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
Friday, January 9,2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor:
Jan Tobias Montry
Editorial Editor:
Travis Willse
'Good news7 groups
can relieve urban
area's problematic
'culture of violence7
In recent months, the Washington Post has published many arti
cles focusing on the "culture of violence" that exists in the Wash
ington, D.C., area. From Oct. 31 to Nov. 8,1 noticed the following
articles: "Neighbors Hold a Vigil for Mother, 2 Daughters" (Oct.
31), "At-Risk Children of SE Won't Be So Easy to Save" (Nov. 5) and
"Gun 'n' Run — D.C.'s game" (Nov. 8).
In the above-mentioned articles, and in all public discussion I have
read or heard regarding the "culture of violence" in Washington, D.C.,
there does not appear to be any sign of a consensus among commu
nity leaders as to what can be done to restore support and sustain a
"culture of peace" in the capital of the United States. (And a similar
lack of consensus seems to be prevailing in other urban centers in the
United States with the same chronic problem...)
I have a question: Have the community leaders — of Washing
ton, D.C. and of other urban centers in the United States with the
"Culture of Violence" problem — considered organizing "Com
munity Visioning Initiatives" (i.e. encouraging 100 percent citi
zen participation in brainstorming ideas, organizing the ideas
into goals, prioritizing the goals, identifying doable steps, etc.) for
the specific purpose of cultivating "cultures of peace"?
Another question: Have any of the above-mentioned community
leaders considered developing "Community Good News Networks"?
"Community Good News Networks" is a name for participation
by local community residents in an ongoing process of actively dis
covering, sharing, encouraging and creating "good news." As more
and more "good news" is discovered, shared and created, partici
pants can give special attention to identifying the "good news" mak
ers who live near their specific meeting place A local "Community
Faith Mentoring Network" could then be established to facilitate
matching young people's preferences for faith mentors with elders
and "good news" makers in their local community. (A faith mentor
is a person who, by word, action and presence models a meaningful
lifestyle, clarifies important life issues and provides guidance for
deepening spirituality in a caring and accepting environment.)
Taken together, annual "Community Visioning Initiatives for
Peace," and ongoing "Community Good News Networks" and
"Community Faith Mentoring Networks" can (1) "Bring to the
fore what is often hidden: how many good people there are, how
many ways there are to do good and how much happiness comes
to those who extend help as well as to those who receive it." (2)
Increase our collective capacity to inspire and encourage individual
spiritual formation — with all the beneficial consequences that
follow for individuals, communities and regions.
Urban centers in the United States can be — and should be —
successful examples of an interfaith approach to cultivating "cul
tures of peace." And Washington, D.C., the capital of the United
States, can provide — and should provide — a model for other
urban centers to follow.
In the best of times, even the most profound difficulties can be
overcome; for in the best of times, growth of the faith, discipline and
perseverance required by the process of individual spiritual forma
tion is carefully nurtured, supported and sustained by family, friends,
teachers, mentors, elders and the everyday influences of community
life and cultural traditions.
Our particular moment in time on this planet Earth could be
the best of times.
"Where a rose is tended, a thistle cannot grow."
Stefan Pasti lives in Chantilly, Va.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Fellow Eugeneans should heed
traffic rules, signals for safety's sake
In such times of strong national and international issues, it's
sometimes hard to remember those which are closest to home. I
don't mean state or even local politics, but something much more
important to everyday living: traffic safety.
Since moving to Eugene three years ago, 1 have become more and
more appalled at my fellow citizens' difficulty following the most
basic of traffic laws. I dread four-way stops, for I never know who
will think it is their right-of-way; I'm afraid for children when I see
stop signs run near daycare centers. But by far, the most common vi
olation I see is the running of traffic lights. I regularly see yellow and
even red lights run with total disregard for the safety of pedestrians
and fellow drivers. Yes, it is frustrating to wait for a light at times,
but that is no reason for endangering yourself and others.
In closing, I'd like to encourage everyone to have another look at
the Oregon driver's manual. Remember, traffic laws aren't created to
hinder us, but instead to keep us safe.
Murray Sampson
. , .., Eugene
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Refunds, not sports tickets, aid students
In September 2000 — a politically and
fiscally simpler era that I now recall with
some fondness — one year's tuition at the
University was $3,819 ($13,839 for nonresi
dents). Since then, a shrinking higher edu
cation budget, vanishing tuition plateaus,
slashed class sections, ex post facto "tuition
surcharges" and the like have inflated the
16-credit student's tuition bill to an estimat
ed $5,079 for 2003-2004, an astronomical
33 percent increase over just three years.
