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E-mail: editor@dailyemeralcl.com
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www.dailyemerald.com '
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Michael J. Kleckner
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Monday, November 19,2001
Editorial
Act of discrimination
brings up question
An unfortunate event occurred on Thursday night
when Emerald reporters attempted to attend a
news briefing for local media at McKenzie
Willamette Hospital. Our student journalists were dis
criminated against because of their casual appearance and
lack o f paperwork.
After it was confirmed that Emeritus Physics Professor
Bernd Crasemann and his assistant opened an envelope
with a granular substance and feared they may have been
exposed to anthrax, an unidentified University employee
checked himself into the hospital. The employee was
scared that he had come into contact with the biological
agent while handling the suspicious letter.
The magnitude of this incident prompted the Emerald
to send reporters and photographers to the hospital for a
media briefing to discuss the situation. Many other local
news reporters were present to hear what hospital spokes
people had to say. However, Emerald reporters were not
; immediately allowed into the conference because they
apparently didn’t look like “real” journalists and did not
have “press passes.”
Hospital workers and security team members further
complicated the situation by shuffling our news team
back and forth between hospital entrances four times.
They were told to go to the different entrances for the
briefing, and wasted more than 30 minutes searching for
a viable entrance.
Finally, after the conference was virtually over and oth
er members of the press (notably television news crews)
were leaving to prepare their stories, security let the Emer
ald reporters inside. After more than half an hour of cut
ting through red tape, our reporters were able to question
Tom Hambly, McKenzie-Willamette’s manager of emer
gency services. Luckily, Hambly realized the importance
of getting news to University students and granted us an
interview.
Getting accurate, thorough and balanced news to stu
dents is the Emerald’s primary concern, especially when
an event such as this happens on campus.
But more importantly, the incident raises serious ques
tions: Who determines what a “legitimate” reporter looks
like or what a “legitimate” news organization is? Who is
sues press passes? If those who issue the passes don’t like
the way a news organization covers a story, can they re
voke the passes?
These issues are being discussed by the Eugene Police De
partment, which has formed a committee to look into media
| access issues. Right now, the committee is seeking input on
an identification policy that would require members of the
media to provide credentials to gain access to events.
Credentials or not, members of the media need access to
sources in order to inform the public. The Emerald re
porters were trying to do just this, and they showed identi
fication and told the security guards the name of the hos
pital’s spokesperson, who they had been instructed to
ask for when they arrived. The hospital should apologize
for the embarrassing incident.
More weeks = more education
In case you haven't figured it out yet,
students at the University question
ably enjoy a quarter-based educa
tional system. Three times a year, 10
weeks at a time, we drag ourselves
through the mud of an academic rut.
Every term it is the same old thing.
For the first and last weeks, you basi
cally do nothing. Weeks four and five
quickly arrive — along with the
midterms. Pretty soon it is week eight,
and you have finally just started to un
derstand the underlying theme of the
course. By this point, you see the light
at the end of the tunnel, and the words
“getting a good grade” are replaced
with “just hoping to pass.”
The quarter
system does have
some advantages.
While all your
high school bud
dies are heading
back to their se
mester schools,
you are sitting
back enjoying the
wonderful days of
a late Oregon
summer. Students
in a quarter sys
tem get the oppor
tunity to take 50
percent more
classes than our semester counterparts.
This adds variety and more room for
those classes we really want to take.
The quarter system also makes the tor
ment of having to take a required math
class at a liberal arts college much less
painful.
Proponents of the quarter system
also argue that students can graduate
in a shorter amount of time. This is fine
for those who are going to college to
simply get their credentials, but some
students are here for much more.
If you are attending college for its
original purpose of gaining knowledge,
then the semester system is much more
learning-based. Switching to a semes
ter system would provide us all the op
portunity to obtain a higher quality ed
ucation. We could complete an
assignment, receive it back and actual
ly have a chance to learn from our mis
takes before the next assignment is
due. Most classes in the quarter system
produce a measure of a student's per
formance entirely too late for it to be
corrected. This isn't an excuse for lazi
Oliver
Columnist
Peter lltsey Emerald
ness, but a rational observation that a
quarter system is a barrier to the actual
process of learning.
