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EDITOR IN CHIEF
Ryan Frank
EDITORIAL EDITORS
Kameron Cole
Stefanie Knowlton
State ot the student union
i /
The recent overhaul of the EMU
suggests that the University is
becoming more attentive to
student needs
mid the crunch of covering
big events like elections, ri
ots and wannabe riots, we
.here at the Emerald often
lose sight of the little things. And to
hear some people tell it, we never
have anything nice to say. That be
ing the case, we would like to take
this opportunity to give kudos to a
campus institution — the new Erb
Memorial Union.
For those of you enjoying your
first term at the University, it might
be hard to imagine the EMU as it
was for the bulk of last year. Almost
everything that could be considered
even remotely convenient or useless
to students was either closed or sim
ply didn’t exist. The amphitheater
was basically a fenced in pit, and the
seemingly constant sounds of buzz
saws and jackhammers precluded
studying.
The seemingly endless quibbles
over who would move where and
how much it would cost for them to
do it got tiresome fast. And for a
while there, some people thought
the building would never be done.
But what a difference a summer
makes. When time students de
scended on the University to begin
the new term we were greeted by a
revamped recreation center, offices
in logical places, and most perhaps
most thrilling of all, places that serve
actual food instead of soggy hot dogs
and stale donuts.
But it’s not the coffee house, the
amphitheater or the cleverly named
bakery that makes the EMU a worthy
discussion topic. It is the fact that
these changes were made with the
students in mind.
Home of ASUO, most of the stu
dent groups and your very own cam
pus newspaper, the EMU represents
more than a simple construction
project. It is es
sentially the
center of cam
pus, one of the few
places on campus
where students intermingle outside
of an academic setting.
The new EMU feels more like a
student union that it ever has before.
This is largely because of the fact
that there are actually people here.
Even before the construction started,
there was little about the building
that inspired anything but ire. It was
not so much a destination as a place
people passed through on the way to
somewhere else.
The building’s layout vexed many
a new student, and even people who
thought they knew their way around
would occasionally find themselves
lost. These days, however, the
labyrinthian design can be consid
ered quaint.
The new spirit of the EMU is best
embodied by the flurry of activity in
the new amphitheater.
Even those of us who derided
the initial concept of the am
phitheater as being an expensive,
if useless, way for the 1996-1997
ASUO Executive to establish a
legacy have to concede that there’s
something about sitting in the sun
— or the rain — watching the jug
glers, musicians and crackpots of
every stripe who parade across the
outdoor stage that is simply good
for the soul.
Ultimately, the status of the stu
dent union doesn’t seriously impact
most of the campus community, but
it’s still nice to know that someone
thought enough about want the stu
dents who use need and want.
The challenge now is to extend
the student friendly attitude that
helped to build the new EMU to all
aspects of University life.
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial board Responses may
be sent to ode@oregon.noregon.edu
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Thumbs
to scon
AUSTIN:
For a noble effort.
In the end, the
University stu
dent lost his bid
for the State Sen
ate seat, but he
seemed to have
the time of his
life.
TO SPRITE:
The soft drink
company’s pro
motion for its
“NBA Salary Cap
Game” featuring
basketball stars
Grant Hill and
Kobe Bryant un
derscores the
silliness of the
lockout. Well, at
least someone's
getting paid.
TO THE LOCAL
MEDIA;
Even though little
more than verbal
conflict occurred,
Some news orga
nizations were
quick to classify
the recent inci
dent at Hamilton
as a riot. Must
have been a slow
news night.
Letters policy
The Oregon Daily
Emerald will attempt
to print all letters con
taining comments on
topics of interest to
the University com
munity. Letters must
be limited to 250
words. The Emerald
reserves the right to
edit for length, clarity,
grammar, style and
libel. Letters may be
dropped off at EMU
Suite 300.