Wednesday
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-maii: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com
Exit, stage left, with no grace
The news, of late, has been
filled with President
Clinton stories. It’s almost
as if he is more newswor
thy out of office than he was his
last few weeks in office. Granted,
all the stories being printed about
Clinton’s last days have uncov
ered a lack of taste, class or grace
on his part, but enough is enough.
Bad Clinton! There, can the coun
try be done with it now?
The most recent, and perhaps
most egregious example of Clin
ton’s lack of style (and possibly
Clinton’s breaking of the law) is
the Marc Rich pardon story. Rich
has been living in Switzerland
since being indicted on 51 sepa
rate charges and is wanted in con
nection with more than $48 mil
lion worth of tax fraud. Rich’s
ex-wife donated millions of dol
lars to the Clintons in various ca
pacities (the presidential library,
election campaigns, etc.) and then
Rich received a pardon. This
smells bad, looks bad and tastes
bad. But is it worth fighting over
any longer? For the sake of the
country, no.
Earlier stories focused on the
Clintons’ last day or so at the
White House. Staffers supposedly
removed the letter “W” from com
puter keyboards, left hidden sur
prises in refrigerators and general
ly ran amok in the office. Was this
funny? Maybe, in a sophomoric
way. It would have been funnier
as a skit on “Saturday Night Live”
than it was acted out for real.
Shame on them; it reflects poorly
on the Democrats, now that the
Clintons are de facto leaders of the
party.
More stories were printed about
the Clintons’ alleged sticky fin
gers. Items of value were missing
from the White House. Apparent
ly, Air Force One was stripped of
everything hot bolted down.
Could the Clintons have done a
better job of playing into and per
petuating the “Southern White
Trash” stereotype? To the Clin
tons: Here’s a dollar; go buy some
class.
All of these things are some
what interesting, somewhat sala
cious, and they provide a bit of a
snicker of derision. But these sto
ries also raise some questions. Do
the Clintons
care about
the coun
try that
they served (some would say that
they served very well)? Does
Hillary realize how poorly all of
this reflects on her as a new sena
tor? And perhaps most perplex
ing, how could a Rhodes Scholar
act with such a lack of intelli
gence or forethought? Surely the
Clintons were aware of the press
coverage such acts would pro
voke.
But now, it’s time to let it go.
There are many more important
S_- —...
topics that should be taking up
space in newspapers and on TV.
The political world needs to get
on with the business of rebuilding
bipartisanship and working on
the country’s problems. The
Emerald editorial board doesn’t
want to read any more about Clin
ton’s last days of gracelessness.
This editorial represents the opinion of
the Emerald editorial board. Responses
can be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
.
ASUO, Emerald present candidate debates
There may not be a feverish
atmosphere on the streets of
campus yet, but the student
election season is well un
der way. Candidate signs are going
up and coming down. More signs are
being posted. Meetings with student
groups, back-room lobbying and
hallway meetings are taking place.
This year’s general election takes
place Mar. 5-8, but the primary is just
around the corner.
Voting in the primary begins Mon
day (yes, in just a few days) and is
available via Duck Web 24 hours a
day through March 1.
In the interest of intelligent debate
(well, at least debate) and a thorough
examination of the issues and candi
dates, the ASUO, in conjunction
with the Emerald, is presenting a de
bate Thursday with all six of the
presidential candidates. Currently
confirmed to moderate the debate
are: Jeremy Lang, student activities
editor for the Emerald and Michael J.
Kleckner, editorial page editor for the
Emerald.
The debate will center on specific
issues of concern to the student body,
as well as focused platform questions
based on the candidates’ Q& As,
which are currently appearing in the
Emerald each day. Following the
structured debate, there will be an
open forum where students are invit
ed to ask questions of the candidates.
The Emerald is participating in the
debate in hopes of raising student in
terest and increasing voter turnout.
We believe an informed (and enter
tained) student body makes better
voting decisions. Please come to
Room 110 Law School from 7-9 p.m.
on Thursday. Free alcohol will be
provided! OK, there will actually be
no alcohol allowed, but the candi
dates will be excited nonetheless. So
listen to the debate, ask questions,
have some fun, and remember to vote
next week.
