Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
PO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
www.dailvemerald.com
Tuesday, September 25,2(X)1
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Michael J. Kleckner
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
OPEU settlement
still not enough
Food services. Maintenance. A clean learning envi
ronment. They are just a few of the campus
amenities we usually don’t think much about.
However, members of the Oregon Public Employ
ees Union work behind the scenes every day to keep this
and other Oregon universities functioning. Without
these workers, campus life would not run as smoothly.
In return for their services, union members requested
reasonable wages and benefits when they initiated a “re
opener” clause in their contract in April to discuss is
sues such as health insurance and salary.
After a long and frustrating negotiation process, fed
up OPEU members declared a bargaining impasse. On
Sept. 6, union members voted to go on strike if these re
quests were not met. Even after this, there were more ne
gotiations with little progress. OPEU and the Oregon
University System finally reached a tentative agreement
Friday.
We are glad OPEU workers didn’t strike. However, we
also feel the classified workers deserve more than they re
ceived. Whether we realize it or not, OPEU members are
integral parts of this campus. They perform job functions
essential to University life. If these classified workers
would have gone on strike, the effects would have been
felt by everyone at the University — from students moving
into dorms to faculty members needing clerical support.
While the settlement between OUS and OPEU in
cludes small cost-of-living salary increases — 2 percent
starting Jan. 1, 2002 and 3 percent Feb. 1, 2003 — along
with full health coverage for full-time employees, it is
still not enough for employees trying to make a living
and take care of families. Jacobson said OPEU has been
behind for at least 10 years in terms of what classified
workers make elsewhere in most comparable job cate
gories. Even if it is comparable to other workers, the in
crease barely covers inflation and isn’t enough for work
ers being paid so little.
The increases requested by OPEU were not extreme but
could have made a big difference to these workers. A min
imum wage of $0.95 per hour along with modest salary
and health benefit increases are not outrageous requests
from employees that are the lifeblood of the University.
OUS should have met their requests and given these un
derappreciated workers the contract they deserve.
Editorial Policy
These editorials represent the opinion of the Emerald editorial
board. Responses can be sent to editor@dailyemerald.com.
Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged.
Letters are limited to 250 words and guest commentaries to
550 words. Please include contact information. The Emerald
reserves the right to edit for space, grammar and style.
Let the thoughtful
discussions begin
Staff Commentary
Julie
Lauderbaugh
Most professional columnists are able to
spout long and complicated rants while
leaning hard to either the right or left side
of the political spectrum, preaching from
the safety of an impressive office space located in the
ivory tower of a respectable newsroom. These profes
sionals are also able to use run-on sentences at will.
I am not claiming to be one of those professionals.
In contrast, my preaching will be done from a small
Macintosh in the armpit of the EMU.
Either by luck, hoax or divine intervention, I have
become the new editorial editor for the Emerald, an
independent publication that has come under fire
over the years for its annoyingly liberal undercur
rents.
Personally, I don’t know how to label myself politi
Turn to Lauderbaugh,page 3
Show hosts carry on with laughter
At one o’ clock in the afternoon
New York time on Dec. 7,1941,
everything stopped. At that
time, 8 a.m. in Hawaii, the Em
pire of Japan launched an attack against
the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, draw
ing the United
Payne
Columnist
States into World
War II. At that same
time, people in
New York were
waiting for the 7
p.m. Sunday broad
cast of the wildly
popular “Jell-O
Program," starring
the radio and film
star, comedian Jack
Benny.
lean almost
imagine the cast
gathering around a
radio or listening to
announcers in the
broadcast booth and discussing what to
do next. Then perhaps Benny or anoth
er cast member rallied everyone, telling
them that the show had to go on.
With the expanding national emer
gency, those tuned into NBC stations at
7 p.m. heard a short blurb about how
news bulletins on the station would be
inserted as developments warranted.
Then the populace heard the reassuring
sounds of a quartet singing “ J-E-L-L
Ooooo!”and Don Wilson’s jovial voice
saying “It’s the Jell-O Program, staring
Jack Benny!”
The episode concerned the whole
cast’s trip to New York and included the
running gags concerning Jack’s vanity
and his sub-par violin playing. When
Benny talked of a performance he had
given at a local hall, he got this com
ment from co-star Mary Livingstone:
“Well, Jack, if you toy with the word
‘lovely...’”
“Lavely, luvely, lous
Bennyto you!”
