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
Giovanni Salimena Emerald
Stop the insanity
of senseless rioting
The last few months have seen
some notable instances of riot
ing, and it isn't in protest of
multinational corporations or
little Cuban boys being returned to their
fathers. Instead, people are getting all
worked up over... holiday celebrations
and their sports teams. The Emerald edi
torial board would like to urge calm. Ac
tually, we urge the rioters to get a serious
grip on it.
The first widespread round of destroy
ing property and drinking and urinating
in the streets (along with a little public
nudity) took place during Mardi Gras in
Seattle; Philadelphia; Fresno, Calif.; and
Austin, Texas. There really seemed to be
no impetus for these riots, unless it was
a little too much to drink, some anger at
the police at being told to go home and
some anger at their cities for not having
all-night Bacchanalian festivities.
The most recent exhibits of destruc
tion and looting (minus the public nudi
ty, as far as we can tell) took place during
March Mayhem, the NCAA Tourna
ment. Thousands took to the streets in
Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maryland, In
diana and Arizona after their college
teams lost basketball games. Alcohol
may have played a role here, as well.
But really, people, stop the insanity.
These are just sporting events. Yes, we
know that the big leagues are a riotous
inspiration (think Chicago and Detroit in
the last 20 years). And our neighbors
across the Atlantic are world-renowned
for destructive displays of anger after
soccer losses (or wins, for that matter).
But fans rioting doesn’t make sense.
They weren’t even playing the game,
they were just upset that some other
guys lost. We, again, must urge calm.
There's always next year.
It does make one think, though. The
Dionysian aspects of life (rambunctious,
chaotic partying and a sense of losing
oneself to a very human sort of fleshly
mayhem) have been repressed for an aw
fully long time. Mardi Gras in New Or
leans is the only place people are al
lowed all-night carousing in any sort of
state-sponsored event. It works well
there, too. The people revel in their base
humanity, and the next day it gets
cleaned up. No excessive destruction,
just a little release. Maybe we need more
of this.
Whatever the reason, though, it is
grotesque and unacceptable to break
stuff because of sports losses or bar clo
sures. Get some control.
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emer
ald editorial board. Responses can be sent to
ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Letter to the editor
The Register-Guard should bargain in good faith
May 1 marks the second anniversary of The Register-Guard’s refusal to negotiate a
contract with the Eugene Newspaper Guild. What I have heard about The Register
Guard’s tactics saddens me.
Several years ago, I read a book by M. J. Levitt titled “Confessions of a Union Buster.”
Levitt chronicles his role in one of the United States’ first union-busting firms. He ex
plains how these firms teach companies how to destroy unions at any cost. It was one
of the most frightening accounts I have ever read. I can’t really relate the process in
the space available, but I encourage everyone to read the book.
Many things I have heard about Register-Guard tactics during the Guild’s struggle
echo Levitt’s book, from reports of union-bashing literature sent to Register-Guard
worke rs to the hiring of a union-busting attorney from Tennessee to negotiate for the
owners. This attorney, an outsider, has absolutely no vested interest in the Guild, The
Register-Guard or this community.
I ask the owners of The Register-Guard to abandon their attempt to destroy the
Guild, beginning with the firing of their outsider negotiator, and returning to face-to
face negotiations with the Guild — a long-standing tradition of the Baker family. If
The Register-Guard continues to bargain in what I see as bad faith, as a subscriber of
over 20 years, I shall find it necessary to permanently cancel my subscription.
Gary Jarvis
Junction City
Procedural shortcomings
weaken electoral integrity
The recent case of Steven Lockfield in the ASUO elections requires some action on the part
of student government. For those who don’t know, the ASUO Student Senate is composed
of 18 senators. There are nine finance senators, elected by the entire student body, and
there are nine academic senators, who represent different majors and departments and
are elected only by students currently enrolled in these departments.
Lockfield signed up to run for a student senate seat representing the wrong major. He is a
history major, but he ran for the seat covering social sciences, when he should have run for
the arts and letters seat. The Constitution Court decided that he was unfairly denied the
chance to win the seat he should have run for, so they put him on the general election ballot in
the right slot.
OK, here’s an idea. Maybe one should check really carefully when signing up to run for stu
dent government. It's good to know which seat covers what major, before you campaign.
The fault doesn’t lie exclusively with Lockfield, however. The Elections Board should be
checking to see that student senate candidates are in the right spot. It is the integrity of their
election, after all. Apparently the Elections Board doesn’t have a system for this sort of double
checking. They need to.
There was also some question as to whether ASUO elections rules specify that a student
needs to run for the senate seat representing their major. A geology student, say, may be eligible
to run for the senate seat representing the law school. If that's the case, the rules need to be
changed. What’s the point of having different senate seats for different majors, if anyone can
run for any seat?
The Emerald editorial board certainly hopes these changes are made and procedures are put
in place to see that this doesn’t happen again. After all, there was a victim here. Ben Lacy ran for
the arts and letters seat unopposed in the primary and won. He checked to be sure he was in the
right race. But now, despite his win, he has to face another vote, this time with a competitor, and
he did nothing wrong.
In the interest of disclosure, we should note that Ben Lacy works for the Emerald. But the
point would be the same no matter who was having to run another campaign for a seat that he or
she had already won. The point is, it doesn’t seem fair.
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. Responses can be sent to ode@oregon.uore
gon.edu.
Poll Results
Every week, the Emerald prints the results of our online poli and the poll question for next week. The
poll can be accessed from the main page of our Web site, www.dailyemerald.com. We encourage you-to
send us feedback about the poll questions and results.
Last week's poll question
Which movie should have won the Oscar for best picture?
Results: 102 total votes
Chocoiat—12 votes, or 11.8 percent
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon— 34 votes, or 333 percent
Erin Brockovich —12 votes, or 11.8 percent
Traffic—25 votes, or 24.5 percent
I’m glad Gladiator won —19 votes, or 18.6 percent
According to our poll, “Gladiator” was not the best picture. Our voters prefer martial arts and drugs. Not
that there’s anything wrong with that. The real tragedy, however, is that “Almost Famous” wasn’t even
nominated this year. For shame.
This week’s poll question:
What should the ASUO spend the $100,000 overrealized account money on?
The choices:
Kick-ass music festival
Covered moving sidewalk
Full-time bike taxi
Improved student lounge
Free massage clinic