Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 19, 2005)
Commentary Oregon Daily Emerald Tuesday, April 19, 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 BALINGri AMANDA BOLSINGER ADAM CHERRY EMILY SMITH EVA SYLWESTER SHELDON TRAVF.R NEWS REPORTERS CLAYTON JONES SPORTS EDITOR JON ROETMAN SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER STEPHEN MILLER BRIAN SMITH SPORTS REPORTERS RYAN NYBURG PULSE EDITOR AMY EIGHTY SENIOR PULSE REPORTER JOSHUA UNTEREUR PULSE REPORTER CAT BALDWIN PULSE CARTOONIST A11.EE SLATER COMMENTARY EDITOR GABE BRADLEY ANNEMARIE KNEPPER CHUCK SLOTHOWER JENNIFER MCBRIDE COLUMNISTS ASHLEY GRIFFIN SUPPLEMENT FREELANCE EDITOR DANIELLE HICKEY PHOTO EDITOR IAUREN WIMER SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER NICOLE BARKER TIM BOBOSKY PHOTOGRAPHER KATE HORTON ZANE RITE PART-TIME PHOTOGRAPHERS BRET FURTWANGLER GRAPHIC ARTIST DUSTIN REESE SENIOR DESIGNER ELLIOTT ASBURY WENDY KIEFFER AMANDA LEE JONAH SCHROGIN DESIGNERS SHADRA BEESLEY JEANNIE EVERS COPY CHIEFS KIMBERLY BLACKFIELD PAULTHOMPSON SPORTS COPY EDITORS GREG BILSLAND AMBER LINDROS NEWS COPY EDITORS JENNY GERWICK PULSE COPY EDITOR ADRIENNE NELSON ONLINE EDITOR WEBMASTER (541)346-5511 JUDY R1EDL GENERAL MANAGER KATHY CARBONE BUSINESS MANAGER LAUNA DE CIUSTI RECEPTIONIST JERED NAGEL PATRICK SCHMERBER HOLLY STEIN JANA SWANSON ROB WEGNER CAROLYN ZIMMERMAN DISTRIBUTION ADVERTISING (541)346-3712 MELISSA GUST ADVERTISING DIRECTOR TYLER MACK SALES MANAGER MAT! BETZ HERON CALISCH-DOLEN MEGAN HAMLIN KATE HIRONAKA MAEGAN KASER-LEF. KELLEE KAUFTHEIL MIA LEIDELMEYER SHANNON ROGERS SALES REPRESENTATIVES CLASSIFIED (541)3464343 IRINA SHANAMAN CLASSIFIED MANAGER KORALYNN BASHAM ANDO KATY GAGNON KERI SPANGLER KATIE STRINGER CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES PRODUCTION (541)3464381 MICHELE ROSS PRODUCTION MANAGER TARA SLOAN PRODUCTION COORDINATOR JEN CRAMLEF KRISTEN DICHARRY CAMERON GAUT SABRINA GOWETTE JONAH SCHROGIN DESIGNERS The Oregon Daily Emerald is pub 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 Memonal Union. The Emerald is private property. Unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. ■ In my opinion OPERATION Matrimony In a bookstore not too long ago, I saw a book called “Marriage Under Fire," by Dr. James Dobson. 1 was intrigued by the title because safe guarding marriage in an increasingly sick society that routinely tramples and disregards that sacred covenant is a subject very dear to me. I was delighted by the prospect of reading a book about what we can do to help stem the rampant disinte gration of the family caused by di vorce, abuse, neglect and adultery. Unfortunately, this was not that book. It took only a quick glance at the dust jacket to find out that Dr. Dobson’s book is a 128-page diatribe against gay marriage. I am disgusted by all the hoopla that’s been made about gay mar riage lately. I just don’t understand how so many self-styled “defenders of marriage” can spend so much time, energy and money trying to safeguard bans on same-sex mar riage while our divorce rate is out of control and still climbing. Homosexuals are not the biggest threat to marriage in this country — heterosexuals are. I’m not saying I support gay marriage, it’s just that this issue has never registered much on my radar compared to a much more obvious, and much more immi nent threat to our family life: Selfish | ness and “I’’-centered thinking is now the norm. A worldly mentality of self actualizing psychobabble and inane rationalization that flouts commit ment while trying to pass itself off as wisdom has seized our culture. While everybody gets agitated about gay marriage, we remain our own worst enemies. The divorce and adultery rates are the twin elephants sitting in our living room that no body wants to acknowledge, let alone do anything about. GABE BRADLEY THE WRITING ON THE WALL In public schools, we’re taught sex education, but we’re not taught family education. This is just one ex ample of how backward our priori ties are (and you know most kids aren’t getting lessons in healthy fam ily life at home). Am I a reactionary? On this issue, you bet. There’s noth ing wrong with being a reactionary when the very core of society is slid ing into the abyss, leaving a trail of broken homes and shattered lives in its cruel, destructive wake. We need to call this situation what it is: an imminent crisis that must be dealt with