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E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
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Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Wednesday, November 28,2001
Editorial
ASUO must halt
undue energy fee
A recent King County Superior Court rul
ing that abolished an annual energy fee
for University of Washington students is
encouraging, and offers hope to Univer
sity of Oregon students that our own $30 per stu
dent, per term fee could eventually be removed,
as well.
There are no lawsuits pending to challenge
the energy fee in Oregon at this time. But Jasmin
Weaver, the former student body president at
UW who filed the lawsuit, has proved that uni
versity student executives have real power to
combat nonessential fees. And if Washington
can do it, so can we.
The ASUO Executive should press the Uni
versity of Oregon administration for the imme
diate removal of the energy fee. The Washington
ruling stated that UW’s energy fee was classi
fied as a tuition increase, which, under Wash
ington law, can only be authorized by the state
legislature.
Washington, like Oregon, added the fee this
school year to compensate for rising energy
costs, which amounted to about $135 per stu
dent annually at UW. Now the university will
have to refund the $1.4 million, with interest,
back to students. It may be difficult to accom
plish the same feat here because of differing
budgetary procedures at the two schools. No
body knows whether the Washington court’s de
cision will even affect the University of Oregon.
But this ruling should serve as an example of
what could be, if students were to rally behind
the ASUO.
For its part, the ASUO needs to do more to get
our energy fee money back into the hands of stu
dents. While their efforts to improve conserva
tion around campus are admirable, ASUO Presi
dent Nilda Brooklyn and Vice President Joy Nan
should consider joining with the Oregon Stu
dent Association and other schools in the state
to help lobby for the end of the fee.
At a time when most students are struggling to
try to absorb the increase in their individual
heating and electricity bills, they shouldn’t have
to pick up the University’s electricity tab, too.
Energy conservation is a major concern on every
university campus, but unfair energy fees need
be attacked more aggressively.
And students, often apathetic to student gov
ernment, should be sure to follow this issue
closely — we need to speak up and let the Uni
versity of Oregon administration know that stu
dents won’t put up with any more tuition in
creases disguised as fees.
Editorial Policy
This editorial represents the opinion of the
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and guest commentaries are encouraged. Letters
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to 550words. Please include contact information.
The Emerald reserves the right to edit for
space, grammar and styie.
Jessica Blanchard
editor in chief
Editorial Board Members #;
3 Blanchard Jacquelyn lewis
>r in chlet assistant editorial editor:: ;!
Gabe Shaughnessy
community representative
Grant Lefller
community representative
JtiiiftLauderbaugfe
editorial editor
Thomas Patterson
newsroom representative
Steve Baggs Emerald
Letters to the editor
Candidates should
focus on Willamette
In light of the impending gubernato
rial race, it’s important that Oregonians
are outspoken about the serious issues
facing our Willamette River and insist
that their candidates make restoring
the Willamette central to their plat
forms. We’ve neglected our river for too
long, allowing it to become the most
toxic river west of the Mississippi. We
can no longer afford such dereliction.
We, and our leaders, need to get seri
ous now about cleaning up the
Willamette River. A five-and-a-half
mile stretch of the Willamette in the
Portland Harbor was declared a Super
fund site last December. The river re
ceives the most toxic discharge of any
Western body of water; four million
pounds of toxins were released into it
in 1997 alone. The Department of En
vironmental Quality found that 50 per
cent of all fish captured downstream
from Portland had skeletal deformities.
These are not qualities of a living river,
but those of a dying one.
Oregonians need to voice their con
cerns to Oregon's leaders and demand
that they do a better job of keeping the
Willamette healthy. The upcoming gu
bernatorial race is an opportunity to
make the Willamette River a first-order
concern instead of a first-rate disgrace.
We need to call upon the candidates
in this election to increase enforcement
of clean water laws and hold polluters
accountable for their actions. We need
to ensure, through prevention and in
formed stewardship, that the
Willamette doesn’t fall into its present
sickly state again.
Arek Fristensky
sophomore
English
Football fans need
to take responsibility
I work in an office in the EMU, so I
spend a lot of time there. As a result, I
know a lot of the people who work in
and around the EMU. Though I am no
football fan, I have no particular dislike
for it. But I do have an intense personal
dislike for inconsiderate people.
Upon arriving at the office one day
last week, I found a very large line
stretching through the basement. The
people in line were trying to get Civil
War tickets, I am told. A large pile of
garbage, including drink bottles, pa
pers, food wrappers, paper airplanes
and other types of detritus surrounded
this group.
Do any of these people realize that a
campus worker has to clean this up?
Does it dawn on any of these people
how rough they are making someone’s
job today? Grow up, children. You may
have jobs someday, too.
Randy Newnham
senior
anthropology, linguistics
A well-rounded waste of time
If there is one phenomenon that
strikes me as truly wasted time, it’s
the hours I’ve spent languishing in
oversized science lectures. We all
know the type: Geared toward non
science students who would sooner
amputate their arms than sit through
a vague, low-level biology class, but
are conscripted into doing so by the
requirements of the University. Yes,
these requirements are ostensibly de
signed to make bachelor of arts degree
candidates feel more well-rounded.
But honestly, how many of us are re
ally enlightened in any way through
the 12 credits of mandated science?
How many of us retain anything we
learn for longer than the final exam?
These classes are not only large and
impersonal, but also expensive. We
pay for the “privilege” of being forced
to partake in something we aren’t in
terested in.
Yes, the production of a well-round
ed student should be an important goal
of any decent college, but this is not
the answer. I find myself graduating
with a bitter dislike for science, which
has more to do with bad memories of
overcrowded lectures and endless
wrangling with GTFs over inflexible
syllabi than with the subject matter it
self. These requirements strangled my
“inner scientist” long ago. They should
be reconsidered.
Aaron Knott
senior
political science
Hard work of Executive
goes unnoticed
Two of the most competent stu
dents, Nilda Brooklyn and Joy Nair,
are at the head of our student govern
ment. However, it seems that the
countless hours they’ve spent during
the summer and this school year go
unrecognized, while a bogus griev
ance suddenly gains media attention.
It would be refreshing if the campus
media reported the progress of
ASUO’s fight against the energy fee,
the push for a Eugene housing code,
or the multitude of smaller cam
paigns and projects with the fervor
they have given to the unsubstantiat
ed grievance.
Nilda Brooklyn and Joy Nair have
initiated almost every office campaign
and are quick to intercept anything that
could be detrimental to students. Many
backdoor fee increases, tuition increas
es and incidental fee attacks would go
unnoticed if it weren’t for these two
young women. Their inspirational
leadership is unmatched, and I feel
confident to have them as the ASUO
president and vice president.
Dylan Domaille
sophomore
biochemistry