Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
PO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemeralcl.com
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Friday, February 8,2002
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Yesteryear’s Editorial
War Is
Inevitable
To a nook in a far corner
of a peaceful country is
brought the word, “War
in Europe is inevitable. It will
come within a few years. The
United States will be involved.”
The shock is almost as great
as it was in July, 1914. Many
had thought “the world safe
for democracy.” Many had be
lieved that the Great War was
the end of all wars. Those who
had for
gotten
the les
sons of
1917 are
begin
ning to
arouse
them
selves.
The mes
sage of
Charles Upson Clark recalls
martial scenes. It looks as
though the world had not
learned the lessons of peace,
just as it failed to learn lessons
from the war. Perhaps the av
erage citizen has settled back
to the same old apathy con
cerning world affairs. If he
has, he can blame no one but
himself for the failure of na
tions to come to some agree
ment whereby war will be
made impossible.
Dr. Clark knows conditions
in Europe. His predictions are
based on knowledge of fact. If
there should be a war, the Uni
versity of Oregon would be
called upon to take her place
just as in 1917. Then what
would culture and higher
standards avail?
If Dr. Clark’s predictions are
sound, four years of peace
have been a failure. And if it
has been a failure it has been
largely because the people, in
cluding college students, set
tled back into the old pre-war
apathy toward world affairs.
Editor's note: This editorial
was taken from the Februaiy
8, 1923 edition of the
Oregon Daily Emerald.
University
of Oregon
125th
ANNIVERSARY
Originally
published on
February 8,1923
Letters to the Editor
and Guest
Commentaries Policy
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.
'MiLK/NG -mis issue ToDeATrt, Are we, FeLLAS?...*
Letters to the edit
Everyone deserves decent health care
I am one of the many people in Oregon who
falls within the cracks of having no access to
affordable, decent health care and insurance. I
am just above the poverty level and cannot get
coverage under the Oregon Health Plan.
The Health Care for All Oregon initiative
would expand Oregon Health Plan into an um
brella that people of all income levels could
stand under. When people like us cannot af
ford preventive health care, we may wind up
in a position to need emergency care, running
up more costs in the long run than if we used
preventive health care.
The current situation hurts both men and
women, as well as children. Single women,
mothers and racial minorities are especially
vulnerable. Visit www.ohsu/edu/women/Re
portCard.htm or www.healthcareforallore
gon.org for more detail.
Every man, woman and child deserves de
cent health care.
Celia Starshine Levine
Eugene
Educational grants need funding
Oregon’s Legislature is making decisions
that will result in a powerful impact on those
seeking a post-secondary education. Both the
Student Childcare Block Grant and Oregon
Opportunity Grant may be decreased or cut be
cause of the $720 million shortfall in the budg
et. Other programs this affects are the Commu
nity College System and Oregon University
System budgets.
The proposed $2 million cut to the SCBG
means that many families covered by the fund
ing will be unable to attend school until 2003,
when the funding would be restarted. OOG
would suffer the same loss. Those relying on
grants would also need to find another way to
attend school. Between SCBG and OOG re
ductions, 433 families and 1,500 to 3,000 stu
dents would not be able.to attend school.
While we are in the middle of an economic
recession, it is extremely important to find the
funds for Oregonians to attend college to train
and relearn skills for employment. It should be
a main concern for state legislators to see to it that
these programs receive the appropriate funds.
Stephanie M. Reyes
Eugene
Expand educational and childcare funding
I’m writing to urge you to prioritize expand
ing funding for the Student Childcare Block
Grant, the Oregon Opportunity Grant, Com
munity College and Oregon University System
budget during the special session.
During this economic recession, Oregon
should prioritize increasing access to educa
tion by building on programs like the OOG.
Key to enabling low-income women to be
come hirable in the competitive work force is
the Student Childcare Block Grant. Numerous
studies have focused on the importance of ear
ly childhood development and issues of quali
ty standards and provider training. Research
addresses links between childcare costs and
the ability of low-income women to partici
pate in the. workforce. Studies examined the
scope of the demand for childcare and needs
of specific populations.
People relate to studies. According to the
Center for Research on Women, studies have
found children in self care, especially those
spending substantial hours on their own, face
greater risks. Compared to their supervised
peers, they’re more likely to have lower
grades, poorer social adjustment, increased
fears and greater susceptibility to peer pres
sure, as well as greater likelihood of using al
cohol and illegal drugs.
Other research has shown that when com
paring day care costs to a family’s income, it’s
clear that child care subsidies for low-income
and working mothers are a necessity for transi
tion from welfare to work. Studies document
how subsidies have been used for relative care,
center-based care and family-based care.
Thank you for supporting the expanded
funding for these initiatives.
James Larson
Eugene
Emerald needs to do its homework
The Emerald’s editorial (“University must
stay out of users’ personal files,” ODE, 1/29)
demonstrated the editorial board’s deep lack
of understanding of the underlying technolo
gy involved in the privacy issue.
In failing to properly research and under
stand file sharing technology, the Emerald has
compounded the ignorance surrounding per
sonal computers by neglecting to state that
when a user shares files on the Internet, those
files are readily available to anyone on the In
ternet, not only Computing Center staff.
The BBC reported that a major security flaw
was discovered in the common peer-to-peer
music sharing program, Morpheus. The story
was confirmed by ZDNet News.
This discovery emphasizes the fact that peo
ple sharing files on Internet-connected com
puters have a much greater security threat than
simple copyright enforcement. After all, one
hacker with access to you computer can steal
user names, passwords and account numbers
and then erase everything On your hard drive.
The University has a responsibility to bal
ance student, staff and faculty privacy rights
with the reality that UONet, the University’s
network, is meant for academic, research and
University-related business.
At the same time, the Emerald has the re
sponsibility to properly research topics before
taking an editorial stance, lest ignorance be
comes knowledge.
Patrick Chinn
V. ' ’‘ A University staff
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