today — not tomorrow or the next day, today. In the short run, couples need to decide what to do, not if, but when, adultery makes its way into the rela tionships. When lost in puppy love, too many couples think it will never happen to them, so they don’t think about it. But the statistics clearly show that we’re all human, and it happens — a lot. Adultery has run rampant, and there’s no segment of the population that’s safe. To not have a crisis plan in place is naive and foolish in this culture. In the long run, we need to work on “af fair-proofing” our marriages and eliminating this scourge of unfaith fulness that has had its way with countless couples. This is a crisis that affects all Amer icans. The social costs of divorce are so enormous they are al most incalculable. The huge cost of the court system, family and child services and loss in productivity is ob vious. The real social cost, though, is the mind-boggling increase in vio lence, crime, drug abuse and other so cial ills that accompany this epidem ic of broken homes. What’s so frustrating about this crisis is that while it has a huge im pact on society, there is little the government can do. Society is tear ing itself apart, and our government is powerless to stop it; only couples have the power to change the course of our country. One marriage at a time, we need to become a nation of couples who will fight for instead of against each other. When a marriage is broken, it needs to be fixed. We can’t ignore the problem any more than we can walk away from the problem. Sick people need doctors and sick marriages need counselors. Too often, though, people don’t fight for marriage. They figure if it’s not easy then they must be doing something wrong, so they walk away. Nothing worthwhile endures without a fight. Love is a choice, not a feeling. Commitment is a decision, not an emotion. And sometimes we have stand by our commitments de spite every bit of “wisdom” to the contrary. One of my favorite movies is Rob Reiner’s “The Story of Us,” which chronicles the rise, fall and restora tion of a marriage. I don’t want to ruin the ending of the movie for those who haven’t seen it. But for those who have, I’d just like to say that we need to become a nation of people who are willing to say, “Chow Fun’s.” gabebradley@dailyem.emld. com ■ Guest commentary Organic and vegan eating spawn good health, sustainable environment At the April 20 Earth Day festival, you will likely be overwhelmed by the major environmental issues con fronting us: preserving wilderness, stopping species extinction, and maintaining clean air and water. Yet, there is one thing little ol’ you can do every day to help each of these environmental problems. Drumroll please: Eating plant-based foods, es pecially organic and those locally grown, and choosing vegan proteins instead of meat, eggs, and dairy, is even more powerful than our cur rent healthy habits of recycling, bik ing and turning off the water when we brush our teeth. So why not do all these responsible things? Following the eco-mantra, “Re duce, Reuse, Recycle,” eating vegan proteins like nuts, soy, whole grains, peas and beans is all about Reduc tion. Veganism reduces the waste of land, forests, plant crops, water, fuel and wildlife, as well as the pollution of water, soil and air. The simplest way to explain it is that animal agribusiness uses the majority of our nation’s farmland to raise crops for feeding farm animals. These pesticide-ridden crops use many re sources, like fertile soil, water and en ergy and leave deforestation and de sertification in their wake. For the resources we put into raising these crops and the additional water and energy invested in raising, killing and processing animals, we don’t get nearly as much in calories or protein out of the resulting animal products. It’s an irresponsibly poor return on an investment. Thousands of people worldwide die daily of hunger-related causes, while we feed over 60 percent of our grains and plants to farm animals. It makes more sense to instead feed people directly with those grains and vegetables. Compassion in World Farming re ports that the world now consumes five times as much meat as it did in the first half of the 20th century. Our current excesses of meat and dairy aren’t normal and certainly cannot be sustained. To keep America eat ing all this excess meat and dairy, factory farms are required. By inten