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Email: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online: www.dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor:
Jan Tobias Montry
EDITORIAL
Editorial staff
shakes ass
to downloads
There's been a lot of talk about the trading of songs on
line, what with the Recording Industry Association of
America's recent attempts to subpoena Boston College and
Massachusetts Institute of Technology for students' names.
RIAA has gone on a rampage, seeking more than 900
subpoenas to help identify Internet service providers or in
dividuals illegally swapping copyrighted material on the
Web. A ruling that disallows requests from out of state
slightly stalled the latest attempts, but RIAA will soon file
the proper paperwork and will probably win access to
those involved in the online trading.
It's not coincidence that college students are under at
tack by the RIAA, either; students across the country have
access to the latest in technology and are often plugged in
to the fastest networks. Furthermore, students are able to
find just what they're looking for — whether it's DMB or
Nelly's "Shake Your Tail feather" (Boy, it's catchy, isn't it?).
It's easy. Point. Click. Wait about 10 seconds if it's a fast
connection, a few minutes if it's not ("We can even do it
slow/ Oh, oh ...). And there it is: musical bliss.
Beyond the simplicity of online file sharing, though, is
a key component that contributes to the phenomenon: stu
dents' mentalities.
People well into their 70s are becoming increasingly com
puter-savvy, but those who use programs like Kazaa and
Morpheus are 50 years their junior. There's something about
our generation that makes us prone to thinking we can have
anything we want. Perhaps it is because our baby boomer
parents indulged us with all they didn't have, or perhaps
we're just spoiled brats. In any event we seem to think swap
ping — or stealing, technically — is just fine and dandy.
Some of us will admit that file sharing is theft but will
quickly counter that it's OK. Ihe recording industry is, after
all, evil. Musical stars, too, have quite enough money, so they
don't mind. Maybe the best one, though, is the argument
that the Internet is here for the expression of free thought —
and by all means MP3s certainly fit that criterion.
Perhaps the recording industry is malicious. Today, don't
you almost feel lucky to pick up a CD on sale for $ 14.99?
After all, the suggested retail price seems to linger some
where around $ 18.
Conversely, record sales are declining. Many say this
slump has nothing to do with online trading; it's purely
happenchance. Equally as coincidental as, say, Milli Vanilli
losing all respectability after being shown for what they re
ally were: two lookers with locks who couldn't sing a lick
(but they sure could dance).
What college students don't understand is that download
ing songs off the Internet is the same as walking into the local
record store and lifting a couple of CDs. Music is intellectual
property, and taking it without paying for it is theft. Yeah,
maybe rock stars have a lot of money, but they damn well de
serve it as does anyone who makes and sells something.
Really, though, us college kids are going to do what we
want. Downloading songs from the Net isn't the most seri
ous of crimes, and hey, as long as we're not the one who
are sharing — ironically, it's OK to steal, just not to share
— we're safe for now.
So download away; we're downloading* "Tailfeather"
right now so we can seductively swivel our collective asses
after we finish the paper.
But just remember, in a few years it might not be Nelly
saying "What your name is / Where you from?" It could be
the RIAA knocking at your door. Odds are, they don't keep
the same beat, either.
* Editor's note: No songs were illegally shared during the
composition of this editorial.
EDITORIAL POLICY
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald
editorial board. Responses can be sent to letters
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Funding cuts hurt students, economy
GUEST
COMMENTARY
It is no secret that I want to be a grandfa
ther someday. I lowever, both my children,
one approaching college graduation and
the other an adult, show little interest in
the prospect any time soon.
Most young adults these days do not set
tle down and
start a family
soon after college
Yet, 35 years ago
when I graduated
college most did.
One of the reasons for this difference is sim
ple and we're dealing with it right now in
the legislature: the cost of college.
In recent years the cost of college has
skyrocketed all over the country. Oregon is
no exception. If the proposed budget pass
es, college students in Oregon will face a
shocking tuition hike of 21 percent. This is
because the proposed budget decreases
state support from more than $5,000 per
student to about $3,700 per student. That's
a 12.7 percent decrease in state funding
from just two years ago.
Tuition hikes mean young Oregonians
who attend a state university will face a
tremendous financial liability, and will be
saddled with an average $20,000 worth of
debt at graduation. This debt means young
people — who could be thinking of buy
ing their first home, marrying, and
starting a family — will instead be
living very carefully and paying
off debt.
Cutting funds also de
creases access to a college
degree. For every $ 100
that tuition goes up, 0.7
percent of young Oregonians are priced
out of an education. With the proposed tu
ition hikes in this budget 10,000 qualified
students will be denied a college degree.
This means 10,000 young people will be
denied an important tool for earning
money and raising a family.
Yet, last year, before tuition hikes, en
rollment grew 10.5 percent. This year, the
co-chairs' proposed higher education
budget means that fewer
new faculty will join state
colleges to teach these
new students. The
teacher-to-student
ratio will increase
by 6 percent and
student services
and course of
ferings will
also drop.
