Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
PO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, March 12,2002
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Editorial
Women take
positive steps
in fight with
(rape culture’
Kudos are in order to the ASUO Women’s
Center for its valiant efforts to raise
awareness about sexual assault on cam
pus. Although the recent rally on March 5 was
underpopulated, partially because of bad
weather and midterms, it was a good step to
ward getting anti-assault messages out loud and
clear. Perhaps the message was a little too loud
for some ears.
Admittedly, the women are preaching to the
choir — most of the people involved in the fight
against sexual assault are well aware of its exis
tence. But the Women’s Center is not only
launching its assault awareness efforts toward its
own constituents. With a new program called the
Sexual Wellness Advocacy Team, groups like fra
ternities, sororities and residence hall residents
will be targeted with messages about healthy
| ways to prevent sexual violence.
The SWAT team will be composed of eight
I students, and the group will make multimedia
presentations to potential perpetrators and vic
tims of sexual violence. Although the effort may
not solve altogether the overlying social issue of
what some call “rape culture,” it is a good first
step at reaching out toward students who may
otherwise feel excluded by boisterous demon
strations and rallies.
Another commendable step the Women’s
Center is taking to harbor a safe environment
on campus is their Sexual Assault Communica
tion Board, which is a poster board located out
side their office. The board will feature reports
from the Department of Public Safety on any
assaults or attacks, a “word is” section where
anonymous postings concerning known attacks
or rapes on campus can be placed without
questions, and general support services infor
mation and information on other Women’s
Center events.
Although reaching potential sexual offenders
may be a difficult task, at least the Women’s
Center is taking steps to help both men and
women educate themselves on the issue. The
SWAT team and the communication board will
combat sexual assault by educating people on
the ramifications of attacks and get people
thinking about the issue. Sexual assault is a
complicated problem without any easy an
swers, and we should all work together to
find solutions.
Editorial Board Members
editor in chief
Jeremy Lang Jacquelyn Lewis
managing editor assistant editorial editor
Goida Portillo Leon Tovey
community representative newsroom representative
CORRECTION
Monday's news brief about die diversity forum (“Visitor
to discuss University’s diversity recommendations,"
ODE, March 11} should have said that University President
Dave Frohnmayer and Provost John Moseley would tead
the forum.
the Emerald regrets the error.
Taxing a pound of flesh
America is fat. We are a nation of belt
stretching, chair-breaking cows.
Don’t believe me? Take a good long
look at the people around you next time
you’re at Denny’s, the grocery store or
the $1.50 show at Gateway.
Or, if you prefer
more scientific evi
dence, take a gander
at this: According to
a Harris Poll re
leased last week, an
astonishing 80 per
cent of Americans
over the age of 25
are overweight.
That’s up from 64
percent in 1990 and
58 percent in 1983.
So what? This
means not very
many people are
going hun
Rorick
Columnist
gry. Better to have a few
extra pounds than a few
too little, right?
Not according to United
States Surgeon General"
David Satcher, who says obesi
ty is reaching “epidemic proportions.
Being overweight is a cause of type-2
diabetes, hypertension, high choles
terol, heart disease, stroke, cancer,
gallbladder disease, asthma, os
teoarthritis, depression and sleep ap
nea, among other things; is killing
some 300,000 people and is costing
the United States $117 billion each
year. Satcher thinks obesity will soon
cause as much preventable death and
disease as smoking cigarettes.
Hum. Oregon is currently in the
midst of a budget crisis. One
proposed solution is Gov.
John Kitzhaber’s “sin tax”
package, which would in
crease taxes on already grossly
overtaxed tobacco and alcohol
products. The most recent attempt
was voted down in the Oregon
House of Representatives, but another
will likelv come soon.
Now I haven’t been to Sunday school
in a while, but — if I remember correct
ly — gluttony is a sin, and a mortal one
at that. I don’t recall any mention of to
bacco in the Bible.
