Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, March 10, 2005
NEWS STAFF
(541)346-5511
JEN SUDICK
EDITOR IN CHIEF
STEVEN R. NEUMAN
MANAGING EDITOR
JARED PABEN
AY1SHA YAHYA
NEWS EDITORS
MEGHANN CUNIFF
PARKER HOWELL
SENIOR NEWS REPORTERS
MORIAH RAUNGIT
AMANDA BOLSINGER
ADAM CHERRY
EMILY SMITH
EVA SYLWESTER
SHELDON TRAVER
NEWS REPORTERS
CLAYTON (ONES
SPORTS EDITOR
ION ROETMAN
SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER
STEPHEN MILLER
BRIAN SMITH
SPORTS REPORTERS
RYAN NYBURG
PULSE EDITOR
NATASHA CHILINGERIAN
SENIOR PULSE REPORTER
AMY EIGHTY
PULSE REPORTER
CAT BALDWIN
PULSE CARTOONIST
DAVID JAGERNAUTH
COMMENTARY EDITOR
GABEBRADLEY
JENNIFER MCBRIDE
AJLEE SLATER
TRAVIS WILLSE
COLUMNISTS
ASHLEY GRIFFIN
SUPPLEMENT
FREELANCE EDITOR
DANIELLE HICKEY
PHOTO EDITOR
LAUREN WIMER
SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
NICOLE BARKER
TIM BOBOSKY
PHOTOGRAPHER
ERIK BISHOFF
KATE HORTON
PART-TIME PHOTOGRAPHERS
BRET FURTWANGLER
GRAPHIC ARTIST
KIRA PARK
DESIGN EDITOR
DUSTIN REESE
SENIOR DESIGNER
WENDY KIEFFER
AMANDA LEE
BRIANNE SHOL1AN
DESIGNERS
SITADRA BEESLEY
IEANNIE EVERS
COPY CHIEFS
KIMBERLY BLACKFIELD
PAULTEIOMPSON
SPORTS COPY EDITORS
GREG BILSLAND
AMBER LINDROS
NEWS COPY EDITOR
UNDSAY BURT
PULSE COPY EDITOR
ADRIENNE NELSON
ONLINE EDITOR
WEBMASTER
BUSINESS
(541)346-5511
JUDY RIF.DL
GENERAL MANAGER
KATHY CARBONE
BUSINESS MANAGER
REBECCA CR1TCHETT
RECEPTIONIST
AIBING GUO
ANDREW LEAHY
JOHN LONG
HOLLY MISTELL
HOLLY STEIN
DISTRIBUTION
ADVERTISING
(541) 346-3712
MELISSA GUST
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
TYLER MACK
SALES MANAGER
MATT BETZ
HERON CAUSCH-DOLEN
MEGAN HAMLIN
KATE HIRONAKA
MAEGAN KASER-LEE
MIA LEIDELMEYER
EMILY PH1LBIN
SHANNON ROGERS
SALES REPRESENTATIVES
KELLEE KAUFTHEIL
AD ASSISTANT
CLASSIFIED
(541)3464343
TRINA SHANAMAN
CLASSIFIED MANAGER
KORALYNN BASHAM
KATY GAGNON
SABRINA GOWETTE
KER1 SPANGLER
KATIE STRINGER
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
ASSOCIATES
PRODUCTION
(541)3464381
MICHELE ROSS
PRODUCTION MANAGER
TARA <tl DAN!
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
JEN CRAMLET
KRISTEN DIC-HARRY
CAMERON GAUT
IONAH SCHROGIN
DESIGNERS
The Oregon Daily Emerald is pu6
lished daily Monday through Fn
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
University with offices in Suite
300 of the Erb Memorial Union.
The Emerald is private property.
Unlawful removal or use of
papers is prosecutable by law.
■ In my opinion
Meatier Media
Alarmists have for decades now
proclaimed the decline of the news
paper and forecasted its eventual de
mise. It’s heading in that direction:
In 1990, America had 268 daily
newspapers with circulation over
50,000 (43 of those had circulation
numbers over 250,000). In 2003,
there were 217 and 36 papers, re
spectively. The trend is an old one:
In 1950, 1.23 daily newspapers were
sold per household; in 2000, that
number was 0.53.
The likeliest culprit is television:
Not only a competing medium, its
erosion of the American attention
span leaves increasingly busy me
dia-consumers much less inclined to
zigzag their eyes down line after line
of black-on-gray copy.
