Oregon Daily Emerald
Friday, December 3, 2004
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The OregOn Daily Emerald is pub
lished daily Monday through Fri
day during the school year by the
Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing
Co. Inc., at the University of Ore
gon, Eugene, Ore. The Emerald
operates independently of the
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300 of the Erb Memorial Union.
The Emerald is private property.
Unlawful removal or use of
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Chilingerian needs to brush
up on reviewing skills
I just read Natasha Chilingerian’s re
view of Lord Leebrick’s “Tempest”
(’’Shakespeare’s ‘Tempest’ proves intri
cate, hard to interpret,” ODE, Nov. 24)
and was simply aghast. Did she really
suggest that people shouldn’t see
Shakespeare because it might be hard
to interpret?
Also, she might want to look at
how theater reviews are generally
written, at least in all those “drama
junkie” publications I read like The
New York Times. It’s usually a good
idea to note who directed the show,
how long the show is running, all of
the main actors and also to analyze
why things happen, not just note that
they might be confusing.
Leebrick’s “Tempest” was directed
by University theater professor John
Schmor, two years ago named the best
director in Eugene by Eugene Weekly.
It stars University art professor Leon
INBOX
Johnson as Prospero, one of Shake
speare’s most beloved characters. It
runs through Dec. 11.
Furthermore, she might want to
brush up on all that language that
“might as well be German” if she plans
to write more theater reviews. Shake
speare is, and will probably always be,
the single most produced playwright in
the entire history of the world — and, I
think most people will agree, a pretty
damn good writer.
Greg Heaton
Theater Arts
Condoleezza Rice rises to
her level of incompetence
Is this a great country or what?
Thanks to President Bush, we will
now have the first secretary of state
who once had an oil tanker named af
ter her. No kidding. Chevron put Con
doleezza Rice’s name on a tanker
when she served on its board of direc
tors, from which she resigned just
before the 2001 inauguration.
But that factoid is overshadowed by
her career since moving from
Chevron’s board. Does she deserve this
career move? Set aside her lack of ex
perience as a diplomat. Except for
some time spent as provost of Stanford
University, she was a specialist in Russ
ian studies. Also set aside her weak
management skills, which were mani
fest during her tenure as national secu
rity advisor.
Can she learn to tell the truth to
the American people? Her record
is not encouraging. Rice was one
of the key administration people in
the massive deception campaign
leading up to the invasion of Iraq.
The U.S. government refuses to keep
count. More than once, Rice stood be
fore the American people and blatant
ly lied to them. It was Rice who told
us shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks
that she and the rest of the national
security apparatus never dreamed
■ In my opinion
Bush, can I say CCIlSOFSllip?
As a writer there is nothing I cher
ish more than my right to free
speech. That is why every report of
censorship in the media really gets
my blood boiling. Now that Presi
dent Bush has secured a second
term, a trend appears to be emerging
in America. The gatekeepers at our
television and radio stations and
newspapers are going out of their
way to avoid anything at all that
might be interpreted as morally pro
gressive or anti-administration.
Whether they fear retribution from
the public or the president, or both,
is hard to say. Recently, CBS and
UPN (both owned by Viacom) re
fused to run a church’s pro-gay ad
vertisement, arguing, in a letter to
the church, that “because this com
mercial touches on the exclusion of
gay couples and other minority
groups by other individuals and or
ganizations, and the fact the execu
tive branch has recently proposed a
constitutional amendment to define
marriage as a union between a man
and a woman, this spot is unaccept
able for broadcast on the networks.”
The ad is for the United Church of
Christ and features bouncers outside
of a church refusing to let gay, mi
nority and disabled worshipers in.
The text reads, “Jesus didn’t turn
people away. Neither do we.” And
then a narrator says, “No matter
who you are, or where you are on
life’s journey, you are welcome
here.” (See the ad at www.stills
peaking.com.)
The first question is: What does a
church saying it accepts gay and les
bian parishioners have to do with the
Federal Marriage Amendment? The
second question, best articulated in
an article on Media Matters for Amer
ica (http://mediamatters.org), is:
“How does CBS justify rejecting an ad
that purportedly conflicts with the
Bush Administration’s views, given
CBS’s apparent willingness to air ad
vocacy ads that support administra
tion policies?”
Think about this for a second.
Just because a commercial “touch
es” on the idea that gays and
lesbians should be treated equally,
which is a progressive concept
antithetical to the administration’s
DAVID JAGERNAUTH
CRITICAL MASS
homophobia, it is “too controver
sial” and “unacceptable for broad
cast.” Inclusion is too controversial
of an idea. Even suggesting that
being gay or lesbian is not a sin is
totally out of line on network
television. What if kids are watch
ing? Think about the children! On a
side note, ABC Family, Hallmark,
Nick at Nite and many other stations
have agreed to run the spot.
Moving to the world of newspa
pers, Jim Goldsborough, a senior
columnist at The San Diego Union
Tribune, resigned after his column
was pulled by the publisher for being
“offensive. ” The article discussed the
fact that Jewish voters are over
whelmingly Democratic.
