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EDITOR IN CHIEF
Ryan Frank
EDITORIAL EDITORS
Kameron Cole
Stefanie Knowlton
It’s time for the University to realize that its
influence on student behavior is limited
It’s not spring just yet, but it’s close
enough that we can see it from be
neath the piles of textbooks and
term papers that makes dead week
so special.
Spring, as you all know, means we
get to go outside and play. For some
people, it also means that they get to
go outside and party.
And that’s what has some people
worried.
Last week, the Campus Community
Relations Task Force met to outline
riot prevention strategies for next year.
Also discussed were ways to keep lo
cal parties, which are traditionally
more plentiful when the weather is
warmer, in check.
Ever since Halloween 1998, there
have been a number of high-profile
meetings, press releases and brain
storming sessions about how to stop
off-campus parties from getting out of
hand.
Each of these meetings has yielded
pretty much the same crop of solu
tions: provide more alternative activi
ties, educate students about responsi
ble drinking and improve
student-police relations.
There is also talk of “de-glamoriz
ing” the riots. But how much less
glamorous can a face full of tear gas
and a $150 minor in possession cita
tion be? Often when people speak of
“de-glamorizing” something, what
they actually mean is that we should
simply not talk about it at all and hope
like hell that it goes away.
Yet despite all the good intentions,
parties continue to spill out onto the
streets and people continue to have
run-ins with the Eugene police that are
decidedly less than smooth.
Unfortunately, the tactics employed
thus far to make Eugene a riot-free col
lege town smack of uselessness.
The Office of Student Life recently
conducted a survey asking students
how they felt about the way the police
handled the Halloween situa
tion and how they would re
spond to police commands
in a similar situation.
This survey, while it
might seem like a good
idea on paper, is just an- .
other example of the C
University administra
tion spinning its
wheels and trying to
look busy.
c
What pos
sible in
fluence
could
this
survey
have on
the way —.
students £
will con
duct
themselves this
spring, next Hal
loween or any other
time of the year? Odd
ly, the survey queried
only first-year students
residing in the resi
dence halls, a group that
made up a miniscule portion — if
any — of the people involved in the
Halloween incident.
This is not to say that the University
and the police are not genuinely inter
ested in addressing the problem of par
ties that get out of hand. We have no
doubt that this is major concern for
both parties. But maybe the best thing
for them to do is to realize that there’s
not a lot they can do. Or, at least, that
they’re doing everything they can.
Students are the ones who make the
decisions about how they’re going to
conduct themselves. And students are
the ones who will bear the responsibil
ity for these actions. The reason all this
talk hasn’t resulted it substantive ac
tion is because there’s actually very lit
tie that
the Uni
versity and
the police can
do.
Ultimately, the
task of changing stu
dent behavior falls to the
students. Campus and community or
ganizations can form as many coali
tions and task forces as they please,
and it won’t do anything to change this
simple fact.
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial board. Responses may
be sent to ode®orvgon, uoregon. edu.
QUOTED
“I have no doubt
that when future
generations look
back at the best of
America in die
20th century, they
will think of the
■Yankee Clipper’
and all that he
achieved."
— President
Clinton on Joe
DiMaggio.
DiMaggio passed
away Monday
morning.
“Anyone who
goes up against
Kenneth Starr
ought to be wor
ried.”
— Susan Mac
Dougai, whose
trial (or obstruc
tion of justice In
Starr’s Whitewa
ter investigation
began Monday.
“I see it as fiction.
I see it as fable,
fantasy, farce and
fairytale. I see al
most no bearing
on reality."
— Linda Tripp
on the depiction
of her conversa
tions with Monica
Lewinsky as pre
sented in Lewin
sky’s book.
“When Hillary was
angry, you didn’t
always know it
right away—a
calculated chill
would descend
overtime.''
— Former Write
Horse aide
George
Stephenopolous
in his new took
about his yean
with Clinton.
HILLARY*
SENATOR
BILL
f 'p R~E D AT 0 R 1
THERE IS NO
CAUSE FOR
ALARM...
Ceu-rajor
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