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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 15, 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, July 15, 2004 Oregon Daily Emerald COMMENTARY Editor in Chief: Jared Paben Managing Editor: Travis Willse ///XT//1 Aaron Sullivan Illustrator Body beautiful The freshman fifteen, the sophomore seven, and who knows how many pounds the average college junior gains. I'm hoping my junior year will mark the ending to the phenomenon that plagues almost all college students: The dreaded weight fluctuation. When I first came to college, I thought it was just a rumor, that is until I experi enced it first-hand. It just sneaks up on you, one term you're one size and the next term you're that same size plus two or three more. Where does it come from? I understand that stress mixed with sleep deprivation does have an af fect on one's mental health, attention span and body weight, but there has to be some other reason why the jeans that fit last term now fit only if I hold my breath, contract my muscles and jump up and down. To get to the bottom (hehe) of it, I went to the grocery store. Grocery shopping has got to be the most dreaded errand in the world, next to banking, of course. Imagine, you're in a large food store pushing a squeaky cart down aisle after miserable aisle picking out the most inexpensive versions of what you like or your stomach can toler ate While you're there doing this, about a PORSCHA COLLETTE CAREY WORLD ON A STRING hundred other people are in the same place doing exactly the same thing. But wait, you don't have to imagine this scenario, you're there at least once every week. My investigative grocery shopping trip started off just like any oth er — produce, dairy, snacks, or whatever is cheapest. Then something in the bev erage aisle stuck me. I was given the choice of paying $.99 for three liters of root beer or $3.49 for one liter of real juice. Mv poor-college-student mentality told me to pick up the root beer, but my small amount of will power thought dif ferently. I looked down into my grocery cart; alas, 'tis true! The cheapest things usually aren't the best things to put in one's body, but are exactly what i chose to fill my cart with. With the prices of tuition, student fees, expensive textbooks, rent and utilities, cheap is pretty much all I can afford and although my body doesn't like it, my wal let certainly does. Why is eating healthy so expensive? If I don't have enough money to pay for wholesome food, what makes you think I'll have enough money to pay for the new wardrobe I'll have to buy once I'm unable to fit into the clothes I al ready own? If eating healthy weren't so expensive my posterior wouldn't be so big. I sup pose a bit of exercise would help, too. but who's got the time for it? What's the point of exercise when, as soon as you sit at the dinner table, you gain it all back? Doesn't it seem a little ironic to be forced to pay extra for the lack of unnatural ad ditives? It should be the other way around, if I want the unnecessary chemi cals and sugars, I should be given the choice to pay more for them. I put the root beer in my cart; $.99 for three liters of soda is a bargain! But now that I think on it, I'm wondering what is wiser: Saving the dollars now or treating my body like the temple it is? porschacareY@dailyemerald.com Emerald reinforces stereotypes Your editorial 'Portland man become prey in overzealous war on terror," about the mistreatment of Oregon attorney, Brandon Mayfield for the most part was - well-writ TCCT ten an(* 'jULOI sharp. COM MEN1ARY However, - while you condemned our government's anti-terror profiling, a blatant societal stereotype seeped into your closing paragraphs, beg ging me to speak up about it. "He (The George W. Bush look alike/think-alike) would have loosened hisr^ie as he walked in the front door to tis house. He would have greeted his wife with a kiss." The imagery I captured with these lines left me wondering what she had made for dinner and if she had vacu umed the front hallway. Women are steadily increasing their presence as players in the professional world. For ex ample, according to the American Med ical Association, women made up 7.6 percent of the total number of physi cians in 1970. In 2002, they made up 25 2 percent of the population. Our Bush look-alike/think-alike could have a professional wife that wasn't waiting for him at the front door. Even though you nailed the dangerous nature of stereotyping into the reader for 16 paragraphs prior, your attempt to write a poignant closing undermined the work you had already done. This may be a bit reactionary, but I wouldn't have found this "itch" if the ar ticle wasn't warning us about the dangers ofstereotyping/profiling. But since it is, I had to scratch. Brandon Mayfield