Worse, newspapers seem to have
fallen out of touch with the consumer.
When a January 2002 Pew poll asked
which medium best covered the
news, 38 percent named cable televi
sion and 29 percent named network
or local television news, while only
10 percent named newspapers.
However slow or incomplete the
decline, future historians might re
call the late 20th century as the twi
light of the daily news rag gods.
But the empire of televised news
may be a short-lived one, as newer
media move to inhabit niches unfilled
by older ones (say, blogging) and
overtake older media where it does a
TRAVIS WILLSE
RIVALLESS WIT
better job (up-to-the-minute special
interest news). In 1994, 40.7 million
Americans watched the ABC, NBC or
CBS nightly newscast; by November
2004, only 29.3 million did.
Some of these inroads are no
doubt due to the proliferation of ca
ble and the Internet. After all, televi
sion cannot conceivably replace the
spontaneity, casualness or everyman
involvement of the blogosphere.
But if it’s facing stiff competition,
television isn’t helping itself much:
Viewers who track the news for enter
tainment fluff have little reason not to
dial up to VH1 for an I-love-this
decade-for-which-I-am-unjustifiably
nostalgic special or to El’s mind-bog
glingly bad Michael Jackson trial
reenactments. (CNN has even devot
ed undue time to the continued de
throning of the King of Pop in its
broadcasts and on its Web site.)
Meanwhile, television news has
largely abandoned those people in
terested in stories that take more
than two minutes to hash out in
favor of more digestible material. If
newspapers are struggling on ac
count of attention span, television
news might soon suffer from self
induced irrelevance.
For all the trouble with attention
spans and, more recently, credibility,
further decline of the evening news is
bad for the consumer. After all, televi
sion is a potent and vibrant medium.
But just as the definition of the medi
um prevents it from replacing blogs, it
guarantees that it cannot be duplicat
ed. Neither blogs nor newspapers nor
“podcasts” can manage the combined
impressive production, raw visual
stimulation, and the ability to do
“journalism by show and tell” that
television does so well.
If television news wants to com
pete with the newer and more agile
media (and, for that matter, the old
er, more tangible media like newspa
pers), it ought to capitalize on these
exclusive features. Use big-company
resources to track more angles of a
story. Give media consumers in
depth, visual discussion of stories
and concepts that are difficult to flat
ten to the newspaper page or blog
entry, and the evening news viewers
may return.
Short of that, I’d still be willing to
tune in more often if there was no
more Michael Jackson.
traviswillse@ dailyemerald, com
INBOX
Commentator defunding
does not limit free speech
With all this talk lately about the
Commentator’s funding, I haven’t
heard a couple things addressed.
First of all, saying defunding it vio
lates free speech is not right. Does
the concept of free speech include
that it must be publicly funded? Just
because you withdraw public funds
from a publication doesn’t mean
you are saying they can’t say what
they want. If there is a sizable group
that likes what they have to say then
they will find a way to fund it pri
vately. It is actually quite communis
tic to force everyone to fund such
a publication.
Another thing you have been pro
moting is viewpoint neutrality. I fail
to see why the decision to publicly
fund such a strongly opinionated
publication should be viewpoint
neutral. All students paying fees
have viewpoints, and we certainly
care what our money is going to
support. The idea is not that student
government is viewpoint neutral,
but that it represents the overall
viewpoints of its constituents. While
that could threaten to stifle minority
voice, minority voices need to find
their own way to be funded.
Ideally, nobody should be forced
to fund something they disagree
with, but when you fund a minority,
more people are being forced against
their will than if you fund a majori
ty. I have my own radical opinions.
Does that mean it is wrong for the
PFC to deny me money to print out
and distribute my opinions? Or does
this concept only apply to old and
established publications. Well, in
that case, it doesn:t seem to promote
diversity as much anymore, does it?
Guru Rattan Khalsa
Undergraduate
College Republicans
show lack of compassion
Lately, I’ve come to hate the Col
lege Republicans. This is a feeling I’m
uncomfortable with. I mean, liberals
are supposed to respect people of dif
ferent backgrounds, right? Well, some
may disagree with that statement in
light of recent attacks on the First
Amendment rights of the Oregon
Commentator. But I try to apply that
open-minded, love everyone, hippie
ideal to my liberal self, so this recent
Republican hate thing is unnerving.