Oregon’s tax on the sale of cigarettes
is 68 cents a pack. Oregon’s tax on the
sale of Twinkies? Nothing.
percent of the population instead?
Wouldn’t that raise revenue a whole
lot faster? I doubt Hostess is a big
campaign contributor, so House Re
publicans might even pass my
Twinkie Tax.” And, revenue
aside, isn’t a public
health problem affecting
80 percent of the popu
lation a little more
pressing than a problem
affecting 23 percent?
If you don’t like that solu
tion, how about this: Get overweight
people to smoke. Cigarettes do keep
you thin. My score on the Body Mass
Index (the system used to measure obe
sity) is 19, a full six points below the
“overweight” barrier. Now look at those
Harris Poll statistics again. Do you see
the correlation? As smoking levels in
America dropped, the number of over
weight people rose. So I say let the
obese light up. And 68 cents a pack
times 80 percent of the population
equals more supplemental income
than the state could possibly use. No
more budget cuts or school clos
tin
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cool-looking corpses.
After all, a corpse is a corpse,
whether it got that way by eating too
xixuuxi ox sxxiuKixig iuo inucn. Ana
thin corpses take up less room than fat
The very same Harris Poll said 23
percent of Americans smoke. That’s
down from 26 percent in 1990 and 30
percent in 1983.
So, to balance the budget, politicians
want to tax the 23 percent of the popu
lation already being taxed. Call me
crazy, but why not tax that big, fat 80
ones, i nat solves our revenue problem
and our obesity problem, and it econo
mizes land use to boot. We’d still have
smoking to deal with, but I can live
with that.
E-mail columnist Aaron Rorick
ataaronrorick@dailyemerald.com. His opinions
do not necessarily reflect those of the Emerald.
Privatization privileges rich brats
In Jeff Oliver’s commentary entitled
“Better than a public school” (ODE,
March 5), he claimed that the solu
tion for the University’s budget prob
lems was to turn the University private.
Oliver complained that our school’s $8
million budget cuts were trying to be
solved with “generic” methods, like
raising tuition. His solutions, however,
would be to privatize the University
thus raising the tuition, in his words,
“drastically.”
Hold on, didn’t he say that was
generic? Going to college is all ready a
very exclusive right of the wealthier
members of our country. Why not up
the ante a bit more? Private schools
across our great nation are presently
filled to the brim with primarily upper
class student bodies. Oliver, it seems to
me, hasn’t had to work to pay for his
schooling or rent; he hasn’t had to delay
his higher education because mom and
dad didn’t have enough money in their
college fund for him.
I have had to work to pay for
Guest Commentary
Chris
Fischer
school. I have had to take time off and
work multiple jobs to be here in
school. Next semester, I will not be
here. I’ll be back home working, with
hopes of coming back in the fall.
Oliver’s argument is a generic one,
coming from a seemingly privileged
point of view. He complains that state
funding is wasted on other, smaller,
more affordable state schools. He
seems to be suggesting that Western
Oregon University is “wasting re
sources” by providing a more afford
able education. He is, and excuse me if
I am wrong, suggesting that maybe that
school should admit its inferiority and
begin “using its facilities as a correc
tional institution.” A fine idea. Along
those lines, wouldn’t we have more
room for inmates here?
Why should they close their school
before us? Because they don’t breed
NFL players or attack trust fund ba
bies. Oliver’s reluctance to share with
the less fortunate is what is funda
mentally wrong with our upper class.
Our upper class has always had the
power and the education to stay on
top. Making the University private
would be a generic solution keeping
the rich in school and the poor pick
ing up after them.
I have no solutions for our Universi
ty’s budget problems. But to blame the
“fringe” schools in Oregon does noth
ing. Why shouldn’t Oregon State Uni
versity be given equal funding? Its
agricultural focus needs to be support
ed in a time when our natural re
sources must be better utilized. If you
want a private school education, go to
Reed College, and there you can get a
“better product.”
COOhris Fischer is a junior exercise
and movement science major.