But, the reasons for the convergence of
these monetary troubles on Joe and Jolene
Student like, say, so many sharks converg
ing on a cloud of blood shed by a hapless
swimmer, is largely beyond the scope of
this column.
Rather, I'd like to take a look at the other
end of the fiduciary pipe — student fee al
locations — and explore what could (or at
least should) be changed about the exist
ing system to help alleviate the burgeon
ing budgetary burden students must face,
even if only in a small way.
The Programs Finance Committee is
meeting in these first weeks of this term and
— if last year's committee was any indica
tion — will labor for long hours to mete out
millions of dollars to student groups and
programs vying for a slice of student fees.
Some of these programs are essential and
benefit all students materially: Campus Re
cycling (to which the PFC allotted $113,126
for 2002-03) keeps our campus clean and
green; the Designated Driver Shuttle
($90,128) offers students safe transport and
keeps intoxicated students from behind the
wheel, protecting students and no doubt
sparing the University community needless
tragedy in the process; the Student Senate
($20,778) approves funding for student
groups outside the PFC process.
Other groups, such as the Black Student
Union ($19,514), the International Re
source Center ($51,848), the Muslim Stu
dents Association ($4,032) and the
Women's Center ($125,190), though
aimed at focusing on and representing spe
cific segments of the campus community,
offer social or cultural events at least open
to, and therefore benefiting, all students.
However, some programs fail the com
mon sense litmus test of universal student
Travis Willse
Rivalless wit
accessibility (which shouldn't be confused
with universal student interest or universal
student applicability). To wit, during sum
mer 2003, the Office of Civil Rights noti
fied the University's long-running (and ev
idently illegal) Project Saferide ($61,320)
that it would need to restructure itself to
satisfy Title IX mandates or close up shop.
The program served only women and had
no male equivalent, forcing mule students
to shell out some $2.31 for a service they
couldn't use. The costly child care subsidy
($220,801) poses a similar budgetary
problem, although the specifics (which,
too, are beyond this column's scope) are
clearly much different.
The single largest item in last year's PFC
allocations was the Athletic Department Fi
nance Committee Ballot Measure, which
provides the funds that the ASUO pays the
Athletic Department in exchange for dis
counted tickets thereon available to students
for "free," tipping the scales at $ 1.17 million,
or $70.03 per student. Many students have
little or no interest in attending sporting
events and even less interest in paying $70
for tickets for events they won't attend. But,
from the perspective of the above accessibil
ity criterion, this isn't the point. The issue is
that, often, students trade an exchange like:
"Hey, did you get tickets to the Washing
ton game?"
"No, the line was long, and I had to go
to class."
"Yeah, at least a few of my friends want
ed tickets, but the ticket offices ran out."
The root of the issue is that demand sig
nificantly exceeds supply: Too often —
particularly for big games — students can't
get tickets for which they've already paid.
Couple this with the fact that the ticket
subsidy is, well, a big-ticket line item, and
you have a situation that's fiscally unfair to
already cash-strapped students.
(As an important side note, sharp-minded
readers might recall that die Emerald's
($ 118,963) daily distribution is about 9,000,
far short of the 20,033 students that were here
during fall term. However, there is no indica
tion that there are students who want a copy
of the Emerald and cannot find one at a dis
tribution box, and unlike sporting tickets, sev
eral students can, and do, share single copies. «
Moreover, distribution varies throughout the
year to accommodate anticipated demand.
Like most other program subsidies, like that
for the Lane Transit District ($457,158), de
mand for the Emerald's student-oriented serv
ices rarely exceeds supply.)
The traditional benefit of the subsidy,
however, is that the Athletic Department
generously offers tickets to University stu
dents through the ASUO at 50 percent of
the tickets' fair market value, as stated in
section three of the 2002-2003 University
of Oregon Student Ticket Agreement. As
an alternative that retains this benefit, I
suggest that the PEC nix this million-dol
lar expenditure this year and that the Ath
letic Department offer half-price tickets
through the EMU and Autzen Stadium
ticket outlets directly to University stu
dents, skipping the ASUO middleman.
This way, in the future, students who want
to attend sporting events can pick which
games they want to attend at the discounted
prices. Students who aren't interested can ap
ply their savings to their hiked tuition instead.
During the upcoming weeks' PFC meet
ings, the committee should zero-fund the
student ticket program, instead dropping
the money in a rainy day fund or, better
yet, work with ASUO and Johnson Hall to
refund the difference to the students.
The ASUO should furthermore work with
the Athletic Department to arrange for the
continuation of its generous 50 percent dis
count to University students, returning con
trol of at least a little of their money to them
at the time when they need it most.
Contact the editorial editor
at traviswillse@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.