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P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online: www.dailyemerald.com
Thursday, January 8,2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor:
Jan Tobias Montry
Editorial Editor:
Travis Willse
EDITORIAL.
Chief brings
his philosophy
of'community
policing' to EPD
The recent announcement that the city finally hired a
permanent chief to run the Eugene Police Department is
uplifting news for the city and campus communities alike.
And while city officials were clearly thorough in their hir
ing process — and despite suffering a setback when the se
lected candidate pulled out in an earlier round of applica
tion — one thing should be said of the two-year hiatus
between permanent police chiefs: It's about time.
The new hire — Robert M. Lehner, formerly of Tucson,
Ariz. — appears to be a good choice for Eugene, although
like any newcomer to a public position, Lehner will have
to prove himself in the Eugene environment before any
thing can be said for sure. Given his self-described philoso
phy of "community policing," however, Lehner is off to a
good start.
Specifically, the Editorial Board likes two of Lehner's
goals for his new position that he described in Tuesday's
Emerald article: His desire to work closely with University
groups, and his intent to form partnerships with all neigh
borhood groups in Eugene, as opposed to running a po
lice force that ignores the concerns of the public it serves.
Although Lehner doesn't have any direct experience
working within a campus framework, he told the Emerald
that he worked "fairly close" with students and adminis
trators at the University of Arizona to go over issues impor
tant to them. This is especially important in the University
area, where out-of-control parties often leads to riots. On
the other hand, we hope Lehner will stick to his conviction
that thin police resources should not be used to harass le
gitimate parties in the campus area. Parties are, after all, just
another aspect of college life.
Lehner summed up his philosophy toward campus
policing when he told the Emerald, "I know that students
want a safe environment. Certainly their parents who send
them here want a safe environment, and it's something
that we will work on together to ensure that you'll have a
safe educational experience while you're here."
As for policing in the Eugene community, we hope
Lehner can restore some of the confidence that seems to
be lacking among Eugene citizenry, particularly in light of
EPD's understaffing problem and sexual misconduct
charges against two former officers. Also, Eugene has a
strong activist community, and clear communication
among those groups and EPD will ensure that future
protests do not get out of hand either via protester violence
or excessive use of force by police
All in all, Lehner's goals and qualifications clearly show
that he is willing and able to change the face of EPD for the
better and strengthen the relationship between police and
the Eugene community. We certainly hope this is the case,
and we wish Lehner good luck as he begins his work.
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.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Brad Schmidt
Editor in Chief
Jan Tobias Montry
Managing Editor
Aimee Rudin
Columnist
Ayisha Yahya
News Editor
Travis Willse
Editorial Editor
NOW
LOOK WHAT you ve
DONE! YOU HURT HI5
FEELINGS.'
/' There, '
< there, Irctle guy... ,
V just think /
v 2008.
Eric Layton Illustrator
‘Kucinich
T^edux
During fall term I furthered several
controversial opinions; for example, I ar
gued that felons should be allowed to
vote, that President Bush should shut the
fuck up and that anti-war poets should
do the same. I also took every opportuni
ty I could to fire cheap shots at easy-tar
get conservatives like Tom DeLay, Pat
Robertson and Supreme Court Justice An
tonin Scalia.
Judging from the number of responses,
I figured no more than a handful of peo
ple outside of my family and the Emerald
editorial staff was actually reading my
columns in their entirety.
But then I made a wise crack about Den
nis Kucinich and I realized just how wrong
I was. Suddenly, angry e-letters came pour
ing into my inbox from across cyberspace.
"Either you have been the victim of me
dia manipulation and corporate snow
balling or you are just one very bad guy,"
wrote a disgruntled Kucinich fanatic.
"Please, if you have one iota of journalis
tic integrity, go to http://www.kudnich.us,
get a due, and then do what is right by
your readers and all the people of the
world and write another artide apologis
ing (sic) for your ignorant and derogatory
statements about Dennis Kudnich."
I don't think my statements were igno
rant or derogatory. I simply pointed out
how embarrassing it must have been for
Kucinich, as a white man, to receive few
er votes for president in a national poll
than a black woman. I'm not apologiz
ing for that!
Nevertheless, I decided that, though I
am one very bad guy without one iota of
journalistic integrity, if it meant doing
right by the people of the world, then I
would check out Kucinich's web site. Af
ter all, every angry e-mail message men
tioned it. I figured it must be one hell of
a site.
I didn't learn anything from Kudnich's
Web site that I didn't already know: I like
where he stands on the issues. I have
from day one. He is by far the most pro
gressively minded Democratic candidate.
And at times he has shown real courage
in Congress by standing up against the
Bush administration when others would
n't. He hasn't received the credit he de
serves for his accomplishments.
What I find interesting is that the
Kucinich fanatics in all of their angry e
mails never mentioned the other things
in my column. They never congratulated
me for exposing the two-faced conser
vatism of the New Democrats or for final
David Jagernauth
Critical mass
ly giving Carol Moseley Braun the recog
nition that her career deserves.
No. They only cared that I had made a
lame joke about their troll-like candidate
and for that sin I must be dubbed one
very bad guy.
It's the perfect illustration of what is
wrong with the white progressive move
ment: They don't know who their
friends are.
The Kucinich fanatics preach inclusive
ness and yet rail against every difference.
They cannot see the forest for the trees.
They slowly exclude everyone till they've
carved out tiny homogeneous niches that
lack real political power and then hold
on desperately to the illusion of power
created by their sense of moral purity and
intellectual superiority. They are the worst
kind of idealist. They are the type of
dreamers that Oregonians shouldn't love.
Republicans; oMHe 6th’ef fidrfefc H^e
mastered the technique of exploiting com
monalties. They are slowly winning over a
section of the Jewish community by focus
ing on their strong support of Israel. His
panics are being brought into the Repub
lican fold in greater numbers by
hammering home Christian family values.
Many of the e-mails I received blamed
people like me in the media for
Kucinich's lack of popularity in national
polls. I've got news for you: It isn't a "me
dia conspiracy" that is marginalizing your
boy; the leaders within the Democratic
Party itself have marginalized him. The
media is simply reporting on reality.
But accepting reality has never been the
progressive movement's strongest trait.
"Don’t count DK out," wrote one
Kucinich fan. "He has a rabid following
of people who will get out and vote. ...
We will surprise you. ... Don’t give up!
Fight the good fight!"
I wonder, when their fantasy world
comes crashing down around them and
their party nominates, let's say, Howard
Dean, what are the Kucinich fanatics go
ing to do? Will they abandon the ideals
that Kucinich stands for in the name of
supporting the lesser to Bush's greater
evil? Or will they have the courage to
fight the good fight and vote their con
science? Will they vote Green or are they
too yellow?
I suspect the majority will stay with the
Democrats. And their rhetoric will amount
to nothing in the end. At best a moderately
conservative Democrat will be elected
president, the Green Party will once again
fail to achieve its potential and this coun
try will continue its downward slide, just a
little bit slower than before.
Regrettably, I think America needs a
second Bush presidency. The progressives
just haven't learned their lesson yet.
Contact the columnist
at davidjagemauth@dailyemerald.com.