T EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
Steven Asbury
MANAGING EDITOR:
Thom Schoenbom
NIGHT EDITOR:
Jennifer Schmitt
EDITORIAL EDITORS:
Ashley Bach & Brian Diamond
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Serving sports on a silver platter
Because sports attract big money, many
athletes are able to enjoy privileges that
the average student can’t enjoy
Last week, I found myself incapaci
tated with that fun virus that’s going
around. As I laid pathetically on my
couch moronically watching MTV,
something caught my eye. MTV News, the
fine piece of journalism that it is, flashed a
graphic of the state of Oregon next to Kurt
Loder’s head.
Sure enough, the shiny red dot on the
state was accompanied by the word “Eu
gene.” Loder unenthusiastically announced
that the Rolling Stones chose to honor the
city of Eugene by scheduling the kickoff
concert of their summer tour at Autzen Sta
Mcde
Kristal
dium.
However, the offer
was declined by the Uni
versity, citing schedul
ing conflicts with foot
ball practice. I don’t
know about you guys,
but I think that the foot
ball team would have
been willing to take a
few days off.
When this story was
first publicized earlier this month, I didn’t
think it would become national news in
any form. Now Eugene has been national
ly embarrassed for placing an athletic
team’s needs over a legendary rock band
that has not played in Oregon since July 21,
1966.
The importance of the football team’s
practice has been valued at over $150,000 —
the estimated revenue the concert would
have drawn. But for students who attend the
University, this is not the first time they’ve
witnessed the needs of the football team and
the athletic department prioritized above
themselves and other University programs.
Athletes receive free tutoring from the
Center for Student Athletes Academic Ad
vising located in Mac Court. Ordinary stu
dents pay.
Athletes on scholarship receive the best
housing on campus — the University Inn.
Football players stay at the Red Lion on
the nights before football games — in Eu
gene.
And football players used to eat for free at
Hammy’s until they began abusing the priv
ilege by bringing in their friends for free
food.
The average student like myself sees these
privileges and feels unimportant and under
valued. I don’t attend basketball or football
games, yet my incidental fee gives other stu
dents the opportunity to attend the games
for “free.”
I cannot control how the University
spends my tuition money. And until I did
research for this story, I assumed a ton of my
tuition money went to the sports program,
especially football.
However, I made a false assumption. You
can’t blame me. After all, I certainly didn’t
see my money fixing the parking problem,
so it must be going to sports. Wrong.
Surprisingly enough, I only unintention
ally donate $66 through my incidental fee to
every non-revenue sport per year. (Men’s
basketball and football are excluded from
this category because they are revenue
sports.)
Therefore, I could be paying for a softball
player’s uniform or a golfer’s books — but
not a football player’s helmet. I definitely do
not pay for the nights the football team
spends in the Red Lion.
According to Jamie Klund, sports infor
mation director, the University sports pro
gram is self-sufficient. The sports program
pays for these luxuries and privileges. Given
the value society places on sports, the ath
letic department would be the only self-suf
ficient program on campus.
A successful sports program is equated
with prestige. A better sports team equals a
better school. Or at least, this is the myth.
Thus, a winning sports program attracts stu
dents to the University and large monetary
donations.
After the Ducks played in the Rose Bowl
in 1994, donations skyrocketed. (Until Phil
Knight donated $1 million for the Universi
ty President’s salary, the salary of Jerry
CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Smerald
Green, the former men’s basketball coach,
was $20,000 more than President Frohn
mayer’s salary.)
The University definitely has its priori
ties. Unfortunately, the University cannot
afford to prioritize my education. In my
computer science class, the University has
licensed so few copies of Windows ’95 and
Adobe Photoshop that a class of 20 students
cannot all simultaneously use the same ap
plication to learn the program. Maybe some
day the donations the University receives
for its successful sports teams will actually
be used to satisfy long-standing student de
mands.
Nicole Kristal, a sophomore majoring in
journalism, is a columnist for the Emerald
Her views do not necessarily represent
those of the paper.
WINNERS
Ellen DeGeneres
The newly outed
actress and come
dienne is the new
focus of Holly
wood buzz and
pop culture.
Newt Gingrich
The Republican Speaker of the House slith
ered his way out of another scandal by ac
cepting a $300,000 loan last week from Bob
Dole.
Jermaine O'Neal
The 18-year-old rookie forward for the Blaz
ers was the subject of a gigantic three-part
series in The Oregonian this week.
Timothy Leary
The cremated remains of the recently de
ceased LSD advocate were launched into
space according to his wishes on Monday.
Benjamin
Netanyahu
The Israeli Prime
Minister narrowly es
caped indictment for
influence-peddling
but is still under in
tense scrutiny.
U.S. Air Force
The wreckage of a missing A-10 jet has re
portedly been found in Colorado but the
question still remains: How could this ever
happen?
London
Residents of the British capital are under
siege after a series of bomb threats and
scares by Irish terrorists.
North Dakota & Minnesota
Record flooding is causing thousands of
residents of the two states to evacuate.
LETTERS
Irrelevant rhetoric
Mr. Johnson’s displeasure with the
Emerald presidential endorsement (April
17, ODE), while mildly satisfying to the
rest of us, is irrelevant to this election.
Your sole duty as a student and a leader is
to vote the way you feel and not to sway
the voters one way or another.
This attempt at retribution is not only
too late, it’s too bad. If for once, Mr. John
son, you would fess up your position as a
member of student government who is not
exactly known for intellectual prowess,
you might give students a fair view of what
your letter really means.
Contrary to popular belief, the Commen
tator does not serve any function other
than an outlet for ideas that are not ex
pressed in any other form of campus me
dia. The idea that we plant writers in stu
dent government or the mainstream media
is absurd, albeit flattering.
The members of the Emerald editorial
board expressed an opinion that was clear
ly not unanimous, nor was it a happy one.
The editorial containing the endorsement
was littered with sentiments that might
keep the most forthright student away
from the polls.
The idea that the Commentator is a
waste of student money is a particularly
repugnant sentiment, given that the Senate
voted to approve more money than they
were asked to approve for the now infa
mous amphitheater.
Your cute use of punctuation in an at
tempt to delegitimize the editorials fell
short it its goal, as did the idea that they
end in juvenile allusions to drinking or
bad sex. For your information, at the Com
mentator there are only two kinds of sex,
the really good kind and the kind you
don’t remember.
Farrah L. Bostic
Oregon Commentator
Publisher