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