Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
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PO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemeralcl.com
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Monday, May 13,2002
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Editorial
More students
should support
the University's
Yellow Jackets
After months of talking about safety is
sues on campus, students finally have
the opportunity to take action. The
Department of Public Safety’s new Yellow
Jackets Volunteer Program is an excellent
idea — it’s a way to increase safety on cam
pus and get more students involved. Both are
important, but students need to take a more
active role and the initiative to make the pro
gram a success.
The Yellow Jackets program, a group
where students can volunteer for training
and donate hours to patrolling campus at
night, is a great start; however, the program
depends on student involvement to keep it
alive. So far, only 15 people have volun
teered and been formally trained, including
one faculty member. The Yellow Jackets are
still networking and have a list of a few inter
ested groups and individuals, such as the Al
pha Phi Omega service fraternity. Yellow
jackets student coordinator Meghan Madden
said the fraternity has been very helpful in
recruiting volunteers.
But unlike those few philanthropic indi
viduals, many students don’t seem to take
the program seriously at all. The first night
out, Yellow Jackets volunteers were subject
ed to giggles and snickers from bystanders.
The jocular attitude seems strange, consid
ering the recent uproar over a perceived
lack of campus safety and demand for more
safety programs.
Where are all of the students who organ
ized and attended the safety rallies to raise
awareness about sexual violence on cam
pus? Where are the students who urged ad
ministrators to take steps toward improving
campus safety? Madden said that to her
knowledge, none of the Radical Cheerlead
ers who helped bring the issue into the lime
light have volunteered. Though it’s true
some safety advocates have shown interest,
more students should be stepping up to be
Yellow Jackets volunteers.
Though the Yellow Jackets aren’t allowed
to confront anyone or attempt to stop a
crime, their goals — to escort students and
staff and report suspicious activities to DPS
— are important and should be treated as
such. The bottom line is that the program
has a lot of potential but will die if students
don’t show more interest and take the Yel
low Jackets seriously.
Just because no attempted assaults have
been reported in the past few months does
not mean campus safety isn’t an issue any
more. Students and faculty should be con
cerned with preventing future assaults and
other crimes on campus. The Yellow Jack
ets program could be a powerful tool in this
endeavor, but only if students — the pro
gram’s lifeblood — take more of an interest
in it.
Editorial Policy
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial board. Responses can be sent to
letters@dailyemerald.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.
Free speech STOPS at the turnstile
Oliver
Columnist
Last year, a Portland Trail Blazers fan
was ejected for holding a sign that
criticized the team’s general manager.
Last February, Southern California head
coach Henry Bibby demanded the names
of students who were chanting what he be
lieved to be “insensitive” remarks during
his team’s loss at McArthur Court. A
month ago, a handful of Seattle Mariners
fans were asked to remove or turn inside
out shirts that read “Yankees Suck” during
a weekend series at
Safeco Field against
New York.
In 2001, spectators
in the United States
spent more than $26
billion on tickets,
concessions and mer
chandise. Without
this money from the
paying fan, sports
would be on its last
days of life support.
If you open your
wallet to watch your
favorite team play in
person, are you are al
lowed to open your mouth as well? It
would be expected that, in a country
where our deepest-felt right is free
speech, that answer would be yes. The
answer, though, may be a surprise, in that
an individual’s free speech rights are lim
ited once they go through the turnstile.
Journalism school Dean Tim Gleason
said that, with the sale of a ticket, teams
have the right to set conditions to control
fan behavior and expression. So next
time you are at Safeco Field watching the
Mariners take on the Texas Rangers and
you are asked to take down your “A-Rod
is an idiot” sign, don’t rush from the sta
dium looking to find the American Civil
Liberties Union.
But even with the law on their side,
teams should think a little bit before they
harshly discriminate against fans and
eject them or demand they remove cloth
ing or signs. When you look at it logically,
teams should actually be thankful for this
type of behavior.
When Katherine Topaz raised her hand
made “Trade Whitsitt” sign at the Trail
Blazer game last year, it wasn’t because of a
personal vendetta against the team’s gener
al manager. It was because she cared about
her team and she wanted them to win.
Topaz simply questioned some of the gen
eral manager’s moves, and as a dedicated
fan she should be able to hold up that sign.
The same goes for the fans in Seattle or
the students here at the University who
choose to display their hatred toward the
opposing team. Although Oregon men’s
basketball coach Ernie Kent made the
image-conscious move to ask students to
be more respectful after Bibby com
plained about being called a deadbeat
dad, he has routinely praised the ruckus
like behavior of the students at Mac
Court. Kent thinks that Oregon plays in
an environment that not only creates an
advantage for his team but is positive for
college basketball as a whole.
Even some visiting coaches to Mac
Court have enjoyed the taunts directed at
them. When UCLA head coach Steve
Lavin spotted a group of students mock
ing his signature slicked back hair earlier
this year, it evoked a smile.
Sports need fans who are willing to
wear “Yankees Suck” shirts. In an era of
dwindling attendance and declining tele
vision ratings, the support of the die-hard
fan is as important as ever. If these fans
fall victim to the trap of political correct
ness, there is little to fill the void. Teams
shouldn’t be looking to kick these fans
out of their seats, even if the small text on
the back of a ticket allows them to do so.
E-mail columnist Jeff Oliver at
jeffoliver@dailyemerald.com. His opinions *
do not necessarily reflect those of the Emerald.
Letter to the editor
Stewart looks out for students
As a student and a lifelong inhabitant of Eugene, I have
slowly come to realize the effect city politics has on our
community. Unlike many students, I merely had to move
across town when I chose to attend the University.
I have kept up with city politics since the age of 16, but
it was not until I became a student that I realized students
have no representation on the city council. I found this
astonishing, since students make up such a huge part of
our population.
When Maco Stewart decided to run for city council, I lis
tened to what he had to say. Then I listened to what his op
ponent, David Kelly, said he would do for students. I heard
a lot of the same ideas from both of them, but when I
looked up Kelly’s record on student issues, I realized he
has a record of voting against student interests.
The fact is that all of Kelly’s ideas to help students are
ideas that Stewart first suggested. Kelly then adopted those
issues to counter his opponent. In more than three years
on the city council, David Kelly has done nothing for stu
dents. Why, then, should we, as students and as Euge
neans, trust Kelly to represent us?
Maco Stewart is the obvious choice for every student on
this campus.
Russell Chorlton
x junior
. political science
Poll Results
Every week, the Emerald prints the resuits 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.daiiyemeraid.com. We encourage you tosend us feedback
aboutthe poll questions and results,
last week’s poll question: How do you think University Housing could make
residence halts most welcoming to the IGBTcommunity?
Total: 83 votes
■ Add “queer friendly” to the roommate*matching questionnaire —■ 36.1
percent, or 30 votes
■ Separate dorm—8.4 percent, or 7 votes
■ No change —■ 26,5 percent, or 22 votes
■ Dont know—6,0 percent, or 5 votes
« Don't care—22.9 percent, or 19 voles
This week’s poll question:
When are you going to see “Stars Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones”?
The options:
■ first show
■ Opening week
■ Sometime
■ Never
■ Already saw It on the Internet