Monday
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
Finding common ground
SCRIBBLES OF
SANITY
JAYNA BERGERSON
You’ve probably seen him, but you
may have never really noticed him.
On the corner of 13th Avenue and
University Street stands Doug,
with his black cap and white signs. You
might remember him mostly from the signs
propped up around him. They proclaim in
bold letters, “Jesus Loves You” and “Free
God News,” and that is all. No gimmicks, no
multicolored advertisements for a local
church. They are just simple, black-and
white messages.
He doesn’t consider himself to be an
evangelist to the University. In fact, Doug
has little hope for the salvation of the stu
dent body or the salvation of the state of
Oregon. But he does have just enough hope
in the possibility of reaching a few students
that he continues to stand on the street cor
ner and wait. His signs are an invitation for
anyone to come speak to him, and perhaps
they also stand as a reminder to those who
have forgotten a faith they once had.
With his hands in his jacket pockets,
Doug just stands silently next to his signs
and watches the students rush by him. He
doesn’t call out for attention or repentance.
If you do stop and talk to him, he will talk
about whatever you want.
Want to talk about the world? He might
tell you about his travels throughout the
western United States. He might even show
you his pin that says, “Don’t Californicate
Oregon!” Curious about religion? He will
oblige your curiosity. But regardless of
whether you talk to him, he is still there.
Quietly present, but present nonetheless.
Doug’s manner is quite unlike other evan
gelist hopefuls of the past. Many of us are
still reeling from the religious rantings of
“Bible Jim,” who made it a point to visit the
campus during fall term every year. With his
bullhorn in one hand and a Bible in the oth
er, he would scream at the students, “Re
pent!” Beside him was his group of support
ers with sandwich boards, which said, “All
of you lesbians, fornicators, drunks (etc.)
will burn in HELL!” Needless to say, his
demonstrations riled more than a few stu
dents and eventually led to his disappear
ance from campus.
At that time, Oregon Daily Emerald
columnist Kameron Cole wrote about the re
ligious demonstrations of Bible }im. In the
column, she offered this advice: “People
don’t like being told that they’re going to
hell, even if it’s true. Furthermore, you do
the biggest disservice to your cause by alien
ating those you seek to enlighten.”
Unfortunately, like any group in society,
the most vocal and fanatical receive the
most attention, and thus give the rest of the
group a really bad name. After seeing Bible
}im’s antics, it’s no wonder that views on
this campus about religion, particularly to
ward Christianity, range from benign indif
ference to all-out hostility.
If Bible Jim had actually read that Bible he
waved about so frantically, he would have
understood the true characteristics of his re
ligion. The savior, whose name Bible Jim
preaches about and refers to, had a com
pletely different way of reaching out to
those around him. He didn’t use a bullhorn
Turn to Bergerson, page 3
DIARY OF A
SPH; MALCONTENT
Tecently interviewed Bonny Bettman for a
class assignment, and the experience
showed me a lot about our community.
jLBettman is the Eugene city councilor for
Ward 3, which covers the downtown core,
the East University neighborhood, some of
North Eugene near Coburg Road and the
campus proper.
That is one amazingly wide swath of di
verse areas of Eugene. Representing all those
interests must be impossible, I thought be
fore I interviewed her, and especially in Eu
gene, where middle-of-the-road ideologies
often get shut down.
Some others I interviewed for the project
had harsh words for Bettman, or at least they
chose their
words mincingly. I wondered why she didn’t
get gleaming reviews, until I spoke to her.
Then I realized that it’s because she’s doing
her job.
This piece isn’t really about Bettman, but
it’s about a sense of community that she ex
plained. First, be involved. There’s too much
happening that affects us all to not do some
thing. Second, talk to as many people with as
many opinions as possible. Listen to the rea
sons they give for how they’ll be affected.
Then, find out the facts: Do research and dis
cover the things people won’t tell you.
