VIEWPOINTS
EDITORIALS OPINIONS LETTERS TO THE EOITOR
Teen-crime commercials
create inaccurate picture
■ OUR OPINION: Racial
depictions of "criminals
don't reflect the reality
liver since voters
approved a "tough" juve
nile-crime bill last Novem
ber, teen-age crime in Lane
County appears to be on the
rise.
Two Willamette High stu
dents were arrested for
shooting Aaron Hurra in .Ins
garage, and a student at
Thurston High shot another
student while sitting at a
stop light. One student
stabbed another in a high
school hallway: throe
teenagers robbed a SKI XX)
credit union; two boys start
ed a fire at Springfield High
School, and last week two
teen-agers were charged
with an arson fire at
Willamette High Si bool.
At least here, the threat of
being tried as an adult for
these (.rimes hasn't proven
itself to be an effective
deterrent. Apparently to
lumimn iiuiiii' wit? nuissagr.
th<‘ state has txH'ii running a
s«?ri**s of tough-on-juvonile
( rime commercials aimed at
m aring Oregon's youth out
of killing their classmates
and burning down their
alma maters.
So why isn’t it working?
Well, perhaps the commer
cials are speaking to the
wrong audience.
The 30-second spots fea
ture an authoritarian, white
male police officer inform
ing teenagers of the punish
ment that will be meted out
to them should they choose
to break the law. In between
the visuals of the officer,
however, young men stand
in jail cells as the doors
slam shut with an incarcer
ating clang The shots of
these young men paint a
disturbing picture.
Almost all of these "trim!
mils" am African-American
or Hispanic Thus, not only
am th«* ads inherently rat is!,
but they are also Inaccurate.
All of th»* teen-agers who
have made Eugene head
lines with their alleged
crimes in the past year have
been white. All of them.
What is most upsetting,
however, is how not shock
ing the commercials are.
News media Images of
African-Aroerit an men fre
quently portray them as
drug selling gang bangers or
imprisoned criminals Wo
have become so comfortable
with these images, that see
ing voting, black men
behind bars seems common
place; it reflects what we
have ( ome to know as reali
ty.
Meanwhile. Eugene
laments its rise in gang
activity and white residents
stay on the lookout for biar k
gang members hanging out
in their neighborhoods.
But tin* state's scare-tac
tii s don't reflei t the truth;
they on I y fuel racial stereo
types.
Tougher crime laws, in
and of themselves, do little
to prevent teen agers from
committing crimes. If Orego
nians want to curb the
in< least* in teen-age vio
lence, they must begin to
look at the causes of antiso
i ml behavior in young peo
ple.
Feeling unloved and
Ignored at home while being
educated in a school system
that erects financial barriers
to extracurricular activities
will take its toll. Oregonians
need to look toward preven
tion rather than reaction.
And white Oregonians
might start by taking a clos
er look at their children’s
lives.
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Marching band plays amid undue apathy
While many football fan* ge< up to
grab a pretzel and a soda at half
time. the Oregon Man lung Band
gratis its instruments and heads for
the football field
The Fighting Lhu ks of football are not the
only team to tiegin an enduring season of rises
and falls on 1(H) yards of Autzen AstroTurf.
Kvery fall the hand also prepares for the sorne
titries-long footliall season
I was a memlier of the band for four years My
membership included trips to the "Toilet Bowl"
(Oregon State in Corvallis) and — the pinnacle
of rnv band tenure — the Rose Bowl in lanuary
1995
After spending that much time entertaining
fans. 1 had this odd notion that the hand's field
shows and grandstand tunes were appreciated
by the fans
But I have served my time, and now. with rny
student tickets, I see the games from a fan's per
spective I have realized the hand is recognized
and appreciated by some But the majority of
the fans don't know what the band is. how
mut h time the bend spends in rehearsal or how
hard the liand members work
Being in the liand, the biggest student organi
zation on campus, was one of the liest things
I've done at the University
I met anil quickly became friends with many
different people. I was able to attend all the
home games, and I had a pretty good seat
between the 30- and 40-yard lines.
We went to (.ill-Berkeley and to Washington
State, and to Pasadena for the illustrious Rose
Bowl We even played at a Ducks game in
Husky stadium, w ith a side trip to a Seattle Sea
hawks halftime show.
We marched in the pouring rain from morning
until late afternoon at Oregon State. Autzen sta
dium and multiple exhibition shows We were
drenched like everybody else, hut we also prat -
ticod in the rain, endured the cold and wind
and fell in the mud
During my first two years of this "fun," the
band practiced on the hammer-throw field, near
Hayward Field. That's hammer throw — as in
divots and mud holes larger than the pies you
made as a kid After about 5 p in., we had to
rehearse in the dark Ikm ause the field had no
lighting — hence, rain-soaked clothes and mud
covered shoes. And our instruments were none
too-happy about the moisture
During my last two years, we moved up to
the library field Granted, the lighting was bet
ter, but we had to deal with complaints from
people who said they were unable to study in
the library because of the music Who should be
studying at 4 in (fit* afternoon on a Friday?!
•'so if it wasn't one problem, it was another.
Hut despite numb fingers and blistered lips, the
band still practiced without (too much) com
plaining. and tin- results were great shows seen
at Saturday football games.
We sacrificed a groat deal of our time to pre
pare for the shows, and some fans showed their
flunks. While in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl,
we played at several New Year's Eve alumni
gigs. These people appreciated us so much that
we extended our playing time to make them
happy. In doing that, we missed our opportunity
to ring in the New Year out of uniform.
But the band does its best to keep the fans
happy oven for those who don’t stick around
for the halftime shows or who haven't quite
made it into the stands before the game starts
Sitting in the student section, I notice several
paying "customers" leaving at halftime and sev
eral students staying In the past, however, the
band has usually played only one game facing
the student sections. Yet. very few students join
in the cheer when the hand plays a grandstand
tune, and even fewer seem to know what is
going oil around them.
At the University vs Pacific game (Oct. 7). i
realized 1 was practically the only student in my
section who cheered 1 don't know whether that
was because 1 had been in the band and knew
the cheers, or because none of die other students
cared to show their enthusiasm and support for
our Ducks.
I tii cotthismi. How » <m an yon t* rofusw to par*
lake in the shout for a touchdown, with “Stick It
In?" Especially when we've been able to do it a
lot more in the past two years
And who els** hut a 200-person band is better
at starting "The Wave" in a packed stadium?
So ye< w»* build enthusiasm and we ( mate
support for our team. In different ways (musical
ly vs athletically) we work just as hard, and we
art* just as talented. Yet we're still trying to
achieve the same enthusiasm and support
The football team is gaining a lot of attention
this week for Homecoming Hut amid the noise,
the band members will be around also They
don't get a bear hug when they score a touch
down or a pat on the butt when they make a
tackle. But the band could use an occasional j«tt
on the bat k
And from where I sit. they certainly deserve
it.
Kim Weiss is the associate entertainment editor
for the Emerald