-—— Oregon Daily Emerald
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
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor
Jan Tobias Montry
Editorial Editor:
Travis Willse
Tuesday, November 4, 2003
E DITORIAI,.
Residence hall
site selection
bad for future
In three short years, a handful of University students will
have the opportunity to live?jn a new, state-of-the-art com
plex aimed at providing space for both living and learning.
The building — or buildings, depending on final architec
ture plans — will be a boon to campus because, quite sim
ply, it will be the first residence hall constructed for student
living since 1963.
This addition is the greatest necessity for recruiting new
students to the University. Ihe seven existing residence halls
have such a bad reputation that The Princeton Review
ranked the facilities as No. 2 in the "Dorms like Dungeons"
category. lT»e new hall, currently called a "living and learning
center," will consist of rooms sized at about 225 square feet.
Most University residence hall rooms, with the exception of
those in H.P. Barnhart Hall, are about 150 square feet.
The University also will be able to distribute the on-cam
pus population and begin renovating some of its aging
buildings. So, it can be assumed, all incoming students will
benefit from the decision to build a new residence hall.
What's unfortunate about the situation, though, is the lo
cation for the structure: It's going to be built between Earl
and Walton complexes, where tennis courts currently sit.
It's certainly not a conspiracy, but it should be noted that
on-campus tennis courts are quickly disappearing. The new
basketball arena will displace existing tennis courts, and now
the new residence hall will do the same. Itie courts will find
new homes, we're sure, but still, is there no value in tennis?
Weil, there is value in tennis, as there are in many other
things. But what it comes down to is which is more valuable.
Does building a new arena in the heart of campus have more
value than existing tennis courts? To administrators (and the
Editorial Board), it does. Does building a new residence hall
in the heart of campus have more value than existing tennis
courts? To administrators, it does. To the Editorial Board, it
does not.
In actuality, the tennis courts aren't the issue of con
tention. Instead, it's the usefulness of the space. The argu
ment made by administrators is that a central location is nec
essary to help create the "living and learning" tie — faculty
won't visit a structure too far from the heart of campus. Uni
versity President Dave I rohnmayer ultimately agreed and se
lected the Walton/Earl location.
But the question that begs to be asked is this: What's more
important, making the "living and learning center" work or
saving land to make the University work in the future?
Individuals on the Campus Planning Committee ex
pressed concern that the space should be kept for future
growth, specifically academic. University Planning Direc
tor Chris Ramey was vocal in noting that the proposed
structure was far too big of a building for the land desig
nated. If the administration was willing to revise the land
use policy to build a residence hall, shouldn't the land also
be evaluated for other buildings that it could possibly host
under the new guidelines?
lhat question never really got answered, and now we are
left with only second guessing. But what doesn't involve hy
pothesizing is the factor of growth.
The University will expand and so will its student body.
More space will be needed for academic buildings and more
space will be needed for housing. Housing already exists in
the East-campus area, and the University owns a plethora of
East-campus land, so that vicinity should be the location
chosen for additional housing.
leaching facilities are in the center of campus but also run
East of the EMU on East 13th Avenue and at Straub Hall.
Academics should be in the heart of campus, but they
should have the ability to move Eastward as needed.
Yet under the newly established paradigm, housing has
gone inward, meaning that when the time comes, academics
will be forced to move outward.
A new residence hall clearly needs to be built, but Frohn
mayer and administrators greatly erred in its placement. In
half a century, it will be apparent that the land should have
been saved for academics and that the residence hall should
have been built in the East-campus area, across from Bean
Complex on the outdoor basketball courts.
Steve Baggs Illustrator
Continued torture
I'm a lover, not a hater. So I hate only
three things in this world: 1) the New York
Yankees, 2) infomercials and 3)TBCs.
1 know, 1 know. You don't know what a
TBC is. That's because I made it up. TBC
stands for "to be continued..." A TBC is a
movie that doesn't end in the normal two
hour time window. Which means it needs
to be split into two movies, or three or eight.
And, most conveniently for Hollywood, you
have to pay full price every time
Forget SARS. Never mind anthrax. The
TBC is the newest plague ravaging our na
tion. And it's a plague of the mind.
Let me give you an example, and it may
be painfully familiar. 1 read the Lord of the
Rings trilogy, sort of, in a time before time. 1
mean middle school, of course. I didn't like
it that much back then, but for some reason
1 was excited when 1 heard about the sup
posedly epic, supposedly intricate trio of
Lord of the Rings movies coming out.
