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(541)346-5511 Oregon Daily Emerald
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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.