I was sitting in the EMU when I no
ticed a handmade sign the College Re
publicans put up at their table: “Peace
Through Superior Firepower,” with
little bombs drawn on it. I’m sure my
dad, who survived a war and geno
cide, wouldn’t find this so funny.
Only privileged war-free Americans
like the College Republicans could
find that sign remotely humorous.
Then I read a quote from the Oregon
Commentator attributed to a former
prominent member of the College Re
publicans: “Let me tell you some
thing. There’s nothing better in the
world than a Thai whore. ”
Wow. Obviously these people
come from various political back
grounds. So, compassionate conser
vatives, I know you’re out there.
Come find me. We’ll strike up a dia
logue on what grassroots efforts we
can make to make the world a better
place. And you’ll help me feel better
about Republicans.
Sermin Yesilada
Undergraduate
LTD riders, turn to bikes
for alternative transport
In reading your cover story about
the LTD strike, I noticed that no at
tention was paid to the wide variety
of biking options available to cam
pus students. Eugene has an exten
sive network of bike lanes and path
ways, and is an extremely accessible
town by bicycle. It is mostly flat, laid
out in a grid of streets and peopled
with bike-friendly drivers. So take
advantage of the nonexistent winter,
support local bike shops and explore
Eugene by bike. It’s almost free, is a
great form of outside exercise and is
good for the spirit as well. Enjoy the
early spring and bike Eugene!
Sam Fox
Corvallis
CORRECTION
The Emerald story “Wrap it up” on March 4 attributed the paragraph that stated 50 percent of new HIV cases
each year are diagnosed in people ages 15 to 25 to Kelsea Michael. It should have been attributed to Niki Mar
tin. The Emerald regrets the error.
■ Editorial
Bush's U.N.
appointment
irrational,
antagonistic
The Bush administration seems to believe
that if something isn’t American then it must
be un-American. They see working collabora
tively with other nations to address the
world’s problems as a burdensome exercise
utterly beneath them. They exhibit such arro
gance when it comes to foreign relations that
it has led to diplomatic disaster after diplo
matic disaster, leaving Americans isolated
from the rest of the world.
President Bush’s latest action in his quest to
antagonize every country on the globe came
Monday when he named John Bolton as his
ambassador to the United Nations. Jesse Helms
has described Bolton as “the kind of man with
whom I would want to stand at the gates of Ar
mageddon.” We are not sure what that means,
but we do know that Helms might get a chance
to do just that, if Bolton has his way. He is an
other unilateralist hawk, in the mold of Rums
feld, Wolfowitz and Cheney, who absolutely de
spises the United Nations. Bolton said in 1994,
“If the U.N. secretary building in New York lost
10 stories, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.”
Bolton has also said that “the happiest mo
ment of my government service” was when he
signed a letter to the U.N. rejecting the Interna
tional Criminal Court. One of his high-ranking
peers has described him as “an anti-diplomat
who tries to intimidate those who disagree with
his views.”
But you would have no idea about Bolton’s
unilateral agenda if you listen to the propagan
da coming from the White House. Press Secre
tary Scott McClellan said on Monday, “The per
son that he has selected to nominate to the
position of ambassador to the United Nations is
someone that shares the President’s strong
commitment to making sure that multilateral
organizations are effective.”
Right. Here is a perfect example of his strong
commitment, from Bolton’s appearance on
“The O’Reilly Factor”: “I believe ... our foreign
policy should support American interests. Let
the rest of the world support the rest of the
world’s interests.”
This is a beautiful summarization of the
Bush administration’s screwed-up view of our
role in the world. No wonder Bush frittered
away the ground swell of world support follow
ing the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Our unilateral
actions in Iraq have garnered us many enemies
and more casualties than was necessary.
And during the election, when John Kerry
discussed how he would restore America’s
place as the most powerful and most respected
nation in the world, the Bush attack machine
distorted his words and impugned Kerry’s pa
triotism. As disgusting as it was, it was a bril
liant political move for the Republicans, who
fully recognize how jingoistic and navel-gazing
most Americans are.
The United Nations has made many mistakes
over the years, but the very act of world leaders
sitting in a room together is valuable. America
is certainly the sole superpower, but even we
cannot afford to continue the international iso
lation that has defined the last four years. Un
fortunately, with Bolton at the helm, we can ex
pect many more years of us against the world.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Jennifer Sudick
Editor in Chief
David Jagernauth
Commentary Editor
Steven R. Neuman
Managing Editor
Shadra Beesley
Copy Chief
Adrienne Nelson
Online Editor