Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
Email: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, October 2,2002
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Editors:
Salena De La Cruz, Pat Payne
Offensive imagery,
blurry photographs
and a simple error
Rather than explain what a newspaper “ombudsman” generally is
and how this space will differ from that in the months to come, why
don’t I just get started, and we’ll find out together.
During the last few weeks of summer publishing, the Emerald ran
an advertisement for Divas, a local adult club featuring erotic
dancers. The ad featured a nearly naked
woman wearing football pads and boxer
shorts.
Some members of the community felt the
ad was in bad taste, and they let us know about
it. Here’s the instructive part: Becky Merchant,
our advertising director, was responsive. She
heard the complaints and let the advertiser
know the concerns. (
Michael J.
Kleckner
The editor's office
We are a community newspaper, and we do
take into account the community’s standards
as they are expressed to us. In this case, Mer
chant and the advertiser got together and de
cided to change the ad. It will no longer feature
the image that some readers found offensive.
Now, on to the riots. First, I just want to re-clarify an error that
caused some confusion. And I guess I should preface it with a little
explanation of the Emerald.
While the Emerald is an independent newspaper, the newsroom is
staffed entirely by students. Monday was our first issue with a whole
new staff, and we are learning as we go.
Long story short, mistakes will happen as we learn our craft. We
have a swift and certain correction policy, so let us know when we
get something wrong.
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graphs were accidentally cut out of our first article about the riots
(“Partygoers turn violent near campus,” Sept. 30), and the result
made it look like a Subway employee said something he didn’t. For
the record, Brett Michel did not express any enthusiasm for the ri
ots. He simply explained what he saw. The missing paragraphs had
set up quotes obtained from a videotape of the event. The corrected
story is on our Web site.
Ordinarily, the copy staff only cuts stories for space. The copy
editors read all the stories and know what can be cut without causing
confusion. In this case, the cut was just a mistake, and we ran a clar
ification in Tuesday’s paper explaining the situation.
Finally, I want to begin a discussion I expect will cause some dis
agreement. Our riot story on the Web featured extra photos of the
event, and we included an editor’s note explaining that in all of the
photos, the identifiable faces had been blurred.
Since then, I’ve heard from people who wondered why we blurred
the faces. I’ve heard that it was censorship — although I disagree
with using the word that way — or that we were hypocritical given
our editorial stance against the rioters. The decision to blur was
mine, although some staff members expressed their support.
My reasoning was this: I believe the Emerald represents the stu
dents. In the craziness of after-the-riot Saturday morning reporting, I
didn’t want us to publish anything that could be used by the authori
ties to implicate students (or others) in actions that weren’t entirely
clear or that those people may not really have been involved in.
On the other hand, I thought the photographs by Norman Mes
man (who worked at the Emerald in 1994) were compelling and il
lustrative for people who weren’t at the scene Friday night. I don’t
believe blurring the faces reduced that understanding significantly.
My judgment call, then, was that we should run the photos but
blur the faces and say that we did so. Many newspapers in these sit
uations choose instead to run photos where people are not identifi
able, or (like The Register-Guard, who used the same photos we did)
to run them without alteration.
I am positive that people in the community, and probably some
journalism professors, will disagree with my decision. But I wanted
to err on the side of student interests.
We are not an arm of law enforcement, and we don’t want to be
f- ' >at way — however tangentially — by students, who we
h> u ,il continue to talk to us candidly about large-scale events of
this s< >- t. We also withheld some identifying details from our story
for the same reason. It is not yet clear who is responsible for what,
and we didn’t think our job was to provide investigative assistance
to the police.
The police took their own video and photographs of the event,
and the editorial board and I both hope that they use those re
sources to identify and prosecute the people involved in the riots.
Michael J. Kleckner is the editor in chief of the Emerald.
Send your concerns about Emerald coverage or content
to editorfedailyemerald.com.
Statement from the president’s office
The events near campus this weekend leave me appalled
and dismayed. These actions disrupted and endangered the
lives of students and residents of the West University neigh
borhood. Such behaviors are absolutely unacceptable.
Of the 35 people arrested, 15 are currently enrolled
at the University. I am saddened that the actions of a
few reflect so badly upon the vast majority of our 20,000
students who are first-rate scholars and exemplary citi
zens and most likely as appalled as I am about this inci
dent. To begin an academic year in this fashion hurts
and saddens us all.
The University student Code of Conduct currently does
not cover incidents such as these when they occur off
campus. We are currently reviewing the code, including
the jurisdictional issues, in light of this event. I have asked
senior officials from the University to meet with city offi
cials and the Eugene Police Department to review the
events of this past weekend and to explore all options open
to us to prevent this type of disruption in the future.
Dave Frohnmayer
University president
Letters to the editor
Why do students riot?
Why does this happen? Is it that
you have excessive disposable in
come, or lack of dignity and self
worth? Are there no other outlets for
your creativity, angst and rage? Or
was it simply poor judgment for ad
mitting you into the University in the
first place?
As a University alumna, current em
ployee and community member, I am
saddened, disappointed and frustrated
with even the idea that this kind of de
structive behavior exists, let alone
seems to be some new fad or trend.
Unfortunately, the current Student
Conduct Code does not allow the
University to take disciplinary action
that would fit this kind of crime due
to its location off campus. This needs
a revision.
As a community, we cannot tolerate
anything less than immediate expul
sion and a permanent criminal record.
Joann ZumBrunnen
Class of '96
Admissions
Rioters damage
reputation
A sad note for those of you who
think Friday night was just another
Eugene riot: This story led the local
news in Philadelphia. Yes, Philadel
phia. .. one continent away. Previous
ly, when I told my friends here about
the University, they’d make some
comment about how good our foot
ball team is. Now, they ask me if
that’s where all the riots happen.
Great. I used to be proud of my
school. Now I’m embarrassed.
Oh, and to add insult to injury...
my 18-year-old cousin from Boston
was considering going to my alma
mater. Key word here — “was.”
Good work, everyone.
Brian Goodell
Philadelphia
Send rioters back
to high school
Brainless rioters are an embarrass
ment to the University of Oregon.
Pointless rioting has happened for a
number of years, with little repercus
sions for the idiots who have no re
spect for the community and even
less respect for the University.
It is time to boot rioting partici
pants off campus and send them
back to high school where they can
learn to grow up. I’ve witnessed all of
the riots in the years past except for
this one, and I think the police have
acted with extreme leniency and pa
tience each time.
Seeing the University logo on CNN
wrapped in handcuffs belittles the ed
ucation that so many of us have
strived to achieve. How dare these
kids think so little of themselves and
everyone in the community.
Rioting students made the “O”
logo look like a giant zero.
Autumn DePoe
Class of'02
Cartoon sends
negative image
I am .writing in response to the edi
torial cartoon by Steve Baggs in the
Sept. 23 issue of the Emerald. The
cartoon depicts a University student
who thinks of school supplies as beer,
illegal drug paraphernalia and con
doms, instead of the more traditional
pencils and notebooks.
I realize that we have freedom of the
press in this country and that Baggs
was probably just trying to be humor
ous. However, keep in mind that
prospective University students and
their parents may be reading the
Emerald. It’s a common practice for
people to read newspapers from col
leges they may be interested in attend
ing. Do you want them to think that
your school is full of druggie slackers?
I am a senior at North Eugene
High School. As I search for col
leges, I am looking for a place where
I will be able to develop my intellect
and become a competent citizen of
the 21st century, not a place where
I will learn to get drunk and act like
a moron. Perhaps I will reconsider
my plan to apply to the University
of Oregon.
Eva Sylwester
Eugene
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