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Sarah Kickler
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Smoke screen shields industry from lawsuits
■ OUR OPINION: The recent deal
about cigarette production doesn’t
do enough to punish the industry
n America, most murderers don’t get
off easy. Brutal crimes tend to receive
-L Given that vindictive tendency, one
might expect an industry that has con
demned an estimated 45 million Ameri
cans to greatly increased risks of lung dis
ease, heart problems and cancer would
receive some sort of punishment. Instead,
tobacco industry lawyers and state attor
neys general have negotiated a deal that
does too little to stop smoking and punish
cigarette producers.
The agreement calls for cigarette makers
to pay $368.5 billion for health care and
anti-smoking education programs. Grant
ed, that’s a lot of money, but the sum is
slight compared to industry profits. Addi
tionally, payment is spread over 25 years,
ensuring the companies involved can con
tinue to report healthy profits to their
stockholders.
In addition, the Food and Drug Admin
istration will begin to regulate nicotine
and be able to reject the use of any new in
gredients in tobacco products. However,
the FDA cannot ban nicotine until 2009.
Despite this, the ability of the government
to oversee the ingredients used in ciga
rettes is important; allegations of chemical
“spiking” to make cigarettes more addic
tive was one catalyst for the string of law
suits leading to this settlement.
If the agreement ever leads to a signifi
brutal punishments.
cant reduction in tobacco use,
it will be because the FDA
eventually bans nicotine, the
primary addictive substance in
cigarettes. Considerably less
worthwhile are bans on out
door advertising and the use of
human and cartoon characters
in all tobacco ads. People learn
to smoke from friends and rela
tives, as well as by seeing ro
mantic images of smoking in
entertainment. No ad ban can
solve this influence.
Instead, such a ban raises
First Amendment concerns.
While the censorship is volun
tary, companies may not wish
to continue the ban indefinite
ly, at which point questions
about free speech could arise
and further complicate the
deal.
Additionally, the govern
ment has also imposed a ques
tionable restriction upon the
ability of individuals to sue for damages.
The compromise halts lawsuits by the
states as well as several class action law
suits by groups of smokers. The states will
receive money for health care costs, but
the individuals will go away empty hand
ed.
Future lawsuits by citizens will be re
stricted to individual suits, thus pitting
one person against the financial and legal
might of a major company. Moreover, if
such suits are successful they can still only
result in compensation for the costs of
Photo illustration by CHAD PATTESON/Emerald
smoking-related disease; litigants cannot
receive punitive damages. Such restric
tions do not adequately punish the compa
nies and are of dubious legality.
The compromise has lofty expectations
about the reduction in juvenile smoking it
will achieve. The industry will be fined
millions of dollars if youth smoking has
not dropped 60 percent within ten years.
Again, such fines are inadequate, and such
predictions underestimate the allure of
smoking to teens looking for a way to
rebel.
Until the government takes action to re
strict the addictive properties of cigarettes
and to stop the indiscriminate marketing
of cigarettes overseas, tobacco companies
will continue to rake in huge profits.
Worse, with the new settlement, those
profits are protected from legitimate law
suits by people deceived by industry cov
er-ups of the true health risks of its prod
uct.
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial board.
LETTERS
Alcohol concerns
I am writing to express my concern
about the new alcohol policy the Universi
ty greek system is looking to adopt. Simply
stated, the new policy says all persons over
the age of 21 are allowed to bring a dozen
twelve ounce beers or wine coolers for
their own consumption. They will receive
a numbered bracelet that indicates how
many beverages they have and then the al
cohol will be placed behind the bar. When
the person would like a beverage they then
take a number off of the bracelet and re
ceive a drink. There will also be no hard
liquor allowed at fraternity and sorority
functions.
Currently, when a person over 21 enters
a function, they receive a bracelet that
shows that they are allowed to drink alco
hol. When they would like a beverage, they
are allowed to have anything that is pro
vided at the function.
A few functions have used the new alco
hol policy, which is scheduled to go into
effect in the fall. These functions have had
disastrous results. Many people opted not
to go to these parties and those who did at
tend spent most of the time in a private
room at the fraternity house where there
was no security or regulations concerning
the consumption of alcohol.
The money that both the fraternity and
sorority spend on security and entertain
ment is wasted since no one is there to uti
lize it. These parties also segregate people
instead of bringing them together because
individual room parties do not include
everyone, and if a person does not know
anyone they are left to enjoy a lifeless par
ty with no one to get to know.
