Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
PO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Editor in Chief:
Andrew Adams
Associate Editors:
Jeremy Lang
Peter Hockaday
Editorial
ELF’s violence is an
ineffective approach
Eugene police detectives
have announced they
are investigating three
suspects they believe are
connected to two local arsons
that have been tied to the Earth
Liberation Front. The local ar
sons in question include fire
bomb attacks on the West Uni
versity Police Substation and a
Romania Chevrolet dealership.
The group has already
claimed responsibility for mil
lions of dollars’ worth of dam
age from sabotage that it claims
helps achieve its goal of defend
ing the environment from capi
talist-driven exploitation.
In the national environment
debate, the ELF is the extreme
edge of the projectionist view
point. Its members are several
steps past the activists chained to
trees behind roadblocks who at
tempt to halt timber sales. But it is
too easy to categorize individuals
from a portrayal through their ac
tions. The individuals who creat
ed the firebombs that scorched
dozens of sport utility vehicles
here in Eugene must have
thought what they were doing
was morally right, or they would
not have gone to such an extreme.
In this country, our popular cul
ture praises people who act out
side the law to achieve their own
moral victories. Perhaps this is be
cause this nation has a tradition of
civil disobedience. The average
hero from any discount action
movie usually breaks the law to
put the criminals in jail. And in
the case of the ELF, its members
must believe their sabotage is nec
essary to stop what they perceive
as the criminal abuse of die natu
ral world. But the ELF is not justi
fied in pursuing such a course of
action, despite the glamorization
of the renegade with justice on his
or her side, because that image has
no basis in any real political truth.
Looking at their actions in
this light, it is not so difficult to
understand these home-grown
terrorists. They likely do not
think of themselves as terrorists,
but as moral crusaders. Yet this
concept does not appear to have
been accepted by anyone be
cause the ELF continues to be
lambasted for its violent means
by most logical folks who have
an opinion on the matter.
Fortunately, this is true be
cause most logical people under
stand that when individuals
reach a point where they believe
anything they do, including vio
lence, is justified because of their
faith in the moral standing of
their political agenda, they have
crossed a line in our society.
The attacks connected to
groups within the ELF are un
American not because they target
capitalism, SUVs or police offi
cers. There is no glamor in vio
lence when it comes to changing
public policy because history
shows that most political change
came through nonviolent means.
Martin Luther King Jr. isn’t a na
tional hero because he torched
buses in Montgomery, Ala.
We have become a civilized, ra
tional society, with rules to follow
when enacting public-policy
change. The ELF may desire
change, but people who adhere to
its philosophy and have chosen vi
olence also chose to separate them
selves from the American public.
At one time, this country’s citizens
did have to resort to violent means
to pursue their agenda, but that
time, thankfully, is behind us.
Environmental terrorists do
not draw fire from rational indi
viduals because of their beliefs,
but because of their actions.
Saving the environment is a no
ble pursuit, and one that has
been taken up quite effectively
by more sensible organizations.
Political violence just hurts the
work done by non-violent ac
tivists and gives a bad name to
the environmental cause.
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald’s editor in chief and does not nec
essarily represent the views of the Oregon
Daily Emerald.
Letters to the editor
Classified staff’s opinion on
Cox wasn’t represented
With the announcement of Joe
Cox’s "non-retirement,” the media
has gone to heroic lengths to praise
his "accomplishments.” Indeed, one
would think he was the greatest thing
to happen to higher education since
the advent of the microprocessor.
Of all the people interviewed,
however, not one classified staff
member was asked for an opinion.
This doesn’t surprise me with The
Register-Guard; given their own la
bor problems, they would like to
forget the people who do real work
altogether. And I suppose The Ore
gonian is just too big to go into much
detail where something as trivial as
higher education is concerned. As
for the ODE — well, perhaps clerks,
janitors and plumbers just aren’t
sexy enough to warrant attention.
However, had some enterprising
journalist deigned to inquire within
the cubicles and dishrooms, or even
put in a call to OPEU headquarters, he
or she might have found a somewhat
different point of view. Space limita
tions will not permit me to go into
much detail, but the short list would
include: increased management and
decreased classified numbers to an
unconscionable 1-1.4 ratio; a lowered
standard of living across the board for
staff; contentious relations between
management and labor far beyond
anything I have witnessed in my near
ly 23 years here; and the plummeting
of morale in general to new lows.
At the risk of sounding petulant,
then: "Joe, we wished we’d never
known ye."
