Monday
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford
Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard
Newsroom: (541)346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: opededitor@journalist.com, Michael Kleckner
we do what we do
The pungent odor from a 79-cent can of
tuna fish wafts through the Oregon Daily
Emerald office, chomping at the collective
sense of smell like an angry barracuda.
One of the reporters must be hungry
again. And broke, hence the cheap sand
wiches for lunch.
Trust me, the life of a student-journalist
has its perks — sleeping on the Emerald
couch anytime we want and having access
to cable on the newsroom TV is pretty sweet
— but putting up with the unpleasant aro
ma of your colleague’s money-saving eating
habits ain’t one of them.
Commentary
Jack
Clifford
There are other drawbacks, of course. Un
less you enjoy receiving early morning
phone calls from bill collectors because the
monthly pay here at the Emerald registers
about 2.0 on the Richter scale of income.
Who knows, maybe you’d enjoy leaving
school with less than a sterling GPA because
covering yet another student protest — was it
animal rights or human rights this time? —
took precedent over that Info Hell project.
So, beyond all of this self-pity, what does
it mean to be a student-journalist?
It means we wake up with a sense of
purpose. We walk to class with our radar
set on “feature story,” wondering if this
person or that one would make for a good
profile article. We sit and listen to our pro
fessors for a minute or so, then zone out
and rework in our head the lead to that
day’s front page story.
We also willingly put in about 40-50
hours a week — if we’re lucky and it’s not
more — trying to satisfy our creativity
jones. We stagger into the office by 10
a.m., stay until 7 p.m., 8 p.m., maybe mid
night if some major news breaks, such as a
major donor pulls $30 million from the
school.
But, we’re not complaining. What other
job pays money to go around and ask people
questions, sometimes of a fairly personal
nature? Well, excluding those jobs that in
volve discussing whether or not the med
ication dosages are working.
Don’t be fooled, however. We get in our
goof-off time and one look at the Emerald
newsroom around 1 p.m. any day of the
week could verify this. Until the clock
creeps toward 2 p.m. or so, then as the time
begins to accelerate toward 3 p.m. Finally,
when the 4 p.m. deadline is a mere hour
r
away, the newsroom takes on a certain
chaotic calm, with computer stations filled
and sentences getting ferociously, and
sometimes incorrectly, typed.
This is when the student-journalist works
the hardest and, most often, taps out his or
her best work. The adrenaline rush of push
ing that deadline, while irking the editors in
the process, is hard to resist.
But the journalist isn’t always a writer.
The Emerald newsroom is made up of a di
verse cast of characters, which includes
copy editors, photographers, graphic de
signers and illustrators. Then there’s the
business side of the operations: the man
agers, the sales reps, the ad designers, the
classified advertising personnel and even
the newspaper delivery staff.
Sure, maybe a photographer doesn’t
know a nut graph from a bar graph, and
maybe a designer isn't up to speed on issues
of libel. That doesn’t matter.
We’re all journalists up here on the EMU
third floor, churning out a daily product
with one goal in mind: To be a source of in
formation for you, the student, the Universi
ty staff member, the professor, the city coun
cilor or the homemaker. Who knows, maybe
even for the guy who walks along the streets
of Eugene mumbling to himself.
We can’t provide that information with
out input from you, however. We don’t al
ways know what’s happening on campus or
outside the boundaries of the University.
We depend, for the most part, on readers
and the public to help us generate stories.
If you think something fishy is happen
ing in the food services department, we
want to hear about it. If you think some
athlete is getting a heavy dose of fa
voritism, call us up. If your professor
makes a pass at you, or makes you think
that your grade depends on some quid pro
quo arrangement, come talk to us. These
and others are the news stories we want to
research and write about.
But we also want to cover the triumphs in
the community. We want to hear about the
single mother of two, working two jobs, go
ing to school full time and bringing home a
3.0 GPA. We want to know if your band just
signed a recording contract with some hot
shot label. We want to be informed if your
student group raised $5,000 to help disad
vantaged youth in the community.