In theory, the policy may be positive, but
the actual results do not accomplish the
goals it seeks to achieve. Taking away a
provider does not solve the problem of un
derage drinking, which is one of the main
objectives of the new policy. If people are
not able to get alcohol at a function the are
just going to go to other sources. Parties
2A Oregon Daily Emerald Tuesday, June 24. 1!
providing alcohol to minors will not end
with the policy.
Many problems concerning alcohol that
can have severe repercussions in the future
are being oversimplified with the greek sys
tem’s new alcohol policy. Instead of imple
menting a policy that will bring about more
harm than good in inter-sorority and frater
nity relations, alternative options should be
examined. In short, this policy is an ex
treme reaction to a problem that is not even
that severe in the greek system. Therefore,
I feel the new policy should not be put into
effect and other ways of discouraging
drinking should be considered.
Jenna Durum
Beaverton
Disturbed
I am writing in response to the article
about the rape of a University student in
the May 27 issue of the Emerald. Hearing
information like this makes me not want to
be a part of the male gender. I say this be
cause I am a facilitator in women’s studies,
and I have seen what the male gender has
done and is doing to the women of our
world.
Men do not know what type of damage
they are doing when they participate is sex
ist jokes, staring at pornography, sexual as
sault and other forms of sexism. Men may
not realize that talking about women in a
sexual way, as if they were a piece of prop
erty, and staring at the bodies of women in
such magazines as Playboy are harmful to
women. This view of women makes some
men think rape is acceptable because look
ing at Playboy and attending strip bars al
lows men to think women are there for
pleasing men. Once men get this type of
mentality in their heads, they are more
likely to rape a woman.
What it does not say in those magazines
is that by reading them the chain rule
comes into effect: If it is okay to stare at
them then why isn’t the next step — for in
stance, rape — okay? And who is to say
197
where harmful actions are to end. It just
promotes abusive actions to some men, and
it is wrong to think these actions are ac
ceptable. As a male I am tired of hearing
about men abusing, beating and raping
women.
The sad part of all this is that there are
males out there who do care and would
never even think about raping a woman,
but every time another male does rape, beat
or abuse a woman then the rest of us are
stereotyped. I am not saying the women are
to blame for the stereotyping of men, al
though I am caught, and so are other men,
in the middle of these stereotypes. Howev
er, it is the males who commit these acts
who are ruining for the rest of us.
I think men need to show women they
do care and want to help end sexism. Men
do so by participating in important rallies
and other forms of eliminating sexism,
such as Take Back the Night, by giving the
women support for their cause and by
helping them fight the fight. These rallies
are there to help women fight against sex
ism, which includes rape and domestic
abuse. There are also many organizations
that exist to help women in times of need,
and men are welcome to help these organi
zations.
So, to all males out there, do not just sit
there are say there is no problem, or there
is nothing you can do to solve the problem
of sexism, because you can do something.
Next time you hear someone talking about
women in a poor manner, turn to that per
son and let him know you don’t agree with
what he is saying. Another thing you males
can do is stop buying porno magazines or
attending pornography shops, whether it
be video or live. Those institutions may be
there for your pleasure, but think about all
the harm they do to women. So, please just
think about what you say and do before
you participate in those actions, and help
stop the sexism in our world.
Sean Hollitz
Eugene
Quoted
“Prostitution has been the splendid
discovery of my middle years.”
Gerald Hannon, journalist and prostitute, in
the January/February This Magazine.
“We’re in the middle of seeing if we’re going
to pull this off. There ate enormous growth
pressures. The money machine is
relentless.”
Lenny Pee, part of the Coalition fora Livable
Future, talking about the anti-sprawl battle
that led to Portland’s being named on of the
10 Most Livable Cities in the May/June Lltne
Reader.
‘Global capitalism is itself a reactionary
system, despite the dazzling technologies of
the so-called information age, for it drives
human societies backward to face social
questions we thought had been resolved.”
William Greider, political pundit for Rolling
Stone, foOne World, Ready or Not.
“White-collar criminals do not really deserve
to go to jail. Prison is expensive and, for
such criminals, serves no useful purpose.”
From Ronald TerMeer's handbook for
white-collar criminals, quoted in the July
issue of Harper’s. TerMeer served 18
months for embezzlement.
“I think some mercy should be shown to you
and other defendants in this case.”
Florida Circuit Judge Bob Mitcham in
Saturday’s Oregonian. Mitcham sentenced
three people to 15 years in prison each for
stealing a stop sign at an intersection where
three other youths later died in a collision.