A well-informed and active approach
does more than simply let you bolster your
own ideological position. It makes you real
ize you share values with the supposed “op
position.” And given that we all live togeth
er, whether we’re in opposition or not,
finding those places of agreement is critical.
For someone who makes policy (like a city
councilor) or for someone who analyzes poli
cy (like an editorial writer), looking past the
artificially constructed walls of “opposition”
is necessary. A lot of students, young and pas
Turn to Kleckner, page 3
Giovanni Salimena Emerald
REBECCA NEWELL
When we set off for col
lege, we are psyched
to try new things,
meet new people and in general,
experience much more than our
parents ever did. And in the begin
ning, we do.
As freshmen, we’re pretty eager
to stretch our wings, familiarizing
ourselves with the things to do
around campus, trying to drink
without getting busted by our resi
dent assistants, and of course,
meeting new people.
During those first few days on
campus, we often breathe a sigh of
relief (or gasp in fear) at the ab
sence of the ever-frightening high
school “cliques.” College presents
us with a medley of different types
of people. However, it often seems
that we continue to surround our
selves with those most like us.
By senior year, trying new things
typically consists of hitting a new
bar or sampling a different brand
of beer, actually going to our pro
fessors’ office hours or even getting
a midterm paper finished more
than 12 hours before it’s due.
Whether we realize it or not, we’ve
often set ourselves into a routine
that rarely involves meeting new
people — specifically, DIFFER
ENT types of people, not clones of
our present friends..
In one of my larger classes, I fre
quently took notice of a woman
who was a little different than
most of the people I normally (and
yes, comfortably) hang out with.
I’ll admiLthat her difference in at
tire and her very outspoken de
meanor didn’t make me want to in
troduce myself, because I saw her
as someone who was unpre
dictable and would likely scoff at
the all-American-girl likes of me.
So I indulged myself iamy safe
place across the classroom, where
I wouldn’t have to take a risk, un
til the day we were put into pairs.
Somehow, the inevitable hap
pened, and we were paired togeth
er. I took a deep breath, deter
mined to make the best of the 20
minutes we would spend collabo
rating and ... was totally sur
prised.
I found a humorous, knowl
edgeable and kind-spirited
woman, with whom the 20 min
utes seemed to fly. We talked
about guys (despite our 15-plus
years age difference), roommates,
classes and women in our present
society. Once I got over the shock
of how much I enjoyed chatting
with someone I would have writ
ten off days earlier, I realized how
much my “stepping out of the
box” experience had opened my
eyes. And best of all, she didn’t
even laugh at me when I handed
her my business card and suggest
ed we get together for coffee some
time.
Friday night I had another little
experiment with taking risks and
trying new things. The place: Rock
‘N Rodeo. But I wasn’t there to
drink or play pool. I decided to
take one of the free dance classes,
offered Thursdays through Satur
days at 8 p.m. Now, I’m someone
with a decent dance background,
ranging from years of studying bal
let, modern dance and jazz to hip
hop (think high school dance
team). As it turned out, I was far
from prepared.
When 1 walked in at 8 p.m., the
bar was empty, but the dance floor
was full. Arranged in two lines
were women my mother’s age —
but my mom can’t dance like that.
Our instructor, clad in cowboy
boots, a skirt and a rhinestone belt,
led us through the dance step-by
step during the hour-long lesson.
By the end, sweat was soaking my
clothes as I kick-heel-tap-mam
boed to Ace of Base (yes, they
played Ace of Base at a country
bar). As the hour concluded, our
rag-tag little dance group was
laughing and already aching from
some of the harder moves.
This week, I’m already looking
forward to my next dance class
and coffee with the woman from
class. I know I learned a lot more
during the past week than just a
new dance step. I realized that
breaking out of our routines and
opening our minds to the diversity
of people and experiences around
us is too important to be ignored
simply because we already have a
“comfortable routine.”
Try something new. You have
nothing to lose, and if all else fails,
you can always show off your new
dance step!
Rebecca Newel! 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 rnewe!l@glad
stone.uoregon.edu.