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Commentary Oregon Daily Emerald Friday, April 29, 2005 NEWS STAFF (541)346-5511 IEN SUDICK EDITOR IN CHIEF STEVEN R. NEUMAN MANAGING EDITOR IARED PABEN AY1SHA YAHYA NEWS EDITORS MEGHANN CUNIFF PARKER HOWEU. SENIOR NEWS REPORTERS MORIAH BALINGIT AMANDA BOLSINGER ADAM CHERRY EMILY SMITH EVA SYLWESTER SHELDON TRAVER NEWS REPORTERS C1AYTON JONES SPORTS EDITOR JON ROLTMAN SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER STEPHEN M1LI.ER BRIAN SMITH SPORTS REPORTERS RYAN NYBURC PULSE EDITOR AMY IJCHTY SENIOR PULSE REPORTER JOSHUA UNTEREUR PULSE REPORTER CAT BALDWIN PULSE CARTOONIST A1LEE SLATER COMMENTARY EDITOR GABE BRADLEY ANNEMARIE KNEPPER CHUCK SLOTHOWER JENNIFER MCBRIDE COLUMNISTS ASHLEY GRIFFIN SUPPLEMENT FREELANCE EDITOR DANIELLE HICKEY PHOTO EDITOR LAUREN W1MER SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER NICOLE BARKER TIM BOBOSKY PHOTOGRAPHER KATE HORTON ZANERITT 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 JOSH NORRIS SPORTS COPY EDITORS GREG Bl ISLAND AMBER UNDROS NEWS COPY EDITORS JENNY GERW1CK PULSE COPY EDITOR ADRIENNE NELSON ONLINE EDITOR WEBMASTER (541)346-5511 JUDY RIEDL GENERAL MANAGER KATHY CARBONE BUSINESS MANAGER IAUNA DE CIUSTI RECEPTIONIST IERED NAGEL PATRICK SGMMERBER HOLLY STEIN (ANA SWANSON ROB WEGNER CAROLYN ZIMMERMAN DISTRIBUTION ADVERTISING (541)346-3712 MELISSA GUST ADVERTISING DIRECTOR TYLER MACK SALES MANAGER MATT BETZ HERON CALISCH-DOLEN MEGAN HAMLIN KATE HIRONAKA MAEGAN KASER-LEE KELLEE KAUETHEIL MIA LEIDELMEYER SHANNON ROGERS SALES REPRESENTATIVES CLASSIFIED (541)3464343 TRINA SHANAMAN CLASSIFIED MANAGER KORALYNN BASHAM ANDO KATY GAGNON KER1 SPANGLER KATIE STRINGER CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES PRODUCTION (541)3464381 MICHELE ROSS PRODUCTION MANAGER TARA DAM PRODUCTION COORDINATOR IEN CRAM ITT KRISTEN DICHARRY CAMERON GAUT SABRINA GOWETTE JONAH SCHROGIN DESIGNERS 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 University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private properly Unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. ■ In my opinion The upside of shattered dreams Greg Schindler was once a star of fensive lineman for the Stanford football team; a four-year starter, heavily recruited out of high school by, among others, the University of Oregon. He was named a second team All-Pacific-10 Conference play er in 2001 after his third season, and he was a potential third- or fourth round pick had he chosen to enter the 2002 NFL draft. Instead, he chose to stay for his fi nal year of eligibility at Stanford, even though he had already earned his degree. Injuries caught up with him, and his dream of playing in the NFL gradually went down the tubes. Now, he studies journalism as a graduate student at the UO. How he arrived here after coming so close to playing in the NFL illustrates that things don’t always work out, dreams do get shattered, and life does go on. Schindler’s life changed forever in March 2000, when he was hustling through spring conditioning drills at a Stanford practice facility. In one drill, the players had to run one di rection, then turn and run back. When Schindler tried to pivot, his body turned. His foot didn’t budge. “Honestly, it sounded like a shot gun blast,” Schindler said. “Every body in the room could hear. ” That “shotgun blast” was the sound of Schindler’s ankle suffering a severe sprain. Though he went on to play two more seasons on that an kle, he would never be the same. “I had almost no function in that ankle,” Schindler said. “It was like CHUCK SLOTHOWER TAKING ISSUE playing on a peg leg.” Schindler, 24, has experienced things no other current University student has. Despite his injuries, the San Francisco 49ers gambled on him, signing the free agent to a $535,000, two-year contract on the second day of the 2003 NFL draft. He practiced with the 49ers. He listened to the coaches and ran plays through pain that necessitated injections into his spine to keep him going. Schindler got the impression that his injuries were far worse than the 49ers trainers were letting on, but he agreed to do his best to get into play ing shape. Then, before he could play in a game and hear the cheering crowds at Monster Park, the 49ers unceremoniously dumped him, de spite NFL rules that Schindler says prohibit releasing injured players. “They don’t have a lot of patience for guys who get