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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2004)
Commentary Oregon Daily Emerald Monday, November 1, 2004 NEWS STAFF (541)346-5511 JEN SUDICK EDITOR IN CHIEF STEVEN R. NEUMAN MANAGING EDITOR JARED PABEN AYISHA YAHYA NEWS EDITORS PARKER HOWELL SENIOR NEWS REPORTER MORIAH BALINCIT MEGHANN CUNIFF KARA HANSEN ANTHONY LUCERO CANELA WOOD NEWS REPORTERS CLAYTON JONES SPORTS EDITOR JON ROETMAN SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER STEPHEN MILLER BRIAN SMITH SPORTS REPORTERS RYAN NYBURG PULSE EDITOR NATASHA CHILINGERIAN ^LNIOR PULSE REPORTER DAHVI FISCHER AMY UCHTY RYAN MURPHY PULSE REPORTERS DAVID JAGERNAUTH EDITORIAL EDITOR JENNIFER MCBRIDE AILEE SLATER CHUCK SLOTHOWER TRAVIS WILLSE COLUMNISTS ASHLEY GRIFFIN SUPPLEMENT FREELANCE EDITOR GABE BRADLEY ; JEWS FREELANCE EDITOR/ DIRECTOR OF RECRUITMENT DANIELLE HICKEY PHOTO EDITOR IAUREN WIMER TNIOR PHOTOGRAPHER TIM BOBOSKY PHOTOGRAPHER NICOLE BARKER ' ART-TIME PHOTOGRAPHER ERIK BISHOFF r. ,:<r time photographer PET FURTWANCLER GRAPHICS EDITOR KIRA PARK DESIGN EDITOR ELLIOTT ASBURY CHARLIE CALDWELL DUSTIN REESE BRIANNE SHOLLAN DESIGNERS SHADRA BEESLEY JEANN1E EVERS COPY CHIEFS KIMBERLY BLACKFIELD PAUL THOMPSON SPORTS COPY EDITORS AMANDA EVRARD AMBER LINDROS NEWS COPY EDITORS LINDSAY BURT PULSE COPY EDITOR ADRIENNE NELSON ONLINE EDITOR S1ADF. LEESON WEBMASTER BUSINESS (541)346-5511 IUDYR1EDL GENERAL MANAGER KATHY CARBONE BUSINESS MANAGER REBECCA CRITCHETT RECEPTIONIST NATHAN FOSTER AIB1NC GUO ANDREW LEAHY JOHN LONG MALLORY MAHONEY HOLLY MISTELL DISTRIBUTION ADVERTISING (541)346-3712 MELISSA GUST ADVERTISING DIRECTOR TYLER MACK SALES MANAGER ALEX AMES MATT BETZ HERON CA1JSCH-DOLEN MEGAN HAMLIN KATE HI RON AKA MAECAN KASER-LEE MIA LE1DELMEYER EMILY PHILBIN SHANNON ROGERS SALES REPRESENTATIVES KELLEE KAUFTHEIL AD ASSISTANT CLASSIFIED (541)346-4343 TRINA SHANAMAN CLASSIFIED MANAGER KATY GAGNON SABRINA GOWETTE LESLIE STRAIGHT KERI SPANGLER KATIE STRINGER CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES PRODUCTION (541) 3464381 MICHELE ROSS PRODUCTION MANAGER TARA SLOAN PRODUCTION COORDINATOR )EN CRAMLET KRISTEN DICHARRY CAMERON GAUT ANDY HOLLAND DESIGNERS The Oregon Daily Emerald is pub lished daily Monday through Fri day during the school war by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Ore gon, Eugene, Ore. The Emerald operates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private property. Unlawful removal or use of I papers is prosecutable by law. f I KEEP MEETING WITH^ FOREIGN LEAPED AND THEY ALL TELL ME/MAty YOVVE JUST GOTTA ■ In my opinion Voting for inner peace “Increase in campus bike theft leads to squirrels ... er, squirrels proven to be leading cause in black mail, cheating, wait, no...” I don’t want to write another col umn about what I’m going to do to your firstborn if you don’t vote yes on the newest state measure to end self inflicted handgun fatalities among quails. Save the quails, or I’ll shoot you in the face! My roommates and their squirrel plagiarism ring are not much help. Political issues are surely abound ing in this time of immense political hubbub, but I cannot get excited about another round of attacks be tween supporters of this white guy vs. this white guy. Everyone is saying the same thing, especially the candidates themselves: Vote this way or die. The presidential election has instilled an unfortunate sense of dread in voters, trying to sway them with a doctrine of fear. Bush has summed up his campaign by “saying he was the best man to keep the nation safe from ter rorists,” according to a recent Associ ated Press article. Perhaps it’s idealistic, but I expect that guarding the lives of Americans AILEE SLATER FURTHER FROM PERFECTION should be an essential undertone in political decisions, rather than the one, overarching plan of government. I can pretty much assume that John Kerry isn’t going to hand this country over to extremist terrorists on a silver platter either. Yet, it is these blanket statements that propel U.S. citizens to vote out of fear rather than because of political and social beliefs. It is moments like these that truly make me remember the importance of my ideals and political actions — where I stop being a concerned Ameri can citizen or an ardent feminist, a stu dent with too much homework or run ning late on my column. Here, I am just a person, sitting back and enjoying the breaths I inhale and the taste of wa ter in my mouth. I don’t worry about death, I worry about life, and it is here that I think we all find a superb level of happiness, and more importantly a sublime satisfaction. 