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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 3, 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 Thursday, June 3,2004 —-Oregon Daily Emerald COMMENTARY i r Editor in Chief: Brad Schmidt Managing Editor: Jan Tobias Montry Editorial Editor: Travis Willse EDITORIAL Rights apply for students during Dead, Finals weeks So, it's day four of the deadliest week of them all — the famed "Dead Week," which immediately precedes the in voluntary catharsis of Finals Week — and now is as good a time as ever to remind students, once again, of your rights during this heinous academic study bonanza. Although the University's Dead Week policies have been around for many years, they never fail to sneak past the radar of some hapless educators. As a result, students subsequently complain that they have WAY too much work during Dead Week without knowing that the art of complaining does get things accomplished in this world. However, the common misconception among stu dents is that educators are powerless to assign anything during Dead Week because of the understanding that the week is for cramming like crazy. But the rules governing Dead Week mostly apply to testing. First, according to an administrative letter periodical ly sent out to faculty and graduate teaching fellows, "No examination worth more than 20 percent of the final grade will be given with the exception of makeup exam inations." Second, "No final examinations will be given under any guise." That's right, teachers, save it for Finals Week. It just makes sense. Third, "No projects will be due unless they have been clearly specified on the syllabus within the first two weeks of the term." This is a biggie for the many students who are undoubtedly sweating about that huge project due tomorrow. Check your syllabus — the assignment may be breaking the rules. Last, "Take-home examinations will be due no earlier than the day of the formally assigned final examination for the class in question." Duh. Also, don't forget that as a student you have the right to reschedule a final exam if too many have been sched uled for you on any given day. That is, if a student has more than three final exams scheduled on one day, any exams after the third can be rescheduled for later in the week to keep the student from keeling over from a debil i itating brain aneurysm. The first four rules were drafted into faculty legislation by the University Assembly in 1982, and the last is a statement by the Faculty Advisory Council. All in all, the Emerald Editorial Board wishes all stu dents successful Dead and Finals weeks and a great sum mer and hopes that faculty will work within the estab lished University standards. 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 Travis Willse Editor in Chief Editorial Editor Jan Tobias Montry Jennifer Sudick Managing Editor Freelance Editor Ayisha Yahya News Editor r "in ^ CASE OF DOUBT, ATTACK." -GENERAL ^ PATTON A IN WAR THE ONLY SURE DEFENSE IS OFFENSE, AND THE EFFICIENCY1 OF THE OFFENSE DEPENDS ON THE WARLIKE SOULS OF THOSE CONDUCTING v IT” ^ Eric Layton Illustrator Meansmatter Anti-abortion murderers, white su premacists and al-Qaida have one thing in common: They justify their violence by appealing to the same tortured logic. The ends justify the means. It is the terrorist's creed. We deplore the killing of innocent people, even when it is for a cause that we consider just, because as Americans we believe in the ideal that means mat ter. We believe in the rule of law and a process for enforcing those laws. As long as the process is just, then, whatever the outcome, it too will be just. Similarly, we believe in democracy. As long as the democratic process is followed, then whomsoever is elected is the rightful heir to power. Unfortunately, since the attacks of Sept. 11, and the beginning of the war on terrorism, the terrorist's creed has gained increasing popularity in our po litical system. The USA PATRIOT Act codified the new philosophy that the end (i.e. freedom from terrorism) justi fies almost any means (i.e. loss of free doms and privacy). Actually, this way of thinking predates the Bush administration. One could go back to the 2000 election, where Kather ine Harris and Jeb Bush felt the ends (electing George Bush) justified the means (illegally disenfranchising thou sands of black voters). Or one could go even further back to the impeachment of President Clinton .Now that the terror ist's creed is alive and well in Washing ton, D C., it is slowly destroying our po litical system. Last year Texas Republicans were so intent on winning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives that they circumvented the established process and tried to force a ridiculous redistrict ing plan through the Texas Legislature. Texas Democrats were so intent on stop ping this that they fled the state to avoid a quorum necessary to pass the plan. Par tisan gerrymandering is happening all over the country. David Jagernauth Critical mass The current administration is so set on changing laws from the bench that they have marched an endless parade of con servative activists posing as judicial nom inees before Congress. Intent on stop ping this, Democrats have taken the extreme step of filibustering a handful of these judges, bringing the nominating process to a grinding halt. Often controversial bills are being vot ed on and passed late at night to avoid me dia attention. For example, cuts to veter ans' benefits were passed in the House of Representatives by a margin of three votes at 2:54 a.m. on the morning of March 21, 2003, according to Mother Jones. The war in Iraq, however, wins the prize for the ultimate manifestation of the terrorist's creed. For President Bush, the goal of removing Saddam Hussein was justification for anything, including misleading the American people. The ad ministration has cycled through the ex cuses for going to war: first, to get the WMDs; second, to stop terrorism; now, to create democracy in the Middle East. For all the myriad questions that remain about the rush to war and the continuing violence, the answer is always the same: Iraqis, Americans and the people of the world are better off now than when Sad dam was in power. In other words, the end justifies the mess. Then came the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib where we ended up look ing like the terrorists. Our shift to a poli cy where the ends justify the means is re sponsible for all of this. That is why we abandoned the Geneva Convention. If torturing innocent Iraqis meant stopping one attack against our troops, then those in charge of our military felt justified. That is not the America I know. The rules and laws that keep our democracy working are being aban doned. We have entered a lawless politi cal state where the winners are the best liars and cheats. As a nation we must relearn what we once knew: that it is the means that truly matter. You cannot achieve peace through preemption. You cannot achieve security through fear. You cannot achieve democracy through occupation. And you cannot fight terrorism by embracing the terrorist's creed. Contact the columnist at davidjagemauth@dailyemerald.com. His opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald.
