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Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Editor
Pat Payne
Thursday, February 20,2003
Editorial
ASUO Executive
makes the grade
for leadership
As the middle of the academic year rolls around again,
it’s time judge to the quality of work of the ASUO Execu
tive. We’re happy to report that we’re impressed with this
year’s administration. ASUO President Rachel Pilliod is
a bundle of energy, excited about the work she does and
intelligent in explaining the content of that work to non
“wonky” types like us. We were not able to meet with
ASUO Vice President Ben Buzbee in preparation for this
report card, and as there are issues of leadership still out
standing in our minds until he has his day in court, we
relied on Pilliod as the head of the ASUO Executive. We
rated the administration based on its campaign platform
from last year.
Legislative issues: A
Many students may not realize it, but an important
part of what the ASUO Executive does is to represent stu
dents in lobbying efforts from the state level to the feder
al government. Pilliod has been very active in legislative
issues, and under her leadership, Oregon was represent
ed at the federal level through the United States Student
Association, fighting for, among many other things, in
creased Pell Grants in the Higher Education Funding Act.
Also, we were impressed by ASUO’s record-breaking
voter registration numbers for the November election.
Student leadership resources: B
Pilliod’s office has worked hard to replace the defunct
Student Activities Resource Office, which was defunded
last year. A new proposal to offer resources to students
seeking leadership opportunities on campus has been for
warded to Vice President and Dean of Students Anne Leav
itt as a suggestion for the president’s capital campaign, but
realization of this program could be a long way off.
One the other hand, Pilliod created additional oppor
tunities for leadership in the ASUO office and handles re
quests from students seeking opportunities. That is a
concrete accomplishment.
Continuing the work of last year’s ASUO Executive: B+
Pilliod’s office has kept the energy fee from being in
creased any further, and we call that a success.
The administration also has continued last year’s work
on a housing code. While Pilliod said the Eugene City
Council hasn’t been willing to take on initiatives that
could cost the city money, the ASUO has taken over the
efforts of the Rental Information Office, which closed last
year. The Executive is in the process of publishing a com
prehensive rental information guide, as well as making
resources available on the Internet.
Health Care: B+
As part of the USSA, Pilliod lobbied in front of the U.S.
Congress for additional funding for women’s health care.
The intiatives died, but giving students a voice is important.
Pilliod also has been working to change the billing sys
tem at the University Health Center, which currently re
quires students to bill their own insurance companies.
Regular doctor’s offices perform this function, and the
Health Center should as well.
Increasing diversity: B
Pilliod told us herself that the ASUO could prioritze di
versity issues higher. Her office has continued past
events, such as “Weaving New Beginnings,” and it joined
in the National Take Affirmative Action Day in October.
Also, Pilliod has added new positions in her office for
multicultural outreach. While we would like to see more,
diversity efforts are hard on such a homogenous campus.
Overall: A-/B+
This year’s ASUO Executive has been informed, in
volved and accessible — even in times of minor “scan
dals.” Pilliod has arranged her staff and conducts ASUO
business professionally, and it shows.
Editorial policy
Jhis editorial represents the opi nion of the
Emerald editorial board. Responses can be sent
to letters#daiiyemerald.com. Letters to the
editor and guest commentaries are encouraged.
Letters are limited to 250 words and guest
commentaries to 550 words. Submission must
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verification.
THE PRESIDENT is mot
COMC£R»ED WITH THE
PROTESTS IN EUROPE .
I MEAN; LOOK AT
V 1^33 . THEY PROTESTED
A WHEN we BROU6HT
% M»*«lUSS IN, AND
Ik WHAT Dip THAT j
l\\ 'EM? /
■ AW FLEISCHER
WHO 1HE HELL if
ARl FLEISCHER ?
I 1U0U6HT the Peace
PP.oce.ss emokd thc
Cold war..
Remember 11*3 , wHe*
THEY 8ROO6KT IM THO&C
m«6siuc4 ? what oood d»d
That Do THEM ?
REMEM&tR ?
I CAN'T REMEMBER
AMYTHIN<^ . I'M
*old w/orld. " i
Peter Utsey Emerald
Cold War and peace—revised
Last weekend, Americans in 150 cities
organized again to protest George Bush’s
drive for war against Iraq. They joined
several million peo
ple in Europe who
staged what USA
Today called “the
biggest protests in
modem times.”
No longer able
to ignore the enor
mous peace demon
strations, the Bush
administration is
responding with an
odd public relations
campaign. It’s com
Philip
Huang
A different light
paring the weekend’s events to demon
strations against staging new missiles in
Germany in the early 1980s.
“These marches are 1983 all over
again,” White House spokesman Ari
Fleischer said.
From 1983? One look at the photos
from across the world tells me that many
won’t remember demonstrations that oc
curred 20 years ago. Some Emerald read
ers weren’t even bom yet.
