EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J
Tuesday
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
KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com
Got Faith?
SCRIBBLES
OF SANITY
JAYNA BERGERSON
There is faith at the Univer
sity of Oregon.
While attending the Uni
versity, I have heard issues
ranging from diversity and culture
to beer guzzling and streaking. But
somehow faith doesn’t seem to be
on the list of stereotypical college
issues. Philosophy, yes. Religion,
sometimes. But faith? Not that I
can remember.
Perhaps it is because too many
people assume that faith is
only connected with reli
gion. If you know or follow
a religion, then you must
have faith, right?
W.A. “Billy” Sunday
explained that “Going
to church doesn't
make you a Christian,
any more than going
to a garage makes you
an automobile.” Makes
sense, just like going to
the University makes you
a student, but being clas
sified as a student doesn’t
make you smart.
However, it is impor
tant to acknowledge that
religious faith does exist. In histo
ry, most martyrs died for their reli
gious beliefs. Joan of Arc may have
been accused of a lot of things, but
lack of faith was not one of them.
So, you can have faith without re
ligion just like you can have religion
without faith. Therefore, faith can
be more than just a belief in a higher
power or an omnipotent being.
At a college committed to the
study of science and philosophical
pondering, faith almost seems out
of place. A full definition of faith
means complete acceptance of a
truth which cannot be demonstrat
ed by the process of logical
thought. It's faith if you can’t prove
it but you believe it is true.
In that case, I know practically
every student at the University has
experienced faith — the illogical
belief that despite rarely attending
class, sleeping through the lec
tures you did attend and never
studying, you will, by some mirac
ulous interposition, pass the final
exam. That's faith!
Then there is the notion that
faith is not academic; therefore, it
has no place in a university. A uni
versity is characterized by studies
that are liberal or classical in na
ture. What is more liberal than
faith? Faith allows you to have, ex
press or follow views and to act or
express those views any way you
choose. That is a liberal definition.
I once heard a student say that
in today's world, faith no longer
applies.
Well, someone needs to tell the
rest of the world.
According to Adherents.com, a
Web site that monitors participa
tion in various religious groups all
over the world, two billion people
identify themselves as Christians
and 1.3 billion people claim the re
ligion of Islam. Nine hundred mil
lion people are adherents to Hin
duism.
Another nine hundred million
profess to be agnostic, non-religious
or atheist. It is the belief that a high
er being does not exist. This is faith
because, let's face it, we can’t
demonstrate it. There is no way to
prove whether there is or is not a
higher purpose or power, so it’s all
faith.
And that is religious faith. It
doesn’t include everyone’s blind
faith that death will not occur to
day. Everyday, whether you realize
it or not, you are living by faith
that you will make it to tomorrow.
Consequently, there is faith on
the University campus. It's diverse
and it varies, but it’s here. And let's
not look at it as a bad thing. In the
words of Oliver Lodge, “Never
throw away hastily any old faith,
tradition or convention. They may
require modification, but they are
the result of the experience of
many generations.”
Jayna Bergerson is a columnist for the Ore
gon Daily Emerald. Her views do not neces
sarily represent those of the Emerald. She
can be reached at bjay@gladstone.uore
gon.edu
teed your head! Get information first on dailyemerald.com
LAKUL lEln
CAROL RINK
When Nike CEO Phil Knight
halted all of his personal dona
tions to the University, more
than 75,000 of you read about
it online before any paper went to press
with the story.
When you missed yesterday’s news and
couldn’t find an Emerald lying on the floor
in class, you came to the Web.
And when you actually graduate from
this University, you’ll want to keep in
formed about campus news and events,
and yes (gasp), you will even want to read
the Emerald — online.
but when you want breaking news, as
well as sports, community, entertainment,
and opinion coverage, the only place to go is
www.dailyemerald.com.
Sure, you can find all of these stories in
the paper you’re reading right now, but daily
emerald.com is different. As online editor,
it’s my job to make it that way.
daily emerald.com embraces cutting-edge
technology with exclusive material — feed
back, message boards, interactive online
polls and extra sections you won’t find in
the daily print publication: The Moving
Guide, 100 Years at the Oregon Daily Emer
ald, and the recently-added Elections 2000
— a compilation of Emerald articles about
the 2000 presidential elections and online
voter information.
