EDITORIAL
Fraternity parties:
wristband required?
As Friday rolls around and the weekend is in sight,
one thing will be noarly guaranteed — fraternity parties,
a time when men and women unite and put the new.
as of September. alcohol policy into effect. This is the
same policy that was required by the University to tack
le the problem of underage drinking, common to the
greok system, to the dorm system and common to the
world as well.
This new policy was created to not only eliminate
underage drinking but to distribute the liability that goes
with it equally among men and women and the houses
they represent. So how does it all work?
If you’re 21 years old. prior to the beginning of the
party you hand in your night’s worth of alcohol — a six
pack of fine beer, for example. You get a wristband
(much like the ones that are given out at Disneyland),
and sometime in the process, your six-pack is marked
with a distinguishing feature — your initials on the bot
tom of the cans, for example,
As the night takes its path and your path leads you
back to the monitored bar for one of your beers, the
bailee working the bar, over 21 of course, hands you one
of your Ihsots. The end result is that liability for an alco
hol-related accident that may occur is (supposedly) left
to the individual fraternity or sorority that boars respon
sibility for the victim. The liability is no longer (sup
posedly) on the party’s host house.
The alcohol policy sounds somewhat good — or at
least sounds like a good idea and works well on the
University level, but when the police arrive, the story is
a little different. For some reason, the police officers
really aren’t concerned with who came from where
(imagine that) An officer from the Eugene police depart
ment says the liability is on the party’s host house, the
fraternity or sorority. 1’ho wristbands (like the ones they
give out at Disneyland) serve little purpose as far as lia
bility goes.
Then why abide by the policy? Because the Univer
sity administration requested it. Developed by the stu
dents and approved by the University, the policy had to
be installed. In order for many of the houses in the greok
system to be recognized by their sponsors, they must
also bo recognized by the University, In turn, the hous
es must abide by the rules of the University In order to
bo recognized.
Because the University does recognize the greok sys
tem, the greok system gets a few porks. Those include,
for example, the use of classrooms for meetings, a small
corner of an office in Suite 5 EMU. a list of incoming
freshmen, two advisers (who work quite hard, consid
ering there aro only two of them and the greok system
includes nearly 20 percent of the student body) and a
copy machine. Of course the brunt of the expenses are
shouldered by the fraternities and sororities themselves,
not the University administration that's telling them
what to do.
When the next fraternity party rolls around remember
where the liability really Is. Bo sure to drink responsibly
but remember it doesn't matter where you are from, only
where you are consuming.
Oregon Daily
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COMMENTARY
‘Recognizable’ not just Top 40 '
By Bret L andess
A s I rc.nl the lutes! on the
KWVA debate before
Christinas break I
noticed a feu things that were
worth commenting on.
Although one might think this
issue is finished. I think the
issue has vet to he resolved
First ill all. of the three pro
KVVVA submissions printed, all
three were from people who
work for the station And the
throe letters suggesting changes
were all from different people
So we have vet to see any sup
port for KWVA aside from its
own employees
Speaking of the three letters
from KWVA, none of them ever
seemed to address the point
brought up by Philip Abraham
and Kevin Nakamura in their
letters {ODE. Nov 16. i'i. 2H) I
thought their point was not that
the station should play fewer
types of music hut simply more
recognizable rnusit The letter
that KWVA Promotions Director
Gilbert Hanson wrote [ODE.
Nov 24) seemed to imply Abra
ham was suggesting that KWVA
play "one" type of music main
stream Hut Abraham said he is
not suggesting that KWVA turn
into a mainstream station or
anything near it.
Even if KWVA completely
sold out and went mainstream,
it would still be playing more
than one type of music.
Although radio-friendly pop
does make up the majority of
Top -10. plenty of other genres
have had Top 40 hits. Eor exam
ple:
• Reggae: Ziggy Marley,
UB40, Jimmy Cliff
• Alternative metal: Pearl
Jam. Nirvana, Stone Temple
Pilots, Temple of the Dog. Alice
In Chains
• Folk Tracy Chapman.
