Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 26, 2004)
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 Monday, April 26,2004 EOITORIAL. Ending sales of tobacco on campus is right move A campus anti-smoking group has made concerted and reasonable efforts recently to make it harder for smokers at the University to buy and smoke cigarettes on campus. The Campus Advisory Board approached the EMU Board to lobby for a ban on cigarette sales at Erb Essen tials, the EMU convenience store. The group is also seek ing more strict enforcement of the University's 10-foot rule, which states that smokers must be at least 10 feet away from a building when lighting up (the stricter rules allow for the possibility of expanding the distance to 50 feet). For smokers, the idea of impeding the habit would clearly be an abuse of the University's power. For anti smoking activists, the idea would mean a cleaner campus environment and a step toward better health standards. But for the rest of us, does the smoking issue really matter? It should, for several reasons. At first glance, the anti-smoking effort may seem like a suppression of freedoms, and one could argue that ban ning cigarettes from the campus marketplace would re strict the legitimate right of smokers to purchase tobacco products at the University. But as University Health Center Health Education Di rector Paula Staight told the EMU Board, the debate is "a bigger issue than the freedom to buy a cigarette." Not only could student smokers make the trek to 7 Eleven, located just off campus, to buy cigarettes, but the University is in a position to do its part in saving a por tion of the student body from future health problems. According to http://www.webmd.com, smoking can in crease the risk of lung cancer, throat cancer, emphysema, heart disease, high blood pressure, ulcers, gum disease and asthma complications. Smoking also results in coughing, poor athletic ability, sore throats, face wrin kles, stained teeth, dull skin and damage to sense of taste and smell. Furthermore, recent studies have shown a dramatic link between smoking in college and the chance of smok ing later in life. According to Health Psychology maga zine, more than 90 percent of college smokers who light up on a daily basis will continue smoking for at least four years after college. Disturbingly, 50 percent of college stu dents who smoke even occasionally am the same risk. Nearly 33 percent of college students in America use tobacco products, according to the University, and a Uni versity Health Center survey released in spring 2003 showed that 22 percent of students at this campus identi fy as "regular or casual smokers." In fact, the University is currently part of a national study to test the success rate of tobacco control programs, according to a University press release. What better way to get started than stopping the sale of those products on campus? That's not to say that all the Campus Advisory Board's arguments are sound. One argument, voiced at the EMU Board meeting, is that selling tobacco products on cam pus violates the University's and EMU's respective mis sions. But no specific mention of a duty to ensure the health of students is included in the EMU's mission statement, which reads "The Erb Memorial Union. ... with a commitment to the involvement and develop ment of students, shall serve its diverse campus commu nity by providing high quality programs, services and fa cilities that complement the mission of the University of Oregon." Similarly, the University's mission statement makes no specific mention of a responsibility to physical health of students. Regardless, it seems to be an implied duty of the Uni versity to do everything in its power to influence the good health of students. While it's clearly not the University's job to preach life habits, banning the sale of tobacco products on campus will send a clear message that using tobacco products has scientifically proven negative health effects and is not endorsed by this institution. | ' THE i Mr UNrreo nations f AND SADDAM HUSSEIN STOLE' MOPS THAN $fO BILLION FROM THE IRAQ FOOD FOR OIL PROGRAM k. WITH FRANCE AND RUSSIA j RECEIVING THE BIGGEST Jk mfltm benefits. HOW ccwe yacc VN*T TACKIN' BOUT THAT? Eric Layton Illustrator IDOL worship The country is in shock, and rightfully so. Many people believe a conspiracy is talcing place, and President Bush's speech two weeks ago only aggravated them more. Thankfully, the news coverage is expansive, and the people are once again spealdng out, demanding a recount. This is the America I love. The one that questions the decisions made by others. The one that voices its dis content for the outcome of an election. The people are finally rising up in anger and de manding to be heard, and what they are say ing is "Jennifer Hudson