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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2002)
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, May 16,2002 Editor in Chief: Jessica Blanchard Managing Editor: Jeremy Lang Editorial Editor: Julie Lauderbaugh Assistant Editorial Editor: Jacquelyn Lewis Editorial UO president must decide on mascot resolution University President Dave Frohn mayer is showing poor leader ship by wasting time waffling about the School of Law’s mas cot resolution instead of taking a firm stance on the issue. The University School of Law’s Sports and Entertainment Law Forum resolution, which would prevent University athletic teams from scheduling games with schools promoting American Indian mascots or im ages, has been sitting on Frohnmayer’s desk for little more than a week. But Frohnmayer has avoided making a decision on the matter and is instead wait ing for the NCAA to take up the issue. Frohnmayer’s ultimate decision, whether veto or approval, will have trick le-down effects on the Athletic Depart ment and the University community as a whole. Frohnmayer should stop passing the buck to the NCAA and decide for himself what course the University should take regarding the resolution. If the University did wait for NCAA ac tion, a national resolution may take months to even draft. Frohnmayer does not need to wait for a national policy to make a decision that would affect our University. The president’s indecision is eerily remi niscent of his hesitance to sign on with the Worker Rights Consortium last fall. Even with the support of the majority of students on campus — and a major 10-day protest on Johnson Hall’s lawn in the spring — Frohnmayer remained grossly indecisive about the issue for months, frustrating both WRC supporters and opponents. Perhaps the new mascot resolution controversy has reminded Frohnmayer of an old adage: Once bitten, twice shy. But just because the WRC resolution wasn’t handled well doesn’t give Frohnmayer the right to avoid making future political decisions — unpopular or not. After all, determining the fate of the University is part of Frohnmayer’s job as president. The University needs to take a stand ei ther way on this issue, and our University president is the person to make the deci sion. Frohnmayer should stop dallying and take a firm stance on the issue either way. As the University’s leader, Frohn mayer is obligated to lead even in the midst of a politically-charged decision. We hope Frohnmayer takes swift action in the matter and does not disappoint stu dents with the same lackluster leadership as last year. Editorial Policy This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. Responses can be sent to !etter$@dai iyemerald .com. Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged. Letters are li mited to 250 words and guest commentaries to 550 words. Please include contact information. The Emerald reserves tie right to edit for space, grammar and style. Alternative media’s tactics on EPD’s new access policy hurts their cause raerald reporter Brad Schmidt did a superb job of reporting on the' JLJmedia pertaining to the new jour nalist policies for the, Eugene Police De partment and should be commended (“EPD adopts new policies for journal ists,” ODE, May 13). However, the alternative media, espe cially in Eugene, hurt their cause by fail ing to actively participate in the process — in this case with the EPD’s Committee on Media Access Issues. The news media’s purpose is to inform the public, which is crucial to a democratic society. James Madison once wrote, “The right of freely examining public characters and meas ures, and of free communication among the people thereon ... has ever been justly deemed the only effectual guardian of every other right.” His words have sus tained the test of time and, in my opinion, are among some of the best ever written about the relationship between the Fourth Estate and democracy. But Cascadia Alive! videographer Tim Lewis and other alternative media outlets such as the Eugene Weekly and Eugene In dymedia accomplish nothing — in turn, failing their audience — while also reduc ing their organization’s credibility and ac cessibility to information by refusing to ac tively participate in said process. many differing voices from local Guest Commentary Aaron K. Breniman ‘“Nontraditional media haven’t partici pated in the discussion process because they feel doing so would validate it,’ said Tim Lewis, a freelance videographer for Cascadia Alive!, a local cable-access tele vision show,” Schmidt writes in the arti cle. “Lewis said the new policy won’t af fect how he approaches his job and added that he won’t comply with a need for press credentials. If anything, he said, the policy will just control mainstream media.” The new policies have little to do with attempting to control the media; rather, they aim to ensure that information is available — from a credible source — to the public. Let me briefly illustrate my point by hit ting on some of the benefits the alternative media establishment would have accom plished through their involvement: First, they could have increased their access to information from the EPD (most likely leading to increased information availability from other government agen cies) by making a good-faith effort to posi tively contribute to the policy process and raise any concerns or questions they had. Instead of being seen as non-legitimate, sensationalistic outlets always crying “foul,” they’d be seen as partners in in forming the people, thereby increasing their ability to inform the people of both good deeds and wrongdoings. Second, they could have increased their image, legitimacy and credibility by partici pating in the process. Had they put aside the punk anarchist attitudes for a moment and thought about it rationally, they’d have real ized that to achieve their end desire — to broaden and increase their audience — they’d have been better off being involved. Third, through involving themselves in the policy discussions, the alternative me dia, which typically have far less re sources than mainstream media, could have benefited through the proposed press pool that would allow a limited number of media personnel to have access to danger ous or large-scale situations. Media establishments such as these must look beyond agenda-driven ideology and focus less upon themselves and more upon their readers. Sometimes you have to give a little. And in this case, the alternative media could have gotten a lot. Aaron K. Breniman, a journalist and media critic living in Portland, was community editor for the Emerald in 2001. Steve Baggs Emerald -5A665 Letter to the editor University trades privacy for false security As an independent political scientist and writer, I always appreciate every opportunity to familiarize myself with diverse viewpoints on world affairs, even when I already have my own strong opinion (such as Israeli terror against Palestinians). Therefore, I was curious about a lecture organized by the pro-Israeli Caravan For Democracy, in which “prominent international speakers” were advertised. I wanted to see and hear people with opinions dif ferent from my own. But when I came to the Erb Memori al Union, I was shocked to see that each person planning to attend the lec ture had to fill in a mandatory ques tionnaire and show picture identifica tion just to get inside. There are no words strong enough to describe how indignant I was. When I expressed this to one of the organizers, she reacted arrogantly and explained that they were collecting information “for security reasons.” It’s very strange indeed, because dur ing my eight years in Eugene, I’ve at tended hundreds of various lectures on and outside the University cam* pus, and I was never required to an swer any intrusive questions or to show ID. I don’t mind answering questions and providing personal info about myself, for example, in order to get a credit card. But since that lecture was a public event, they had no right to force people into compromising their personal privacy. This issue is much wider than just University policy. I hope in this country, people’s right to privacy is still at least a little respect ed and protected, including at our University. Valdas Anelauskas . , ,, , >(( , Eugene
