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-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com
Give us a BREAK
Sit back, fasten your safety belt,
close the guard rail securely
and keep all body parts inside
your classrooms until the ride,
er, until the next two weeks come to a
complete stop. Do not attempt to
throw yourself bodily from classes
just yet. It will end soon, and then the
bingeing known as spring break can
begin.
It is yet another gawdawful, gor
geous sunny day outside as this is be
ing written. The sounds of skate
boarders, happy children and Frisbee
players waft through the windows of
the Emerald office. Just remember,
those people aren’t in classes, they
aren’t being productive, and they’ll
pay dearly for it. They are pure evil,
tempting others with visions of joyful
outdoor activities, and the Emerald
editorial board hopes their grades re
flect that evil.
Ail we need to do is hang on. To
morrow is March 1, the beginning of
the month in which spring break oc
curs. Spring break itself is only 23
days away. Sit tight for three weeks,
do your homework, go buy those text
books (remember those?) that you’ll
need for the final, and we’ll all make
n out alive. The uig6 ,r question is
whether we’ll make it out of spring
break alive.
We’re certainly not advocating any
sort of debauchery (free sex) or hedo
nism (total intoxication) during our
one cheap, lousy week of vacation. By
the way, couldn’t they take a few days
from winter break and add it to spring
break? After the fourth week of winter
break, it gets old anyway. Wouldn’t
those days be better spent on the
beach, in the sun, rolling around
naked and covered in alcohol? Uh,
sorry. That’s not exactly what we
meant.
Some people — even some editorial
board members— will be spending
spring break being productive: train
ing for a summer job, volunteering at a
social service agency or spending
time with parents. Those activities
probably rank really, really low on
most students’ lists of desirable spring
break adventures, but the students un
dertaking them are awfully noble,
aren’t they?
Giovanni Salimena Emerald
The rest of us are breathlessly wait
ing for a rip-roarin’, snortin’ good week
of spring break fun. So try to be good.
Go to class a few more times, even
when it’s incredibly sunny and mild
enough for shorts and a tank top. Better
attendance will make professors more
amenable to our next request: Please
go easy on us for these final weeks! In
structors are just as susceptible to that
silly, scintillating spring sensation
coursing through the veins. The sun af
fects faculty too.
OK, it’s time to go. Despite using the
phrase “spring break” a total of 11
times in this article, spring break isn’t
any closer. If professors can have a lit
tle mercy and students can give a little
more effort, together we can all make it
to the top of the giant hill and scream
aloud in unison as the roller coaster
dives toward the end of the month, the
end of the term and the end of our im
prisonment in classrooms. Viva spring
break!
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial board. Responses can be sent
to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Campus paper used bad judgment
Guest Commentary
Dave
Frohnmayer
A campus newspaper, in a re
cent issue, published materi
al about sabotage of property
that would create real risks to
human safety. I considered that primer
to be unconscionable and absolutely
unacceptable, and I believe any reason
able person would agree with me. The
newspaper then listed the names and
addresses of individuals on campus
and, by the context in which the names
were included, in effect created risk
that put these individuals’ safety and
the safety of their families in peril.
None of our campus publications
should ever publish material that in
such a manner threatens any member
of our community. This act was not
only threatening to the individuals and
their families but also to the extraordi
narily valuable work done by these
members of our community. That is, of
course, the very intent of those who try
to terrorize our colleagues.
Publications that print and distribute
this kind of information cannot in good
conscience cloak themselves in the
First Amendment and think they can
then avoid well-deserved censure. Re
sponsible journalism engages in volun
tary and ethical constraints. And re
sponsible journalism is the only kind in
which members of this community
should engage.
Newspapers across the country (in
cluding our campus publications) vol
untarily do not publish the names of
rape or sexual assault victims. In only
one state (and it is not Oregon) does the
law does require that they do so. I call
on campus publications to exercise this
same good judgment and common
sense in any case where the safety of a
member of our campus community is
placed at risk by what is published.
Am I calling for our campus publica
tions to hold themselves to higher stan
dards than perhaps the law itself does?
Yes.
I am a lifelong student of and pub
lished author on First Amendment free
doms. I have and will continue to de
fend those freedoms. And I will
continue to condemn those who show
unconscionably bad judgment, as the
campus newspaper did.
Dave Frohnmayer is president of the University
of Oregon.
Letters to the editor
Violence unnecessary
How did it progress from “could you please sit down” to a
brawl? Maybe it was the homophobic slurs he tossed
around, or perhaps the refusal to consider his fellow fans.
Whatever the cause, the fight that broke out in Section 117 at
Mac Court last Thursday night was saddening in many
ways.
Why in the presence of violence such as this do people
declare they “haven't seen a good fight in ages” and that they
want to “see some blood”? Are the young people of our soci
ety so insecure they feel the need to prove themselves using
violence? Is the only way to enjoy a sporting event to verbal
ly harass the crowd and the opposition?
Competition is one thing, abuse and violence is another. T
him up, Ref.
B. Cichosz
freshman
pre-psychology
Don t accept OSPIRG bid
I disagree with several of Eric Pfeiffer’s key points in en
dorsing OSPIRG (“OSPIRG: A model for citizens,” ODE, Feb.
20).
To begin with, he asks us to “accept the fact that you go to
school at a liberal arts university.” This is a moot point. No
body is going to argue that we attend a fundamentally con
servative university. Most of us were drawn to the Universi
ty of Oregon because of its politically active and
environmentally aware campus.
However, this does not justify blindly sending money to
OSPIRG. If I attended Oregon State, I would not accept my
incidental fees’ being sent off campus to a pro-gun-owner
lobbying group just because OSU is a somewhat conserva
tive school.
The argument that students who disagree with a particu
lar group should be allowed to withdraw their money into
a general-fee surplus is ludicrous. We do not need a ballot
every year asking which groups we support. That reduces
the process to a popularity contest. All student groups —
whatever their political orientation — should follow the let
ter of the law. That is the real issue.
Finally, I cannot help but wonder if Pfeiffer’s glowing en
dorsement is politically motivated. If Jacobson also backs
OSPIRG, then it seems to be an olive branch to “liberals”
who might otherwise vote for Schatzel/Stolle.
Adjusting one’s image to appeal to moderates didn’t work
in the 2000 presidential election, and I hope people would
not be so easily fooled now.
Richard “Pete” R. Hunt
junior
journalism
Information about Jesus not scarce
The assertion that we know little about Jesus Christ be
cause of a “scarcity of reliable sources” is almost laughable.
Several different biographers (some of whom knew him per
sonally, and all of whom draw on eyewitness accounts)
wrote very detailed accounts of Christ’s character and min
istry within a few decades of his walk on earth. Indeed, there
are very few historical figures from the ancient period about
whom more is known.
The only thing “unreliable” about these sources is that
certain people don’t want to believe what his biographers
are telling us about him.
Ted D. Smith
documents reference librarian
Knight Library
CORRECTION
The photograph that ran with Lisa Toth’s article, “Hillel
offers Jewish students free trip to Israel,” [ODE, Feb, 27]
carried the wrong photographer credit. Rayna Dushman
took the photo.
The Emerald regrets the error.
CLARIFICATION
In an article about faculty pay, “Professor pay failing
the test,” [ODE, Feb. 27], it should have read that the
University Senate Ad Hoc Committee was created to ana
lyze the structure and terms of employment for support
of non-tenure track faculty, including adjunct professors
and instructors.
In addition, University assistant geography Professor
Shaul Cohen did not say that professors who choose to
stay at tire University instead of leaving for more money
are a “large problem,” but instead reflect dedication to the
University.
The Emerald regrets the errors.