Editor in chief: Laura Cadiz
Editorial Editors: Bret Jacobson, Laura Lucas
Newsroom: (541)346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon. uoregon.edu
On-line edition: www.dailyemerald.com
Ink raising the power of
Protest
It’s hard to believe now, but you could very
well miss all of the Eugene protesters when
you are finally gone.
As the protests drone on around campus — the
latest being the attempt to reshape Eugene’s
TransPlan and fighting for the freedom of convict
ed murderer Mumia Abu-Jamal — it isn’t unusual
for the average student to become jaded into wish
ing all of the malcontents would be quieted. But it
is the fact that the Eugene community and
University campus promote so vigilantly
the rights of free speech that is so heart
ening. / 1
Make no mistake, there
can be some pretty ques- —^
tionable protests. While A A
they can be silly gestures /
to some of us, at least
some people are exercising \,
the right of free speech, \%
keeping it warmed up for a yfcy
necessary message in the \0
event one becomes necessary.
But in the end, it’s far more
important to respect the rights li
of speech and gathering than to \
wish an occasional annoyance
would be silenced.
Instead of calling the pro
testers funny names and
mocking them in a laid
back, bemused fashion,
maybe people should ex
ercise their rights and
protest the protesters. If
they really bother anyone,
there’s always action people
can take. Anti-protesters can
give chants of “Hell yes, you
should go,” as an interesting
twist. Or perhaps, “Hey hey, ho
ho, this monotonous chant has got
to go.”
1 here is some validity to the fact
that protesting every day is a bit akin
to crying wolf inasmuch as that cre
ating a population callous to protest
ers will learn to ignore any who find
their cause worthy of public speech.
The way New York subway riders
make an art of avoiding eye contact
with each other, some Eugene resi
dents have learned to look right
through protesters as if they
were just part of the scenery.
In a way, they are indeed
a big part of the city land
scape. Would it really
be Eugene without at
least one protest a
week? Don’t think so.
And that’s part of the
city’s charm. That
business people,
politicians and protest
ing anti-establishment
types can get along so
merrily in one small town
is remarkable and one of
the amusing enchantments
of Eugene. The two parties
form a nice symbiotic, per
petual motion relationship
that keeps each other
amused and frustrated, but
always interested.
Because protests are as
much a part of Eugene as or
ganic apple pie with
nondairy soy ice cream, it
would be hard to imagine the
blandness of the area if polit
ical activism in its most vo
cal sense were to be quieted
through listlessness or debilitating contentment.
City Hall would have no one out front to decorate
the landscape, leaving only the fallen leaves to oc
cupy the area. The EMU Amphitheater would be
left unused almost the entire year round and leave
nothing for students to be amused and informed
by, except the occasional garage band showcasing
themselves before they get their big break.
While the protesters vary from uninformed to
necessary reminders of social conscience, they are
a wonderful part of Eugene and the University be
cause they demonstrate that the rights of free
speech and assembly are alive and well in the
area.
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. Re
sponses may be sent to ode@oregon. uoregon. edu.
Ptotestus 6/erythingis
Habitat
Eugene
Giovanni Salimena Emerald
Thumbs
To easing bureau*
cracy in favor ol
the hungry
Springfield city offi
ciate helped out the
Community Family
Soup Kitchen orga
nizers by releasing
it from an $8,000
fee it was required
to pay before re
opening in the First
Baptist Church
Nov. 4. The soup
kitchen had been
forced to dose op
erations one month
ago and would
have remained
dosed if the fee had
not been lifted.
To retaining good
memories
The first step in de
feating Alzheimer’s
diseaseappearsto
have been complet
ed as a California
biotechnology
company has iso
lated the enzyme
that starts the
process leading to
the disease. The
isolation of the en
zyme will enable
scientists to focus
on ways to study
and control how
the disease grows.
To a good candi
date dropping out
GOP presidential
hopeful Elizabeth
Dole, who encour
aged many young
women to enter
politics, dropped
out of the race last
Wednesday in part
due to insufficient
finances and a
crowded candidate
field.
To circumventing
Oregon voters
The U.S. House will
most likely pass the
Pain Relief Promo
tion Act, which
would revoke
licenses of doctors
using federally
controlled drugs to
assist in a patient’s
suicide, a law that
will gut the Ore
gon’s Death With
Dignity Act.