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E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online: www.dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, February 10,2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor:
Jan Tobias Montry
Editorial Editor:
Travis Willse
EDITORIAL
UO groups
need to start
advertising
free tickets
Some eight months ago, the Student Senate quietly
passed a rule entitling students to free tickets to all inciden
tal fee-funded events. Since then, though, most people in
the campus community have remained largely unaware of
the rule — documented in the Green Tape Notebook,
Rules of the University of Oregon Student Senate, 13.7 —
including not only students who shell out funds for those
events, but also students who organize and advertise
events, and even ticket distributors.
ASUO Controller Persis Pohowalla has said the ticket of
fice and student groups should be aware of the rule change.
But Mary Barrios, director of ticketing services, said that no
body in student government informed the EMU Ticket Of
fice — which provides tickets for many student group
events — of the change. Either way, no student has ever re
quested a free ticket from the student office, so none have
been given out.
Even some members of the Student Senate seem to be
unfamiliar with these ticketing rules. Students of the Indian
Subcontinent, which recently hosted the fee-funded and
ticketed Utsav celebration Jan. 30, was told by a student
senator that the group was allowed to sell tickets with a
mandatory charge for the event, given that the dinner por
tion was only a "suggested donation," SIS co-Director Ed
win Prasad said.
So, this is a simple, open-and-shut case of widespread
ignorance of a rule. Unfortunately, until recently, no one
seems to have told the ticket office or student groups about
this rule.
Moreover, the Green Tape Notebook offers little incen
tive for groups to inform students that fee-funded event
tickets technically carry a suggested donation, not a manda
tory fee. As written, there's no rule requiring student groups
selling event tickets to make the distinction, ASUO Ac
counting Coordinator Jennifer Creighton-Neiwert said,
calling the debacle "one area where the Senate needs to do
more clarification to help the groups out."
And so they should. To their credit, Student Senate Om
budsman Mike Sherman told the Emerald he would person
ally inform the ticket office about the rule And this is a good
start but students deserve to be wholly informed about their
options: After all, requiring students to pay for tickets to fee
sponsored events is tantamount to double-charging usually
cash-strapped members of the University community.
So the Student Senate should amend the Green Tape
Notebook to include a provision that requires groups to
mention that ticket prices are indeed suggested donations
on all advertisements, including advertisements at the tick
et office. As a show of good faith, student groups should
do this voluntarily in the interim.
Finally, the Student Senate should draft a memo to all
student groups that could hold ticketed events, informing
them of this seemingly little-known rule.
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 Jennifer Sudick
Editor in Chief Freelance Editor
Jan Tobias Montry Ayisha Yahya
Managing Editor News Editor
Travis Willse
Editorial Editor
HOW /VUCHABL JACKSON
COULD HAVS SAVED HIS
CAREER...
Eric Layton Illustrator
The Passion of Gibson
On Saturday morning, a man appeared
before almost 4,000 people at all-Christ
ian Azusa Pacific University near Los An
geles and gave a sermon of sorts. The feed
was broadcast to 2,000 churches nation
wide via satellite.
Was it the pope? Jerry Falwell?
Nope. Just Mel Gibson.
Gibson may soon become a religious
figure in his own right if his new movie,
"The Passion of Christ," converts as many
people to Christianity as he wants. Al
ready, church leaders from Azusa to the
Adirondadcs are buying out theaters like
they were Bibles. Preachers are planning
sermons around the Ash Wednesday (Feb.
25) release date as Gibson gives away pro
motional materials to church leaders like
candy to preschoolers.
For those non-believers, like me, this
may seem like an unwanted blitz of the
sort Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens
might face The controversial movie will be
all over the media for the next few weeks,
and some Christian leaders are calling it
the greatest recruiting tool in their history.
But even though I don't want to be re
cruited, I still say "Go Mel." I don't share his
beliefs, but I admire his, well, "Passion."
When someone is so impassioned about his
religious views, it's easy for those of us who
think differently to jerk our knees and fire off
bullets of criticism. But maybe it's time to
honor somebody for his fervor instead of
lambasting him for his views.
Gibson funded the movie almost entire
ly by himself. It only cost $25 million, not
much by Hollywood's standards, but Gib
son didn't have a major studio to open its
wallet for him. He shot the movie, which
tells the tale of the last 12 hours of Jesus'
Peter Hockaday
Today is Hockaday
life entirely on location in southern Italy.
The cherry on top of the sundae is that
the tale is told entirely in the languages of
the time — Aramaic and Latin — with
English subtitles.
It's certainly one of the most ambitious
religious movies ever, if only because of
the subject material. Actor Jim Caviezel,
who plays Jesus, went through seven hours
% of makeup per day for later scenes, which
depict Christ's crudfbrion.
The movie has come under fire from Jew
ish leaders, who say it has anti-Semitic over
tones. One Los Angeles-area rabbi, Marvin
Hier, saw the movie twice and still told the
Los Angeles Times it was anti-Semitic. Jews,
other than Jesus' disdples, are cast as the
"bad guys" complidt in Jesus' death. Hier
said Jews are "portrayed crudly."
But Gibson insists the movie isn't meant
to be anti-Semitic. At the question-and-an
swer session in Los Angeles on Saturday,
he strongly denied the accusations and
said he harbors no ill will for Judaism.
Christ's death is an important event in
both religions, so hopefully the movie
won't create a rift between the two.
I admire most Gibson's leap of faith
into producing this movie. He obviously
cares deeply about the subject and wanted 4
desperately to put this exact movie into the „
American subconscious. It's along the lines
of Michael Moore's "Bowling for
Columbine" or Steven Spielberg's
"Schindler's List." None of these movies
would have been made if not for their
makers' deep passion for the subjects.
And yes, Gibson's topic is unappealing to
many moviegoers. We don't want to face the
issue of religion because it's hard to face
within ourselves. Personally, my parents
took me to church when I was younger but
it never really "stuck." Now I don't hold
onto a faith, but I admire those who do. I
suspect that I'm not strong enough, and
that's why it's easier for me to criticize than
to praise those with strong faith.
So, Mel, you may not convert me but
you've converted my way of thinking by
injecting this movie into the culture.
Hopefully others can do that at least.
Godspeed, Mel. So to speak.
Contact the columnist
at peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
OSPIRG funding situation
is worse than book prices
The shady OSPIRG claims textbooks are
the root of students' financial woes ("OS
PIRG's study dubs textbooks 'rip-ofis,'" ODE,
Jan. 31), but the greater outrage is forcing
students to fund a politically motivated
group of lobbyists.
Adjusted for 2003 dollars, the group has
taken well over $2 million from this campus
alone, while failing to provide even one
worthwhile service in 30 years. It's hard to
take OSPIRG seriously when they attack a
legitimate business such as textbooks, even
as they snatch millions through a shameful,
coercive funding scheme
Students shouldn't worry about their
textbooks. The only lesson here is that the
UO must defund a group whose only
green interest is the cash they funnel away
to lobbyists.
Bret Jacobson
Class of 2003