Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, May 19, 2005
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■ In my opinion
More than a mayoral victory
in a lcuiudiiuc vi^iuiy lucauay, Air
tonio Villaraigosa defeated incum
bent James Hahn to become the next
mayor of the nation’s second largest
city, Los Angeles.
After nearly 135 years, it’s about time
a Latino took back the office.
The race, which included consider
able name-calling and mudslinging
mostly from Hahn at Villaraigosa, had
many voters appearing less as Vil
laraigosa supporters and more as Hahn
detractors. Hahn ran on the slogan, “Los
Angeles can't trust Antonio Vil
laraigosa,” while his opponent went
with “Vote Hope” and informally, “Si, se
puede! ” (”Yes, we can! ”).
In a matchup of the same two candi
dates four years ago, Villaraigosa lost
just as handily as he won this round.
Coupled with a low voter turnout, Vil
laraigosa's victory is somewhat soured.
However, a win is still a win, and Vil
laraigosa’s election to office is certainly
a boon not just to Los Angeles, not just
to the Latino community, but also to the
life, energy and leadership of Democrats
nation wide.
While Villaraigosa built his campaign
on charisma and promises, Hahn
stressed his experience. But his inability
to successfully address the city’s prob
lematic public school system and traffic
issues during his time in office left vot
ers hungry for change.
At least with Villaraigosa in office, Los
Angeles will get a much-needed change
! of pace.
-- --
ANNEMARIE KNEPPER
WORKS ON PAPER
Villaraigosa started his political
career in the labor movement and then
moved to the California State Assembly.
While he was speaker of the Assembly,
voters strongly supported his $9.2 billion
school bond measure. His two years as
a city councilman were less successful,
moving only one major initiative, a plan
to lower prescription drug costs.
Critics claim Villaraigosa’s plan for
L.A., including an expensive subway ex
pansion, is overly idealistic. Some also
cite shady campaign contributions (lat
er returned) as a bad way to start a may
oral run. Also, Villaraigosa said several
times during his cky council campaign
that he would not run for mayor this cy
cle, and later promised to finish out his
four years as a councilor if he won.
Villaraigosa’s record is far from per
fect, but he now has the potential to
make Los Angeles and the unheard
communities within the city boundaries,
major players in the nation
and world.
Though Villaraigosa has made an ef
fort to minimize it, the symbolic
nature of his victory cannot be
uimeiebimidieu. wun ms new pusi,
Villaraigosa has an unprecedented op
portunity to move Latino issues into
the national consciousness. Arguably
the most underrepresented group in
politics, Villaraigosa’s victory launches
him into ranks of other prominent Lati
no politicians including San Antonio
Mayor Edward D. Garza, San Jose
Mayor Ron Gonzales, Albuquerque
Mayor Martin J. Chavez and Miami
Mayor Manuel A. Diaz.
For Villaraigosa and Los Angeles, op
portunity abounds. So now that he’s
made history, what’s next? The city of
Los Angeles requires an action-oriented
mayor just as much as the nation needs
Latino representation. Curbing gang vi
olence and making more housing avail
able is a tall order for anyone. This time,
Villaraigosa will have to keep his prom
ises. He will have to serve several com
peting interests at the same time. Los
Angeles demands it.
What happened in Los Angeles on
Tliesday is bigger than just a man win
ning a race and bigger than just a city
choosing a new mayor. Villaraigosa’s suc
cess or failure in the next four years will
help determine the role of American Lati
no politics in the next decade. The weight
on Villaraigosa’s shoulders is heavy.
Let’s hope he carries it with strength
and care.
iS i, el puede?
annemarieknepper@ daily emerald, com
INBOX
Administrator displays
commitment, compassion
In the summer of 2003,1 returned to
Eugene and the University of Oregon af
ter finishing my Master’s degree else
where. I spent that summer applying for
every job I qualified for at the University.
During my search, 1 contacted Dan
Williams on the off chance that he might
have some time to meet with me. To my
surprise, he not only made time to dis
cuss University employment opportuni
ties at length, Williams took a concerted
interest in my job search and encour
aged me to keep in contact. Given his
position with the University, I could
hardly believe how accessible and pa
tient he was. His advice was invaluable
and when I did find University employ
ment, Dan’s congratulations meant the
world to me.
Williams is one of the most commit
ted administrators I have met at the
University, and I wish him the best in
his retirement.
Annie Hommel
University Center on Teaching
and Learning
Political cartoon distorts
reality, insults readers
I would like to register my disgust
with Bret Furtwangler’s cartoon in the
May 16 ODE. To depict Governor George
Wallace’s infamous stand to bar black
children from segregated public schools
in Selma, Alabama as similar in any
way, shape or form, to today’s Democ
ratic objections to President Bush’s court
nominees is insulting to the intelligence
oi every reaaer.
There is no evidence whatsoever
that Sen. Harry Reid and the Democ
rats oppose Janice Rogers Brown’s ap
pointment to the U.S. Appeals Court
because she is African-American.
Rather, she is opposed because she is a
right wing ideologue who routinely
abuses her position of power to twist
the law to the conservative agenda.
