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
Monday
March 6,2000
Volume101,Issue'll!
Emerald
While a great many people around
the world will be celebrating Fat
Tuesday this week, about 60 per
cent of the Republican and Demo
cratic party delegates will be chosen
around America during the so-called Su
per Tuesday primary elections, of which
Oregon voters will be excluded. But while
you can’t cast your vote yet, college stu
dents need to maintain their voting re
sponsibilities later and play their part in
our representative democracy.
To many Oregon voters, it will seem that
there is little reason to vote when the time
actually arrives on May 16. This is because
conventional wisdom says that there’s little
chance Sen. John McCain will still be hunt
ing for the Republican nomination, the can
didacy of former Sen. Bill Bradley seems to
be on life support, and at least one will be
gone by the time Oregon’s mail ballot pri
mary rolls around.
Oregon has long had to hang its collective
hat on the pioneer spirit of the state rather
than consistently playing any significant role
in a given year, it’s nothing new that the state
will make little national electoral difference in
American politics, but voters can take some
amount of heart in being on the forefront of
broader democratic movements as the state was
one of the first to hold a primary election around
the turn of the last century, and in 1996 Oregon
held the nation’s first presidential primary vote by
mail.
However, a reputation for innovation is often lit
tle consolation to voters who wish to play some
greater tangible role in individual elections. The
same nature that makes many college students ac
tivists creates a desire to see immediate fruits of
that labor and resentment can ensue if not guarded
against.
The best way to avoid resentment and apathy is
to maintain the will to get out and vote when the
time finally does come with an informed and in
telligent opinion.
There are fringe benefits to voting in consider
able lots as an age group that offer motivation to
act other than just civic pride. By increasing the
number of student voters, the group will have
more power when it comes to specific issues that
affect the University, such as financial aid and in
creased institutional funding. And besides, voting
in a large block would offer a way to quiet the rum
blings of elders who maintain ours is a generation
of uninterested slackers.
While it is only proper to expect Oregon voters
to fulfill their responsibility in voting after more
than half of the nomination race is finalized, it is
incumbent upon the candidates to still make their
appeals in person to the state’s voters. In the world
of political strategy it could make sense to skip the
state in favor of others with larger convention del
egate counts, but if the voters make the commit
ment to their candidate and their duties as respon
sible citizens, it is only right that presidential
hopefuls come look Oregonians in the eyes and
listen to our concerns.
Whether or not candidates actually come to the
state or when, Oregon plays a major role in decid
ing who the ultimate candidates will be. College
students still need to do their part for the good of
the country and the power that comes along with
voting in a large demographic block. Unless col
lege students keep informed and turn out to vote,
it could very well be a long time before students
can enjoy the political treats of a “fat” Super Tues
day.
This editorial represents the view of the Emerald editorial
board. Responses may be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
Letters to the editor
Take steps to use less
I am sending this letter to urge
everyone to take some very reason
able, simple steps toward reducing
the level of waste that comes from our
consumer lifestyles.
There is no question that American
society is a primarily wasteful one.
Landfills are filling up left and right.
This is due, in part, to the increased
amount of “conveniently” packaged
food that we buy. It is incredibly sim
ple to transcend our over-disposal of
garbage by reusing containers and
buying bulk foods (which are readily
available and inexpensive). For coffee
and soda drinkers, using a travel mug
instead of a paper cup is probably one i
of the easiest ways to make a con- 1
scious effort. If we are buying pre- !
pared foods (i.e. the food court in the 1
EMU), a simple way to decease our
excessive waste is to bring a reusable i
container and a travel mug. The sim
plicity of these acts has universal im
plications. They do away with part of
our society, which is profound and ir
rational.
Nicolas Vaughan
music
Thanks for support
The future of our University looks
bright. Finally there is a place that
will serve almost a quarter of the stu
dent population. Ten percent of stu
dents are international students, striv
ng to achieve their academic goals in
oreign culture. Fourteen percent of
;tudents study abroad, seeking to ob
ain global cultural knowledge. The
nternational Resource Center will en
tourage the students to gain interna
ional cultural understanding by actu
dly talking to each other. The
Resource Center will be more than
ust a place to practice language, to
find up-to-date information for travel,
study or living abroad but also a place
where international students feel safe
ind comfortable.
Despite some opposition by those
who are unaware of the strong inter
national community at University, the
nallot measure to incorporate the Re
source Center as part of the Interna
tional Lounge passed! That proves
that the majority of the students here
are culturally sensitive, interested in
broadening their horizons, and they
have the fact that we lack a support fa
cility for these students.
Thank you for voting on Measure 5!
The International Resource Center
Campaign Committee, on behalf of
the international community, would
like to thank you for supporting us!
We have made a difference for fu
ture students. We exercised our pow
er to make this campus a better place
for all students. Be proud, for we
chose a good fight, and all came out
the winner!
Haya Matsu moto
Alberto de Albuquerque
International Student Association
co-directors
Thumbs
To a bridge to the
future... or at
least across the
river
The new DeFazio
Bike Bridge
opened Feb. 25.
The construct, ap
proved by the Eu
gene City Council
in 1997, cost $2.8
million and is lo
cated just east of
the Ferry Street
Bridge.
To speaking out
A very courageous
Andrea Fuller
Cooper spoke to
about 800 stu
dents in the EMU
last Wednesday
about the rape and
ensuing suicide of
her daughter
Kristin. The
woman's story has
been told to 47 col
lege campuses by
her mother who
refused to give up
after police could
do nothing about
the crime.
To defiling the
Virgin Mary
St. Thomas Moore
University Parish
lost its 2-foot tail
white statue of the
mother of Jesus
Christ to a coward
ly thief. The statue
was discovered
missing Feb. 25,
along with a wallet
and a jar of coins
from a spring
breaktripto Mexi
co.
Toshoddy
production work
Last Thursday, lo
cal television sta
tion KMTR gaffed
when they ran
video footage of
the guardian of
the 6-year-old
Michigan shooter
when the anchor
spoke of the sus
pect in five Pitts
burgh shootings.