Friday
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
is for
It’s traditionally held that the
point of a college education,
in addition to earning a de
gree, is to broaden one’s hori
zons. And part of the college ex
perience is being exposed to
different viewpoints and opin
ions and people who don’t look,
act or think the same.
Critics of the incidental fee
have long argued that students
should only have to pay fees to
groups they personally support, if
they have to pay incidental fees at
all. But Alexis de Tocqueville
warned us more than 150 years
ago to beware the tyranny of the
majority. Just because a group’s
opinions or views aren’t shared
by a majority of people on campus
doesn’t mean its perspective isn’t
as valid.
The Supreme Court agreed last
year, ruling in University of Wis
consin System v. Southworth that
student incidental fees help with
“promoting extracurricular activ
ities, stimulating advocacy and
debate on diverse points of view
and providing opportunities to
develop social skills, all consis
tent with the university's broad
educational mission.”
Diversity has become some
thing of a buzzword, but true di
versity can only be achieved if
everyone is allowed to speak. And
yes, that includes groups that
have caused controversy, such as
The Insurgent and Justice For All.
A liberal group to one person can
be staunchly conservative to an
other. If we don’t fund all groups,
regardless of their viewpoints, we
can’t guarantee all perspectives
will be heard.
There are plenty of groups on
campus that I do not personally
support — but that doesn’t mean I
would want to deny them fund
ing. To exclude a group from re
ceiving student incidental fees
just because people don’t like the
views or actions of the group
amounts to censorship.
Most people who were on cam
pus last fall remember the contro
versy the Genocide Awareness
Project caused when it was set up
in the EMU Amphitheater. The
graphic anti-abortion display
sparked a heated debate and
prompted protests and counter
protests.
It was my first term at a four
year university, and I remember
being shocked at the graphic na
ture of the display and that it was
allowed to be exhibited in such a
high-traffic area. Everyone who
witnessed the display had a
strong reaction — and I was no
different.
But despite my personal feel
ings about GAP, it definitely chal
lenged my beliefs and truly made
me think—not about abortion,
but about free speech. I had al
ways been a staunch defender of
freedom of speech, but this made
me re-examine my stance—did I
really practice what I was preach
ing? Or was I only willing to listen
to people who expressed views
that aligned with my own?
Ultimately, the experience
helped me realize that while there
are many groups at the University
that I do not agree with, they have
the same right to express them
selves as I do. We should be em
bracing and encouraging the di
versity of opinions on campus,
not stifling it. GAP may have
pushed some people’s buttons,
but at least it got the campus talk
ing about a sensitive issue.
Many students, if given the
choice between paying a fee and
not, would opt not to pay at all.
Apathy and self-interest are ram
pant on our campus, and a lot of
students don’t realize that the in
cidental fee goes toward things
many of us take for granted: the
bus pass from Lane Transit Dis
trict that allows students to ride
free; tickets to Oregon sports
events; and even EMU services,
which help pay for the exis
tence of services such as the
Computing Center and the
pool hall, The Break.
Everyone, whether they
realize it or not, receives
some benefit from the stu
dent incidental fee — so
everyone should help pay . •.*
it. If you don’t like a group
that receives fee funds,
don’t participate in events
it sponsors. Don’t help it
raise funds. Don’t sign its
petitions or even talk to its
members. Protest at its
group meetings. Write let
ters to the editor or guest
columns.
The bottom line is that
groups are free to express v
their beliefs, just as you
are free to agree or dis
agree with them. But
don’t take them out of the
equation and not fund
them because you don’t
like their beliefs — that
scenario would leave us
attending a bland vanilla
university where open
debate was discouraged,
instead of one where
people are exposed to
the many different fla
vors of opinion.
Jessica Blanchard is the man
aging editor for the Emerald
and a member of the editori
al board. Her views do not
necessarily represent those of
the Emerald. She can be reached
at jessicablanch- „
ard@hotmail.com. 1
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Letters to the editor
Join the fight against anorexia
I was dismayed at seeing an
overly thin woman under the cap
tion “The Future of Fashion” on
the Steamtunnels advertising in
sert found within the Feb. 7 issue
of the Oregon Daily Emerald. It’s
possible the model might natural
ly be that thin, but I doubt it. As a
college newspaper, I hope you will
get behind the promotion of a fu
ture absence of anorexia nervosa.
Brad Hachten
graduate student
community education program