It is upsetting to see Furtwangler re
sort to such dirty tactics as comparing
a principled stand against extremism to
a despicable act of racism. Whatever
one’s stand in relation to the upcoming
battle over court nominees, such be
havior is not acceptable.
I respect Furtwangler's right to his
own opinion. However, it would be
appreciated if in the future Furtwan
gler did not draw his cartoons directly
from the right wing propaganda ma
chine, and perhaps showed some in
dependent thought.
Kirk Wintermute
Senior
Peak Oil means drivers
need to 'power down'
Major kudos to Ailee Slater for her
column about Peak Oil (“A ‘peak’ into
oil’s future,” ODE May 16). This issue
is the most underreported story out
there, and I was elated to see the Emer
ald get the issue out.
Ailee’s column fell tragically short,
though, of presenting the full scope of
peak oil’s ramifications.
The most predictable result is what
will happen to our globalized,
3ii-Dasea economy wnen declining oil
supplies shoot gasoline prices to $5, $7
and even $10 per gallon. How will
goods get from China? How do we get
to work, school or the store in this real
ity? Further consider that the U.S. dol
lar’s strength is largely contingent on
cheap, widely available petroleum.
Our food supplies are also in real
trouble as this progresses. Consider
that the average food item travels
1500 miles, and it takes 10 calories of
fossil fuel for every one calorie of food
produced. Pesticides, fertilizers, trac
tors and semis — all are based on pe
troleum. Recent increases in oil costs
have bumped costs for farmers to
10 percent — consider what happens
when oil doubles or triples in price in
the coming decade.
Hydrogen to the rescue? Sorry — hy
drogen is an energy medium, not an en
ergy source. You’ve got to burn some
thing (oil, coal, nuclear material) to get
hydrogen. Hydrogen will not save us.
The only alternative, as Professor
Richard Heinberg and others have
done well to demonstrate, is to power
down. We must use less energy if we
ever hope to adequately weather this
imminent crisis. Ride your bike. Live
closer to work and school. Buy local
food; grow some of it yourself. Advo
cate for measures to stop sprawl. As
peak oil demands that our globalized
economy be relocalized, we must be
sober in our response. We must stop
chasing the American Dream and live
on less, if we can hope to live at all.
Brandon Rhodes
Senior
CORRECTION
On Tuesday in "Ebony Excellence" the Emerald reported in a story summary that 10 black students received awards. The students were students of color, but they were
not all black. The Emerald reported that “Large paintings, mostly composed by black students, were also on display at the back of the ballroom.” All the art was created by
Yvonne Stubbs. Andiel Brown’s name was misspelled in a photo caption. Lijin Abraham was not identified as codirector of Black Women of Achievement. There was a
total of 10 winners of awards, but only the names of three were reported. Jordan Thierry, Leonidas Watson, Percy Appau, Mark Padoongpatt, Keith Allen and Nate Jackson
also won awards.
The Emerald regrets the errors.
■ Editorial
Faculty pay
should stay
priority for
University
On Wednesday, the Emerald reported
the University faculty’s salaries are only
86.2 percent of the average compensation
across the nation (“Faculty pay not on par
with other higher-eds,” ODE May 18). Pro
fessors at the University receive about
20 percent less pay than comparable posi
tions at comparable schools.
The reason for this disparity? As so often
happens when Oregon’s budget gets tight,
education takes one of the biggest hits.
In 2001, when Oregon experienced an
economic recession, Salem lawmakers de
cided to save money by decreasing state al
locations to universities. In 2003, with
budget problems still at hand, the legisla
ture again threw a punch to collegiate edu
cation, freezing salaries for all state em
ployees. That decision, of course, affected
University professors.
The results of such a long-standing pay
disparity (University professors have long
received a below-average salary since at
least 2000) are quickly making themselves
clear. Department heads report a de
creased ability to hire new, assistant pro
fessors, and some report that the quality of
University academics is falling as a result
of disgruntled faculty.
Administrators hope that eventually,
University professors’ salaries will only be
5 percent below the national average. Of
course, it might help to use a little more
sense in budget allocation. In theory, in
stead of fundraising for sporting arenas
and bigger buildings, the university could
channel some of the energy to raise cash
for the people who matter most.
Unfortunately, it is also unclear whether
the state of Oregon is making professors a
top priority. As one of the largest and most
popular state universities, bringing in
many students from out of state as well, it
is in the best interest of the state to take
note of the faculty salary situation. Keep
ing these professors happy and well-com
pensated is essential to creating a harmo
nious and productive University campus
— certainly more so than the construction
of a new sports arena. Our school can’t af
ford to lose teachers, nor can we afford to
decrease the stability and learning envi
ronment of our campus.
We hope, in the future, Oregon lawmak
ers and University administrators will take
a good, long look at University of Oregon
professors and affirm what we already
know: These faculty members are essen
tial to our educational institution, and
their pay should reflect that.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Jennifer Sudick Steven R. Neuman
Editor in Chief Managing Editor
Ailee Slater Shadra Beesley
Commentary Editor Copy Chief
Adrienne Nelson
Online Editor
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