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-OregonDaily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor:
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Editor:
Pat Payne
Thursday, February 6,2003
Editorial
Felons deserve
second chances
after they have
done their time
After reading about the recruitment of convicted felon
and two-time All-American comerback Rodney Woods,
we take issue with Athletic Director Bill Moos’ policy bar
ring felons from being a part of University athletic pro
grams. It seems as though Moos wants to punish people a
second time for offenses in the past.
Isn’t it the cardinal principle of the justice system that
once a person has paid his or her debt to society, their
slate is clean and they should not be denied the opportu
nities available to everyone else in society? How is deny
ing a person a chance to build a new life doing justice?
By the Athletic Department telling convicted felons “we
won’t take you,” one more avenue for them to better
their lives is closed.
At the same time, this policy has led to a strange and
misguided effort by Ducks football head coach Mike Be
lotti — writing a letter to the court on behalf of Woods.
Woods has served his jail time, is finishing his probation,
and is trying to get his felony assault charge, stemming
from a May 2000 beating, reduced to a misdemeanor.
The University should step back and let the California
court system handle this one on its own. Let Woods ar
gue how much he has changed since assaulting a man
who tried to rescue Christopher O’Leary from being
beaten to death by two of Woods’ friends. Let a judge de
cide Woods’ fate without the appearance of pleading to
fill a spot on the team.
First, though, let Woods finish his probation. Then he
will have paid his debt to society, and then the University
would do well to give him a second chance — felon or not.
Society to blame
for racial pattern
in scholarships
Above, we criticized the Athletic Department for
what we see as wrong. Now we offer qualified praise for
something right.
We are heartened that one department seems to be
forcefully recruiting black men and women — the Athlet
ic Department. The lions’ share of athletic scholarships
go to black males, a segment of the American population
among the least likely to go to college.
At the same time, though, it disturbs us that 35 percent of
all black males on this campus are here because of athletics.
What we see is something we have touched on in previ
ous editorials this year: Institutional racism, Therejg alack
of non-athletic opportunitiesfprblack youth in America,
and especially oj^this campus. This is sad, but not surpris
ing. These days, national black role models are not scien
tists (such as Dr. George Washington (]arver) or war heroes
(such as the Tuskegee Airmen) but are aknostunifgrrgjy
athletes —men and women who are famous not. forTheir
advances to humanity, but instead because they can throw
a ball in a basket or rush 100 yards with a pigskin.
How can any black American become a Charles Drew,
inventor of the process that makes blood banks possible, or
a Dr. Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space, when
their scholarship forces them to spend most of their college
career on the court or gridiron and not in the classroom?
While we’re heartened these men and women are get
ting the chance to better their lives, we can’t help but rec
ognize a symptom of latent racism in society that says to
black Americans: “You’re^only worm something by per
forming as an athlete.”
We’re left to ask: Why doesn’t American culture glorify
any other black role models? ' iSTI
Editorial policy
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial board. Responses can be
sent to letters @dailyemerald.com.
Steve Baggs Emerald
Space: Still a frontier
1 nave an old childrens book about
space. Published in 1960, it concluded on
a hopeful note: “Perhaps one day
mankind shall reach the moon.” Who
thought that the next spring would see
Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard shooting
into space? Or upon Shepard’s return,
President Kennedy’s proclamation that it
was America’s destiny to land on the
moon before the decade’s end? Or that in
1969, Neil Armstrong would indeed take
that giant step for humankind?
Those were heady days. They were, de
spite war abroad
and unrest at home,
hopeful days. Mil
lions of children
saw the landing and
dreamed of becom
ing astronauts. This
week, we remember
seven who achieved
their dream.
I grew up in a dif
ferent time. The
Apollo program was
over. Skylab had
fallen into the
ocean. But a new model for space flight
was born. The first space shuttle was
named Enterprise, after a fictional star
ship that explored uncharted galaxies.
I wanted to be an astronomer then.
Which planet was the smallest? Which
star was the brightest? Which planet
had the most moons? Did other stars
have planets, too? How many light
years was it from Earth to Alpha Cen
tauri? How far is a light-year, anyway?
