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E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
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Tuesday, March 13,2002
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Editorial
Nation should
be colorblind
to Homeland
Security plan
On Tuesday, domestic security chief Tom Ridge proved
what we’d been suspecting all along — that the newly
established Office of Homeland Security is an utterly
useless, ridiculous waste of money.
In response to public complaints that government alerts since
Sept. 11 only scared people and didn’t provide enough guid
ance, Ridge announced that OHS created a five-level system in
tended to specify what state of “alert” the country should be on
for terrorist attacks, as well as actions government agencies
should take. Like stop lights, the system is based on colors, with
each color signifying a certain level of risk. For example, Ridge
says we are at “yellow” right now, which means an “elevated
condition” with significant risk for attack.
The color-coded system was meant to provide a “common vo
cabulary” and make it easier for government agencies and the
public to react to terrorist threats. However, all this will do is
cause more confusion. The common traffic signal colors — red,
yellow and green — would be a much simpler way to communi
cate. But what is the point anyway? What do we know now that
we didn’t know Monday? We’re on condition yellow now. That
doesn’t make things clearer than “medium” or “highest” level of
alert. The OHS could simply nix the color idea and — outra
geous, we know — simply tell people what to do.
If the system is so simple, why did it take so long to create? If
OHS was truly providing a useful service, a streamlined system
would have been issued months ago. We also have to wonder
how much money the process of creating this idea cost. With a
bloated $37.7 billion budget, OHS should have the resources to
devise more innovative strategies than useless color schemes.
While Ridge doesn’t have the legal power to implement this
system on his own, he urged officials everywhere to adopt it.
We’ve got a better idea: Officials should claim to be colorblind
and disregard the five-level system entirely. Even better, let’s get
rid of the Office of Homeland Security altogether, since it is ob
viously not doing the job it was intended to do.
C-list celebs refusing
to fade into obscurity
It’s a sad commentary on the state of small-screen entertain
ment when high-profile scandal mongers and former child
television stars face each other in the boxing ring to duke it
out for the title of biggest wash-up.
The prerecorded bouts will air tonight on Fox with Paula
Jones, who accused former President Bill Clinton of unwanted
sexual advances, pitted against the “pride of Portland” Tonya
Harding. Former “Brady Bunch” star Barry Williams will go
toe-to-toe with “Partridge Family” mediocre-actor-cum
mediocre-talk-show-host Danny Bonaduce. Originally Amy
“Long Island Lolita” Fisher was set to fight Harding but she
backed out, presumably to salvage some integrity. You could
say Fox has sunk to new levels with “Celebrity Boxing,” but
then again we can’t expect anything less from a network that
has aired such pop culture jewels as “Temptation Island,” and
“Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire.”
So why does Fox keep producing these kinds of shows? Be
cause C-list-type celebrities simply refuse to forgo their 15 min
utes of fame and fade into obscurity like any self-respecting loser
would. It’s time people like Harding and Jones leave the Ameri
can public alone — if we want to watch a staged fight, we’ll
watch WWF.
Editorial Policy
These editorials represents the opinion of the Emerald
editorial board. Responses can be sent to letters@dailyemerald.com,
' Letters to die editor and guest commentaries die encouraged.
1 etiers 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.
No one likes a back-seat driver
1 would like to respond to Diane
Huber’s article about the Designat
ed Driver Shuttle (“Shuttle criti
cized for unsafe climate,” ODE 3/8).
First of all, DDS is not Saferide.
Saferide is a wonderful program,
which I support. However, if you
need to get home at 2:30 in the
morning, call DDS. Please under
stand that your fellow riders have
been partying all night. Adjust your
expectations accordingly.
Apparently Melissa* doesn’t
have a clear idea of what DDS is
here for. DDS’s primary mission is
to get inebriated University stu
dents home safely. You need to un
derstand this when you get in the
van. These are drunken students.
They are not all going to be polite,
they are not all going to be on their
best behavior. The people that work
for DDS understand this. Often the
bad behavior is directed at us. Peo
ple yell at us, curse us and threaten
us. For the most part, unless it be
comes physical, we ignore it. When
Melissa spoke to the van operators
about someone yelling “fuck” and
apparently being boisterous and
was told not to worry about it, it
was probably because there was
nothing to worry about. Our judg
ment of the difference between a
Guest Commentary
Donald
Thompson
dangerous situation and the stan
dard behavior of drunks is probably
better than Melissa’s. We’ve done
this before.
