Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
RO. Box 3159, Eugene,OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
Online Edition:
www. dailyemerald. com
Editor in Chief:
Andrew Adams
Associate Editors:
Peter Hockaday
Jeremy Lang
UO’s use of‘development’
funds should be watched
Following the release of a
report by the Secretary of
State Audits Division it
appears the University has
had some trouble ensuring ac
countability in the use of thou
sands of dollars. Auditors have
questioned the University’s use
of credit cards and donated
funds, and Vice President for Ad
ministration Dan Williams has
acknowledged that there have
been some mistakes made in us
ing these.
It is hard to believe that expens
es like these could have passed
through with little notice: Nearly
$8,000 spent on football tickets
for donors, $3,336 for airline tick
ets for a dean and staff member to
attend the Aloha Bowl and an al
most $500 rental car insurance
premium for another dean. Audi
tors questioned several other ex
penses as well.
The University has to have some
independent means to ensure that
almost every dollar can be account
ed for and is used responsibly. Af
ter a change in the state system a
few years ago that gave each insti
tution the responsibility to account
for its own use of funds, it appears
that this task is a little too much for
this University.
Several deans — or at least
those who would comment on
the expenses — stood by their
departments’ use of funding by
saying it was necessary to main
tain good relationships with
donors. They called this using
“development” funds and main
tained it was in accordance with
University policy.
This does make sense, and it is
quite true that donor dollars
make possible a myriad of bene
ficial educational programs here
on campus.
But without some better system
of accountability there will always
remain the risk of funds being used
inappropriately simply because
University staff can do so.
Let’s abandon this temptation by
placing the University’s use of
funds under greater scrutiny.
Williams said the University is
committed to making changes, so
let’s hope these come about soon.
However, what is still troubling
is the University’s use of University
Foundation dollars. The state audi
tors had several questions about
these funds because of the founda
tion’s rigidly private nature. State
auditors said several of the founda
tion’s employees were not com
pletely forthcoming in providing
records of their transactions and
there is still some ambiguity about
whether those transactions can, in
fact, be reviewed by the state.
It is curious, to say the least,
that the University puts such a
dense smokescreen around the
foundation's dealings. This reluc
tance to allow public scrutiny
only arouses suspicions instead
of creating confidence.
Williams told The Register
Guard that “at some point, there
has to be a certain level of trust be
tween the general public and the
University. ” But that trust will con
tinue to be strained here if the Uni
versity continues to keep under
wraps how it uses the massive
amounts of donated dollars it re
ceives every year.
As the University moves for
ward with its Autzen expansion,
it has been criticized for the eager
ness with which it accepts large
donations. This has led some to
speculate that the University is
becoming more and more priva
tized as generous donors begin to
exhibit more and more-sway on
campus. These critics will only
have more ammunition if the Uni
versity continues to maintain a
screen of confidentiality.
Speed limit increase
makes sense
Many students on campus are
frequent travelers on both Inter
state 5 and 1-84, and an increase in
the speed limit for those roads
that has recently passed in both
the state Senate and House may
soon be making their trips
through the state somewhat
quicker.
This increase from 65 mph to 70
mph makes sense, as anyone who
is familiar with traveling in the 1-5
corridor can say the average speed
is not that of the posted speed lim
it. But legislators made clear that
the increase is not intended to in
crease the speed of traffic, but
rather make the posted speeds
comply with the almost accepted
speeds on those major roads.
When pitching the bill, its spon
sor, Sen. Randy Miller, R-Lake Os
wego, asked his fellow lawmakers
to consider how fast they travel
when driving up or down to Salem
on 1-5. Most, apparently, keep with
the flow of traffic, as they have vot
ed the bill along.
But there should be some con
cern, as raising the speed limit
could further increase the flow of
traffic. Drivers who have become
accustomed to pushing their
speed up to 75 mph from 65 mph
may now feel free to push it past
80 mph. And as anyone who has
had extensive experience driving
Oregon’s freeways can tell you,
this is not inconceivable. Added
to this is the provision that in
creases the speed for trucks to 60
mph. One should hope this does
not give truckers the motivation
to push their rigs too fast.
But those are just worrisome
“what ifs.” Traffic does move fast
on Oregon’s roads, and it is high
time that legislators realized this.
Speed limits on dangerous roads
are good safeguards to prevent
auto accidents. But on the straight
and often flat stretches of major
interstates where traffic has been
moving along safely for some
time, it makes sense to bump up
the speed limit.
Ideally, Oregon’s speed limit
signs will become just that — a
recognition of the signs of the
times and not an impetus for driv
ers to push their lead foot down
any farther.
This editorial represents the views of the
Emerald’s editor in chief and does not neces
sarily reflect the views of the Oregon Daily
Emerald.
Needed: a good topic for this column
After being a reporter go
ing on three years, find
ing a subject to tackle for
a column can be a fairly
daunting task.