Will we write about everything that you
think is important? Unfortunately, no. Our
normal paper size is anywhere from 16 to
24 pages. In an environment such as the
University that is burgeoning with ideas
and innovations, it is difficult to squeeze
in the gamut. Throw in a wacky city cul
ture, where any day can bring on a news
worthy event, and the space gets tighter
and tighter.
There will always be groups and individ
uals who feel slighted or targeted by the
Emerald. We can’t do much to change that,
except to express that we are just carrying
out this job to the best of our abilities.
Just do us one favor. No matter what your
opinion of the Emerald has been throughout
the years—good, bad or indifferent —
shelve it for now. I know for a fact because I
regularly read our archives, that each and
every newsroom staff, from the first Emerald
issue approximately 100 years ago, has taken
on this responsibility with dedication and
professionalism. Pleasing all of our readers is
impossible, however. So take this coming
school year for what it is, a new start.
We also don’t claim to be the end-all
source of information on campus; pick up
the Oregon Commentator, the Oregon Voice,
the Student Insurgent or one of the other
student-produced papers lying around. Lis
ten to KWVA, the campus radio station, if
that’s how you like to receive your news.
Just remember, though, we’re all stu
dents, trying to make sense of this, the Infor
mation Age. I can’t speak for those other
news sources, but if you have a problem
with the Emerald, a complaint about our
coverage or, hey, maybe even a compliment
about something we wrote, come on up
stairs and let us know.
There might even be a tuna fish sandwich
in it for you.
We didn’t forget
about everyone else
What does it mean to play any significant
role on this campus, perhaps as a student
involved in athletics or one jazzed about
acting? What does it mean to be a professor
or administrator at the University? What
about a member of the campus or local arts
community, what does that mean? In gener
al, what does it mean to be a member of the
Eugene community?
We certainly don’t expect you to answer
those questions all by yourself, so we’re us
ing this Back to the Books issue as a mini
guide to dissect that very theme: What does
it mean?
In each of the five sections — Campus
Life, Community, Pulse, Sports and this
one, University — we have posed that ques
tion to eight people in each category. You
can read each set of blurbs and determine
where you fit into the mix.
Jack Clifford is the Emerald’s editor in chief.
P.O. Box 3159, Eugene OR 97403
The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday
through Friday during the school year and Tuesday
and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon Dai
ly Emerald Publishing Co, Inc., at the University of
Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, A member of the Associat
ed Press, the Emerald operates independently of the
University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memo
rial Union The Emerald is private property. The un
lawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by
NEWSROOM — (541H46-5S11
Back to the Books staff
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford
University: Kristy Hessman, editor
Campus Life: Kristina Johnson, editor
Community: Jack Clifford, editor
Pulse: Rebecca Newell, editor
Sports: Jeff Smith, editor
Reporters: Tonya Alanez, Peter Hockaday, Adam
Jude, Robbie McCallum, Scott Pesznecker
Photo: Azle Malinao-Alvarez, editor, Tom Patterson,
Catharine Kendall, photographers
Copy Chiefs: Molly Egan, Sara Lieberth
On-line Editor: Timur Insepov
Design Editor: Laura Chamberlain
PRODUCTION — (541)346-4381
Michele Ross, manager. Tara Sloan, coordinator. Lau
ra Paz, Ross Ward, Jillian Johnson, Kara Fa\Uri\, design
ers..
ADVERTISING — (541) ^46-3712
Becky Merchant, director. Erin O’Connell advertising
assistant. Doug Hentges, Trevor Kuhn, Jesse Long,
Hillary Shultz, Chad Verly, Lisa Wood, advertising sales
representatives.
BUSINESS — (540 S46-5S12
Judy Riedl, general manager. Kathy Carbone, business
supervisor. Ashley Kweder, receptionist. Qutaibah
Hamadah, John Long, Sue Ryan, Meghan Seeley, dis
tribution.
CLASSIFIEDS — (541) S46-4S4S
Trina Shanaman, manager.