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Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor:
Jan Tobias Montry
Editorial Editor:
Travis Willse
Friday, June 4,2004
When a strike
could destroy
summer plans
Eric Lindgren, a graduate student studying political science, is the presi
dent of the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation.
Lindgren sat down with the Emerald for Quick Quacks — a short ques
tion-and-answer session aimed at giving readers a look at campus and com
munity members' thoughts.
Emerald: What's the best part about being GTFE president?
Lindgren: I guess I would say solidarity with other members.
Emerald: Where will Eric Undgren be 10 years from now?
Lindgren: Hopefully teaching in Northern California.
Emerald: Any particular school?
Lindgren: No, just somewhere.
Emerald: What are the biggest issues right now that are still on
the bargaining table?
Lindgren: lees. Pay, I think that's still an issue; it's not exactly set
tled. Bargaining-unit protection, which is stopping the practice of
hiring graduate students at hourly wages. ... The other issue is
whether or not master's students are eligible for a step increase.
Emerald: This is the first strike authorization since 1977 — how
likely is a strike right now?
_ Lindgren: I think that's pretty much
... — unknowable I think it's really going to de
U I IV pend on the University's willingness to be
OtlACKS reasonable. We've made major, major
_ concessions to get as close as we are and I
think we're now looking (to) the Univer
sity. 1 hope that the chances are small, but I would have to say, that
based on the way the University is arguing, that they're not zero.
Emerald: What are your plans for summer break, if there is a
break?
Lindgren: Well, right now, they are planning getting the strike to
gether. Otherwise, 1 was hoping to take a little vacation, considering
that I passed my final comp(rehensive) and I'm getting ready to start
working on my dissertation.
Emerald: Congrats.
Lindgren: So, yeah, I'd love to take vacation instead of strike.
Emerald: What's the best restaurant in Eugene?
Lindgren: Ihe Lotus Garden; I'm a vegan.
Emerald: Dave in the GEFF office said your name is Easy? Why's
that?
Lindgren: I've been told that it's because of my golf swing. I don't
know. Because my name's Eric?
Emerald: Would you ever work in University administration, the
flip side of the coin?
Lindgren: I would be reluctant to work in administration. I'm *
pretty committed to being a union member. I have had, in my life
time, a job in management.
Emerald: What's in your CD player right now?
Lindgren: Grateful Dead. Music from 30 years ago.
Emerald: Any particular album?
Lindgren: Live music
Emerald: Rennie's or Taylor's?
Lindgren: I've probably been to Rennie's more often. I don't go
to either one very often.
Emerald: When you do visit the bars, what do you like to
drink?
Lindgren: Beer or vodka. With seltzer water or soda water.
Emerald: Why should undergraduates support the GTFF?
Lindgren: Well, I think because fundamentally our cause is just in
the sense that we aren't asking for outrageous demands. I've said this
already, but we feel like we've made major concessions; we agreed
to the wage freeze, basically from the start. We don't agree that we
make enough wages, but we realize that the state is constrained by
the governor's budget But we felt like that was a major concession...
if you just look at our wages compared to our comparative schools,
we don't necessarily stack up; we're not at the top. And so, we wanted
some wage increases to try and get us closer. We made a major con
cession to take that off the table, and to start talking about fees. We
pay 10 percent of our fees back to the University as a condition of
our employment. So 1 would say that's the first reason.
The other reason is because we care about the undergraduates.
The reason why we're fighting for good, quality compensation for
GTFs is to get and encourage the best GTFs, the best graduate stu
dents you can get at the University to work here That's going to help
undergraduates, if you have better recruitment because of better pay
packages... undergraduates are going to be taught better.
Finally, I would say that even if a strike happens, we are currently
trying to find ways to minimize the impart on undergraduates. We
don't want to strike, we don't want to hurt undergraduates, we don't
want to hurt the University. Really, the way we see it is, we've com
promised again and again. The ball is clearly in the University's court.
Emerald: Last question, where can we find Eric Undgren on a Fri
day night?
Lindgren: Friday night, I'm going to be home with my wife.
But if there's live music in town, I may be out checking it out. I
,WxeMwifN *** ,•.•■}**< j j
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4 4
Steve Baggs Illustrator
Rhymes with duck
I wrote two weeks ago that managing the
Emerald's commentary section this year
has proven as enjoyable as it was challeng
ing. Editing my fellow columnists' writing
has been rewarding; I have gotten to read
styles and philosophies that range from
Marissa Jones' sober, modem conservatism
to Joe Bechard's conscious and distinctly
Eugenean social progressivism.
Because the writing in this space is opin
ion, my approach this year has usually
been one of laissez-faire: Check for flow,
the logic of arguments, and potentially li
belous assertions; trim where possible, but
don't change the author7s (denoted or con
noted) meaning. Sometimes, exceptions to
this mle of general compositional autono
my are those of obscenity, profanity and
vulgarity.
