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editorials, letters, commentary and perspective
BY MAIL: P O Box 3159,
Eugene, OR 97403
BY PHONE: (541) 346-5511
BY E-MAIL: ode@oregon.
uoregon. edu
IN PERSON: Suite 300, EMU
Commentator te\\s in its task
By turning to petty shots
at ‘fascist cops’ and
rambling commentaries
on nothing, the magazine
is ignoring its conservative
roots
My freshman year, I
wrote a column for
the Oregon Com
mentatorthat
bashed the Student Insurgent for
how poorly it looked and read.
The Insurgent was using about
50 fonts, pictures of staff mem
bers on the front page and hand
written captions.
To write today’s column, I was
sorely tempted to replace the
words “Student Insurgent" with
“Oregon Commentator’’ and just
reprint the damn thing. My for
OPINION
mm
Sctoentom
mer magazine
has resorted to
whining in
stead of re
porting and
being sarcastic
instead of fun
ny.
The Com
mentator also
looks terrible.
The pictures
are too dark, too pixelated and
quite often don’t have a damn
thing to do with the stories. The
one graphic highlight is the strik
ing young man next to former
publisher Justin Good in the
now-permanent editorial photo.
These graphical shortcomings
can be overlooked. There was an
exodus of graphics-oriented vet
eran staffers over the summer.
Coupled with a new design,
problems can be expected. The
staff told me they’re more aware
than anybody about the design
problems.
What should not be over
THE REAL MISSION?
Excerpts from the Oregon Commentatofs mission statement:
■ Our main purpose is to show students that a political philosophy of
conservatism, free thought and individual liberty is an intelligent way of
looking at the world — contrary to what they might hear in classrooms and
on campus.
■ We believe that the University should be a forum for rational and in
formed debate — instead of the current climate in which ideological dog
ma, political correctness, fashion and mob mentality interfere with acade
mic pursuit.
■ The Commentator has had a major impact in the “war of ideas” on
campus, providing students with an alternative to the left-wing orthodoxy
promoted by other student publications, professors and student groups.
During its 13-year existence, it has enabled University students to hear
both sides of issues.
looked is the increasing liberal
ization of the magazine I used to
call home. There is a difference
between cynicism and conser
vatism, between sarcasm and hu
mor. The Commentator is blur
ring these lines more with every
issue.
For me, the Commentatorwas
about the idea that America is a
pretty darn good place to live and
that we should appreciate the
lives a free country allows us to
lead. It was about the promise of
free booze, too, but mostly of
freedom.
In the Nov. 5 issue’s “Nobody
asked us but...” section, the staff
whines about the police blocking
off the street during the Hal
loween night bust of a party gone
bad.
Apparently, a police officer
was a little less than cordial with
the offending staffers. A story
about the officer and his lack of
manners would have been great.
A story about the police verbally
abusing people would have been
better. Instead, the Commenta
tor resorted to Insurgent-style
journalism, calling the police of
ficer “a fascist bastard" and de
scribing the possible sexual inad
equacies of the officer.
Besides becoming inane, the
Commentatorhas also become
watered down. Ed Madrid’s
piece on ASUO Executive big
burritos Matthew Scotten and
Glen Banfield was completely
toothless, if not downright pan
dering. If either of them sticks
around to run for an office next
year, I wouldn’t be surprised to
see excerpts of Madrid’s article
in their campaign literature.
The idea of offering space to
more liberal writers is fine. As I
understand it, that is the history
of “Another Perspective. ” Offer
ing a platform to image-concious
feminist Alex Tasaday and Stu
dent Senate President Kalpana
Krishnamurthy for the “One
Shot” column pushes the entire
content of the paper further to the
left.
The Commentotorcompounds
the problem by allowing the con
servative writers to pontificate
on just about nothing. Their
“stream of consciousness” style
of writing, as former editor Ed
Carson described it, leaves read
ers, who desire and expect more
from the Commentator, disap
pointed .
The Commentator is the only
conservative magazine on cam
pus. The Emerald editorials lean
to the right, to be sure. But nearly
all the news stories in the Emer
ald are about a symposium, dis
cussion group, meeting, protest
or some other liberal news-ma
nipulating event.
