August 10,2000
Thursday
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford
Associate Editors: Rebecca Newell, Jeff Smith
Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
We didn’t need to go to Jenny Jones’for this make-over
Emerald’s re-design takes a little bit of explaining, but don’t worry,
we’re still the source to kill a few minutes here and there
No, you haven’t picked up the
wrong newspaper. OK, maybe you
did, that is if the Oregon Daily Emer
ald wasn’t your true choice for reading
pleasure during bites of that tasty
lunch, while enduring slow spots of
your inter
minable staff
meeting or as
you, um, let’s
just say, take a
potty break.
If we were
your preference
to pass the time,
the Emerald has
undergone a
change in its
look, in case you
didn’t notice.
Katie Miller,
the ODE’s graph
ic design editor for the 2000-01, first
suggested a re-design for the newspa
per in May. Her objectives were to
“better reflect the readership of the
Emerald” and to “better^reflect a con
crete personality of the paper.”
In true Katie form, she was also
blunt about the paper’s readership.
“Why do people really read the Emer
ald?” she asked, the question typed
out on an 11x17 sheet of paper. “Be
cause they’re bored,” “For the classi
fieds/horoscope/crossword” and “To
scrutinize our every mistake and in
accuracy and therefore give p*eople
something to complain about and de
bate in class.”
Maybe that last point makes us
sound more important than we actual
ly are — certainly students have more
meaningful tasks to carry out in class,
such as furiously doodle while pre
tending to take notes. But, Katie's
thoughts are funny, if not 100 percent
accurate.
Back to the re-design then. The
Emerald has seen a few changes, even
in the past 10 years, as you can see by
the reproductions placed on this
page.
The decision to change your look
doesn’t come easy to newspapers,
however. Did you know that the big
wigs at The New York Times dis
cussed the pros and cons of using col
or photographs for almost four years
before finally deciding “yes” several
years back?
I’m in no way, shape or form com
paring the ODE to the NYT, but all
publications take changes under seri
ous consideration. We at the Emerald
took a fair amount of time and en
gaged in several discussions before
deciding to take our plunge.
So, what’s different?
The front page obviously. No more
“Flash,” that left-hand strip of news
or blurbs referring readers to inside
stories. More type and art just below
“Oregon Daily Emerald.”
On section fronts, the type style for
the section names has changed, in ad
dition to a few other minor tweaks.
Other than those few things, not
much has changed. We’re still the
newspaper to read when you’re bored
in class. We’re still the newspaper to
pick up to read what your horoscope
wants you to do on that particular
day.
And yes, we’re still the newspaper
that will make mistakes and inaccura
cies for you to scrutinize and com
plain about. We would never claim to
be perfect, nor would any other news
paper or publication, for that matter.
It’s why we all have a correction poli
cy.
Take our re-design for what it is,
however, an attempt to mildly shake
up our operations.
While we won’t reach perfection,
we want to limit our screw-ups to
ones that barely cause a blip on your
reading radar. We want to start fresh
this fall term in the year of 2000,
which some people say is the true
end of the millennium.
We also want to work out the kinks
now, see what does and doesn’t look
good in print before we begin Mon
day through Friday publication on
Sept. 25.
Which brings me to the final point
of this piece. Today’s issue is the final
one for the summer term. We print
our special Law School Edition on
Aug. 23 and then won’t be on the
stands again until our Back to the
Books behemoth on Sept. 18.
We hope you enjoy the Emerald’s
new look. If not, we hope you still
read us to call us every time we make
a misteak.
Jack Clifford is the Oregon Daily Emerald’s
editor in chief.
where we ve been
Tuesday: You haven’t forgotten already?
1998-99: Our 100 year anniversary flag
1997: Hey, that looks familiar
1990: Yes, that is Jerome Kersey
Tell two people to tell two people, and then they’ll...
vvnen win non MaDon ana tne ure
gon Citizens Alliance take the hint
and in the wise words of Bart Simp
son, get bent?
The OCA has put yet another ballot
measure in front of the state’s voters,
and this one is perhaps even more in
sidious than its previous efforts. Then
again, when one is talking about
Mahon’s track record, the continuum
doesn’t range from bad to good,it just
stops at horrible.
The measure — disgustingly titled
the btudent Protection Act by the
OCA — would prohibit Oregon’s
public schools from promoting or
sanctioning anything in the curricu
lum or program regarding homosexu
ality or bisexuality.
The OCA has put forth such narrow
minded, mean-spiritied initiatives be
fore of course. In 1990, the effort was to
ban abortions. Another anti-gay meas
ure — this one nearly ripped apart the
state — made the ballot in 1992. Then
in 1994, another shot at banning the
use of public dollars to promote hofno
sexuality hit the ballots.
All three failed, thankfully, but
Mabon and his minions refused to re
turn to the Stone Ages, from where
apparently they emerged.
