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PO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
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www.dailyemerald.com
Editor in Chief:
. Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Monday, February 26,2002
Editorial
Fund basic
repairs before
purchasing
new bricks
The University has begun a campaign this
year in hopes of raising funds to repave the
intersection of 13th Avenue and University
Street to celebrate the school’s 125th anniversary.
The advertising campaign for the project urges
donors to purchase an engraved brick or “paver”
— a stone block larger than the brick — to reserve
their place at the “Heart of Campus.” The Office of
University Advancement is selling the bricks
(which cost $125 each, in honor of the Universi
ty’s anniversary year) and pavers (which are
$1,876 each, the same as the University’s found
ing year) to honor their achievements and create a
permanent legacy for themselves.
What was the University thinking? Beautifica
tion of campus is important, but the school is fac
ing a multimillion-dollar deficit and some build
ings and programs are falling apart at the seams
because the University has lacked the funding to
do even the most basic repairs and maintenance.
How logical is it to ask potential donors to pony
up for a campus beautification project when the
school could benefit far more from soliciting do
nations in other areas? Fundraisers would make a
bigger impact on students by seeking donations
for academic programs or scholarships, or build
ing construction or remodels — far more practical
causes than lining the streets outside the Erb
Memorial Union with attractive bricks.
Brick and paver buyers would fare better by
creating a permanent legacy by contributing to ac
ademic research, scholarships or athletics. Cer
tainly the repaving would be more aesthetically
pleasing, but it is hard to believe that this particu
lar project will create more of a “Heart of Campus”
than what already exists. There are a number of
improvement projects around campus that could
make better use of hefty donations instead of
bricks and pavers in front of the EMU.
Editorial Policy
editorial board. Responses can be sent to
letters@daiiyemeraid.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 rigntto edit for space, grammar and style.
‘Iron Mike’fits boxing to a T’
C C T ron Mike” Tyson is
I back in the news, in
.Lease you’ve been hid
ing under a rock for the past
month or you’re not into
sports. Undisputed World
Heavyweight Champion
Lennox Lewis finally bit the
bullet and agreed to fight
Tyson on April 6 in Las Ve
gas, a break Tyson has been
itching
for since
Lewis
first won
the title.
Then,
just
when his
sagging
career
was fac
ing possi
ble re
vival,
Tyson
mucked
things up
by attacking Lewis’ en
tourage at a press conference
last month.
Nevada’s boxing commis
sion quickly denied Tyson’s
request for a license in a 4-1
decision. “I am a human be
ing,” Tyson was quoted as
saying to the commissioners,
“but I haven’t been treated
that way. I haven’t been writ
ten that way.” He then
demonstrated his humanity
by going out to the parking
lot and publicly calling
Lewis a coward. “I’m going
to fight him anytime I see
him in the streets,” he said.
Human being Mike Tyson
has served three years in
prison for sexual assault and
one year for “road rage” as
sault. He also was suspend
ed from boxing for a year af
ter the infamous ear-biting
incident against Evander
Holyfield. On top of that,
Nevada police are currently
investigating two separate
rape charges against him.
Oh, the humanity!
The Association of Boxing
Commissioners has called
for all states to uphold Neva
da’s decision. My old stomp
ing ground, Texas, flirted
Rorick
Columnist
with hosting duties. Eddie
Gossage of Dallas’ Texas Mo
tor Speedway, home to mon
ster trucks, drag racing and
NASCAR, was a contender
but ultimately declined.
“We cannot sell our val
ues,” Gossage said. “Texas
Motor Speedway is a clean
cut, family-oriented ven
ue.” Beer-guzzling, mullet
headed rednecks may take
their families out to the
races, but I’d hardly call
them clean-cut. Gossage
briskly ended the interview
when a reporter brought
this to his attention.
In the end it didn’t matter,
though. Gov. Rick Perry actc
ally wanted to arrest the
fighter for failing to register
as a sex offender. With his
recommendation, Texas De
partment of Licensing and
Regulation Executive Direc
tor Bill Kuntz denied Tyson
Steve Baggs Emerald
license request.
“Psycho Mike-o” was able
to get a license in Georgia. It
should be noted, however,
that that state’s only require
ments are $10 and proof of
physical, not mental, fit
ness. Not everyone was hap
py about the lax rules,
though. Gov. Roy Barnes, in
a touching Valentine’s Day
speech to a women’s group,
said his state should not
grant any privileges to a
“sexual predator” like
Tyson. Tyson’s camp, sens
ing a little hostility, moved
on to the next state.
