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Managing Editor:
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Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Wednesday, May 1,2002
Letters to the editor
Gun control must
be our decision
Let’s talk about an issue of great
importance. One of the most contro
versial issues today is the Second
Amendment and the issue of gun
control. Today, we see many de
bates as to whether we really do
have the “right to bear arms” or
whether it is an amendment that
is outdated.
But what does that really mean?
If the Second Amendment is out
of date, who is to draw the line,
and how should our society de
cide? Many ideas have been stat
ed, and we see this in so many ref
erences in the media, schools and
in daily conversation.
Organizations like the Nation
Rifle Association, otherwise
known as the NRA, have been very
powerful in getting their opinions
heard, since they have the ability
to provide political contributions.
However, in just the same way,
those who are for gun control are
just as vocal.
Yet this leaves us no precise an
swer. Who is to decide when all
that happens is conflict between the
same groups? What must be looked
at is not only the wording of the
amendment, but also the context it
was placed in.
Many can say that we have the
“right to bear arms,” but how many
really know why it is there in the
first place? How many people know
the cost of accidental deaths that oc
cur because of this amendment? It
is up to us to decide.
Lisa Lam
freshman
political science
Stein cares about students
A mental disease is affecting the
minds of people between the ages
of 18-34, with serious conse
quences.
This disease causes them to
care nothing for what goes on in
the world around them or for de
cisions being made that affect
their future. This deadly disease
has a name: political apathy.
There is a cure, however; politi
cal leaders can care enough about
this sector of the population to en
gage them. One candidate in the
Oregon gubernatorial race is doing
just this. She has volunteers at over
16 universities and community
colleges across the state. More im
portantly, she talks to the students,
asking them what issues are impor
tant to them.
She realizes students are not
only an important and potentially
powerful voting sector, but that is
sues important to them are issues
important to Oregon’s future. Her
name is Beverly Stein.
On April 21, a town-hall debate
was held on the University campus
for the Democratic gubernatorial
candidates. Both Jim Hill and Bev
Stein attended, allowing students
and members of the Eugene com
munity to find out where the can
didates stood on important issues.
Ted Kulongoski did not even both
er to attend. He sent a representa
tive instead, who gave Kulongos
ki’s speech and then left, not
participating in the question-and
answer debates.
A few months ago, Lane Commu
nity College hosted a similar event.
Stein and Hill were there. Where
was Kulongoski? Apparently he
doesn’t find students, Oregon’s fu
ture or Lane County worth his time.
Kim Monk-Goldsmith
senior
romance languages
and political science
Corporations run
the government
I am writing in response to Sanjai
Tripathi’s commentary in the Emer
ald (“Voters need to stop oppressing
politicians,” ODE, April 25). He
states, “politicians are the most
marginalized people in America”
and that voters are the “overlords,
the ones truly in charge.” So, a
politician is more marginalized
than a minority living in an inner
city ghetto? The average American
voter (an overlord?) has more con
trol over the operation of our gov
ernment than those involved in its
day-to-day operation?
Tripathi mentions the state budg
et crisis and how politicians can
neither advocate raising taxes or
cutting services because it will
anger people. Here’s an idea: If the
public is the overlord, why doesn’t
the government act in our interests
and raise taxes for multimillion dol
lar corporations and leave the low
er-middle class taxes and services
alone? Answer: Corporations, the
real overlords, control our govern
ment by funding the campaigns of
politicians, and those politicians act
in their interests. They wouldn’t
dream of raising corporate taxes for
fear of angering their sponsors.
Voters have hardly any control
over our government. Our role is
to choose which rich person will
continue to act in the interests of
wealth. The only way our interests
are addressed is if we get mad
enough to scare the government,
like during the civil rights move
ment. That was the last time the
public influenced fundamental
change in the government struc
ture. Unless that happens again,
we’ll continue to have to bend to
the wills of the powerful.
Mason Gummer
junior
sociology
Editorial Policy
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 Jacquelyn lewis
editor in chief assistant editorial editor
Jeremy Lang
lllanaging editor
Julie Lauderhaugh
editorial editor
llllleter Hockaday
newsroom representative
Jerad Nicholson
community representative
list
:
Steve Baggs Emerald
Don't single outgreek system
to make point about alcohol
Ignorance, discrimination,
stunned. Just a few words I
have to describe my feelings.
I guess I shouldn’t be sur
prised. By my recollection, the
greeks have been targets from
when I joined in 1991. When I
look back (I’m an old man at 31
now), I tend to focus on the
good rather than the bad, as we
all do in life. Hopefully.
There were some amazing
parties. But parties come and
go, and my brothers were al
ways there. When it was time to
study or when money was tight,
they were always there to help
me out or talk me through the
tough times. That was the real
secret of the fraternity.
I was lucky enough to be sur
rounded by my best friends nine
months a year. They were, and
still are, the best friends I will
ever have. I just don’t get to see
all of them as often as I would
like anymore.
The greek system is an easy
target. It’s very simple to lump
us all together as one name
less, faceless person. “Those
damn greeks.”
Well, we’re not all the same.
We are a collection of individ
uals. Each of us is just like
every other person attending
Guest Commentary
Chris
Alexander
the University. We each have
our own names, our own goals
and dreams.
We have just chosen to join a
particular organization, and
now we are being singled out.
Drinking: Is it more rampant in
the greek system? My personal
experiences tell me no.
Are we noticed more be
cause we are an easy target
group? Yes. Is drinking a prob
lem at the University, as it is at
college campuses across the
nation? Yes.
This is the first time many of
us are out of our parents’
watchful eye, and we tend to go
a little nuts. The question is
how to solve the problem of
alcohol abuse — in the greek
system as well as at the Univer
sity in general.
Education, education, educa
tion. I know I was required to
take “Writing 121” to graduate,
but what about “Alcohol
Awareness 101”? Teach the stu
dents that you don’t have to
drink to have a good time. You
don’t have to drink to meet and
talk to someone of the opposite
sex. Education will teach us
how to drink responsibly. It
will help educate the student
body on what it takes to be
come a living, breathing con
tributor to society.
After all, we may all choose
different fields of study, but
one of the greatest gifts college
has bestowed upon us all is the
ability to build relationships
and work together. This isn’t a
class you can take, but a lesson
that at one time or another
must be learned.
Don’t try to solve a problem
by taking away the freedoms of
those who have joined the
greek system.
I feel lucky that I had my
friends by my side when I chose
to drink. They were able to keep
an eye on me, just as I was able
to keep an eye on them. It’s that
trust, a bond of friendship that
made my fraternity so very
important to me.
I would never wish to limit
the students of the University
from having the opportunity
that I was given.
Chris Alexander, Class of ’94, is a member
of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.