Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
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E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online: www.dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor:
Jan Tobias Montry
Editorial Editor:
Travis Willse
Before inmates
can own TVs,
cable content
needs curtailing
Moral question of the day: What do state correctional
officials do when group television periods in prisons lead
to bloody battles between the child molester who wants
to watch the Olsen twins and the ax murderer who wants
to catch “f riends?"
lake away the television? Nah, just let them buy their
own. And let them get cable, too.
The Oregon State Correctional Institute — where one
inmate recently stabbed another inmate for chatting dur
ing the precious group television hours — now allows
prisoners to have individual television and cable access.
Starting in January, convicts will have the ability to use
money they earn while working in prison to buy televi
sions and cable, leaving taxpayers footing only the elec
tricity bill.
While taking more money from taxpayers to pay extra
electricity costs may seem unfair, less violence resulting
from secluded television viewing seems worth it. After all,
if prisoners are choosing to work inside the institution,
then it only seems fair that they should have the ability
to spend their own money on items that prison officials
approve. Granted, the inmates likely did something ter
rible to end up in prison — and thus, most of their basic
freedoms have been stripped — but that doesn't mean
they shouldn t have the right to spend money they earn.
Losing freedoms for a certain amount of time consti
tutes remuneration of debt to society for committing a
crime. Forcing the criminal to brave dangerous television
rooms where pencil-wielding inmates go ballistic and
stab fellow inmates is not. If prison officials provide a
room where convicts can go to watch television, they
should at the very least make it safe, which currently is
not the case.
A few problems may exist with the new television poli
cy in state prisons, however.
f irst, whether or not one believes that violence on tele
vision influences behavior, it is reasonable to argue that
extensive violence may not be the best thing for criminals
— especially death-row convicts — to watch. According
to the American Psychological Association, violence on
television can result in children becoming "less sensitive
to pain and suffering of others, more fearful of the world
around them (and) more likely to behave in an aggres
sive way toward others." But what about hardened crimi
nals? Past speculation it's hard to say for sure, but the is
sue deserves further investigation.
And how would scenes of rape affect convicted sex of
fenders who are trying to reform themselves? After all, a
blatant rape of a teenage girl could be seen just last week
on the latest episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,
one of television's hottest crime dramas.
Second, wouldn't the convict be better served by read
ing a book or participating in educational classes in the
prison? Given, a lot of educational materials are shown
on television shows, but who will guarantee that crimi
nals will actually watch them? With a variety of channels
to choose from — including everything from Fox to
FSPN — it's unlikely that educational shows will be the
most popular among prison convicts.
While the Editorial Board recognizes the right for crim
inals to spend money that prisons have allowed them to
earn, we see a few potential problems that should be
worked out before criminals are given the ability to watch
cable television.
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.
Poker
fever
So I've been watching a lot of the Travel
Channel lately, and I'm not planning a trip
to the beautiful beaches of Rio de Janeiro.
I watch the Travel Channel because it has
The World Poker Tour, the third-best show
on television behind ESPN's World Series of
Poker and Joe Millionaire
I watch these show's because I, like many
others around the nation, have Poker lever.
My doctor is 2003 World Series champ
Chris Moneymaker (yes, that's his real
name). My pills are straight flushes and full
houses. My hospital is somewhere between
"the turn" and "theriver."
Poker is one of the fastest-growing games
in America. Ihe grand prize at the World Se
ries, which is determined by the number of
people entered in the tournament, started at
$30,000 in 1971 and now sits at $2.5 mil
lion. Moneymaker made more money (ah!
the alliteration!) for his victory in April than
some baseball players will make for their
roles in the piddling "real" World Series.
For many college students, the transition
from drinking games to money games is as
easy as a pair of jacks. It makes sense. We're
making our own cash for the first time, we're
smart enough not to spend it all and the al
lure of risking money is fresh and new. We
don't go to casinos to blow tons of cash, we
go to make $ 10 on the tables and $30 in free
drinks. Where's the harm in that?
On Monday nights, a few friends and I
live out die World Series of Poker in our liv
ing rooms. We play No Limit Hold 'Em and
Omaha, Good-Bad and Chicago.
Johnny Law, if you're reading this, we
don't play for money. We play for pats on
the back. We're all about supporting
one another.
Just like any regular poker game, we
have our characters around the table. We
call one guy "Casino" because he drives to
Seven Feathers every Friday, by himself, to
play in an almost-free Hold 'Em tourna
ment. Another guy is "The Face" because
his countenance is concrete for four hours
on Mondays.
We're playing t-ball in a land of baseball
players, but we don't mind. We know there's
not a whole lot of bluffing going on. We
don't check-raise or figure out the percent
ages of our down cards like they do on the
World Series. We play a lot of "free poker,"
when everybody checks and nobody bets
(pats on the back, that is). If they did this at
the World Series, the dealer would slap
everyone across the face three times.