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial board. Responses can be
sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Music students struggle for places to play
Guest Commentary
Melanie
King
I have been studying music at the
University of Oregon for the past
four years and have been notic
ing interesting changes here in
our school. Every term, the halls
seem to get fuller and fuller with new
faces I’ve never seen. These new peo
ple must be very dedicated to prac
ticing their instruments, because in
the last two years I haven’t been able
to find a practice room without wait
ing at least half an hour.
Last week, I got so frustrated look
ing for a practice room that I went to
the elevator to practice, only to find
an equally frustrated trumpet player
already using^itv Thinking I was
smart and beating people to practice
spots, I toted my instrument to the
basement bathroom (an acoustic
nightmare) and was met with a pan
icked vocalist.
Right now, it’s 4 p.m. on a Friday
afternoon, and I am jammed in the
only computer lab on campus that
has the necessary software to com
plete my assignments. I had to wait
15 minutes for this computer. We
need more room in this school.
I am now officially making the
claim that the University of Oregon
school of music is busting at the
seams. The only “unpracticed” area
of this school is the roof — because
we can’t find the roof access. We
can’t practice in the residence halls
or community living spaces. And our
study requires regular and long (10
20 hours a week) practice hours.
The reason why this school is
growing so rapidly is the outstanding
faculty we have here. From Pavarotti
World Contest winners to world
renowned jazz pianists to interna
tional composers, our star-studded
faculty is drawing some of the biggest
groups of music students to the Uni
versity. Also, with the recent devel
opment of new programs such as
string pedagogy or music technology,
there are waiting lists to get into the
class or to even be admitted as a ma
jor.
The University’s school of music is
in dire need of both renovation and
expansion. Attention, people! Our
campus has the best music school in
the Pacific Northwest, and it has the
potential to shine in the 21st century,
but only with the proper facilities.
Melanie King is a senior music technology
^ student.
Letters to the editor
Jacobson is the one
In just less than two weeks,
the students of the University of
Oregon will have the opportuni
ty to vote for student body presi
dent. The individual elected will
play a significant role in deter
mining how your student fees
are used. If you are someone
with an interest in seeing that
your fees are put toward useful
and beneficial activities, then I'd
recommend casting your vote
for Bret Jacobson.
I have known Jacobson for
more than four years and con
sider him an intelligent, cre
ative and considerate person.
Whether you are a first-term
freshman, a grad student or en
rolled in law school, Bret Jacob
son is the type of person who
will take your concerns into
consideration.
Additionally, Jacobson is
someone who possesses the
poise and presence necessary
to make him an excellent am
bassador for the University. In
closing, I would encourage
anyone interested in casting a
vote for responsible and re
sponsive student government
to cast a vote for Bret Jacobson.
Mike Morgan
PSU Pre-Law Society president
Portland
Play by the rules
Matt Swanson is a great stu
dent leader who cares about
student government and is not
afraid to voice his concerns.
This aside, it was an irresponsi
ble decision for him as an
ASUO Elections Board mem
ber to file a grievance against
my running mate, Eric Bailey,
during the campaign.
It is the responsibility of the
ASUO Elections Board to re
main impartial, and Swanson’s
action now puts his impartiali
ty in question. I have spoken
with Matt, and while he main
tains the legitimacy of his griev
ance, he understands our con
cern. In response, Matt has
assured me that his grievance
will be removed in a timely
manner.
I was also shocked by Bret Ja
cobson’s accusation that we re
moved campaign posters (’’Ex
ecutive candidate takes on
campaign strain,” ODE, Feb.
19), but even more so when I
discovered that several of our
campaign signs had been re
moved throughout campus. It
just so happens that in many
places, our signs were replaced
with “Bret and Matt” signs.
So, Jacobson, how can you
morally accuse someone of an
action, and then turn around
and do it to them? You stated
yourself, “We’ll leave the dirty
politics to other campaigns.”
Well, you have reached that
level yourself.
Other campaigns — includ
ing ours — are playing by the
rules, and I encourage you to do
the same. It is vital that this
election be decided on the is
sues and not on grievances or
posters. I encourage the student
body to educate themselves, so
they can make rational, educat
ed decisions.
Jeff Oliver
junior
political science
ASUO Executive candidate