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
Wednesday
April19, 2000
Volume 101, Issue 134
EffieraM
The Athletic
Department
wants to
give seats in
Section 9
to paying
customers, but
students,
who provide the
home-field
atmosphere,
object
The Athletic De
partment is much maligned. High
ticket prices, too much corporate
sponsorship, too much Alumni at
tention — the list of perceived sins goes on
and on. On the other hand, the Athletic
Department also gives us great games, fan- „
tastic student athletes and fun sayings
such as “Mowe Town” and “You’ve got to
ERNit!”
But sometimes the criticism is well-de
served. And what was reported in the
April 14 issue of the Emerald is a good ex
ample. The Athletic Department has pro
posed changing the order in which sec
tions of Autzen Stadium are offered to the
general public in preseason games. The
idea is that Section 5 through Section 9 are
student sections, but they are currently put
on sale to general public fans if not all stu
dent tickets are claimed. In preseason,
which is before school starts, many of
those tickets go unclaimed because few
students are on campus. Right now, the
sections are offered up to the general pub
lic in the order of Section 5 to Section 9.
The proposal would be to reverse this or
der.
Sounds simple. But
what it means when one
looks at the diagram of Autzen is that
the best seats (Section 9) will go first rather
than last. Students will get their best sec
tions put up for grabs.
The actuality of giving away our tickets
isn’t that big a deal. If so few students at
tend preseason games, then why not give
away their seats? The problem is which
tickets are being given away. General pub
lic ticket holders often complain that sit
ting in the corner section (five) isn’t as
good because students sitting in the next
section over block their view when they
stand up. So the Athletic Department is
trying to placate them while making some
more cash. “If [tickets] are free, it seems to
me we should have some say in it. We can
sell more tickets. We need all the money
that we can raise,” said Sandy Walton, sen
ior associate athletic director of intercolle
giate athletics.
Well, this reasoning isn’t good enough.
Students are the heart of University sports.
We are the athletes, and we are the fans. To
even think of taking our best seats and giv
ing them first to the general public is dis
appointing. If we allow the seats to be giv
en away, the possibility is opened that one
day the Athletic Department will think
that all full-price-paying ticket holders
should get the choice seats.
The problem is that the Athletic Depart
ment is discounting the heart, passion and
energy students bring that the general pub
lic often does not. It is the student section
that most often makes it onto TV high
lights and amuses the crowd with its
green-painted faces, outrageous costumes
and sheer vocal power. We are the ones
who get the “De-Fense” chants going. We
are the ones out there playing. Students
are the heart of the University, and al
though the actual faces in those stands
change from year to year, the energy does
n’t tend to change as well. The Athletic De
partment needs us. It thinks it needs more
revenue from corporate partners or from
more well-paying seats. But what it really
needs is the fans, the students.
Starting in Section 9.
This editorial represents the view of the Emerald ed
itorial board. Responses may be sent to ode@ore
gon.uoregon.edu
Letters to the editor
Human rights more important
than lawn
With regards to the comments on
the protesters ruining the lawn out
side Johnson Hall (ODE, April 17),
let’s try on a couple different perspec
tives and decide which seems more
reasonable. (1) Protests occur because
people want attention and something
fun to do. Green, full lawns, placed
artfully between smooth, elegant
sidewalks are an important part of our
enjoyment of the natural world and
preserving their beauty is a noble and
worthwhile goal. (2) Protests are a
useful way of causing change in a
slow-moving bureaucratic system,
and they help educate the public
about important issues. Perhaps our
system of government even requires
both the conservative rulers and the
radical protesters in order to run most
efficiently. Lawns are a strange hu
man invention, require enormous ef
fort and resources to maintain and be
tray |Jie human need to mold our
environment to fit our sense of “or
der.” Does anyone even know what
used to grow naturally here before we
did a complete overhaul?
I fear that perspective (1) is all too
common. Maybe I just have bad mem
ories of mowing the lawn as a kid, but
please stop whining about the lawn
and learn about the heartfelt concerns
of the protesters, protesters who feel
that eliminating gross violations of
human rights are more important
than your visual enjoyment of the
Johnson Hall lawn.
Ethan Blansett
graduate student, physics
Protesters hypocritical
Myself, along with countless others
I am sure, are wondering about the
true stance of some of the protesters
who were outside Johnson Hall. One
of the main objectives of the Worker
Rights Consortium seems to be labor
rights, i.e. sweatshops. If one takes a
moment to stop and observe the ap
parel and tents owned by these pro
testers, they would see many were
produced in foreign countries and
most likely in these so called “sweat
shops.” I myself saw at least eight
people who were being very vocal at
the time wearing Nike shoes. I am not
against the WRC, but the protesters
should be more aware of their situa
tion before they chose to take such a
stand. This sort of hypocrisy takes
away the credibility they are striving
for.
Todd Huegli
computer and information science
Students lack respect, power
On April 12, the Emerald editorial
board expressed its belief that shared
governance is functioning perfectly.
Perhaps the editorial board has not
been paying attention to recent
events. Yes, all parties have recom
mended membership in the Worker
Rights Consortium.
So why did students feel unheard?
Perhaps because they had to fight for
a solid year to attain the administra
tion’s agreement to sign on with the
WRC; this indicates that at the very
least the administration failed to ade
quately communicate to students
how it was addressing the issue.
Though students do have a voice in
the University Senate and University
Assembly, these two institutions
serve in an advisory capacity only.
The senate and assembly have influ
ence, not power, and only in the form
of power can they be certain their de
cisions will have an impact on Uni
versity policy.
It is degrading to students that the
editorial board feels student power is
impossible because of our short time
here. If it is true, why involve stu
dents in University government at
all? The protesters are asking for
greater student voice, not total control
over University policy; there are
many other members of the Universi
ty Senate and Assembly, as well as
the administration, to provide conti
nuity if necessary. This is our Univer
sity; it exists to serve our educational
needs and because we pay to attend
it, we have every right to have a say —
in the form of power, not merely in
fluence — in how it runs.
It is time that students receive the
respect they deserve.
Katie Mayer
pre-journalism
Rebecca Wilson
journalism
Quoted
“We won’t avoid
using him. He’s a
talented pitcher,
and that’swhat
this is really all
about.”
—Atlanta manag
er Bobby Cox on
the return of John
Rocker from a Ma
jor League Base
ball suspension.
Rocker was sus
pended for racist
remarks in Sports
Illustrated maga
zine that ignited a
national contro
versy last winter.
ESPN.com, April
17.
“This is the first
glimpse into the
most secret train
ing and testing fa
cility for the Air
Force.”
---John Hoffman,
president of Aerial
Images Inc., a
company that is
posting some of
the first aerial pho
tographs of Area
51 ever on its Web
site. The images
came from a Russ
ian satellite
launched in 1998.
The Register
Guard, April 18.
“We’re not out of
the woods entire
ly.”
—Russell Jones,
chief Asia econo
mist for the invest
ment bank
Lehman Brothers
in Tokyo, on Tues
day’s record close
of the NASDAQ
stock exchange to
regain some of last
week’s losses. The
NASDAQ and the
Dow Jones both
had their largest
one-day point
drops ever last Fri
day April 14, The
Associated Press,
April 18.
“He was very upset
...with some of
the ladies who
were complaining
about him.”
—Phyllis
McLenon, deputy
director of the Lin
coln Park Housing
Commission in De
troit, on the man
who allegedly
killed two people
and injured at
least one other in
shootings at a sen
ior citizens hous
ing complex. The
suspect had been
accused of sexual
harassment.
CNN.com, April 17.