was persecuted because he didn't meet "the status quo." American wives will be thought of as bak ers before bankers for a long time. I thought that stereotype was left for our par ents' generation. You showed me it isn't. Robert X. Fogarty is a junior majoring in journalism INTRODUCTION BRIEF Welcome to the University from the Emerald staff As hundreds of students flock to campus today for the second session of IntroDUCKtion, we'd like to take this opportunity to ex tend a warm greeting to our newest classmates and their families. The Emerald strives to inform its readers about issues relevant to the University community; new students will be able to utilize our services and families can, too. Readers can find the Emerald — published Tuesdays and Thursdays in the summer and every weekday during the regular school year — online at www.dailyemerald.com. Also, the Emerald offers e-mail news and sports updates. Keep tabs on what's going on around the University by registering on the Emerald's Web site. Oh, and again, welcome to the University of Oregon. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Transgender athletes face discrimination due to bias Transgender athletes who have transition to their new sex do not retain any significant advantage from their previous sex, re gardless of the competitive level. If you believe otherwise you are ignorant and misinformed on this topic. I know from personal experience that is true and can be scientifically proven to any de gree of your satisfaction. I would suggest you do your own re search using current scientific studies and not allow your person al views on this topic to bias the results. Humanity in its natural state is not limited to male and female, but consists of a huge amount of variety. One in 2,000 infants are bom intersex, and one in 2,500 males between the age of 18 to 60 have undergone surgery from male to female. The current so cial system discriminates against them regarding the simple rights most take for granted daily. Bernice Loui Sunnyvale, Calif. Abortion is humanity's 'greatest scandal' With pride in America, and our armed forces, I salute the vast ma jority of men and women who serve our country with honor in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other parts of the world. May God bless them and their families. To allow the few who dishonor our country to be come a reflection of our entire nation, or to place the blame for their actions on their Commander in Chief, is a form of treason. Our soldiers in Iraq are not at war with the people of Iraq, but rather, they are peacekeepers who have become victims of re venge and hatred by unseen enemies who will even kill their own countrymen if necessary. Without our military presence, mobs would rule a country that has lost its desire for peace. In comparison, allowing the Democratic party, responsible for mil lions of deaths through abortion, to resume power at any level of political life, is a disgrace to every American who believes in the right to life according to our Constitution, which says we are all created equal. Scandal is all around us, but the scandal of de liberate, willful abortion is the greatest scandal ever witnessed by any people — civilized or uncivilized. Vincent Bemowski KAsmsiclysi \A7ie Emerald lacks sensitivity with use of word ‘retard' I would like to compliment the Emerald staff on its excellent and engaging series on "enabled learning." I am sure that the indi viduals' stories brought greater sensitivity and awareness to the University community of the formidable daily challenges faced by students with disabilities on campus. The presence of this enlightening series, however, makes me even more perplexed at the absence of editorial discernment in printing the word retard" to describe the participants in "Sur vivor" in David Jagernauth's column, "The End of the Sitcom" (ODE, May 27). As I read the column, I was frankly stunned at the use of the word by an editorial staff that portends to use lan guage that is respectful of human diversity. Of course, the Emerald is not alone in approving this term. "Re tard" is just one of several popular words, including "spaz," "spas tic," "manic" and others popularly used to erroneously describe a variety of human behaviors. The mental retardation, spasticity, and bi-polar manic episodes from which these derogatory words are derived, however, are anything but comic to those who experi ence them and to their families. I urge the editorial staff to use more compassionate, respectful and, dare I say, grown-up editorial judgment in its use of disabili ty-related terms. You used them appropriately in your fine articles on enabled learning. But please, find some other way to describe participants in "Survivor." Mary Ann Winter-Messiers Research Assistant Educational and Community Supports
