Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Suite 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online: www.dailyemerald.com
Monday, September 29,2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor:
Jan Tobias Montry
Editorial Editor:
Travis Willse
EDITORIAL
Duck image
gets backing
as academics
take backseat
As bewildered fans poured out of Autzen Stadium on
Saturday, dismayed at die 55-16 beating Washington State
hammered down on the Ducks, a handful of questions
came to mind.
I low could the offense be so terrible? How could the
secondary be so soft? How could the Ducks be on die cover
of Sports Illustrated?
The first two questions can be answered by local sports
writers, head coach Mike Bellotti and the Oregon football
players. The last query has less to do with football and
more to do with what this University has become.
The University is a football school. A basketball one, too.
It's been years in the making, and last season's blemished
record won't keep high-rolling, big-dollar donors from
shelling out millions to keep the athledc department in the
nadonal spodight.
Video games in the locker room. Special vendlators, op
tical gizmos and an atrium. A door rigged to whoosh
(swoosh?) open — vertically — when players are ready to
take to the field. Plasma TVs. Price tag: $3.2 million.
And then there were the renovadons of the stadium it
self. Some 12,000 seats were added, along with suites for
the said donors. Price tag: $90 million.
Finally, it's the new arena to replace the aging McArthur
Court. More than 14,000 patrons will pack the new facility.
The donors will have luxury boxes, too. Price tag: More
than $100 million.
Clearly, the story in Sports Illustrated wasn't about the
monumental win against Michigan. Instead, it was about
the aforementioned big-ticket bonanzas. The Michigan
game just served as a means to direct the spodight to the
Ducks' frivolous spending.
It's quite all right that students, alumni, Oregonians and
nadonal citizens get excited about Duck football. We in the
office do, too.
But the excitement doesn't seem to be around when it
comes to funding eight-figure academic buildings.
Donors play integral roles in athletics, so it seems only
reasonable that contributions would be comparable for
academic purposes.
Donors have helped secure renovations to the University
Museum of Arts. The library and law center were funded by
one Mr. Phil Knight. Clearly, donors do recognize the need
to donate.
And as an aside, University research did have a record
setting year, bringing in nearly $80 million.
It's just that, well, athletics always seems to overshadow
everything else.
Perhaps it's the excessive nature of some of the athletic
department's spending — Joey Heisman — coupled with
the fact that athletics seem to be raking in the money when
the school's academic side is scraping by.
State higher education funding was less than expected
this biennium, tuition is increasing — again — and the
future appears uncertain. Knowing that some deep-pock
eted friends are ready to come to the University's aid
would be a blessing.
Regrettably, that just isn't so. So "Go Ducks! * Despite the
Washington State loss, perhaps more winning will keep
donors in good spirits and hopefully boost academic fund
ing in the process.
EDITORIAL POLICY
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald
editorial board. Responses can be sent to letters
@dailyemerald.com. Letters to the editor and guest
commentaries are encouraged. Letters are limited to
250 words and guest commentaries to 550 words.
Authors are limited to one submission per calendar
month. Submission must include phone number and
address for verification. The Emerald reserves the right
to edit for space, grammar and style.
jXS- KIGHTHttE
FOOL !
ZbifoKJ AL
?AC*E 2
AH, t^tfo cares
MtyT'iWTWKlk
Commentary: An open forum
Welcome, readers, to the new school year
and a new start for the Emerald. As editorial
editor, I'll oversee the space you're reading
now. The Commentary section is in many
ways unique: It's the space where writers not
only report the news, but interpret it in the
context of their own worldview.
The editorial board will sound-off Mon
day through Thursday about issues ranging
in scope from campus debates to interna
tional conflicts — anything that interests or
affects students. Five columnists, myself in
cluded, will write about trends, hot-button
topics and anything else that interests them,
hopefully alerting and informing readers in
the process. Look for your favorite columnist
on the same day each week.
