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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.