injured right away,” Schindler explained. Luckily, he had an excellent agent who helped him through the diffi cult time after the 49ers released him. And, unlike most athletes with dreams that have torn like ankle car tilage, Schindler had a Stanford degree to fall back on. “One thing I knew is I didn’t want to spend the next few years getting surgery after surgery trying to get back into football just so I could say I played in the NFL,” he said. So after considering his options, it was on to Eugene, a town he first visited in high school when he par ticipated in camps run by University football coaches. The town where, as a Stanford player, he twice chal lenged the Ducks. The town where his Cardinal delivered one of the most heartbreaking defeats in UO football history: the 2001 game in which Stanford roared back to beat Joey Harrington and arguably the finest football team in Ducks histo ry, breaking a 23-game Autzen Sta dium win streak and proving “Joey Heisman" fallible. “I just remember how quiet the stadium was,” Schindler said of the game. Now, he’s learning the techniques of the reporters who used to pester him. He sometimes watches football games in the stadium he once helped silence. Schindler isn’t sure if reporting is for him. He may want to edit instead or teach and coach football at a high school or small college, where he could shape the lives of young men. He could tell them about his NFL dream shot, his stellar career at Stanford and how a courageous young man refused to let life get the better of him. chuckslothower@ daily emerald, com ROTC produces educated military decision-makers History repeats itself. In asserting that the military should not be pres ent in colleges (“Professor criticizes University's links to U.S. military,” ODE, April 27), professor of peace studies Simona Sharoni reminds me of the Vietnam War debates and the response that my father, a 1937 University graduate, gave to my as sertion in 1969 that ROTC should be thrown off campus. My father suggested that our choice is simple: Do we want our entire military leadership trained at military academies, or do we want some University graduates making recommendations and decisions? The answer, to me, was clear. At the University, future officers take classes with a diverse student body and are taught by professors with a variety of political and cultural viewpoints. (Let us hope some take classes from Dr. Sharoni. I mean that seriously). A number of my father’s life-long friends were officers who graduat ed from the University. One was a general. These were family men who served with honor. Let us not confuse anger and frustration (mine included) toward President Bush and his cronies with our need to keep a military comprised of INBOX well-educated private citizens. Alice Kaseberg Eugene Filibuster nuclear option will stifle needed dialogue America is about freedom of speech and debate, especially in the halls of Congress. The Republican majority is seeking to limit debate on important legislative and judicial topics by pursuing the “nuclear op tion” to end the filibuster. The filibuster is an important method to extend debate on contro versial legislative topics and judicial nominations. Throughout American history, the Senate filibuster has served as an important element of the checks and balances system, preventing a partisan majority from ruling through tyranny while pro moting bipartisan compromise and moderation. It has served as a par ticularly important check when all three branches of government are controlled by one party. Republicans and Democrats should freely debate topics and judi cial nominations that will greatly af fect our country. The nuclear option will stifle that spirit of dialogue and debate. In an increasingly polarized country, it is crucial to encourage a wide range of dialogue in a govern ment dominated by one party. Sen. Gordon Smith is an important voice in his party and he needs to hear from his constituents that op pose the elimination of the fili buster. Urge him to join other prominent Republicans who have spoken out against Bill Frist’s push to eliminate the filibuster. Jonathan Evans Eugene If you really care about the Web rabbit go vegan I think AnneMarie Knepper’s col umn two weeks ago (“Bunny Mon ey,” ODE, April 14) misses the point when she commends the Web hoax guys for holding a rabbit hostage to play off people’s sympathies, earn money and sell