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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 20, 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 Monday, May 20,2002 Editor in Chief: Jessica Blanchard Managing Editor: Jeremy Lang Editorial Editor: Julie Lauderbaugh Assistant Editorial Editor: Jacquelyn Lewis Editorial University's family events need serious improvements amily Weekend at the University comes twice a year, in the fall and spring. But at JL both events, the University fails to offer any real opportunities for parents and students to spend time together with University-spon sored activities. The Office of Student Life needs to take a cue from Oregon State Univer sity, where Mom’s and Dad’s Weekends are cherished and promoted to no end. OSU’s Mom’s Weekend earlier this month featured brunch, dinner and tea, a wine-tast ing, a poetry and essay contest, a “Mom & I Look Alike Contest,” a gardening presentation, free carriage rides, and the real zinger — the Wayne Brady Comedy Show. Granted, Wayne Brady did not do his show at OSU solely to cater to Beaver moms, but OSU scheduled the gig to coincide with Mom’s Weekend. OSU has a history of scheduling big-name entertainers for its parents. Bill Cosby and Jeff Foxworthy have done shows for Dad’s Week end. Next fall, OSU dads will get even better treatment with a Dad’s Weekend football game scheduled for Oct. 26. Beaver dads get to pur chase tickets for $28 and watch the Beavs rum ble with California. So how does the University’s Family Week end compare to OSU’s special treatment? It doesn’t. Parents visiting last weekend had the option of attending a Eugene Sym phony performance, taking a tour of Autzen Stadium or participating in a golf tourna ment at Laurelwood Golf Course — all off campus events. Duck moms and dads had the option of mak ing dinner reservations through the Office of Student Life — a nice courtesy, but the Univer sity isn’t exactly dedicating a sporting event to the cause. And the one event scheduled to coincide with our parents’ weekend this year? An awards luncheon where family and friends had to pay $15 a head to see their student win a University award. Family Weekend at the University needs to be improved, and the Office of Student life should take more interest in finding cre ative ways to promote the event. Scheduling a big-name entertainment act to coincide with the weekend could invite more parents to participate. Although teas and fashion shows may seem old-fashioned, at least these events give par ents and their kids an opportunity to spend time together. And renewing that child-parent relationship is what family weekends should be about in the first place. The photo captions and credits under the pictures of Kytey Jotan and Jason Hartmann were switched in Friday’s paper f Oregon Hack airmfer Pac-10 supremacy," ODE, May 17). Video games made him do it. At least that’s what the lawyer of a Texas boy is claiming. Jury selection started last Monday for the trial of the boy who killed his friend, 13-year-old Jonathan Hogan, shooting him in the head and chest after a day of playing vio lent video games. The name of the child, also 13, is be ing kept confidential, and his lawyer said he merely acted out what he saw in the games. However, law enforcement authori ties contend the boy knew the difference between video games Assistant editorial and reality, and he is editor being charged with juvenile murder. Besides being tragic, the event also adds more fuel to the age-old video game controversy. Since video games were in vented, consumers and producers have been debating whether game manufac turers should be allowed to produce vio lent images, whether this type of vio lence has a significant effect on children’s behavior and whether the gaming industry’s self-imposed rating system works. Though the industry should be com7 mended for it’s current rating system, it’s true that game producers could do more to educate parents on which games might not be suitable for children. Vendors should also monitor the ages of buy ers more closely. Right now, participa tion in the rating system is voluntary for both stores and manufacturers. Accord ing to a Federal Trade Commission study released in December, 78 percent of stores sold unaccompanied minors games rated for mature audiences only. The Protect Children from Video Game Sex and Violence Act of 2002, introduced by Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif, earlier this month, would officially ban certain vio lent games from being sold to unaccom panied minors, imposing penalties of up to $5,000 and 90 days in jail for vendors’ noncompliance. The blacklisted games would include those depicting sex and violence, such as Grand Theft Auto 3, which includes prostitution, murder and car-jacking. Changes like these might be a step in the right direction, but in most cases the real culprit isn’t video games — instead, the blame should be laid on a myriad other circumstances, including lack of parental supervision. Rating systems and other regulations aren’t effective unless parents take an active role in monitoring what their children watch and play. Parents should also make sure guns and other weapons are inaccessible to their kids. Hogan’s family filed a civil suit against the Texas suspect’s mother for negligence, since she allegedly kept a loaded gun within reach of her child — the gun that killed Hogan. In a world where we’re constantly searching for answers, it’s also impor tant to remember that a video game can’t “make” anyone do anything. I’m not in the minority when I say my brothers, sister and I spent entire summers play ing video games — some of them violent — and never felt the urge to shoot any one. A normal child knows the differ ence between annihilating a video game character and actual murder. It’s likely Hogan’s shooter — or any child who commits violence —has mental prob lems extending far beyond the realm of video game overdose. The FTC is preparing a report on both media violence and minors’ access to this content, but before we assign blame to the media, we should look a little closer to home. Parents can’t be with their children every second of the day, but they should be involved enough to determine whether their kids are men tally stable and mature enough to play certain games. More stringent regulations on video game sales may help curb a small amount ofyouth violence, but we shouldn’t use games as an excuse for vio lent behavior or expect regulations to be a cure-all. E-mail assistant editorial editor Jacquelyn Lewis at jacquelynlewis@dailyemerald.com. Her opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Emerald.
