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
April 17,2000
Volume 101, Issue 132
Effierald
The EMU board
must decide if
the revenue
generated by a
computer and
advertising
kiosk will be
worth the
disruption
Most students have grown
up in a media saturated
society, and that means
we’re all too used to be
ing inundated by millions of dollars
worth of advertising messages. While
that’s one price of a market-driven
economy, the consumer messages are
often in ideological conflict with the
democratic ideal.
Now the EMU Board is pondering
injecting a monstrosity of advertising
into the building designated for stu
dent speech and activity. Under con
sideration is a kiosk system billed as
a benefit to students, but the board
should reject the proposed kiosk be
cause it’s an invasive use of advertis
ing into an area designated for free
expression.
The proposed system comes from
a company called Campus Link and
would offer students the use of com
puters and telephones that they
could use to access their Duck Web
and e-mail accounts in exchange for
a good deal of advertising around the
kiosk, which would inject roughly
$5,000 a year into the EMU coffers.
The contracts are available in either
seven or 10 years in length, which
makes it important to make the right
decision from the very beginning.
The EMU, by design, plays an im
portant role in the quality of student
life. Its main function is to provide a
location for students to congregate
and discuss the important issues of
the day. The ASUO, Student Senate
and Club Sports all have offices in
the structure and hundreds, if not
thousands, of students gather daily to
eat, commune, take a break or get
some work done outside of class.
This type of expression is vital to the
civic, social and academic learning
process that universities are de
signed to bestow upon their students.
Such an important venue should be
kept as free of commercial influence
as possible. The EMU plays far too
valuable a role in the campus com
munity to start selling it off to the
highest bidders and creating a cheap
ened mall for students-turned-con
sumers.
Besides those practical problems,
another concern is the aesthetic ef
fects of the Campus Link terminals.
The machines are large, unbecoming
and create high traffic areas. Accord
ing to board member and ASUO Vice
President Mitra Anoushiravani, the
terminals are “ugly” and “hideous.”
Not an overwhelming endorsement.
The high-tech appearance of the ter
minals would disrupt the rustic aura
of the EMU and alter the relaxed na
ture in the building.
The existence of available comput
ers in the middle of a heavily traf
ficked area would at first seem a ter
rific idea because of the convenience
it would offer. Having telephones
and computer terminals handy
seems beneficial.
But, as many know, those services
are already provided in the student
union building, and there’s rarely
any significant waiting time involved
in the computer lab. Therefore there
is really not much need for the extra
service of the proposed kiosk, and
the insignificant amount of revenues
to be generated.
Because there are so many con
cerns, ranging from practical to aes
thetic to ideological, and the small
benefit to students, the EMU Board
should reject the Campus Link pro
posal and retain the important role of
the student union.
This editorial represents the view of the
Emerald editorial board. Responses may be
sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
Thumbs
To tougher teacher
tests
The American Fed
eration of Teach
ers, the nation’s
second-largest
union for public
school educators,
is recommending
more rigorous
standards and a
national test for
teachers to in
crease the level of
education
throughout the
country.
To Ducks heading
for greener pas
tures
Two former Duck
football players,
running back
Reuben Droughns
and linebacker Pe
ter Sirmon were
drafted in the
NFL’sannual two
day extravaganza.
Droughns will
head to the Detroit
Lions, chosen nine
teenth in the third
round and Sirmon
was chosen by the
Tennessee Titans
number 34 in the
fourth round.
Massacre of the
Johnson Hall lawn
The WRC protest
not only put stress
on the administra
tion, but its nearly
10-day camp out,
complete with
tents, destroyed
much of the grass
in front of the
building. The re
pair work has al
ready begun.
To Oregon’s num
ber one in a bad
way
According to the
April 14 issue of
The Oregonian,
the state is the
only in the country
where the pre
dominant strain of
the meningococal
vims is resistant to
vaccine. In the
past seven years,
about 770 people
have fallen ill from
the disease, and 60
have died.