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.
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