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EDITOR IN CHIEF
Tim Pyle
EDITORIAL EDITORS
Jack Clifford
Mirj am Swanson
'LjouSi Atome, pteaAe
On the heels of the Civil War’s
sell out, one has to wonder
where the madness will end
Opinion
I can see it now.
Some time in the not-too-distant fu
ture, a University student walks into
the first day of class and hears the pro
fessor announce, “Welcome to sports mar
keting brought to you by Nike. ”
As the syllabus makes its
way around the room, students
notice that each page includes
that all-too-familiar swoosh.
Joe Blow wanders over to the
bookstore following class, lum
bers up the stairs and heads to
the textbook aisles. First, he lo
cates his “Oiganic Chemistry
presented by Gardenbuiger”
text. Next, he picks up his “Eng
lish Literature sponsored by
The New York Times Book Re
view” anthology.
After paying, Joe glances at his watch and
realizes it’s time for his next class. But
where is it at?
He unfolds his schedule to discover that he
needs to rush to the PLC, as in the Pacific Lum
ber Company building, for his “Economics ac
cording to the Wall Street Journal” lecture.
You may think this vision is a bit ex
treme, but with the way America is going, it
is not too far off the mark.
Take Monday’s announcement that the
Civil War is no longer so simple. Now,
every time Oregon and Oregon State tangle
this season it will be referred to as the “Civil
War presented by your Northwest Dodge
Dealers” thanks to a four-year agreement
that is expected to generate more than $1.4
million between the schools.
Maybe if—make that when—the Ducks
win their 103rd football meeting with the
bh<V ^33^*V
Beavers on Nov. 20, Oregon will earn an invi
tation to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. If not, the
Ducks could get a return invitation to the Jeep
Aloha Bowl. But the only thing certain is that
wherever Oregon makes its third straight post
season appearance, there will be some kind of
corporate sponsorship involved.
Oregon State has already gone a step further,
selling the naming rights of the stadium for
merly known as Parker to Reser’s for $5 mil
lion to scoop a sizable chunk out of its bean
dip deficit of $8.2 million as of last summer.
In professional sports, corporate hands are
already everywhere. Candlestick Park in San
Francisco has become 3Com Stadium. Safeco
Field is set to debut July 15 up in Seattle with
the Mariners. It’s a wonder New York City’s
Madison Square Garden hasn’t already been
renamed Builder’s Square Garden.
The rotating scorer’s table panels were in
vented so that more advertisers can get ex
posure. And there is serious talk of placing
corporate logos on the sleeves of major
league baseball players soon.
What’s next?
Soon, the annual Oregon vs. Washington
football rivalry will no doubt be billed as
the Coffee War, pitting the Coffee People
backed—charged?—Ducks against Star
bucks’ beloved Huskies.
Beyond that, society in general will also as
suredly get more involved in corporate-mania.
There have already been rumors of cash-poor
cities selling their naming rightstocorporate
sponsors. Can eveiyone say “Intel, Oregon?”
Staying with the computer theme—one
that seems to be ever-expanding—elementary
schools will rename themselves IBM or Apple
for the right number of new computers.
The chants are rising. Among corpora
tions it is “Buy, buy, buy.” Among cash
needing entities it is “Sell, sell, sell.”
Joe Blow will return home for vacation
and tell his dad he needs a new car.
Dad will say, “Just sell yourself, son.”
Joe will return to the University with a
brand-new Range Rover and McDonald’s arch
es strewn across the side paneling and his
wardrobe.
Where will the madness end?
Tim Pyle is the Emerald's editor in chief. He
can be reached via e-mail at
ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Letters to the Editor
No peace
It was obvious from your editorial
“Misguided Message” (ODE, June 24) that
the person[s] writing most likely weren't
there the day of the riot and didn't talk to
anyone supportive of any of the actions
that happened that day. Of course, that
would be journalism, and I'd be foolish to
expect so much from the Emerald.
You say protesters “...stoplped] cars on
the road and damag[ed] the vehicles...”
but you don't say that, right or wrong, the
only motorists “targeted” were those who
tried to or actually did instigate violence
against the protesters first.
You say protesters were “...uncon
cerned whether the target was corporate
oriented...” and cited Brenner's Furni
ture, but failed to mention, or even find
out, that Brenner’s was targeted because
of the leather they sell — it should be
considered an animal-liberation action.
Finally, your naive assumption that if
City Hall just, “...draftfed] guidelines on
how to avoid a repeat occurrence” that
the problem could be solved. This riot
didn't happen because of any one move
on the part of the protesters or the police.
It happened as a natural reaction to the
corporate lawlessness and injustices that
our government not only allows, but re
wards! Lawlessness that is effectively de
stroying our ability to live in a sustain
able and healthy society. If these
practices end (which many believe is im
possible under capitalism), then, and
only then, will the riots stop. No justice,
no peace!
Lucas Spiegel
Eugene
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