1 do not want to vote out of fear for my own life; 1 want to vote out of re alization that some people do not have the opportunity to find this peace that 1 am lucky enough to hold onto, if even for a split second. I am a woman who is socially allowed to ex plore herself in every way, already a step up from most of my gender throughout the world; I am part of a minority religion allowed to live in peace; 1 am a young person allowed the opportunity of education. It is these freedoms that I am slowly com ing to realize 1 cherish more than the idea of simply staying alive. So, take a few deep breaths when the final candidate is announced. Maybe it’s not your first choice, sec ond, or even third. Remember: World change comes from within. It’s time for everyone to take a break from liv ing so strongly for the idea of tomor row and ending today with fear of what is to come rather than exuber ance in the moment. aileeslater@ daily emerald, com INBOX Reconstruction bill right to be defeated I'm getting tired of Bush supporters constantly pointing out the votes Kerry and Edwards cast against the $87 bil lion bill to reconstruct and re-supply American troops in Iraq as an indica tion of their poor judgment and refusal to "support the troops." These people seem to knowingly overlook the fact that it was the president, not Kerry or Edwards, whose terribly poor judg ment sent our troops into Iraq despite not being fully equipped with the proper armor and equipment. These people also tend to knowing ly overlook the un-American clauses in this bill that gave out "no bid” con tracts to Halliburton, a company un der investigation by the securities and exchange committee for illegal ac counting practices, not to mention the vice president’s ties to the company as its former CEO. And finally, these people always seem to knowingly overlook the fact that Kerry proposed the exact same bill that would have made Halliburton compete for the re building contracts as opposed to having them suspiciously bestowed upon them by the administration. The bottom line is that the $87 bil lion bill the administration proposed could have and should have been dras tically improved, and the votes that Kerry and Edwards cast against it are an indication of that. It’s too bad that people will immediately seize upon this vote as some sort of indication of poor judgment without taking the time to delve a little deeper in order to figure out why they voted the way they did. Nathan O'Donnell Eugene OREGON DAILY EMERALD LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged, and should be sent to tetters@dailyemerald.com or submitted at the Oregon Daily Emerald office, EMU Suite 300 Electronic submissions are preferred. Letters are limited to 250 words, and ©jest commentaries to 550 words. Authors are limited to one submission per calendar month. Submissions should include phone number and address forverification. The Emerald reserves the right to edit for space, grammar and style. Guest submissions are published at the discretion of the Emerald. ■ Editorial ASUO's bad behavior is too much for us to swallow Recently, ASUO representatives said members of the student government drank alcohol and smoked marijuana on their retreat in Sunriver. The ASUO has repeatedly dismissed requests for the names of the student officials and repre sentatives who broke the law. Currently, the ASUO is sticking to a group punishment policy, claiming the organization is accepting responsi bility as a whole and no names will be released. It is nice to see the groups that make up the ASUO acting as a cohesive whole and working as a group — we’ve been asking for such action — but we were hoping to see this cooperation under different circumstances. The self-imposed group secrecy is a poorly veiled attempt to spin some illegal events and protect the ASUO officials who shirked their responsibilities. When elections roll around this spring and ASUO members decide to run for re-election, how will the public make an informed decision? The students of the University have every right to know who broke the law. As elected officials, these individuals should be held accountable for their actions. The pub lic needs to be aware of which officials violat ed the Student Conduct Code and should be ac tively involved in the process of deciding the fate of these students. We commend the ASUO for taking steps to ward making students sign sobriety agreements on future retreats, but in this case it’s too little, too late. While ASUO President Adam Petkun has been forthcoming, he has essentially allowed a string of illegally private “debriefing meetings” about the retreat to take place under his nose. This isn’t all about the $3,200 of incidental funds used on the retreat. Although, it is diffi cult to understand why the ASUO would need to stay in “cultivated, executive-quality homes and condominiums,” but that’s another topic. The more serious issue is how disrespectful the ASUO has been. The disdain shown in the note (published in Friday’s ODE) left in Sunriver by a retreat participant is inexcusable, and the lack of concern for the incidental funds used is hor rifically clear-cut: Students, your money is ours to do with as we please, and there is nothing you can do about it. The next piece this mystery author should write is a letter of resignation. And honestly, we want to take the self-de scribed “cocky, smooth” ASUO members seri ously — once they start giving students a rea son to trust them with money. EDITORIAL BOARD Jennifer Sudick Editor in Chief David Jagemauth Editorial Editor Steven R. Neuman Managing Editor Gabe Bradley Freelance Editor ONLINE POLL THIS WEEK’S QUESTION How should ASUO members who behaved inappropriately at the October Sunriver retreat be punished for their misconduct? Visit www.dailyemerald.com to vote. • They should relinquish their salaries to repay the misused student funds. • They should resign from their positions at the ASUO. • Each individual should present a public apology and admit to what illegal activities they each participated in. • They shouldn't be punished; they were just being normal college students. • What is the ASUO?
