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Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Monday, June 10,2002
Editorial
Making history:
University life
through the year
The 2001-02 school year has been nine months of odd anecdotes
ranging from a massive wind storm to a false anthrax alarm. But
many of these small stories will shape administrative decisions
for years to come — including policies on campus safety and athletics
ticket distribution. The following is a run-down of the top stories of
the year that will affect future generations of Ducks for years to come:
Title town USA
This year, Eugene became known as “Title Town USA” for all of our
success in athletics. The football team won the Fiesta Bowl in a smash
ing defeat of Colorado, men’s basketball surged into the Elite Eight and
women’s basketball added the WNIT championship. The Club Sports
volleyball team also became national champions for the second con
secutive season and the track team placed second overall in the Pacif
ic-10 conference.
Next year, the Athletic Department and ASUO will rightfully work
to eliminate massive ticket lines and situations where students have to
skip class just to get tickets.
Campus safety
Eight campus assaults, several public masturbation reports and even
an attempted armed robbery made campus safety a top priority this
year. University administrators and the Department of Public Safety
made small strides with plans to improve lighting on footpaths, in
holding a safety forum and the creation of the Yellow Jackets volunteer
safety patrol. But frustration with the attacks was apparent as several
women’s groups took center stage at the EMU Amphitheater in protest.
Quiet riot
Eugene hasn’t seen a major riot since Halloween 1998. But the Eugene
Police Department was busy when as many as 500 rioters clashed with
police May 31. The reasoning behind the riot on 17th Avenue and Patter
son Street is up for debate, but we applaud the clean-up crews for clear
ing away tons of broken glass from die streets in record time nevertheless.
Before we can assess whether the officers acted correctly or if the
partygoers instigated the whole debacle, we need more details of that
night. But we can say that any riot involving college-age people gives a
bad name to all students. We are not all violent rebels as most riots
suggest, but the events of May 31 did little to detach all students from
that stereotype.
Incidental fee
In one of the Programs Finance Committee’s most trying years, nearly
all student groups and programs funded by the PFC had their budget
hearings recalled so that committee members could rectify a $500,000
accounting error, and groups like OSPIRG and the Oregon Commenta
tor were under scrutiny for the content of their mission statements.
Allowing four unsupervised student volunteers to allocate $4 mil
lion in incidental fee money is simply a bad idea, and student organi
zations suffer because of it. There must be more supervision of PFC
members so they can make better decisions.
Anthrax
The effects of Sept. 11 terrorism trickled to the University in Novem
ber when a letter supposedly laced with anthrax arrived for a professor
in Willamette Hall. HazMat arrived on the scene and men in protective
suits combed the professor’s office and secured the building. In the end,
tests determined die powdery substance on the letter was not anthrax,
but the scare tested the quick reflexes of response teams.
Dry greek houses
President Dave Frohnmayer’s decision to keep alcohol out of frater
nities indefinitely was a huge administrative stance on an age-old
moral issue. The decision was something Frohnmayer had been con
templating for a long time — and something some fraternities had
been dreading for even longer. But with few guidelines on how to go
dry with basically no help from administrators, we’ll have to wait and
see if Frohnmayer’s plan will fundamentally work next fall.
ah, the memories
By 4 p.m. Tuesday, it will
all be over. Four years.
Three majors. Two actual
degrees. One fine college educa
tion. This column is supposed to
be my glori
ous farewell
to the Uni
versity, but
some things
you just can’t
do in a few
hundred
words. In
stead I
would just
like to thank
a few people,
recall some
Columnist
memories
and pass
along a cou
ple words of thought. You can
take them the way they stand,
but better yet, take them with a
grain of salt.
This past year, my columns
have caused controversy and
outrage, but most importantly,
debate. The best way to com
pliment a columnist is to re
spond to something he or she
wrote. If people never sent me
e-mails or wrote letters to the
editor or guest commentaries,
then that meant I failed at my
job. Everything that I have
written has been truthful, logi
cal and my opinion. If readers
disagreed with anything I
wrote this year, then good. I
would be a bit scared if they
didn’t.
Now, of course, my time here
at the University hasn’t all been
spent working for the Emerald. I
had the dubious honor of spend
ing some time working for ASUO
and I even ran for ASUO Execu
tive in spring 2001. It might be a
surprise, but I really didn’t learn
much from working with the stu
dent government. I did learn
though that you can break the
rules and get away with it and
also that green paint is really
hard to get out of your hair after
painting the World’s Biggest Bal
lot Box.
Four years ago I entered the
University just as lost as every
other freshman. Thankfully, the
love of FIG 25 was there to get
my college career off to a great
start. The only thing better than
beginning college with you all is
being able to end it with many of
you, as well.
There isn’t enough space to
mention all the professors who
have helped me during the past
few years, so I’m not even going
to try. You know who you are and
I only hope that I can take what I
learned from each and every one
of you and make you proud.
The same goes for everyone in
my public relations and advertis
ing classes. What you learn is often
attributed to those you learn it
with. Thanks for your humor, your
patience and your friendship! *1 ‘ ‘
Finally, I can’t leave the Uni
versity without acknowledging
the transformation of Oregon
athletics during my time here. I
remember coming down for the
Michigan State football game my
freshman year before classes
even started. It is interesting to
note that my friend and I picked
up tickets the day of the game,
something that you just can’t do
anymore, and also the Ducks
were underdogs at Autzen Stadi
um. Oregon won the game and it
helped spur the unbelievable
success die program now enjoys.
What the basketball team did
this year surprised everyone ex
cept for Ernie Kent. It is pretty
amazing for a team that had litde
expectations to end up battling
Kansas for a spot in the NCAA Fi
nal Four. But that is what college
sports and college itself is all about.
Expect the unexpected. I only hope
though those who have become
Oregon fans while the teams have
been at the top will be there when
the years are not so good.
So here it is. The end of col
lege. I’m about to move out from
behind the protective walls of
higher education, but there is
one last final to take and it is
about time I start cramming for
it. Hey, it has worked for four
years, so why stop now?
E-mail columnist Jeff Oliver
at jeffoliver@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily ,
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