sively farming over 10 billion ani mals annually and consolidating their urine and feces, we are fouling our air and water and ruining our potential for a healthy future. In fact, animal agribusiness is the largest polluter of America’s rivers and streams. What’s more, big money agribusiness lobbyists are ensuring that the government thinks of its short-term interests and not what’s best for the public. Since we live in a market-based economy, that means we as individual consumers need to pick up the slack and finan cially support more sustainable, plant-based organic foods instead of animal agribusiness. It’s up to us. So next time you’re wondering what to get for lunch on campus, by pass Subway and go organic at Holy Cow. Most campuses aren’t lucky enough to have such a place. When waiting for the bus, skip the hot dog stand and hit the falafel pita stand instead. Your fork is your most pow erful tool for change. How will you wield it? Carrie Packwood Freeman is a PhD student in Journalism and Communication ■ Editorial Jeopardizing the filibuster could muffle minorities Minorities. They built America, and Ameri ca was built for them. There will always be unheard minority voices, not just in our nation at large, but in our nation’s govern ment as well. As long as our country operates under a two-party system, there will be an unheard voice, and Republican Sen. Bill Frist would do well to remember this fact. As current Senate majority leader, Frist is heading the imminent movement to shut down filibusters against President Bush’s judicial nominees. Adhering to the belief that any senator should be allowed to speak as long as neces sary, a filibuster is a tactic wherein a Senate member, usually from the minority party, con tinues to speak for days on end, holding up debate on other issues and effectively nullify ing the motion under discussion. In this man ner, the minority party can prevent a vote that they know the majority party will win by way of sheer numbers. Right now, democrats are using the power of filibuster to avoid a vote that would place a sharply conservative judge next in line for the Supreme Court. It takes 60 votes to shut down the filibuster; Republicans hold only 55 seats in the Senate. If Frist has his way, Senate rules will change for judicial nominations so only 51 votes are necessary to move along a vote. Stepping outside party lines for just a moment, the dangers of limiting a minority voice should be painstakingly obvious to all politicians. Even some fellow Republican Senators disagree with Frist’s proposal, com menting that at some future point the tables will be turned, and it will be the Republican party relying on filibuster until judicial nominees leaning more toward the middle can be selected. It is also significant that Frist is not asking to change the rule on all filibusters, just those related to approving justices. Of all the rea sons to filibuster, it seems that the minority power to halt debate is most important when it comes to the Supreme Court. There are al most no circumstances under which a justice will leave the court; appointees last a life time. It hardly seems fair or democratic for the majority party, be it Republican or Democrat, to choose justices leaning so far from the mid dle that the minority party would wish to fili buster in the first place. If you consider yourself a liberal, think about it this way: Without the ability to fili buster, current Senate Democrats will be pow erless to prevent a Conservative justice from being appointed to the Supreme court, who could then sway the court into finding Roe v. Wade unconstitutional. A disappearance of the filibuster could easily result in a disap pearance of the right to abortion. If you consider yourself a conservative, think about it this way: Without the ability to filibuster, future Senate Republicans will be powerless to prevent a liberal justice, who could sway the court into legalizing gay mar riage. Although stopping a filibuster may sound like a good idea for your party right now, a long-term consideration shows that making it difficult for the minority Senate group to filibuster is a bad idea all around. Maybe someone should tell that to Bill Frist. Oregonians of every political persuasion should call their senator, Gordon Smith at (202) 224-3753 in Washington D.C. or (503) 326-3386 in Portland and proclaim the impor tance of the filibuster.