Colorado Gov. Bill Owens
echoed Perry and Barnes’
sentiment, saying a Tyson
fight would tarnish his
state’s image. Lucky for
Tyson, there is one place
with an image so foul not
even he could tarnish it fur
s ther: Washington, D.C. The
Boxing and Wrestling Com
mission voted unanimously,
3-0, to grant Tyson a license
last week.
That’s right. Our nation’s
capital has embraced a man
no one else will touch. But
before you condemn Wash
ington for reaffirming its
sleaziness once again, con
sider the logic behind deny
ing Tyson a license in the
first place. Can anyone really
be too brutal for boxing,
America’s most violent
“sport”? This is a game
where the surest way to win
is to beat an opponent un
conscious with one’s bare
hands. Nice guys just don’t
do that for a living, so is it
any wonder boxing attracts
scumbags like Tyson?
E-mail columnist Aaron Rorick
at aaronrorick@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
reflect those of the Emerald.
Harvard professors libertarian legacy will live on
In 1971, the academic world
was awash with quotes from
John Rawls’ “Theory of Jus
tice.” Rawls’ book covered the
philosophic basis for a bureaucrat
ic welfare state which would re
distribute wealth'in order to help
the disadvantaged.
In 1974, Harvard professor
Robert Nozick’s book, “Anarchy,
State, and Utopia” demolished
Rawls’ ideas. Nozick argued that
since the rights of the individual are
primary, nothing more than a mini
mal state is. justified. Nozick’s book
won the National Book Award and
was named one of the “Hundred
Most Influential Books Since the
War” by the New York Times.
Regretfully, on Jan. 23, Nozick,
extolled by many as “a brilliant
and provocative scholar,” died of >
stomach cancer at age 63.
Law professor Alan Dershowitz,
longtime friend of Nozick, said
Nozick “was a University profes
sor in the best sense of the term. He
was constantly rethinking his own
views and sharing his new ideas
with students and colleagues. His
unique philosophy has influenced
generations of readers and will
continue to influence people for
generations to come.”
What was this unique philoso
phy? In the opening sentence of
“Anarchy, State and Utopia,” Noz
ick wrote, “individuals have rights,
and there are things no person or
group may do to them” (without vio
lating their rights). According to
Nozick, the state may not use its co
ercive apparatus for the purpose of
getting some-citizens toaid ethersr or
Guest Commentary
Tonie
Nathan
in order to prohibit activities to peo
ple for their own good or protection.
It would seem Nozick’s book is more
timely today than ever, given ongo
ing debate over assaults on individ
ual rights by newly adopted federal
laws such as the Patriot Act.
Also included in “Anarchy,
State and Utopia” are: an impor
tant new theory of distributive jus
tice; a model of utopia which sup
ports the theory of the minimal
state; and the integration of ethics,
legal philosophy and economic
theory into a profound and unified
position in politicaLphilosophy.
In the 1970s, Nozick’s challeng
ing views put him in a firestorm of
controversy, gaining him consider
able attention and influence in the
world beyond Harvard. “Anarchy,
State, and Utopia” transformed him
from a young philosophy professor,
known only within his profession,
to the reluctant theoretician of a na
tional political movement exempli
fied by the Libertarian Party, today
the third-largest political party in
this country. Nozick’s book unwit
tingly boosted the party’s prestige in
academic circles and increased pub
lic support for the party’s limited
government position.
In his youth, Nozick was a
member of the radical left who
converted to a libertarian per
spective as a graduate student af
ter reading conservative econo
mist Friedrich Hayek and liber
tarian economists Milton Fried
man and Murray Rothbard.
Nozick used his teaching as a
way of working out his ideas. With
one exception, Nozick never
taught the same course twice.
Speaking without notes, Nozick
would pace restlessly back and
forth, drawing his students into a
free-ranging discussion of the top
ic at hand. Nozick said, “Present
ing a completely polished and
worked-out view doesn’t give stu
dents a feel for what it’s like to do
original work in philosophy and to
see it happen, to catch on to doing
it.” His importance and influence
on students is unquestionable.
Tonie Nathan graduated from
the University in the Class of 71