Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
RO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, May 22,2002
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Editorial
Props to faculty
dance— no love
for crossword slip,
CBS’film decision
Here are the recent events that made the edito
rial board grin and grimace — our most
recent collection of cheers and jeers.
Cheers to the University Department of Dance for
selling out their Dance 2002 Faculty Concert. Thurs
day night, the Dougherty Dance Theatre at Gerlinger
Annex was filled to capacity; ticket sellers even had
to turn away latecomers. The Dance Department
deserves a pat on the back for drawing such a crowd,
especially on a night when so many other entertain
ment events were happening, including the opening
of “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones” and
the long-awaited season finale of “Friends.” Tearing
people away from Obi-Wan Kenobi and Rachel’s
baby was an amazing feat for the department. The
Faculty Concert, which featured choreography by
eight different faculty members, can rightly be
deemed a success.
Cheers to the University’s men’s track and field
team for earning second place to Stanford in the
Pacific-10 finals. The Ducks won five individual
titles during the two-day Pac-10 Championships in
Pullman, Wash. Individual winners include Billy
Pappas, who earned the multi-event title and Simon
Kimata, who raced his way to the 800-meter title.
The rest of the team’s 125 points came from the
team’s other stellar runners-up and top-5 finishers,
like Fuloso Akenradewo, who finished second in
the triple jump. Now, the team is preparing for the
NCAA Championships in Baton Rouge, La., on May
29. We’re confident several of our athletes will make
the qualifying list. Go Ducks!
Cheers to Vecepia Towery, a 36-year-old office
manager from Portland, who was voted the winner
in the fourth season of the reality-based TV series
“Survivor.” Hooray for Towery, hooray for Oregon!
Woo-hoo for “Survivor” — okay, maybe that’s taking
it a little too far, but Towery deserves a nod for
spending 39 rugged days roughing it in the Marque
sas Islands of the South Pacific. Besides successful
ly representing Oregon, Towery is also the first black
person to win the series’ grand prize.
Jeers, jeers and more jeers to CBS for airing a por
tion of a videotape made by captors of slain reporter
Daniel Pearl, even though Secretary of State Colin
Powell’s office and the Justice Department urged
the network not to air it. CBS anchor Dan Rather
claimed the footage was shown because CBS
believes Americans should be able to see the impact
of the propaganda war being waged against the
United States. However, Pearl’s family has
denounced the network for their callousness in
causing the family to relive the tragedy. We agree
with the Pearl family. CBS should also be repri
manded for doing just what Pearl’s killers were
hoping: spreading terrorist agit-prop. Yes, the Pearl
story is news, but CBS failed to exercise tact and
intelligence when making its decision.
Jeers to governor candidates running in the Prima
ry Elections for their blatant use of attack ads. On
the Republican side, Ron Saxton and Jack Roberts
ran ads attacking each other and their other com
petitor, Kevin Mannix. Roberts accuses Saxton of
being “too liberal,” and Saxton whines that Roberts
and Mannix both want to “squeeze taxpayers.”
Democrats have also done their fair share of mud
slinging. Bev Stein added a barrage of commercials
criticizing her opponents Jim Hill and Ted Kulon
goski for their views on health care. While the race
is a close one, candidates should realize attack ads
won’t get them votes, and voters are sick of their
childish bickering.
Finally, jeers to ourselves for running a crossword
solution with no crossword in the May 15 edition of
the Emerald. Our crossword puzzle-loving readers
were sorely disappointed. Oops.
Middle East discussion in need
of solid University curriculum
1 found the May 9 public talk in the
Erb Memorial Union Ballroom by
David Zev Harris illuminating,
but not in the way expected.
Several people I spoke with after
the talk said they were disturbed by
the same thing that bothered me.
They, like I, were attracted by ad
vance publicity describing Harris as
an “international journalist.”
The top line in the promotional
advertisement printed in the Emer
ald stressed his identity as a former
BBC reporter. Familiar with the BBC
and its image of integrity, I was anx
ious to hear his views on the Pales
tine tragedy.
Early in his talk, it became clear
that whatever his journalist identity
once was, today he is an Israeli propa
gandist. That may not be an honor
able title, though it is shared by pub
lic relations types on both sides of
most political questions. But it is
antithetical to integrity, just as is the
place of PR in a school of journalism.
Misleading ads and PR are always
with us. We just have to be able to see
through them. That is what many of
us had to do as Harris spoke. He was
persistent in describing Israel’s
Guest Commentary
George
Beres
response to Arab bombers as right
and proper, even when its excessive
actions brought criticism from almost
every nation except the United States.
Propagandists have a right to be
heard. But their sponsors (in this
case, they included the Jewish Stu
dent Union and the Schnitzer Judaic
Studies program) owe it to the audi
ence to make clear whom the speaker
represents.
Misleading rhetoric and advertis
ing become even more negative as
they feed tragic suffering among
Palestinians and Israelis. They also
risk building antagonism in an audi
ence that publicity has misled.
When I asked Harris about the mis
leading promotional ad, he said
(rightly) he could not control how his
appearances nationwide would be
advertised by host groups. That’s
where the problem lies: the host
groups. A forum of this type on an is
sue of such importance derives credi
bility from its sponsors. The
Schnitzer Foundation and Jewish
Student Union are respected groups
with good credibility — except on the
subject of Israel and Palestine.
Such a program would have respect
and credibility were it sponsored by
an uncommitted host, such as a Mid
dle East studies program. Unhappily,
that's where the University, an other
wise fine liberal arts school, has a
gaping vacuum. There may be isolat
ed classes on the subject. But absence
of a solid curriculum, on one of the
most critical subjects of the past
half century, is an embarrassment
to the University.
If funding is given for a program in
Judaic Studies, I have no argument
with it, even though it serves a small
minority of students, most of them al
ready familiar with the Jewish Tem
ple. The irony is the vacuum in Mid
dle Eastern studies, a vital program
that would serve so many more.
George Be res is a former Oregon sports
information director, former editor of the
University of Oregon faculty newsletter and
former manager of the University Speakers
Bureau. Retired, he now writes on the history
of college sports.
Letter to the editor
Community appreciates
festival’s reusable plates
Hats off to the unsung heroes of the
Campus Recycling crew who broke
new ground this weekend at the
Willamette Valley Folk Festival by be
ing the first campus outdoor event
(and possibly the first anywhere) to
use real plates and forks instead of the
mountains of disposable dishware
usually found at events.
An enormous amount of planning
by students and coordinators with the
EMU and other University entities
made it possible, and it was awesome!
As a food vendor, I participated for
the first time at this year’s event just
to be involved with this worthy proj
ect, and I must say it went without a
hitch. I was honored to be associated
with the event and response from the
public was ecstatic.
Thanks go to the ASUO, which al
located funds to buy reusable plates
and forks, and to the many student
volunteers who made it possible. The
University deserves much praise for
hosting the event and creating an en
vironment that fosters such cutting
edge projects.
Katherine Lavine
co-owner of Holy Cow Cafe
Steve Baggs Emerald