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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2001)
Letters to the editor Emerald’s coverage lacking I was very disappointed with the Oregon Daily Emerald’s coverage of Eugene’s Election Forum ( “Forum fails to clarify plans,” March 12). The article implies the majority of citizens at the forum were con cerned only with the complexity of the alternatives offered. This is sim ply inaccurate. The “journalist” covering the forum was either bi ased or left early. Five of the first six citizens did speak about complexity, but by the end of the meeting the majority of citizens spoke in favor of change. Furthermore, one of the latter speakers pointed out that most (if not all) citizens speaking against change were from one organization — the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce supporting the status quo? What a shock. At the end of the forum, a mock vote was held to see which option those in attendance favored (includ ing the status quo). Instant run-off voting with 8 to 10 wards won by an overwhelming margin. Obviously, most citizens weren’t concerned about complexity. For an accurate portrayal of the forum, I recommend reading The Register Guard’s coverage in Sun day’s paper. Apparently their jour nalist stayed through more than the first 20 minutes of the forum. John W. Herberg post-baccalaureate student environmental studies Killing varsity sports is a loss for all I read with interest your article about the club baseball team (“Springtime means baseball for Club Sports,” ODE, March 9). Of particular interest was the synopsis of varsity sports eliminated at the University of Oregon. To begin with, baseball as a varsity sport was actually dropped prior to 1981, in 1979. Men's gymnastics was dropped a year or so earlier. On the other hand, women’s gymnastics was dropped in 1986, along with men's and women's swimming. At that time, in order to remain in compliance with Title IX, women's golf became a varsity sport. All these instances of sport elimination were due, in part, to attempts by athletic di rectors to persuade the Oregon State Legislature to fund, on some level, in tercollegiate athletics at the Univer sity of Oregon. In each instance, the bluff was called, resulting in a loss for the athletic community. Dan Cole men's and women's swimming coach, '81- '86 Markstrom continued from page 2 don’t settle for routines. This isn’t just a sing-song, let’s feel good about each other and sing “Cum Ba Yah” thing, either. I am much more marketable as a journalist than many of my peers simply because I am adaptable, open and relatively fearless. And I can talk about race. But I didn’t develop that overnight—it was a con scious, even academic decision. It’s the future, and though there will still be a place for backward people who believe white men should run everything, the old boys’ networks are slowly dying. I’m not worried about myself in terms of employ ment. I’ve got an internship at The Oregonian for spring term, and at the end of March I have an inter view for the L. A. Times’ two-year program that I men tioned above. What I’d like to see in my career is a day when mi nority reporters are not expected to be the only source of “minority affairs” information in a newsroom. I’d like to live to work in an environment where minori ties are not constantly feeling as though they have to assert their credibility or battle off people who would rather see them with aprons and dustpans than with notepads and bylines. I know I am going to have to bite my tongue and choose my battles. To some degree I will have to shove aside my beliefs to just “get along” in the workplace. We all know silence is certainly not go ing to move us any closer to understanding, but there is a place for civility. For as long as I’ve lived I’ve had to bend to accommodate white people and their val ues. Though sometimes it’s a pain and I just want to scream at people, I am grateful for the perspective it has given me. I’d challenge all students to try to think about where others are coming from — every day and not just for a class. It’s a lofty dream to believe I won’t ever be mistak en for a maid again, but I can hope that Ducks won’t be the ones making the mistake. Serena Markstrom is the freelance editor for the Emerald for two more days. Her views do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. She can be reached at aneres@gladstone.uoregon.edu. Have You Picked up An Application? Deadline to turn in applications for the Oregon Daily Emerald 2001/2002 Advertising Staff is Monday, March 19th, 4pm. Applications are available in Suite 300, EMU. More Info? See today's ad on page 8 GET OUT OF TOWN! Sunscreen 8c chapstick Pepsi 8c Coke specials Shot glasses 8c mugs Disposable cameras Film and batteries Shades 8c frisbees Food for the road Snapple 12-packs Fun travel games Books/Magazines . UO sweats 8c tees Towels 8c tank tops Maps & travel books Great prize drawings! ^ ^ ^ UNIVERSITY*/' OREGON www.uobookstore.com WE’VE GOT EVERYTHING YOU’LL NEED...