I plunked down $9 to see the first movie
in a land far, far away. 1 mean Seattle, of
course. 1 hated it. 1 would have rather sat
through three hours of "America's Funniest
Home Videos" reruns. At least Bob Saget
doesn't have pointy ears and talk all funny.
And yet, 1 felt oddly pulled to the sec
ond movie last winter. Like the Force
was calling me. Catch the Star Wars ref
erence? Yeah, Star Wars is the king TBC,
the granddaddy of all TBCs.
Anyway, the short version of the story is
that 1 spent another three hours and another
$9 on part two of the Lord of the Rings trilo
gy. Soon, I'll do it again for the last part.
I'm no math major, but I count nine hours
and $27 that I'll eventually spend on movies
I don't particularly like 'Ihat's very uncool.
TBCs are everywhere You know 'em. The
Matrix. X-Men. Harry Potter. Kill Bill.
More than a sequel, a TBC makes you
Peter Hockaday
Today is Hockaday
think you absolutely must, without think
ing about it, without hesitating, see more of
the same movie
Sequels and TBCs are in the same family,
but they've married in. Sequels are easy
enough to filter. I didn't really like Deuce Bi
galow: Male Gigolo, so I'm pretty sure I'm
going to avoid the sequel, Deuce Bigalow:
European Gigolo. Yes, that is an actual
movie that is actually in development.
On the other hand, I will patronize se
quels for good movies, like Mission: Impos
sible. I like to think of movies as a store, and
if 1 like the service, I'll come back. If not,
you'll never see me again.
But TBCs are like the Wal-Marts of the
movie world. You'll keep coming back, no
matter how good the service is, no matter
how much you hate it when you're in the
bike section, which is two aisles from the
bedding section, which is two aisles from
the jewelry section.
I get the same feeling of dread whenever
1 see "to be continued" on a television pro
gram. Shows like "24" use this tactic practi
cally every week. Every episode finishes on
the edge of an emotional, or sometimes
even physical, cliff.
But a television show doesn't cost $7.50.
You don't spend $3 on gas and $25 on pop
corn and a medium soda (no, 1 don't want
the large for a quarter more, thank you). Go
ing to the movie theater is an experience,
one that 1 enjoy and cherish. 1 love walking
out of the movie theater feeling good about
the movie I've just seen.
I never get that feeling after a TBC. Every
time I see a TBC, I have the same thought I
had walking out of "Kill Bill: Volume I."
"Dammit, now I have to see Volume II!"
So, that's that. Aren't you amazed I was
able to write a whole column about such an
inane subject? Well, I have even more mate
rial that I'm not using here. I'm saving it for
part two, which is coming out next summer,
probably Memorial Day.
To be continued...
Just kidding.
Contact the columnist
at peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
1933 ODE article shows foresiqht
This is not the first time the Emerald
has been in hot water for its portrayal of
lews. 1 was do
GUEST
COMMENTARY
ing some re
search in old is
sues of the
Emerald and
happened upon
a series of articles from Oct. 12, 1933 ti
tled "The New Germany."
A disclaimer was run above one article say
ing how much "dissention" it had caused on
campus. The series was written by Richard
Neuberger, who had been the editor of the
Emerald the previous year. He spent his sum
mer vacation in Germany. Hitler's Nazis had
risen to power and were actually admired by
many people outside of Germany.
Neuberger's reports in the Emerald tell of
the madness that was gripping Germany. In
town after town he witnessed the atrocities
against Jewish people of all ages. While visit
ing the university in Heidelberg, an old pro
fessor pleads, "America must help us. This is
not alone a fight of the Jews. It is the battle
of everyone who believes in democracy and
freedom." It would be seven years before
America listened. Six million Jews died.
Sometimes it may seem to those of us
who have never experienced racial hatred
that Jews are hyper-sensitive However, these
Emerald articles written in 1933 show how
long the world stood by, knowing what was
happening and doing nothing.
This young former staffer had courage,
foresight and a bright future. Neuberger
graduated in 1935 and was later to be
elected to Congress from Oregon. Perhaps
his articles about the rise of anti-Semitism
in Germany could be reprinted in some
university publication or put on a Web
site. They are too good to be forgotten.
Steve Williamson is a research assistant
at the Center for Electronic Studying in
the University's College of Education.