•That's Mister
In short, the cast did not allow the
war to intrude on their broadcast. There
would be plenty of time for that in the
coming four years. After Benny’s per
sonal friend Carole Lombard died in a
plane crash, for instance, he refused to
do a program that Sunday. He insisted
that tasteful music replace the broad
cast.
But on Dec. 7, they soldiered on. It
was a time to give the American people
something to laugh at.
At nine o' clock in the morning New
Steve Baggs Emerald
York time on Sept. 11,2001, everything
stopped. As everyone knows now, ter
rorists attacked the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon.
For nearly a week, all of New York’s
entertainment ceased after the tragedy
hit. Broadway shut down in anticipa
tion of more attacks. The New York
Yankees had their longest game stop
page since the United States entered
World War I. Dave Letterman’s “Late
Show,” usually taped daily in the early
evening at the landmark Ed Sulli van
Theater, was scrubbed. Although a few
cable networks continued with regular
broadcasts, even MTV and VHl for the
first time in their existence scrubbed
their usual programming to take on the
CBS newsfeed.
For the New-York-based shows, they
resumed after a week and a mayoral re
quest that life began to return to normal.
“Late Night” was not its usual zany self
on Sept. 17. The show began with what
is known as a "cold start,” meaning no
music or opening monologue. Instead,
we saw Letterman at his desk, giving
his impressions, with a somber tone, of
the previous five days. Although he
usually poked fun at New York Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani, Monday night there
was nothing less than high praise for
the way the mayor handled himself
during the crisis. The comedian nearly
burst into tears as he said that “because
of (Giuliani), I’m here tonight.”
The only real laugh came when guest
Regis Philbin came on. When asked
about his working relationship with
former co-host Kathie Lee Gifford, he
replied “There’s someone who can end
this in a hurry! You want a quick end to
this? You send Kathie Lee over there!”
There is one defining characteristic
of both these anecdotes. Even through
severe adversity, both Jack Benny and
Dave Letterman carried on. It would
have been very easy to just walk away
and never perform again, thinking that
in the changed world, there was no
room for laughter. But then, if that were
true, then the Axis, or the terrorists,
would have already won.
Pat Payne is a columnist for the Oregon Daily
Emerald. His opinions do not necessarily reflect
those of the Emerald. He can be reached at
patpayne@dailyemerald.com
Foundation funds spent appropriately
Guest Commentary
Dave
Frohnmayer
A misleading editorial appeared
in yesterday’s Emerald regard
ing an audit by the Secretary of
State. I was dismayed by this ed
itorial both because of the inaccurate pic
ture it paints of the use of donor funds
and the numerous factual errors upon
which its spurious argument is based.
The editorial ignores the fact that the
audit found no problem with the way in
which the vast majority of funds were
spent. It also declares that funds in
question were "meant for academic im
provements in individual depart
ments." This is simply false. The funds
in question were given for discretionary
purposes to be spent by the appropriate
authority as it determined. The Univer
sity Foundation scrupulously exam
ined every expenditure to be sure that
the donor's intent was followed. Every
one of the items questioned was found
by the University Foundation to be
within the intent of the donor.
The Foundation must ensure that
funds are spent in accordance with
donor intent, but it is the University’s ob
ligation to ensure that funds are spent for
purposes that achieve the institution’s
purposes. The expenditures noted fell
primarily into three categories: cultiva
tion of donors, team and morale building
within academic units, and business-re
lated expenses. Each of these expendi
tures was within donor intent and was
for legitimate university purposes.
The statement that these expenditures
“benefited the individuals who abused
their authority” is patently false. There
has been no abuse of authority. What has
occurred, within the intent ofthe donors’
restrictions, is the exercise of judgment.
One can argue with a given judgment.
But to categorize these expenditures as
violations of donor intent, abuses of au
thority, or benefiting individuals, is irre
sponsible and untrue. Your editorial
does precisely that of which you accuse
the University, which is to “put the Uni
versity in a negative light when the Ore
gon legislature decides to delegate
funds to higher education. ”
The audit did point at a number of ar
eas where procedural problems exist
ed, and the University has acted to rec
tify those as you noted. Running this
University is a public trust that my col
leagues and I take very seriously. One
can always question individual judg
ments, but we are responsible stewards
ofthe dollars invested in the Universi
ty, whether public or private. I would
challenge you to find an institution that
has accomplished more with less.
Dave Frohnmayer is president ofthe University of
Oregon.