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
Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor:
Jan Tobias Montry
Editorial Editor:
Travis Willse
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
El 01X0 RIAL.
4J Chavez
campaign
must look
beyond race
Some 150 people converged on the 4J District Educa
tion Center on Friday, calling for the almost-finished
"Southside" elementary school to be named after late ac
tivist Cesar Chavez, who fought for migrant farm workers'
rights and founded the United Farm Workers Union.
Spurred by a March 1 work session, where few school
district board members favored the suggestion, support
ers blended calls for recognition of a leader with criticism
of the education board.
One of the common arguments for naming Southside
after Chavez is a simple matter of demographics:
"There are enough (Latino) students that it's important
to see something that reflects them and who they are," said
Guadalupe Quinn, program coordinator for the Network
of Immigrant Justice.
This argument becomes problematic when it is extend
ed into a full-blown appeal to racial collectivism.
"There is no other recognition for Latino leaders, and
we want some recognition for the work we do," eighth
grader Xochitl Soto told the Eugene Weekly.
Cordoning off groups of people according to racial af
filiation and naming public institutions for the sake of
"honoring" communities of one race or another neces
sarily constitutes a more racially divisive policy, harm
fully dividing a community instead of unifying it. And
such is the problem with so many of the Chavez sup
porters' arguments.
Beth Gorot, the chairwoman of the embattled board,
addressed claims of implicit racism, telling The Register
Guard, "1 think that the message that our community
needs to hear is that we are listening, we appreciate the
thoughtful input we have been getting from our commu
nity, we appreciate the input and we're trying to make the
best decision."
Javier Ayala, of the group Education y Justicia, is dissat
isfied with the board's efforts: "It's time that they really
walked the talk."
In what is some of the worst rhetoric to date, and one
of the worst plays of the race card the Editorial Board has
seen in recent memory, Ayala effectively equates any board
decision (other than the one he favors) to racism, drawing
attention away from the more meaningful issue at hand.
Despite all the bad rhetoric tarnishing the argument, there
are several compelling reasons why the board may wish to
name the school after Chavez, not the least of which is that
so many community members argue it's a well-deserved
honor for an important leader.
The presumptive purpose of naming a school after a
person is to recognize individuals who have made posi
tive contributions, and Chavez certainly fits that bill. His
contributions improved the quality of life not only of Lati
no farm workers, but of farm workers of all races.
Johnny Lake of the Oregon Commission on Black Af
fairs emphasized this point elegantly, telling The Regis
ter-Guard, "Whether there is one Latino in Eugene or
100,000 Latinos in Eugene, he was a man who deserves
this honor."
Picking a namesake for the school on the basis of race
reduces the recognition of legacy to tokenism, and cer
tainly Chavez deserves better, no matter what the board
decides.
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.
1ml
NEW U.K.
FOOD/
lii_i-i!
--—
HHHH
Steve Baggs Illustrator
The splendor of Spring
I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful
world
I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful
world
—Louis Armstrong
It's springtime. The spring equinox isn't
for another ten days, but it's springtime.
I slept with my bedroom windows
thrown open to the stars last night, and
dreamed of bare feet on cool green grass. I
woke up to the sounds of birds: blue jays,
robins and a small drab brown bird that I
couldn't identify but that looked to be a
member of the sparrow family.
Two of my roommates spent yesterday
working in the yard. They threw out any
pretense of studying for their finals, in
stead planting bulbs that should have
been in the ground months ago and build
ing a small fence around the compost pile.
In the background Louis Armstrong sere
naded the world through doors and win
dows flung open to spring's breezes.
After a long dark winter, spring in the
Willamette Valley is a call that cannot go
Aimee Rudin
Five feet of fury
unanswered.
Spring gets into my mind and into my
blood, distracting me from term papers
that need to be written and dishes that
need to be washed. Spring speaks to me. It
insists that I weed the vegetable garden
that has lain dormant since October's first
bite of frost.
My golden retriever, Hayward, spent yes
terday lolling in the grass that has suddenly
gone from short and brown to lush, green
and in need of a mow. He refused to come
inside; rather he laid by the back door with
his head on the jamb and a tennis ball in
his mouth, inviting someone to come play
with him in the glorious weather.
Hayward is right — there are better
things to do than sit in front of the com
puter. Better ways to waste a day.
Recently, I have spent so much time
worrying about what I am going to do
with my life that I have sort of forgotten to
live it. I need to get outside and try to re
member why I came to the University in
the first place. I need to plant my vegeta
bles and play with my dog. I need to take
the time to eat sitting down rather than
standing over the sink.
Everyday we make a bit of our own des
tiny. With the choices we make and the
projects we undertake we shape our lives,
and so it seems simple — if you want to
have a good life then you have to make
good choices. My choice today is to rejoice
in this world I have been given the grace to
be bom into. Today, I thank the world for
springtime.
This is my last piece for the Emerald. I
would like to take a few lines to thank
everyone who has read my articles and
columns during the past year. Thank you
for your e-mails and letters, your words of
support and your suggestions. Thank you
for picking up the paper.
Contact the columnist
at aimeerudin@dailyemerald.com.
Her opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
EPD, OLCC strong-arm students
I find the idea that the Eugene Police
Department can, and will, use undercover
officers to "pro-actively" prevent riots a lit
tle disturbing.
CS ! ! IP
»§»««« WS
COMMENTARY
Sgt. Terry Fitz
patrick claims
that "These are
the parties that
start riots," but
if that is EPD's way of dealing with it, why
stop at just parties? I will see my ex-girl
friend at a party tonight; will EPD be un
dercover there to "pro-actively" prevent a
domestic disturbance? I understand that
being pro-active can be helpful in many
situations, but 1 don't think EPD should be
using its authority to go around under the
assumption that a riot will break out.
EPD isn't the only organization guilty of
these questionable tactics, as the Oregon
Liquor Control Commission has shown no
hesitance is abusing its power. Drums, speak
ers and a laptop were alcohol-related? You
show me a party where a laptop is a main at
traction, and I'll show you a party where a
riot is definitely not going to break out. The
idea that OLCC can back up its strong-arm
tactics with vague concepts such as "alcohol
related" is also something that should raise
eyebrows all around Eugene I'd love to see a
working definition of that term, because the
items they seem to consider related to
alcohol could truly open the door for them
to confiscate anything in that house
I own a guitar and a keyboard, and I am
now afraid to have parties at my house be -
cause of the chance of losing those expen
sive items. In all my years of playing these
instruments, I still haven't come up with
a way to use them to drink alcohol, but 1
guess OLCC seems to know something
we all don't. I'm all for the safety and well
being of others, but there needs to be a
line drawn between EPD and OLCC car
rying out their needed functions and
walking all over helpless students.
Kirk McGuire is a junior studying journalism.