▼ EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
Steven Asbury
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Ashley Bach & Brian Diamond
editorials, letters, commentary and perspective
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For love or money?
■ CON: ‘Special’ days need to be
about more than just finding an
excuse for having expensive sex
Today, Feb. 14, is a special day on
my calendar: A day of personal and
historical significance. Feb. 14 is
Oregon’s birthday. Last year, in cel
ebration of our pine tree and grass-filled
state, I even dyed my hair green.
Some people were confused. Apparently,
they have another association with today:
Valentine’s Day, and Valentine’s Day has
nothing to do with the color green.
Unless, of course, you associate green
with money. Yes, corporate America has
purchased this holiday along with the rest,
and florists, card makers and dimly lit
restaurants are reaping the rewards.
However, it isn’t the big money buyout
Mike
Sctanierlncl)
that bothers me about
Valentine's Day. In to
day’s society, this is to be
expected. I don’t like
Valentine’s Day because
it has no point.
One of my friends
tells me that, for her fam
ily, Valentine’s Day is a
big deal; a time when
everyone gets together
with much iov and han
piness. Well, my friend is weird.
Let’s face it, Valentine’s Day is about sex.
This isn’t a productive holiday which
builds a sense of community. It’s a holiday
when people spend a lot of money to get
what they usually obtain for free.
Perhaps in earlier, more proper days, sex
was a “big event. ” Something that necessi
tated giving flowers, buying expensive
meals and handing over a fat box of choco
lates. Something that required its own day of
the year.
For most modem couples, though,
sex is almost painfully rou
tine. It is certainly not an
event that requires the
sacrifice of innocent
flowers.
Yes, sex is
something that
should be taken
seriously, but
so are flowers.
My mother
grew roses, for
example, and
her careful atten
tion to the pruning and
spraying that the task requires ^tgj
has proven to me the near-sacredness of the**
rose. In the name of one more night of sex,
we’re sacrificing thousands of roses before
they cease to be buds.
I may exaggerate the situation. Perhaps
you don’t think the fate of a few flowers is
worth trimming a holiday. This could be
true, but if Valentine’s Day is to continue, it
should serve a more useful purpose than
preparing a couple for their night’s frivolity
by forcing a man to whip out his wallet for
something other than a condom. (Yes, 1
know you shouldn’t keep them there.)
Valentine’s Day is supposed to be about
love, but the only thing it teaches is that true
love exists within the confines of couple
dom and requires large purchases of per
fume, candy, flowers and jewelry to ensure
its continuation.
Advertisers tell us, in diamond commer
cials and flower spots, that by buying the
right product, we can guarantee romance at
least one day of the year. This romance is
just one more step on the road to sex. And as
they say, sex sells.
This kind of sexually charged, incredibly
expensive love is not what society needs to
encourage. What we could use is a little love
of community. A little love of family. A little
love that doesn’t involve buying presents.
Or perhaps what we really need to do is
dye our hair green, run naked in the woods
and dread the day when Hallmark issues a
card for Oregon’s birthday.
Mike Schmierbach, a junior majoring in
journalism, is a guest columnist for the
Emerald. His views do not necessarily
represent those of the paper.
■ PRO: Valentine’s Day is a time for
silly love and hopeless romantics
Today, I am Cupid’s hired gun. I’ll
admit, I never used to like Valen
tine’s Day, not one little bit. Too
much pink and froo-froo stuff.
Chocolate covered cherries make me gag
and I prefer cotton to silk. But all that has
changed. I think Valentine’s
Day can be fun, romantic
and silly in a good way. ,
Two years ago, 1
\ *
was planning the ultimate lonely hearts club
night with a bunch of single girlfriends. 1
started preparing for it two weeks before V
Day. 1 searched the yellow pages for the most
unromantic sounding restaurant in which
we could chow on meat and be your basic
bitter Harpies.
No matter. It never happened. I got a date.
How typical! Abandon your sex for the love
of the opposite, there’s no better way to
spend die holiday. He was someone I had
been eying for a while and we’d been do
ing the I-like-you-do-you-like-me tan
go for the two previous weeks.
There were so many
things wrong with this
man. First of all, we
worked together, some
thing I’ve always
thought a no-no.
Secondly, he had
this hideous leech
of an ex- girlfriend
who I had a feel
ing would nev
er die.
We went to
the Bijou to see
"Red,” the French film
which is part of the triage.
X) It was actually quite romantic
in an intellectual way. Afterward
we went and had some beers and he
walked me home. Okay, this is what you are
waiting for, he kissed me on the verandah!