Most importantly, this space is for the
Emerald's readers — students; faculty and
staff; and members of the local, national
and global communities — to voice their
opinions and to reply to ideas seen here
or elsewhere.
That being said, not all opinions are cre
ated equally. The language of debate is more
frequently a weapon of prejudice^ deceit and
name-calling, and less often a dialectic of
reason, lucidity and tolerance. Part of this, it
turns out, stems from the unrelenting pace
Travis Willse
Rivalless wit
of the modem age. The time constraints of
busy lives, not to mention the sheer mass of
ideas available to the public, can compel
consumers of information to ingest ideas in
less time than a full and fair understanding
and analysis of the facts often requires.
Such a circumstance is certainly not ideal,
but it is probably often unavoidable in today's
world. This situation becomes a problem
when, in an effort to further an agenda, dem
agogues or other intellectually dishonest
zealots — of potentially any political persua
sion — take unfair advantage of the busy pub
lic's trust and short attention spans, disguising
gross oversimplification as simplicity, and un
thinking passion as rationality. They may la
bel anyone who disagrees with their agenda
as "ratdst, ” "unpatriotic" or worse, regardless
of whether the term legitimately applies —
trying to exclude their adversary's ideas from
the realm of discussion by labeling them in
sensitive or otherwise inappropriate
Many places in the media have devolved
into forums where uninformed rants and
ideologically incestuous nonsense run
amok, often times leaving little room for
rational, tolerant discussion. This space is
not one of those places. Given the highly
charged — and sometimes fiercely polar
ized — political atmosphere of recent
times, it is more essential now than at any
time in my memory to be skeptical of half
considered sound bytes and propaganda.
Finally, the rest of the Emerald staff and I
want to hear from you. Tell us what you
think about our news stories, our editorials .
and our columns. Write us a letter to the edi
tor or a guest commentary, or come to our
office in EMU Suite 300.
Stay informed, think for yourself, and
have a great year.
Contact frie editorial editor
at traviswillse@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Emerald...
Every year the Emerald seemingly goes
through changes: some good, some bad,
some for no reason and others with great
clarity in mind.
We'll leave it to readers to evaluate how
things end up, but here's the plan:
Page one: Here readers find the stories
most important to the University commu
nity. Typically, these stories will be cam
pus-related and written by Emerald
staffers. On occasion, national or interna
tional stories will find their way onto the
front, and these stories won't likely be
written by Emerald reporters or editors.
Commentary: This section is always go
ing to be on page two, and it's reserved for
the editorial — the voice of the Emerald —
Brad Schmidt
Of chief concern
columnists and community members.
Nation and World: The Emerald has re
served a small section of the paper, usually
on page two or three, for issues and events
outside of the state There will generally be
at least one story pulled from a wire service
Pulse: The entertainment section of the
newspaper comes out every Thursday.
Pulse covers the local music scene, in
cludes things such as art and poetry, and
has movie, CD and restaurant reviews.
This year we're extending an offer to read
ers to contribute material for publication:
photos, drawings, poetry, whatever.
Sports: Often considered the bread and
butter of the Emerald, the sports section
offers readers their daily assortment of
Duck analyses and recaps.
So that's if I hope you enjoy!
Contact tiie editor in chief
at editor@daiiyemerald.com.
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 question: What’s the worst part
about coming back to school?
Results: 49 votes.
Paying higher tuition - 34.7 percent
or 17 votes
Buying books - 20.4 percent or 10 votes
Tests and quizzes and finals, oh my! -
16.3 percent or 8 votes
Early morning classes -12.2 percent
or 6 votes
Walking in the rain - 8.2 percent or 4 voles
Taking classes from scatterbrained
professors — 8.2 percent or 4 votes
This week: Where do you get your
textbooks?
Choices: The University Bookstore;
Alternate bookstores; I buy them online;
Borrow from friends or the library; Don’t
buy ...don't read.