The Associated Press Stylebook gives this
general guideline (which applies to news
more than opinion): "Do not use (obscen
ity, profanity or vulgarity) in stories unless
they are part of direct quotations and there
is a compelling reason for them."
The Stylebook suggests, too, "If a full
quote that contains profanity, obscenity or
vulgarity cannot be dropped but there is no
reason for the offensive language, replace
letters of an offensive word with a hyphen."
(The rest of this column proceeds in this
spirit, at least with regard to the more of
fensive words.)
The Emerald has, in general, followed
this rule, varying alteration according to the
Travis Willse
Rivaliess wit
severity of the word in question, and with
perhaps a broad interpretation of "com
pelling": Since the beginning of the vol
ume, the Emerald has printed 36 stories us
ing some form of the word "damn" (not
including this one) and nine that use some
form of the word "sh~."
The F-bomb, of course, is the interjection
(or noun or verb or adjective or adverb)
that here demands the greatest justification
for use (and thus scrutiny). Ibis paper has
published only eight stories that use some
form of the word "f—In a reference to
campus provocateur Don Goldman's so
labeled speech (one that ended with a con
flict that landed him an arrest); in a quote
from Courtney Love in, of all filings, a col
umn about media attention and the Rwan
dan genocide; in an interview with hip-hop
pair Non-Prophets; in a cinema reference
in a column on language (penned by yours
truly); in a quoted lyric from a track by folk
rocker Hamell; in a book title proposed by
a friend of columnist David Jagemauth; in
a later Jagernauth column referencing the .
one just mentioned; and in a column by
Jessica Cole-Hodgkinson about offensive
language.
Arguably, the decisions to publish the
word in question were justified in the
above stories (all of which, incidentally, ap
peared in Pulse or commentary). But the
potency of the word in the above contexts
is maintained only because it appears in
justifiable context, and because it appears
so rarely. And so it should be. In an adult
oriented publication, vulgarity can be a
powerful tool but is overused in print me
dia (which, for regulatory and historical
reasons outside the scope of this column,
has drawn less fire than television media in
recent months).
Contrast the Emerald with Portland
State University's relatively foul-mouthed
Daily Vanguard, which deserves commen
surate congratulations for winning first
place in the General Excellence categoryjn
this year's Oregon Newspaper Publishers
Association awards. Over the same period,
that paper published articles using forms of
"damn," "sh~" and "f—" some 69, 54 and
64 times, respectively.
All that said, have a (damn) good
summer.
Contact the editorial editor
attraviswillse@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
University students
have ally in mascot debate
I recently heard about students at the
University seeking support from others
regarding the school's athletic teams not
playing teams with Native American mas
cots. I am a student at the University of
Illinois, whose mascot is a source of great
division and hostility within our campus,
and I want to say that I support you in all
of your efforts to help end the blatant
stereotyping and misrepresentation of
Native Americans. It warms my heart to
know that this issue is not one that only
the students here on this campus are
fighting, but one that others around the
country are fighting as well. Maybe with
your help and the help of other schools
like yours, our school will finally listen,
and start giving Native Americans the
honor they really deserve.
Kristen Reid
Urbana-Champaign, III.
resident advisor
University of Illinois
; ; ..,4 , at Urbana-Champaign
Illustration misrepresents
Viewing Project
The scene presented in Eric Layton's il
lustration (ODE, May 28) is a ridiculous
fabrication of what occurred during the
Viewing Project on May 26. No such scene
occurred. There were no simplistic "No
War" signs present. There were no partici
pants yelling "Ha! Like I Care!" to the
mothers of fallen soldiers.
In fact, the general tone of the whole
project was one of incredible respect and
reverence for the people who have died in
the Iraq War. Perhaps Eric Layton should
have noticed that this wasn't the typical Eu
gene-like 'I'm a dumb hippie against war'
kind of a protest. Instead, this protest was
a dramatic and wonderfully done art dis
play representing the casualties and reali
ties of war.
The Viewing Project was motivated by a
respect for the people who have died in
Iraq. It was also a response to our disre
spectful government and media who have
made a concerted effort to censor the con
crete realities of war: Human deaths. I as
sure you the people concerned with this re
ality do not have some kind of nefarious
"political agenda" — rather, they are moti
vated out of a deep respect for human life
If the Viewing Project offended you,
then perhaps you should honestly look at
the motivation of the participants instead
of marginalizing them as certain types of
hostile anti-war protesters.
Thomas Woodard
senior
mathematics
Streaker raises questions
The University journalism student
streaker's photo on the front page of the
Oregon Daily Emerald ("NAKED ambi
tion," May 28) convinces me that follow
ing the "rules" in the "real world" isn't the
best path to achievement of one's goals, if
the latter includes getting the name of the
manufacturer you tout in a place of promi
nence and receiving the rewards that go
along with that achievement.
I'm not yet convinced that colleges
and high schools instruct students
down that path.
Ed Wilson
__^gene