Editor in chief: Jack Clifford
Associate Editors: Jonathan Allen, Jeff Smith
Newsroom: (541)346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
Tuesday
July 11,2000
Volume 102, Issue 6
Emerald
If you believe Al Gore, do not pass
go, do not collect $200, and oil and
pharmaceutical companies should
go straight to jail. Gore’s disturbingly
populist rants in his bid for the high
est office in the world should fright
en any well-reasoned individual.
To believe Gore’s campaign on all
its points is to find one’s self in a log
ical quandary.
First, he’s the
most impor
tant veep of all
time and
claims, among
other wild
fancies, to
have been at
the heart of
the economic
success that
the U.S. dereg
ulation and
entrepreneur
ial attitude
has wrought.
Yet all the
while he is campaigning full time, if
not overtime, for the Oval Office. So
shouldn’t our country be falling apart
at the seams in his absence? Obvious
ly it’s doing just fine, save higher oil
prices borne of an appallingly inept
Department of Energy.
How is the rational person to
make sense of the success during
Gore’s absence? The simple answer
is, of course, that it’s American inge
nuity and spirit that drive this coun
try’s success and not, as Gore asserts
through policy initiatives, the feder
al government gracing the people
1
Bret
Jacobson
with its
To believe Gore’s campaign
would also entail the idea
that Gore cares about the
average, poor citizen.
During his alpha-male
phase he shouted to
any sycophantic
—crowd that would
listen that he
would fight for
them, as if he
were Rocky
taking on the
seven-foot
Russian oaf.
But Gore
wouldn’t
even take care
of the poor ten
ants living in
squalor on his proper
ty less than 500 yards
away from his own mansion
in Washington, D.C.
He has parlayed this fight-for-the
common-man attitude into his re
cent attacks on successful American
industries that lie outside his vision
of a socialistic, ecologically-driven
agrarian state.
Gore’s recent populism is sicken
ing. The leech of U.S. politics has of
late been blaming high gas prices on
“Big Oil,” which'he claims are due
to collusion, and he points at high
prescription drug costs as the collu
sion that is at the heart of senior suf
fering in America. Of course the
problems lie somewhere with the
lack of a cohesive U.S. energy policy
and the already existing intrusions
Photo Illustration by the Emerald
into the marketplace by Medicare.
If those logical problems weren’t
bad enough, the fipal straw must be
his assertion, in concert with Presi
dent Clinton and others, that a coun
try as prosperous as the United
States doesn’t hand away free health
coverage to all its citizens. Of course
the answer is that our country
wouldn’t be nearly so prosperous if
it followed in the example of our
economically-shaky socialist Euro
pean counterparts.
When a country devotes a seventh
of its economy to free health care,
that money is lost to the pioneering
spirit that caused this great growth
in the first place.
To believe A1 Gore is to buy into
populist propaganda, which can do
nothing but degrade the United
States in nearly every facet of life.
That may sound a bit over the top,
but higher taxes and inept leader
ship aren’t on the menu for national
advancement.
Bret Jacobson is a columnist for the Oregon
Daily Emerald. His views do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald. He can be
reached at bjacobso@gladstone.uoregon.edu.
Know the consequences of drinking before you swig
Where’s the party at?
IntroDUCKtion is in full swing,
and it seems this is the greatest ques
tion on everyone’s mind.
One person who works on trying
to get new students interested and
involved in various aca
alcohol should not be a way of life,
there are a few things about the real
world that we all should under
stand.
If you’re under 21 years old, here’s
a reality check for you: Underage
drinking is still not some
demic organizations told
me this weekend that the
freshmen she has worked
with in the past weekends
could care less about the
great scholastic pursuits
that lay before them on a
college campus. They all
want to know where the
best parties are.
As “Animal House,”
which was filmed on this
college campus, would in
dicate, going to parties in
college — where alcohol is
a main theme — has be
thing that the police will
I tolerate, and the growing
number of MIPs that the
Eugene Police Department
is giving out should be
proof enough that they
l mean business.
If you’re over 21 years
old and you’re thinking
that you can finally drink
jj all you want without the
fear of Big Brother watch
I ing you, step back for a
minute and remember
why you are here in the
. first Diace.
come a way of life. Some people
even get excited about the prospect
of finally leaving their parents and
not having to hide their party
lifestyle when they get home.
Aside from the obvious fact that
First and foremost, no questions
asked, the word “college” should
evoke a sense of education, not in
toxication. College should be a place
where we all eagerly come to learn.
Take those scholastic opportunities
seriously because this may be the
only place in your life that you will
be in the kind of environment where
learning is not only encouraged, it
thrives.
Now, this is not to say that you
should isolate yourself entirely,
cram your head in your books, get a
pocket protector and completely
miss out on the college experience.
You will learn more about life in the
years you spend here than five min
utes in class could ever shake a stick
at.
But remember to learn these les
sons. Learn how to learn. Learn how
to make friends who reallv care
about you. Learn when to do what
the administration tells you to do
even if you don’t feel like doing it,
and learn when to stand up to the
system when you truly feel that
things aren’t going in the right direc
tion.
And, learn how to be responsible
and know when you don’t have time
to go to the party.
If you’re coming from a high
school scene that you think was only
the preseason to the college party
playoffs — or you’ve already been
drinking away the first two or three
years of your college career — re
member that there are consequences
for your actions. Whether EPD fines
you a couple hundred dollars or you
don’t make it through college be
cause classes and studying cramp
your style, remember that there is a
little thing in life called conse
quence. It will catch up to you.
Possibly one of the greatest les
sons that can be learned in college is
knowing when and how to make the
right decision, not because you’ll
get in trouble with Big Brother if
you don’t but because we are all gift
ed people — blessed with the gift of
a college education, which a vast
majority of people in this country
never receive — and we can make a
difference if we just keep our acts to
gether.
Jonathan Allen is an associate editor for the
Oregon Daily Emerald. His views do not nec
essarily reflect those of the Emerald. He can
be reached at jra2970@gladstone.uore
gon.edu
Quoted
“Nowadays, you
have the situation
where one inmate
went to court to
sue me to get all
his teeth re
placed.”
— Harold Taylor,
chief jailer in
Daviess County, in
response to why
the state of Ken
tucky ruled that in
mates will be
charged for their
room, board and
medical costs. The
Register-Guard,
July 10.
“What we want to
do is make it so it’s
notan either-or
choice. You can
learn while you
serve.”
—Secretary of the
Army Louis
Caldera, in re
sponse to the
Army’s announce
ment of a new ed
ucational program
that will help mil
lions of soldiers
earn their college
degrees through a
global system of
on-line learning.
The Oregonian,
July 10.
“I was like, ‘you
mean i can walk
into an Armani
store, pick up a
suit and walk out?’
This is a dream
come true!”
—Ruth Carter, re
ferring to her job
as costume design
er for the recent
summer release
“Shaft.” The Ore
gonian, July 10.
"I’m dynamic. I’m
a very different
player from the
regular champion.
I’m a powerhouse.
Plus I’m black.”
—Venus Williams,
after becoming the
second African
American woman
to win Wimbledon.
The Oregonian,
July 10.
CORRECTION
The front page
photo with the sto
ry “Infusing the fu
ture” (ODE, July 6)
misidentified the
two Summer En
richment Program
students, Esther
Kim and Olivia
Brown, r
The Emeral.d re
grets the error.