.
Why these groups need the center at all is a legitimate
question. The ASlJO's computers alone may not l»o able
the moot the noods of all the groups, but it shouldn't lie
too difficult to simply give these groups access to the var
ious computer labs on campus.
Admittedly, however, the unique demands of desktop
publishing (the industry buzzword for this kind of com
puter work) may. on rare occasions, require more
advanced technology than the ASUO machines and those
labs can provide. But not much.
A top-quality newsletter can easily 1ms produced on a
simple Macintosh LC III and laser printer equipped with
Aldus Pagemaker. which together total less than $3,000.
Presumably, tho center would offer more than one ter
minal to w()rk on at a time, but even if there were three
computers (all with 14-inch color screens and a variety
of other extras), the whole setup would still cost con
siderably less than $10,000,
Why. then, tho near-$14,000 price lag?
Because tho canter isn't getting the useful bash s; it's
going for the state-of-the-art. That may bo a good invest
ment if you’re the Now York Times or a Fortune 500 com
pany putting out your annual report to stockholders.
But the student groups that will be using tho center do
not need ail the computing power that they'll receive for
S14,000. Chances are. unless there's a computer infor
mation sciences major among them, they won't even learn
all the capabilities of a basic setup, much less a top-notch
advanced system. So all tho extra technology is likely to
go to waste.
Another issue of concern to students, who provide all
the money that the 1FC doles out. is the way the proposal
to the fPC was handled. The total cost figure of $13,900
was based on an outdated price list, and buying all tho
same equipment at current prices would cost consider
ably less than what was originally thought.
If the center can get all the same equipment for less
money, shouldn't it revise its cash request downward to
reflect that reduction in cost? Of course. But in the inter
est of expediency, and getting the center up and running
as soon as possible, this was not done. Whatever mon
ey is loft over when the original purchases are complete
can be spent on whatever the center's leadership deems
worthy. In other words, the 1FC granted the center mon
ey without knowing exactly how all of it would be spent.
If a Student Media Resource Center is really necessary,
it could be outfitted for substantially less than S13.960.
The 1FC needs to be conservative with student money.
After all. there's an endless line of campus groups just
waiting to take advantage of tho IFC's generosity. A deci
sion like this one says just one thing to those groups:
“Step right up."
Emerald
P O DO* 3»M £UG£*C QRtGO* »’*>J
The Oregon Paty F'rity.tKl it published da**y Monday through* Fnctay during ?h# *choo;
y«»Af and Tuesday and Thursday during tn© *ummp< by the Oregon Da<iy Em##asd
Publishing Co Inc the Unwyity o* 0«x>n i ugene. Oregon
Th© f me*aid ope*ates independent*y of the University w-th offices if Su«f© 300 ol
Erb Memorial Un#oo a?xJ ■# a mamba# of the Associated Press
The £m<*&d« private properly The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable
by taw
Managing Editor
Editorial Editor
Graphics Editor
Freelance Editor
Editor-In-Chief: Jake Berg
Cai<ey Anderson Sports Editor
David Thom Editorial Editor
Jew Pasiay Photo Editor
Jew Winters Supplements Editor
Night Editor: Katy Soto
Steve Mims
JeW Ptcshardl
Anthony F orney
Kaly Soto
Associate Editors: Scot Clemens. Student GovefomenvActivihes. Rebecca Merritt.
Community. Rive'S Janssen. CduCat>on-Adrruru*tration
News Staff: Dave Cha/bonneau. Ricardo Dav»co. Meg Dedoiph. Amy Devenport. Malta
l*eids Martin fisher. Sarah Henderson. A/e Messe*dahi. Edward K»opfenste*n, Yin Leng
Leong. Manus Meiand. Trifle Noth. Elisabeth Reensi^ma. I* Saccoa Scott S*monson
Stephanie Sisson, Susanne Steffens. Jul»e S wen sen Michele T hompson • Aguiar Kevin
Tripp. Amy Van Tuyl. Dan*ei West
General Men agar: Judy Redi
Advertising Director Ma»i« Walter Production Manager: Michele Ross
Advertising: Sub# Duns. Nicde MeumarV Teresa Isabelle. Jeff Mar on Jeremy Mason.
