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
Thursday
July 20,2000
Volume 102, Issue 9
Emerald
TELL
*W*WMWt
JH iifi
WHOLE
STORY
With summertime in full swing, it's time for the Emerald editorial board to sit back and do what
everyone else in town seems to be doing: take a break
Normally on Thursdays — during the summer term
at least — the Emerald runs down the right side of its
Perspectives page a feature called “The week in
thumbs.” Regular readers know that this section is
filled with blurbs about various ups and downs on the
University campus or beyond.
More than just a gimmick to fill space, it usually takes
on the important issues of the past seven days, those is
sues that affect us all and go deeper than just the curso
ry glance. OK, we’re lying: It really is used just to fill
space.
Which brings us to this particular editorial. As some
of you may have noticed, the Emerald is being printed
just twice a week this summer. (The rest of you might be
saying to yourself, “You’ve been printing this sum
mer?”) Usually the three-month period between spring
and fall terms provides little in the way of interesting
news items.
i ne consensus among the UDh editorial board, how
ever — determined in a very official way, with the edi
tor sticking his head out of his office and asking for
feedback from the rest of the board — is that each
thumb needs more than just a small blurb. So, to reflect
the Emerald’s by-laws, which in part state that this
opinion page “shall strive to enlighten and educate its
readers by examining current issues carefully,” we are
offering up an entire editorial of “thumbs.”
Oh yeah, and we’re also filling space — seven inches
of copy to this point — in case you hadn’t figured that
out yet.
Thumbs up to the Multicultural
Center for finding a new director:
Just when it looked as if this
group might have to go another
year without a director, student
leaders and University staff got a
break when Erica Fuller-Schindler
accepted the position after origi
nally turning it down in May.
Fuller-Schindler brings an im
pressive set of credentials to the job. She spent the past
five years at the University of Florida working with stu
dents in a multicultural setting, while pursuing a doc
torate degree in anthropology. Her research focused on
women of culture, development of non-governmental
agencies and non-profit corporations, and formulating
initiatives that aid women and children, particularly in
residential communities and program housing.
She’s a welcome addition to a campus that strives for
diversity but doesn’t always reach
its goals.
Thumbs down to Bill Sizemore:
The Oregon Taxpayers United
spokesperson is back with another
ballot initiative, one that could be
devastating to the state’s public
school system.
Measure 91, one of six measures
that Sizemore has on the Nov. 7 ballot, would eliminate
about $1 billion a year from revenues that pay for
schools, universities, the prison system and human
services. For university students, the most severe dam
age caused by Measure 91 if passed would be a 36 per
cent increase in tuition. Students on the Oregon Health
Plan could also be adversely impacted.
Can someone come up with a ballot measure that
kicks Sizemore out of the state, a la “Survivor”?
Thumbs up to Marla Runyan:
Eugene’s newest Olympian is
causing commotion in more
places than just on the track,
thanks to her third place finish on
Sunday in the women’s 1,500
meters at the U.S. Olympic Track
and Field Trials in Sacramento,
Calif.
Runyan is the first legally blind athlete to make a U.S.
Olympic team, summer or winter, and she has become
an international story. Yes, Maurice Green, Michael
Johnson and Marion Jones are still draining ink wells
with their overwhelming publicity, but the 31-year-old
Runyan will no doubt be a hot commodity for inter
views as the 2000 Olympics in Sydney draw near.
When the international press does get in contact with
her, they’ll discover that Runyan doesn’t consider her
blindness — she is limited to peripheral vision — to be
all that much of an issue.
“I never said to myself ‘I want to be the first legally
blind Olympian.’ I just said ‘I want to be on an Olympic
team, me, Marla,” Runyan told reporters after her his
toric finish.
You accomplished your goal Marla, now go kick ass
this September.
Thumbs down to bus rage:
In what no doubt is a ho-hum
news item to anyone who has
ever had to travel a long distance
| on a Greyhound bus, a bus pas
senger went ballistic Monday in
| Arkansas when he was asked by
* another passenger to put out his
cigarette.
The 44-year-old man — from
Oakland, Ore. — tried to commandeer the steering
wheel, causing the bus to crash. One passenger suffered
minor injuries, and the man was arrested without fur
ther incident.
OK, despite the fact that any Greyhound rider has
probably felt the same emotions this guy did, let’s just
chill people. We all know about road rage and air rage
— travelers angry with the nation’s airlines — made it
into the headlines a few weeks ago. Now bus rage.
What’s next? Scooter rage?
This editorial represents the views of the Emerald editorial board.
Responses may be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Lawsuit illustrates the danger of overzealous regulations
The Register-Guard began its July 18 edi
torial on the huge tobacco company verdict
with the sarcastic, “Pity the poor tobacco
industry.” But instead of this arrogantly sar
donic view, how
about a more sincere
concern for all citi
zens who knowingly
make unhealthy
choices?
It may be easy for
many to throw their
endorsements behind
the punitive verdict,
if it stands, that
Bret
Jacobson
would cost the wide
ly unpopular tobacco
companies about
$145 billion. The log
ic here appears to be that tobacco is a dan
gerous product that costs Americans bil
lions in health care costs.
But the problem with the tobacco verdict
lies in the fact that it will bankrupt compa
nies selling legal products that are populist
targets tagged as evil big business, and that
trend could continue into every facet of life
if the logic remains the
same.
After all, fast food is
ridiculously unhealthy
and the fat, grease and
cholesterol inflicted
upon the body is hy
perbolically — at least
for now — a
crime. Just
look at that
double ba
con cheese
burger next time you
pop one into your
mouth. Tastes great, but
what if the lady in the
next booth with a Cobb salad doesn’t want
to pay higher insurance premiums because
you eat red meat and are a potential risk?
And what about that after-dinner drink?
(Well, for college students, make that eight
shots of tequila and a boilermaker for good
measure.) Alcohol definitely isn’t a health
food, and it costs society billions in rotten
livers, drunk driving accidents and un
wanted pregnancies borne of cloudy judg
145,000>°0oa)0 .%45’000.000,000
ment.
You may think
all of this is a bit far
fetched, but this tactic of imposing
de facto regulations, if not prohibitions, on
unpopular industries has already begun.
The same populist punishment is al
ready being meted out to the gun industry.
The Clinton administration earlier this
year attempted to force gun manufacturers
into a set of behaviors — including back
ground checks and a clause that distribu
tors can only sell to other distributors or
dealers that agree to abide by the agree
ment’s other facets — by awarding con
tracts to companies that followed govern
ment guidelines.
And there are some who want to tax fast
food. Tax a legal product simply because
it’s not good for the consumer? Why not, it’s
already happening with tobacco.
The very valid concern that needs to be
dealt with is that government, with its arro
gant belief that it knows best for its citizens,
has found its way around the politically
costly battles of banning substances and
moved onto de facto prohibition methods.
Taxation, awarding contracts to compliant
companies and suing companies for mak
ing and selling legal products are very ef
fective tactics and wholly dangerous.
So next time you read the sarcastic sen
timents denouncing big businesses, even
though you may not like the industries be
ing attacked, just ponder what it might
mean for you next time you want to barbe
cue some ribs and grab a cold one. Unpop
ular businesses are now fair game, and
you’re the one who loses their rights.
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.