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.