stuff. The real point to be made is about justice and compas sion. Why pay anyone money not to eat a rabbit in June when these care less Web pranksters are likely stuffing their faces with other animals’ flesh every day at McDonald’s? What does it matter whether it is their pet rabbit or a factory-farmed chicken or an ocean fish they are eating? If you care about the rabbit (whether the animal exists or not), the main way you can channel your compassionate sympa thies is to stop eating any animals yourself and go vegan. You’ll save thousands of lives and not have to man Doctoral Student and GTF OREGON DAILY EMERALD LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor and guest commentanes 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 grest commentaries to 550 words. Authors are limited to one submission per calendar month. Submissions should include phone number and address for verification. The Emerald reserves the rigit to edit for space, grammar and style. Guest submissions are published at the discretion of the Emerald ■ Editorial Gas prices give chance to improve life quality When it comes to ever increasing prices at the gas pump, one sentiment echoes across the board. Regardless of location, class or even political party, the resounding question of the U.S. citizen cruising by the fuel station is sim ply this: When’s the price gonna come down? Nobody likes the idea of forking out more than $2.50 per gallon. But the rising gas prices provide an opportunity to search for something better. If having to pay $50 every week to fuel up the family Land Cruiser is what it takes to fi nally convince our nation that we need to find better energy sources, then so be it. Already, car dealerships have reported a se rious trend toward consumers who are willing to pay more money for a “less” car: Less in size, less reliant on gasoline, less money from the pocketbook later on. Of course the problem with introducing smaller, more efficient cars into the United States (such as the European “Smart Car”) is that these vehicles are at high risk of being clobbered in the event of a tiff with any “normal” (read: school bus-sized) sport utility vehicle. Another possible benefit of high gas prices and money-conscious Americans is the likeli hood that the mass transit system will thrive under such conditions. Communities relying on public transportation will produce and main tain better buses, trains, etc. Mass transporta tion, as well as carpooling, is easy on the wallet and will become even more convenient and modernized if disgruntled motorists decide to utilize these public services. Besides an increase in public vehicles, fewer cars on the road could mean an upswing in pedestrians as well. In America’s weight-con scious society, it seems that unmanageable fuel prices could be just the ticket to overcoming obesity. A walk down to the corner market cuts both consumer spending as well as inches off the waistline. President Bush has recognized the problem of sky-high gas prices just like the rest of us. Al though widespread concern over fuel cost would be the perfect opportunity to introduce national conversation and legislation on con serving energy, reducing oil dependence and finding more efficient and clean sources of power, Capitol Hill has taken a drastically dif ferent approach. Bush has called for a decrease in foreign oil dependence but still insists that drilling into Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a good idea. The newest brilliant Bush plan in overcoming pricey gas is to build more nuclear power plants. Doesn’t it sound fun to spend the next billion years deciding what to do with the resulting nu clear waste? It will probably be something along the lines of trafficking dangerous, ra dioactive material across crowded state high ways, then shoving it under a culturally signifi cant land mass, if the Yucca Mountain fiasco is any indication of where our country’s nuclear politics are headed. Nationally, our energy crisis is being dealt with in all the wrong ways. U.S. citizens should not be encouraged to rely on wildlife refuge oil fields and questionable nuclear technology. In stead, we should be encouraged to rely on the values of efficiency, cooperation and our own two feet. EDITORIAL BOARD Jennifer Sudick Editor in Chief Ailee Slater Commentary Editor Steven R. Neuman Managing Editor Shadra Beesley Copy Chief Adrienne Nelson Online Editor