Coming soon, you’ll also find a weekly
online-only tech column, written bv myself
for all you computer geeks, Internet junkies,
or friends that simply want to make fun of
my attempt to bridge technology and college
life together without the lingo of a profes
sional computer tech magazine or the fluff
of “U. Magazine.” Think of it more as an
edgy and sassy “Wired” article, but don’t
hold me to it, either.
If you don’t want to read my thoughts and
opinions, write your own. One of the more
popular features on our site is feedback — a
way for you to spill out your own ideas on
Emerald articles. If you thought “The
Princess Bride” was inconceivably the worst
‘80s movie ever, but our staff loved it, tell us.
If you want to speak your mind about cur
rent events or campus news such as the Uni
versity’s decision to join the WRC and FLA,
post your comments. Selected stories have
their own feedback box, which can be found
on the bottom of the page of each story.
Feedback posts are not letters to the edi
tor, but with permission may be included in
the print edition as well. And as online edi
tor, I have the right to edit for length, content
or obscenity. Remember, this is a forum for
discussion — respect your audience and
make comments the way you would like to
be addressed, and above all, RESPOND to
other responses. There’s nothing more bor
ing than a message board with only one re
sponse, so communicate with each other
just like we used to before the glorious in
vention of the Internet and e-mail. That was
n’t too long ago, was it?
Well, what do I know? I’d be out a job if it
wasn’t for the Internet.
Carol Rink is the online editor for the Ore
gon Daily Emerald.She can be reached at
webmaster@dailyemerald.com
New scientific study reveals shocking findings: Glitter rocks!
DIARY OF A
MALCONTENT
MICHAEL I. KLECKNER
OK, I’m mad. The Pulse staff are clearly
biased against glitter wearers. They are anti
glitterites of the highest order. In Thursday’s
Pulse, the ‘‘15 Minutes” feature had a sur
vey on glitter use. Their ohviouslv-biased
survey found 64 percent of respondents
thought glitter was pesky, as opposed to 36
percent who thought it was pretty. This is a
concerted effort to eliminate glitter from our
rave-cool world, and I’ll have no part of it.
So I did my own poll, using advanced
randomizer statistical techniques (such as
finding people who didn’t run from me) and
a cross-pollinated sampling of the student
body (pollinating a student body is fun), and
here’s what I found:
Out of 30 responses, 19 thought glitter
was “fun" or they “love it.” That’s 63.333
percent in favor of glitter. Seven people
thought glitter is “dumb” or “juvenile” or
“trying too hard” (that’s 23.333 percent op
posed, y’all). And four people were indiffer
ent or said it depended on the circum
stances (13.333 percent). For some weirdos,
everyday glitter is not copacetic, but on spe
cial occasions it passes muster.
My findings plainly dispute the Pulse
staffs efforts, and you’ll notice that my sur
vey is much more science-dude-like, be
cause I had three possible responses, not
just a measly two (plus, I u l three decimal
places in my percentages). I uess this clears
that up. Glitter rocks!
In case you still doubt tilt upremacyof *
glitter, just listen to the wb n of Frog: “I
think it’s a great accessory. oody should
be without glitter!”
Letters to the editor
as the recent Yahoo!
ads. While they are a
Mad about Yahoo!?
Lighten up
1 want to applaud the Emer
ald for running such an origi
nal and amusing ad campaign
little ott-color, they are
certainly not worthy of the
controversy they have
sparked.
I encourage the editorial
staff to show a little chutzpah
and keep running the ads. My
prediction, however, is that
you will cave to the demands
of petty whiners with too-thin
skin.
As for all of you self-ap
pointed PC police, I say “light
en up.” Nobody cares about
your indignant letters, nor
does anyone care that you lack
a sense of humor.
Brandon Oberlin
sophomore
CORRECTION
The headline for an Oct. 2 front-page stc on Depart
ment of Public Safety cars equipped witt d and blue
lights should have read “Department of Dlic Safety ve
hicles violate statutes.” The Emerald regrets the error.