Oregon daily emerald., February 25, 1997, Page 2, Image 2

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
Steven Asbury
MANAGING EDITOR:
Thom Schoenbom
NIGHT EDITOR:
Ryan Frank
EDITORIAL EDITORS:
Ashlejy Bach & Brian Diamond
editorials, letters, commentary and perspective
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The Drawing Beard
t
-THE HECK WITH
n. VM MOVING TO
California.
College students lack perspective
■ OUR OPINION: Students who come
to Eugene from out of town should un
derstand how local issues affect resi
dents before they get involved
Eugene is a college town. There is
no getting around that. Green and
yellow decorate the city miles
away from the campus area. But
there’s more to Eugene than just college
spirit — there are college students.
There are currently 17,100 undergradu
ates attending the University. According
to University records, 41 percent of them
come from a state other than Oregon. Of
the students that do come here from in
state, most come from a city other than
Eugene.
That means in a relatively small city, at
least compared to cities like Portland, a
large proportion of the politically active
members of the community haven’t lived
in Eugene for more than four years. This
can mean some problems when native Eu
genians and students disagree on the fu
ture of Eugene.
Most people enrolled in the University
only plan on living in Eugene while they
are at school. To them, Eugene is great
place to hang out for a few years while
they get an education. As for the long-term
future of the city, most students couldn’t
care less.
Because these students haven’t lived in
Eugene long and don’t plan on remaining
in Eugene very far into the future, how
they view issues facing Eugene often dif
fers from how native Eugenians do.
For instance, the Skinner Butte Cross
was one of the more controversial issues
facing Eugene this year. To people who
have lived in Eugene for a long time, emo
tions were strong on both side of the issue.
Some people felt great personal attach
ment to the cross, while others had been
fighting for years to get rid of it. To an out
sider it may have seen like a silly issue,
but to long-time residents it was an impor
tant decision for the city.
Most college students’ reaction to the
cross debate was “who cares?” After all, to
someone who doesn’t understand the
background of the debate, it’s just a cross,
not worthy of a city-wide debate.
This kind of thinking reflects the lack of
perspective most students have in dealing
with issues in Eugene. Most students
would like Eugene to conform to their
ideas of what a college town should be.
They don’t particularly care what the peo
ple who have lived here for their whole
lives think.
And because they probably won’t have
to deal with the long-term effects of the
decisions they make, it is easy for students
to develop a short-sighted mentality in de
ciding the future of the city.
For instance, many students would like
to see the city expand so they can take ad
gg
Most people enrolled in the University only
plan on living in Eugene while they are at
school. To them, Eugene is great place to
hang out for a few years while they get an
education. As for the long-term future of
the city, most students couldn’t care less.
-„
vantage of all the attractions that come
with a big city. They don’t have to worry
about the problems expansion might bring
in future years, so they rarely consider the
concerns of those who choose to live here.
It’s great for college students to want to
get involved with local issues. After all,
what happens in Eugene has a direct ef
fect on most college students’ lives. How
ever, when students do become involved
in issues, they should take the time to
consider the background to those issues.
For many of us, Eugene is just a pit-stop
on our paths to other places. For Eugene
natives, it is a place they plan on living for
a long time. Issues that face the communi
ty have special importance for them. We,
as college students, should understand
that before we get involved with local is
sues.
This editorial represents the opinion of
the Emerald editorial board.
Ail thumbs
“Elton”
After months of dal
lying, “The Holly
wood Reporter" says
ABC may finally be
bringing its Wednes
day night character
“Ellen” out of the
closet. With reports
of an April 30 unveil
ing, we can only
hope ttre reports are
true. The hype has
been going on long
enough.
Tampa police
Deputies in the Flori
da city took 34 min
utes to respond to a
911 call drat reported
a woman was being
beaten across the
street. After the
woman was found
dead at the scene,
police defended the
delay, citing rush
hour traffic, a shift
change and lack of
available officers.
Yikes. Let's hope
problems like this
never pop up in Eu
gene.
Speech tourney
The Bower Aly High
School Forensics
Tournament came to
campus last week
end and was sup
posed to increase lo
cal business,
including in the
EMU, with about 900
high school stu
dents. Instead, the
students left the
EMU trashed, jum
bled and smelling of
sweaty feet.
Kenneth Starr
The Whitewater
special prosecutor
announced his res
ignation last week
from the post ef
fective Aug. 1 then
reversed himself
days later. After
rounds of criticism
from both Republi
cans and Democ
rats, Starr was
right to stay with
the investigation.
The Academy
Kudos are in order
forthe Academy of
Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences for
recognizing inde
pendent films in
this year’s Oscar
nominations. j
Among the nomi- i
nees '.Breaking the
Waves, Secrets & j
Lies and Shine. \
j
Lobby Day
This time, acco
lades are in order
lor University stu
dents’role in the j
lobbying process. \
About 200 college j
students from all j
over the state de- j
scended on the
capital on Feb. 20,
including our very j
ownASUOpresi- j
dent. Keep it up. !
Corrections
■ In the Feb. 19 article, “Posner explains brain exploration in lecture,”
erroneous information was included about the history and nature of
the award given. Professor Michael Posner is one of three recipients
of the Distinguished Professor Award, an award which was estab
lished in 1996. Posner was given the award by the College of Arts and
Sciences.
■ The Feb. 21 story, “New associate dean position added to help with
multicultural issues," contained a factual error. The new position of
dean of student life for multicultural affairs was the result of recom
mendations made by the Task Force for Racial Diversity, not the Race
Task Force.
■ The Feb. 24 “Winners & Losers" section mislabeled baseball player
Albert Belle. Belle is a member of the Chicago White Sox and a former
slugger for the Cleveland Indians.
The Emerald regrets the errors.
LETTER
i
ASUO correct
This letter is in regard to the seats
that were withheld from students at
j the Arizona men’s basketball game.
The ASUO Executives issued this
action in accordance with the occur
rences at the UCLA game. It seems
that some type of action needed to
be taken. Too many times this type
of incident is simply swept under
I the carpet.
Racist comments have no place in
our University, much less our sport
ing events. Many younger children
attend these events and look upon
the students as role models. Al
j though we may not want it, these
children look up to us. Therefore,
we cannot excuse this type of be
havior.
Many people think that this inci
dent has been blown way out of pro
portion and the punishment is too
heavy. It may punish innocent fans
who have nothing to do with the
few persons who are not creative to
cheer and heckle cleanly. However,
we need to start taking responsibili
ty for the actions of our fellow fans.
If we ever, as a society, want to
end racism and ignorance, we need
to stand against racist comments.
Where better to begin this stand
than a highly regarded University
that is considered one of the most
politically active in the U.S.?
So we are presented with this op
portunity to let the ignorant few in
our University know that we will
not stand for racism. It would have
been a shame to have let this just
blow over.
Incidents like these have hap
pened in every basketball court in
the U.S.; it has happened here at
Mac Court in the past, and nothing
has been done about it. Luckily, our
ASUO Executive is brave enough to
take this step toward fighting
racism, and hopefully we will all
come to realize this action is not
about punishment. It is about re
sponsibility.
The responsibility we all have, as
adults, is to end racism. Eliminating
racist comments and slams is the
first step. A step our ASUO Execu
tive was strong enough to take, and
a step that we are willing to take
with them. Job well done.
Bryan Mercier
Public Relations Director
MCC