Being a college student in today's
world is much different than in the
past. Students must manage a full load
of classes, a part-time or sometimes
full-time job and — they hope — with
the time left, a social life. In the quarter
system, if you have to work the night
shift the day before a quiz and do poor
ly, it will haunt you for the rest of the
term.
The semester system should not be
implemented just so we can all spend
more weeknights at the bars, but we
must be realistic and understand that
college is much more than just quizzes,
papers and midterms.
Fifteen weeks of school gives stu
dents more time to take in the informa
tion, analyze it and then finally under
stand it. It is also a good idea for stu
dents at a research university to
actually have time to do research.
Time, though, is at the top of every col
lege student's wish list, and the quarter
system just makes it even worse.
The bottom line is the quarter sys
tem pumps students through like a fac
tory with a bad product. The Universi
ty needs to follow the lead of the
nation's top universities and transition
into a semester system for its own good
— as well as its students.
Jeff Oliver is a columnist for the Oregon Daily
Emerald. His opinions do not necessarily reflect
those of the Emerald. He can be reached
at jeffoliver@dailyemerald.com.
Letters to the editor
Radical Arabs threaten Israel
Pat Payne is correct in pointing out
the relationship between Nazis and
Arab extremists, but he does not go far
enough back in history (“End home
grown terrorism,” ODE, 11/06). In fact,
a number of Arab leaders, most notably
the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, were no
torious Nazi sympathizers during
World War II.
The Grand Mufti did everything
within his power to make it impossible
for the Jews and Arabs of Palestine to
live in peace, agitating Arab attacks on
the Jewish inhabitants who lived in the
region or immigrated there upon their
release from the Nazi concentration
camps. These attacks were a major
cause of the United Nations’ partition
of Palestine that resulted in the creation
of the state of Israel.
This legacy of anti-Jewish racism has
persisted among the radical Arabs to
the present day and is one major reason
why Israel cannot put its own security
at risk. They are living among a sea of
people who will not be satisfied until
Israel is obliterated.
Geoff Cooper
law student
Right against rights
In response to Attorney General John
Ashcroft’s order to take action against
Oregon doctors who prescribe lethal
drugs for terminally ill patients: I just
love how Republicans support states’
rights, except when they don’t like
what the states are doing.
Chuck Slothower
freshman
pre-journalism
Stein for governor
Only one candidate for governor has
taken a stand against the crippling rate
increases approved by the state Public
Utility Commission. It was Beverly
Stein. She demanded that the commis
sion demonstrate some leadership by
rolling back rate hikes.
It’s not the first time that Bev Stein
has stood up to the PUC. In the late
1970s, she sued the PUC on behalf of
senior citizens and was successful in
postponing a rate increase.
Stein is one candidate demonstrating
leadership in this time of economic cri
sis. We’re already in a recession, and
increases in the cost of living and natu
ral gas when we’re already in a reces
sion will absolutely cripple some man
ufacturing companies.
I wonder where the other candidates are
on this issue. That’s only one of the many
reasons I’m supporting Stein for governor.
Arnold H. Ismach
emeritus professor of journalism
University of Oregon
Poll Results
Every week, the Emerald
prints the results of our
online poll and the poll
question for next week. The
pol I can be accessed from
the main page of our Web
site,
www.dalfyemerald.com, We
encourage you to send us
feedback about the poll
questions and results.
Last week’s poll question:
Do you agree with Oregon’s
assisted suicide faw?
Results: 88 total votes
Yes — 65 votes, or 73,9
percent
No — 22 votes, or 25.0
percent
Don't know — 1 vote, or 11
percent
The results speak for
themselves; Oregonians
voted for choice.
This week’s poll Question:
What is your favorite aspect
of Thanksgiving break?
The choices;
Food
Football
Pilgrims
No class
Don't know