BillSmee
Service Employees International
Union Local 503, Oregon Public
Employees Union Steward
Editorials overlook smoking's risks
The July 3rd and 12th edi
torials criticizing Eugene’s
smoking ban are mislead
ing and fail to address the
law’s real purpose. The new
smoke-free workplace law was
not designed to make smokers
quit. Nor will it prevent people
from smoking outside.
The true purpose of the
smoke-free workplace law is to
protect workers (and members of
the general public while they are
inside others’ workplaces) from
the harm caused by secondhand
smoke. Bar and restaurant em
ployees in Eugene will enjoy the
same protection as office person
nel, retail clerks and many other
workers who were already pro
tected before July 1st by either
government or individual em
ployer policies.
When it comes to workplace
hazards, there is no difference be
tween secondhand smoke and
toxins such as asbestos, except
that secondhand smoke sickens
and kills many more people. The
Environmental Protection Agency
categorizes secondhand smoke as
a known human carcinogen, plac
ing it in the most dangerous cate
gory reserved for substances in
cluding radon, benzene and
asbestos. The only practical way
to deal with a workplace hazard
like secondhand smoke is to re
move it.
Tobacco continues to be the
No. 1 preventable killer in Ore
gon and the United States. For
every eight smokers who die
from a smoking-related illness,
one nonsmoker perishes with
them. The new law will prevent
some of those needless deaths.
In addition to increased pro
tection from secondhand smoke,
requiring smokers to take it out
side will decrease the social ac
ceptability of smoking. Seven
out of 10 smokers say they want
to quit, and some will use the
change as an opportunity to cut
r
Guest Commentary
JuliaAbeles
Paula Staigbt
down or quit altogether. Eugene’s
smoke-free workplace law will
save lives.
The Eugene City Council spent
a great deal of time and energy
examining the issue of second
hand smoke in the workplace.
The council heard from hundreds
of supporters and opponents, citi
zens, employers and business
groups by phone, e-mail and letter
and in marathon-long public hear
ings. After enduring this arduous
process, seven out of eight city
councilors voted to protect work
ers from the dangers of second
hand smoke.
Though the Emerald’s editor
may seek out smoke-filled water
ing holes for himself, most prefer
to avoid exposure to second
hand smoke while eating and/or
drinking. According to the Uni
versity Health Center’s annual
survey of University students, a
mere 15 percent say they are reg
ular smokers. Anyone who fre
quents Eugene’s bar scene would
be forgiven for thinking those
numbers were much higher.
Think of all the missing non
smokers who want to breathe
clean air while socializing, lis
tening to live music and enjoy
ing Eugene’s night life.
Contrary to the editorial opin
ion that prohibition politics do
not work, the Californian experi
ence shows just how effective a
comprehensive prohibition on
smoking in the workplace can be.
After three years of smoke-free
workplaces, including bars, not
only are most Californian workers
protected from secondhand
smoke, but smoking rates and
lung-cancer deaths are declining
faster than anywhere else in the
country, increasing numbers of
Californians do not allow smok
ing in their homes and a majority
of Californian smokers say they
prefer to dine out in smoke-free
restaurants.
Many businesses waited until
the last minute to obtain a build
ing permit application for a smok
ing area to receive a short-term re
prieve from the ban. The
last-minute influx caused confu
sion among employees and cus
tomers alike. Of those 31 busi
nesses with the exemption, some
have no place to build outdoors
and others already have ample
outdoor seating. Undoubtedly, a
handful of obstinate business
owners have exploited the tempo
rary exemption that was intended
to give small businesses the nec
essary time to fund and build out
side seating.
Fortunately, the city of Eugene
is following up to ensure busi
nesses are constructing outdoor
seating in accordance with the
law, and it seems likely that
many of those currently exempt
ed will be given less than six
more months to become smoke
free.
Finally, what message does the
Emerald send when it aligns it
self with the personal rights
mantra of the tobacco industry?
Smoke-free workplace laws that
lead to lower consumption of
cigarettes threaten big tobacco.
Despite overwhelming scientific
evidence, the industry continues
to lie about the dangers of sec
ondhand smoke in order to pro
tect its profits. The Emerald has
a responsibility to the University
community. A pro-tobacco slant
only serves to line the pockets of
greedy corporations and jeopard
ize the health of students.
Paula Staight is the health education director
for the University Health Center and Julia
Abeles is the tobacco prevention coordinator
for Eugene with Tobacco Free Lane County.
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