Now Measure 9 promises to gener
ate another rancorous battle between
the OCA and the fair-minded people
who will step up and battle the
group.
At least that’s what we hope hap
pens. It’s scary to think that the meas
ure even attracted the 66,786 re
quired signatures to make the ballot.
That’s the reality, however, and now
it’s up to the rest of us to make it sure
the measure goes no further.
If you do nothing else the rest of the
summer, leading into the fall, tell two
people to tell two people about this
measure and that it needs to be de
feated. Let’s just call it the Protection
From the OCA Act.
This editorial represents the view of the Emer
ald editorial board. Responses may be sent to
Letters to the editor
Consideration for out-of-town
fans
Parking for the out-of-area fans
needs to be addressed in the [Autzen
Stadium parking code amendment].
(“Autzen plans move one step closer,”
ODE, Aug. 1.) More park and ride
availability or also include better serv
ice through Amtrak. In the past the
train has gotten in just before the
game.
I think the schedule could be
changed to allow it to arrive earlier, as
many fans from around the state like
to come together and visit before the
game.
Craig Evans
Portland resident
Gore doesn’t need Slick Willie’s
endorsement
Whatever one thinks of the man
known as Slick Willie (even as far
back as 1992), the reasoning behind
Bret Jacobson’s “Similar to Monica,
President Clinton sucks at politics”
[ODE, Aug. 3] is preposterous.
Clinton’s genius has always been
about survival, about getting caught
for destructive behavior — “if it feels
good, do it” is the appropriate phrase
— and then deftly extricating himself,
succeeding where others (Richard
Nixon, Bob Packwood) have failed.
After Gennifer Flowers, he got elect
ed President. After Whitewater, he
won in a landslide. After he was im
peached, his approval ratings soared.
This is the man who sucks at politics?
True political failures usually end
up as low-level, small-town city offi
cials, or in public university student
governments — not as President of the
United States of America. Jacobson is
correct in asserting that Clinton is “his
own worst enemy,” but it’s fairly obvi
ous that Clinton’s Dr. Jekyll usually
prevails in the end. Clinton’s ability to
answer questions without “answering
questions,” and apologize without
“apologizing,” is mesmerizing.
Moreover, Jacobson’s assessment
that “it is clear that Americans do not
want to change direction” is indefen
sible — nor does he bother to explain
just how he extracted this stunning
revelation from the collective mental
process of the American electorate.
Jacobson apparently believes Gore
would be a shoo-in was it not for Clin
ton’s meddling, which is absurd. Gore
would be a shoo-in were he not losing
his ideological base, hemorrhaging
campaign staffers and facing criminal
indictment. Maybe.
First, Gore’s unpopularity has noth
ing to do with Bill Clinton’s recent
comments. Second, Ralph Nader’s
surging popularity proves that even
Gore’s own party is shifting — away
from him, to be sure. Third, Bush’s tri
angulation — nominating Cheney to
secure the conservative Republican
base, then running to the center for the
moderate and independent vote — is
so “Clintonian.” The putative vast
right-wing conspiracy can’t complain
about the putative liberal media bias
“t i '*
f i Vi i t > .
i t i
this time: the mainstream media has
all but declared that November is
Bush’s to lose.
Sure, Mr. Hyde reappears in Clin
ton’s remarks, and he can only hurt
Gore’s chances, but this relatively in
significant mistake is by no means
“ensuring Gore won’t be elected.”
President Clinton is one of history’s
great political survivors, and Gore is go
ing to lose this election all by himself.
William Beutler
Editor in chief, Oregon Commentator
LETTERS POLICY
The Oregon Daily Emerald will attempt
to print a 111 etters co nta i n i ng com
ments on topics of interest to the Uni
versity community. Letters must be lim
ited to 250 words. The Emerald
reserves the right to edit any letter for
length, clarity, grammar, style and li
bel. Letters may be dropped off at EMU
Suite 300.
s'i ; i
\ r4 Vi
Thumbs
To low teen births
Teen girts are hav
ing babies at the
lowest rate in at
least 60 years. Ana
lysts agree that the
low rate is because
teens are more ter
rified than ever of
sexually transmit
ted diseases, and
they are putting
off starting a fami
ly to go to school
or get a job.
To halting interest
rate rise
Due to a surge in
American produc
tivity— the fastest
pacein17years—
while labor costs
have declined
should prevent the
Fed from raising
interest rates in
this month. Unem
ployment fell to
the lowest it has
been in over three
decades.
To indecision
BlazerforwardBri
an Grant better
make up his mind
about where he
wants to play next
year and get on
with it. New York.
Portland. Cleve
land. Miami. We
don’t care any
more Brian, just as
long as your trade
helps the Blazers
get something bet
ter in return than
Shawn Kemp.
To CD prices
Twenty-eight
states are filing
suit, insisting that
record companies
should payback
millions of dollars
in illegal profits
collected by forc
ing discount stores
to raise CD prices.