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:
Peter Hockaday
Friday, April 2, 2004
"Quick Quacks" is the newest Emerald fea
ture, a spontaneous Q&A session aimed at giv
ing readers an expedient look at campus and
community members' thoughts. “Quick
Quacks" will run every Friday this spring.
Please send suggestions about possible intervie
wees to letters@dailyemerald.com.
Eugene City Councilor David Kelly kicks off
our “Quick Quacks" feature. Kelly has been
the University-area's City Council representa
tive since 1999 and spends his days as a soft
ware developer.
Emerald: If the Eugene City Council
was its own reality show, what would it be
called?
David Kelly: Oh, goodness. "Conflict
on Pearl Street."
Emerald: What CD dominates your CD
player right now?
DK: Let's see, what have I been listening
to? A lot of Cuban music.
Emerald: Anything in particular?
DK: "Bue
na Vista So
cial Club."
Emer
mam
.wo
or in this
i mayoral election?
Who
you vot
DK: Kitty Piercy. Because she can reduce
that "Conflict on Pearl Street."
Emerald: Last year, Oregon football
coach Mike Bellotti shaved off his trade
mark mustache. Have you thought about
shaving your trademark beard?
DK: I've had it for 20 years, I'd hate to
see what's underneath!
Emerald: How much longer will you
stay on the City Council?
DK: The serious answer there is that my
current term runs through 2006, and after
that, who knows?
Emerald: What, if anything, is the City
Council doing to investigate the many re
cent claims about the Eugene Police De
partment?
DK: The council is not investigating.
The police commission, which is a com
mittee appointed by the council, is work
ing on a number of issues with the police
department.
Emerald: What is the last Oregon ath
letic event you attended?
DK: It was a women's basketball game.
Gosh, I think they won it, but I don't re
member which game. It was in February.
Emerald: What's your favorite restau
rant in Eugene?
DK: There are so many that are good.
One would be The LocoMotive on Fifth
Street. It's gourmet vegetarian. It makes
you forget about all the stereotypes about
vegetarian food.
Emerald: Would you vote for a city
housing code?
DK: Absolutely.
Emerald: Finally, where can we find
David Kelly on a Friday night?
DK: Attending a play or dancing to live
music.
Emerald: David Kelly, you are done with
"Quick Quacks."
Emerald missing point on racism
The Emerald recently corrected an error sur
rounding the 4J Chavez rally ("Chavez editorial
misconstrues important point," ODE, March
11). But it is important to look at the main argu
ment of the original article, in addition to its mis
take, because this is the most recent example of
the Emerald missing the point and not under
standing the deeper underpinnings of racism.
Brad Schmidt said,
- "The Emerald Editori
€51JEST alBoarddoesnottalk
to every individual in
volved in a discus
sion." While not talk
ing with activists, the
Emerald has used such heated rhetoric as "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" ("41 Chavez campaign must
look beyond race," ODE, March 10).
In its "Vagina Monologues" editorial, the board
dismissed a protest as "a bizarre display that
seethes with a distinctly Eugenean brand of irony"
("Protesters undermined the diversity they
sought," ODE, Feb. 17), and said, "The protesters'
arguments... are riddled with fallacies that detract
from their message of fairness, tolerance and
diversity," saying "The protesters' arguments are
ultimately divisive, not diversifying." This same ar
gument was used in "4J Chavez campaign must
look beyond race," claiming that it "constitutes a
more racially divisive policy, harmfully dividing a
community instead of unifying it. *
This tendency to blame protesters for being "di
visive" when they confront racism, rather than an
alyze the racism, is disturbing. I don't have the
space to debate the racism that the protests sur
rounded, but when a person of color perceives a
group to be racist, unifying with them is not usual
ly the first thing on that person's mind. The Emer
ald's accusations come down to the argument that
it is "divisive" to claim someone is being racist.
While examining these claims may be distressing,
they are important claims that should be dis
cussed, not set aside for the sake of unity.
The Emerald's arguments also completely ig
nore the claims of institutional racism, seeing
such conflicts only as personal disputes. While
"Vagina Monologue" protesters claimed that a
racist environment created a hostile space for
performers of color that forced them out, the ed
itorial board said "Some of those who com
plained that the play's cast did not represent
them didn't try out for the play, and some of
those who did dropped out." When protesters
complained that no outreach was done to mi
nority populations, the Editorial Board said "It
would be wholly inappropriate for the produc
ers to ask each auditioner what her sexual orien
tation or gender identity was, and worse yet, cast
parts based on her answer."
When people pointed out that each Eugene
school was named after a white man, the Editor
ial Board said "Picking a namesake for the school
on the basis of race reduces the recognition of
legacy to tokenism." When they pointed out that
the lack of representation of people of color, and
Latinos specifically, shows that Eugene is still in
fluenced by racism, the editorial board was up
set by its interpretation that "One of the com
mon arguments for naming Southside after
Chavez is a simple matter of demographics."
I've come to love and depend on the Emerald
for coverage of campus activities and activism.
But instead of attacking anyone who claims
something is racist, I would appreciate it if the
Editorial Board would at least begin by analyz
ing the alleged racism.
Toby Hill-Meyer is a senior majoring in women and
gender studies and sociology.
Paper trivializes fliers' fraternity rape accusation
GUEST
COMMENTARY
I was ap
palled by
Brad
Schmidt's
_ reaction to
the fliers
inadvertently distributed with the
Emerald before spring break ("Fliers
distributed irresponsibly," ODE,
March 9). Women should be advised
of the events that occurred during a
Sigma Nu sponsored party, if indeed
they happened. This woman allegedly
witnessed the rape of another uncon
scious young woman, and the subse
quent protection of the rapist by fra
ternity members. Sex with an
unconscious person is rape; this is a
black and white area.
I ran across one of these fliers in a
women's bathroom in McKenzie and I
was amazed by this example of a
woman possibly talking back The issue
here should not be over the ridiculous
accusation of stolen advertising space!
Once again, just like the University al
ways does, the alleged indiscretions of
a major fraternity are being shoved
aside The issue is rape — stolen power,
stolen dignity. The flier stated that at
least 20 members of Sigma Nu stopped
the rapist from being apprehended —
that sounds like full fraternity support
of a rape Did Mr. Schmidt, in the midst
of his trivializing a serious criminal al
legation, stop to think that perhaps
spreading fliers "all over campus" was
the witness's best chance of a woman
reaching the largest amount of other
campus women? I think not. As he
said, the information certainly would
n't have been welcomed by a fine "in
dependent" newspaper like the Emer
ald. Of course not
Perhaps she should have just kept
her mouth shut like a good little girl.
Wake up!
Darlene Hampton is a University senior
majoring in English.