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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2000)
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 Tuesday February 15,2000 Volume 101, Issue 97 Emerald OK, people. As you may or may not know, lam the official “student life” columnist for the Emerald. Sounds of ficial, doesn’t it? But the truth of the matter is that I haven’t got much of a life. I’m in college for Pete’s sake! I am locked in my dorm for large periods of the day read ing and doing homework and playing Tetris on my computer. I m just one man trying to make a dif ference in this world. (Cue violin music.) I’m out there with my nose in it just so twice a month you can see my ugly mug on page 2. But dangit, that’s not enough. I want to make a differ ence! M.USOYI So, I need you, the Wpct readers, to help me __ out. Take a look at-the end of the column re ally quickly. You see what's there? It’s my e-mail address. There’s this amazing thing called the Internet, and you can use it to send electronic letters to people instantly. Wow, isn’t technology swell! To this date, only two people have ever e-mailed me in response to my columns. I must say, I’m a little hurt. Without feedback how am I sup posed to know if I’m accurately represent ing you? Even the little things are great. Did you laugh a little? Did you receive valuable .information? My wisdom extends only so far. I know about drama, music, “The Simpsons” and Tetris. That leaves a whole lot of uncovered areas — areas that you are involved in. You are my eyes and my ears, my children. I place myself in your hands to mold me and make me a better columnist. In times past I have turned to others for guidance. You may recall my last column about resident assistants. Now, I don’t want to shock anybody, but that wasn’t en tirely my idea. Before your reality crum bles into little pieces, you have to get rid of this image of us columnists as supreme be ings. We’re just as smart as you are! Maybe even less so, in my particular case. I just Letters to the editor Candidates should get second chance I went to the coffee hour on Feb. 4 that was hosted by C.J. Gabbe and Peter Larson. I did not feel pressured in any way to vote for them. They were encouraging people to vote but to make their own choices in who should be elected. I felt very happy that they reached out to the international communi ty to encourage everyone to vote. I was glad for the opportunity to meet some of the peo ple running for office. Gabbe and Larson should be given a second chance and be able to get back on the ballot. Helen Whitlock international studies Gabbe, Larson’s actions inappropriate In response to James Pippen’s comments (ODE, Feb. 14) regarding the violation of election rules by C.J. Gabbe and Peter Lar son, I think Pippen is correct that the candi dates have a responsibility to “influence the outcome of the election.” The manner in which Gabbe and Larson attempted to do so, however, was neither appropriate nor fair. Elections regulations prohibiting candidates from offering voters a “thing of value” were pretend that I’m important be cause when I was in kinder garten, the kids called me “poopy head.” Needless to say I’m still working through thos< issues. From now on, I want you to think of me as Mason West, “The People’s Columnist.” Not to be confused with “The People’s Communist.” The last two sound a little similar. I want to know what you think, what you’re doing, what you had for dinner last night. This is not to say / that I am abandoning > my personal views; / I’m just being open to other input. Be aware that I can’t use every idea that you will, I hope, give me. I will pick and choose at my discretion. There is a reason that I’m writing the column and you’re not: I paid off the edi tors! > L.PV/6. Recipe r»uric' As a sign of my dedication, I played “man on the street” and found out what some students want. “More human interest stories. Things I can relate to,” said Karen Smith, a sopho more educational studies major. “More Pac-10 news and national sports,” said Nebiyu Yohannes, a sophomore com puter science major. (Sorry, but the only sports I know about are trampoline and frisbee.) “It’s good to see both sides of the issues,” said A.J. Swoboda, a freshman business major. (Sounds great, I could have the an gel side and the devil side like in cartoons.) “How does our dorm food measure up to other universities?” said Tom Peryan, a freshman English major. (I’d only do that if established in order to maintain an ideal of open access to all potential nominees. The sponsorship of any University function by a candidate compromises this ideal. Pippen trivialized the significance of Gabbe and Larson’s infraction. What about those candidates who find themselves lack ing the financial privilege to offer major or ganizations such as the International Stu dent Union coffee and snacks while promoting their campaigns? Does economic status determine how qualified one is to rep resent University students? The standards and guidelines of this elec tion were clearly presented prior to any cam paigning. All candidates were required to sign an agreement to the rules established by the elections board. Gabbe and Larson’s in sistence that they did not realized their ac tions were in direct violation of ASUO elec tions rules suggests one of two things: Either Gabbe and Larson were sincerely unaware of the rule when they sponsored the coffee hour or they were aware and chose to defy the rules anyway. Gabbe and Larson were ei ther ignorant or unethical. Neither of these qualities has any place in our student gov ernment. . « . .. Ruth Williams . “ undeclared I got to eat for free.) “I’d like to read about the problems that international students have in some class es,” said Emma Ko, a senior international studies major. “Perspectives on what’s the purpose of the University (in the general sense) by un dergrads, graduates and professors,” said Terrance MacMullan, a humanities Gradu ate Teaching Fellow. “I like campus-related stuff. I don’t really read the Emerald for local things,” said Vickie Nelson, a Computing Center librari an.“I think a lot of people would go for some humor in the paper. It seems like there are lots of students who don’t care Bryan Dixon Emerald about the serious issues,” said Luke Williams, a junior psychology major. (That’s exactly how I feel! Amen, my brotha’.) So what do you want? The e-mail ad dress is still at the bottom of the page. And it’s even closer than before! I would love to hear from all of you. The future of this column may depend on it! And even if you don’t have any opinions, yeu can write me, and we’ll go play Tetris. Mason West is a columnist for the Oregon Daily Emerald. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the Emerald. He can be reached via e-mail at mwest1@gladstone.uoregon.edu. Candidates expected to follow ASUO I find it imbecilic that two gentlemen sup posedly as bright as C.J. Gabbe and Peter Larson could fail to read and follow rules as simple as that of the ASUO elections. In stead of taking full responsibility for their actions, they stay true to the course of ASUO corrupt politics as usual and pull a predictable, career-politician end-round. Is this really the sort of dishonest malarkey you want plaguing the executive office next year? I should hope not! Of course, there will most likely be those in the Gabbe/Larson camp who will cry foul because of my own ASUO Executive candi dacy, so let me set the record straight: I do not care if you vote for me. In fact, don’t vote for me if you don’t want to. If you really want to elect an official that will go into the next academic year ready to fight for your causes and your voice and who will maintain integrity and accounta bility in such a manner that will make you proud to be a part of this association, then cast your vote for Jay Breslow. A vote for Breslow is a vote against the apathy and clinical stupidity that the Gabbe/Larson campaign represents. V......... -.... 5f0tt P,Austin *. - • . >AStiO Executive candidate LETTERS POLICY The Oregon Daily Emerald wilt attempt to print all letters containing comments on top ics of interest to the University community. Letters must be I imited to 250 words. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length, clarity, grammar, style and libel. Letters may be dropped off at EMU Suite 300. CORRECTION The story “PFC budget derisions frustrate pro grams" (ODE Feb. 11) failed to mention that the budget for the Designated Driver Shuttle, which had originally been cut by 30 percent, was reconsidered and decreased by only 12 percent from last year’s budget Also, the story “Austin takes on ASUO exec race with confidence” (ODE. Feb. 14) incor rectly stated that Peter Watts was planning to run with Austin as ASUO vice president Watts had never planned to run with Austin. TheEmeraid regrets these errors. . **«♦♦♦ + *♦« «■**•*** * t + * * * * * A “ * «♦ •