Those first kisses. WOW! They are either
there or they are not. This one was definitely
there and I’ve been in love with him ever
since.
It’s sad though. There’s really not enough
romance in the world these days. My grand
parents are coming up on their 60th wedding
anniversary. They became sweethearts in the
fourth grade and went steady all through
high school.
Last year their local newspaper had a con
test for the most romantic true-life love story.
My grandfather wrote in and won first place.
He didn’t even tell my grandmother that he
was going to do it. She found it in the paper
on Valentine’s Day.
Even romantic thought seems to have been
squelched in this hurry-up technology inten
sive culture of the Nineties. Ruth Bascom,
former mayor, proposed that all the street
OPINION
Erickson
lamps and city lights be
modified so that Eugeni
ans could better enjoy the
beautiful Northwest
night sky. What a roman
tic idea. Some locals
scoffed at this as frivo
lous. But, why not?
I think that is the idea
behind Valentine’s Day.
It’s a holiday when we
have an excuse to be silly
m love. Some cool poet once said, "For in the
muck and scum of things, there always, al
ways, something sings."
That’s what the holiday is about. Taking
pause to remember that the good life is not
about wealth or stature, it's about the price
less things.
So, don’t wallow in the muck on this holi
day. Ask someone out, send flowers anony
mously, rent a sappy movie and drink a lot of
wine. If it’s clear, go stare at the cosmos, al
though you’ll have to drive out of town or up
into the hills. Eugene isn’t nearly as romantic
as the mayor.
Amanda Erickson, a senior majoring in
)ournalism, is a guest columnist for the
Emerald. Her views do not necessarily rep
resent those of the paper.
LETTERS
Men against rape
The Just Us program on Jan. 15 was a
powerful, thought-provoking presentation
on acquaintance rape that spoke to the
hearts of more than 600 attendees. Men on
campus now have the opportunity to come
together to learn what we can do to pre
vent date rape.
Three thoughts have emerged. We des
perately need to lend leadership and sup
port in reinstating and maintaining organi
zations on campus such as Greeks Against
Rape and Men Against Rape.
It is imperative that all men become
aware of how our socialization process, in
ternalized beliefs and external behavior
may contribute to a rape-tolerant environ
ment.
Last of all, it would be important for
male faculty and staff to reflect on how
they could become positive role models to
students on campus in regards to relation
ships.
The University Counseling Center will 1
be offering workshops for men that will
provide an opportunity to explore our so
cialization, behaviors and beliefs in a posi
tive and safe atmosphere.
The ultimate goal is to develop natural
ly appropriate ways of relating with others
in order to prevent unwanted sexual be
havior. For further information, contact the
Counseling Center at 346-3227.
John Davies, Ph.D
& 2 co-signers
University Counseling Center
Get with it
A quick reminder to all coffee drinkers
and cigarette smokers: It is 1997, and some
of you don’t get it. No, I don’t harsh on ei
ther of these habits whatsoever, but I do
have some strong feelings toward habits
within these habits.
First, to all you coffee, tea or any conve
nience beverage drinkers: Wake up and
smell the coffee! The continuous purchas
ing a disposable paper drink cup, accom
panied by those handy dandy plastic lids
day after day isn’t right. It is very easy to
spend $3 on a refillable mug that you can
carry in you back pack.
The waste and continuous throw-away
habits can’t be sustained. Do yourself and
the earth a favor. It will make you feel
good, I promise.
Secondly, to all you cancer puffers:
Smoke if you do choose, but don't throw
you lipstick covered, fiberglass filled, nico
tine spiked roaches on the ground. Who
made the rule that cigarette butts weren’t
trash? I don’t like to look at your deathly
remains still smoldering on the side walk.
It’s easy to put a cigarette out and dispose
of it properly.
If you fall under one or both of these cat
egories, just think about your actions, how
they affect others and the place we reside.
Thank you for reading and absorbing.
Josh Laughlin
Journalism
Corrections
In the Feb. 12 article, “BSU recognizes
Black History," the sorority Alpha Kappa
Alpha was incorrectly named Alpha Kap
pa. The Alpha Kappa Alpha fashion show
will be from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Memorial
Union Ballroom in Corvallis.
In the Feb. 12 article, “Black History
Month Events Continue," the Black Stu
dent Union was incorrectly named as
sponsoring the Ebony Man Showcase.
The Black Women of Empowerment will
be sponsoring the event, which will take
place at noon on Feb. 22 in the EMU Gum
wood Room.
The Emerald regrets the errors.