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Oregon Daily Emerald Thursday, August 11, 2005 ■ Editorial Celebrating Eugene summers Summer in Eugene is waking up at 10 a.m., exhausted, because the night before was filled with fun or homework or housework. Every night during summer in Eugene is too great to explain; it’s relaxation and it’s stress, but it’s also knowing that everything you do is being done, just for you. It’s not for the people on campus. Summer in Eugene is not dressing up for the cute freshmen, and summer in Eugene is not caring that your outfit don’t match, unlike the perfectly polished sorority girl sitting two seats down in whatever pointless intro class you might be taking at the time. Summer in Eugene is companionship for the sake of similarity: You both are here, as suming no one else has stayed in town, so bonds grow out of nothing more than the kinship of location. Summer in Eugene is drinking your room mate’s Hefeweizen on a weekday afternoon, because the sun is shining, and you can. NEWS STAFF (541)346-5511 SMADRA BF.ESLEY EDITOR IN CHIEF GABE BRADLEY NEWS EDITOR NICHOLAS WILBUR NEWS REPORTER SHAWN MILLER SPORTS EDITOR RYAN NYBURG PULSE EDITOR AILEE SLATER COMMENTARY EDITOR TIM BOBOSKY PHOTO AND ONLINE EDITOR WENDY KIEFFER DESIGN EDITOR (ENNY GERWICK COPY CHIEF BRETFURTWANGLER GRAPHIC ARTIST BUSINESS (541)346-5511 JUDYRIEDL GENERAL MANAGER KATHY CARBONE BUSINESS MANAGER ALEX CORBIN ALAN FULLERTON RYAN JOHNSON DISTRIBUTION ADVERTISING (541)346-3712 MELISSA GUST ADVERTISING DIRECTOR MIA LEIDELMEYER SALES MANAGER DIANA ERSKINE KELLEE KAUFTHEIL STEPHEN MILLER EMILY PHILBIN KATIE STRINGER CODY WILSON SALES REPRESENTATIVES CLASSIFIED (541)3464343 TR1NA SHANAMAN CLASSIFIED MANAGER KORALYNN BASHAM KATY GAGNON KERI SPANGLER CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES PRODUCTION (541)3464381 MICHELE ROSS PRODUCTION MANAGER KIRA PARK PRODUCTION COORDINATOR The Oregon Daily Emerald is pu6 lished dally Monday through Fri day dunng 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. ■ Guest commentary We must advocate for better health services During the beginning of August, my self and other members of the National Association of Black Journalists (Oregon chapter) had the privilege of attending the NABJ national convention in Atlanta, Ga. A week of attending workshops, keynote speeches, career fairs and net working came to an unsettling close with the deaths of two outstanding journalists. Peter Jennings, former ABC news anchor died Sunday night from lung cancer that he was diagnosed with only this year. Jennings played a key role in develop ing what broadcast news has become to day, and will be dearly missed world wide. But what was even more shocking was the death of 23-year old journalist, Akilah Amapindi. Amapindi was, like myself, a student member of NABJ. She arrived in Atlanta on Sunday to begin a student project at the convention, and was hospitalized early Tliesday and diag nosed with malaria. On the following Sunday at the gospel brunch, we re ceived word of her passing. However, it wasn’t until later that day, after two plane flights and a three-hour layover, that her death really hit me. Amapindi, was only the one-third the age of Peter Jennings. She represented a new era — a generation of journalists that rep resent the face of the world (she was born in Jamaica and lived in Staten Is land, N.Y.), a generation of journalists us ing new and old media (Amapindi worked in print, broadcast and interac tive Web), and a generation of journalists and people who are committed to social justice and human rights (Amapindi founded a service sorority at Kenyon Col lege, Ohio). Amapindi had most likely been infect ed with malaria during her internship at Namibian Broadcasting Corporation in southern Africa, which she had just com pleted in July. Her work and aspirations are an inspiration, and although I never met her, I feel close to Amapindi because we both represent that new generation. It is the responsibility of our generation to concern ourselves with world-shap ing news regarding politics, culture, economics, science and health. Because malaria is a parasite infection, it will be much more difficult to create a vaccine for it. And although the impact of malaria is not recognized in the West ern world because of the lack of deaths here, the deaths accumulating in the de veloping world should be enough indi cation that there is a need for increased research and funding. Malaria causes or contributes to 3 million deaths per year, the majority of them children. Children are dying at a rate of four per minute, 5,000 a day and 35,000 a week. The number of malaria related deaths in Africa is close to that of HIV/AIDS, but the amount of fund ing for research and treatment is in no way comparable. The deaths of Peter Jennings and Aki lah Amapindi on August 7, 2005, send two important messages