Additionally, we don’t know
you. We don’t know what relation
ships may exist between you and
others that we pick up. People get
on the vans and start hugging one
another all the time; they also argue
with one another. More than one
couple has gotten in the van and
proceeded to verbally rip one an
other apart. When they get dropped
off they walk away with their arms
around each other. We are not going
to get involved in your personal re
lationships. If someone is physical
ly touching you and you don’t want
him or her to do so, you have to tell
us. We can’t read minds. If some
one is threatening you, you have to
tell us. We are not monitoring peo
ple’s conversations. The person
will be told to cease the activity. If
they do not, their alternate choices
are to get out of the van and walk
home or have a conversation with
DPS orEPD.
I can address the issue of the
puking incident personally since I
was the driver at that time. The girl
puked all over my nayigator. In ad
dition to being a repulsive sub
stance, vomit is a biohazard. Per
haps you’ve heard of AIDS and
hepatitis? My navigator was not go
ing to sit there, covered in vomit,
the floor of the van awash in vomit,
while we ferried you home. People
were told to call the DDS office an
have the other van scheduled to
pick them up. Not to do so was
their choice. Please have Ms.
Wilkins send me her phone num
ber. Next time I “presumably” go to
clean vomit out of a van, I’ll call her
to help me and she can “presum
ably” enjoy it as much as I did.
Life is often messy. People
sometimes act inappropriately,
they drink and use bad words.
They burp, fart and vomit. Some
times their actions irritate you. I’m
sorry, but get over it. The purpose
of DDS is to take drunks home. It
is not to provide you with a Dis
neyland experience.
‘Last name omitted for privacy.
Donald Thompson is a senior anthropology
major and a DDS employee.
Letters to the editor
Oregon’s future depends on
saving the Opportunity Grant
As a result of the recession, Ore
gon is experiencing budget cuts
that must be made. However, high
er education is not the place to do
it. The Oregon Opportunity Grant
was created in 1971 as a means of
giving low-income students the op
portunity for access to post-second
ary education. At its creation, it
was designed to cover tuition and
books as well as additional educa
tional costs.
However, more than 30 years lat
er, the grant has been cut down to
cover only 11 percent of the cost of
education, and many eligible stu
dents are turned away as a result of
this lack of funding.
In 2001, almost 10,000 eligible
students were turned away because
of the grant’s inadequate funding.
An estimated 1,500 to 3,000 stu
dents will lose the grants promised
to them in 2002, leaving some dedi
cated and deserving students with
no options but to leave school. We
must urge legislators to prioritize
funding for all eligible students.
During this economic recession,
Oregon should prioritize increasing
access to higher education by
building on such programs as the
Oregon Opportunity Grant. This
will allow people to gain the edu
cation skills necessary to con
tribute to a strong Oregon economy
in the future.
Lauren Olson
freshman
undeclared
Students need to get involved
The democratic system has em
powered citizens with the opportu
nity to voice their opinions and ex
ercise choice through the vote.
Today’s youth, college students in
particular, must learn to take ad
vantage of this right. The first step
toward obtaining a voice in politics
Steve Baggs Emerald
UHtT'S HEXT 3* ^TeS?
is registering to vote. Statistics
show that of the students through
out Oregon who are registered, 80
percent finish the process by turn
ing in their ballots.
Last year, the Oregon Student
Association successfully registered
27,000 students. This year, OSA is
working on a statewide youth vote
campaign, with the goal of register
ing 5,000 students to vote in the
May primary governor election.
With the number of issues affect
ing student life and activities, in
cluding everything from education
funding to housing codes, it is in
creasingly crucial for University
students to get involved. Register
ing to vote and exercising choice
puts students in a position to be
heard and represented. Further
more, the more students that play a
part in the democratic process, the
more accountable elected officials
become to the student contingency.
The power to elect will serve as
a valuable weapon to achieve stu
dent initiatives. It is essential for
students to get involved, and the
first step toward this is registering
to vote.
Coral Snell
junior
political science