We keep "Rounders," the only true poker
movie out there, on "repeat" in the DVD
player. We adopt our best Russian accents to
mimic John Malkovich's character, Teddy
KGB. We say 'Take eeet dowwn" and "Paaay
that man his moo-nee." We eat Oreos and
twist them around just like the KGB.
But even "Rounders" defers to the World
Series in the end. One of the best scenes in
BHumiwwrcuiJMBEMnaM
Eric Layton Illustrator
the movie comes when Matt Damon is
watching an old World Series on tape and
rejecting Famke Janssen's advances. Johnny
Chan, the greatest poker player of the cur
rent generation, is on the screen, and noth
ing will derail the Damon train off its World
Series tracks. Good stuff.
The World Series is the thing. It gives every
poker player in the nation, a group that's
growing by the month, a chance to win the
biggest pot at the end of the biggest rainbow.
Moneymaker is a prime example. He
bought into an online tournament for $40
and ended up with a stack of cash that
would make Donald Trump blush.
And while the Monday night lights of my
living room might be worlds away from the
clockless land of Las Vegas, we don't care.
When you're staring down three queens and
two aces, both places are one
Contact the columnist
at peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
Budget cuts burden UO students
As the budget crisis escalates, Oregon leg
islators look for easy ways to make cuts. Cut
ting $75 million from the higher education
budget seemed easy, because colleges can
make up for it by raising tuition. However,
steep tuition increases will be detrimental to
both higher education and our state's long
term economic health.
__Affordability
I I fT <£T has 8one out the
v " ' * " * window. In 1999,
COMMENTARY students split the
-- cost of education,
with the state
paying 50 percent and students funding the
remaining half. Four years later, 64 percent
comes out of students' pockets. Some stu
dents have seen the cost of tuition jump as
much as 50 percent. And Oregon ranks near
the bottom nationally in state-funded fi
nancial aid.
The combination of soaring costs and
weak financial aid will cause enrollment
to decline. So, the beating higher educa
tion took this legislative session set off a
chain reaction that will result in further tu
ition hikes and dwindling enrollments.
Traditionally, students who cannot afford
university costs fall back on community
colleges, but they didn't fare much better
when budgets were slashed.
While demand for their services increas
es sharply, community colleges have been
left reeling from a $38 million cut in fund
ing. An increasing number of Oregonians
need job training from community col
leges, and university students save money
by taking transferable courses. Shrinking
budgets and growing enrollments hinder
the ability of community colleges to pro
vide access to high-quality service.
As lawmakers and voters hold the line
on taxes, higher education loses. The pub
lic insists on getting more but paying less,
so students are left paying more but receiv
ing less. And if citizens overturn the tax
package passed by legislators, higher edu
cation will lose an additional $ 11 million.
While skyrocketing costs price a grow
ing number of students out of higher ed
ucation, the availability of financial aid
continues to plummet. Because of the
tireless advocacy of students, there were
some bright spots. The legislature re
stored some funds to the Oregon Oppor
tunity Grant and Childcare Block Grant.
Still, Oregon provides less financial aid
than most other states.
The Oregon Opportunity Grant turned
away over one-third of eligible students
during the last two years. New, stricter eli
gibility requirements mean that even fewer
students will meet the criteria for receiving
the grant. Although legislators restored $4
million to the fund, students will still be
turned away at the same rate.
Ust October, the Student Childcare Block
Grant, which covered childcare costs for
nearly 500 student parents, was eliminated.
During the recendy adjourned session, leg
islators supported student parents by adding
$1 million to fund the program. While this
money will allow about 100 parents to at
tend school, at least 1,000 others will be left
unable to afford the combined costs of
childcare and tuition.
Balancing the budget on the backs of col
lege students is not the answer to Oregon's
budget crisis. Cuts to universities and com
munity colleges limit access to post-second
ary education, ensuring that fewer Oregoni
ans are prepared to make significant
contributions to our economy in coming
years. To secure a productive future for Ore
gon, legislators and citizens must make
higher education a priority.
Andy Saultz is the board chair of the Oregon”
Student Association.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Column failed to mention
U.S.'s foreign influence
In response to Travis Willses Oct. 10
column ("Recognizing Patriotism"), he
ought to be commended for his fair-mind
edness toward both sides. Flag-waving
Bushites and flag-burning Zinnians both
have committed heinous atrocities against
academic decency.
Yet Mr. Willse obfuscated the full truth
on at least one key issue. I am speaking of
America's human rights reputation
abroad. Admittedly, U.S. military forces
are much less cruel than most others in the
realm of war. However, the federal govern
ment has encouraged and educated for
eign militants about how to act in the
wholly wrong and despicable ways that
...."...rrniHiiiiiomiinipa
America would never allow her troops to.
Clear examples of the products of these
various means include Pol Pot, Osama bin
Laden, Augusto Pinochet and Saddam Hus
sein. These monsters may not be our agents,
but they are our children. As such, we bear
their moral burden.
Brandon Rhodes
sophomore
environmental studies, political science