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
Victims' rights, taxes, crime preven
tion. These issues have an impact on
our lives. Daily, weekly, yearly or
once-in-a-lifetime impact. Impact on
the wallet and impact on law. They mat
ter.
But we students don’t seem to think so.
Tuesday was the deadline to vote in the
1999 special election. There were nine
state-wide ballot measures and one Lane
County ballot measure on which voters
had their say.
The state-wide measures encompassed
such pivotal issues as victims’ rights and
tax regulation. In no small matter, they
sought to change the constitution of this
state. Closer to home, Lane County’s sole
ballot measure was just as significant:
crime prevention and safety in our com
munity.
Some say we don’t care about the is
sues. Some say we don’t feel connected to
government. Some say we lack the social
responsibility. Add all these damning
characteristics to the fact that we often
live in a community for only four years or
so before we pass on to “real life,” and you
have a negative picture of student voters.
The proof is in the numbers. We stu
dents on average do not vote in the same
percentages as our older counterparts. In
1998’s general election, 18-34 year-olds
made up only 17 percent of the total vot
ers even though they make up 30 percent
of all registered voters. And that’s well
above voter turnout for our own ASUO
special election from the same school year
at 1.8 percent. What’s wrong with this pic
ture? What’s more: How can we fix it?
Well, some answers seem to be obvious
— voter education for one — but you can’t
force people to care. The ASUO Executive
held a panel discussion on the ballot mea
sure last week and did their annual voter
registration drive, but they noticed a de
cline from last year’s participation in
similar events. It’s a down year for interest
in elections, mostly, people think, because
there are no burning issues or candidates
to cause a stir.
ASUO President Wylie Chen said he re
alizes that students generally only vote
when issues impact them directly, such as
a higher education ballot measure would.
Thus said, one of his office’s main goals
this year is to educate students about what
does impact them. This stretches from
state-wide elections to our own elections
for the ASUO. Voter turnout is low be
cause, in theory, people vote when they
think it they have a stake in the outcome.
We need to convince each other that we
do have a stake in the elections. We are
not just little adults-in-training who
will someday vote more often be
cause we have children or jobs.
We are adults now who share
the burden of taxes, draft eli
gibility, crime prevention
and jury duty. These things
affect us now, and we need
to start caring.
The crux of the problem is
that if we don’t vote in large
numbers, politicians and
government agencies think
we don’t care and don’t target
us. And you know what, they’re
taking advantage of that. It’s
easy for politicians to dismiss
our needs when we don’t
give them a reason to listen.
Yet, if we think
politicians
don’t care
l^gr
about us, >*2^3ggj r </ l
then we \ / \
tend not
to vote. sir'
Let’s get ' U
out of this illogical cycle. We
should vote now and become a
voice to be reckoned with.
We should vote now and have
a say in the 21st Century. A
new era really is dawning,
and we can’t miss being an
active part of it. We can’t
miss being the center of it.
This editorial represents the opinion of
the Emerald editorial board. Re
sponses may be sent to
ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
w
Giovanni Salimena Emerald
Letters to the editor
HRA congratulates administration
I am currently a student at the Uni
versity and member of the student
led Human Rights Alliance (HRA). I
would like to begin by thanking you
for the column you published (ODE
Oct. 20) that helped to expose the is
sue we are confronting.
As you know, the fashion show
that we held on Oct. 19 was designed
to raise awareness of the anti-sweat
shop issues and the positive role that
our University can play in supporting
humane work. We are fighting to es
tablish a corporate code of conduct
on campus, and right now the first
tangible step in doing so is to push for
full disclosure of factory sights from
companies the University does busi
ness with. We have requested that by
Nov. 17 that the University gives its
licensees three months to disclose.
Other universities have already
gained this disclosure.
We were also congratulating the
University administration for its pos
itive work thus far. The proposed for
mation of an advisory committee,
though it may easily get caught up in
the decision-making process and
avoid making any solid steps, is po
tentially a movement in the right di
rection. Though we would like it to
be a bit more proactive, the adminis
tration so far has been relatively so.
Nicholas Vaughn
Human Rights Alliance
Nike discloses factory sites
On the same day that Beata
Mostafavi’s column (ODE Oct. 28)
questioned whether the University
administration’s seeming reluctance
to require full disclosure of its li
censees was caused by corporate
donor influence, there was a Nike ad
a few pages later in the Emerald an
nouncing that the company had dis
closed the sites of production for Uni
versity apparel. This list of addresses
of factory locations can be found at
www.nikebiz.com.
Public release of information repre
sents a real change in the apparel in
dustry, and it is a change that has
been brought about by recent contrac
tual requirements of universities
across the United States. Three weeks
ago, Nike first disclosed factory sites
— long considered an industry secret
— in response to code of conduct es
tablished by five universities.
The University administrator in
charge of University licensing, Vice
President for Public Affairs and De
velopment Duncan McDonald, stated
at the Oct. 13 University Senate meet
ing that he appreciated Nike’s action,
and that it impelled hijn to write to
Nike requesting the same information
for the University. I commend Mc
Donald’s initiative and Nike’s prompt
response; however, McDonald has
proven that he has the power to re
quire full disclosure, and he has set
the precedent for doing so. The next
clear step is to require it of all of our
licensees.
Sarah Jacobson
senior, geology
Student fees fund many programs
As the U.S. Supreme Court pre
pares for opening arguments of the
Wisconsin student fees case next
week, there is an opportunity for us
to look at the amazing things that stu
dent fees do for us at the University.
Student fees fund a multitude of
programs and services. Everything
from our student union to over 90 fee
funded student programs to student
bus passes to club sports to ... and the
list goes on and on. When we came to
the University, we came to learn in
and out of the classroom. The hands
on experience and out-of-the-class
room learning made possible by stu
dent fees is invaluable to the campus
life that we enjoy here at the Univer
sity.
Our student fees are locally con
trolled through a democratic process.
Our process, which employs a series
of checks and balances, is based on
the fact that students know best how
our fees should be allocated. Student
fees fund a marketplace of ideas on
campus. This forum of ideas would
not be possible without our student
fees and it is what makes our Univer
sity experience unique.
As one of your elected representa
tives, I am committed to maintaining
student control of your fees. I would
encourage you to check out a Student
Senate meeting (Wednesdays at 7
p.m. in the EMU Board Room) or give
us a call or e-mail and see the process
at work.
C.J. Gabbe
ASUO student senator
Quoted
“Survival of the
fittest applies to
cancer cells. We
now think of can
cer not as disease
but as a genetic
process."
■—Richard
Schiisky. associate
dean for clinical re
search at the Uni
versity of Chicago,
cer. Time maga
zine, Nov. 8.
“It’s sad to me be
cause he had a iot
greater impact on
me than I had on
him. He was the
best football player
I’ve ever seen. And
probably one of the
best people I've
ever met.”
—New Orleans
Saints' coach
Mike Ditka, sum
ming up the collec
tive thought on the
late, great and
“sweet” Walter
Payton, who still
owned the NFL
rushing yards
record at his death
on Monday. The
Oregonian, Nov. 2.
“No, I'm a terrible
golfer, and I could
n’t play baseball."
— Michael
Jordan, when
asked by ESPN
whether or not he
was the century’s
greatest athlete.
The Oregonian,
Nov. 2.
“As a conservative
Christian, I don’t
think I should have
to fund these vio
lently partisan,
anti-Christian hate
groups."
—Scott South- _
worth, a University
of Wisconsin law
student, on the
case before the
Supreme Court
about students’
right to choose to
which campus
groups their dol
lars go. The Regis
ter-Guard, Nov. 2.