T EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
StevenAsbury
MANAGING EDITOR:
Thom Schoenbom
NIGHT EDITOR:
Sarah Kickler
EDITORIAL EDITORS:
Ashley Bach & Brian Diamond
editorials, letters, commentary and perspective
NEWSROOM:
(541)346-5511
DISPLAY ADVERTISING:
(541)346-3712
OUSINESS OFFICE:
(541)346-5512
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING:
(541)346-4343
Lack of alcohol may dry out fraternities
■ OUR OPINION:
Two houses’ new
alcohol-free
policy won’t work
in the current
system, but it has
some hope for the
future
CONTACT US
What do you
think?
Write us a letter ex
pressing your
opinion or E-mail
usatodeOore
gon.uoregon.edu
Letters to the edi
tor must be limited
to no more than
250 words, legi
ble, signed and the
identification of
the writer must be
verified when the
letter is submitted.
The Emerald re
serves the right to
edit any letter for
length or style.
Deep inside the University fraternity sys
tem, there lies a stark reality: Something
is wrong.
Houses are trashed. Grades are down,
and membership isn’t exactly booming. And the
University community has become disenchanted
with the greek system as a whole. The antics of
“Animal House” have ceased to be entertaining
and are now just tiresome.
This all puts fraternities up against a widespread
image and identity crisis. Many people disapprove
of the houses’ activities and current incarnation,
but what do they become in the future?
Two chapters, Sigma Nu and Phi Delta, have
recognized the problem on a national level and
created a solution: Make all their houses go dry.
The national chapters have instructed all their
houses, including those at the University, to elimi
nate all house alcohol by the year 2000. This is a
good idea.
But there’s another reality in the fraternity sys
tem. Men who join fraternities join for one reason
— social aspects. And these aspects usually in
volve alcohol. Because of this connection, most
men pledge expecting to drink, and drink a
lot.
This is where the dry fraternity idea be
comes problematic.
Imagine a fraternity party without
alcohol. Music blaring, people
standing around talking,
laughing and
drinking.. .Pepsi? For a
Campus Crusade meet
ing, it might work. But
for a fraternity, no. At
least not now.
In light of this reality,
the dry fraternity idea
seems more impractical
than impressive. To
fight the new re
strictions, it
seems UKeiy mat
many of the
members of the
so-named houses
will either drink
outside of their
houses or break
the new rule entirely. In a system that revolves pri
marily around alcohol, this may be the only way to
socially survive.
Drinking should not be difficult,
however, for fraternities.
Members want to be able to
consume alcohol and
consume it freely. Be
cause of this, any
house with alcohol
restrictions will
doubt see a decline in membership.
Expect Sigma Nu and Phi Delta to either be
pushed out of the greater greek scene or go to great
pains to bypass the new law. No matter what, their
two houses will be socially dead themselves. It’s
just reality.
Reality, however, can be changed. We acknowl
edge there is hope for dry fraternities. Their po
V tential benefits include increased safety, cleanli
\ ness, academic performance and lower
insurance rates. The absence of alcohol
1__ could also shed more light on fratemi
ties’ other benefits like brotherhood,
tradition and community service.
But can it all work? Success is possi
ble. And at the very least, Sigma Nu
and Phi Delta should be commended
for trying something. But execution of
the new rule may take a miracle.
First, a large number of people
presently in the greek system must make
a stand against drinking. This will give
tne ary nouses a consistent member
ship, a foundation for the future and
support from within the greek system.
Second, a large number of future
pledges must be willing to enter the
greek system not to drink, but to take
advantage of its other aspects.
Currently, we don’t see this vi
^sion being realized. But we’ll
wait and see. If conditions
change drastically, the
two houses’ bold move
could be the beginning
of a larger movement.
The University and In
trafratemity Council are
even discussing the pos
sibility of making all fra
ternities and sororities al
cohol-free, as part of a
program called Select
CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald W
<SUUU.
Now that’s a sight we’d
like to see.
This editorial represents the
opinion of the Emerald editori
al board.
Diseases, not animals, are targets of research
During the last 100 years, scien
tists have successfully contained
or discovered cures for a vast ar
ray of deadly diseases that once
ravaged humanity. These remarkable ad
vances — mostly developed in teaching
hospitals and research universities —
could not have been achieved without lab
oratory animals.
There are those who protest, sometimes
violently, against the use of animals for
this purpose, but the benefits to humanity
from such research are unquestionable,
profound and deserving of broad-based
public support.
It is easy to forget the primitive state of
medicine and health care that existed just
a few decades ago. A review of 20th-centu
ry Nobel Prizes awarded for advances in
medicine highlights just how far we’ve
come in a relatively short span of time.
Researchers have won the Nobel for in
vestigating, developing treatments for and
preventing tuberculosis, typhus, anemia,
diabetes, diphtheria, malaria, yellow fever
and polio. Significantly, each break
through, treatment or cure was based on
research using laboratory animals.
Such achievements give hope to today’s
researchers who are focusing their efforts
on developing treatments and cures for
devastating human diseases that continue
COMMENTARY
Steadman llpham |
to disable and kill millions each year. The
list is long and touches every family.
It includes cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer’s
disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple
sclerosis, muscular sclerosis, muscular dy
strophy, Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) and
diseases of the heart, lung, liver, kidney,
eye, blood and bone.
While the University does not have a
medical school and is not directly in
volved in applied medical research, Uni
versity scientists are at the forefront of ba
sic research efforts from which treatments
and cures are developed. Laboratory ani
mals play a key role in each of the scores of
investigations University scientists are
conducting.
Regardless of the pressing importance of
this work, there are some who are against
the use of any animals in biomedical re
search. In a free and open society, we val
ue such difference of opinion. But in the
push and pull of open debate, it is vital
that we are cognizant of the facts.
For decades, scientists have been replac
ing higher-order organisms with lower-or
der ones in research. Today, about 90 per
cent of laboratory research animals used
nationwide are rodents- mostly mice and
rats. Cats and dogs account for less than
one percent of research specimens. At the
University , for example, 97 percent of lab
oratory animals are zebrafish used to study
genetic and developmental abnormalities.
Finally, every research specimen at the
University is cared for according to rigor
ous federal, state and institutional stan
dards that ensure humane treatment. The
American Association for Accreditation of
Laboratory Animal Care also has reviewed
and accredited our animal care and use
program.
Someday, we may inhabit a world free
of sickness and disease, a world where all
the mysteries of the body are understood.
But until that time, we must respond to the
world as it is.
University scientists will continue ex
ploring and adding to our knowledge of
the biological mechanisms that underlie
human health and disease. Animal re
search is a small but vital part of this ex
ploration.
Steadman Upham, a guest columnist for
the Emerald, is vice provost for research
and dean of the University Graduate
School. His views do not necessarily reflect
those of the paper.
Top 10
Top ten signs it’s time to switch majors
i
10. When you ask your advisor what
your job prospects are, he bursts out
laughing.
9. You discover the homeless lady on the
corner graduated from your field with
high honors. j
8. Your professors constantly stress that
what you are learning is “purely theoreti
cal and has no real use."
7. Graduation requirements for your ma
jor include classes in “High impact pain
resistance.”
6. Due to lack of funding, half of your
classes are taught by GTF dropouts.
5. Instead of a senior thesis, you have to
submit a paper on your summer vaca
tion.
4. It’s veterinary science, and you don’t
live in Corvallis.
3. You get class credits interning at Mc
Donalds.
2. At the bookstore your class books are
in the “joke major" section.
1. Three words: Theoretical abstract as
trology.