Thursday
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
TENEMENTS OF DOOM
STEREOTYPE
It’s happening again. I’m about
to face a decision that makes
the toughest college student
cringe. I’m figuring out my
housing arrangement for next year.
As I spent the past weekend try
ing to figure out what to do next
year, I reminisced about the past
three years at college and the
places that I temporarily called
home.
Frosh year, the dorms were the
natural place of residence, as my
parents weren’t about to consider
letting an 18-year-old loose with
her own apartment. So instead, I
moved into the tiny cell that I was
supposed to call home for a year.
The dorms are funny places.
Freshmen think they’re cool be
cause they don’t know better, and
it’s where they first get a taste of
parent-less freedom. Late-night
chats with hallmates, having
dozens of people to borrow clothes
from, and a never-ending shortage
of potential study buddies is nice.
Of course, that’s after you over
look shared showers with slimy
tiles (don’t forget your flip flops),
starched-up food at Carson, people
running through the halls scream
ing at 3 a.m. and those unforget
table roommates — who make you
wonder if the housing department
actually attempts to match you up
with someone of similar interests
or if they have it out for you be
cause you turned in your applica
tion late. And don’t even think
about having overnight guests...
Sophomore year was a time to
move a rung up on the ladder of
freedom and personal space. I
moved into my sorority, ready for a
fun-filled year of social activities,
great food and a house that you
could actually walk around in
barefoot. And fun I had, but there
were also endless distractions of
late-night chats, TV shows and ac
tivities to keep me away from my
homework, which is pretty neces
sary for school.
After I turned 20, the seemingly
inevitable happened. I wanted my
personal space. Two years of quar
antine in tight corridors with oo
dles of other females and 18 years
at home under parental supervi
sion was enough. Dreams of my
own bedroom, and gasp (do I dare
wish for it?), my own bathroom
filled my head. The luxury of a
fridge filled with my food and a
closet that no one could get into!
Fortune fell into my lap. I found
“my own place.” I was so excited
that I didn’t even bother to first
meet my new roommate, who al
ready lived there. But someone up
above must have decided I’d suf
fered enough, because I got the
best roommate I could have asked
for; she’s also a journalism major,
clean, mature, doesn’t
have any scary
habits or addictions
and to top it all off,
she’s a great cook.
So what is my
problem, you
may be asking?
Well, my roomie
is about to grad
uate. Suddenly,
nightmares of
brick dorm
walls, slimy
tile and “bor
rowed” clothes
are again
plaguing my
sleep. And
sleep! Sleep is
something I’m
getting now in the
absence of 3 a.m.
partiers.
I’m now standing before
an abyss — Do I renew my lease?
Get a house? Live alone? Should I
venture back into the scary task of
finding a roommate (only slightly
less painful than finding a date on
the singles scene)? Though I have
lots of friends in the market for
roommates, I’m smart enough to
know that the best way to turn a
friend into an enemy is to share
housing.
And if the prospect of potential
roommates isn’t scary enough,
there is the legal aspect of finding
housing. Unlike most decisions in
college — where there is a highly
visible exit option — housing
agreements aren’t quite so flexible.
Sign up for a class you don’t like?
Drop it. Working a job you don’t
like? Quit. Dating someone you
don’t like? Dump them. But once
you sign your name on the dotted
line, you belong to your landlord.
Welcome to the land of hidden
fees, unanswered work orders for
broken appliances, deposits that
won’t be returned until your own
kids are looking for apartments
and misleading cheery notices
that promise free pizza in ex
change for signing up for another
year of the same crap.
Unable to come to a decision
regarding my future living arrange
ments, I did what few college kids
do: I called my mom for advice.
And like always, she provided a
suggestion I had never considered.
“Why don’t you move in with
your aunt and uncle? They have
an extra bedroom.”
Suddenly that free pizza is start
ing to sound pretty tasty. Where do
I sign?
Rebecca Newell is a columnist for the Ore
gon Daily Emerald. Her views do not nec
essarily represent those of the Emerald.
She can be reached at rnewell@glad
stone.uoregon.edu.
Letters to the editor
Bailey makes empty promises
I’m writing regarding what should be rec
ognized as dirty politics on the part of ASUO
Executive candidates Eric Bailey and Jeff
Oliver. Their actions during the campaign
have been at best questionable and at worst
outright underhanded.
During a visit to the Kappa Delta sorority
house — which lost one of its sisters to
meningococcal meningitis earlier this year —
Bailey pledged, if elected, to immunize all
students at the University for this disease.
This is a promise his office does not have the
jurisdiction to fulfill and was a shameless at
tempt to gain votes in the wake of a campus
tragedy.
Furthermore, Bailey and Oliver filed a
trumped-up grievance against fellow ASUO
Executive candidates Bret Jacobson and Matt
Cook last week, in which Jacobson and Cook
were disqualified for simply placing small
fliers on the floor outside several dorm
rooms. However, Bailey and Oliver are both
resident assistants, and their posters and
fliers are omnipresent in numerous dorms.
Put simply, Bailey and Oliver recognized
they weren’t going to make the general elec
tion — which would have been the case had
they not filed this grievance — and thus
picked Jacobson and Cook off like so many
clay pigeons.
This is just the sort of behavior that de
grades the ASUO and leads to the campus’
disdain for the elections process. I urge my
fellow students not to vote for Bailey and
Oliver in this year’s election.
Brian Carlson
junior
advertising
A Shining example
I humbly submit this opinion in support of
someone I know who is running for the Lane
Community College Board. Dennis Shine is
the kind of man you want on any board you
care about. He is smart, honest and dedicat
ed. Shine works well with others and brings
a lifetime of experience that is invaluable.
Shine was a business and economics in
structor at Fresno City College from 1968
1993, when he retired. Ha! Retired, the man
is busier than some people I know. He is a
part-time instructor at LCC, an appointed
member of the Lane County Human Rights
Committee (which is where I know him
from), Springfield Station Plan Steering Com
mittee and a citizen member of the City of
Eugene Police Hiring Committee. I also know
he is very active in the fight for human rights
with the NAACP.
As LCC grows and changes, we need peo
ple like Shine at the helm. Please vote for
Dennis Shine by March 13.
June Harris
program director
Hillel at the University of Oregon
Brooklyn and Nair focused on issues
Every day last week, I was approached by
students encouraging me to vote in the
ASUO elections. I have only one thing to say
to them: Thank you. Students gave their time
to inform me and others about the issues and
the candidates.
From the results of the primaries, I was
very glad to see that the best candidates, Nil
da Brooklyn and Joy Nair, received the great
est amount of votes for the ASUO Executive.
While some candidates were busy defend
ing themselves from grievances and other
candidates were occupied by filing them,
Brooklyn and Nair have focused on the is
sues. Making the ASUO more accessible to
the entire student body would be a large un
dertaking, though Brooklyn and Nair possess
the leadership abilities and experience to see
it through.
Having held positions this year such as the
ASUO Multicultural Advocate and a Univer
sity of Oregon Student Ambassador, Brook
lyn and Nair have both exhibited their inter
est in reaching out to students.
I am sure that through the positions of
ASUO president and vice president, Brook
lyn and Nair will encourage larger portions
of the student body to become involved with
the ASUO, while also acting as advocates for
students on our campus, in the community
and on the state level.
Although it was not a large percentage of
the student body that took part in the ASUO
primaries, for those of you who did exercise
your right to vote, thank you. For those stu
dents who voted for Brooklyn and Nair — job
well done.
E. Joelle McPherson
freshman
undeclared