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
Thursday, April 18,2002
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Editorial
200 nickels, 300
dimes — Students
needfinancial
aid to graduate
After four years of college, most students are
broke. However, the University finds it neces
sary to nickel-and-dime its students right up to
the very end.
Graduates who wish to participate in the com
mencement ceremony are forced to pay a $10 partici
pation fee, which doesn’t seem like much until you
add it to the additional costs incurred for the gradua
tion ceremony. A $40 graduation package provided by
the University Bookstore includes the cap, gown, tas
sel, participation fee and diploma cover. Graduates
who choose not to participate in commencement are
also required to pay a $2.50 fee, plus the cost of a
diploma cover. These costs add up quickly, and un
dergraduates often end up shelling out more than $40,
which doesn’t include extra fees for those who dou
ble-major. If the student wishes to purchase optional
items, such as graduation announcements, the cost
gets even more ridiculous.
It’s unfair for the University to charge students a
participation fee or ask them to purchase regalia. After
all, every student pays a hefty matriculation fee upon
entrance into the University — the fee has risen from
$150 for undergraduates entering intoThe University
in 1998 to $200 for those entering in 2002.
The University states the matriculation fee is intend
ed to be a one-time payment to cover expenses such as
orientation services, transcript requests, degree applica
tions and changes in the student’s schedule. However,
the fee is large enough that part of it should be appropri
ated for graduation costs. Caps, gowns, diploma covers
and the participation fee should all be paid for with
money from the original student matriculation charge.
After all, paper, ink and printing costs for transcripts are
not likely to top $200 over four years.
Students spend years pouring their time, energy
and especially their money into the University. They
show their appreciation for receiving a quality educa
tion by forking over thousands of dollars. The Univer
sity can return the appreciation by helping graduates
save money — even if it is only $40.
Editorial Policy
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald
editorial board. Responses can be sent to
letters@dailyemeraid.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 right to edit for space, grammar and style.
Editorial Board Members
Jessica Blanchard Julie Lauderbaugh
editor in chief editorial editor
Jeremy Lang Jacquelyn Lewis
managing editor assistant editorial editor
Audrey Sheppard Jerad Nicholson
community representative community representative
Peter Hockaday
newsroom representative
CORRECTION
Steve Partridge, an acting supervisor for University Housing, had no
involvement in the diagnosis or repair of heating systems in H.P.
Barnhart as reported in Wednesday’s story, "Residence halls lose heat
during weekend."
The Emerald regrets the error.
Cell users: Politely turn off the ringer
In the last week, a cellular phone
has rung in almost every class I
have attended. Rather than chastis
ing students for this intrusion, most
of my professors simply cringe their
way through the ringing, grateful when
they can go on with their instruction.
As cell phone technology contin
ues to develop and cheapen, hard
working, tuition-paying students will
continue to be disrupted and disre
spected by the inconsiderate few who
must, for some reason, be reached via
cell phone while in class.
I, for one, would never be caught
dead carrying a cell because I’m one
of a dying class of people who doesn’t
want to be reached at all times. But no
one needs to be reached in the middle
of class, nor should any serious stu
dent want to be.
But despite the lack of necessity for
such a device, most people will argue
that they “need” their phone with
them at all times for reasons that vary
in legitimacy. Needing to be reached
by children is an acceptable justifica
tion, whereas needing to be in con
stant communication with the girl
Guest Commentary
Sara
_Hoskinson
friend on whom you recently cheated
doesn’t really hold weight.
Since there are no laws against cell
phone usage, I can not judge the va
lidity of your reasoning. Therefore, I
propose the following rules of cellular
phone etiquette on campus:
1) Turn your cell phone off when
you enter a classroom. At the very
least, put it on the vibrate setting. Class
is completely disrupted when your
phone rings to the tune of “Big
Pimpin’” six times before you find it
buried in the bottom of your backpack.
2) Do not use your phone in an area
where everyone is silent — except for
you, who decided to have loud a con
versation with your grandmother (you
know who you are, Grandma’s boy).
3) Do not make your private con
versations public. Cell phone users
often force others to eavesdrop on
their weird conversations.
Furthermore, shifting focus to pro
fessors, I would encourage instituting
a zero-tolerance policy on cell phone
use in your classes, warning that the
owners of ringing cell phones will be
asked to leave your class for the day.
Or perhaps you could start every lec
ture with a movie theater-style mes
sage asking students to turn off all
electronic devices. Ridiculous times
call for ridiculous measures.
With a technology as new as this
one, it is hard to know where appropri
ateness lies, so I will forgive you cell
phone junkies for your lack of respect
for me, my peers and our teachers.
However, if we are to keep the lines of
normal, face-to-face communication
open and genuine, we can’t continue to
ignore the intrusion of these devices into
our daily lives. I urge the University to
enforce guidelines similar to mine in or
der to preserve its quality of education.
For the time being, cell users, please per- j
petuate good will and academic success
by using your cell phones politely.
Sara Hoskinson is a sophomore
integrated teaching major.
Letters to the editor
Medical marijuana law
needs expansion
We already know that Oregonians
overwhelmingly support the right of se
riously ill people to use marijuana for
medical purposes, but a recent poll
shows that support has grown since
Oregon's medical marijuana initiative
passed in 1998.
According to the poll, administered
to over 1,000 adults by the Lucas Orga
nization, 76.5 percent of Oregon voters
“strongly support” or “somewhat sup
port” the state law allowing “seriously
ill patients to use and grow their own
medical marijuana with the approval
of their physicians.” This is a big jump
over the 55 percent of voters who sup
ported the initiative in 1998. The poll
was conducted in three other states
with medical marijuana laws, and also
shows increased levels of support
since their laws were passed.
The poll results also indicate that
Oregon voters would favor expanding
the law to allow medical marijuana
distribution by nonprofit medical clin
ics (69.1 percent) or the state govern
ment (64.4 percent).
An initiative to enhance the distri
bution of medical marijuana to the se
riously ill could be on the ballot in
2004. Oregonians have already taken
the first step by providing legal protec
tion to people suffering from cancer,
multiple sclerosis, AIDS, and other
terrible illnesses. Making sure sick
people can easily obtain their medi
cine is the next logical step.
Kristin Oechslin
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
Seniors have
the right to pledge
I was disappointed that the Emerald is
opposed to offering graduating seniors
the opportunity to take a pledge to make
environmentally and socially aware ca
reer choices (“University shouldn’t hop
onto pledge bandwagon,” ODE, April 9).
I was also confused about the reasoning
behind this opposition.
I don’t understand how offering sen
iors information about organizations
they may encounter in the post-gradu
ation job market undermines the Uni
versity’s promotion of diverse and var
ied perspectives. I’m also confused
about the Emerald’s suggestion that
such a pledge, which will be offered
by concerned students to graduating
seniors before their ceremonies begin,
is something thatshould be addressed
“on their own time.” After putting so
much effort into a college education, if
graduation isn’t a senior’s “own time,”
I don’t know what is!
Graduation should be a time of
pride, and about the celebration of ac
complishment. If, in acknowledging
r
the work that has gone into reaching
this point, individuals choose to fur
ther their commitment to themselves
and their communities by taking such
a pledge, they have the right to do so.
It seems to me that the elimination
of this option, rather than the option it
self, would interfere with the role of
any.^University to encourage free
thought and to respect individual
choices and options.
Lea Goodrich
junior
environmental science
Steve Baggs Emerald