In certain ways, 1983 was long ago.
Boy Geoige ruled the airwaves. Scientists
had yet to identify the AIDS vims. And
the Berlin Wall was a visible reminder of
a Gold War that threatened to destroy all
of civilization.
The threat of nuclear war loomed large
in people’s lives. How large? A record num
ber of Americans tuned in for a TV movie
called “The Day After,” a story about the
effects of a nuclear attack on the United
States. Among the top films that year was
“WarGames,” about a teenage hacker who
accidentally starts a “game” called Global
Thermonuclear War. In real life, Ronald
Reagan escalated nuclear tensions when
he announced the Strategic Defense Initia
tive, soon derided as “Star Wars.”
In the late 1970s, the Soviet Union had
developed the SS-20, a mobile ballistic
missile with unparalleled range and accu
racy. In response, NATO adopted a “dual
track” strategy of installing new European
based nuclear missiles while simultane
ously pursuing arms control treaties. This
strategy was controversial from the start.
NATO’s strategy involved stationing
more than 600 American Pershing II
missiles in Western Europe. Thus, Amer
ican nukes were directed at the Soviet
Union. On the other hand, Soviet mis
siles would target West Germany, Great
Britain and other Pershing bases.
Naturally, many Europeans were quite
unhappy. They had suffered two devas
tating world wars, and now faced the
prospect of being ground zero for the
third because the Americans were in
stalling a new arsenal on their soil.
In 1983, huge crowds demonstrated
against the American missiles. 400,000
gathered in Hyde Park in London.
550,000 turned out in The Hague. A mil
lion Germans formed a human chain.
NATO remained unmoved.
Fleischer argued that the missiles
helped end the Gold War. This is partly
true. But the anti-nuclear protests also aid
ed the lasting peace in Europe. They told
Mikhail Gorbachev that popular sentiment
favored nuclear disarmament and encour
aged him to pursue arms talks with Presi
dent Reagan. Moreover, following sugges
tions of movement leaders, Gorbachev
unilaterally halted Soviet nuclear testing.
In 1987, Gorbachev proposed elimi
nating European short- and medium
range missiles. NATO accepted. He and
Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the first
arms treaty that actually reduced the
number of nukes in the world.
In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, liberating
East Germans from the Soviets, but also
freeing West Germans and other NATO
allies from the Americans. No longer can
Washington exercise its will in Western
Europe as NATO’s nuclear protector. And
here we are today: Europe on one side of
Iraq debate, America on the other.
To the Gold War retreads in the Bush
Administration who “remember” the ’80s
as a time when they “beat” the Soviet
Union, I say: At the very least, they should
share the victory and stand with the advo
cates of peace and nuclear disarmament.
Contact the columnist
at philiphuang@dailyemerald.com.
His views do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
Its time to fight against radio that sucks
Guest editorial
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (U-WIRE) —
It’s 1972. Enter Lowry Mays, aspiring
San Antonio banker. Mays co-signs the
note to purchase a local FM station as a
favor to a local investor. Thirty-one
years later, Mays owns 1,225 stations in
250 U.S. markets and an audience of 66
million. Mays is the founder and GEO
of Clear Channel, a #25 billion media
conglomerate currently manipulating
local entertainment options somewhere
near you.
Senator Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., in
troduced the “Competition in Radio
and Concert Industries Act of 2003” bill
at the end of January. He is asking Con
gress to rethink the wording of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996,
where the FCC eliminated national
ownership rules for radio stations. The
bill says that since the Telecom Act was
passed, radio station owners dropped
from 5,100 to 3,800. Concert ticket
prices increased by 50 percent. Now
the top-50 radio groups collect 62.5
percent of radio station revenues.
People are starting to connect the
dots between owning radio stations and
venues in the same area, and are claim
ing a decrease in local options. Mays
says his company takes local flavor into
account and sticks it into Clear Chan
nel’s many rotations.
Yet, the company has had legitimate
legal trouble. Two years ago, Florida offi
cials fined Clear Channel #80,000 for
not telling participants to a radio call-in
show that they were competing against
listeners from across the country,
instead of locally. The FGG fined Clear
Channel #8,000 the same year for ac
cepting money from a record company
to play a Bryan Adams song — this prac
tice is called payola, one of the causes
that started federal regulation of the air
waves in the first place. A Bryan Adams
song — is it worth it?
Decide for yourself. Listen to a Clear
Channel station here and one in your
hometown, and see if Mays’ claim that
his company provides for local listening
is true.
If you want at least part of your music
and media back, call your senators and
ask them to support the bill. Look them
up at www.senate.gov. Tell them corpo
rate radio has, and still does, suck.
This editorial was written by the staff
of Indiana Daily Student (Indiana U.).