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
Giovanni Salimena Emerald
acts of publishing
It's certainly no secret that the
denizens of Suite 1, in the
ground floor of the Erb Memo
rial Union, have left-wing be
liefs and an activist bent. OSPIRG
and the Human Rights Alliance
share office space in Suite 1. So it
was no surprise to see that the De
cember issue of The Insurgent, a
student newspaper also headquar
tered in Suite 1, included an
eight-page insert on animal libera
tion.
It was a shock, however, to read
the four middle pages of this in
sert, titled "the ALF Primer, Your
Guide to Economic Sabotage and
the Animal Liberation Front,"
which contained detailed infor
mation on breaking into, damag
ing and burning research laborato
ries where animals are used.
Whether or not we share animal
liberation values or believe in di
rect action as the best method of
social change, a student-funded
newspaper publishing informa
tion which gives explicit instruc
tions on sabotage, vandalism and
arson is not just unwise, but
patently wrong. The text of the
primer is clearly designed to per
suade readers that committing
these crimes is the rational thing
to do.
Worse, the layout of the eight
page section has the A.L.F. infor
mation on a page facing The In
surgent's own content, where is
printed the names, phone num
bers and, in two cases, home ad
dresses of University professors
who engage in animal research.
There is no explicit call to action
by The Insurgent; it isn’t encour
aging activists to vandalize these
professors’ homes or offices (in
fact, the text reads, "Please take a
few moments to write them an e
mail or call them"), but an illustra
tion of a hooded figure opening a
lab dog's cage is placed next to the
professors' personal information.
Even if there is no explicit con
nection, one can see a link be
tween instructions for doing dam
age to research facilities and home
addresses of researchers. The con
nection is similar, while not iden
tical, to the pro-life Web site
which published personal infor
mation of abortion doctors on a
list where the doctors' names were
crossed off after they had been
killed or injured. Both of these sit
uations are irresponsible publish
ing at best and a crime at worst. In
the case of the pro-life Web site,
the owner was found guilty of a
crime and held responsible for his
actions.
We're not lawyers, and we're
certainly not saying that The In
surgent has committed a crime,
but it is a violation of U.S. Code
(title 18, part I, chapter 12, section
231) to teach people how to burn
down research facilities. In addi
tion, it's a violation of U.S. Code
(title 18, part I, chapter 19, section
373) to solicit or persuade others
to commit such crimes. An argu
ment could be made that publish
ing the A.L.F. primer did those
things.
Illegal or not, The Insurgent's
publication of this material is a
gross breach of trust between the
newspaper and the students who
fund it. In a culture so bent on
desktop publishing, free speech
and individualism, there is plen
ty of opportunity for activists to
print A.L.F. primers at home (or
at Kinko's, if no one’s looking)
and distribute them as widely as
those activists can reach. They
can leave primers at coffee shops
or tack them up on bulletin
boards.
No person's name is connected
to such actions, and activists are
free to leaflet, provided they don't
get caught. But when a publica
tion says it is a newspaper, a dif
ferent standard is required. News
papers cannot print material that
could be read as a violation of fed
eral law. A newspaper has names
attached to it and the public trust
to uphold. Whether it is morally
right or wrong to do so, a newspa
per must follow the law. Student
funded newspapers have perhaps
a greater standard, because there
is no publisher holding the purse
strings. Students give The Insur
gent the money to publish, and
they deserve better.
One professor named in the in
sert has indicated he will press
charges. For concerned members
of the campus community, we
suggest a short walk to the ground
floor of the EMU. Go into Suite 1
and have a conversation with the
staff of The Insurgent about where
they went wrong, or step across
the room to the ASUO office and
make your concerns known to stu
dent government.
That’s all the information we
can offer, because we are also a
student newspaper. Nowhere in
our pages can be found informa
tion on how to vandalize Suite 1.
We'll even say outright (without
a snotty, sarcastic disclaimer,
like A.L.F. uses) that damaging
The Insurgent's property because
you disagree with them would be
wrong. But we do hope The In
surgent's collective makes more
responsible decisions in the fu
ture.
This editorial represents the opinion of
the Emerald editorial board. Responses
can be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Looking for worthwhile news in all the wrong places
So, with the hubbub coming
from Washington, D.C. this
past week — President Bill
exited stage left with a lib
eral strafing, while President
George entered stage right, trying
not to stumble over his words —
maybe you missed the really big
news. That’s right, Oregon head
football coach Mike Belotti’s air
plane landed safely Tuesday at the
Eugene airport.
At least that was a local televi
sion £tati,ofrs tfike whpp.i1, showed.
footage of Belotti’s late-night flight
touching down without a mishap.
Of course, the underlying reason
for the “photo-op” was that Belot
ti had just turned down a chance
to take over the vacant head coach
position at Ohio State University
and was returning to town.
That “story” launched a hun
dred rumors, a thousand opinions
and probably about a million writ
ten words between print and on
line, but the main question was
qev.er pp'$qd: JD,o, we have to.get in
a lather every time a University
coach in any sport has lunch with
or takes a phone call from another
school’s athletic director? Is there
any point to the needless conjec
ture, the “around-and-around-we
go” attempts to answer a rather
banal question: Will he/she stay
or will he/she go?
Sure, there are students on cam
pus who chose to attend the Uni
versity because it’s a Pac-10 Con
ference school and sports are a big
draw in that arena. Yeah, college
sports generate a lot of exposure
and some extra money for partici
pating schools; especially foot
ball, since Belotti may have re
ceived about a two-fold increase
from his present $600,000 annual
salary if he had left for Ohio State.
Get over it already, though. Be
lotti is just another University em
ployee, one who spent a day or
two exploring his work options.
Maybe we are jaded here at the
Emerald. Maybe all of this reality
TV is getting to us. Hmmm,
there’s an idea: Why not put Be
lotti on an exotic island, surround
him with dollar-clad athletic di
rectors getting him drunk and
wooing him, all with the goal of
tempting him to leave the “love”
of his life, Oregon football.
That would make a much better
photo-op than a plane landing at
Eugene Airport, don’t you think?
This editorial represents the opinion of
the Emerald editorial board. Responses
can be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.