Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 1998)
COHTACTIHG US NEWSROOM: ADDRESS: (541)346-5511 Oregon Daily Emerald E-MAIL: P.0 BOX3159 ode@oregon.uoregon.edu Eugene. Oregon 97403 ONLINE EDITION: www uoregon.edu/-ode MiWMWMNH^ilillWiBWillfllliPilliilllilJlilBlIBIMllVilliill'iJIi'ili Perspectives editor-in-chief Sarah Kickler editorial editor Mike Schmierbach NIGHT EDITOR Nicole Krueger Recognize donors for what they give Alumni and corporations should he admired for helping the University provide needed services And on the eighth day, after resting on the seventh and missing foot ball, God flipped on the televi sion with the Universal remote. Hoping to find a good game, God surfed the channels with the flick of an Almighty thumb. Momentary images of Sally Struthers and David Hasselhoff sped by be fore God paused at a commercial. This 30 second spot showed colleges around the United States that needed money to edu cate their students. To help out, God invented the saying, “Tis better to give than to receive.” God thought people would donate money to Jonas Allen schools because they ac tually believed in the saying. God saw that this was good and evening fell — the eighth day. Enter day nine. Today. True, it’s the ninth day of January, not the omnipo tent calendar, but what have we done with the Almighty's day eight? Well, sure enough, gra cious people have made donations to higher education. The Univer sity of Oregon is one of those lucky col leges. Donors have given money. They have given buildings, property, books, art and everything imaginable to this institution. In turn, the University has given us an educa tion that we may someday be able to give back to our society. Lately, however, corporate donors have come under criticism for doing exactly what the University needs them to do — donate. Phil Knight, in particular, has been scrutinized by students and others who feel campus is becoming the University of Nike. But what about silent contributors? What about the hundreds of individuals who col lectively do more for University funding than corporations ever could? Is there pub lic outcry over this campus turning into the University of Bob Jones? No. . This University has become what it is today partly because of donations from individuals. The very education we are getting right now would not be realized without the help of hundreds of people who believe in the mes sage of that imaginary eighth day. We go to football games at Autzen Stadium without any thought of the people who made that afternoon pos sible. The stadium itself was construct ed in part because of private funds from Thomas Autzen. For those of you not into football, Mr. Autzen also made contribu tions to the Museum of Art, Robert D. Clark Honors College, Knight Library, biology de partment and the Earl A. Chiles Business Center. When Autzen was taken off life support the day after Thanksgiving, a man who had previously breathed so much life into this University was left gasping for air. After he died the next day, Autzen and his accom plishments received only a sidebar in the Oregon Daily Emerald and a small blurb in the Register-Guard. Autzen lived and contributed as anony mously as he died. But the contributions of Autzen and others like him are far from in significant. According to one estimate from the Of fice of Financial Aid, nearly $3 million to $3.5 million for financial aid comes from private funds. While that is only 4 to 5 per cent ofthe total financial aid budget, there is no question that without the patronage of individuals and corporations alike, many students could not attend the University. Even if everyone could attend, where would students go during Dead Week without a library that was partially built and renovated through private funds? How could University admin istrators ever hope to improve cam pus without some help from pri vate and corporate contributors? Recent cuts in higher education sure aren’t going to solve those prob lems. If this uni versity is to suc ceed, expand and go headfirst into the 21st century, it needs the assistance of individuals and corporations alike. Tom Autzen, Phil Knight and hun dreds of their fellow alumni contribute to the University. Publicity is in evitable for some donors, but their ac tions are no less noble. What it all boils down to is people giving some thing back to their alma mater. If your New Year’s resolution has already been broken, make a new one. Try to appreciate the charity of those who want you to suc ceed. After all, that’s the only thing donors really want. Jonas Alim is a columnistfor the Emerald His work apjiears on alternate Fridays. His t ieus do not necessarily rep resent those of the newspaper. y CH*'smCHIN LETTERS TP THE EDITOR NAFTA harms students I am writing concerning some of the issues raised in the recent editor ial concerning the “fast track” legis lation and the free trade policy (NAFTA) in the United States. As an economics student, 1 had the oppor tunity to take two courses that cov ered these topics. It is hard to dis agree with the editorial position asserted in the Emerald. It is true that since the signing of the NAFTA agreement workers and the environ ment have suffered. There have been more drawbacks than benefits for people other than government offi cials and corporations. One of the arguments not men tioned by the editorial was the im pact of NAFTA on students. The ar ticle clearly outlines what is wrong with NAFTA concerning other countries. Still, the question facing students is: How does this affect me? Students have reason to be con cerned with the “fast-track” agree ment because it impacts their future job search. Students should be aware that corporations, along with jobs, are leaving this country in search of cheaper labor and fewer environ mental restrictions. I would like to encourage students to put pressure on the government to be more concerned with the future jobs of the workers, as well as the global environment, rather than the expansion of the global economy. Mohd Hafiz Mohd Yusoff Economics Logging crucial issue 1 just wanted to say that I felt that the editorial pertaining to the price of logging was very well written. I feel very strongly about this issue, and I think that the author wrote a very informed, rational editorial. So often you only hear the radical mes sage, which is often so one-sided that a lot of people would dismiss it, or can’t really relate to it. Not so with this one. This is one of the most important issues out there right now. If more people are not made aware of the is sues at hand, we may reach a point in deforestation from which we cannot come back. If people only knew of the corruption and amounts of money handed out from logging in the Forest Service, there would be, in my opin ion, a much different outlook on the Forest Service and its practices. So please keep up the good work. I would really like to see more of these types of editorials. You all should consider sending this editorial out to some larger news papers. It couldn’t hurt. Dan Calvert Biology CORRECTION The brief “Ore gon Health Plan available to stu dents” (ODE Jan. 5) should have read that the University Health Center ac cepts payment through the Oregon Health Plan only in the first 30 days of OHP coverage, when the student is still considered “open-card” and does not yet have a primary care physi cian. The Emerald regrets the error.