On a more personal note, I was
quite worried about how the
Commentator would function
this year. I felt during my tenure
as editor for the Commentator
that I did not always put out a
quality product, especially near
finals. But I was convinced cur
rent Editor-in-Chief Farrah
Bostic could crank out a quality
product with the fantastic staff
she had.
Instead, everyone quit over the
summer and all hell broke loose.
My worst nightmares became
more vivid with each issue pub
lished.
A new issue came out earlier
this week. The graphics were
smoother and the content was
much more conservative than be
fore. It was even funny. As I
tried to read the parody of the
Emerald retraction to the news
room, I laughed so hard I cried.
But former Publisher Owen
Brennan Rounds was in the
Commentator office on layout
night writing and editing. How
much did he lend to the process
that improved everything? I sus
pect quite a bit. Owen has a ten
dency to not take a backseat, es
pecially with his pet project.
However, I'm convinced that
the ever-increasing liberal edito
rial content, the whiny humor
and the sloppy editing will all
continue once Owen returns to
Portland. It looks different and it
reads different. The Commenta
tor is not the magazine it once
was.
Thom Schoenhorn is a copy chief
for the Emerald. His views do not
necessarily represent those of the
newspaper.
I
LETTERS
Make an ESCAPE
Every term, student groups sit
in the EMU promoting their orga
nizations and events. However,
only a few students take advan
tage of what they have to offer.
ESCAPE Field Studies has
hundreds of opportunities for
students to get involved in their
education. Unfortunately, many
of these positions go unfilled
every term because students are
either too busy or too lazy. I ques
tion how this University could be
one of the top activist schools in
the nation. Furthermore, don’t
expect a degree to be all you
need. Employers want people
who have work experience in
real world settings.
If you want to get hands on ex
perience, then you should take
advantage of one of the many op
portunities that ESCAPE and the
University have to offer. Your tu
ition pays for unions and student
groups to operate, so take advan
tage of it.
Donovan Pacholl
Journalism
P.o BOX 3159. EUGENE. OREGON 97403
The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday through Fri
day during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the sum
mer by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University
of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. A member of the Associated Press, the
Emerald operates independently of the University with offices at Suite
300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private property The
unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law.
Editor-In-Chief: Steven Asbury
Managing Editor: Jennifer Carter Night Editor: Jennifer Carter
Community: Jennifer Schmitt, editor. Doug Irving
Entertainment: Nicole Kreuger, editor. Jesse Stephenson
Higher Education: Shana Cohn, editor. Tamyra Howser, in-depth.
Laura Cadiz, Benjamin Kwasney
Opinion: Ashley Bach, editor. Chris Hutchinson, illustrator.
Brian Diamond, Larry Haftl, Sonja Sherwood
Student Activities: Kristin Bailey, editor. Angie Suchy, Tom Potter
Sports: Mark McTyre, editor Andrea DeYoung, assistant editor
Chris Hansen, Ryan Frank, Ryan Halvorsen
Copy Desk: Thom Schoenborn. copy chief. Sarah Kickler,
Paul Meznarich, Mike Schmierbach, Kendra Smith
Presentation: Dennis Bolt, editor. Matt Garton
Photography: Mathew Stiffler, editor. Andrew Brackensick.
Joe Bunik. Amanda Erickson, Shannon Kilduff, Chad Patteson
Freelance: Lara Pittman, editor. On-Line: Nicholas Stiffler
General Manager: Judy Riedl
Advertising Becky Merchant, director Anne Amador, Lee Yen Beh,
Marco Ching, Yujin Chi, Matt Johnson, Anne Miller. Trina Shanaman,
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Classified: Tara Sloan, manager. Natasha Lumpkin, Debbie Levy,
Heather Moye
Production: Michele Ross, manager. Ingrid White, coordinator.
Shawna Abele, Laura Daniel, Susan Head, Trevor Kearney,
Tara Knight. Melissa LeBahn,
Molly McCanta, Allison Stormo, Mike Young
Business: Kathy Carbone, supervisor Judy Connolly
Distribution: John Long, John Pauli. Ferenc Rakoczi
Newsroom.(541)346-5511
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