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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 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 OSPIRG: A model for citizens SAINTS AND PROFITS ERIC PFEIFFER Editor’s disclosure: Eric Pfeiffer is currently on hiatus from the Emerald, as he is Bret Jacobson’s campaign manager for the ASUO Executive election. This column and his next, appearing in two weeks, were written before he took the job as campaign manager. Pfeiffer will not be writing about the ASUO Executive election. One of the most enduring debates on this campus has been tho ideological and legal battle fought over the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group. A little searching through the archives of the Emerald shows headlines from decades ago, such as “Fund ing of OSPIRG questioned.” This week you might have seen the open struggle between OS PIRG petitioners and members of HONESTY, a group of students trying to keep OSPIRG off the up coming election ballot. Right now, OSPIRG members are preparing for this year’s election, when they will ask student vot ers for more than $144,426 to fund its chapter of the national PIRG at the University. The PIRGs were started in 1971 by Ralph Nader, and predomi nantly fill their ranks with those who would describe themselves as liberals or as belonging to the left wing of the political spec trum. Many liberals are very disheart ened that Nader may have con tributed to the defeat of Al Gore in this year’s presidential election. There has been a growing dis like for the character and motiva tions of Nader among a large por tion of centrist and liberal democrats. Most Democratic con gressmen and senators won’t re turn his phone calls. Even Massa chusetts liberal and former Gov. Michael Dukakis said he wanted to choke Nader! But don’t let your feelings about an aspiring politi cian get in the way of your sup port for a group that actively en gages the most integral component of our society, the citi zen. Yet, it is with no reservations that I encourage all of you to strongly support OSPIRG’s cam paign. The University is a very chal- f lenging place, full of obstacles and rewards, but it’s not the real world. We’re living in a place where there shouldn’t even be an argument over the funda mental value of cultural or ganizations and active groups that promote new ideas across the board. Take a mo ment to think about the cause that means the most to you. Now, unless it en tails large amounts of fertilizer and a federal building, aren’t you glad there is a group of peo ple that you can share your cause with? It makes sense in a community dedicated to the education of its patrons that we should foster different interests, even if they aren’t cohesive with our own basic politi cal ideology. Yes, every student should demand ac countability from their student fees down to the very last cent. Full disclosure is essential to the vitality of publicly funded programs. When a group has proven its integrity and merit time and time again, however, should n’t we just let them do what they do best? Yes, we should, because college is perhaps the only time when most of us will live in an environment where the growth of the human experience is nurtured and sustained. When you get out of college you can fight high taxes, invest in things you feel good about and play as much golf as the country club will allow. Whatever makes you feel complete. But while you’re here, learn to accept the fact that you attend school at a liberal arts university in a town that gives the title “cam pus icon” to a man named Frog. Ultimately, I do think students who have a very personal dis agreement with a partic ular group should be able to have their fees withdrawn from that organ ization. Even Darth Nader said that would be “hy per-demo cratic.” However, it doesn’t mean they should take that money back.In stead, re turn it to the gener al fee sur Bryan Dixon Emerald plus and let it be redistributed to other groups. Regardless, I’m not here arguing the legality of OS PIRG — that’s why we have a Fu ture Lawyers Association and a Constitution Court. Some people will tell you that OSPIRG will survive without its funding. Of course it will. I also thought maybe this month I wouldn’t pay rent, because my apartment isn’t going anywhere. Even better, I don’t think I need to pay my utilities, grocery bills, health insurance or tuition. We all know those things will be there tomorrow no matter what I do. This brings us to the simple ar gument for why you should sign the pledge and support OSPIRG. Great things come from the heart, but they require the investment of resources to make them a reality. Time is a valuable resource, and so is money. Whether you call yourself a liberal or a conservative, but es pecially if you call yourself a conservative, you have the obli gation as a citizen to protect the land we live in. One of the few guarantees that our Constitution entitles us is a national defense. However, the defense of our en vironment goes beyond building the biggest missile shield money can buy. It goes deep into the ideal of being an active citizen and preserving the place you call home. That means building commu nities, neighborhoods and rela tionships. It reaches into the depths of the Alaskan soil, the coasts off our ocean shores and the dwindling forests in a state like Oregon. I encourage every student at the University to support OSPIRG’s right to be on this year’s ballot, and then to vote yes on OSPIRG. Besides, don’t you REALLY HATE ATM fees?!?! Eric Pfeiffer is a columnist for the Oregon Daily Emerald. His views do not necessari ly represent those of the Emerald. He can be reached at epfeiffe@giadstone.uore gon.edu. Letters to the editor Meningococcal disease is not preventable I extend my sincere condolences to Mike Kepferle from Maryland on the devastating loss of his son to meningococcal disease (“Dieringer tragedy demands response,” ODE, Feb. 15). I understand that he would like to reach out to share in formation with parents here in Ore gon. It is very important to clarify that the meningococcal serogroup B in fection that caused the death of Jill Dieringer was absolutely NOT a preventable illness. Serogroup B accounts for over 70 percent of cas es of meningococcal disease in Ore gon. The quadravalent meningo coccal' vaccine does not* protect* against Type B disease at all. In the United States, invasive meningococcal infection is most common in infants (20 cases /100,000 per year). In Oregon since 1993, there have been 75 to 130 cas es of meningococcal disease every year. There were only six cases that occurred in students attending four-year colleges (1.1 cas es/100,000 per year). Maryland had an attack rate in college dormitory residents that was three-fold greater (3.24 cas es/100,000 per year) and also a very high rate of vaccine-responsive dis ease strains. Legislated mandatory vaccination may be a successful strategy in Maryland. Data suggest that vaccination is much less likely to be effective here. ACIP is not recommending vac ■cination- of-all college -freshmen or even of all college students living in residence halls at this time. Edu cate yourself about meningococcal disease. Ask your physician or health care practitioner for an indi vidualized recommendation about immunization. Helen Miller, M.D. Eugene Jell-0 wrestling is our prerogative It was with a great deal of sorrow that I read Jeremy Lang’s article last Monday (“ASUO hopefuls embark on 2001-02 campaigns,” ODE, Feb. 12). Mr. Lang has made the assump tion that the Eric & Brian Campaign for ASUO Executive is nothing more than a joke. Nothing could be further from the truth. While we have mn an admittedly light dreart ed campaign thus far, in no way should this invalidate our ideas for improving student life. In a nutshell, our platform con sists of three issues: The creation of a new scholarship fund from the student incidental fee, improve ment of campus safety after dark and realizing the potential of every student to be a leader. If we want to banish a few vam pires on the side or settle Constitu tion Court disputes with Jell-0 wrestling, well, that’s our preroga tive. I guarantee it would make campus a more interesting place to live and study. To clear up another misconcep tion, Brian Boone is not a staff writer at the Oregon Commentator. He is an associate editor. Eric Qual heim is not affiliated with the Com 'mentator at-all/and like another candidate, he is a former employee of the Oregon Daily Emerald. Our Web page, at gladstone.uore gon.edu/~equalhei/elec.html, of fers a complete look at our plat form. We would like to encourage everyone to examine our ideas be fore the election Feb. 26. EricQualheim sophomore journalism CORRECTION In the ODE story “Students lobby in Salem, learn legislative ropes” (Feb. 19), classified staff should have been included in the list of people who will attend the Oregon University System rally in Salem on March 6, The Emerald regrets the error.