Letter to the editor
Tireless scout volunteers
deserve recognition
As the Boy Scouts of America cele
brates its 93rd birthday on Saturday, we
commend the countless volunteers who
have donated their time to instill timeless
values in the lives of Cub Scouts, Boy
Scouts and Venturers.
Oregon Trail Council has 3,700 vol
unteers who serve 11,877 young peo
ple. We’d like these volunteers to know
that we appreciate their hard work
and dedication. Thank you for keeping
Philip
Huang
A different light
Did intelligent lire exist elsewhere in
the universe?
The search for answers to those ques
tions filled countless hours during my
childhood. Gould other planets besides
Earth support human life? The more I
learned, the more the answer seemed to
be “No.” Venus was a boiling cauldron of
toxic gases. Mars had virtually no oxygen
and hardly any atmosphere. Other plan
ets were out of the question.
Other solar systems? At 25,000 miles
per hour, our fastest spacecraft would
reach the nearest star in about 115,000
years. The odds against reaching another
solar system are, well, astronomical. But
astronomers discovered in early 1980s
that many nearby stars were orbited by
solid objects. Children a generation be
fore dreamed of the moon. My friends
and I reached for the stars and dreamed
of planets.
Then the Challenger exploded.
For much of our generation, it was a
shared memory like the Kennedy assassi
nation. They were the first Americans lost
in space. With Columbia’s tragedy, we
wonder if the shuttle is safe at all.
Yet in the darkest days after Chal
lenger, science continued to shed light in
our quest for answers. Physicist Richard
Feynman, appointed to the committee
investigating the explosion, identified the
problem on his own. The night before the
launch was so cold that ice had built
around the rocket boosters, including the
rubber O-Rings meant to seal the two
massive rockets. Feynman demonstrat
ed how rubber loses all resilience by
scouting strong and effective for
93 years.
If scouting’s 3,700 registered adult vol
unteers gave only two volunteer hours
per week, they would give nearly
385,000 volunteer hours per year. How
ever, we know scouting’s volunteers do
nate significantly more time than this.
Through their actions they demonstrate
the philosophy that, for our children,
love is spelled T-I-M-E.
Our scouting volunteers understand
the old adage “an ounce of prevention
is worth a pound of cure.” For more
than nine decades, mothers and fathers
have taken the time to use the scouting
program as a remedy to the social ills
\ s. , . T .
I.'.' V V.V.V V V V.V_\.V.V.If.tf.tf.tf>\(M
dropping a piece into a glass of ice water.
NASA said the chance of shutde failure
was 1 in 100,000. Feynman determined
that failure would occtir 1 in every'100
launches. The last Columbia flight was
the 113th shuttle launch. ’ •’
In tragedy’s shadow, We should not
forget the successes of the Hubble
Space Telescope, Galileo and the Mars
Global Surveyor. Unmanned spacecraft
have given us incalculable knowledge of
our solar system and beyond. They,
rather than astronauts, have answered
my childhood questions about Mars,
moons and stars.
Nor should we abandon human space
flight. We honor the Columbia seven by
committing humanity to a future in
space. What we should stop is giving
away billions in contracts to spy satellites
and space missile defense. Who knows
how much stronger and safer our space
shuttle system would be if our political
and financial energies were in one place?
Columbia carried the first scientific
payload in two years. Besides tests on
human bone, muscle and immune cells
in microgravity, the shuttle also housed
earthworms, harvester ants and Aus
tralian spiders. The creatures carried the
experiments of high school students who
had won the opportunity to conduct ex
periments in space.
They are our newest generation of
space scientists.
Contact the columnist
at philiphuang@dailyemerald.com.
His views do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
America’s youth face. They have helped
save them from the dangers of drugs,
gang violence, teen pregnancy, vandal
ism and more. Thanks to their contri
butions, thousands of youngsters have
gained the personal values, self-confi
dence, leadership and life skills to help
them grow into strong role models for
the next generation.
Oregon Trail Council, Boy Scouts of
America, salutes our dynamic team of
volunteers who make a difference in the
lives of America’s youth. They are the
faces of the future.
Michael S. Quirk
Scout Executive Oregon Trail Council,
BSA