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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1997)
▼ EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Steven Asbury MANAGING EDITOR: Thom Schoenbom NIGHT EDITOR: Jennifer Schmitt EDITORIAL EOITORS: Ashley Bach & Brian Diamond editorials, letters, commentary and perspective NEWSROOM: (541)346-5511 DISPLAY ADVERTISING: (541)346-3712 BUSINESS OFFICE: (541) 346-5512 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: (541) 346-4343 Finding a home i—. for Footnotes ■ OUR OPINION: Without a clear mission statement for the EMU, other groups will face the same fight for space as Footnotes For anyone who ever slept through an early morning class, this is im portant. Footnotes’ lease in the EMU is up for renewal, and the fu ture of the student service is in jeopardy. The problem isn’t about student demand for Footnotes — it’s about space. With the number of student groups continuing to grow and space for these groups continuing to shrink. Footnotes’ 700-square-foot office is being eyed by many as the solution to the student group space crunch. That’s bad news for Footnotes and stu dents who rely on Footnotes as an academ ic aid. If Footnotes is denied a lease renew al, as many on the EMU Board of Directors are suggesting might happen, the much ap preciated student service may find itself homeless. In response to Footnotes’ dilemma, House members of the board unanimously voted to recommend that Footnotes be guaranteed an alternative spot in the EMU if its current lease is not renewed. We hope the board follows through with the House’s suggestion. While 700 square feet may be too much for Footnotes, espe cially when some student groups have no space at all, it is critical that Footnotes re mains in the EMU. Footnotes is an invaluable service for stu dents and it isn’t funded by student fees. A service that provides student benefits at such a low cost deserves a spot in the stu dent union. Forcing Footnotes out of its current space without first finding an alternative location would put a serious strain on the future suc cess of Footnotes. Because the EMU pro vides a low-rent location, Footnotes has been able to keep costs low. But if it is forced out of the EMU, low prices will be a luxury of the past for Footnotes subscribers. The current problems Footnotes is deal ing with are due primarily to bad luck. Footnotes’ lease just happened to run out at a time when space was particularly tight. The same debate could have been repeated with any other student service that found themselves in Footnotes’ shoes. The problem isn’t with the different ser vices in the EMU; it’s with the EMU itself. Is it a place for student groups, academic services (like Footnotes), food or entertain ment? Because the board has no clear focus on whom it will serve, there will always be questions of who gets space and who does n’t. fOOTNOTSS COM CHRIS HUTCHINSONyEmeraW Instead of deciding on a case-by-case basis who gets priority for space, the board should finally write up a mission statement de claring the EMU’s priori ties. This would finally solve the question of who gets space. For instance, while the space of student groups may be more important than the space of Footnotes, isn’t Foot notes more valuable than, say, the arcade? Because there is no clear mission statement of whom the EMU should serve, questions like these inevitably become major debates. Too many students rely on Footnotes to risk losing it be cause of a lease disagreement. The first step is for the board to find a place for , Footnotes in the EMU L that provides adequate ^ space for the service to re main active. Then, the board should prevent future problems by drafting a mission statement that makes it clear what the EMU is for and whom it will serve. If this is done, the Uni versity won’t have to go through the same struggle the next time Footnotes’ lease is up. This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. LETTERS Urban destruction As as ex-Chicagoan, I thought I’d seen the best the world could show in the way of corruption and scandal. But the story be hind the rapid destruction of the Willamette River scenic corridor opened my eyes to the impressive betrayal of public trust in this city of not-so-big shoulders. Those who have seen what the city, Uni versity and private industry are doing to the lovely natural parkland at the Autzen foot bridge must admire the audacity of the riverfront “research park” project. What will replace the quiet swimming holes, playing fields and woodland trails where we take our out-of-town guests to hear them sigh with envy at the views available on a casual bicycle ride? A restaurant, of course, and sprawling buildings connected by a snarl of roads and parking lots. And how is this being financed? Believe it or not, urban renewal money solicited from the federal government is supplement ing this desecration. While we see the li brary hours cut and some of our park cen ters about to close, tax money is being siphoned off to help pay for the “improve ment” of this area. The river frontage in its natural state has more value to present and future genera tions than the grandest money-making scheme our local mobsters can devise. Be watching for a ballot measure on this issue. Meanwhile, for relief, picture with me a chain gang of profiteers with pickaxes, sent up the river to demolish the concrete they’ve poured over our local beauty. Teresa Mueller Eugene Fatal oversight While entirely supportive of the Emerald providing useful safe-sex information about condoms (Feb. 10, ODE), I was shocked to see the absence of male-to-male and female to-female transmission rates for common STDs, particularly HIV. This is no small oversight. Men who have sex with men must know how to avoid HIV infection. In this time of the AIDS epidemic, no article on National Condom Week can afford to for get that gay men and sex between men ex ist. James Warhol Programmer University Computing Contact us ■ BY MAIL: P.O.Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 ■ BY PHONE: (541)346-5511 ■ BYE-MAIL: ode@oregon. uoregon. edu ■ IN PERSON: Suite 300, EMU READER VOICES Should Footnotes be allowed to stay in the EMU? “Keep them [in the EMU]. Iftheygeta smaller space, they'll have less people working there and the quali ty of the footnotes will be lower." Phil Platt Junior International Studies ‘I don't care if they have to move. I’ve never used Foot notes and I never will" Melanie Supnet Junior Psychology “I hardly think [Footnotes has] enough resources as it is. So to mini mize it more, it would not make it a very productive place at all." Elizabeth McNeil Junior Sociology “[Footnotes is] one of the groups that has a direct applic ability to the stu dent body, so I think they deserve as much space as they can get." Brai Talley Junior Psychology
