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
f A
*, /
Tuesday
April 11,2000
Volume 101, Issue 128
Effierakl
In an attempt to follow in the footsteps of past
generations’ demonstrators, people of today establish
futile motives for protest
When you look outside Johnson Hall,
what do you see? Protests? Painted
sheets?
Well, what I see is a bad case of
compensation. As the sons and daughters of
the flower children, we have quite a reputa
tion to live up. to. I’m sure that we have seen
old photos of our moms and dads with long
hair, tie-dyed shirts, joints in hand or per
haps flaming bras. Who hasn’t looked and
thought, “Man, that would be fun”? So we
regress. We listen to the Grateful Dead, we
put our hair in dread locks, we make movies
like “Bom on the Fourth of July,” and we
search endlessly for causes to fight for.
We have to search for these causes be
cause we don’t have any of our own. We
don’t have a big war going on. We aren’t
fighting for our right to vote. Instead, we
find things like the World Trade Organiza
tion and the Worker Rights Consortium.
When it seems that searching for our
own identity is fruitless, we steal ideas
from other generations. How many 1980s
cartoon characters do you see on 1990s T
shirts? What about that swing craze a cou
ple years ago? Sure, these are examples
from pop culture, not causes, but doesn’t
our culture say the most about our society?
The evidence is right in front of us that
this doesn’t work. We try to make our time
something it’s not, and look what happens.
We riot and bum up Woodstock... Wood
stock! The symbol of peace for a genera
tion, and we set it on flames. And just look
at what happened
when we try to
bring back
“Star Wars”
mania.
Meesa real
ly sucked.
I am being
a little sar
castic, but
there are ex
amples from
the current
protest. I hear
words like
“system,”
“upper
class” and
“oppression”
being thrown around out
side Johnson Hall. The
only way there could be
more buzz is if you add a
“post” or “neo” some
where in there. It
seems these words are in some protester’s
handbook. Students were arrested chanti
ng, “The people united will never be divid
ed! ” Come on! At least make up your own
chant. I’ll give you a hand: “We’re staying
in the lobby because it’s our new hobby!”
Coincidentally, I have just read Martin
Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham
Jail” and Henry
David Thoreau’s
“Civil Disobedi
ence” for my Writing
122 class. Wow!
Maybe that class is
useful. These essays
inspired many of the
ideas the protesters
seem to be putting
into practice. Direct
action. Civil disobe
Mason dience. But both
Wp ct these men were writ
__ ing about injustices
that they were being
subjected to personally. I don’t see any
body being forced to wear University-li
censed clothes. And yet, how many of you
have your University hat, shirt, mug,
bumper sticker, etc.? What about disobedi
ence? Doesn’t the fact that protesters have
been granted permission to be in front of
Johnson Hall mean that they aren’t being
disobedient at all?
Right now, the University is the home of
a big sleep-over. The metaphorical “par
ents” let the kids stay knowing full well
that they will be loud and stay up all night,
but it will be fun for them. I have been
asked to come to the protests at night a few
times because “it’s going to be a party.” Af
ter that the person told me to support the
WRC. But first, it’s a party.
There is nothing new in this protest. We
have seen it before in our parents’ actions
and throughout history. But the causes we
are fighting for now pale in comparison to
those of the past. This protest will hold no
significance if Frohnmayer agrees that the
University should join the WRC. The pro
testers will pack up and go back to sleeping
in their own beds, and the people who did
n’t care will continue to not care. And all of
us will have a good story to tell our kids
about radical social reform and fighting
“the man.”
Mason West is a columnist for the Emerald. His
views do not necessarily represent those of the pa
per. He can be reached via e-mail at mwest1@
gladstone.uoregon.edu.
Bryan Dixon Emerald
Letters to the editor
Practice what you preach
Attending the University for four
years has taught me many things, one
of which is apparent on the steps of
Johnson Hall. First, if you cannot con
vince the public at large of an idea,
then protest management, the estab
lishment or the closest authority fig
ure, whatever works.
From my limited understanding of
the election results trumpeted by the
protesters, 75 percent of the voting
public wants the Worker Rights Con
sortium. Sounds great, but what was
the actual turnout for the election? His
torical precedent puts that number in
the 10-15 percent range. Where is the
other 85 percent of voters? I submit that
they are indifferent as to where their
$100 shoes are made.
Countries have for centuries export
ed jobs that the domestic economy ei
ther would not support or refused to
work for. That which we should con
cern ourselves with is if the workers
are slaves or not. If they make the deci
sion to go to work each day, then it
should be our business to back out of
their country’s internal affairs.
I support their constitutional right to
protest but not their misuse of statistical
information. I ask those of you up there
shouting slogans this: How much of
what you are wearing right now was
produced in a foreign country, and
have you absolute certainty that it was
n’t produced with child labor?
If this is really a big deal, then stop
buying the products that these suppli
ers supply. We as a consumer-based
public haven’t taken the stance that
we are willing to pay more for clothes
that are “injustice free.”
Moses Messenger
economics
Why protest?
As a member of both the Licensing
Code of Conduct Committee and the
University Senate, I would like to rec
ognize with gratitude University Pres
ident Dave Frohnmayer’s support of
mutual governance in the question of a
code of conduct and the Worker Rights
Consortium.
The committee has worked for sev
eral months toward the consensus we
articulated to Frohnmayer on April 4
(before the student protests) — that is,
that the University should join the
WRC to monitor compliance with our
code of conduct. Students on the com
mittee were extremely well-informed
and articulate — I was very impressed
by their contributions.
I look forward to the senate recep
tion of the committee report. It seems
very important to me that this decision
is being discussed according to the
processes of governance that we have
been struggling to make stronger this
year. I frankly do not understand why
students are protesting.
The demand of protesters for imme
diate action would eliminate faculty,
staff AND student input into this de
cision at the senate. So ironically —
even though I believe faculty and staff
will support the WRC — students are
in effect protesting against waiting un
til the University Senate has a chance
to be heard on this subject.
These protests seem to be based on a
lack of understanding about how stu
dents can participate in governance
via committees and the senate, accord
ing to democratic processes.
Frohnmayer’s insistence on follow
ing the processes of consultation with
the committee and senate is particu
larly laudable — even courageous —
in the face of such protests, which de
mand more rapid executive decision.
Suzanne Clark
English professor
CORRECTION
The article “Frohn
mayer to meet today
with protesters”
(ODE, April 10)
should have read
that students pass
ing by Johnson Hall
Friday shook James
Eddy’s hand and ex
pressed support for
his efforts support
ing University Presi
dent Dave Frohn
mayer. Eddy also
talked toother stu
dents about the
flaws he sees with
the Johnson Hall
protesters’ de- '
mands.
The article also
should have read
that the protest be
gan Tuesday, April 4.
In addition, Laura
Close was not arrest
ed at the April 4
protest.
The Emerald regrets
these errors.