Suzanne Vega
• College Alternative: R.E.M.,
U2, 4 Non-Blondes, Toad the
Wet Sprocket. Gin Blossoms,
Uepeche Mode. The Cure, Love
and Rockets
• Rap: Digital Underground.
Dr. Dro. Ice Cube. Naughty By
Nature. Onyx. Tone Loc, LL
Cool J, Too Short
All of these artists have had
hi! singles and most of them
more than one.
Because we have just estab
lished that there an* ret ogniz
able artists in almost every
genre. Abraham's suggestion
would not require a focus on
one type of music, as promo
tions dirot tor Hanson seemed
to think So the debate is not
about the station's diversity
KIH'k has lx>on mentioned
as i ornpetition for KWVA I
think the different e between
these two stations can illustrate
this debate. kl)Wk is too bub
ble-gum pop for most college
students to deal with for more
than a half hour at a time, and
kWVA is too far on the alterna
tive extreme. Within the gap
could be a great radio station
(with a very wide appeal)
I know KWVA has no inter
est in a 50-50 compromise with
the Top 40. and it shouldn't.
College radio is supposed to lie
alternative. But there are
degrees within alternative,
ranging from the unestablished
(Agent Orange) to the estab
lished (Blind Melon) The
established alternative arlists
(some would think this phras
ing is a contradiction in terms,
but you know what I mean)
have had hits and the unestab
lished have not KWVA leans
toward the unestablished like
every college radio station
should, but I think it leans too
often toward the obscure By
doing this it is isolating itself ns
a station for die-hard alterna
tive fans, and, like Abraham
said, such a format doesn't rep
resent most college students.
J.D. Pierson, KWVA general
manager, established that it s a
miniscule contribution by each
student to have KWVA [ODE.
Dec. 2). True, each student's
contribution is essentially
insignificant, but the principle
is that a student-funded organi
zation is obligated to at least
consider what these letters are
saying.
In his commentary Pierson
asked for suggestions. Here's
one: how about a section on the
CD shelves for "recognizable
bands'? (Call it the Abraham
rotation.) Require D)s to play
two songs an hour from that
shelf. Whether they play the
hits or unreleased songs would .
lx1 for thorn to decide individu
ally
Tim section could have about
20 to .'<0 albums on it. with the
particular selection being rotat
ed every other week I would
suggest albums such as U2’s
Th>‘ Joshua Tree. Belly's Star,
Metnllii a s And /ustice For All,
Even if KWVA
completely sold
out and went
mainstream, it
would still be
playing more than
one type of music.
K.K M s Green. The Cranber
ries' Everybody's Doing It. So
Why Can t U'e.T INXS' new
album. Rod Hot Chili Peppers' ■»
What Hits'!. Lenny Kravitz' Are
You Gonna Go My Way?. Harry
Connick. Jr s IVe Are In lx>ve, ^
/.iggy Marley's Conscious
Party. Dr. Ore's The Chronic.
Prince's symbol album.
Depeche Mode's Violator,
Sting’s Nothing Like the Sun.
the Singles soundtrack and
more.
In Pierson's commentary he
wrote that KWVA has garnered
a “great deal of praise and sup
port from our listeners.. ."
Exactly. That praise and sup
port is from your listeners.
What about your non-listen
ers?
Have you ever done any
research into why a seemingly
laigegroup ofatudents isn't lis
tening'
There is a reason, and
despite KWVA's disregard of
Abraham and Nakamura as
lone nuts, I am afraid they
speak for a lot more people
than you think.
If you people are out there,
like 1 know you are. pick up a
pen and use your voice. Like a
certain voice from the heart
land says. "You gotta stand for
somethin', or you're gonna fall
for anything."
Bret Landess is a student at
the University. He has not
declared a major.