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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 27, 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 Tuesday, April 27,2004 Oregon Daily Emerald COMMENTARY Editor in Chief: Brad Schmidt Managing Editor Jan Tobias Montry Editorial Editor: Travis Willse EDITORIAL $12 million in donations should be appreciated It's been a bad year to be an empty-walleted college student Students found out during the last month that tuition is likely to swell by 12 percent this fall. For an in-state under graduate taking 16 credits, that's up from $5,079 this year to about $5,700 next year. Much of this is due to about $5 mil lion in unanticipated cuts in funding; the failure of Measure 30 alone accounts for $ 1 million to $2 million in cuts. But even if students are being squeezed by tuition and fee rates that far outpace inflation, some people are mak ing life a little easier on the University community. Philanthropists have announced more than $20 million in new donations to the University in recent months, and their timing couldn't be better. University President Dave Frohnmayer announced re cendy that a group of 15 donors — including alumni — have pledged $12 million, which will fund about 100 University scholarships annually. The Ann and Bill Swindells Charitable Trust of Portland alone is funding 32 scholarships. The private Northern California-based HEDCO Foun dation, an organization that helps fund social and edu cational initiatives, announced it was donating $10 mil lion to pay for a new complex for the space-strapped College of Education. The new facility, which is set to include some 100,000 square feet dedicated to teaching and research, is a wel come boon to a college whose often insufficient work spaces are spread across 21 locations. The college should also benefit from the project's planned "teaching per formance studio." Frohnmayer stressed that the University needs legislative support, too, to help build the new education complex. "It's imperative that this donation be matched by the state of Oregon," he asserted. While it's unfortunate from a philosophical and po litical standpoint that the University must increasingly rely on private sponsors, students, administrators, fac ulty and staff should all nonetheless be grateful for gen erous acts like these that help the University better fulfill its mission statement of being a community "dedicated to the highest standards of academic inquiry, learning and service." William Swindells, of the Swindells trust, has the right idea: "Oregon's past includes a heritage rich in natural re sources, but its future is in the knowledge economy, so we need educated citizens," he said in a release. The Emerald Editorial Board commends the generous efforts of the Swindells trust, the HEDCO Foundation and others, for their commitment to improving the quality of the University. 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 Jan Tobias Montry Managing Editor Ayisha Yahya News Editor Travis Wsllse Editorial Editor Jennifer Sudick Freelance Editor 'Give me back. My WALLET/' Steve Baggs Illustrator TRUE HEROICS You see the word "hero" a lot in Ameri ca these days. It's in Mariah Carey songs, on "Spider-Man" posters and is especially used in reference to athletes. But in my mind, only one athlete is tru ly a hero. Pat Tillman gave up a $3.6 mil lion football contract to join the Army Rangers in 2002. He was killed in action in Afghanistan on Thursday. I hate that we have troops in Iraq and the Middle East. I hate that Americans are los ing their lives so we can keep gas prices low. But I support our troops because they are people with lives and wives and friends. Pat Tillman gave depth and dimension to "support our troops." He was the ulti mate soldier. Pat Tillman was a hero. Tillman started his football career at Ari zona State, where he struck fear into oppo nents like Oregon's Akili Smith as a devas tating linebacker. He wasn't big, but he was fierce and tough, and he was Pac-10 defensive player of the year in 1997. He graduated in fewer than four years with a 3.84 grade-point average. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardi nals in 1998 and switched to safety. But he was just as fierce and just as tough. In 2000, he broke the Cardinal record for tackles in a season. He declined a lucra tive offer from the St. Louis Rams so he could stay in Arizona. That alone made him a hero in the sports world. But then Sept. 11 happened, and Till man became a hero in the real world. Eight months after the attacks on the World Trade Center, Tillman quit football to join the army. He gave up his contract, he gave up the nice cars and the big hous es. He gave up the people cheering his name, the media interviews and the auto graph requests. And he really gave it up. He didn't say a word to the media or any of his team mates. He just went into the service and went to Iraq. Peter Hockaday Today is Hockaday But, for some reason, that made people want more of Pat Tillman. His story spread across the country and infected people like a beautiful vims. "He what?" "He gave up how much?" "And he doesn't want to talk about it?" He was all over newspapers and maga zines. ESPN honored him with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at its 2003 ESPY Awards show. I was lucky enough to work at the ES PYs and was lucky enough to meet Pat Tillman Sr. after the show. I told him that, as an aspiring journalist, I admired his son's will and strength to avoid the media tidal wave. Pat Sr. just looked tired. I was probably the 207th person to congratulate him. He looked crushed. Now I know why. His son was in Iraq. After a while, the younger Tillman was shipped to Afghanistan. According to an -*■* Army spokesman, Tillman and his unit came under fire at around 6:45 on Thurs day night. They jumped out of their vehi- . cles and ran toward the area where the shooting was coming from. After a 20 minute firefight, Tillman and an Afghan militiaman fighting with the Americans were both dead. In death, Tillman's story is only drawing more attention. Hundreds of people showed up to a memorial outside the Car dinals' training facility. Both the Cardinals and the Arizona State Sun Devils will retire his number, and Arizona State is trying to set up a scholarship in his name. The NFL asked for a moment of silence before its amateur draft Saturday. His family is maintaining a silence to the media, and their comments to the press indicate they will maintain that si lence for a long time. Somehow, it seems, Pat would have wanted it that way. But even if he wouldn't want us to, for Pat Tillman we mourn. And mourn. And mourn. Contact the columnist at peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com. His opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. LETTER TO THE EDITOR Representative Holvey deserves district vote I am very excited that State Represen tative Paul Holvey is running for the state Legislature. I have volunteered with Paul for almost 10 years and know he is dedi cated to our community and our state. We both were on the Steering Commit tee of the Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network. When work needed to be done, Paul rolled up his sleeves and jumped in. He always showed great leadership and a willingness to get the job done without seeking the credit for himself. Paul is one of the most highly princi pled legislators in our state. He will always speak up for families, fair taxes, decent jobs, good housing, good schools and quality of life. I know he will always priori tize the voters in our district, and not spe cial interests. Paul would never sell out his values or ethics. We need someone with his integrity in Salem. Eugene District 8 should vote for Paul Holvey in the May 18 primary. Joy Marshal! Eugene
