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
Wednesday
January 5,2000
Volume 101, Issue 69
Emerald
ometimes things just go right.
And it’s even sweeter that it
happens when they might have
gone wrong.
For years, months, weeks, days and
even minutes up until New Year’s Eve
1999, the pundits, the experts, the po
lice, the president and the news media
stood ready for the worst. Whether it be
the pesky computer bug or threats of
terrorism worldwide, the night was go
ing to hold suspense and trepidation
along with euphoria and excitement.
Would utilities and government com
puters think it was 1900? Would can
cellations of major celebrations prove
that terrorist threats have weight?
Would Times Square fill up as it had in
every other year to welcome the new
year with forever teen-ager Dick Clark?
With these questions to answer, TV
media responded in full force. Twenty
four-hour coverage. Cameras pointed at
virtually every major spot in the devel
oped world. All-star talent to keep peo
ple interested. But of all places to be on
this historic and ultimately incredible
occasion, sitting in front of the TV
sounded about the lamest.
)
It turned out to be one of the best. Be
ing glued to the tube might not sound
like an enlightening experience, but
nothing that night was greater than see
ing through those camera lenses that
most of the world was partying in
peace. The more cameras that pointed
toward each successive spot on Earth
celebrating the “new millennium” —
why spoil the fun with math? — the
more viewers saw that the triumph
over fear about the new year was two
fold: we conquered the Y2K bug
and terrorist threats.
Early indications that
this would be the case
were mixed. Seattle canceled its party
at the Space Needle due to general
threats. U.S. and Canadian officials ar
rested a few suspected terrorists at the
border days before Christmas. But on
Christmas Day, Muslims and Chris
tians prayed together in Bethlehem, a
holy city for both religions.
It turned out the spirit of the latter
outweighed the fear of those former.
Terrorist threats didn’t materialize into
real situations, and the celebrations
from Auckland, New Zealand to Syd
ney to Egypt to Paris to New York to
Nigeria to Mexico City all indicated
that for one night, the world seemed
united in peace. About 8,000 New
York City police officers lined the gath
ering in Times Square, but nary a vio
lent crime occurred. The Eiffel Tower,
site of some of the century’s worst bat
tles in World War I and World War II,
bathed the Paris sky in a beautiful
shower of sparks.
Sappy as it sounds, the TV coverage
showed viewers that although the year,
the 20th century and the millennium
had brought strife, the future might be
brighter. It was lovely.
As for the other one thing besides
terrorism that could disrupt this scene
of goodwill, the Y2K bug was conspic
uously absent. As the clocks switched
over in each successive time zone, the
lights stayed on and were even more
brilliant than usual with breathtaking
fireworks displays in such places as
China. Computer glitches were few
and far between, though the media did
seem a little disappointed.
In Eugene, this same spirit of cele
bration and triumph prevailed. The
First Night celebration went off well,
with the city getting its own fair share
of fireworks and music. And with
school not starting for the University
until today, the vacation seemed
sweeter than usual.
A true optimist would take this occa
sion to say the world is maturing, be
coming more tolerant. Realists might
say it’s just one night. But it was one
night when everything seemed to go
right.
Rap artist Will Smith best stated the
spirit of this New Year in one
of his songs this year:
“Tonight we’re gonna
> party like it’s,.... Hold
up, it is.”
Happy New Year.
This editorial represents the opinions of the
Emerald editorial board. Comments may be
sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Quoted
“I just don’t feel I
can lead the jets in
the year 2000.!
just know what I
need to do. I just
don’tfeellcando
it right now.”
— NFL coach Bill
Beiichick, on re
signing as NY Jets
head coach just
one day after be
ing promoted to
the job when leg
endary head coach
Bill Parcels retired
on Monday.
ESPN.com, Jan. 4.
“At this time of
year, the contrasts
[in mental health]
are so great. If you
aren’t on board
the joy train, you
are going to feel a
sense of isolation
and blues. And this
year you may get
some additional
numbers of people
who look back at
the past century
and say, ‘Wow, I
could have done a
lot better.’”
%
—Scott Matthews,
a psychologist at
Marquette General
Hospital in Michi
gan. CNN.com,
Jan.4.
“We had one fax
machine that did
n’t roll over [to the
year 2000] correct
ly, and that was
easily fixed. That
was really it.”
— Les Moore, di
rector of comput
ing and informa
tion services for
the Eugene School
District, on their
lone Y2K problem.
The Register
Guard, Jan. 4.
Emerald adopts a new design for the new millennium
Laura
Cadiz
Well, we made it.
Here we are in the year 2000, and the world did
n’t come to an end.
We welcome this new era with a redesign of the
Emerald. We do this with the hope that the paper’s
new look will help bring you, the readers, the news
that’s important to you in a timely, easier to read
fashion. Design director Katie Nesse has been work
ing diligently throughout fall term and winter break
on the new design.
On the front page of the news section, you will
see “The Flash,” a list of news briefs and news
teasers, which will bring some of the more impor
tant news out on the front page. We’ve also added
more graphics and art elements to our pages to help
illustrate and tell the stories more effectively. Our
flag and “The Flash” will also be green every day, to
make the front page more colorful and reader
friendly.
We know that it’s our job to report the news, to
write the stories that matter to you. And this new
design is just one small effort that plays into that
larger goal. The University has relied on us for the
past/100 years as its paper of record, and we will
continue that role into this new millennium. We ap
proach this goal both as students and journalists
with some uncertainty — unsure of what the future
holds for both our personal future and society’s fu
ture.
The staff of The Oregon Weekly (before it was the
Oregon Daily Emerald) perhaps approached the
dawning of their new millennium with the same
uncertainty. On Feb. 26,1900, the paper’s editorial
board, upon looking forward to the first term of
1900, wrote, “With the new regime came new
thoughts, new ideas, new aspirations .... It is with
uplifted heads and buoyant spirits that we as stu
dents begin the work of the new semester. Well may
we be proud of the college where so much has hap
pened and whose prospects are so bright. Already
we are building up glorious hopes for the future, but
we must not be to sanguine. The University will
grow; its sphere of influence will broaden, but we
should hope and pray for a steady, lasting growth
upon the steady foundation now being laid, rather
than the sudden upheaval that reaches the zenith
and then sinks into insignificance.”
So maybe we, as University students, haven’t
changed that much in 1,000 years. Despite the cen
turies that separate us, the students facing 1900
weren’t so different than those of us now facing the
year 2000.
But the staff of the Emerald will be there, hope
fully throughout this entire millennium, to report
whatever happens. And you, as readers, can be sure
to count on the paper to be there for all the news that’s
important to you.
Laura Cadiz is the Emerald's editor in chief. She can be
reached via e-mail at ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.