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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2001)
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 EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com “ We the people, ! LONE VOICE IN THE WOODS BRET JACOBSON New Year’s resolutions of ten are necessitated by a general lack of will and initiative in the rest of the year to accomplish a clearly needed improvement in one’s sit uation. The same is true in the University community, and thus it is the appropriate time for all par ties to make clear resolutions for the coming year. The Emerald editorial board could stand to look at issues from a more centrist point of view. Good people can have bad opin ions, and that problem is ampli fied by access to a pervasive medi um. For student government, it would seem prudent to continue to improve ASUO outreach while holding a respectable election this year, as opposed to the debacle and acrimony of the past several years. While college is supposed to providers sealed^own,version . of real life, the University is also supposed to play the role of ideal environment, in which differing ideas are discussed, debated and decided before a voting body. For the average student, there are so many ways one could focus energy to improve daily life. Whether that’s learning to drink less and study more or, for a few bashful types, vice versa, balanc ing social life and academic life always seems to be a skill in high demand but infrequent in prac tice. For the activist student on the go, perhaps an appropriate resolu tion would he to use a bit more moderation and a little more con sideration for those around you. The high-intensity, high-pitch, highly obnoxious voice many perennial protesters use turns off a great many who would other wise at least entertain the broad strokes of the liberal movement you push. Or you could at least accept that others can disagree without being corrupt. However, we all know that no such maturity will be exhibited from dissident students because nowhere in America — least of all this small bastion of socialism — do self righteous liberals demonstrate such levelheaded political dis • ?. ..j course. As for Nike CEO Phil Knight, perhaps a reso lution would be to once again rejoin the University community, of which he is a highly esteemed and generous member, and realize that while attention is now given to those who are critical of him, he will ultimately be seen by history as a tremendous benefactor to the school and its athletic program. Histo ry, as we all know, is writ ten by the victors, and in this case pragmatism and cooler heads will see that Knight, and not his oh-so ideological detractors, improved the University’s lot the most. For those in the local communi ty who have to deal with the Uni versity and its unique set of chal lenges, the resolution should simply be to treat students like any other reasonable constituen cy. The representative for the Uni versity district on the Eugene City Council, Bonny Bettman, doesn’t seem to particularly care for stu dents, and the chief of police in structs Eugene’s “Mediocre” to harass local.parties and get jacked up in riot gear every Halloween. For the school’s ad ministration, the resolu tion is a trickier mat ter. Because, as will be discussed in a moment, there is no real chance that they will tackle the biggest improvement of all — a dramatic overhaul of the education process at the University — the resolution should be something that is easy to carry out and even easier to re member. The administration this year should adopt the physician’s oath: Do no harm. Don't scorn critical donors, don’t blindly join any under-prepared, over-hyped socially progressive organizations and don't lose out on the Bend ex pansion effort. A more grandiose resolution would be the idea that education .— the only major aspect of Ameri can life not to undergo a funda Such provocative measures are completely unnecessary but will most likely not change. mental revolution in the last hun dred years — must be overhauled to improve and revitalize instruc- * tion for University students. The experience has become stagnant and the University has largely turned into a vocational school where students no longer attend to develop passion for civic growth, but instead check in for four years to obtain a degree in a field in which they will likely not end up working. As for myself, I resolve to con tinue as a lone voice in the woods. Bret Jacobson is a columnist for the Ore gon Daily Emerald. His views do not nec essarily represent those of the Emerald. He can be reached at bjacobso@glad stone.uoregon.edu. CONTACT US! The Oregon Daily Emerald welcomes and will attempt to print all letters on topics of interest to the University community. Letters are limited to 250 words. The Emerald rmay edit any letter for length, clarity, grammar, style and libel. Letters may be mailed, dropped off at EMU Suite 300, or e-mailed to the addresses at the top of the page. Also, please feel free to give your feedback to any individual story or column directly at our Web site. 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