Commentary
uraauates prove balance between do ins well, sood
At my graduation, law Froressor
Tom Lininger urged us to strike a bal
ance “between doing well and doing
good.” Seems like a tall order, doesn’t
it? Look at Jayson Blair, Martha Stew
art and Presi
dent George W.
Bush. In their
drive to fame,
fortune and vic
tory, respective
ly, they decided
it was OK to lie,
(allegedly)
cheat and hood
wink the Ameri
can public.
But good ex
amples surround
us, too. Here are a few past graduates
and the lessons I’ve learned from them
over the past four years.
Philip
Huang
A different light
Keep your promises. In 1932, law
school graduate William Knight
pledged to his professor and Dean
Wayne Morse that “I shall always stand
ready to do anything that I can to pro
mote its interest.” Knight became a
successful lawyer and newspaper pub
lisher, while Morse was elected to the
United States Senate four times. Their
politics differed, especially on labor. But
Knight never forgot his promise, which
his son Phil Knight fulfilled with a $10
million gift toward a new law building.
The William W. Knight Law Center was
dedicated on Sept. 15,1999.
In contrast, Phil Knight was bat
tered by charges that Nike exploited
sweatshop labor. In an act that
would’ve made Wayne Morse proud,
students and faculty voted in April
2000 to join the Worker Rights Con
sortium. Phil Knight’s response — to
revoke a $30 million pledge to reno
vate Autzen Stadium — further dam
aged his reputation.
Dream big. Ann Bancroft has
crossed oceans of ice and deserts of
snow. After graduating in 1980, she be
came the first woman to reach both
the North and South Poles. Then she
and Liv Amesen trekked where no
women had gone before — across
Antarctica. In February 2001, they
completed the 1700-mile hike, inspir
ing a new generation of explorers.
Be Merry. On Nov. 11, 2001,
America lost its merriest prankster,
Ken Kesey. Kesey published two
wonderful novels before 30, then de
fied expectations with his unconven
tional life. Eschewing fame or literary
reputation, he bought a farm in Pleas
ant Hill and raised a loving family.
More than anyone else, Kesey em
bodies the values of Eugene.
Stand up for yourself and others.
Minoru Yasui was an unlikely rebel
with a cause. He graduated Phi Beta
Kappa in 1937, then finished law
school. But no firm would hire this
bright young man from Hood River.
Then World War II arrived and cur
few was imposed on everyone of
Japanese descent.
He was arrested for breaking curfew,
and served nine months in solitary
confinement before shipping off to an
Idaho internment camp. But Yasui kept
fighting. He fought for admission to the
Colorado bar. He fought to overturn his
conviction. He fought for a government
apology to Japanese-American in
ternees. And he won. In May 2002, our
law school announced it would endow
a professorship in his name.
Be fair. As a World War II infantry
man, Alfred Goodwin noticed the belt
buckles of German soldiers declared
that God was on their side. During the
Gold War, Congress inserted “under
God” into the “Pledge of Allegiance” to
proclaim God was on ours. In June
2002, Judge Goodwin ruled that a
teacher-led pledge recital was uncon
stitutional because it endorsed reli
gion. How? It sent a message to unbe
lievers that they are outsiders. In 48
years as a state and federal judge,
Goodwin has authored many deci
sions, including one that kept Oregon’s
beaches public property.
Congratulations on your fine
achievement. I wish you the best.
Contact the columnist
at philiphuang@dailyemerald.com.
His views do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
Copy desk heroes fight battles behind scenes
1 get excited about my job. 1 love
marking up pages with a red pen. I en
joy channeling my energy into a worth
while cause:
making the
newspaper look
good. I am satis
fied when I find
mistakes and
correct them.
But I wonder,
when will re
porters ever
learn that “due
to” only follows
a linking verb?
Reporters get all the glory. Their
stories are praised, and their egos
shoot through the roof. Their stories
get slammed, and they complain
about having low self-esteem and a
case of depression.
The last set of eyes to see their sto
nes before the newspaper goes out the
door gets no credit or acknowledg
ment. The reporters hardly ever see
the masterminds who write the head
lines, summaries and photo
captions. The only way these name
less, faceless heroes get any mention
is if they screw up.
But, if it weren’t for us, there would
be unimaginable catastrophes. Stories
would not be lined up, tags would be
missing and names would be wrong.
Hawaii would be called a country, day
light savings time would happen in Oc
tober instead of April, and worst of all,
independent clauses would not be sep
arated with commas.
Copy editors are the last line of de
fense in the newsroom. We scrutinize
every detail in subjects ranging from
ASUO elections to nudist camps, mari
juana legalization and the fate of the
Lukes in basketball. Not only do we
have to know a little about everything,
we have to work quickly in order to edit
stories, write headlines and other extra
text, edit the proofs and make deadline.
We brainstorm ideas for headlines
that often fall by the wayside, even
though they are worthy of a prize, such
as “SARS wars” and “Group to get
more money next year.” Thousands of
headline rules exist, but they are too
ridiculous to state here.
The point is, headlines are one of
the biggest challenges of copy editing: I
defy anyone to write a feature headline
about the Spruce Goose and Walter
Cronkite (one of our brilliant ideas for
this was “Filming flying wood”).
The biggest pressure is that any mis
takes that show up in the newspaper
are blamed on the copy editors, specif
ically the copy chief. Our job, essen
tially, is to cover the reporters’ hides
when they make mistakes, leave out
information, editorialize, skew the
facts and write articles that potentially
could make people act irrationally.
When I think about it, perhaps it is
best that the copy desk is behind the
scenes. Our job is not as easy as it
looks, even though we have plenty of
off time to watch reality shows and
Michael Jackson documentaries while
we wait for proofs and stories. We don’t
even have to start work until 4:30 p.m.
So, call us heroes for doing all that
work and still making or beating
deadline. Or call us doofuses for
missing an obvious mistake or incor
rect fact. But, if you ever see the elu
sive members of the copy desk, give
us a hug. We deserve it.
Contact the copy chief
atjennifersnyder@dailyemerald.com.
Her opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
Reinhard
continued from page 3
indulgent rants and witty prose.
But don’t post any nasty com
ments, or I’ll delete them and hunt
you down. Also, thank you, Mom
and Dad, for splitting the costs of
my college education 50-50 and
helping shape me into the ace jour
nalist I’ll be in 30 years or so.
Oh, I almost forgot: Need a place
to live this summer? I’ve got a great
second-story Von Klein apartment
in the heart of the city that I’d be
willing to part with for the right
price. It’s full of character, cozy and
inches closer to the ground every
passing day. E-mail me in the next
30 minutes and I’ll throw in a com
plimentary “mystery” pet.
Contact the news editor
atbrookreinhard@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
reflect those of the Emerald.
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Good luck on finals.
We’re looking forward
to seeing you and your
family and friends at
Commencement.
Be safe.
Have fun.
Celebrate
responsibly!
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For more information about commencement, go to: http://studentlife.uoregon.edu/cmncmnt/comcmnt_home.htm