Granted, I write a music column
for Pulse, but music and entertain
ment are two of my hobbies, un
like reporting, which I hope to
The ethical
importance of
remaining
neutral and
objective — in
my opinion —
is of para
mount impor
tance. It’s not
my place to
comment on
the news. That
belief endures
whether I
have written
about an issue
or not, from the ASUO and the
Oregon University System’s high
er education budget to Congress
man Gary Condit or President
George W. Bush’s policy on what
ever.
That’s news, and I’m a news
man. It’s just that simple.
Not that columnists have an eas
ier job than reporters, just a very
different job. Both, when done
well, require research, strong,
punchy sentences, and an ability
to reflect the constantly changing
world.
turn into a career.
Lang
The Be-In
But this doesn’t negate the fact
that I have an opinion. I simply re
fuse to ever risk undermining
readers’ ability to believe that
when I inform them about an is
sue, event or person, the informa
tion is coming to them without a
personal slant.
I hold to this defining principle
so strongly that, despite my sarcas
tic sensibilities, I won’t even opine
on the AP -story in Tuesday’s Ore
gon Daily Emerald about the dead
anchovies in a Brookings harbor.
So wow, that kills a lot of topics.
No current events, religion, poli
tics, the importance or lack thereof
of student government — and
plenty of my views on entertain
ment appear later in this issue.
That pretty much leaves the
weather, and I’m simply not going
to write an opinion piece about
the weather. Technically, I can’t do
that anyway. On Tuesday I wrote a
story about this week’s heat spell
and open waterways on the
Willamette. That’s the minute lev
el to which I take my objectivity.
How ‘bout them Mariners?
Cynical — and quite broad —
opinions abound that nobody in
the news business is objective.
Every word spewed from a re
porter’s head into his or her com
puter comes equipped with some
kind of political or ideological
slant.
Sure, corporations play a bigger
part in today’s news media, and
the sharp decline of two-newspa
per cities lowers competition and
thus the tenacity of investigative
and thorough reporting. But the
situation is far from bleak.
And my principles are in no
way unique. .1 simply consider
first my objectivity and the obli
gations that come with the priv
ilege of newswriting whenever I
make a choice in this business.
This fall, I’ll travel to
Washington, D.C., for a political
reporting internship. Although I
don’t expect the atmosphere to
change my journalistic ideals
drastically, I do expect to have
my concept of reporting chal
lenged and fine-tuned.
Little effort is needed to sit at
a college newspaper independ
ent from the University adminis
tration and vow a willingness to
fall on my sword for journalistic
integrity.
Maybe all of this is so impor
tant to me because journalism is
more than a career; it can be
come your life. I adore the clas
sic images of reporters jumping
out of bed at 2 a.m. to cover a
breaking story or spending hours
researching and digging for in
vestigative work. This isn’t just
how I act on the job — it’s how I
live my life.
If only I had a topic for this
column.
Jeremy Lang is an associate editor at the
Emerald. He can be reached at jlang@glad
stone.uoregon.edu.
Letters to the editor
Satcher deserves kudos
for issuing ‘Call to Action’
I want to applaud Surgeon
General David Satcher for having
the courage to release his long
awaited "Call to Action to Pro
mote Sexual Health and Respon
sible Behavior." Sadly, frank
discussions of sexuality are all
too often avoided because of dis
comfort with the topic or because
of scientifically baseless political
opposition. By releasing his find
ings, Dr. Satcher has raised
awareness about the state of
America’s sexual health and the
critical need for more knowl
edge, more services and more
open discussion, so people can
make responsible choices. This
report will save lives.
The call to action is an impor
tant step. However, implementa
tion is up to us. Planned Parent
hood has launched an initiative
called “Rights, Respect, Respon
sibility.” As part of this initiative,
16 Oregonians from across the
state recently completed a 14-day
European Study Tour. We had
the opportunity to hear from stu
dents, educators, health-care
providers, media specialists and
researchers about how the
Netherlands, Germany and
France have succeeded in dra
matically reducing unintended
pregnancies, abortion and STDs
through providing young people
with honest and accurate infor
mation about sexuality, responsi
bility and relationships, com
bined with access to
contraception.
Just as the Surgeon General has
called us to do, we intend to work
with Oregonians to develop health
ier sexual attitudes and behaviors.
We have begun a bold initiative that
we hope will be one of many
throughout this country to save the
lives and futures of our most impor
tant national assets, our children.
Kitty Piercy
public affairs director
Planned Parenthood Health Services
of Southwestern Oregon
Old growth trees
still in danger
I think it is great that your paper
is telling people about the great out
doors. I only want to inform you,
and those who really care, about
what else is going on in the woods.
The Forest Service is anxious to
cut down old growth trees in the
Fall Creek area. A timber sale
named "Clark" has been the home
to many tree sitters from this area.
The sit has been going on for three
years and has proved to be some
what successful in that the trees
are still there. But the Forest Ser
vice still has a deal and plans to
deliver. This valuable piece of
Oregon is still threatened. People
who really enjoy Oregon and care
about Oregon should know this.
Chuck Holding
Erb Essentials
CLARIFICATION
The story "State auditors question
UO’s spending habits,” which ran
July 3, should have identified the
University Law School, which is in
the Knight Law Center.
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Wayne Stayskal Tribune Media Services