Oregon's
college
students
are paying
more for less.
It's worth
noting that hav
ing many indebted
young adults causes an
economic drag, at a time
when Oregon's economy is
already sputtering. Our col
leges also serve as engines for
economic development, and, for
individual towns, a local university
or community college can form the
anchor of the local economy.
So, how, or rather, when should
young Ore- M
g o n i a n s ■
pay for col- I
lege? They 1
can't do it 1
before they |
go to college j
when they
wards by paying down debt. Rather, they
should pay for college later in life, when
they are finally in their prime earning
years, through paying taxes. By doing so,
they ensure the generation following
them will have access to higher educa
tion. When that following generation
matures, they pay for the generation fol
lowing them, and so forth.
This is the responsibility my generation
— which got very low tuition rates when
we were young — neglects whenever we
cut funding for colleges.
We are asking today's students to pay
now, when they are least able to do so.
They take many extra years to graduate as
they work their way through in low-paying
jobs, or they incur crushing debt that must
be repaid in their low-earning early career
years.
This is not a good way to run a society,
and it's not a good policy for grandpa
wannabes. We can and must do better for
our young adults.
Phil Barnhart, D-Central Lane and Linn
counties, is a member of the Oregon House .
have no j
money, and
they should
n't do it after
Higher GPA standards deny opportunities
The University raised the GPA require
ments to 3.25 based on the decision of
the Oregon University System Strategic
Planning Committee. My concern is that
this policy is go
ing to deny hun- „ _ - . _u—
dreds if not Cji Ui IEE.2El> *T
thousands of COMMENTARY
Oregon resi- _
dents the chance
to be educated at the state's flagship in
stitution of higher education, the Uni
versity of Oregon.
I entered the University with a 2.75 GPA
from Portland Community College. With
out the chance to have experienced what 1
learned at the University, there wouldn't
be nearly as many open doors for me now
that I have graduated.
There are hundreds if not thousands
of out-of-state and international student
on the campus who are NOT Oregoni
ans. As the University population is
maxed out at capacity, how many high
school graduate and resident students
will be left out in favor of cream-of-the
crop out-of-state students (who pay an
additional $ 10,000 a year).
Under this new policy, I would never
have been able to complete the dream of
having a "Duck Degree." The scholarly les
sons, social intelligence and negotiation
skills 1 learned at the University are very
powerful, and they will help me immense
ly in the future.
If OUS is concerned about over-capac
ity of the University, perhaps it could use
a first come, first served quota system,
rather than a restrictive, higher GPA to
weed out students. There are many other
issues that affect GPA performance away
from pure academic concentration. Situ
ations such as young single parents
working full or part time and students
with unsupportive parental interest may
affect a student's ability to perform such
an elevated standard.
My question to OUS is this: Is the inten
tion of such policy to make the University
for the peopile of this state, or is the Uni
versity becoming the University of Califor
nia at Oregon, or the University of Asia,
Oregon campus?
Mark Nelsen, a 2003 graduate, lives in AJoha.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
City should consider
safety in bus project
Before the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
removes the median and trees down the
middle of Franklin Boulevard, will
the city and Lane Transit District first
hold a community forum on how
pedestrians and bicycles will be safely
accommodated?
There is a pre-existing problem of con
flicts between pedestrians and cars along
Franklin Boulevard, especially at the in
tersection of Onyx Street where students
have been seriously injured.
While the city is busy studying nodes,
could it be missing the wider picture by
not seeing how the freeway-like Franklin
Boulevard BRT plans will drastically sever
connectivity between neighborhoods?
Allowing for a design that would pre
serve the entire median would let LTD
avoid compounding the pedestrian and
bicycle safety problems. Outside the new
Lillis Business Complex, University plan
ners have installed what they refer to as a
"pedestrian refuge" on East 13th Avenue,
in the middle of the street. It would be
wise if these planners could see past the
core of campus and to its edge, where
along Franklin Boulevard a very useful
pedestrian refuge faces removal.
Bryn Anderson
sophomore
environmental science
University OSPIRG Willamette Coordinator
ONLINE POLL
Each week, the Emerald publishes
the previous week’s poll results and
the coming week’s poll question.
Visit www.dailyemerald.com to vote.
Last week: What’s the worst movie
of the summer?
Results: 50 total votes
"Gigli" - 50 percent, or 25 votes
"Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry met
Lloyd” -18 percent, or 9 votes
Leave me alone! -12 percent,
or 6 votes
"The League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen" - 8 percent, or 4 votes
"Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle" -
6 percent, or 3 votes
"Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” —
6 percent, or 3 votes
This week: How do you feel about gays
being in positions of religious authority?
Choices: It’s a positive step in the
right direction; It’s the same as a straight
person in the position; Military mentality
— don’t ask, don’t tell; It's outrageous,
and I quit going to church; God will
have his day with them; Leave me alone!