“The column is not offensive to
Jews. Maybe to Bush,” Goldsborough
said in a telephone interview with Edi
tor & Publisher. His columns are often
more liberal than the editorial board. “I
think this was payback,” he said.
In another recent example of cen
sorship, a Nov. 30 Associated Press
article was edited by FoxNews.com
and the Chicago Sun-Times to hide
the fact that the Ohio secretary of
state, who oversees elections in Ohio,
was also the co-chairman of Bush’s
re-election campaign in Ohio. What
would compel an editor to delete this
blatant example of a conflict of inter
est? I wonder.
Now don’t get me wrong. Censor
ship isn’t just a conservative habit. I
wrote a column for the Eugene
Weekly recently where the word
“feminists” was edited out of a para
graph listing moralizing prudes. Not
surprisingly, they left in “religious
zealots” and “an increasingly op
pressive government.”
For most people, one disappearing
word here or there, one description,
one column and one ad are relatively
insignificant examples of censorship.
But these examples merely hint at the
real issue. Censorship is an institu
tional problem that is massive in
scope. Why, for example, is hard-hit
ting investigative reporting nonexist
ent today? Take one part litigation and
add two parts corporate monopoliza
tion looking out solely for the bottom
line, and you have your answer. Cost
ly, time-consuming and politically
risky stories will never get published
because of the structure of the media
business, even if the will exists
among journalists.
Furthermore, since journalism is
now a commodity to be sold, it must
be like every other product that the
public consumes: safe, sanitary,
branded and appealing to one of our
base emotions. The news has to act
like a horoscope and tell us what we
want to hear. That’s why CNN re
ports about the war in two different
ways: first, a critical version for over
seas markets and then a sugarcoated
version for Americans. The funny
thing is, CNN is still blasted by Re
publicans for anti-American cover
age. And with every complaint the
news becomes sweeter and sweeter.
Eventually they’ll just say, “What
war?” and leave it at that.
Examples of censorship today are
too numerous to list completely. The
administration is removing political
ly damaging facts from government
Web sites under the guise of legiti
mate homeland security precau
tions. This includes removing every
thing from scientific facts that fail to
jive with the president’s religious be
liefs and economic imperatives to re
moving flubs from transcripts of
Bush’s speeches. Furthermore, the
administration is restricting federal
scientists from communicating with
World Health Organization officials
and manipulating federal advisory
committees, all in an effort to politi
cize the scientific establishment
for partisan ends. This too is a form
of censorship.
What can we do? I really don’t
know. I can only think of one thing to
do: keep writing.
davidjagemauth@dailyemerald.com
that Al-Qaida would ever fly airplanes into
buildings. We learned later that the CIA had
warned of this. And Rice played on the Amer
ican people’s fears of a nuclear attack from
Iraq. It was she who said, “We don’t want the
smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.”
So now we have an interesting situation:
The woman who played so important a role
in deceiving the American people into war
has been nominated for the most prestigious
job in the U.S. government. Some years ago
Laurence Peter formulated the Peter Principle:
“In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise
to his level of incompetence.” If Rice is con
firmed as secretary of state, Dr. Peter’s princi
ple will have to be revised. The question is
not, “Does she deserve it?” No. The question
is, “Do we?”
Sheldon Richman
Fairfax, Va.
Professors worked hard over
Thanksgiving holiday break
I am writing to take issue with your Dead
Week editorial (’’Unheeded rules make Dead
Week truly killer,” ODE, Dec. 1). First, I person
ally honor Dead Week. The final term paper for
my class was due this week, but a full draft was
due two weeks earlier, and everyone had full
warning in the syllabus.
Second, I do not know any faculty who did
not work most of the “holiday,” contrary to the
editorial comment: "When it is almost assured
that few professors will spend the same time
preparing for their next week of school.” Before
you say things like this, I recommend you try a
day or two of our lives. Have you ever graded
papers or prepared lectures? Most students who
do these things gain a much better appreciation
of their faculty.
Let me fill you in on how I spent the
holiday: (1) I graded papers, which is
time consuming and non-trivial; (2) I pre
pared lectures; (3) I prepared a study guide
for the final; (4) I wrote a lot of letters
of recommendation; (5) I read application
files for a faculty search; (6) I worked on
a grant proposal that, if funded, includes
money for both undergraduate and graduate
education.
I slept fewer than five hours each night be
cause I was working hard to catch up. I wasn’t
the only person in my department working ei
ther — I saw most of my colleagues at work
over the holiday.
Bitty Roy
Associate Professor of Biology
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THIS WEEK'S POLL RESULTS
Do you enjoy holiday shopping? (34 votes)
1. Yes, it is a good way to show others you care for them. 53 percent
2. Yes, there are great deals. 11.8 percent
3. No, I don't have any money. 17.6 percent
4. No, it is too much stress. 5.8 percent
5. What, it's the holiday season? 11.8 percent