shouldn't have been kicked off'American Idol!'" Now, I'm not a big fan of "American Idol," so 1 wouldn't know if Jennifer Hud son might be the next Whitney Houston. But what I do know is how upset America is that she was kicked off, because I've seen the story so much in the news. Conspira cy theorists have even circulated rumors of hackers breaking into the system and alter ing the votes. Another factor that suppos edly led to Hudson's elimination was a power outage in her hometown of Chica go. The outage left 15,000 people unable to watch or vote for her, but which is the real tragedy? Fifteen thousand people without power or 15,000 people unable to watch "American Idol"? What is going on in the United States? On April 13, President Bush scheduled a news conference, causing Fox to push "American Idol" to the following night. The next morn ing on the radio, I heard more about the pub lic's disappointment in the show's reschedul ing than I heard about the president's comments! Bush answered questions in the conference about the embattled Aug. 6,2001 briefing that discussed terror threats, an important political issue item in recent weeks. But did America care? Not really. Instead they felt tricked, because they hoped to turn on their television and find Paula Abdul, but in stead got the leader of their country. Marissa Jones Cry me a river People love watching "American Idol," because it gives them the ability to make someone a celebrity — and doesn't every one long to be famous themselves? Televi sion is filled with shows like VHl's "The Fabulous Life," which showcases their pimped-out cars and calculates how many Louis Vuitton bags Jennifer Lopez could buy with her last paycheck. Even A&E's "Biogra phy," which used to tell the stories of historic figures, has graduated to talking almost ex clusively about celebrities. For the month of April, David Koresh is the only non-celebrity being featured. So our country enjoys hearing about the private lives of pretty people. Big deal, right? The problem is that this phenomenon is slowly seeping into our political system. We elected a professional wrestler to govern a state and now have extended the title to an action hero. Although Arnold may have some good political views, I wonder if this trend of electing inexperienced celebrities into office will continue. If celebrities themselves don't run, they are always there to support their favorite candidate. Celebrity endorsements have be come more important than ever as candi dates fight for coverage in the press. Person ally, the political opinion of someone who starred in "A Pyromaniac's Love Story" does n't mean much to me, but who knows what his appearance did to sway the votes of "Backdraft" fans. Celebrity political intervention even ex tends overseas. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anisr ton are trying to stop the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in between movies and magazine shoots. That's really sweet, but maybe th<jv should try just sticking to their day jobs. Celebrities need to wake up and realize be ing Hollywood royalty doesn't grant them ambassadorial powers, and Americans need to vote because of their own feelings on the issues, not because of the opinions of a good romantic comedy's star. Just imagine if we all talked about world politics as much as we do celebrities or watched as much news as we do reality shows. Maybe then we would all start to be educated about the issues and actually be gin to make progress on the problems af fecting our country. Maybe if we made it as easy to vote for the presidency as it is for "American Idol," people would actually vote Until then, I will go to sleep every night hoping when I wake up the phrase "Diddy Runs the City" still refers to his participation in the Boston Marathon. Cross your fingers, America, and maybe once in a while turn off your televisions. Contact the columnist at marissajones@dailyemerald.com. Her opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. ONLINE POLL Each week, the Emerald publishes the results of the previous poll and the coming week's poll question. Visit http://www.dailyemerald.com to vote. Last question: What should the U.S. military’s next steps in Iraq be? Results: 55 votes. • Ask for more assistance from the United Nations: 54.5 percent or 30 votes. • Surrender: 20.0 percent or 11 votes. • Send more troops and continue with current strategies: 16.4 percent or nine votes. • Pull out ground troops and use long range tactics like bombing from the air: 5.5 percent or three votes. • Negotiate with insurgents: 3.6 percent or two votes. This week: Do you fee! safe walking on campus at night? Choices: Yes - The campus is well-lit: Yes - Public safety is present; No - Recent crimes have made me avoid campus at night: No - Campus is poorly lit.
