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
Friday
April 14,2000
Volume 101, Issue 131
Effierald
Giovanni Salimena Emerald
Suicide. Heart attacks. Diabetes. Accidents.
Homicide. Cancer. HIV.
These are some of the leading causes of
death among men.
And while they may also be leading causes of
death among women, men die on average seven
years younger than women. They are one and a
half times more likely than women to die from
cancer. Twice as many men die from heart attacks.
They account for nine out of every 10 deaths from
AIDS.
The figures are startling, but we’ve known for
years that women live longer than men. We’ve just
accepted it. Women are more patient, more home
centered, more spiritual. Men are more stubborn,
more restless, more careless. The stereotypes
sometimes fit. But while they illuminate why men
have shorter lives than women, they also shine
light on how we can change that.
We need to break the stereotype of “the man.”
Challenging traditional male roles has been a
trend since women began asserting feminist theory
and in some ways, making men redefine them
selves in contrast to the new woman. Society,
throughout the years, has come to define manhood
in a very narrow box: You have to be strong, tall,
stubborn, pain-free, successful and calm. Men
don’t cry. Men don’t feel pain. Men don’t ask for
help.
And while these stereotypes have separated the
roles of men and women, they have pushed men
into such limited areas. Anything outside of the
box is labeled wussy, nerdy, gay, weak or sissy.
And when men are labeled by peers or by parents
with these hurtful names, the answer is only to get
back inside the box.
Well, women for years lived inside “the
women’s sphere,” and the limiting of women to
housework and raising children made them so an
gry that they took a stand. Now the women’s
sphere includes almost every profession and atti
tude imaginable.
Men need to take such a stand against their
stereotype, and society should support this. Not
only will it broaden the scope of all American
lives, it might just help heal some gaps between
men and women. Women want the sensitive guy
— not the macho one. And boys need to be taught
that being “girlish” isn’t always a bad thing.
In the 1980s, men rediscovering their feminine
side and going into the woods to bang on drums
gained some popularity. But it also became a target
for satire. Maybe that’s because it didn’t have prac
tical application. Feelings are fine. But knowing
that letting out feelings may extend your life by
seven years is a breakthrough.
And this shift in how we view men’s health is
the subject of a series of events throughout April
put on by the University Health Center, the Coun
seling Center, the Office of Student Life and Physi
cal Activity and Recreation Services. Dr. Will
Courtenay, whose research produced the facts cit
ed above, spoke Monday to fraternities and sorori
ties about how to improve men’s health by break
ing the stereotypes of who men are.
Men’s health is not limited to physicals and
looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
It’s more about learning to ask for help or guid
ance when you need it. To treat your pain. To take
pride in the fact you care more about yourself than
about your image.
And women like that.
This editorial represents the view of the Emerald editorial
board. Responses may be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
Letters to the editor
Protesting for the sake
of protesting
When I chose to attend the Univer
sity, a major factor in my choice was
the inherent liberalism of the school
— a liberalism that I now see as a sim
ple facade. Those of you protesting in
front of Johnson Hall, those of you
squatting on public land, those of you
wasting taxpayers’ money (who else
is paying overtime bills to our coun
ty’s finest?), those of you disrupting
the educational process ... why are
you going to school here? Are you
here just to protest? You are champi
oning a cause that was already in the
process of being resolved, even before
you started camping out in front of the
administration building. Now, by
making unreasonable demands (such
as forgoing the democratic process by
attempting to bypass the University
Senate and asking University Presi
dent Dave Frohnmayer for full deci
sion-making power) you’re simply
wasting everybody else’s time.
Perhaps it is time to stop protesting
simply for the sake of protesting.
We’re not our parents, and we don’t
need to live up to their activist lega
cies. Don’t get me wrong — even I
think that the Worker Rights Consor
tium is a valid group. But I do not con
done the wanton disregard for the
democratic process you’ve exhibited
in your demands, and like much of
the student body, I’m getting tired of
the constant disruptions... so I will
leave you with a final suggestion:
Don’t search for a cause simply for the
sake of having one.
Jesse Wendel
English
CAHOOTS deserves funding
I appreciated Jonathan Gruber’s sto
ry about CAHOOTS, Whitebird Clin
ic’s mobile crisis van (ODE, April 4). I
think it is indeed one of the more
unique, valuable and cost-effective so
cial services available in Eugene.
They complement and support nicely
what many other local service agen
cies, including Lane County Mental
Health, do. Many of our clients, most
of whom are low-income, are also
served at various times by Whitebird
generally and CAHOOTS specifically.
(Of course, Whitebird also serves a lot
of people who choose not to have any
thing to do with us.)
It’s unfortunate, however, that CA
HOOTS is available only in Eugene
because Springfield has for years de
clined to participate in funding this
much needed service — a service that
is needed in Springfield as much as in
Eugene and would be better provided
by CAHOOTS than by the Springfield
Police.
Social services generally, and serv
ices to psychiatrically disabled adults
specifically, increasingly fail to meet
the need. This, even though the need
grows significantly because of the clo
sure of state psychiatric hospitals, the
increasing needs of aging, disabled
baby boomers, growth in population
and other reasons. This means that
compassionate, cost-effective help
like that provided by CAHOOTS will
play an increasingly important role in
responding to the needs of one of our
more vulnerable populations — a
population that exists in all of Lane
County, not just in Eugene.
Gary Cornelius
Program Services Coordinator
Lane County Mental Health
Thumbs
To helping ease
the high school
years
A new national ad
campaign featur
ing Portland teens
is encouraging kids
to help and coun
sel friends who
feel suicidal. “Sui
cide shouldn’t be a
secret” isthe slo
gan, and the mes
sage isworthy.
To pressuring the
corporations
The activist organi
zation Global Ex
change pressured
Starbucks to buy
more "fair trade”
coffee beans Mon
day by announcing
that it would
protest the coffee
shops in 30 cities
this week. Global
Exchange said that
Starbucks could
now be a leader in
“establishing fair
trade coffee as an
economically valu
able alternative”
that should help
curb exploitation
of some coffee
workers.
To‘Roman’prison
guards
Eight prison
guards in Califor
nia went on trial
Monday for incit
ing gladiator-style
fights between in
mates in one of
the state's tough
est prisons. Not all
the classics are
good.
Tocrash-and-bum
airline service
Baggage handling
is the only part of
U S. airline service
not declining in
quality according
to researchers
from the Universi
ty of Nebraska at
Omaha and Wichi
ta State University.
Time to pass an
Airline Passenger’s
Bill of Rights.