Michael Mwette. Van V O'Bryan II. Rachael Truii. Keisey WsheS. Ang»e W-ncfiwm
Classified Becky Merchant. Manager Vidor Me^. Sim T/e Tecs
Distribution: Brandon Anderson. John long. Graham Simpson
Business: Kathy Carbone. Supervisor Judy Conno#y
production: Dee McCobb. Production Coon*nstot Shawna Abeie, Greg Desmond. Tara
Gauitney. Bred Joss, Jennifer Roland. Matt Thangviyt. Clayton Yee
Newsroom .346-M11 Display Advertising- 34*4712
Business Office...34B-S512 Classified Advertising 34*>4343
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WOTM'MG
LETTERS
Spirits
Bit had an out-of-body mi i
dent? Or any other experionr e
that lias lud you to understand
that you art1 u spirit, that vour
trui- essence, vs ho you really are,
is not the body that you live in
but that your "inner being” is
spirit'
l( this has happened to you, to
get caught up in it. to seek to
reproduce it again can lead into
metaphysii s or the occult, into
the si-i mt things that an- danger
ous lor spiritual and physical
beings. This can In* a rabbit-trail
(that runs in i inles, yet goes
nowhere) and goes only into
darkness, one subtle step at a
time
Or this experience can stimu
late an awakening, as it did in
me. To seek truth is an impor
tant growth process for anyone,
but that's not my point; my
point is — if you have come to
realize that you are a spirit, then
why is it so hard to realize that
the spirit that grows within the
womb is only residing in her
physical tent, that she must
have been known by God even
Indore she was physically creat
ed to walk as a child, a baby,
with her spirit within?
y es. I'm pro-choice for that
spirit to have a i banco to live
grow ... to experience to love
to make her own choices' She
has a right — a right to life!
Besides, who wants to destroy a
spirit?
John E. English
Springfield
Irresponsible
1 would like to respond to
Kebekah Berg and Ginger Son
nie’s letter (ODE. Nov. 12) con
cerning fake Berg not being u
racist. He may not be a racist,
but he did show irresponsible
journalism
You two are obviously igno
rant concerning issues about
student/person of color issues.
No. it is not his fault that these
men committed the crimes, and
I’m not condoning what »h«v
did, but In- is responsible for
promoting the stereotype much
of the American public has con
ieniing African-American males
by printing their mug shots. You
two believe that even if the per
petrators were white, their pic
tures would still lie plastered on
the front page? Obviously, you
haven't been reading the Emer
ald over the years.
There were recent charges
brought against a University
professor for sexual harassment,
and there were articles on the
story, but because he was white,
and a professor, wo didn't see
his picture on the front page.
If the Emerald was really try
ing to create awareness of sexu
al harassment on campus, then
why hasn't the professor's pic
ture been printed?
You need to lake a look at
yourselves and get informed
before speaking out and realize
that this is an issue of irrespon
sible journalism, of race and of
class, even if Jake Berg is not a
racist
1 did not have a problem with
the storv being written and
printed — 1 had a problem with
the pictures being printed The
story could have served the
same purpose without the pic
tures.
Jan Harada
Eugene
NAFTA
Clinton says the North Amer
ican Free Trade Agreement is
the solution to our economic
woes. "It will remove all trade
barriers" to stimulate the
economies of Canada, the Unit
ed States and Mexico — "trade
barriers" such as minimum
wage, environmental protection
laws and health and safety stan
dards. VVhut's "free" is the free
access of multinational corpora
tions to cheap labor, cheap
resources and huge profits, w ith
no accountability.
The drafting of NAFTA
included the multinational com
panies and was done in secret.
Not a basis for trust. Mexico's
President Salinas has promised
onlv to raise the Mexican mini
mum wage to $5 an hour — it's
not in the agreement. Proper
handling of hazardous wastes in
Mexico is already mandated by
the international treaty — but
ignored. The maquilladora zone
is a cesspool. With poetic jus
tice. tiie effluent flows north
where it is the U.S. border
towns that are stuck, with the
i leanup, not the multinationals
at the source.
Disputes over “unfair trade
practices” will be conducted in
secret without accountability or
i itizen input. Non-conforming
state laws will be overturned.
The similar Global Tariff and
Trade Agreement undermined
the Marine Mammal Protection
Act while allowing the U.S.
tobacco industry to void Asian
laws outlawing its reprehensible
advertising. Mexico already
ships us food poisoned by pesti
i ides outlawed here; “equaliz
ing” standards will reinstate
them. NAFTA protects oil and
gas subsidies, while energy.effi
ciency and conservation liecome
“trade barriers." The “side
ac< ords" to < orrect the most
obnoxious NAFTA provisions
are too convoluted to be useful
Please write your federal rep
resentative today — the vote is
Wednesday.
Wanda S. Ballentine
Eugene
Puzzled
Thank you so much for forget
ting the crossword again! 1 real
ly did not want to see it any
ways. I'd much rather read
another letter to the editor about
religion or maybe even take
notes in class. I understand that
putting out such a quality piece
of journalism such as the Emer
ald must be exhausting, but
please try to include the cross
word in the future.
Tony Chlottl
Eugene