Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
RO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Monday, October 15 2001
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Michael J. Kleckner
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Editorial
Audit was a
good move
Congratulations are in order to
Athletic Director Bill Moos and
the University Athletic Depart
ment for undergoing an audit at
time when department spending has
come under scrutiny.
In light of the recent financial investi
gation into charges that coach Rick
Gamez misappropriated $5,748.64 from
the women’s softball team travel funds,
the decision to ask the Oregon Universi
ty System to audit the entire department
makes the trustworthiness of Moos’ em
ployees questionable.
Moos told the Emerald he is not
confident that all fraudulent abuses of
athletic travel funds have been detect
ed. If the Athletic Department head is
forced to request an audit from an out
side source because he cannot trust
his own staff, how can students or ath
letes trust these people to manage
money?
Obviously, Moos is practicing good
public relations by being honest about
his department’s potential shortcom
ings. In the midst of a phenomenal foot
ball season, any other college might be
wont to hide discrepancies in their ath
letic travel budgets. But as the Universi
ty moves into the top tier of athletic suc
cess, we must be careful not to
embarrass ourselves when all eyes are
on the Ducks.
In college athletics, there has always
been “wiggle room” for coaches to
fudge their accounting records. But
just because the opportunity is there
doesn’t mean that coaches should
abuse their authority. A new system of
checks and balances may need to be
incorporated into the department’s
current system, depending on the re
sults of the OUS audit.
For the University’s sake, we hope
that the audit does not find any more
discrepancies within Moos’ depart
ment. After all, in the wake of the em
barrassment from misappropriated do
nations found in academic
departments during the state’s summer
audit, the integrity of the University as
a whole is on the line.
EDITORIAL POLICY
These editorials represent the opinion
of the Emerald editorial board. Responses
can be sent to letters@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.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Jessica Blanchard
editor-in-chief
MichaelJ. Kleckner
managing editor
Gabe Shaughnessy
community
representative
Julie Lauderbaugh
editorial page edifor
Jacquelyn Lewis
assistant editorial
editor
Grant Leffler
community
representative
Tom Patterson
newsroom representative
There’s no hope
with dope
Reality is harsh and of
ten cold. We examine
its rough texture a lit
tle closer in college,
peering into the empty hall
ways. And sometimes it’s ar
duous and pulls at your mind
with tiny claws. You begin to
understand how a fish feels
out of water, with its head
chopped off. Vulnerable and
entrapped, the psyche is call
ing from within, saying, “Let
me escape.” But how can we?
How can we escape? Is there
really a
forget
about
life’s end
less prob
lems?
Some
people
may tell
you that
they’ve
found the
way.
Debenham
Columnist
They
have
found
what finally makes them feel
good. Unfortunately, what
many turn to is drugs, and if
you’re in Eugene, it’s probably
marijuana. I’m sure you’ve
smelled sweet “Mary Jane” or
seen “Lucy in the Sky with Di
amonds” at some point in
time, and if not, it’s likely that
you will.
Some day in the future
someone may invite you to in
hale that famous green weed.
They’ll say something like,
“Hey, it’s only a plant man.
You know, Indians smoked
this stuff in peace circles. Just
relax.” Yes, I’ve heard every
thing in the book, from the
idea of becoming more spiritu
al to the enhancement of the
senses. And admittedly, it does
sound appealing.
It’s quite a temptation — fi
Peter Utsey Emerald
nally you can block out every
thing that is crowding your
mind and be, in Pink Floyd’s
words, “Comfortably Numb.”
But if the experience turns out
to be good, then you’ll probably
want to feel that way again, and
then what is to prevent you
from doing it again?
And if you’re always high,
where are you really? Who are
you? When there’s so little
you can control in life, at least
you can usually control your
self. Nobody wants to be told
what to do, but when you’re
on drugs, the drugs are telling
your brain what to do or what
not to do. The drugs are
telling you how you feel, mak
ing you laugh, making you see
things. It’s not yourself. It’s
not real. If it was real, you
wouldn’t need a substance to
get the feelings again.
My personal experience
with people who use marijua
na heavily has been this: They
seem to have little motivation
or desire to do much of any
thing. The drug is everything.
As a result, their education be
gins to suffer, and they’re usu
ally out of shape. It also gives
people the “munchies,” which
I’ve been told makes you usu
ally crave unhealthy or greasy
food. So, it’s quite likely you’ll
gain weight. Also, I’ve heard
the drug hinders short term
memory and makes coordina
tion difficult, increasing car
accidents. The National Insti
tute on Drug Abuse says,
“Someone who smokes five
joints per week may be taking
in as many cancer-causing
chemicals as someone who
smokes a full pack of cigarettes
every day.”
With the recent terrorist at
tacks on our country, this should
be a time of support and patriot
ism. Marijuana and drug traffick
ing are tied to organizations such
as the Taliban, so drug-users are
indirectly supporting these or
ganizations. Besides all this — as
if it weren’t enough — we’re
poor college students, and drugs
are expensive! Instead of spend
ing 50 bucks to get high and just
sit around and stare at things, go
to a concert or on a road trip. Try
something new.
There’s so much more to expe
rience in the world that doesn’t
involve the risks you will en
counter when you take marijua
na or any other kind of drug. Per
sonally, I’ve got better things to
do than “Puff the Magic Dragon.”
Tara Debenham is a columnist for the
Oregon Daily Emerald. Her opinions do
not necessarily reflect those of the
Emerald. She can be reached at
taradebenham@dailyemerald.com.
Poll Results:
Every week, the Emerald
prints the results of our
online poll 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: What
anniversary is the University
celebrating this year?
Results: 136 total votes
10—5.2 percent, or 7 votes
125 — 79.4 percent, or
108 votes
150—11.8 percent, or
16 votes .
200—0.7 percent, or 1 vote
Don't know—3.0 percent,
or 4 votes
Wow, 135 votes (and most of
them correct) on our easiest
question so far. Those signs
all over campus must be
sinking into students’
subconscious.
This week’s poll question: What
would you add totheASUO
Street Fair?
The choices:
Minstrels, mimes and jugglers
Meals under $5
Beer garden
Karaoke
Evil clowns on stilts
Toby’s Tofu Palace
Don’t know
Weigh in on the full
page ad debate
From the editors
Some readers may note the full
page advertisement in today’s
Emerald regarding the U.S. military
response to the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks. The ad sparked controversy
when it recently appeared in other
college campus newspapers
across the nation.
As with other potentially offensive
ads that are submitted for
publication in the Emerald, there
was concern over whether it
would needlessly offend a
significant portion of our readers.
Before making the decision about
whether a potentially offensive
ad will run in the paper, our
advertising director will often
gather input from staff members in
the news, production and
advertising departments.
The general consensus about
today’s ad was that the opinions
expressed in it deal with a political
issue that is being discussed and
debated around the country in the
wake of the attacks, and that it
should not be necessary on a
college campus to censor political
speech from our readers.
We invite the campus community
to debate the issues raised by
the ad’s content. Readers can
write letters to the editor or
guest columns that meet our
standard guidelines, and either
drop them off in our office in Suite
300 of the EMU or e-mail them to
letters@dailyemerald.com. We will
attempt to run all opinion pieces we
receive regarding this issue.