1—I
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Perspectives
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Sarah Kickler
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Mike Schmierbach
NIGHT EDITOR
Sarah Kickler
Schadenfreude: Itfs all-American
Hoe media’s supposed objectivity has been
surpassed by their joy in reporting
on the White House scandal
FUNNIEST
WHITE HOUS
SCANDALS
I
CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald
You’ve got to hand it to the
Germans; they’ve got a word
for everything. One of the
best is schadenfreude,
which, loosely translated, refers to the
malicious enjoyment of the misery of
others. Great, huh? Go ahead, read it
again. Better yet, say it aloud.
Now think about what it means.
Schadenfreude may be a German
word, but it’s a very American con
cept. This is, after all, the country that
created “America’s Funniest Home
Videos,” where a man getting hit in
the groin with a shovel merits a belly
laugh. And we so voraciously partake
of offerings like Fox’s “When Animals
Attack" that the network trips over it
self in its rush to issue sequels.
Few of us would admit it, but we’ve
all felt at least a tiny thrill at the mis
Kameron
Cole
fortune of someone
else. Sometimes it’s
because we want to
see someone get
what’s coming to
him. Most of the
time, we’re just glad
it’s not us.
Okay, so let’s talk
about this Clinton
thing now.
But not about whether he did or
didn't sleep with an intern. Or
whether he did or didn't suborn per
jury and obstruct justice. Or whether
or not anyone can say the phrase
“President A1 Gore” with a straight
face. Instead, let’s talk about it as it re
lates to that wonderful little German
word.
Who would you suppose is deriv
ing the most pleasure from the presi
dent’s current political crisis?
One’s initial reaction to that ques
tion might be to point the finger at
Clinton’s political opponents. But
while it is not difficult to conjure up
an image of Newt Gingrich and Strom
Thurmond sharing mint juleps and
chuckles over “Nightline,” they aren’t
overtly basking in Clinton’s troubles.
Actually, the group getting the most
jollies at the president's expense isn’t
the Republicans — it’s the media.
Like many Americans, I watched
the first day of coverage with a critical
eye, listening to the carefully mea
sured words of the president and his
press secretary, and looking for some
thing on their faces that might betray
those words. But 1 found myself tak
ing more notice of how much fun the
reporters who had descended upon
Washington D.C. seemed to by hav
ing. Even the likes of CNN’s Wolf
Blitzer, who usually looks like he has
n’t had any fun for years, had a twin
kle in his eye.
And while reporters have stopped
short of cackling into the camera
while rubbing their hands together in
Machiavellian glee, it’s still easy to
see that the press hasn't even made
the usual half-ass attempt to disguise
its bias in this case.
Sometimes it’s been clever, such as
Time magazine’s declaration that the
president has a passion for “cunning
linguistics” in a story that discusses
his alleged belief that oral sex doesn’t
constitute sex. And sometimes it’s
been subtle, like a usually dour
“Headline News” correspondent who
grins throughout a report on Clinton’s
trouble.
While such practices seem benign,
they will ultimately serve to further un
dermine press credibility in the eyes of
the people, many of whom don’t trust
reporters anyway.
Whenever they are accused of im
propriety, the media tend to farm the
blame out to the public by claiming
that they are simply giving the people
what they want. In the Clinton-Lewin
sky matter, the argument is likely to
be that the people wanted to see some
one get nailed to the wall.
Odds are, however, that these same
people will turn on the press like a
pack of hungry coyotes if Clinton is
ultimately cleared of wrongdoing.
If the president is to be held to a
higher moral standard than the rest of
the American people by virtue of his
position, then journalists charged
with reporting and analyzing facts
should be held to a higher standard of
conduct than innuendo and smarmy
wisecracks.
Kameron Cole is a columnist for the
Emerald. Her views do not necessarily
represent those of the newspaper.
letters to the editor
Zerzan not worthy
We notice, with amusement,
that the front page of the ODE for
Jan. 26 features an article about
John Zerzan, the so-called anar
chist, visiting campus. Several
points beg for comment.
The obvious one is that this
confirms our long-held opinion
of both the ODE and other main
stream media. They cover radi
cals only when they are weird,
reactionary or support violence.
This is sad because there are
many sincere and much more ra
tional anarchists in Eugene who
are engaged in real and construc
tive work. Maybe someday the
ODE will cover efforts such as
The Student Insurgent on cam
pus and groups like the IWW (In
dustrial Workers of the World, a
radical labor union) and Food
Not Bombs in the community.
Perhaps, though, we will have to
come out in support of the Un
abomber, like Zerzan, in order to
get noticed by the Emerald.
Zerzan seems to find the recent
trial of admitted Unabomber Ted
Kaczynski a boon to his career.
Unlike Zerzan, most anarchists
do not find the idea of dropping
out of society, digging a hole in
Montana and mailing bombs a
particularly useful method of
achieving social change. The glo
rification of this kind of de
ranged, self-indulgent nihilism is
offensive to many of us. We be
lieve in collective action, not
delusional and violent individ
ual action.
Another point of difficulty for
us was the quote that ran next to
the article: “There is no real anar
chist voice on campus," by Roger
Adkins, UO Cultural Forum rep.
Apparently, Adkins and the ODE
are unaware or dismissive of the
fact that the University is home
to The Student Insurgent, a
newspaper that consistently pro
vides a forum for anarchist ideas.
Why have both the ODE and
Eugene Weekly done cover sto
ries on Zerzan but never a story
on activist anarchist? Is the main
stream media so enamored with
violence and libertarian individ
ualism that these fake anarchists
are now appealing? We certainly
hope that people do not find this
coverage persuasive. Remember
that radicals created things like
labor unions and feminism,
hence weekends and women’s
suffrage.
Emily Golden-Fields
Jason Moore
Tristan Masat
Editors, The Student Insurgent
Need to cooperate
There seems to be some confu
sion that needs clearing up.
It’s first important to note that
students and faculty should be
on the same page. Students and
faculty are sinking in the same
boat; student tuition has nearly
doubled in the '90s, while faculty
salaries in the Oregon University
System are slipping down to
ward the worst in the nation.
We’re both falling into a rather
large sinkhole. It’s downright sil
ly to allow a little puddle like the
add-drop deadline to get in the
way. The rift that has artificially
arisen through Emerald opinions
and Senate-wide e-mails needs
closure.
By offering the opportunity to
extend the deadline with which
students add and drop classes,
the ASUO thought it was helping
come up with a solution. In
round one, faculty decided not to
take that opportunity. That’s fine;
they’ll still ring the bell for round
two. What’s not fine — actually,
what’s really frustrating — is that
in defeating the add-drop mo
tion, no other solution emerged.
Students need more information
about their classes before they're
forced to take them. We don’t
care how we solve that, we just
need to get it solved. If not an
add-drop extension, then some
thing.
All students want is a solution,
and tlie quicker we get there, the
better. It’s one thing to disagree
with an idea; it's something com
pletely different to ignore a prob
lem. There might not be a simple
solution, but there’s something
out there that can make things
better. The last thing that we
should be doing is throwing jabs
between Emerald editions. Right
now, faculty and students are
bickering, and the problem is no
closer to resolution. It’s as if we
are shooting ourselves in the foot,
and to solve the problem we are
turning around and shooting our
selves in the head.
This is simply a request to re
turn to business a usual. The
sooner we start solving problems,
the sooner tilings can start getting
better. Both faculty and students
want the same things. We can
work it out.
Ben Unger
ASUO Vice President