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E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Monday, April 29,2002
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Editorial
Students have
a right to give
personal data
to big tobacco
Philip Morris is doing its best to
drum up business in an increas
ingly anti-smoking society. And
with recent promotions at local
bars and clubs, college students are fork
ing over their personal information to the
tobacco giant in exchange for a chance to
win a free trip. Whether this trade-off is
morally acceptable depends on one’s eth
ical view of smoking. But what is not up
for debate is the fact that students who are
willing to give out their private informa
tion have every right to do so — no matter
how unwise the choice may appear.
Marlboro representatives ask 21-and
over bar hoppers if they are willing to
give a copy of their driver’s licenses to the
company. In exchange, the Philip Morris
“cowboys” try to wrangle up interest in
free trips to one of three Marlboro ranches
in the West. The tobacco company then
uses the information at its discretion and
sends a sundry of promotional materials
to the address printed on the license. No
one is coerced into making a copy, so why
not let consenting adults distribute their
private information if they so please?
Those who make the exchange will like
ly be barraged with piles of promotional
mail for the rest of their natural-bom lives.
But college students have the upper hand
on this potential headache and could easi
ly avoid the junk mail by packing up and
moving — as many of us do annually. Stu
dents with their parents’ addresses printed
on their licenses are really at an advantage,
because the junk could simply fill their
mom and dads’ mailboxes instead.
No one honestly knows what Philip
Morris will do with the personal informa
tion, but the practice is legal, and those
who are willing to volunteer personal
data should be able to without being chid
ed. Revealing private information is a
choice, just like lighting up. Adults agree
to the exchange at the risk of forfeiting
their privacy, and that’s a choice they’ll
have to live with.
A policy is sitting on President*
Dave Frohnmayer’s desk that.TC.
approved, would wrongfully af
feet fraternity houses affiliated
with the University. The policy, which
caught many greek student leaders off
guard when it was announced last week,
calls for all fraternity and sorority houses
to become dry, or alcohol-free, by next
fall. If a greek house fails to comply with
the policy, its chapter would not be recog
nized by the University. Currently, all
nine sororities at the University are al
ready dry and five of the 15 fraternities af
filiated with the University are as well.
National proponents of policies like the
one being discussed here at the University
feel it is a way to better the campus commu
nity and reduce drinking among college-age
students. They are also leaning on a recent
study released by the Task Force on College
Drinking which concluded that drinking
among college students is highest among
those living in fraternities and sororities.
What the study fails to recognize is that
college students are drinking in many more
places than in greek houses. As much as
some people don’t want to believe, drinking
is part of college. If students can’t drink in a
fraternity house, they will do it somewhere
else. Many greek houses have members who
live in private residences. If this policy goes
through, there is nothing that prevents fra^>
temity and sorofflf^ftiembere from goifig
over to one of their brothers’ or sisters’ apart
ments. Isn’t it much safer for someone to
walk upstairs after hav
ing a few too many
drmks than it isto drim^
a car across town? ""
As a University and
also a society, we too of
ten try to control behav
ior through ineffective
means that attempt to
prevent the source of the
problem. This is an ideal
goal, but a more realistic
approach is trying to
manage the effects of the
Columnist problem. Telling stu
- dents that they can’t
drink at a specific location isn’t going to get
them to stop drinking. A perfect example is
the City of Eugene’s ban on smoking in
places of business. People haven’t quit smok
ing, they are just smoking somewhere else.
The same would happen if President
Frohnmayer enacts this policy. Students
would just go somewhere else to drink,
and when you’re dealing with alcohol,
the last thing you want to do is worry
about people driving.
The policy is hypocritical. Students liv
ing in the residence halls who are over the
age of 21 are permitted to drink alcohol in
their rooms. Most of these rooms are on
campus, and all are owned and operated by
the University. If students are permitted to
drink in dormitory rooms, how can the
•University rationalize preventing students
from drinking in privately-owned greek
houses off campus?
The same goes for all the tailgating that
goes on prior to a home football game in the
Autzen Stadium parking lot. If greek hous
es are prevented from becoming affiliated
with the University because they have al
cohol on the premises, then why shouldn’t
the football team be forced to do the same
— after all, alcohol is sold in the Moshof
sky Center during their games.
The words “greek” and “alcohol” are
quickly associated with one another, and
that is unfortunate. I would enjoy seeing
nothing more than the greek community on
this campus take a more active role in help
ing to erase the “Animal House” stigma. In
some ways, the greek students at the Uni
versity have reversed their negative image
on their own. It’s only right they continue
erasing the stereotypes without the Univer
sity acting as their baby sitter.
E-mail columnist Jeff Oliver
atjeffoliver@dailyemerald.com. His opinions
do not necessarily reflect those of the Emerald.
Editorial Policy
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial board. Responses can be
sent to letters@dailyemerald.com. Letters to
the ed itor and guest commentaries are
encou raged. Letters are lim ited
to 250 words and guest commentaries to
550 words. Please include contact
information. The Emerald reserves the right
to edit tor space, grammar and style.
Editorial Board Members
Jessica Blanchard
editor in chief
Jeremy Lang
managing editor
Julie lauderbaugh
editorial editor
Jacquelyn Lewis
assistant editorial editor
Peter Hockaday
newsroom representative
Jerad Nicholson
community representative
Poll Results:
Every week, the Emerald prints tire results of our online poll and the poll question
for next week. The poll can be accessed from the main page of our Web site,
www.dailyemerald.com. We encourage you to send us feedback about the poll
questions and results.
This week’s poll question:
What do you think about the controversy over the Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirts?
Total votes: 8?
■ Not offensive —14.9 percent, or 13 votes
■ Offensive, but T-shirts should remain in stores—9.2 percent, or 8 votes
■ Offensive, T-shirts should be pulled—51.7 percent, or 45 votes
■ Don’t care—5.7 percent, or 5 votes
* Don’t know—18.4 percent, or 16 votes
Next week’s poll question;
The last day to register to vote is Tuesday. Are you registered?
The choices:
■ In Lane County
■ Elsewhere
■ Mot registered
■ Oon’tknow
Letter to the editor
Keep campus ‘green’
In March, I was happy to read about the National Wildlife
Federation commendation the University received for being a
“green” campus in the recent issue of News and Views. I ap
preciate what the staff of Facilities Services has done regarding
recycling, waste reduction and “green” landscaping practices.
I am an anthropology professor who works in Condon Hall.
Over the past 11 years I’ve been on campus, I’ve seen the
amount of litter people discard in parking lots, on the street
and around our buildings steadily increase. Every morning
when we walk across the parking lot, my husband and I pick
up litter if we have a hand free.
While I heartily applaud the institutional approach to
waste reduction, what can we do to get people, largely stu
dents, from littering campus? Why are people such slobs,
when we are blessed with a beautiful campus? Where are the
“green” student activists who might organize an anti-litter
campaign? I am wondering if others on campus have thought
about this issue and about what could be done.
While I am happy with our University progress on some
environmental issues, there’s a tremendously long way to go.
“It’s not easy being green.”
Madonna Moss
associate professor
anthropology