to the world, es pecially the developed world: 1. We need to take care of our own health; risk of lung cancer and HIV/AIDS can be eradicated or significantly reduced by the choices we make. 2. We need to voice the concerns of health and other issues to our govern ment representatives, advocating for more funding for health services, sci ences, and training. By making the changes in our lifestyle to reduce the risks, we can allow more funding to go towards health epidemics that are less preventable. There is more information on malaria at www.malaria.org. Also, Amapindi did not have health insurance, and her fami ly does not have finances to ship her body to Jamaica, or for memorial servic es. Donations can be sent to: Akilah Amapindi Memorial Fund: c/o NABJ, 8701-A Adelphi Road, Adelphi, MD 20783-1716. Jordan Thierry is a student at the University. INBOX Bush administration commits acts of treason How does one keep up with the unfolding of high-crimes initiated by the Bush administration, let alone the brewing innuendo of “treason” in ferred by some congressmen and many in the intelligence services? It is an act of treason to go to war based on lies and the dissemination of informa tion; information that administration offi cials knew to be false, i.e., uranium from Niger, aluminum centrifuges supposedly used for uranium enrichment, ties to al Qaida, and Iraqi ties to the 9/11 attacks. It is also an act of treason to disingenuously foment fear with a nation’s citizenry to make the case for war. Remember the rhet oric about “mushroom clouds,” “biologi cal weapons drones,” and “45-minute attack window”? It is an act of treason to “out” a CIA op erative, bringing untold damage to our intelligence agencies for the express pur pose of punishing individuals who criticize administration policies. Let’s hope that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald can find out which “high official” in this ad ministration is responsible for compromis ing our national security. There are glimmers of hope for justice. The media seems to be awakening from its deathly sleep, perhaps smelling high crimes blood in the water. Additionally, prosecutor Fitzgerald continues to dredg ing under the Neocon cesspool, and Con gressman John Conyers continues his in vestigations into the Downing St. (“intelligence is being fixed”) Memo. Also of note, the Democratic Party of Oregon has lent its support by passing a resolution calling for articles of impeachment of George W. Bush if these investigations prove administration malfeasance. Gerry Rempel Eugene ASUO Senators owe University students apology In response to Nicholas Wilbur's “ASUO committee neglects duties” (July 19,2005): What an insightful, albeit disappointing article. This is an example of the coura geous reporting that I love to read. Unfor tunately, this expose concerns the ASUO and their recent malfeasance. As a student at the U of O, I along with other students finance the student government's payrolls and budget with incidental fees and am deeply concerned about their performance this summer. Apparently they have not been doing their jobs and it seems that they have lackadaisical and nonchalant at titudes about their duties. I will admit that I did not vote for any of the members, but after reading this article, I realize that it is my duty as a student to vote. The ASUO senators are a disgrace to our school and they should be held accountable for their actions (or lack thereof). If the Greentape Notebook states that the nonfulfillment of duties is in violation of code, then a griev ance must be filed. I don't care whether it is the summer session or not, they should still meet, if not transcend their obliga tions. Is it acceptable for our state senators to forget about their responsibilities in the summer? Isn't there a system of checks and balances for our student government? What I mean is that typically another body of government or agency acts as a watch dog to oversee their duties. This task should not be left to news reporters. These are just a few of my concerns. Hopefully this weak performance won't foreshadow the not-too-distant academic year. If the senators have any guts, they should make a public apology condemning their lack of professionalism. David Yaffe Economics Major Editor in Chief of the Utility Times OREGON DAILY EMERALD LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged, and should be sent to letters@dailyemerakJ.com or submitted at the Oregon Daily Emerald office, EMU Suite 300. Electronic submissions are preferred. Letters are limited to 250 words, and guest commentaries to 550 words. Authors are limited to one submission per calendar month. Submissions should include phone number and address for venfication. The Emerald reserves the right to edit for space, grammar and style Guest submissions are pub lished at the discretion of the Emerald. __
